Just for Laughs (1974 TV series)

Just for Laughs is an American anthology television series that aired on ABC in the summer of 1974. The 30-minute episodes consisted of unsold television pilots for situation comedies.

Background
The practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year – far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series – created a sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired. Packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer provided television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them. Just for Laughs was one of these series, aired by ABC in the summer of 1974, and it consisted entirely of unsold pilots for situation comedies. Stars appearing in the series included Frank Sutton, Cloris Leachman, Dick Van Patten, Hal Linden, and Barbara Eden.

The third episode of Just for Laughs, "The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller," served as the basis for the premiere episode of the successful situation comedy Barney Miller, which began its seven-season run in January 1975. After the pilot failed to sell, the show's concept was reworked, with a revamped cast and most of Miller's domestic life eliminated, although the premiere episode largely reused the script from the pilot aired on Just for Laughs.

Broadcast history
Just for Laughs ran for four episodes over the course of four consecutive weeks in August 1974, airing on ABC from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday evenings. It premiered on August 8, and its last episode aired on August 29.

Episodes
SOURCES