ONE SEASON WONDERS: Delta House

On Wednesdays, I look at shows that lasted on season or less. Today I am looking at 1970s flop Delta House!

DELTA HOUSE

Programming Details:

January 18, 1979 - April 21, 1979

13 episodes

ABC

Starring: John Vernon, Stephen Furst, Bruce McGill, James Widdoes, Josh Mostel and Peter Fox

Based on the Screenplay for National Lampoon's "Animal House"

Written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller

Plot: Based on the popular frat boy movie Animal House, Delta House includes many of the same cast members in the same frat house: Flounder (Furst), D-Day (McGill) and Hoover (Widdoes) as well as the beleaguered Dean Wormer (Vernon). John Belushi did not join the series so his character had a younger brother, Blotto (Mostel). Another replacement was Peter Fox, replacing Tim Matheson as Otter.

Brief Pilot Review:

I have not seen the movie Animal House but I know enough through pop culture to know some of the things are famous from it. Despite having much of the same cast, the TV series fails completely in its execution and there's one major reason. It had absolutely no edge. Sure, TV shows can push the envelope now just as far as movies. But back in the 1970s, there was a pretty significant gap between what could be shown on TV and what could be shown in movies. So instead of having some pretty bawdy content, we had to deal with very generic sitcom plots like cheating on a test. Without having seen the movie, 

I also think the show was really missing John Belushi and Tim Matheson, who created pretty famous characters from what I understand. Josh Mostel and Peter Fox tried their best, but they didn't really make much of an impact in the pilot. There's an element that all feels pretty sad, like everyone involved is just trying way too hard. Those who were part of the movie seem hellbent on trying to make things as fun (and failing miserably) while those who were new are really trying to show they can fill the big shoes left for them. The most enjoyable character is the always reliable and funny Stephen Furst, but even he was nothing special.

What Went Wrong:

It's understandable that they were trying to copy the success of Animal House. The 1978 movie was a phenomenon. It was the highest grossing comedy of all time at the time it left the theaters (obviously that's been surpassed many times over since). All the networks were trying to find an Animal House knock off following the success of the film but ABC was the one that actually managed to get the direct sequel with some of the creative team involved.

However, that did not prove to be helpful primarily for the reasons that I critiqued the show above. The show already had to be heavily watered down for TV and then was also put in the "family hour" of Saturday at 8pm so there was absolutely no chance the series would be able to have any of the features that made people love the movie. It had a strong start in the ratings, probably due to general interest in the title, but that quickly evaporated. The creators also battled with the network as they were pushing for edgier material. The series was cancelled after just 13 episodes but was notable for being one of Michelle Pfeiffer's first roles. She joined the cast after the pilot and hit it big in the movies a few years later.

Tomorrow: A look at the fourth season of Rhoda!

Next Wednesday: A look at 1980s flop Women in Prison!