User:BuffaloCasey/sandbox

'''Sheriff Who? (unsold TV Pilot) (1967) ''' While this unsuccessful situation comedy pilot only aired once, an NBC late summer space-filler on Sept. 5, 1967, some claim it was one of the most bizarrely funny half hours of Sixties television. It starred John Astin as "The Evil Roy Slade", a charming rogue, and the self-proclaimed "meanest outlaw in the West", who ruled a small frontier town and each week would dispatch whomever had been duped into serving as the town's Sheriff.  Contents: 1. Plot 2. Sequel: The Evil Roy Slade 3. TV series with Anti-hero Main Characters 4. References . Plot Prelude: a man in black is tied to a post as the fuse to a nearby bundle of dynamite quickly burns down. He asks the man with the tin star, "Say Sheriff, do you mean to blow up The Evil Roy Slade without benefit of due process of law, including trial by a jury of his peers?" A distance away, the First Sheriff slowly nods with a huge grin and demented look; dealing with Slade has apparently cost him his sanity. A neat kick by Slade (John Astin) at the last moment sends the explosive arching over Evil Roy into the arms of the surprised lawman. With a boom, the town Sheriff's position has been vacated for the first time in the episode. Opening credits roll.

As the show continues, startled viewers realize that the central character of this dark comedy is not the Sheriff, but the town's biggest outlaw, who can even kill a lawman on screen -- in obvious self-defense!

To celebrate his close escape, and impress schoolmarm Betsy (Jeannine Riley), The Evil Roy hires 'The fastest interior decorator in the West", Clifford Offwhite (Dick Shawn), to remodel his seedy gambling den into an immaculately appointed 1890's showplace.

Before he can depart town with his substantial fee, Judge Grant (Hal Smith) persuades Offwhite to become Sheriff. His primary duty: to bring in The Evil Roy Slade.