A Dog’s Life TV pilot: Holy Crap, it is real! (McGurk: A Dog's Life)


A Dog’s Life TV pilot:  Holy Crap, it is real! (McGurk: A Dog's Life)
Even the announcer sounds bored with the material.  To my total surprise, the show was actually real and presented as a pilot to NBC, but was shown on ABC after it failed. This one Norman Lear's last pilot created. Lear was responsible for some of the biggest sitcoms on TV. (All in the Family The Jeffersons Sanford and Son Good Times Maude )
This sitcom looks bad... “Work It” bad. I guess we all have our off days.  This show feels more like one of those cheap Hanna Barbera cartoons than a live sitcom. 

Comments

kingComedy said…
I was the original lead in this pilot...do you know how i could get a copy. Bill Kirchenbauer
Monday, May 19, 2014 11:21:00 PM
Semaj said…
Nice!

I did a google search and not much as come up about this show. Even the full video has been deleted which seems strange because I've found full movies to some really underground movies.

I would ask Ken Lavine over at his blog, via the link on this blog. He seems to have some inside information with excs and someone he knows probably has a copy
Thursday, May 22, 2014 4:04:00 PM
Unknown said…
I saw this when I was a kid. Not sure how I saw it, but I saw it and was staggered that it played so flatly, and I was only 14. For others who want more in-depth information about this pilot, there is a terrific and detailed article about this pilot in the November 1979 issue of Penthouse by Ben Stein entitled "The Unmaking of a Sitcom". The staged photo that accompanies the article on page 85 is hilarious: a network executive in his office at his desk with a small television on the desktop. "A Dog's Life" is on the screen and the executive is cringing, one of his hands is covering his face in a gesture of shame/embarrassment. Shoulders hunched in defeat. Bill Kirchenbauer was indeed cast to play McGurk prior to Gabe Dell and finally Barney Martin, according to the piece. Writer Ken Levine had the pilot in full on his blog (http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2011/08/jaw-dropping-pilot-youve-got-to-see.html). It seems a fellow named Howard Hoffman has a copy of the pilot and gave it to Levine to post. Bill, you might try contacting either of those chaps. They may be able to help you out with a copy
Sunday, January 03, 2016 8:50:00 PM
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