Billy and Flatbush (1979)
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Debuting February 26, 1979:
•Billy. CBS, 1979. 8/7pm Central
•Flatbush. CBS, 1979. 8:30/7:30pm Central
Billy, a hastily thrown-together Monday night replacement for Co-Ed Fever, featured Steve Gutenberg as a Walter Mitty type that worked at his dad’s funeral home. Each episode would feature two fantasies, some of which would feature celebrity appearances. Also starring Peggy Pope, James Gallery, and Paula Trueman. An adaptation of Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall’s 1960 British play Billy Liar and their 1973-74 TV series of the same name.
7 episodes filmed with laughtrack added.
Then it was those five guys from Flatbush! Presto, Socks, Turtle, Joey and Figgy were ‘The Fungos’, working-class gabagools living in the mostly Italian neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn. Wait…The Lords of Flatbush as…a sitcom? Mamma mia! Joseph Cali, Adrian Zmed, Randy Stumpf, Sandy Helberg, and Vincent Bufano starred in this Lorimar sitcom filmed on the MGM backlot. As Alice’s Linda Lavin remarked in CBS promos, “Now that’s quite a come-on.”
Writer Dennis Palumbo told Bob Leszczak for his book on Single Season Sitcoms, “I kept trying to imagine our guys as the Italian Marx Brothers. I was going for that manic, high-energy quality.” Brooklyn officials were quite unhappy with this show, calling it “unflattering to Italians, Jews, Hispanics, and police officers.” Joseph Cali, Adrian Zmed, Randy Stumpf, Sandy Helberg, and Vincent Bufano starred in this Lorimar sitcom filmed on the MGM backlot. It was taken off the air after three episodes, leaving three unaired.
Both shows were called “inexcusably infantile in situation, dialogue, acting and production” by the New York Times. Both sitcoms seem to have disappeared into their respective studio black holes, although episodes of Billy are out there on bootleg DVD.
Both sitcoms seem to have disappeared into their respective studio black holes, although episodes of Billy are out there on bootleg DVD for those that look.
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