Friday, April 19, 2019

What Might've Been: Friends & Lovers (1974)

Tony Award winner Paul Sand had been impressive appearing on The Carol Burnett Show & The Mary Tyler Moore Show, such that the latter's production company gave him his own show.

Unfortunately, that act of charity didn't take Sand as far as anyone might've hoped.

Friends & Lovers (aka Paul Sand in Friends & Lovers) was given a cushy perch on CBS' Saturday schedule, hammocked in between All in The Family & Moore. With the creative pedigree of Allan Burns & James L. Brooks, how did it possibly fail?

Sand played a bass violinist, Robert Dreyfuss, who was shy and awkward with women. Insofar as viewers were concerned, being a sharp contrast to the politically charged humor of All in The Family made them turn away from Sand and flip back for Moore afterward.

At home, Emergency! was the choice, so I never watched the show, and can only guess. We'll leave you with an intro:

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