Catch-22 (Complete Pilot, 1973)

[@LogoAttitude]

Dana Elcar appeared as Colonel Cathcart. He later played Pete Thornton on Paramount's MacGyver.

[@Hurridale]

Thanks for posting this -- what a stinker! I doubt Richard Dreyfuss has ever lost any sleep over this being canceled.

[@pecny]

Right. Dreadful and clueless.

[@GjpgrD]

OMG, OMG, OMG!!! I've been looking in vain for this somewhere, anywhere for nearly 45 years!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

[@miglena2s]

Sharing the excitement! Exactly what I needed and it came to stay! Opposies united. Again! And again!!! ❤ Art and beauty.

[@MrOttopants]

Sadly, it was abandoned because the creators didn't have any experience with TV, and they couldn't get any experience in TV without first being in TV!

[@wmbrown6]

Talk about a Catch-22 . . . however, I suppose it was fortunate for Richard Dreyfuss, given his subsequent role in the 1975 "Jaws" film . . .

[@GjpgrD]

Imagine him being stuck in this for a successful run instead of becoming a movie star, winning an Oscar, etc.

[@garrettramirez428]

"It was abandoned because the creators didn't have any experience with TV, " Ah, that explains why it's good.

[@RodrigoVillaverde-ro6yt]

That's a catch 22 aswer

[@dereksanderson2031]

Thanks for making this available. Love the book, enjoyed the movie. This was...truly awful.

[@Willysmb44]

Wow, I'd never even heard of this until I saw mention on Wikipedia of the pilot of this show. Thanks for posting it here!

[@enricosanchez894]

After this, Richard Dreyfuss made American Graffiti, and the rest, as they say, is history.

[@MarkRHill-kz4rj]

That's Frank Welker flying the plane at the beginning. By this time he was already the voice of boyfriend FRED on SCOOBY DOO! Many years of voiceover work since then.

[@thewkovacs316]

it's cool to see frank welker in one of his few non-voice acting roles

[@gelatinskeleton8745]

This is like taking a PERFEFCT PIECE OF ART... and throwing it into the toilet and hanging back on the wall....

[@newjeffersonian6456]

The blockbuster hit American Graffiti had been filmed but not yet released in May,1973 when this pilot for Catch-22 was broadcast. Richard Dreyfuss had his first exposure in a starring role when American Graffiti was released in August,1973 and less than a year later he was at work in the role of oceanographer Matt Hooper in the mega-hit Jaws being filmed on Martha's Vineyard.

[@DaveDunning-st1hh]

What year was Dreyfus the lead in "The apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" ? I think that was his first lead role and it must have been prior to this steaming pile.

[@alanwhit8770]

An oddity ... laugh track is excruciating. No wonder it didn't pick up ... impossible to sustain the MASH level manic comedy over a series.

[@terrierqueen4091]

Yep. The only thing worse than canned laughter...is canned laughter that doesn't know WHICH jokes to punch!

[@paulkitt2376]

Once you get over the idea of catch 22 as a sitcom it is strangely endearing watching Dreyfuss play yossarian

[@KJ-xc6qs]

Alan Arkin could at least pass for Armenian Yossarian.

[@onyx2626]

@@KJ-xc6qs Al Pacino is the only other actor that I can think of for that role. Dreyfuss isn't above it all...and he was 26, waay to young to play a man about to go home.

[@jonantol5711]

Yossarian was tall. Dreyfuss...not so much.

[@Rutoenfit]

Fascinating! Always wanted to see this, as I think the film is a masterpiece (and I'm a WW2 warplane nerd). Couldn't see how it could be adapted to T.V....and this pilot proved it. Some thoughts: - Thought (like 'M.A.S.H') they might have filmed on the incredible movie set in Mexico, but no. - Seems like they only had use of one B-25 from the film - the one in battle dress. The other worked as a camera platform (hence the odd nose glass). - Almost all the flight footage (minus the scenes at the obiviously Cali airstrip set) is, as you'd expect, outtakes from the film. There was a ton of it, apparently.

[@irvhh143]

Probably downed by the cost of the airplanes. How often can footage be recycled? This is why war pictures are always about the infantry.

[@Holdit66]

It's not hard to see why this pilot wasn't continued with.

[@johnbrowning8785]

I bet Richard Dreyfuss would like to forget this one.

[@ModMokkaMatti]

I would like to be able to forget that Richard Dreyfuss ever existed.

[@TH-nf1eo]

I hope none of these actors put a down payment on any furniture with their proceeds from this pilot.

[@charleslandreth3128]

Whoa never knew this existed.

[@Paul47Tat]

My GOD is this wrong-headed!

[@markim5087]

That’s some great flying

[@nuqwestr]

omg, catch 22 with a laugh track, F TROOP WW2 style...

[@roflmows]

Dreyfuss does much better on boats than planes

[@Mike-uc1eu]

Always.

[@daneenmurf1043]

He needs a bigger plane

[@davidhull1481]

I never heard of this before, thanks for posting it. It’s just as awful as everyone is saying. It looks like they used the same locations as the movie. I hope Heller was well compensated for this.

[@Firebrand55]

Dreyfuss had star quality...it shows here. Good actors convince in their roles; Dreyfuss does just that.

[@edwardarruda7215]

Don't remember this one. Must have missed it watching Bye Bye Black Sheep.

[@patrickwatrin5093]

😂🎉 me too, I love that show

[@edwardgleeson850]

MASH it ain't.

[@AmberTheFangirl]

Only good part is young Frank Welker🥺

[@ikeeptime]

A young Richard Dreyfus

[@ModMokkaMatti]

Is just as terrible as an ancient Richard Dreyfuss.

[@marcomacias3960]

they turned the book into a sitcom. not good

[@ModMokkaMatti]

Even Hefty Neil's music can't do much for this turkey.

[@yossarian2014]

Looking forward to mini-series Catch 22 producing by George Clooney, looks amazing.

[@Paul47Tat]

I like Clooney, but I can just about guarantee you he won't pull it off. If Mike Nichols could only do it sporadically at the top of his game, Clooney won't be able to very much at all.

[@701CPD]

Clooney's "Catch-22" miniseries couldn't hold a candle to Mike Nichols' film.

[@davidjc21]

Replying on 07/15/2023. Clooney's Catch 22 turned out to be the best of all of them.

[@kennyraicherter1264]

I remember this

[@rareblues78daddy]

Not bad, but a little too "screwball." I can see why it wasn't picked up.

[@slippery396]

Man ... you got that right ! .... screwy for sure !

[@NEPatriot]

Karen Valentine I don't think was on Match Game. But she was on The Hollywood Squares.

[@wmbrown6]

I don't think Charles Nelson Reilly appeared on "Room 222" - or did he?

[@Paul47Tat]

No, he didn't.

[@a1wireless1964]

wow this is so bad it's actually good the scary thing is if it could have made it a few more episodes it probably would have been

[@ericfusco8235]

Inspired by MASH but executed like F-Troop. Amazing artifact.

[@knutknutsen6249]

No follow up? That's criminal!!

[@gerardferry3958]

shoot me said Yossarian after seeing this

[@dancole5795]

As did Joseph Heller.

[@TheQuantumWave]

That was entertaining. I would have watched the series, had there been one.

[@TPath3]

The B-25s directional stability doesn't seem to be the best in class - needed very good piloting for bombing runs it seems.- that twin tail seems to get a lot of prop-wash going on.

[@ultrakool]

imagine comparing this to the MASH tv show. why bother.

[@LogoAttitude]

Filmways co-produced the movie and it would have been interesting to see them co-produce the TV version of Catch-22 as well - the closing logos for the pilot would have featured Richard Dreyfus saying "this has been a Filmways presentation" over that company's iconic globe logo (in its last season of use during spring 1973) followed by an "in association with" screen then the 1972 PTV logo with the bombastic marching band version of Lalo Schifrin's "Color ID" it would be another 22 years before we saw Filmways and PTV together at the end of a TV show - syndicated prints of The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction from 1995 using the CGI Mountain of Monotony

[@George-bj5ki]

Way too much artistic license

[@thedocisin3204]

Kinda like Hogan's Heros of the Army Air Force.

[@garrybaldy327]

Looks like all the plane footage was left over from the movie

[@dancole5795]

My god. This is awful.

[@ricoz2016]

Laugh tracks were so obnoxious weren't they?

[@HVACSoldier]

Richard Dreyfuss Dana Elcar I think the one that looks like Anthony Perkins is Stewart Moss.

[@bigrigJim]

wow , this did not work well at all.

[@rockmyworldBE]

Do you have a copy of the Barbara Eden Show? I'd love to see that...

[@markim5087]

Seems like the good old days of tv…shame they didn’t make it better the flying shoots suck or poorly done..

[@arvindkusha9743]

Be sure to read Complete Pilot review on my blog before you buy. Go to *tonyreviews. com/complete-pilot-review/* Thanks. Creighton.

[@richardhewlett5603]

We don't care about your reviews,get over yourself.

[@ModMokkaMatti]

I don't know what you're selling, but I'm not buying it.

[@chokkan7]

Personally, I'm glad that this bombed. Dreyfuss came across as very obnoxious, and it looks as though the writers never even thumbed through the book. I'm just glad that no one ever tried to adapt 'Slaughterhouse 5' as a sit-com...

[@jayturner3397]

Who played Milo ?

[@kerrykoontz3299]

Jesus, what a God awful idea this was

[@joeharris3878]

The laugh track is funny . Even if the show isn't .

[@HHM706]

its like Hogans Heros but shite

[@MotionMcAnixx]

Is the pipe smoker Niedermeyer from Animal House?

[@deborahdow3401]

It's Dana Elcar. He played on MacGyver as Pete Thornton and Dark Shadows and Black Sheep Squadron as Col Lard.

[@MotionMcAnixx]

@@deborahdow3401 I meant the guy who played Aarfy - It wasn't Niedermeyer.

[@George-bj5ki]

@@deborahdow3401 dana elcar played col cathcart

[@philipphilip99]

Terrible!

[@brandonrebidue7421]

Love the book, love the look of the show but god is this writing so so bad

[@MrUzminiNu]

actually not bad at all..😂

[@clintscroggs65]

Wow, that was not good.

[@spankyharland9845]

glad this never happened. the pilot isn't funny at all.

[@ericwoy4132]

This is really bad.

[@eromnis]

I’m not even sure how MASH was a comedy. Catch 22’s initial chapters are played for spoof, but by the end of the book the idiosyncratic nature of global war, poverty and corporatism is laid bare, and it’s decidedly unfunny.

[@briandonnelly638]

Richard Dyfuss was terrible, unwatchable.

[@GjpgrD]

Dreyfuss was fine for a sitcom - he had a lot of experience guest starring in them back then & could have carried a show easily. It's the script & direction that are lacking.

[@picklerix6162]

I don’t think you can blame Dreyfus for this monstrosity.

[@pecny]

I guess they thought it would compete with MASH. Nothing but jokes--unfunny ones.

[@dcolb121]

I hate that stupid canned laughter. It really ruins it.