Stick Around

US

English     5     1977     US

Overview

Stick Around was an unsold television pilot for ABC, starring Andy Kaufman. Only one episode was ever made, airing on May 30, 1977. Kaufman portrayed Andy, a run-down servant robot in the future. He used the same voice of his "Foreign Man" character that would one day become the signature voice of Latka Gravas on Taxi. The pilot also starred Nancy New and Fred McCarren as Elaine and Vance Keefer, a married couple in the year 2055. The plot of the episode revolves around Andy the robot's inadequacies as an older model, and whether or not they should replace him. Vance owns an antique store, and there are a lot of jokes that revolve around his misconceptions about the antiques he has, all of which are common household appliances of the 1970s. Vance is very frustrated by Andy's incompetence but eventually he and Elaine decide to keep him. Andy would revive the robot character to some degree in the 1981 film Heartbeeps.

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This Space for Rent is a Canadian dramedy on CBC starring Dov Tiefenbach that premiered on January 4, 2006 as a 'special' CBC pilot as part of its "Comedy Week". Tiefenbach plays Lucky Carroway, a recent university graduate and writer who finds that life after university is not as perfect as it might seem. The show begins shortly after his valedictorian speech, when his world comes crashing down after his first book is rejected by his literary agent. His life becomes worse as his arch-nemesis becomes a published author who appears in "Vancouver Magazine's" top 10 writers list. He becomes a recluse who constantly wears his graduation robe and plays video games all day. However, he quickly recovers by writing a vicious 'letter to the editor' to Vancouver Magazine where he decries the selection of his arch-nemesis as a top 10 writer. This letter angers so many readers of the magazine that they offer him a job as an anonymous "Hate Male" article writer. He lives in downtown Vancouver in a flat with several friends. Emily Hampshire plays a recent law school graduate named Iona Goldenthal, a binge drinker who must deal with the chauvinistic world of law. Rainbow Sun Francks plays a recent graduate named Barnaby Sharpe who majored in economics and Russian literature. He fails his first audition and ends up working at a Jar Heads, a Starbucks parody, as a "coffee jerk". Kea Wong plays Rumour Wong, a medical intern and Lucky's girlfriend, who must deal with Lucky's mental breakdown and reclusive nature. Jason Bryden plays Elliot Hayden, a mutual gay friend who speaks Mandarin and frequents Chinatown. He teaches English to immigrant children and acts as a foil to the rest of the characters.

More info
This Space for Rent
2006