Mr. Dugan

American TV series or program

Maude
Hanging In

Mr. Dugan is an American sitcom about a black Congressman that was scheduled to air in March 1979 on CBS, but was pulled at the last minute and never shown.^[1]

History

In early 1978, producer Norman Lear felt his long-running comedy Maude was getting stale, so he decided to enliven things by moving the show to Washington, D.C., and making the title character a congresswoman. After two episodes in this new setting, star Beatrice Arthur decided not to continue, and the show abruptly left the air. Lear, however, still believed in the concept and filmed a new pilot titled Onward and Upward, with essentially the same script and cast—except with John Amos (as a black former professional football star running for the United States Congress) replacing Arthur. Creative differences between Amos (who had co-starred in Lear's Good Times) and the producers led to the actor bowing out; the show was renamed Mr. Dooley and finally Mr. Dugan. Cleavon Little (best known as the sheriff in the classic movie comedy Blazing Saddles) was hired as the title character, a fledgling black congressman. The supporting cast remained the same.

Mr. Dugan had been scheduled for a March 11, 1979, premiere, and was heavily promoted by CBS, complete with ads and listings in TV Guide and other publications. However, a special screening for real black members of Congress proved to be an unmitigated disaster, as several members of the Congressional Black Caucus criticized the show.^[2] The sitcom was especially galling for freshman Congressman William Gray III, who, like the fictional Dugan, represented a district in Philadelphia: "The impact would be disastrous, showing a congressman who was a silly, incompetent man ruled by his staff."^[2] Lear subsequently pulled the plug on Mr. Dugan, saying, "We have not yet totally fulfilled our intention for the series."

The concept was eventually reworked again into the short-lived series, Hanging In, which aired on CBS in the summer of 1979.

References

^ Terrace, Vincent (2013-02-26). Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, 1937-2012 - Vincent Terrace - Google Books. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 9781476602493. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
^ ^a ^b "Black Caucus Strangles Mr. Dugan; Star Of Cancelled Show Steaming Mad". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. March 29, 1979. pp. 58–59.