A friend passes on the ad for an unbought pilot proposed for the 1980 television season. I love thinking about this. And thinking about it some more.
But not as much as I love thinking about “Heil Honey, I’m Home,” which actually got made. It’s a 1990 British sitcom about Adolf and Eva and their wacky relationship with the Jewish neighbors they were trying secretly to kill. Watch this excerpt if you dare:
Lord Karth says: You have convinced me, once and for all, that the inmates have not only broken out of their cells, but have, in fact, been running the asylum for years. It doesn’t look like they’re getting any better, either.
Perhaps I shall change my screen-name to “Wonko the Sane”. After I finish building an Asylum, of course.
Your servant,
Lord Karth
Saint Andeol says: if only that whole Holocaust kerfuffle hadn’t ruined Hitler’s Neilsen marketability, we’d have hundreds of episodes of this show in synidcation by now.
. . . too soon?
math_geek says: I managed to watch the sitcom clip until the bit where the Jewish husband is helping himself to cigars. Get it? Because he’s Jewish!
Ugh.
I know some people find this unintentionally funny, but it just makes me cringe.
Oh, that’s glorious! Here’s a whole collection of lost TV pilots.
A Los Angeles cop volunteers for a futuristic experiment: His new partner is half robot, half dog. The two are able to communicate via the microchip implanted in the cop’s brain.
The poster is displayed alongside, and bears the tagline,“Man’s best friend, crime’s worst enemy”.
Sam M says: This is why I always cringe when people complain that the culture today is hopelessly lost. More lost than when? Remember BJ and the Bear?
John E_o says: I watched the whole episode via YouTube, it had a lot of potential. Heck, Mel Brooks has been proving for years that making fun of Hitler can be hilarious.
While interwebbing about this series, I ran into another lost gem:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Diary_of_Desmond_Pfeiffer
The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer is an American sitcom that aired on UPN in 1998. Before it was even debuted, the series set off a storm of controversy because of a perceived light-hearted take on the issue of American slavery.
Story
A black English nobleman named Desmond Pfeiffer (the “P” IS silent) is kidnapped by his enemies and sent to America on a slave ship. He eventually becomes President Abraham Lincoln’s valet. In the show, he serves as the intelligent and erudite backbone of a Civil War-era White House populated by louts and drunkards.
1 “A.O.L.: Abe On-Line”
Lincoln engages in “telegraph sex” with a woman he’s never seen. October 5, 19982 “Up, Up and Away”
Desmond, Nibblet and the President wind up trapped behind enemy lines after a freak accident with an observation balloon, and President Lincoln must dress in drag to escape Southern territory. Meanwhile, General Grant tries sobriety.
David J. White says: Here’s a YouTube video of the promo for the new shows for the upcoming 1969-1970 TV season on NBC, hosted by a very uncomfortable-looking Joe Garagiola and Hugh Downs.
And just think: this lineup is what NBC canceled Star Trek for.
jaybird says: @MEH. Wow, I have not heard that in probably 30 years. God, I love the internet.
If you follow Japanese animation, this kind of bad tv is the new normal.
Like “Axis Powers Hetalia,” which the history of the world is told in five minute segments with pretty boy and girl characters representing the nations. Some episode summaries:
#3
WWI is over, but Italy won’t quit pestering Germany. In fact, with WWII right around the corner, Italy pledges his undying devotion to his gruff friend, and a delightful Axis of Bromance is born.
#11
In the climax to the Chibitalia sub-storyline, Holy Roman Empire gives the younger Italy the ultimatum: Will he become the new Roman Empire with him or not? Later on, in 1940, England finds that he still has friends outside of the Allies to count on to cheer him up…
#44
Switzerland tries to teach Liechtenstein self-defense. In other segments: Japan finds America’s strange desserts photograph-worthy, while Canada (in more of Fly, Canada-san, Fly!) tries to tell America off but fails.
There are 4 seasons and movies of this. Fans write erotic fan fiction hooking the nations up together. You’d wish it was only elephants.
MEH 0910 
I used to have an early 70s issue of MAD that featured a parody of “All In The Family, where one of Archie’s “old war buddies”, Adolph Hitler, comes to stay with The Bunkers. It even had one of those flexi-discs where they had actors read the dialogue from the panels… I remember Adolph refers to himself as “#1 Mischief-Maker”.