Comedy Theatre (TV series)

Background

Television executives annually order far more pilots for proposed series than networks can broadcast, creating a large body of unaired unsold pilots. Anthology series packaging these pilots and airing them during summer provided networks with fresh programming for the rerun season and recouped some production costs. Comedy Theatre was one such series, consisting of unsold situation comedy pilots. Stars appearing included Danny Aiello, Herschel Bernardi, Red Buttons, Harold Gould, Arte Johnson, Rose Marie, Larry Storch, and Carol Wayne.

Broadcast history

Comedy Theatre first appeared on CBS in the summer of 1976, running for six episodes across seven weeks. It aired Monday nights from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, premiering on July 26 and concluding on September 6. Each episode that season featured two unsold pilots, one at 8:00 and the other at 8:30. After a break of nearly three years, the series returned in the summer of 1979 with a shorter 30-minute format, now airing a single unsold pilot per episode.

These new episodes ran on Thursday evenings from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, starting on May 24 and ending after six consecutive weeks on June 28. One account notes that the unsold pilot "Uptown Saturday Night" was originally scheduled for June 21, 1979, but was removed from the lineup for unknown reasons. Another account claims it aired as a standalone special at 8:00 p.m. on June 28, 1979, right before the final Comedy Theatre episode. That pilot starred Cleavon Little, Adam Wade, Don Bexley, Starletta DuPois, and Julius Harris, and followed the owner of a moving company who, stressed by his work, decides to marry for money.