"Poor Devil" is one of the strangest TV pilots I've ever seen, with a plot that just seems as if the folks behind it were smoking wacky tobaccy! After all, it was a proposed series about a demon whose job it is to get folks to sell their souls to Satan!! Seriously!
When the story begins, Sammy (Sammy Davis Jr.) is a demon working in the furnaces in Hell as punishment for being so incompetent. However, when he find out about a seemingly easy case, he somehow convinces the Devil (Christopher Lee) to let him go to Earth to sign up this loser, Burnett Emerson. The rest of the show consists of Emerson and Sammy having various adventures as he tries to get this schmuck to sign a document giving his soul to Old Scratch.
Emerson is played by Jack Klugman, as Klugman just finished filming "The Odd Couple" and it would be another year before he began starting in "Quincy". Adam West is his boss...and he's pretty funny as well.
So was it any good? Well, the acting was pretty good...and the story NEVER is dull. I also appreciated how there was no laughtrack...a pitfall too many sitcoms fall into because it's just lazy and traditional. So, while it was reasonably interesting and well made, it also has a serious problem....as I cannot imagine many folks back in the 1970s watching a show about Satan...especially where he and his minions are heroes, of sorts. I can definitely see why the network wasn't keen on this!! But it is never dull and is interesting...so you might want to check YouTube for it (it's currently posted). Just understand that it isn't the greatest print. Plus, oddly, it's actually a variation on "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"!! See the film and see how it's similar!
When the story begins, Sammy (Sammy Davis Jr.) is a demon working in the furnaces in Hell as punishment for being so incompetent. However, when he find out about a seemingly easy case, he somehow convinces the Devil (Christopher Lee) to let him go to Earth to sign up this loser, Burnett Emerson. The rest of the show consists of Emerson and Sammy having various adventures as he tries to get this schmuck to sign a document giving his soul to Old Scratch.
Emerson is played by Jack Klugman, as Klugman just finished filming "The Odd Couple" and it would be another year before he began starting in "Quincy". Adam West is his boss...and he's pretty funny as well.
So was it any good? Well, the acting was pretty good...and the story NEVER is dull. I also appreciated how there was no laughtrack...a pitfall too many sitcoms fall into because it's just lazy and traditional. So, while it was reasonably interesting and well made, it also has a serious problem....as I cannot imagine many folks back in the 1970s watching a show about Satan...especially where he and his minions are heroes, of sorts. I can definitely see why the network wasn't keen on this!! But it is never dull and is interesting...so you might want to check YouTube for it (it's currently posted). Just understand that it isn't the greatest print. Plus, oddly, it's actually a variation on "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"!! See the film and see how it's similar!