Good point! I'm sure there would have been some crossover episodes if ABC had picked this series up, since they did crossover episodes tween Batman & Green Hornet.
Holy Underwear, Batman! Thanks for uploading this unsold pilot. I had NO idea of it's existence until I read an online bio of veteran character actor Victor Buono.
@@Neville60001 That would explain why Tom never saw it. I'm not surprised it didn't get picked up by any of the networks. It's OK....but no great shakes. Producers I suppose were replying on the popularity of the comic strip, which actually was past its prime by the late 60s.
@@jubalcalif9100, the show (along with the pilot for the Wonder Woman show also made by Greenway Productions) actually didn't last because the brief fad of adapting characters like these into live action started by _Batman_ was fading fast ( _Mr. Terrific_ and _Captain Nice_ , two programs spawned due to the popularity of _Batman_ , had both failed, _Green Hornet_ only lasted a season, and the Wonder Woman pilot was crap, so this show was already DOA as far as being on air and succeeding [the _Blondie_ TV show that did air a year after this one was a failure for the same reason I mentioned above, plus changing times.])
This Greenway Prod/20th Century Fox Television pilot was originally supposed to be for NBC, but they passed on it at last minute. This was actually a well-produced version of "DICK TRACY", and especially under the creative hands of Executive Producer William Dozier, It might've made a great TV series, especially after UPA's animated 1961 TV series, which was too cartoony, but Filmation Associates later did a better and more accurate version of Chester Gould's creation for "ARCHIE'S TV FUNNIES" in Fall 1971. The "TRACY" pilot also featured the late, great, Victor Buono as "Mr. Memory", and it gave this effort some impressive class! And, using the music of The Ventures, who performed "Walk, Don't Run" in 1960, and later on, the theme to "HAWAII FIVE-O" in 1968, was also a smart move, and the mystery over Eve Plumb, who only appeared in the opening credits some three years before becoming "Jan Brady" on ABC's "THE BRADY BUNCH", also raised some interesting questions!
Also, in the scene where Dick Tracy is showing Junior the picture of the criminal on his video screen, is actually Stanley Ralph Ross, who wrote several episodes of "BATMAN", (and also appeared as "Ballpoint Baxter") and later went on to develop "WONDER WOMAN" for Television at Warner Bros. He was also the voice of characters on ABC's "CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS" in 1978 (as the voice of Gorilla Grodd), and later on as the voice of "Perry White" in Ruby-Spears' animated "SUPERMAN" series in Fall 1988.
It is disappointing, is it not, that none of the three networks gave this series a shot. Included in the pilot were several nice touches, most notably the ingenious model ship in Tracy’s room. Fine, too, was the surprisingly well choreographed fight scene between Tracy and Mr. Memory’s henchman. Speaking of Mr. Memory, Victor Buono - King Tut in William Dozier’s Batman - brings a distinctive sort of menace to his part. On the downside, it’s a pity the show’s opening theme seems rushed and lacks the necessary ‘60s ear-worm quality. Finally, where’s Eve Plumb when we need her most?
The scripts written for the first six shows featured favorite villains like Noseless, Princess Hillbilly, Shoe Face, Zirconia Jim, The Sphincter, Double Dave, and Lee Harvey Oswald, Jr. It would have been a banger!
Actually this would have been a better companion series then Green Hornet IMO. The pilot was really good, but a little more tweaking and this series would have gone places (and probably lasted longer than Hornet).
By the time that this pilot was to have aired, TV was changing, and the fad for TV shows based on comic books and comic strips was fading away fast, just like the spy craze was; nobody would've cared to see this show going into 1968, 1969, and 1970 (and the 1968 _Blondie_ TV show was a failure, with it only lasting 13 episodes; the demise of the _Blondie_ show shows long a _Dick Tracy_ show would've lasted.)
I liked Hornet myself.I had a neighbor so obsessed with The Green Hornet he was talking it two years after it was cancelled as if it still aired .This was with more humor than The Green Hornet but not as campy as Batman.I would have ditched the vocals in the theme music myself.
Any Dick Tracy show that doesn't focus on his grotesque villains is going to fail. This program needed Flattop, Pruneface, the Mole or one of those other weirdos.
Really Cool! Would have been watched by me then as series! along with the Green Hornet & Batman! & if Wonder Woman was also picked up! This actually was done filmed in October '66! after a long process starting at the beginning of the year! Finding actors rights clearances story scripting etc! So think mid 1960's! Totally love it! From Cool opening credits to closing! It has the right exciting pacing while being realistic! Also love the incorporation of gadgetry along with the hint at a Virtual way to interface with a computer etc! and the Cool set Electric current & way to listen to music etc! I'd compliment more but don't want to make for a spoiler comment! But the ones that did Batman & Green Hornet team made another well done show and this is the exciting pilot, so it would have been able to develop well if picked up etc! A shame for condition of visuals like a grade 7 video tape all fuzzy and blurry , I have to look away to give eyes a break but this should be sourced and put out on DVD restored to perfect sharpness, but glad its at least up!
@@CaptainSpalding72 The following is for those that aren’t ignorant! The whole idea in fact was to reflect a comic magazine in real life so this always was well done with Batman & The Green Hornet so it made sense to also follow with that theme when the Dick Tracy pilot was made, love the gadgetry!, and also what’s actually a demonstration film, Wonder Woman ’66, which were just done to give an idea of the basic look of the main characters so they were only 5 -7 or 8 minutes long as don’t forget the ones making the decisions had to watch 100’s of these demonstration films and on occasion a pretty well done pilot that could actually have been used to start the potential series off which is why you can see the difference in a shows aired pilot and the rest of a series that made it to TV like Lost In Space, with suggestion to add a robot and Dr. Smith, The Brady Bunch etc! So I like this Dick Tracey Pilot that even could have had a young Eve Plumb in it or not if sold as to keep to the time frame the kids scenes were cut out of main body of show for time, plot & commercials etc! Also the Wonder Women Demonstration film that also had Alice Ghostley who was on every show in 1960’s and who was also the mother in Captain Nice with William Daniels as also Mr. Terrific which had a recasting for aired episodes from the original pilot also aired at the same time! So I was glad to have these fun shows to watch when new! & this is where the show Worlds Greatest American Hero copies from! The prior 2 mentioned series done just for fun! And it would of been nice if the 2 shows the rough as in edited Dick Tracy & The Wonder Woman short demonstration film segment would have been perfect as to being like a comic character come to life and considering how most comics did things that humans can’t really do in real life that wasn’t an easy task! So I like any of these prototypes of shows that may have only been a rough done and edited for time along with the intentionally short demonstration films pilots! I think there should be a station that just shows all these rare gems and obscure TV Series even if some people don’t have a clue about them and the importance too! Etc! Etc. So William Dozier, others, did a great job!!
Never was a Dick Tracy fan, but this has Dozier's fingerprints all over it. I love the use of colors. Middle 60's to mid 70's had the greatest color splashes. Dick Tracy, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, etc. Cool time for TV.
Lon Chaney, Jr. underwent makeup testing to portray Pruneface. Leon Janney would have been cast as Flattop (although his depiction made that an informed look).
Loved this episode. Reminds me of Batman. Could've been successful. But one thing they would have to change is the the theme song. I think it's one of the worse I ever heard. "He's a good cop". Hilariously bad. 😂
NBC passed on this because the whole craze for superheroes/comic strip heroes that came up in the wake of _Batman '66_ was now dying off ( _Green Hornet_ only lasted a season, the Wonder Woman pilot made by Greenway failed to interest anybody, _Mr. Terrific_ and _Captain Nice_ both failed), so NBC wasn't interested in this (although CBS did put on-briefly-a 1968 TV series based on the _Blondie_ comic strip.)
@@Neville60001 As I do when I take off my hat, you make a good point! Most people don't remember that as huge as the superhero craze was, "Batman" only lasted two seasons. I was a kid at the time so I well remember that TV superhero and secret agent fad of the 60s. As you pointed out, "Green Hornet" was nowhere near as popular as "Batman" & only lasted one season. I do recall watching the short lived "Mr Terrific" and "Captain Nice" as a youngster back in the day.
If they would sold the pilot with a Dick Tracy villain instead of unknown like Mr. Memory the show would've had a least a couple of seasons. But enjoyed this nonetheless.
They may have been trying to save money on the character rights for the pilot. Producers would try and cut corners where they could when making them. Some seasons you could see as many as a hundred new shows being pitched to the networks in the old days, but only a handful would be picked up. If the series had gone forward I'm sure we would have seen classic Tracy villains make it to the screen.
@@cologeek, there's _no way_ this show was ever going to get picked up; the changes in society in the late 1960's were mitigating against this show (or the Wonder Woman show from the same production company) ever getting made and being shown in a prime time slot (the failure of the 1968 _Blondie_ live action TV sitcom was a great example of why this _Dick Tracy_ show was never going to get made.) Another factor in this show, the _Wonder Woman_ show and the _Blondie_ show failing was the fact that these characters appealed to older people and children, neither of who TV networks wanted as patrons (the whole impetus behind the Rural Purge was the getting the [advertising] dollars of and eyeballs of younger people, which is why many TV shows catering to older people like _Petticoat Junction_ were canceled in this purge; no doubt _Blondie_ , the Wonder Woman pilot and the _Dick Tracy_ pilot were thought of as appealing to older and child viewers, which is [possibly] why there eventually only was a _Dick Tracy_ cartoon, the 1968 _The Adventures Of Batman & Robin_ cartoon, and the appearance of Batman and Robin-played by the same voice actors that were in the 1968 cartoon-on the _Super Friends_ TV show.) Don't believe me? Even James Bond wasn't immune to this kind of thinking, which is why George Lazenby only did one James Bond movie, _On Her Majesty's Secret Service_ ; he believed that the Bond movies were going to be considered too unsophisticated for the coming decade of the 1970's, and that more adult, mature roles/movies were going to be the norm (he was partially right, as movies like _Carnal Knowledge_ , _Five Easy Pieces_ , __Last Tango In Paris_ , and a few others, were what dominated the movie screens in the early-to- mid '70's, with TV shows like _All In The Family_ being what people expected to see on TV [the one movie that was like all of these '60's shows, _Doc Savage: The Man Of Bronze_ failed at the box office when it was released in 1975, because it was as campy as the _Batman_ TV show was.]) All of what I mentioned was why this pilot wasn't picked up.
Mr. Memory is enjoying a comeback of sorts. Mike Curtis and Shelley Pleger are re-visiting Mr. Memory for a current story arc in the Dick Tracy newspaper comic strip. And it's pretty darn entertaining so far.
Seeing his return in strip form led me back to watch the pilot again after many years. Still entertaining. And Mike Curtis has done a fantastic job in bringing back characters from the films and tv since he took over the strip.
Indeed! The only names I recognized in the cast were veteran character actor Victor Buono (Mr Memory) and Eve Plumb (who became best known for TV's "The Brady Bunch").
Well I'm glad it's not full on moonminded. And the theme song isn't that dreadful; it's the Ventures who've never not done a slapper. It's just too much Batman to warrant its own show
You bring up some very valid points. Yes, I am SO glad they didn't include all that silly "moon" stuff that was part of the comic strip in the 60s. We always subscribed to the local newspapers all thru my 60s childhood & I would read the Dick Tracy strip every day. Even then, I assumed the comic strip authors used the "moon people" gimmick to entice younger audiences. And I never did like it. It had little to do with Dick Tracy solving crimes. Became rather "soap opera-ish".
Great line, delivered by the bad guy? " I wonder who will be the VICTOR. " As delivered by the incomparable VICTOR BUONO. (The writers being a bit punny?)
I agree 100 per cent. It's all rather ho hum & generic. Only gimmick are the various characters from the long running Dick Tracy comic strip, which wouldn't have meant much to youngsters in the late 60s.
@@ApeLikeCreature I guess if I would have waited through the credits I would have seen that that's exactly who it was. But I asked the question as it first started and it was kind of one of those "hey!" moments
Neither Davison nor Plumb appeared in this pilot. Strike right there. Was there a Mr. Memory in the Tracy strip? My search on DuckDuckGo turned up nothing outside this pilot. Another strike. Should have gone with Big Boy (the numero uno in the Tracy rogues' gallery) instead. How long did it take us to be introduced to Tracy? Major strike. We know through the announcement at the end that there was a clear plan to title all episodes "The Plot to (commit core offense)." Not a particularly good idea to have tit after the closing credits, if at all. Makes the 20th Century Fox closer that much more jarring. Three strikes already, but this is the key strike. Tracy is out.
Mr. Memory was created expressly for the tv pilot. He has now appeared in the current continuity of the comic strip. Mike Curtis (the current writer) has introduced previous characters Cueball and Gruesome from the 1940's films to the strip as well.
I think the voiceover of William Dozier was a strike too. He was the Narrator in the Batman series, introduces the Green Hornet, and now does the tagline for Dick Tracy. Don't think they should of had the lift to get to the laboratory. Just go down a stairway or through a door would be okay. Music incidents in the scene is too close to the Batman-Green Hornet music. Dick Tracy's hat went in and out like Batman and Green Hornet. Might be strikes there. I thought they should have had a black character like Ebony with Lizz from the comics.
The theme song is this show is bad,but funny,fun fact: this show made in Batman "style,in 60s ,just as Batman "movie in 89,Dick Tracy followed,same composer Elfman,like Billy May of the 2 shows.
It Should Have Been A TV Series To Premiere March 17,1967 On NBC At 9:30 PM As A Midseason Replacement For T.H.E. Cat, After Daniel Boone At 7:30 PM And Star Trek At 8:30 PM And Before The Man From U.N.C.L.E. At 10 PM It Had This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,National Association Of Broadcasters SEAL OF GOOD PRACTICE Television Code,RCA Sound Recording,AMPTP.
NBC. Tripped up. If it came up today someone would have grabbed it for a starter and built on it. A few bugs but I think it was just in sink for the time period..
Wow. There was going to be a campy Dick Tracy tv show. This show could have been going on if they put the known rouges like flattop, pruneface, lips manlis, influence, big boy, mumbles
It looked to be the happy midpoint between the utter straightness of the Green Hornet and the utter camp of Batman. But the pilot here was the equivalent of the fourth COVID jab.
@@jubalcalif9100 From what I heard,the owners to the character of the Green Hornet told William Dozier they wouldn't allow him to make a show as corny as Batman.I had a neighbor so obsessed with The Green Hornet he was talking about the show two years after it was cancelled.
Yes, the late 60s Camp phase was fading out fast and a late term pilot wasn't going to make it with the prime time fade out anyway. As you know, the "Bond" and SF shows were fading too...Next try for Camp, the mid 70s....
After reading most of the comments and watching nearly all of the video, here are my thoughts: THE ABSOLUTE LAMEST THEME SONG I have heard in quite a while. The lyrics come across as very last minute by a 6 year old child. The series itself seems to be in a grey area between Batman's campiness and Green Hornet's serious crime fighting. Compared to GH it looks like it's on a stricter budget. Folks need to keep in mind that sometimes the " PILOT " episode is not the first one shown if a series goes into broadcast. Given the many elements, this video had good " bones " but they were not very co-ordinated. Finally, WTF were those " hoops " on the one law enforcement car? Were they mounts for something that would be utilized by Dick or his cohort in later episodes?
IIRC the "hoops" were supposed to be part of a disguise system for Tracy's car. It was going to be a "gimmick car" like the Batmobile and Black Beauty. And while the lyrics on the themesong were definitely cringeworthy the tune was pretty good. But I'm a big Ventures fan so there's some bias there. And I agree, there were some good bones to build a Dick Tracy series, and Ray MacDonnell would have made a great Tracy. Too bad it didn't go forward
Wow...this is every bit as terrible as I expected. Should've used the Brow, Flattop & Mumbles as villains instead. But thanks for posting this curiosity.
NBC On Friday Night On St Patricks Day On March 17,1967, Here Is Is On NBC Fridays, 7:30 PM Daniel Boone In Third Season,And Second Year In Color On Friday Nights,As Well As Went Up Against The Comic Book Vigilante Hero Heard On Radio.The Green Hornet And The Time Tunnel On ABC,And The Wild Wild West On CBS, 8:30 PM Star Trek Which Replaced The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,Went Up Against The Second Half Of The Time Tunnel And Rango On ABC And Hogan's Heroes And The First Half Of The CBS Friday Night Movies On CBS, 9:30 PM Dick Tracy New TV Series Starring Ray McDonnell As Title Character,Replaced T.H.E. Cat In Midseason Series Aired Against The Double Life Of Henry Phyfe On ABC Starring Walter Brennan As A Veteran Spy,And The Second Half Of The CBS Friday Night Movies On CBS, 10:00 PM The Man From U.N.C.L.E. In Third Year And Second Year In Color On Friday Nights,A James Bond Spy Spoof Action Adventure Series Starring Robert Vaughn And David McCallum Went Up Against The Avengers Spy Series From England On ABC And The Second Hour Of The CBS Friday Night Movies On CBS,Dick Tracy Would Carry Walther PPK 32 Automatic In Bianchi Left Hand Model 100 Strongside IWB Holster Used As A Right Hand Strongside Clip On Holster On Right Hip,With 32 Colt Detective Special 2 Inch Barrel Revolver In Bianchi Left Hand Inside Pant Holster Used As Right Hand Crossdraw Clip On Left Hip Holster ,He Would Carry A Tommy Gun With A Clip,He Would Wear A Light Blue Button Up Shirt With Pleats Size 15 1/2 ,Red Striped Necktie,Black Gabardine Two Button On Right Side Blazer Size 42,Black Gabardine Dress Jeans Waist 34 Large 32,Black Military Style Belt With Gold Buckle,He Would Be Part Throw Away The Book And Part By The Book,He Would Make His Own Rules And Follow The Rules,He Would Wear A Yellow Fedora And Khaki Trenchcoat,He Would Dress Like Who Is Part Joe Friday,Part Elliot Ness,Part James Bond,Part Maxwell Smart,Part Joe Mannix,Part Lieutenant Columbo,Part Archie Bunker,Part Dirty Harry,Part Buford Pusser,And Even Paul Kersey In Way Who Says Movie And TV Titles Or Actors Names,Or Commercial Titles,Or Name Production,Or Producers Names, In Place Of Real Cuss Words,Dick Tracy Is No Lenny Bruce,He Goes After The Bad Guys,He Kills Bad Guys,Dick Tracy A Vigilante Cop,I Have Collectibles Of Dick Tracy And James Bond,I Have A Dick Tracy Belt Holster And Snubnosed 38 Pistol,And Dick Tracy Tommy Burst From Mattel And James Bond Attache Case,
St Patricks Day On Friday 1967, ABC 7:30 PM The Green Hornet IN COLOR, 8:00 PM The Time Tunnel IN COLOR, 9:00 PM Rango IN COLOR, 9:30 PM The Double Life Of Henry Phyffe IN COLOR, 10:00 PM The Avengers IN COLOR, NBC 7:30 PM Daniel Boone IN COLOR, 8:30 PM Star Trek IN COLOR, 9:30 PM Dick Tracy IN COLOR Replacing T.H.E. CAT 10:00 PM The Man From U.N.C.L.E. IN COLOR, CBS 7:30 PM The Wild Wild West IN COLOR, 8:30 PM Hogan's Heroes IN COLOR, 9:00 PM The CBS Friday Night Movies "Escape From Zahrain 1962 IN COLOR.
I have seen/heard? this a few times in books, not so much tv or movies. Either it's an affectation of the writer/scriptwriter, and/or it has something to do with the age of the child (almost always male) when they are adopted.
You have a good eye! He also played villian "King Tut" on TV's "Batman" for the same producer & studio. And plenty of other bad guy roles over the years in various films & TV programs.
RIP Ray McDonnell aka Dr.Joe Martin on ABC's long running classic soap "All My Children" from 1970 to 2011.
If ABC had picked up this show I wonder if it would had a crossover episode with Batman like Green Hornet had?
and a window gag
@@OperationFatGuy CBS could've picked it up, but hey, that's the way it is with the networks these days.. "Here today, gone tomorrow."
Good point! I'm sure there would have been some crossover episodes if ABC had picked this series up, since they did crossover episodes tween Batman & Green Hornet.
@@OperationFatGuy As a kid watching Batman in prime time in the late 60s, I loved those window gags!
Holy Underwear, Batman! Thanks for uploading this unsold pilot. I had NO idea of it's existence until I read an online bio of veteran character actor Victor Buono.
I'm 68, but missed this one as a kid. Great stuff, thank you for posting!
This pilot was never released to or shown on TV, as far as I or anybody could tell.
@@Neville60001 That would explain why Tom never saw it. I'm not surprised it didn't get picked up by any of the networks. It's OK....but no great shakes. Producers I suppose were replying on the popularity of the comic strip, which actually was past its prime by the late 60s.
@@jubalcalif9100, the show (along with the pilot for the Wonder Woman show also made by Greenway Productions) actually didn't last because the brief fad of adapting characters like these into live action started by _Batman_ was fading fast ( _Mr. Terrific_ and _Captain Nice_ , two programs spawned due to the popularity of _Batman_ , had both failed, _Green Hornet_ only lasted a season, and the Wonder Woman pilot was crap, so this show was already DOA as far as being on air and succeeding [the _Blondie_ TV show that did air a year after this one was a failure for the same reason I mentioned above, plus changing times.])
This Greenway Prod/20th Century Fox Television pilot was originally supposed to be for NBC, but they passed on it at last minute. This was actually a well-produced version of "DICK TRACY", and especially under the creative hands of Executive Producer William Dozier, It might've made a great TV series, especially after UPA's animated 1961 TV series, which was too cartoony, but Filmation Associates later did a better and more accurate version of Chester Gould's creation for "ARCHIE'S TV FUNNIES" in Fall 1971. The "TRACY" pilot also featured the late, great, Victor Buono as "Mr. Memory", and it gave this effort some impressive class! And, using the music of The Ventures, who performed "Walk, Don't Run" in 1960, and later on, the theme to "HAWAII FIVE-O" in 1968, was also a smart move, and the mystery over Eve Plumb, who only appeared in the opening credits some three years before becoming "Jan Brady" on ABC's "THE BRADY BUNCH", also raised some interesting questions!
Also, in the scene where Dick Tracy is showing Junior the picture of the criminal on his video screen, is actually Stanley Ralph Ross, who wrote several episodes of "BATMAN", (and also appeared as "Ballpoint Baxter") and later went on to develop "WONDER WOMAN" for Television at Warner Bros. He was also the voice of characters on ABC's "CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS" in 1978 (as the voice of Gorilla Grodd), and later on as the voice of "Perry White" in Ruby-Spears' animated "SUPERMAN" series in Fall 1988.
It is disappointing, is it not, that none of the three networks gave this series a shot. Included in the pilot were several nice touches, most notably the ingenious model ship in Tracy’s room. Fine, too, was the surprisingly well choreographed fight scene between Tracy and Mr. Memory’s henchman. Speaking of Mr. Memory, Victor Buono - King Tut in William Dozier’s Batman - brings a distinctive sort of menace to his part. On the downside, it’s a pity the show’s opening theme seems rushed and lacks the necessary ‘60s ear-worm quality. Finally, where’s Eve Plumb when we need her most?
Dick Tracy Would Premiere On NBC On St Patricks Day In 1967.
New York experienced a blizzard on this day.
The scripts written for the first six shows featured favorite villains like Noseless, Princess Hillbilly, Shoe Face, Zirconia Jim, The Sphincter, Double Dave, and Lee Harvey Oswald, Jr. It would have been a banger!
😂
It would've been a failure, as it was the same thing as _Batman '66_ and the Wonder Woman pilot.
In memory of Ray MacDonnell 1928-2021
I hope the big brain was on a scrambler phone. Thanks for posting, I discovered this while searching for the 1960s cartoon show, lol.
Almost has a Man from U.N.C.L.E. vibe. If this had happened a few years earlier, we'd probably have gotten a few seasons.
R.I.P. Ray MacDonnell (1928-2021)
Wow. Nelson Riddle was a work horse. That music is very Batman-esque.
Read the closing credits.
The music here was by Billy May, straight off The Green Hornet.
@@mikedoran9851 And the ending scene featured the sound effect for the Hornet Sting.
Thank you for this! Great theme song!
Actually this would have been a better companion series then Green Hornet IMO. The pilot was really good, but a little more tweaking and this series would have gone places (and probably lasted longer than Hornet).
By the time that this pilot was to have aired, TV was changing, and the fad for TV shows based on comic books and comic strips was fading away fast, just like the spy craze was; nobody would've cared to see this show going into 1968, 1969, and 1970 (and the 1968 _Blondie_ TV show was a failure, with it only lasting 13 episodes; the demise of the _Blondie_ show shows long a _Dick Tracy_ show would've lasted.)
I liked Hornet myself.I had a neighbor so obsessed with The Green Hornet he was talking it two years after it was cancelled as if it still aired .This was with more humor than The Green Hornet but not as campy as Batman.I would have ditched the vocals in the theme music myself.
Man tap on the Beta Gems icon next to the name and LOOK AT THIS GUYS PLAYLIST!!
Wow 👌 so much stuff to watch concerts and TV shows...
Any Dick Tracy show that doesn't focus on his grotesque villains is going to fail. This program needed Flattop, Pruneface, the Mole or one of those other weirdos.
Another comment mentions the villains who would’ve been in the first six episodes.
Lon Chaney Jr did makeup tests as Pruneface made by John Chambers.
Too true. There's got to be sensational opposition to make it work.
I heartily concur ! That would have been the "schtick" that would have made the series click !
Really Cool! Would have been watched by me then as series! along with the Green Hornet & Batman! & if Wonder Woman was also picked up! This actually was done filmed in October '66! after a long process starting at the beginning of the year! Finding actors rights clearances story scripting etc! So think mid 1960's! Totally love it! From Cool opening credits to closing! It has the right exciting pacing while being realistic! Also love the incorporation of gadgetry along with the hint at a Virtual way to interface with a computer etc! and the Cool set Electric current & way to listen to music etc! I'd compliment more but don't want to make for a spoiler comment! But the ones that did Batman & Green Hornet team made another well done show and this is the exciting pilot, so it would have been able to develop well if picked up etc! A shame for condition of visuals like a grade 7 video tape all fuzzy and blurry , I have to look away to give eyes a break but this should be sourced and put out on DVD restored to perfect sharpness, but glad its at least up!
Ugh. Wonder Woman was dumb campy horseshit too.
@@CaptainSpalding72 The following is for those that aren’t ignorant! The whole idea in fact was to reflect a comic magazine in real life so this always was well done with Batman & The Green Hornet so it made sense to also follow with that theme when the Dick Tracy pilot was made, love the gadgetry!, and also what’s actually a demonstration film, Wonder Woman ’66, which were just done to give an idea of the basic look of the main characters so they were only 5 -7 or 8 minutes long as don’t forget the ones making the decisions had to watch 100’s of these demonstration films and on occasion a pretty well done pilot that could actually have been used to start the potential series off which is why you can see the difference in a shows aired pilot and the rest of a series that made it to TV like Lost In Space, with suggestion to add a robot and Dr. Smith, The Brady Bunch etc! So I like this Dick Tracey Pilot that even could have had a young Eve Plumb in it or not if sold as to keep to the time frame the kids scenes were cut out of main body of show for time, plot & commercials etc! Also the Wonder Women Demonstration film that also had Alice Ghostley who was on every show in 1960’s and who was also the mother in Captain Nice with William Daniels as also Mr. Terrific which had a recasting for aired episodes from the original pilot also aired at the same time! So I was glad to have these fun shows to watch when new! & this is where the show Worlds Greatest American Hero copies from! The prior 2 mentioned series done just for fun! And it would of been nice if the 2 shows the rough as in edited Dick Tracy & The Wonder Woman short demonstration film segment would have been perfect as to being like a comic character come to life and considering how most comics did things that humans can’t really do in real life that wasn’t an easy task! So I like any of these prototypes of shows that may have only been a rough done and edited for time along with the intentionally short demonstration films pilots! I think there should be a station that just shows all these rare gems and obscure TV Series even if some people don’t have a clue about them and the importance too! Etc! Etc. So William Dozier, others, did a great job!!
@@CaptainSpalding72 This particular WW didn't get past the screen test. Just as well, too.
Never was a Dick Tracy fan, but this has Dozier's fingerprints all over it. I love the use of colors. Middle 60's to mid 70's had the greatest color splashes. Dick Tracy, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, etc. Cool time for TV.
@@tse90723
Lon Chaney, Jr. underwent makeup testing to portray Pruneface.
Leon Janney would have been cast as Flattop (although his depiction made that an informed look).
Music by The Ventures.
Nice find. Appreciated.
Receives a letter, mailed I presume, stating they will arrive "tomorrow".
No yellow raincoat?
This pilot was written by Hal Fimberg. Who created superspy Derek Flint in the Our Man Flint films.
Those two "Flint" spy thrillers starring the late great James Coburn were MUCH more entertaining than this rather silly pilot.
1:13 the old rope trip trick....works every time.
Loved this episode. Reminds me of Batman. Could've been successful. But one thing they would have to change is the the theme song. I think it's one of the worse I ever heard. "He's a good cop". Hilariously bad. 😂
I could not agree more. It's the worst TV theme song I ever heard!
At least it gives us more than "Batmannnnn! Batmannnnn!
BATMANNNNN! Batmannnnn!"
With color TV becoming the rule and not the exception in most homes, why didn't they give Tracy his yellow coat?
It really bugs me he doesn't
An excellent question !!
Why the hell would NBC pass on this gem? This show would've rocked!
Take a look at the "special guest villain" for your answer.
@@AllRequired i don't get it why would they pass on it cause of him
They fucked a good show!
NBC passed on this because the whole craze for superheroes/comic strip heroes that came up in the wake of _Batman '66_ was now dying off ( _Green Hornet_ only lasted a season, the Wonder Woman pilot made by Greenway failed to interest anybody, _Mr. Terrific_ and _Captain Nice_ both failed), so NBC wasn't interested in this (although CBS did put on-briefly-a 1968 TV series based on the _Blondie_ comic strip.)
@@Neville60001 As I do when I take off my hat, you make a good point! Most people don't remember that as huge as the superhero craze was, "Batman" only lasted two seasons. I was a kid at the time so I well remember that TV superhero and secret agent fad of the 60s. As you pointed out, "Green Hornet" was nowhere near as popular as "Batman" & only lasted one season. I do recall watching the short lived "Mr Terrific" and "Captain Nice" as a youngster back in the day.
he even has the Tracypole
Obviously a re-dress of some of the existing "Batman" sets.
@@gabrielbennett5162 As I do when I take off my hat, you make a good point !
Dick Tracy Vs. King Tut.
Indubitably! The flatfoot vs the fat man! 🤣
If they would sold the pilot with a Dick Tracy villain instead of unknown like Mr. Memory the show would've had a least a couple of seasons. But enjoyed this nonetheless.
Agreed. They should've gone with Flattop or Mr. Crime or one of the other classic villains.
@@gabrielbennett5162 Start with Big Boy.
The rogues' gallery of Tracy villains could rival Batman.
They may have been trying to save money on the character rights for the pilot. Producers would try and cut corners where they could when making them. Some seasons you could see as many as a hundred new shows being pitched to the networks in the old days, but only a handful would be picked up. If the series had gone forward I'm sure we would have seen classic Tracy villains make it to the screen.
@@cologeek, there's _no way_ this show was ever going to get picked up; the changes in society in the late 1960's were mitigating against this show (or the Wonder Woman show from the same production company) ever getting made and being shown in a prime time slot (the failure of the 1968 _Blondie_ live action TV sitcom was a great example of why this _Dick Tracy_ show was never going to get made.) Another factor in this show, the _Wonder Woman_ show and the _Blondie_ show failing was the fact that these characters appealed to older people and children, neither of who TV networks wanted as patrons (the whole impetus behind the Rural Purge was the getting the [advertising] dollars of and eyeballs of younger people, which is why many TV shows catering to older people like _Petticoat Junction_ were canceled in this purge; no doubt _Blondie_ , the Wonder Woman pilot and the _Dick Tracy_ pilot were thought of as appealing to older and child viewers, which is [possibly] why there eventually only was a _Dick Tracy_ cartoon, the 1968 _The Adventures Of Batman & Robin_ cartoon, and the appearance of Batman and Robin-played by the same voice actors that were in the 1968 cartoon-on the _Super Friends_ TV show.)
Don't believe me? Even James Bond wasn't immune to this kind of thinking, which is why George Lazenby only did one James Bond movie, _On Her Majesty's Secret Service_ ; he believed that the Bond movies were going to be considered too unsophisticated for the coming decade of the 1970's, and that more adult, mature roles/movies were going to be the norm (he was partially right, as movies like _Carnal Knowledge_ , _Five Easy Pieces_ , __Last Tango In Paris_ , and a few others, were what dominated the movie screens in the early-to- mid '70's, with TV shows like _All In The Family_ being what people expected to see on TV [the one movie that was like all of these '60's shows, _Doc Savage: The Man Of Bronze_ failed at the box office when it was released in 1975, because it was as campy as the _Batman_ TV show was.]) All of what I mentioned was why this pilot wasn't picked up.
In its entirety, even!
Even Snagglepuss couldn't have said it better !!
Would love to see a reaction video of Eve Plumb watching this. I wonder if she even remembers doing this.
Neither she nor Davey Davison were in the pilot.
Mr. Memory is enjoying a comeback of sorts. Mike Curtis and Shelley Pleger are re-visiting Mr. Memory for a current story arc in the Dick Tracy newspaper comic strip. And it's pretty darn entertaining so far.
Seeing his return in strip form led me back to watch the pilot again after many years. Still entertaining. And Mike Curtis has done a fantastic job in bringing back characters from the films and tv since he took over the strip.
🎶 Dick Tracy .. he's a good cop 🎶
That's the best theme song they could come up with? The pilot was ok but that theme song was sooooo bad!
I assume the theme song was also a demo and a work in progress!😆
Let's hope so!
Holy Eve Plumb, Batman!
And in this "blast from the past", she didn't have to worry about being a "middle" sister !!
Too bad there werent more episodes
Looking forward to it
Somewhere there is a pristine film copy of this as it was shot on film.
Maybe in the Fox studio vaults ??
It should have aired on NBC, no wonder that ABC or CBS rejected it.
28:08 - “NEXT WEEK, in a plot to destroy a metropolis, DICK TRACY encounters global enemy #1!”
One minute in and I see why they didn't pick this up
That wasn't the only problem.
@@AllRequired what else?
The producers certainly saved money on the theme song, if you can call it a song. And on the no-name cast, too, for that matter.
Indeed! The only names I recognized in the cast were veteran character actor Victor Buono (Mr Memory) and Eve Plumb (who became best known for TV's "The Brady Bunch").
Dick saw that episode of Man From UNCLE where Robert Vaughn blew open a door the same way.
CBS network could've picked it up, but hey, that the thing with the networks these days: "Here today, gone tomorrow."
very 'Batman' like
Considering it had the same producer as TV's Batman (William Dozier), I'm not at all surprised!
Props like Batman
Same producers....same studio (Fox).
Very interesting, thanks for posting it!
Why would he need a secret entrance for his crime lab?
To make the lab seem "cooler" in the 60's age of camp.
Well I'm glad it's not full on moonminded. And the theme song isn't that dreadful; it's the Ventures who've never not done a slapper. It's just too much Batman to warrant its own show
You bring up some very valid points. Yes, I am SO glad they didn't include all that silly "moon" stuff that was part of the comic strip in the 60s. We always subscribed to the local newspapers all thru my 60s childhood & I would read the Dick Tracy strip every day. Even then, I assumed the comic strip authors used the "moon people" gimmick to entice younger audiences. And I never did like it. It had little to do with Dick Tracy solving crimes. Became rather "soap opera-ish".
@@jubalcalif9100 Batman sold, so they aped Batman. Dragnet had already taken the audience Dick Tracy was aiming for.
Davey Davison? How unique ..
Great line, delivered by the bad guy?
" I wonder who will be the VICTOR. " As delivered by the incomparable VICTOR BUONO. (The writers being a bit punny?)
Batman, Brady Bunch oh my.
Absolutely dreadful. It's a blessing ABC chose not to pick it up.
I agree 100 per cent. It's all rather ho hum & generic. Only gimmick are the various characters from the long running Dick Tracy comic strip, which wouldn't have meant much to youngsters in the late 60s.
*Where is the "calling Dick Tracy?" no wonder it didn't sell.*
Is that king tut at 0:21?
The amazing Victor Buono!
@@ApeLikeCreature I guess if I would have waited through the credits I would have seen that that's exactly who it was. But I asked the question as it first started and it was kind of one of those "hey!" moments
It is indeed! Guess he stopped by from the Batman set to "unwind". Probably gonna try to involve the others in some type of pyramid scheme.
holy carbon copies, Batman!
Ha! Good one!
Eve Plumb!
Not sure what the plans were for her but she never shows up in the pilot -
Where's Eve Plumb?
She & Davey Davidson ended up not appearing in the pilot. Very odd, considering they are listed in the pilot's credits.
Neither Davison nor Plumb appeared in this pilot. Strike right there.
Was there a Mr. Memory in the Tracy strip? My search on DuckDuckGo turned up nothing outside this pilot. Another strike. Should have gone with Big Boy (the numero uno in the Tracy rogues' gallery) instead.
How long did it take us to be introduced to Tracy? Major strike.
We know through the announcement at the end that there was a clear plan to title all episodes "The Plot to (commit core offense)." Not a particularly good idea to have tit after the closing credits, if at all. Makes the 20th Century Fox closer that much more jarring. Three strikes already, but this is the key strike.
Tracy is out.
Mr. Memory was created expressly for the tv pilot. He has now appeared in the current continuity of the comic strip. Mike Curtis (the current writer) has introduced previous characters Cueball and Gruesome from the 1940's films to the strip as well.
I think the voiceover of William Dozier was a strike too. He was the Narrator in the Batman series, introduces the Green Hornet, and now does the tagline for Dick Tracy.
Don't think they should of had the lift to get to the laboratory. Just go down a stairway or through a door would be okay. Music incidents in the scene is too close to the Batman-Green Hornet music. Dick Tracy's hat went in and out like Batman and Green Hornet. Might be strikes there.
I thought they should have had a black character like Ebony with Lizz from the comics.
Shame this didn't become a series. Could have done real well. On a side note, that theme song is terrible..
Wow eve plumb
Cute youngster! I wonder whatever happened to her?
The theme song is this show is bad,but funny,fun fact: this show made in Batman "style,in 60s ,just as Batman "movie in 89,Dick Tracy followed,same composer Elfman,like Billy May of the 2 shows.
It Should Have Been A TV Series To Premiere March 17,1967 On NBC At 9:30 PM As A Midseason Replacement For T.H.E. Cat, After Daniel Boone At 7:30 PM And Star Trek At 8:30 PM And Before The Man From U.N.C.L.E. At 10 PM It Had This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,National Association Of Broadcasters SEAL OF GOOD PRACTICE Television Code,RCA Sound Recording,AMPTP.
NBC. Tripped up. If it came up today someone would have grabbed it for a starter and built on it. A few bugs but I think it was just in sink for the time period..
Wow. There was going to be a campy Dick Tracy tv show. This show could have been going on if they put the known rouges like flattop, pruneface, lips manlis, influence, big boy, mumbles
It looked to be the happy midpoint between the utter straightness of the Green Hornet and the utter camp of Batman. But the pilot here was the equivalent of the fourth COVID jab.
@@AllRequired ohhhhh shut up
I would ditched the vocals in the theme if it had aired.This was not as campy as Batman but with more humor than The Green Hornet.
Quite so. The Green Hornet didn't have much humor.
@@jubalcalif9100 From what I heard,the owners to the character of the Green Hornet told William Dozier they wouldn't allow him to make a show as corny as Batman.I had a neighbor so obsessed with The Green Hornet he was talking about the show two years after it was cancelled.
I heard that ABC passed on this show was because of the low rating of the Green Hornet and the rating of Batman were dropping
Yes, the late 60s Camp phase was fading out fast and a late term pilot wasn't going to make it with the prime time fade out anyway. As you know, the "Bond" and SF shows were fading too...Next try for Camp, the mid 70s....
this theme song is atrocious.
It is horrible.
You speak the truth, Kemo Sabe! It's enough to give a person nightmares.
ABC passed on a gem.
😎
After reading most of the comments and watching nearly all of the video, here are my thoughts:
THE ABSOLUTE LAMEST THEME SONG I have heard in quite a while. The lyrics come across as very last minute by a 6 year old child. The series itself seems to be in a grey area between Batman's campiness and Green Hornet's serious crime fighting. Compared to GH it looks like it's on a stricter budget. Folks need to keep in mind that sometimes the " PILOT " episode is not the first one shown if a series goes into broadcast. Given the many elements, this video had good " bones " but they were not very co-ordinated.
Finally, WTF were those " hoops " on the one law enforcement car? Were they mounts for something that would be utilized by Dick or his cohort in later episodes?
IIRC the "hoops" were supposed to be part of a disguise system for Tracy's car. It was going to be a "gimmick car" like the Batmobile and Black Beauty. And while the lyrics on the themesong were definitely cringeworthy the tune was pretty good. But I'm a big Ventures fan so there's some bias there.
And I agree, there were some good bones to build a Dick Tracy series, and Ray MacDonnell would have made a great Tracy. Too bad it didn't go forward
Wow...this is every bit as terrible as I expected. Should've used the Brow, Flattop & Mumbles as villains instead.
But thanks for posting this curiosity.
Could not agree more. Fun to watch, though I can easily see why it wasn't picked up.
Jan Brady! Too much
Too bad she ended up not actually appearing in the pilot. Oh, the humanity..... 😞
NBC On Friday Night On St Patricks Day On March 17,1967,
Here Is Is On NBC Fridays,
7:30 PM Daniel Boone In Third Season,And Second Year In Color On Friday Nights,As Well As Went Up Against The Comic Book Vigilante Hero Heard On Radio.The Green Hornet And The Time Tunnel On ABC,And The Wild Wild West On CBS,
8:30 PM Star Trek Which Replaced The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,Went Up Against The Second Half Of The Time Tunnel And Rango On ABC And Hogan's Heroes And The First Half Of The CBS Friday Night Movies On CBS,
9:30 PM Dick Tracy New TV Series Starring Ray McDonnell As Title Character,Replaced T.H.E. Cat In Midseason Series Aired Against The Double Life Of Henry Phyfe On ABC Starring Walter Brennan As A Veteran Spy,And The Second Half Of The CBS Friday Night Movies On CBS,
10:00 PM The Man From U.N.C.L.E. In Third Year And Second Year In Color On Friday Nights,A James Bond Spy Spoof Action Adventure Series Starring Robert Vaughn And David McCallum Went Up Against The Avengers Spy Series From England On ABC And The Second Hour Of The CBS Friday Night Movies On CBS,Dick Tracy Would Carry Walther PPK 32 Automatic In Bianchi Left Hand Model 100 Strongside IWB Holster Used As A Right Hand Strongside Clip On Holster On Right Hip,With 32 Colt Detective Special 2 Inch Barrel Revolver In Bianchi Left Hand Inside Pant Holster Used As Right Hand Crossdraw Clip On Left Hip Holster ,He Would Carry A Tommy Gun With A Clip,He Would Wear A Light Blue Button Up Shirt With Pleats Size 15 1/2 ,Red Striped Necktie,Black Gabardine Two Button On Right Side Blazer Size 42,Black Gabardine Dress Jeans Waist 34 Large 32,Black Military Style Belt With Gold Buckle,He Would Be Part Throw Away The Book And Part By The Book,He Would Make His Own Rules And Follow The Rules,He Would Wear A Yellow Fedora And Khaki Trenchcoat,He Would Dress Like Who Is Part Joe Friday,Part Elliot Ness,Part James Bond,Part Maxwell Smart,Part Joe Mannix,Part Lieutenant Columbo,Part Archie Bunker,Part Dirty Harry,Part Buford Pusser,And Even Paul Kersey In Way Who Says Movie And TV Titles Or Actors Names,Or Commercial Titles,Or Name Production,Or Producers Names, In Place Of Real Cuss Words,Dick Tracy Is No Lenny Bruce,He Goes After The Bad Guys,He Kills Bad Guys,Dick Tracy A Vigilante Cop,I Have Collectibles Of Dick Tracy And James Bond,I Have A Dick Tracy Belt Holster And Snubnosed 38 Pistol,And Dick Tracy Tommy Burst From Mattel And James Bond Attache Case,
Red Buttons, not Walter Brennan, played Henry Phyfe.
Eve plump Brady bunch
St Patricks Day On Friday 1967,
ABC 7:30 PM The Green Hornet IN COLOR,
8:00 PM The Time Tunnel IN COLOR,
9:00 PM Rango IN COLOR,
9:30 PM The Double Life Of Henry Phyffe IN COLOR,
10:00 PM The Avengers IN COLOR,
NBC 7:30 PM Daniel Boone IN COLOR,
8:30 PM Star Trek IN COLOR,
9:30 PM Dick Tracy IN COLOR Replacing T.H.E. CAT
10:00 PM The Man From U.N.C.L.E. IN COLOR,
CBS 7:30 PM The Wild Wild West IN COLOR,
8:30 PM Hogan's Heroes IN COLOR,
9:00 PM The CBS Friday Night Movies "Escape From Zahrain 1962 IN COLOR.
Why does his "adopted" son call him Tracy? LOL. Why not Dad? Maybe it's from the comics?
I have seen/heard? this a few times in books, not so much tv or movies. Either it's an affectation of the writer/scriptwriter, and/or it has something to do with the age of the child (almost always male) when they are adopted.
In the comic strip Junior always refers to him as Tracy, so it's accurate to the source material.
No similarity to batman whatsoever.
These days 'The Plot To Kill NATO' would feature special guest villain, Donald J Trump.
wait a sec. This bad guy is the bad guy from Wild Wild West!
You have a good eye! He also played villian "King Tut" on TV's "Batman" for the same producer & studio. And plenty of other bad guy roles over the years in various films & TV programs.