Comedy Theatre is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC in the summers of 1976 and 1979. The episodes consisted of unsold television pilots for situation comedies.
The practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year – far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series – created a sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired.[1] Packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer provided television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them.[1] Comedy Theatre was one of these series, aired by NBC in the summers of 1976 and 1979,[2] and it consisted of unsold pilots for situation comedies.[2] Stars appearing in the series included Danny Aiello, Herschel Bernardi, Red Buttons, Harold Gould, Arte Johnson, Rose Marie, Larry Storch, and Carol Wayne.[2]
Comedy Theatre ran for six episodes over the course of seven weeks in the summer of 1976, airing on CBS from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday evenings.[2] It premiered on July 26,[1] and its last episode aired on September 6.[2] During its 1976 run, each of its episodes included two unsold pilots, the first airing at 8:00 p.m. and the second at 8:30 p.m.[2]
After a hiatus of nearly three years, Comedy Theatre returned in the summer of 1979, this time in a 30-minute format which aired a single unsold pilot in each episode.[2] Broadcast from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday evenings, it first aired on May 24, 1979 in this new format and ran for six episodes over six consecutive weeks.[1] It left the air for good after its last episode on June 28.[2]
According to one source, an unsold pilot called "Uptown Saturday Night" originally was scheduled for broadcast on Comedy Theatre on June 21, 1979, but was pulled from the schedule for unknown reasons.[2] According to another source, "Uptown Saturday Night" aired as stand-alone special at 8:00 p.m.on June 28, 1979, immediately before the final episode of Comedy Theatre.[3] Starring Cleavon Little, Adam Wade, Don Bexley, Starletta DuPois, and Julius Harris, "Uptown Saturday Night" told the story of the owner of a moving business who finds his work so stressful that he decides to marry for money.[3]
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