The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – CBS

Theme music written by Eliot Daniel

NOTE: This series was loosely based on the radio show “My Favorite Husband” which aired between 1948-1951. When Lucille Ball was asked to take that series to television, she refused to appear without her husband Desi Arnaz. 

• 000. Pilot – UNAIRED, filmed 3/2/1951
  • Cuban bandleader Ricky Ricardo is happy keeping  his wife Lucy at home to do the housework, cook the meals, and bear the children, but she has aspirations of breaking into show business. Ricky keeps it a secret as to when the TV sponsors are going to come check out his show to see if he has a future in TV. During rehearsal, Pepito the Clown (Pepito Perez) does his routine by imitating a baby and riding a tiny bike, but then gets injured on a full-sized bike. Ricky suggests that Pepito recuperate at his apartment before showtime. Lucy then finds out that the sponsors will be in the club that night. She ends up standing in for Pepito and shows up dressed as a hobo known as “The Professor” and does an act with a cello and seal horns. Lucy ends up getting a TV offer and Ricky doesn’t, but Ricky convinces her that she belongs at home to clean, bake, and raise his children. She tells him that she has a surprise for him… that she has made him a pie. Bob LeMond is the announcer. Joanne Perez appears as herself as Pepito’s wife. NOTE: This pilot was later remade as The Audition. 5/26/15

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SEASON 1 – Fox

Created by Will Forte

• 001. Alive in Tucson – 3/1/2015
  • In the year 2020, one year after a virus has rocked the Earth, Tucson, Arizona native Phil Miller (Will Forte) scours the entire country in a bus looking for signs of life on Earth, ultimately visiting every state and leaving signs that he is alive in Tucson before returning home. At first, he accepts his fate by moving into a giant house which he decorates with stolen, rare artifacts from museums all over the country, partaking in childish acts of vandalism, masturbating, and vowing to never talk to a volleyball as Tom Hanks did in the film Cast Away. When it becomes apparent that there is no one coming. He celebrates his birthday alone with a Twinkie and thinks back to life with his wife Patti (Patti Forte). Five months later, he has become a complete slob who has trashed his house, resorted to pooping into his pool, and drinking all day. He regularly hangs out a O’Rozco’s Bar & Grill, where, despite his earlier words, has set up numerous types of balls with faces on them whom he considers his friends. He reaches his low point when he introduces himself to a mannequin and her arm falls off. He decides to commit suicide by running his truck into a giant rock, but before he hits his target, he notices smoke rising in the distance. When he goes to investigate, he finds that it is a woman but passes out when he sees her. He wakes to a beautiful woman named Veronica (Alexandra Daddario) and begins to kiss her… only to wake up and see another less attractive woman named Carol Pilbasian (Kristen Schaal) giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When he jumps up, he initially frightens her, and she pulls a gun on him. Then cooler heads prevail, and they introduce themselves. Carol has followed Phil’s signs to get there. 3/31/20

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SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, and Bernie West. The series is a spin-off of “All in the Family,” the episode “The Jeffersons Move on Up” from January 11, 1975, serving as the series pilot. 

Theme song: “Movin’ on Up” written by Jeff Barry and Ja’net Dubois, performed by Ja’net Dubois

• 001. A Friend in Need – 1/18/1975
  • Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford) brings her friend Diane Stockwell (Pauline Myers) up to visit her New York high-rise apartment, but Diane is shocked to find that Louise is not actually a maid as Diane is, but rather lives in the swanky home with her husband George (Sherman Hemsley). When George comes home, he tries to convince Louise that she needs a maid, but Louise is against the idea. Consulting their upstairs neighbors Tom (Franklin Cover) and Helen Willis (Roxie Roker), a racially mixed couple and the father of George and Louise’s son Lionel’s (Mike Evans) girlfriend Jenny (Berlinda Tolbert), Louise finds that they employ a cleaning lady. George’s mother Olivia (Zara Cully) acts as if she’s against Louise having a maid, until she finds out that she is aligned with Louise, and quickly changes her mind. George takes out an ad and gets a response from a lady named Florence Johnston (Marla Gibbs), and despite the fact that Louise tries to prove she doesn’t need her, she takes a liking to her and her acerbic wit against George and agrees to hire her. Diane finds out and is offended that she wasn’t hired on full-time and then reveals that she is the one working part-time as the Willis’ maid. Paul Benedict is the Jeffersons’ English neighbor Harry Bentley, who often relies on George walking on his back to crack it. 3/28/17

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SEASON 1 – NBC

Created by Reinhold Weege

Theme music composed by Jack Elliott, performed by Ernie Watts on saxophone

• 001. All You Need Is Love – 1/4/1984
  • At Criminal Court Part 2 in Manhattan, New York, the court clerk Lana Wagner (Karen Austin) anxiously awaits the arrival of a new night court judge. Sharing in her anticipation are public defender Sheila Gardner (Gail Strickland), prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), and bailiffs Bull Shannon (Richard Moll) and Selma Hacker (Selma Diamond). When 34-year old Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson) arrives, no one recognizes him as the judge until he reveals himself amidst his unorthodox humor and antics. His first case is cut and dry as he quickly fines his his old friend Leonard ‘Hacksaw’ Hammond (Andrew Bloch) for playing Three Card Monte. His second case involves a married couple Phil (Joseph V. Perry) and Louise Kerr (Peggy McCay), whose fight over Phil’s tryst with hooker Carla Bouvoir (Rita Taggart) led to Louse firing a gun, which gets her charged with attempted murder. Harry insists that the couple go have coffee together with their lawyers and work it out. Dan and Shelia return with clothes torn after the melee that ensued. Lana starts to believe that she can’t work with Harry, especially when he uses a two-headed coin to presumably determine their fate. But when the chips are down, Phil doesn’t want to see Louise go to jail, so the couple make up. Harry earns the respect of his peers. He also admits that he got his job when the Mayor, on his last day in office, goes down a long list of prospective candidates for the job, and although he was last on the list, he was the only one home to take the call…and the job. Luke Andreas is the painter. Matt Landis is the courier. Cal Gibson is the shouting man in the gallery. Charlotte Portney is the stenographer. Eugene “Pineapple” Jackson appears in the jury. 3/29/16 Read the rest of this entry »

SEASON 1 – NBC

Created by Gary David Goldberg

Theme music: “Without Us” (originally identified as “Us”) by Jeff Barry and Tom Scott, and sang by Dennis Tufano and Mindy Sterling (episodes 1-10), and sang by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams (episodes 11 and beyond)

• 001. Pilot – 9/22/1982
  • Steven Keaton (Michael Gross) and his wife Elyse (Meredith Baxter-Birney) are a liberal couple who met during the Woodstock era, and now live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, where Steven works as station manager for the public television station Channel WKS and Elyse works as an independent architect. They have two teenage children, the ultra conservative Republican Alex (Michael J. Fox) and the ditzy but good-natured Mallory (Justine Bateman), and a nine-year old daughter Jennifer (Tina Yothers). Alex invites his latest crush, the rich airhead Kimberly Blanton (Cindy Fisher) over for dinner, which proves to be awkward since Alex is trying so hard to impress her. When Alex tells his parents he is going to meet her and her parents Preston (John Petlock) and Emily (Toni Sawyer) at the Carlton club, Steven blows his stack because the Carlton club is restricted. Alex heads off anyway, and Steven eventually gets so irritated by it that he goes to the club and demands that Alex leave. Alex is angry with his apologetic father but after they talk and hug it out, Alex understands his father’s intentions, while Steven realizes he can’t expect his son to act just like him. Meanwhile Elyse tries to design a house for the Emersons, a couple who hate each other and want to be in separate parts of the house. Maurice Marsac is Roger the waiter. 3/28/16 Read the rest of this entry »