Coming to America (TV pilot)
{{short description|1989 American television pilot}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image = ComingtoAmerica1989TVpilot.jpg
| image_upright =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption =
| alt_name =
| native_name =
| genre = Sitcom
| creator =
| based_on = {{based on|Coming to America|Barry W. Blaustein|David Sheffield|Eddie Murphy}}
| writer = Ken Hecht
| director = Tony Singletary
| creative_director =
| presenter =
| starring = Tommy Davidson
Paul Bates
John Hancock
Hattie Winston
Paris Vaughan
A. J. Johnson
C. Darnell Rose
Francis MacGuire
| judges =
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer = John Beasley
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons =
| num_episodes = 1
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = Ken Hecht
Eddie Murphy
| producer =
| news_editor =
| location =
| cinematography =
| animator =
| editor = John Doutt
| camera = Multi-camera
| runtime = 24 minutes
| company = Eddie Murphy Productions
Paramount Network Television Productions
| budget =
| network = CBS
| released = {{Start date|1989|07|04}}
| related = CBS Summer Playhouse
}}
Coming to America is the name of a proposed weekly sitcom, based on the 1988 film of the same name. The pilot{{cite news |last=Haithman|first=Diane|date=March 24, 1989|title=TV Pilots Ready for an Air War|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-24-ca-293-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times}} ultimately went unsold,{{cite web |url=https://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/unsold_pilots_on_television_67_89/|title=UNSOLD PILOTS ON TELEVISION, 1967-1989|last=Jay|first=Robert|website=TV Obscurities|date=24 July 2009 }} but it was still televised on CBS on July 4, 1989 as part of the CBS Summer Playhouse{{cite web |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/when-networks-aired-their-failed-tv-pilots-in-the-middle-of-the-summer|title=When Networks Aired Their Failed TV Pilots in the Middle of the Summer|last=Smith|first=Ernie|date=January 23, 2017|website=Atlas Obscura}}{{cite news |last=Brennan|first=Patricia|date=July 2, 1989|title=E.G. MARSHALL HOSTS 'NATIONAL BAND CONCERT'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1989/07/02/eg-marshall-hosts-national-band-concert/600fb668-d622-497d-aa53-8c68c7f15ce1/|newspaper=The Washington Post|location= |access-date=}} pilot anthology series.{{cite web |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/26244/OUTTAKES---COMING-TO-AMERICA-THE-TV-SERIES.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120080312/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/26244/OUTTAKES---COMING-TO-AMERICA-THE-TV-SERIES.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 20, 2012 |title='Outtakes' - 'Coming To America' The TV Series |date=December 8, 1988 |work=Deseret News |publisher=Deseret News Publishing Company |access-date=August 31, 2019}}
Plot
Irresponsible{{cite book |last=Terrace|first=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed.|date=10 January 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX_daEhlnbsC&dq=coming+to+america+1989+cbs+tommy+davidson&pg=PA203|page=1817|publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786486410}} Prince Tariq of Zamunda has been exiled{{cite news |last=Thacker|first=Lee|date=March 5, 2021|title=Coming To America – Pilot Error!|url=https://setthetape.com/2021/03/05/coming-to-america-pilot-error/|work=Set The Tape|location= |access-date=June 21, 2022}} to attend college in America{{cite news |last=Lamar|first=Andre|date=March 17, 2021|title=Tommy Davidson recalls 'Coming to America' TV pilot he starred in that never landed|url=https://www.delawareonline.com/story/entertainment/2021/03/17/coming-america-star-tommy-davidson-headlines-house-laffs-wilmington/4698775001/|work=Delaware Online|location= |access-date=June 21, 2022}} by the king, his brother{{cite web |url=https://www.vulture.com/2013/10/here-are-a-bunch-of-rare-tv-pilots-starring-bob-odenkirk-patton-oswalt-and-andy-kaufman.html|title=Here Are a Bunch of Rare TV Pilots Starring Bob Odenkirk|last=Evans|first=Bradford|date=October 16, 2016|website=Vulture}} Akeem. It however, takes only nine days{{cite news |last=Jennings|first=Collier|date=March 5, 2021|title=The Coming To America TV Show That Never Saw The Light Of Day|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/831702/the-coming-to-america-tv-show-that-never-saw-the-light-of-day/|work=Slash Film|location= |access-date=June 21, 2022}} living in Queens, New York{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/463178/coming-to-america#overview|title=Coming to America (1989)|website=Turner Classic Movies}} for Tariq to blow his allowance. So in order to make ends meet, Tariq and his assistant Oha, find jobs in the diner owned by their landlord, Carl Mackey.
At one point in the pilot, Tariq says in reference to Eddie Murphy,{{cite news |last=Perrin|first=Steve|date=April 3, 2021|title=Coming To America… The TV Show?|url=https://littlebitsofgaming.com/2021/03/04/coming-to-america-the-tv-show/|work=Little Bits of Gaming & Movies|location= |access-date=June 21, 2022}} “I'm a Beverly Hills Cop, you're a Beverly Hills cop too and in 48 hours, we're Trading Places.”{{cite web |url=https://screenrant.com/coming-to-america-eddie-murphy-trivia-facts/|title=15 Things You Never Knew About Coming To America|last=Jude|first=Tamara|date=May 20, 2017|website=ScreenRant}} Also, Tariq at another point, shows up at the diner with a copy of The Art of the Deal, which he explains that someone threw at him. Tariq believes he's "just like this homosexual guy," and that he'll get rich by buying and selling property, despite the fact that he doesn't have any money.
Cast
The pilot starred Tommy Davidson as Prince Tariq, Paul Bates reprising his role as Oha (though he's named Omar in the pilot) from the film, and John Hancock{{cite web |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/78669/10-royal-facts-about-coming-america|title=10 Fun Facts About Coming to America|last=Aquino|first=Tara|date=June 29, 2018|website=Mental Floss}} as their landlord, Carl Mackey. Also among the cast are Hattie Winston and Paris Vaughan as Carl's wife and daughter respectively.
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
- Tommy Davidson as Prince Tariq
- Paul Bates as Oha
- John Hancock as Carl Mackey
- Hattie Winston as Pauline Mackey
- Paris Vaughan as Phyliss Mackey
- A. J. Johnson as Annie
- C. Darnell Rose as Steve
- Francis MacGuire as Amy
{{Div col end}}
Production
{{tone|section|date=September 2023}}
The show was produced by Eddie Murphy Television Enterprises in association with Paramount. Furthermore, Murphy was listed as co-executive producer.{{cite news |last=Wiese|first=Jason|date=February 23, 2021|title=Coming To America: 9 Behind-The-Scenes Stories About The Eddie Murphy Classic|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2563077/coming-to-america-behind-the-scenes-stories-about-the-eddie-murphy-classic|work=Cinema Blend|location= |access-date=}} The pilot was greenlit as part of a first-look deal{{cite news |last= |first= |date=August 27, 1987|title=Eddie Murphy Signs Pact With Paramount|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/movies/eddie-murphy-signs-pact-with-paramount.html|work=The New York Times|location= |access-date=}} with Paramount, Eddie Murphy, and CBS. Had the pilot been successful, then CBS would've proceeded with an initial 13-episode run.
In 2020, Bonsu Thompson of Level wrote about the would be show in his article "An Oral History of the Coming To America Show You Never Knew About".{{cite web |url=https://level.medium.com/an-oral-history-of-the-coming-to-america-tv-show-you-never-knew-about-3df24504d651|title=An Oral History of the 'Coming to America' TV Show You Never Knew About|last=Thompson|first=Bonsu|date=August 20, 2020|website=LEVEL}} Thompson wrote that the pilot floundered because it was written by a Jewish writer, Ken Hecht,{{cite news |last=Baxter|first=Joseph|date=March 4, 2021|title=Why the Coming to America TV Series Was Made to Fail|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/coming-to-america-tv-series-fail/|work=Den of Geek|location= |access-date=}} “who had made a name penning Black sitcoms like Diff'rent Strokes and Webster{{cite web |url=https://obituaries.neptunesociety.com/obituaries/sherman-oaks-ca/kenneth-hecht-10640133|title=Kenneth Roger Hecht - Obituaries|last= |first= |date= |website=Neptune Society|publisher= |access-date=June 21, 2022|quote=}} and reportedly took a rigid, I-know-best approach to comedy".{{cite web |url=https://shadowandact.com/heres-why-a-coming-to-america-tv-show-starring-tommy-davidson-never-got-picked-up|title=Here's Why A 'Coming To America' TV Show, Starring Tommy Davidson, Never Got Picked Up|last=Jones|first=Monique|date=August 25, 2020|website=Shadow and Cat}} Thompson also stated the pilot “didn't take advantage of Tommy Davidson's gifts." But, what Hecht was able to do with family sitcoms like Diff'rent Strokes and Webster "did not rule in 1989--and a suspect fascination with Africans eating insects didn't help," he continued.
According to Tommy Davidson,{{cite book |last=Davidson|first=Tommy|title=Living in Color: What's Funny About Me: Stories from In Living Color, Pop ...|date=28 January 2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iIeVDwAAQBAJ&q=Coming+to+America|page=58|publisher=Kensington Books |isbn=9781496712974}} Ken Hecht came from the golden age of comedy, where he knew about the setup, joke, joke, and another joke but didn't have a feel for Eddie Murphy's style of comedy nor a feel for Black pride. Davidson added that Murphy never visited the set to see the show being filmed. Ultimately, Paramount and CBS, knowing that they had a turkey on their hands, aired it on the Fourth of July, less than a year after it was shot.
Critical response
Joan Hanauer wrote in UPI on July 3, 1989{{cite news |last=Hanauer|first=Joan|date=July 3, 1989|title='Coming to America' going nowhere|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/07/03/Coming-to-America-going-nowhere/5350615441600/|work=UPI}} that the pilot was perfectly awful. She added that if your idea of humor is seeing a fat man's pants split in back when he bends over, then you will find Coming to America screamingly funny.
In 2015, Molly Fitzpatrick of Splinter said{{cite web |url=http://splinternews.com/reminder-a-terrible-coming-to-america-tv-pilot-happene-1793852530 |title=Reminder: A terrible 'Coming to America' TV pilot happened in 1989 |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Molly |date=April 11, 2015 |website=Splinter News |access-date=August 31, 2019}} that Tommy Davidson's Tariq lacks Eddie Murphy's Akeem's irresistible Pollyannaish charm from the film, and the pilot mostly functions as a disjointed vehicle for Davidson's Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson impressions.
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0911189}}
- [https://podtail.com/en/podcast/launching-the-pilot/coming-to-america-1989/ Coming To America (1989) – Launching The Pilot – Podcast ...]
{{Coming to America}}
{{CBS Summer Playhouse}}
Category:Television pilots not picked up as a series
Category:CBS television specials
Category:1989 television specials
Category:1980s American multi-camera sitcoms
Category:1980s American black sitcoms
Category:Live action television shows based on films
Category:Television shows set in New York City
Category:Coming to America (film series)
Category:Television series by CBS Studios
Category:Queens, New York, in fiction
Category:Television series set in restaurants
Category:American English-language television shows