Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Origin of a Classic: A Day in The Life of Wilbur Pope (1958)

George Burns' loss was Filmways' gain.

Burns, you see, had produced an early pilot for what would become Mister Ed, but his 1958 pilot, A Day in The Life of Wilbur Pope, with Scott McKay in the title role, didn't sell. Allan "Rocky" Lane voiced Ed here, too. Scope.

Edit, 12/11/2020: The video has been deleted. In its place is a screencap of Mister Ed:


Filmways co-produced the pilot, then made a few tweaks, including changing the human lead to Wilbur Post (played by Alan Young), and the rest is history.

No rating.

2 comments:

Mike Doran said...

Actually, George Burns didn't lose anything here: the Filmways deal was a partnership, in which Burns maintained equity for the whole of Mister Ed's TV run.
Also:
It was George Burns who personally picked Alan Young for the part of Wilbur Post.
Burns's quote at the time: "He looks like someone a horse would talk to."

(Confirmed by a couple of books about the series.)

hobbyfan said...

The things you learn. Thanks, Mike.