John Hall Baumann and Associates (that's who the e-mail said it was from) wrote to ask…
IMDb lists you having written "unknown episodes" of Pryor's Place. How many did you write? Of these, how many aired?. I have no recollection of this children's show. Is there a good reason for that?
In 1984, Sid and Marty Krofft and CBS persuaded Richard Pryor to do a live-action Saturday morning show for kids. Mr. Pryor, who then was near the peak of his movie stardom, had a powerful desire to do something to "give back" and make some effort to assist young folks with the struggles and lessons of life. Most of the episodes were based on Richard saying, "Let's do a show on so-and-so," and "so-and-so" was some topic where he felt he had something to say.
It turned out that while he did have something to say about each topic, it was only a sentence or three…so the rest of the half-hours were filled with comedy and dramatizations about the issue…and puppets. Yes, puppets. A young actor named Akili Prince played Richard as a kid and then Richard played several different characters in Little Richie's neighborhood.
There were many good things about doing a kids' show fronted by Richard Pryor, one obvious one being that it got attention that would not have been there with a lesser star. Another was that every star in show business wanted to appear on a show with Richard Pryor even if it meant working for scale. Among those folks were Robin Williams, Sammy Davis Jr., Rip Taylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Scatman Crothers, William Marshall, Lily Tomlin, Pat Morita and Henry Winkler.
One of the episodes that I wrote guest-starred Marla Gibbs, Willie Nelson, Ray Parker Jr. and John Ritter. We had a tiny problem with Mr. Ritter who wanted very much to do the show…until he got his script and discovered all his scenes were with Little Richie and not with Richard. A short scene had to be added — one which had nothing to do with the plot of that episode — so Ritter could play a second role and have some camera time with Pryor.
Downsides? Well, Richard was not the most reliable fellow in the world and he had an odd concern about being too funny. The episode with Ritter and the other guests was about Little Richie overcoming stage fright to appear in the school play, a production of Romeo and Juliet. I'd suggested Pryor might have some valuable advice to dispense to kids about having the courage to appear before an audience. It was only the foundation of his entire success in life.
When the idea was run past him (not by me), he sparked to it and I was given the go-ahead to write the script. In a key scene, it's just before opening night and Richie — dressed in full Romeo regalia — has a panic attack and runs from the auditorium. He flees to the alley where Bummer more or less lives. Bummer was a homeless guy, one of Pryor's recurring characters.
As written, Richie admits his cowardice and Bummer says, "You ain't a coward. You're one of the bravest cats I've ever seen." Richie asks what makes him think that and Bummer replies, "I sure wouldn't have the guts to walk around this neighborhood dressed like that." Everyone thought that was a funny line…even Pryor, who laughed and then insisted it be cut from the script.
I have had bizarre moments in my career but few as bizarre as standing in Richard Pryor's dressing room, listening as others (not me) argued for it and Pryor said, "It's too funny and I'm not doing this show to be too funny. I can be too funny on other shows. I'm doing this show to talk to kids and teach them something." I still don't quite understand that but he axed lines from other episodes for the same reason.
The other problem with Pryor was that he had a short attention span. As he was doing this show, he was simultaneously prepping a somewhat-autobiographical movie he'd direct called Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling. After taping six or so episodes of our series, he suddenly announced he wanted to devote full time to the movie and wouldn't do any more episodes of Pryor's Place until he'd finished the film. The contract with the network required that thirteen be delivered in just a few months from then.
Various folks explained, begged, pleaded, threatened, cajoled and otherwise — finally! — convinced him to come back and finish the thirteen in time. But he felt he'd said what he wanted to say to kids and so doing more was a dead issue. As it turned out, the ratings were good but not great…and even if they'd been through the proverbial roof, he wasn't doing any more.
The show was nominated for a bunch of Emmys but only won two — for Art Direction and Costume Design. Pryor and Tomlin were both up for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Program but were beaten by John Carradine. The writers (Lorne Frohman, Paul Mooney, S.S. Schweitzer and me) were beaten by Mister Rogers. And the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series went, as it usually does, to Sesame Street.
The show went on the air on September 15, 1984. For some reason, Wikipedia and other online sources say it went off in December but it really left the CBS Saturday morning schedule the following June. Most or all of the episodes were available for a time on VHS but as far as I know, they've been seen nowhere else in this country. I have not received a residual check for it since the end of the Reagan Administration.
Finally, to answer your questions: I wrote two of them, both of which were filmed, both of which aired multiple times. I was not involved with the show's creation or development. It was created by my buddy Lorne Frohman and Sid and Marty Krofft. I was just called in to write what I wrote, primarily working with a very fine gent named Carl Kleinschmitt, who along with the whole Krofft team deserved a lot of credit for what was good about Pryor's Place.
I suspect the show hasn't gotten more attention because although I think a few of them are on YouTube, there's really been no place to see it for over thirty years. That's what happens to a lot of shows that only have thirteen episodes.
