ABC develops Geico Cavemen sitcom (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=19152

ABC should do a little research of most SNL skits-to-movies: what's funny in small doses doesn't hold up when stretched to full length. I'll try to keep an open mind this early, and refrain from telling the ABC suit who greenlit this that his momma's so easy, a caveman could do her.

 

[ScottH]

What's funny about that comment is that wasn't there an SNL skit a few years back where Phil Hartman played a caveman lawyer?

 

[Greg_S_H]

Yep! If Inspector Hammer! shows up in this thread, you'll see it!

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> What's funny about that comment is that wasn't there an SNL skit a few years back where Phil Hartman played a caveman lawyer?

Yeah, one of the best recurring characters ever: Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.

But it's hard to say how well it would have worked expanded to a half hour.

I wonder how this new show will explain how the cavemen got to the modern era.

 

[ThomasC]

This show will be so dumb, a caveman could write it.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I hope they don't even try, unless maybe in a theme song sequence.

 

[joshEH]

So, what's next?

"Unpimp ZeeAuto -- THE MOVIE"?

 

[chuck_b]

Maybe an idea of what the series could be like:

http://cavemanscrib.com/

 

[Brent M]

Just when I thought "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" was the worst idea for a TV show ever, this disaster is announced.

 

[ScottH]

The worst part is the commercials aren't even funny.

 

[seanOhara]

Speak for yourself. "I'll have the roast duck with mango salsa." "And I'm not hungry." Brilliant.

I hope they get Talia Shire to reprise her role as the psychiatrist.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Holy shit please tell me that ain't really her.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

"It's my mother. I'll put her on speakerphone."



And am I the only one who remembers It's About Time, the time-travel sitcom from Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz? This one-season wonder debuted in the fall of 1966 and was originally about two astronauts who travelled faster-than-light and ended up back in the days of the cavemen. When ratings proved disappointing by the half-season mark they revamped the show and had the astronauts return to the 1960s with the caveman family they had befriended in tow. So not only did they anticipate the Unfrozen Cavement Lawyer sketch and the Geico ads by 40 years, in a way they blazed the trail for Escape from the Planet of the Apes.

The show had a better cast than the premise warranted, including upcoming and veteran comedy talents like Herb Edelman, Joe E. Ross and Iomgene Coca. (Coca played a cavewoman called "Shadd". In the pilot she was called "Shagg". The name was changed for the regular episodes when someone told Schwartz what "shag" meant in British slang, but the pilot was left intact. There probably wasn't the time or money to fix it, or Schwartz decided it would too distracting if every use of her name in the pilot was obviously dubbed. And dubs were almost always obvious given the technology of the time.)

This is one of those 60s shows whose theme song still rattles around in my head...

"It's about time
It's about space
About two men
in the strangest place
It's about time,
Cavemen, too.
About a time
When the Earth was new..."

Regards,

Joe

 

[seanOhara]

It is.

 

[Holadem]

The first was a riot. The delivery of "I don't have much of an appetite" just kills me.

But the rest got increasingly lamer. I would quit while I was ahead.

--
H

 

[Greg_S_H]

There were a couple before that. One of them showed a caveman playing a baby grand while the Geico ad aired. Another had a caveman working on the set when the commercial was made:

"So easy, a caveman can do it!"

"WHAT? NOT COOL!"

"Sorry! I didn't know you were here!"

I like some of the newer ones. The airport people mover, with the Norwegian song playing, is one of the best. Oh, yeah, and the Bill O'Reilly parody. That guy nails BOR's mannerism and speaking style.

 

[Dave Mack]

Always loved Talia.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Now that I know it's her, I watched it again and thought, "How did I not know it was her?"

 

[Johnny Angell]

I've loved these commercials. "I'll put her on speaker" always cracks me up. Chances are, the sitcom will be a bust, but I think its worth a try, it could be brilliant.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Have there been any other TV shows based on commercials in the past?