In 1993 Bronson Pinchot was on top of the world after the smash-hit ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers left the air. His options for a follow-up project were nearly limitless, and the actor turned down a number of opportunities to return to TV for another sitcom. This show, The Trouble With Larry, follows the adventures of Larry Burton (Pinchot), a man who was dragged off into the African jungle by wild apes on his wedding night. Ten years later, after a series of unseen comic mis-adventures, he returns to American suburbia to reunite with his wife Gabriella (played by an unknown Courtney Cox)... who has long moved on, assumed him dead, and has married the conservative Boyd Flatt. Larry won't go away willingly, however, and instead moves into the Flatt household, sleeps on the couch, and is determined to win back Gabriella and her daughter Sally (who actually is Larry's daughter, although Gabriella has never told Boyd this piece of information). Why, the jokes just write themselves!

In the television programming world of the 21st century it isn't uncommon for a new television show to vanish from the airwaves after only a handful of airings. TV executives are looking for instant hits, and quirky entertainment such as Wonderfalls and God, The Devil, and Bob are yanked in favor of guarenteed ratings period winners in the genre of reality television or a flavor of CSI. In olden days new shows were given a chance to build an audience; neither Seinfeld, Cheers, or The X-Files were ratings powerhouses in their early years. One wonders what would have become of The Trouble With Larry had it been allowed to develop. On the other hand, perhaps its just as well that CBS buried the show after a single airing. The Trouble With Larry aired just one time in August 1993 before CBS pulled it off the air, leaving five unaired episodes lost to the mists of time. Not even the participation of Perfect Strangers castmate Mark Linn-Baker (who directed the series) could save the show from its cancelled fate.

Season One (1993)

  • The Homecoming
  • The Vigilantes
  • My Science Fair Lady
  • The Angel of Death and Taxes
  • Witless for the Prosecution
  • Rhinestone Cowboy


References:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106162/
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-519/The_Trouble_with_Larry/