Buffalo Bill

We have all had television shows that we really liked and didn't make the cut for various reasons.
Usually, it seems that those shows are science fiction or at least one-hour-long dramas that never were given a chance to grab a foothold with an audience.
Most of the time, it's due to scheduling or a network's impatience, but sometimes it's just a mistake...

Brandon Tartikoff was the programming wizard for NBC during their dominant run in the 1980s and the late Tartikoff wrote in his memoirs that his biggest regret was canceling Buffalo Bill in 1984.

What was Buffalo Bill?
A show that ran for two years with 26 episodes that was truly decades ahead of the era that televised it.
Dabney Coleman starred as Bill Bittinger,a local Buffalo television host who lusted for a national audience but was frustrated at being a local celebrity with little chance of advancement.
Coleman made a career of being an irascible heel in films and movies as he did here, but the remarkable thing about Buffalo Bill was that he wasn't a lovable rogue with a heart of gold underneath like so many of the first 40 years plus on television.
No, Bill Bittinger was utterly without morals and was completely ruthless.
Rarely would Coleman's Bittinger even hint at anything resembling a heart and when he did, it was so faint that it would come and go with the next episode returning the foppish bad guy as always.
That character was the forerunner of "Gregory House" and so many others on television where the bad guy could do good work, but still be an awful person.

Buffalo Bill also had wonderful character actors with Joanna Cassidy (best known for her role in Blade Runner) as Jo Jo, the show's director, and occasional Bill love interest, Max Wright as Karl Shub the disconcerted station manager (Best known as Willie Tanner in Alf), Meschach Taylor in the control booth as Tony (Best known for Designing Women), Charlie Robinson as Newdell the makeup man (Best known for Night Court, right after Buffalo Bill), John Fiedler as Woody the stage manager (Best known for voice work and several guest appearances on 60's and 70's TV) and the first full time appearance of Geena Davis as Bill's idealistic assistant Wendy, well before her film career.
All of these folks blended in for a seamless show that flowed and I found it downright hilarious.

I bought the entire show on DVD a few years back as it's all in one volume and wasn't that expensive and it was well worth the few dollars.
The lovely Cherie and Rachel watch much of my collection constantly (and a few of their own that I'm not a fan of), but Buffalo Bill doesn't make their rotation and I'm not sure why.
It could be an acquired taste, I suppose, but maybe it just isn't everyone's taste for a comedy.
Most of the shows from this age with the full-on nasty characters (as the show's center, that is) are in one-hour shows, it seems, so maybe it doesn't relate to the interests of comedy viewers as often?

In any event, I loved it and they could have done so much more with it had it been stuck with.
Imagine Bill getting a chance at a larger market and crawling back or Bill bemoaning another person at the station getting a show like his.
And you could have even been ready for co-stars leaving as people could be brought to WBFL or even send Bill to another station with one or two other remaining co-stars.

It's also fun to play the "What IF" game with Buffalo Bill.
How long would Geena Davis stuck with the show and how would it have changed her career?
How would "Alf" have looked with someone else as Willie Tanner?
Would "Night Court" have been as funny without Mac as the court clerk?
I didn't really watch "Designing Women", but Meshach Taylor was the main male presence on that show, I'm sure someone else in that role would have changed the dynamic some.

In any event, give Buffalo Bill a try-I'm not sure if the streaming services have it or not, but the DVD set likely won't cost you a mint (Amazon's charging 13 bucks, so fifty cents an episode is well worth it) or count against your mortgage.
It wears well in the 30-plus years since it's airing and that isn't always the case with older shows!

Thanks for reading and some fun stuff coming up over the next few days.
Boxing challenge, the Pigskin Picking Machine, Cleaning out the inbox with a non-sports edition, boxing ratings, and tonight-by request, my take on the Jemele Hill ESPN issue, which might not be fun, but hopefully interesting...