For a long time, a sitcom about religion was a hard sell, even harder for viewers, especially in Midwestern & Southern states, where the Bible is taken very seriously, almost to the point of fanatic obsession.
In the mid-70's, the networks tried to make a go of it, as there were two short-lived religious-themed sitcoms. On CBS, you had McLean Stevenson, who had left M*A*S*H, top-lining In The Beginning. I think that was gone well before Christmas.
In the spring of 1976, ABC trotted out Good Heavens, which gave Carl Reiner his first headline role. It was unique in that this was the first half-hour anthology sitcom, and viewers were already accustomed to religious anthologies of a more dramatic bent (i.e. Insight). Mr. Angel (Reiner) granted random, ordinary folks wishes, and if that sounds remotely familiar, well, ABC went back to that particular well, but with a more dramatic, supernatural bent, not too long after Heavens went off the air with the original Fantasy Island. Of course, it might've helped that Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television) actually collaborated with Aaron Spelling on Fantasy Island, since Heavens was one of their bazillion failed properties.
Nearly a decade later, the idea of an angel on earth was revisited, again with a dramatic touch, but this time, over at NBC, when Michael Landon replaced Little House on the Prairie with Highway to Heaven, which lasted a few years. And, then, there was Touched by an Angel, over at CBS. Enough said.
Gilmore Box serves up the intro to Good Heavens:
Bear in mind, of course, that CPT had also sold ABC a delayed follow-up to Bewitched, but misfired by having Tabitha experience a major growth spurt to adulthood, by-passing her teenage years. Small wonder, then that Tabitha lasted a full season and no more. It looked like the days of the fantasy sitcom were coming to an end....!
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3 comments:
Belatedly:
This show was announced for ABC's Fall 1975 schedule, with a different title, Everything Money Can't Buy, and a different lead, Jose Ferrer.
ABC was having a regime change, and their schedule underwent numerous changes before the fall kicked in; Everything … was dropped outright at some point, but the producers promised to make some changes, keeping the project alive.
Recasting Mr. Angel proved problematic, though; ABC wanted a Name, but no Names were available (or affordable) on such short notice.
Ultimately, Carl Reiner, who had taken over as showrunner, took over the part himself.
As it played out, Good Heavens turned out to be nothing more than a placeholder, as so much of ABC's slate turned out to be that season.
Hadn't heard of the prior working title. 1975 did give ABC some hits with "Barney Miller" and "Welcome Back, Kotter", the former a mid-season replacement at the start of the calendar year.
Belatedly (continued):
The Everything Money Can't Buy pilot with Jose Ferrer has just turned up on YouTube, with guest star Brenda Vaccaro.
Just so you know ...
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