Pilot Episode
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Pilot Episode
- Usage
- Public Domain
- Topics
- Fibber McGee and Molly, Classic TV
Fibber MCGee And Molly Pilot Episode
- Addeddate
- 2008-03-28 21:43:22
- Color
- color
- Identifier
- FMAM_TV_PILOT
- Sound
- sound
comment
Reviews
Reviewer:
Mortimer Snerd
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
December 6, 2011
Subject: Sorry, but i LIKED this!
Subject: Sorry, but i LIKED this!
As a person who has a family connection with the fibber & molly show, I have to say that though this is not Jim & Marion Jordan, I doubt anyone could have done better filling their big shoes. I've loved fibber & molly since finding out about the old radio show in the 1980's. Then, i became even more in love with it when i found out my grandpa's cousin, Gene Carroll, played "Lena the maid" for several episodes on the radio show, when the character of their maid "Behula" got it's own show.
I have 733 fibber & Molly radio shows & love them!! Don't compare these 2 with Jim & Marion while watching this, & you'll see they really did a fine job. It's kind of like when, on the waltons tv show, john boy came back from the service, played by a different actor. It took a few episodes to get used to the change, & at first i was not pleased, as i was used to the original, but then i got to liking the new one. Same here. Once i stopped making comparisons, i started enjoying them, & find them very appealing in the roles. {JMHO}
I have 733 fibber & Molly radio shows & love them!! Don't compare these 2 with Jim & Marion while watching this, & you'll see they really did a fine job. It's kind of like when, on the waltons tv show, john boy came back from the service, played by a different actor. It took a few episodes to get used to the change, & at first i was not pleased, as i was used to the original, but then i got to liking the new one. Same here. Once i stopped making comparisons, i started enjoying them, & find them very appealing in the roles. {JMHO}
Reviewer:
swing and sway one on one with sammy kaye
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
April 10, 2011
Subject: your wrong you don't know the whole story
Subject: your wrong you don't know the whole story
the greatest enterainers of the 20th centrey were
jimmy durante joe e brown great gildersleeve
and the king of them all FIBBER MACGEE AND MOLLY
now molly was an ALCAHOLIC and was SICK VARY OFFTEN by 1949 when televion was just taking hold thay went to televion now between 1955 and 1960 MOLLY BECAME VARY VARY ILL AND COULD NOT GO ON RADIO OR TELEVION SO THAY CANCULED IT A FEW MONTH LATTER MOLLY MARIAN JORDON DIED OF HER ILLNESS JIM JORDON FIBBER MACGEE KEEP PERFORMING AS A GUEST STAR ON VARIOUS PROGRAMS UNTILL BETWEEN 1963 - 1970 IT WAS 1980s THE KILLED THE REMEMBRENCE OF FIBBER MaCGEE AND MOLLY
IT WAS THE STONE THAT KILLED THE GIANT
THERE FORE TO HELL WITH TELEVION TO HEVEN WITH RADIO THE STONE IS THE SMALL BOX WITH GLASS THAT MELTED YOUR MINDS RADIO WAS THE GIANT IT KEEP YOUR MIND THINKING AS I SAY TO HELL WITH TELEVION
SO YOUR WRONG MOLLY GOT SICK AND COULDENT GO ON AND SHE DIED
SENCERLY AUSTIN K
jimmy durante joe e brown great gildersleeve
and the king of them all FIBBER MACGEE AND MOLLY
now molly was an ALCAHOLIC and was SICK VARY OFFTEN by 1949 when televion was just taking hold thay went to televion now between 1955 and 1960 MOLLY BECAME VARY VARY ILL AND COULD NOT GO ON RADIO OR TELEVION SO THAY CANCULED IT A FEW MONTH LATTER MOLLY MARIAN JORDON DIED OF HER ILLNESS JIM JORDON FIBBER MACGEE KEEP PERFORMING AS A GUEST STAR ON VARIOUS PROGRAMS UNTILL BETWEEN 1963 - 1970 IT WAS 1980s THE KILLED THE REMEMBRENCE OF FIBBER MaCGEE AND MOLLY
IT WAS THE STONE THAT KILLED THE GIANT
THERE FORE TO HELL WITH TELEVION TO HEVEN WITH RADIO THE STONE IS THE SMALL BOX WITH GLASS THAT MELTED YOUR MINDS RADIO WAS THE GIANT IT KEEP YOUR MIND THINKING AS I SAY TO HELL WITH TELEVION
SO YOUR WRONG MOLLY GOT SICK AND COULDENT GO ON AND SHE DIED
SENCERLY AUSTIN K
Reviewer:
Sportell
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favorite -
November 21, 2008
Subject: Lackluster...
Subject: Lackluster...
This is VERY lacking. I love to listen to the old radio shows and get a good laugh from them. The show however, has none of the snappy patter the radio shows had. This doesn't even hold up that well by 1950s sitcom standards. If this pilot is an example of the rest of the series, I can see why it didn't last. Oh well, you can't win them all.
Reviewer:
Dodsworth the Cat
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favorite -
November 11, 2008
Subject: Yikes
Subject: Yikes
What a misbegotten mess. The charm and characterisations of the old radio show is completely missing here. And the fun, too.
Hal Peary, who was Gildersleeve on radio, acts like Gildersleeve, but he's supposed to be Mayor LaTrivia. There's none of the word minsunderstandings or built-up frustration of the LaTrivia radio character here.
Doc Gamble doesn't engage in a put-down contest with McGee. Bill Davenport, a fine television writer (who came from radio), completely misses the characters.
The talented wife of Elliott Lewis and some guy who seems to have been cast because his voice is the same timbre as Jim Jordan's are talking a mile a minute, with very little that's clever to say.
It's a shame director Bill Asher and the producers didn't approach this show the same way Asher did with I Love Lucy .. adapt some radio scripts and film in front of a studio audience using interior sets, though it wouldn't have worked well in this episode's plot which called for outdoor sets.
Fibber McGee and Molly could have worked on TV. But not like this. And it didn't.
Hal Peary, who was Gildersleeve on radio, acts like Gildersleeve, but he's supposed to be Mayor LaTrivia. There's none of the word minsunderstandings or built-up frustration of the LaTrivia radio character here.
Doc Gamble doesn't engage in a put-down contest with McGee. Bill Davenport, a fine television writer (who came from radio), completely misses the characters.
The talented wife of Elliott Lewis and some guy who seems to have been cast because his voice is the same timbre as Jim Jordan's are talking a mile a minute, with very little that's clever to say.
It's a shame director Bill Asher and the producers didn't approach this show the same way Asher did with I Love Lucy .. adapt some radio scripts and film in front of a studio audience using interior sets, though it wouldn't have worked well in this episode's plot which called for outdoor sets.
Fibber McGee and Molly could have worked on TV. But not like this. And it didn't.
Reviewer:
TimL2009
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favoritefavorite -
May 31, 2008
Subject: FM@M on TV
Subject: FM@M on TV
If you didnt have a legacy of a 24 year hit radio show to follow, this show might have made it 2-3 years on it's own..It was just made too late..Wihout at least the writing talents of Don Quinn, this show just doesnt make it..We do see the talented Charles Lane as the Trailer Salesman.
Reviewer:
lancelotlmg -
favorite -
April 23, 2008
Subject: Video Killed the Radio Stars
Subject: Video Killed the Radio Stars
NBC hollowed out of one of radio's truly great artworks--Fibber McGee and Molly--and turned it into a cuckoo-clock for a couple of woodpeckers. The radio show worked thanks largely to the genius of Jim and Marian Jordan and their writer, Don Quinn. In that never-never land, an unemployed oaf and his patient but spirited wife could weave wondrous spells over the Vaudeville Troupe that danced into their imaginary realm every week. But on television, they have left Oz, and the magic simply does not work. This is not the first TV pilot for Fibber McGee & Molly, Time magazine's archives reveal that the Jordans made their own pilot in the fall of 1949--one that is apparently lost to the ether. While their fellow top 10 radio stars all made a successful transition to the little screen, the Jordans did not. There is no factual account anywhere as to precisely why. I'd like to believe that the Jordans recognized that their characters simply would not work in the harsh diode rays of video-- as this dismal ghost show proves. No amount of canned laughter can animate characters that depend solely on clever wordplay. The Jordans chose instead to stick with radio. But as a result, by the 1970s they were forgotten - undeservedly so. If you want to enjoy the fun, go to the Old Time Radio section of the Archive and listen to pretty much any Fibber McGee and Molly between 1939 and 1952. Nevertheless, I'm glad this video exists on the archives, but only to lay bare the shadows between video and audio artform. Don't watch, listen--Fibber McGee and Molly live yet!
Reviewer:
Technicolor_Is_Good
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favoritefavoritefavorite -
April 4, 2008
Subject: Meh
Subject: Meh
Pretty average and forgettable, If not terible.
Reviewer:
Robin_1990
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favoritefavoritefavorite -
March 29, 2008
Subject: Legendary TV Flop isn't as bad as claimed
Subject: Legendary TV Flop isn't as bad as claimed
Ok, maybe it's because I've never heard the radio version, But I honestly don't see how this is one of the worst TV shows ever. Debuting on NBC on 15 September 1959 and was cancelled on 19 January 1960 (Remember, "My Mother The Car" ran for over 7 months before being cancelled), This series is often mentioned as one of the biggest flops of the 60's (The same decade that produced such duds as "My Mother The Car", "It's About Time", "Barley Charlie" and "Rango"). However, Just like "My Mother The Car", this is really just a mediocre sitcom that people had high hopes for (I've seen "My Mother The Car", and it isn't quite as bad as claimed).
Now, This show might of been a hit in 1950, But by 1959 Television had become much more sophisticated, as shown by "The Twilight Zone". It's corny, silly and dumb, But unlike "Petticoat Junction", It takes itself too seriously to be really good.
Still, It's always nice to see another 50's sitcom, Even if it's not very good.
Now, This show might of been a hit in 1950, But by 1959 Television had become much more sophisticated, as shown by "The Twilight Zone". It's corny, silly and dumb, But unlike "Petticoat Junction", It takes itself too seriously to be really good.
Still, It's always nice to see another 50's sitcom, Even if it's not very good.
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