Free Spirit Pilot Script Talkback

Dsneybuf

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Wow, kind of awkward to think I managed to watch a Free Spirit episode before you did. If something I wrote about on the Lost Media Wiki became found, I would probably watch or listen to it right away (exactly what I did with this), but I also understand wanting to avoid that "...what now?" feeling afterwards ("Well, I've finally watched Earth's Mightiest Heroes with Josh Keaton's voice intact, and reviewed those episodes for Channel Awesome. Now what?").

Sometimes, I wonder if Corinne Bohrer would appreciate learning through Twitter about your efforts to raise public awareness of this show, but I haven't sent her any links, because I don't know how she'd feel about you using her likeness for comics.
 

Peter Paltridge

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I'd love to get the chance to talk to Corinne, and I almost did it a few months ago, but then at that moment she was cast on TNT's Murder In The First and I figured she wouldn't have the time. Now I don't want to attempt it until Junkyard Stories goes up, because if there's a chance she'll be looking at something, I want it to be something interesting (you'll see).

The thought of "her likeness" never crossed my mind because.....it doesn't look like her at all.

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seflie.jpg


Besides, it's not supposed to. It's the character, not the actress.
 

KE7JFF

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Interesting script...from reading about some of the backstory of the show, this show was supposed to have an ensemble cast so that's why Christopher Rich was hired as the dad, since he was a somebody. However, when the pilot was shown to ABC, they wanted to make it a vehicle for Corinne Bohrer so they found some less familar actors and actresses and made the usual changes. Apparently, this is why in the ABC Fall Preview for 1989, parts of the original pilot were used as the re-do of the pilot was being produced.

Now, regarding found lost episode of this show and how it ended up being aired in Australia but not the US. TV shows for overseas distribution in that time period generally had tapes shipped out (already converted to PAL may I add) the same week they handed over to the network, but of course there was a lead time of at least 2 weeks before a batch of episodes arrive overseas. In the time frame of "Free Spirit" which was 1990, there was still a lag time of at least 1-2 months for most US shows to air in a country such as Australia. So it would of been a month after it was pulled from the ABC schedule it finally aired on the 9 network in Australia.

As mentioned, the ratings for the Sunday before were bad across the board due to the airing of "The Simpsons" as a regular series for the first time. Per my source, When ABC President Robert Iger (now president of Disney) was reviewing the results from the Nielson People Meters, they noticed the huge crater that started at 8:30. Apparently, it was so bad that only 50% of viewers didn't bother to change the channel at 9, instead watching Married with Children and in some cases, not even changing channels for the 10 PM news. This was the moment that pretty much that showed FOX was a real threat to the big 3 at that point, so ABC had to get serious, but Iger wasn't sure what to do so on that following Wednesday, they decided to replace Free Spirit with an episode of Full House, their strongest show they had on short notice before they could figure out something. If I remember right, they tried a few variety shows in that time slot...I remember something with Tim Conway and then later, America's Funniest People.
 

Peter Paltridge

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Another script for the Free Spirit pilot has shown up on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Free-Spirit...304937?hash=item5425600e29:g:xDsAAOSwHnFV3-Bw

I had to compare the front page with the one I had to make sure it wasn't the same version. It was hard to tell because somebody comically Scotch-taped the TV Guide ad for the premiere over it, but there are clear differences. Executive Producer and Co-Executive Producer credits are missing, and the Columbia copyright info is higher up as a result (and it's in a different font). The eBay title is also marked "ORIGINAL" while the one I bought before had no such indication. I'm led to believe this is the first draft.

We'll find out soon enough.
 

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