The San Pedro Beach Bums is a 1977 American sitcom that aired on ABC. It is about five carefree young men living together on a houseboat in San Pedro, California. The 90-minute pilot, titled The San Pedro Bums, originally aired on May 13, 1977. The main series aired from September 19 to December 19, 1977.
Contents
Cast
Christopher Murney as Buddy Binder
Stuart Pankin as Anthony "Stuf" Danelli
John Mark Robinson as Ed "Dancer" McClory
Darryl McCullough as Moose Maslosky
Jeff Druce as Boychick (pilot only)
Chris DeRose as Boychick (weekly series)
Louise Hoven as Louise
Susan Mullen as Suzi Camelli
Lisa Reeves as Margie
Kristoff St. John as Ralphie
Nancy Morgan as Julie
Synopsis
Five young men, who had been friends since high school, discover an abandoned boat in the harbor at San Pedro, California. Taking possession of the boat, they rename it Our Boat and decide to live on it as a houseboat.
Buddy is the streetwise leader of the group. Dancer is the shy, fidgety friend of the group. Stu is an intellectual and also a compulsive eater. Moose is large but simple-minded and gentle. Boychick is a ladies man.
Calling themselves The Bums, the group goes on adventures as they live on Our Boat.
Production
On May 13, 1977, ABC broadcast the pilot for The San Pedro Beach Bums, a 90-minute TV-movie titled The San Pedro Bums, which told the story of the "Bums" finding Our Boat and moving onto it. Although a similar premise had not worked in the unsuccessful comedy-drama It's a Man's World in 1962–1963, ABC believed in the concept, and it picked up the show as a weekly one-hour sitcom for its fall 1977 schedule. Concerned that the use of the word "bums" in the pilot's title could be construed as negative and drive some viewers away unless softened by a more lighthearted connotation, ABC changed the name of the weekly series to The San Pedro Beach Bums. A cast change also took place, with Jeff Druce, who played Boychick in the pilot, replaced by Christopher DeRose in the weekly series.
To boost viewership for The San Pedro Beach Bums, ABC scheduled it as the lead-in for the 1977 season of the popular ABC Monday Night Football. To garner extra attention for the show's premiere in September 1977, the women who starred as the "Angels" in the hit ABC program Charlie's Angels – Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, and Cheryl Ladd – guest-starred as themselves in the episode.
Aaron Spelling and Douglas S. Cramer were the show's executive producers. E. Duke Vincent wrote and produced the pilot, and Barry Shear directed it. Episode directors were Jack Arnold, Allen Baron, Earl Bellamy, Gene Nelson, George Tyne, and Don Weis. Episode writers included Earl Barret, William Raynor, and Myles Wilder.
Broadcast history
The San Pedro Beach Bums aired at 8:00 p.m. on Mondays throughout its run. ABC broadcast new episodes weekly from September 19 to October 31, 1977, followed by one in November 1977 and two in December 1977. Despite heavy promotion, highly favorable scheduling, and cross-marketing with more successful ABC shows, The San Pedro Beach Bums never gained much of an audience, and ABC cancelled the show after the broadcast of its 10th episode on December 19, 1977. An 11th episode was made, but did not air.
Episodes
Sources