tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16749171.post8590308068583505292..comments2024-03-28T06:41:02.100-07:00Comments on The Rap Sheet: Pilot Error: “Crime Club,” 1973J. Kingston Piercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073921191624535912noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16749171.post-84489671804930089672013-01-08T14:24:57.924-08:002013-01-08T14:24:57.924-08:00Thanks for the plug, JKP. If I'da known to exp...Thanks for the plug, JKP. If I'da known to expect company, I woulda cleaned up a bit. :)Marty McKeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05516468586469252914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16749171.post-19932362394008552092013-01-07T11:10:45.144-08:002013-01-07T11:10:45.144-08:00Thanks, Marty for correcting me about the two Crim...Thanks, Marty for correcting me about the two Crime Club pilots. It does help if you have actually watched the shows, doesn't it.<br /><br />Anthologies usually had rating problems in the 70s (except for Police Story) as did the wheel (rotating stars shows, Search flopped, Name of the Game was a success). It is impossible to guess where the series would have gone from "Broadcasting" or even the pilot. But making Crime Club a wheel show would have been fun to watch.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812924049258701715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16749171.post-42956099902947226482013-01-06T21:39:13.148-08:002013-01-06T21:39:13.148-08:00I've seen both and liked both. I reviewed the ...I've seen both and liked both. I reviewed the pilots on my website:<br /><br />http://pimannix.tripod.com/id51.html<br /><br />It's not true the two Crime Clubs had nothing to do with each other. They both have the same premise, just different casts. Probably both series would have been anthologies of a sort, since the pilots are set up that way. Not exactly anthologies, but more like series with rotating leads like NAME OF THE GAME and SEARCH. I can see why a risk-averse network might pick SHAFT (with its original star) and a remake of the popular PERRY MASON to take to series, but I think CBS would have had more success with CRIME CLUB.Marty McKeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02084642122976337263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16749171.post-15140262945243689132013-01-06T17:33:34.207-08:002013-01-06T17:33:34.207-08:00I had not seen Crime Club, so I hit my favorite re...I had not seen Crime Club, so I hit my favorite research spot for that period, "Broadcasting" magazine.<br /><br />The December 18, 1972 issue lists Crime Club as one of CBS's 23 pilots to possibly become a series in the fall of 73. It was the only CBS pilot of 90 minutes. 12 of the 23 pilots were half-hour sitcoms. Fred Silverman was working at CBS then and the network relied heavily on the half hour form. The two crime/mystery pilots that went series instead of Crime Club (and Call To Danger) were Shaft and The New Adventures of Perry Mason.<br /><br />Interestingly, Crime Club was listed as a proposed Crime anthology. I wonder how involved Bridges would have been if the pilot went series. I actually like the idea of a crime club with each week featuring a different member, but I doubt the ratings would have approved.<br /><br />I doubt you are surprised that the other Crime Club had nothing to do with the first. Bridges version was a CBS TV Production and the other was an "action adventure" for Universal.<br /><br />It is not uncommon for pilots to have the same title but not be connected. There is more than one TV series called Shannon. There is the pilot Fat Man that has nothing to do with the radio series or movie with the same name.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812924049258701715noreply@blogger.com