Catch-22 (Complete Pilot, 1973)
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- čas přidán 30. 12. 2016
- Here's a failed pilot for a proposed TV series version of the 1970 Mike Nichols film "Catch-22" that aired on the ABC Network (and thus, via WLS Channel 7 in Chicago) on Monday, May 21st 1973 as part of a block of other ultimately unsold (or "busted") pilots (under the banner of "Comedy Trio") that also included "The Barbara Eden Show" (which co-starred Joe Flynn, Roger Perry, Moosie Dryer and Pat Morita) and "The Karen Valentine Show" (starring the perky "Room 222" co-star and "Match Game" panelist Charles Nelson Reilly).
This pilot - involving the goings-on of the 256th Squadron, stationed at Pianosa, an island off the coast of Italy ("the craziest bomber group in the Air Corps") - starred Richard Dreyfuss as lead bombardier Yossarian, with Dana Elcar as Colonel Cathcart, Frank Welker (perhaps most famous as the voice of "Freddy" on the long-running "Scooby-Doo" cartoon series) as McWatt, Stewart Moss as Korn, Suzanne Zenor as Nurse Duckett, Robert Pratt as Orr, Sam Chew as Aarfy, Nicholas Hammond (who was one of the von Trapp children in "The Sound of Music" and later the star of the short-lived 1978 live-action series version of the "Spider-Man" comics), as Nately, and J.S. Johnson as Doc Daneeka.
The plot starts off with Yossarian (in a voiceover) glad he's not on the latest mission, instead heading back to his girlfriend, Ginger McDougal, back home, after landing his plane at Pianosa to refuel, having completed 30 missions - but his co-pilot's tour of duty is just starting! As Yossarian notes, Pianosa is a loony bin with a commanding officer who loves to play with toy soldiers, which segues into the opening titles.
Next, Yossarian and McWatt are over the Mediterranean, with the pilot tied up - literally. Then we see Col. Cathcart and his aides in the war room, trying to prepare for General Dreidel. McWatt is particularly reckless in trying to land their plane, finally ending up in the water - and the rescue mission about to give a medal meant for a fallen soldier, Gruber. The Colonel plans on celebratory music consisting of a Cole Porter medley to honor Yossarian with a medal for his latest mission - but Yossarian, intent on returning home, intends to refuse to accept it - and wants McWatt grounded from future missions because he's crazy. At the ceremony, Yossarian is about to be given his medal when Gruber's plane shows up.
This is shown without any commercial breaks.
I wonder if the primary reason for ordering this Pilot was to see if ABC could replicate the success of CBS' M*A*S*H?
Ending credits:
Richard Dreyfuss as Yossarian
Dana Elcar as Colonel Cathcart
Frank Welker as McWatt
Stewart Moss as Korn
Suzanne Zenor as Nurse Duckett
Robert Pratt as Orr
Sam Chew as Aarfy
Nicholas Hammond as Nately
J.S. Johnson as Doc Daneeka
Music Composed and Conducted by Neil Hefti
Produced by Richard Bluel
Written by Hal Dresner
Based on the novel by Joseph Heller
Directed by Richard Quine
A Paramount Television Production
Copyright (C) MCMLXXIII by Paramount Pictures Corporation
All Rights Reserved
Ending "zooming Paramount" logo
This aired on local Chicago TV on Monday, May 21st 1973 within the 8:00pm to 10:00pm timeframe.
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Thanks for posting this -- what a stinker! I doubt Richard Dreyfuss has ever lost any sleep over this being canceled.
OMG, OMG, OMG!!! I've been looking in vain for this somewhere, anywhere for nearly 45 years!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
Sharing the excitement! Exactly what I needed and it came to stay! Opposies united. Again! And again!!! ❤ Art and beauty.
Sadly, it was abandoned because the creators didn't have any experience with TV, and they couldn't get any experience in TV without first being in TV!
Talk about a Catch-22 . . . however, I suppose it was fortunate for Richard Dreyfuss, given his subsequent role in the 1975 "Jaws" film . . .
Imagine him being stuck in this for a successful run instead of becoming a movie star, winning an Oscar, etc.
"It was abandoned because the creators didn't have any experience with TV, " Ah, that explains why it's good.
Thanks for making this available. Love the book, enjoyed the movie. This was...truly awful.
After this, Richard Dreyfuss made American Graffiti, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Wow, I'd never even heard of this until I saw mention on Wikipedia of the pilot of this show. Thanks for posting it here!
That's Frank Welker flying the plane at the beginning. By this time he was already the voice of boyfriend FRED on SCOOBY DOO! Many years of voiceover work since then.
it's cool to see frank welker in one of his few non-voice acting roles
Once you get over the idea of catch 22 as a sitcom it is strangely endearing watching Dreyfuss play yossarian
Alan Arkin could at least pass for Armenian Yossarian.
@@KJ-xc6qs Al Pacino is the only other actor that I can think of for that role. Dreyfuss isn't above it all...and he was 26, waay to young to play a man about to go home.
Yossarian was tall. Dreyfuss...not so much.
This is like taking a PERFEFCT PIECE OF ART... and throwing it into the toilet and hanging back on the wall....
An oddity ... laugh track is excruciating. No wonder it didn't pick up ... impossible to sustain the MASH level manic comedy over a series.
Yep. The only thing worse than canned laughter...is canned laughter that doesn't know WHICH jokes to punch!
The blockbuster hit American Graffiti had been filmed but not yet released in May,1973 when this pilot for Catch-22 was broadcast. Richard Dreyfuss had his first exposure in a starring role when American Graffiti was released in August,1973 and less than a year later he was at work in the role of oceanographer Matt Hooper in the mega-hit Jaws being filmed on Martha's Vineyard.
What year was Dreyfus the lead in "The apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" ? I think that was his first lead role and it must have been prior to this steaming pile.
I hope none of these actors put a down payment on any furniture with their proceeds from this pilot.
Fascinating!
Always wanted to see this, as I think the film is a masterpiece (and I'm a WW2 warplane nerd). Couldn't see how it could be adapted to T.V....and this pilot proved it.
Some thoughts:
- Thought (like 'M.A.S.H') they might have filmed on the incredible movie set in Mexico, but no.
- Seems like they only had use of one B-25 from the film - the one in battle dress. The other worked as a camera platform (hence the odd nose glass).
- Almost all the flight footage (minus the scenes at the obiviously Cali airstrip set) is, as you'd expect, outtakes from the film. There was a ton of it, apparently.
omg, catch 22 with a laugh track, F TROOP WW2 style...
It's not hard to see why this pilot wasn't continued with.
My GOD is this wrong-headed!
I bet Richard Dreyfuss would like to forget this one.
I would like to be able to forget that Richard Dreyfuss ever existed.
Dreyfuss does much better on boats than planes
Always.
He needs a bigger plane
Even Hefty Neil's music can't do much for this turkey.
Whoa never knew this existed.
Inspired by MASH but executed like F-Troop. Amazing artifact.
That’s some great flying
MASH it ain't.
Don't remember this one. Must have missed it watching Bye Bye Black Sheep.
😂🎉 me too, I love that show
A young Richard Dreyfus
Is just as terrible as an ancient Richard Dreyfuss.
shoot me said Yossarian after seeing this
As did Joseph Heller.
I never heard of this before, thanks for posting it. It’s just as awful as everyone is saying. It looks like they used the same locations as the movie. I hope Heller was well compensated for this.
I remember this
Only good part is young Frank Welker🥺
wow this is so bad it's actually good the scary thing is if it could have made it a few more episodes it probably would have been
No follow up?
That's criminal!!
Karen Valentine I don't think was on Match Game. But she was on The Hollywood Squares.
I don't think Charles Nelson Reilly appeared on "Room 222" - or did he?
No, he didn't.
Kinda like Hogan's Heros of the Army Air Force.
Probably downed by the cost of the airplanes. How often can footage be recycled?
This is why war pictures are always about the infantry.
Filmways co-produced the movie and it would have been interesting to see them co-produce the TV version of Catch-22 as well - the closing logos for the pilot would have featured Richard Dreyfus saying "this has been a Filmways presentation" over that company's iconic globe logo (in its last season of use during spring 1973) followed by an "in association with" screen then the 1972 PTV logo with the bombastic marching band version of Lalo Schifrin's "Color ID"
it would be another 22 years before we saw Filmways and PTV together at the end of a TV show - syndicated prints of The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction from 1995 using the CGI Mountain of Monotony
Looking forward to mini-series Catch 22 producing by George Clooney, looks amazing.
I like Clooney, but I can just about guarantee you he won't pull it off. If Mike Nichols could only do it sporadically at the top of his game, Clooney won't be able to very much at all.
Clooney's "Catch-22" miniseries couldn't hold a candle to Mike Nichols' film.
Replying on 07/15/2023. Clooney's Catch 22 turned out to be the best of all of them.
they turned the book into a sitcom. not good
The B-25s directional stability doesn't seem to be the best in class - needed very good piloting for bombing runs it seems.- that twin tail seems to get a lot of prop-wash going on.
Do you have a copy of the Barbara Eden Show? I'd love to see that...
Not bad, but a little too "screwball." I can see why it wasn't picked up.
Man ... you got that right ! .... screwy for sure !
That was entertaining. I would have watched the series, had there been one.
Richard Dreyfuss
Dana Elcar
I think the one that looks like Anthony Perkins is Stewart Moss.
Looks like all the plane footage was left over from the movie
i wonder if georg clooney watched this
imagine comparing this to the MASH tv show. why bother.
My god. This is awful.
Laugh tracks were so obnoxious weren't they?
Way too much artistic license
ok so colonel cathcart is kinda composited with schiesskopf here :/
Be sure to read Complete Pilot review on my blog before you buy. Go to *tonyreviews. com/complete-pilot-review/* Thanks. Creighton.
We don't care about your reviews,get over yourself.
I don't know what you're selling, but I'm not buying it.
Seems like the good old days of tv…shame they didn’t make it better the flying shoots suck or poorly done..
I hate that stupid canned laughter. It really ruins it.
wow , this did not work well at all.
Who played Milo ?
actually not bad at all..😂
Jesus, what a God awful idea this was
YO wtf is this
Is the pipe smoker Niedermeyer from Animal House?
It's Dana Elcar. He played on MacGyver as Pete Thornton and Dark Shadows and Black Sheep Squadron as Col Lard.
@@deborahdow3401 I meant the guy who played Aarfy - It wasn't Niedermeyer.
@@deborahdow3401 dana elcar played col cathcart
Personally, I'm glad that this bombed. Dreyfuss came across as very obnoxious, and it looks as though the writers never even thumbed through the book. I'm just glad that no one ever tried to adapt 'Slaughterhouse 5' as a sit-com...
its like Hogans Heros but shite
Terrible!
glad this never happened. the pilot isn't funny at all.
This is really bad.
Richard Dyfuss was terrible, unwatchable.
Dreyfuss was fine for a sitcom - he had a lot of experience guest starring in them back then & could have carried a show easily. It's the script & direction that are lacking.
I don’t think you can blame Dreyfus for this monstrosity.
I’m not even sure how MASH was a comedy. Catch 22’s initial chapters are played for spoof, but by the end of the book the idiosyncratic nature of global war, poverty and corporatism is laid bare, and it’s decidedly unfunny.