Big Eddie

Big Eddie Smith,{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle F. |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present |date=2009 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=9780307483201 |page=139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Big+Eddie%22+tv&pg=PA139 |accessdate=29 March 2019 |language=en}} a reformed mobster tries to go legit as the owner of the Big E Sports Arena{{cite book |last1=Terrace |first1=Vincent |title=Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials |date=1985 |publisher=VNR AG |isbn=9780918432612 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKlgjBCPPnsC&dq=%22Big+Eddie%22+tv&pg=PA45 |accessdate=29 March 2019 |language=en}} in New York City.{{cite web|author=TV Guide |url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/big-eddie/cast/200038 |title=Big Eddie Cast and Details|publisher=TV Guide |accessdate=2013-01-16}} Smith's family included his wife Honey, granddaughter Ginger, and brother Jessie.

• Sheldon Leonard as Big Eddie Smith
• Sheree North as Honey Smith
• Quinn Cummings as Ginger Smith
• Billy Sands as Bang Bang Valentine
• Alan Oppenheimer as Jesse Smith
• Ralph Wilcox as Raymond McKay
• Lonnie Shorr as Too Late
• Milton Parsons as The Goniff
• Cliff Pellow as No Marbles

{{Episode table |background=39f |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |episodes=

{{Episode list

|Title=Man of the Year

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|08|23}}

|EpisodeNumber=1

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= A reporter attempts to get the low-down on the checkered past of Eddie and his retinue.

|LineColor=3399ff

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{{Episode list

|Title=One Nation Invisible

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|08|30}}

|EpisodeNumber=2

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= To show how the law guarantees justice for everyone, Big Eddie helps his granddaughter sue the merchant who sold her a defective toy.

|LineColor=3399ff

}}

{{Episode list

|Title=Hello Poppa

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|09|06}}

|EpisodeNumber=3

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= An engaging young man from Italy claims that Eddie is the long-lost GI who married his mother-- and fathered him during World War II. Jack Carter, Cliff Norton, Ed Peck, and Ron Silver guest star.

|LineColor=3399ff

}}

{{Episode list

|Title=Too Many Grandmothers (a.k.a. One Grandmother Too Many)

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|09|19}}

|EpisodeNumber=4

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= Big Eddie is surprised by a visit from his first wife, a Hungarian aristocrat (Eva Gabor) who has the kind of designs not designed to please his current loving spouse.

|LineColor=3399ff

}}

{{Episode list

|Title=Who Am I?

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|09|26}}

|EpisodeNumber=5

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= Honey wrestles with an identity crisis-- and by Eddie with a marital crisis-- when she has to write a sociology class paper on "Who Am I?"

|LineColor=3399ff

}}

{{Episode list

|Title=Crashing Violet

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|10|03}}

|EpisodeNumber=6

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= A smitten Bang Bang persuades Eddie to hire a maid: the waitress (Alice Ghostley) who lost her job because she dropped a plate of beans on Bang Bang's head.

|LineColor=3399ff

}}

{{Episode list

|Title=Eddie Makes a Speech

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|10|10}}

|EpisodeNumber=7

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= A chum from Eddie's rough-and-tumble school days (Ron Feinberg) is now a high-school principal, and he'd like Eddie to say a few words to kids who are even rougher than they were.

|LineColor=3399ff

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{{Episode list

|Title=One of Our Red Shoes is Missing

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|10|24}}

|EpisodeNumber=8

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= The Smiths risk creating an international flap by harboring a Soviet dancer (Sandy Ignon) who wants to defect.

|LineColor=3399ff

}}

{{Episode list

|Title=Alone Together

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|10|31}}

|EpisodeNumber=9

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= With granddaughter Ginger off to a slumber party, the Smith's look forward to an undisturbed evening of champagne, caviar and romance. The only obstacle remaining is their live-in retainer Bang Bang.

|LineColor=3399ff

}}

{{Episode list

|Title=A Date with Eddie

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|11|07}}

|EpisodeNumber=10

|DirectedBy=

|WrittenBy=

|ShortSummary= Eddie is in the doghouse. After asking his granddaughter out on her first big date, he has to stand her up. Ronnie Schell guest stars as a clown.

|LineColor=3399ff

}}

}}

Bill Persky and Sam Denoff created the series and were Big Eddie's executive producers and writers. Hy Averback was the producer and director. It had three "sneak preview" broadcasts (August 23 - September 6, 1975) from 8:30 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays. Ratings decreased after it was moved to 8 - 8:30 p.m. ET on Fridays beginning on September 19, 1975.{{cite book |last1=Hyatt |first1=Wesley |title=Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops |date=January 20, 2003 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-1420-8 |page=238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Sy1CgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Big+Eddie%22+Leonard&pg=PA238 |access-date=June 1, 2023 |language=en}}

Episodes were recorded on videotape in front of a live audience using facilities at KTLA-TV.{{cite book |last1=Leszczak |first1=Bob |title=Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide |date=November 16, 2012 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6812-6 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UvE6snvtSesC&dq=%22Big+Eddie%22+CBS&pg=PA14 |access-date=June 1, 2023 |language=en}}

John J. O'Connor, in a review distributed by the New York Times Service, commented, ". . . to know Big Eddie is to loath it."{{cite news |last1=O'Connor |first1=John J. |title='Big Eddie' is depressing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-news-big-eddie-tv-show/125658682/ |access-date=June 1, 2023 |work=The Morning News |date=August 23, 1975 |location=Delaware, Wilmington |page=23|via = Newspapers.com}} The review implied that Eddie married Honey as a means of obtaining custody of his granddaughter, "who, for purposes of uncomplicated plotting, is conveniently orphaned." O'Connor commented that Eddie often shouted and that his speech was filled with pronunciations such as "'dat' for that, or 'foist' for first" and he added, "His black assistant (Ralph Wilcox) jive talks hysterically."

After watching four episodes, Lee Winfrey wrote in The Evening Sun, "The only thing large about Big Eddie is growing wonder as to why it is still on the air."{{cite news |last1=Winfrey |first1=Lee |title='Eddie': Big Or Dull? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-sun-big-eddie-tv-show/125659615/ |access-date=June 1, 2023 |work=The Evening Sun |agency=KNI |date=October 16, 1975 |location=Maryland, Baltimore |page=22|via = Newspapers.com}} The review added that "each week the plots grow more surpassingly stupid, the guest stars less interesting, and the whole show steadily more arthritic in pace." The title character was called "as dull as a reformed drunk" and the family's home life was summarized as "dull domesticity, just another unbelievable sitcom family, wrestling with piffling problems and pennywhistle crises."

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0072477}}
• {{TV Guide|200038}}
• {{epguides|BigEddie}}

Category:1975 American television series debuts

Category:1975 American television series endings

Category:1970s American multi-camera sitcoms

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:Television shows set in New York City

Category:CBS sitcoms

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