WLS Channel 7 - America 2100 (Complete Pilot, 1979)
0 views • Sep 18, 2023
Here's the full episode of another failed pilot, America 2100, which aired over WLS Channel 7. In its theme, it was a forerunner to such shows as Futurama, plus being in the vein of Woody Allen's comedy "Sleeper."
The premise (such as it is): Two down-on-their luck comedians, Chester Barnes (Jon Cutler) and Phil Keese (Mark King) are freezing to death in a Fargo, ND hotel, and in trying to keep warm, end up both asphyxiated to death and then cryogenically frozen - leading to a state of suspended animation for the next 120 years, after which they find themselves in outer space in a community controlled by a computer, MAX (Sid Caesar), in which children are assigned jobs at age 6; and dealing with Dr. Karen Harland (Karen Valentine, ex Room 222) who tries to orient them towards 22nd-century ways while they try to teach her about how life was in the 20th century.
Some commercial breaks are deleted.
Includes:
Station ID with Fahey Flynn previewing Eyewitness News at 10pm
Preemption notice for Laverne & Shirley, with clip thereof (voiceover by Ernie Anderson)
Prologue with setup of show premise, and opening titles with credits:
Executive Producers: Austin Kalish and Irma Kalish
Cut directly to Act I, with opening credits:
Produced By Gary Menteer
Written By Mark Rothman & Lowell Ganz
Directed By Joel Zwick
Commercial: Freshen-Up gum
Commercial: Ken-L Ration Tender Chunks dog food - with James Whitmore
Promos for Eight Is Enough for Wednesday at 8:00pm (7:00pm Central) and for Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley beginning Thursday at 8:00pm (7:00pm Central) (voiceover by Ernie Anderson) (ending voiceover by Wally Parker)
Animated ABC ID with lower-third WLS ID
Act II, which sees Dr. Harland coaxed into fancy hoofing (and our boys escaping another pickle)
Ending credits (after main cast) with voiceover promo (by Wally Parker) for Eight Is Enough for Wednesday at 8:00pm (7:00pm Central) and for Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley for Thursday starting at 8:00pm (7:00pm Central), and coming up - Three's Company:
Supervising Producer - Don Silverman
Associate Producer - Stephen Cragg
Director of Photography - Meredith Nicholson, A.S.C.
Art Director - John Vallone
Film Editor - Douglas Hines, A.C.E.
Unit Production Manager - Norm Gray
Assistant Director - Bob Graner
Second Assistant Director - Don Buccola
Set Decorator - Rich Reams
Technical Coordinator - Phil Perez
Script Supervisor - Dorothy Aldworth
Assistant to Austin & Irma Kalish - Nancy Rogow
Costumes Designed by Al Lehman
Women's Costumer - Justine Brady
Men's Costumer - Bob Campbell
Make-up - John M. Elliott
Hair Stylist - Charlene Johnson
Music Editor - Chips Swanson
Sound Editor - Bruce W. Schoengarth
Recorded by Glen Glenn Sound
Casting by The Ellison/Gartzman Company
Music by Jonathan Tunick
Copyright (C) MCMLXXIX by Paramount Pictures Corporation - All Rights Reserved
Arim Productions, Inc.
In Association With
Paramount Television - A Gulf + Western Company
ABC "Still the One!" promo with key stars including Dick Van Patten of Eight Is Enough, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams of Laverne & Shirley, and Henry Winkler of Happy Days, up in the air in inflatable balloons (ending voiceover by Ernie Anderson)
This aired on local Chicago TV on Tuesday, July 24th 1979 during the 7:30pm to 8:00pm timeframe. [Trivia Note: The T.V. Show - another failed pilot, which was witness to the birth of the faux rock group Spinal Tap, aired later that same night.]
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