Buttmunker

Who has seen this? I viewed it for the first time last night on YouTube (what a wonderful thing to have in our life), and was fairly impressed - with Tim McIntire as "Richard" (later played by Rob Reiner and named "Mike"). Richard was a blonde haired Irishman, otherwise known as a "Mick" by Archie.

Richard was played a little more nasty than Mike was - Mike, at least, kept a neutral tone of rationality until he got fired up. Richard, on the other hand, was just nasty and had no patience for Archie. However, it was very interesting to watch.

Has anyone else seen the pilot, which was called "Justice For All?"

rfduncan

This may not be accurate but FWIW:

Buttmunker

I read somewhere that Richard Dreyfuss campaigned hard to get the role of "Mike Stivic," but Norman Lear was set with Reiner for the role. I can imagine Dreyfuss, however, with his manner of arguing.

rfduncan

HUG-H

Justice For All (1968)
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Those Were The Days (1969)
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All In The Family (1970)
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Was this the first-ever taped TV series?

Tracer Bullet

No.

HUG-H

Really? What was it then?

Wikipedia does say this:


All in the Family was the first major American series to be videotaped in front of a live studio audience. At the time, sitcoms were shot with multiple cameras on film in front of an audience (like Mary Tyler Moore and The Dick Van Dyke Show), and the 1960s had seen a growing number of sitcoms filmed on soundstages without audiences, with a laugh track simulating audience response. After the success of All in the Family, videotaping sitcoms in front of an audience became common format for the genre during the '70s. However, the use of videotape also gave All in the Family the look and feel of the classic sitcoms of early television, which had been performed live before a studio audience (including the original live broadcasts of The Honeymooners, to which All in the Family is sometimes compared).

Tracer Bullet

Doctor Who was shot on videotape from the start of its run in 1963. That's just off the top of my head.

Chew

HUG-H doesn't have the qualifier, but Who doesn't contradict the Wikipedia article: "first major American series".

Tracer Bullet

Oh, I know, but I was answering his original question.

HUG-H

^MY bad--I was only thinking of shows here in general. I had really never seen in detail any of the early Dr. Who shows except they used to show it here in CT on PBS and I did catch one in the late 80's, but I should have been more specific.

Buttmunker

Norman Lear's father called Norman "the laziest white man he knew." But his old man must have been wrong because Norman did not just one pilot and failed, not just two pilots and failed, but three! Talk about perserverance! How many pilots can one do rejection after rejection?

Numanoid

So set that he shot two or three pilots without him!