The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer (partially found UPN sitcom; 1998): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:46, 3 February 2017

The cast.

The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer was an American sitcom that aired on UPN in 1998, starring Chi McBride as Abraham Lincoln's Black English butler, Dann Florek as Lincoln himself, Max Baker as Nibblet, Desmond's assistant, and Christine Estabrook as Mary Todd, the President's wife.

The sitcom was very likely influenced by the BBC series Blackadder the Third, starring Rowan Atkinson, Tony Curtis and Hugh Laurie, in which Atkinson played the smart, witty, dishonest unlucky man, Tony Robinson the comic fool and Hugh Laurie the noble/socially important dumb man. These roles mirror the ones that McBride, Baker and Florek had on Desmond Pfeiffer.

Nine episodes were recorded, but only four aired because the series was the subject of controversy; many felt it took the issue of American Slavery too light heartedly. Additionally, poor ratings and the fact that President Lincoln was depicted as a fool may have contributed to the early cancellation of the show.

The episodes that aired have not been seen since the original airing date, and the unbroadcasted one have never been made available to the public ever, though synopsis for episodes #5 and #7 are available. Videos of episodes #1, #2 and #4 have been leaked on the net by people who recorded the original broadcasts, but episode #3 doesn't seem to have circulated much.

While there's no reason to think that the master tapes of the episodes do not exist anymore, the sitcom was so controversial and unpopular (often listed today as one of the worst TV series of all time) that it won't be likely released on DVD anytime soon.

Episodes

Episode #	Title	Air date
1	"A.O.L.: Abe On-Line"	October 5, 1998
2	"Up, Up and Away"	October 12, 1998
3	"Saving Mr. Lincoln"	October 19, 1998
4	"Once Upon a Mistress"	October 26, 1998
5	Pilot	Unaired
6	"Pigeon English"	Unaired
7	"Kidnapped"	Unaired
8	"School Daze"	Unaired
9	"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"	Unaired

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 [[File:Pfeiffer-1-.jpg|thumb|300px|The cast.]]
-'''''The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer '''''was an American sitcom that aired on UPN in 1998, starring Chi McBride as a Abraham Lincoln's Black English butler, Dann Florek as The President, himself, Max Baker as Nibbled, Desmond's assistant and Christine Estabrook as as Mary Todd, the President's wife.
+'''''The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer''''' was an American sitcom that aired on UPN in 1998, starring Chi McBride as Abraham Lincoln's Black English butler, Dann Florek as Lincoln himself, Max Baker as Nibblet, Desmond's assistant, and Christine Estabrook as Mary Todd, the President's wife.
-The sit-com was very likely influenced by the BBC series ''Blackadder the Third'', starring Rowan Atkinson, Tony Curtis and Hugh Laurie, in which Atkinson played the smart, witty, dishonest unlucky man, Tony Robinson the comic fool and Hugh Laurie the noble/socially important dumb man. These roles mirror the ones that McBride, Baker and Florek have in the sit-com.
+The sitcom was very likely influenced by the BBC series ''Blackadder the Third'', starring Rowan Atkinson, Tony Curtis and Hugh Laurie, in which Atkinson played the smart, witty, dishonest unlucky man, Tony Robinson the comic fool and Hugh Laurie the noble/socially important dumb man. These roles mirror the ones that McBride, Baker and Florek had on '''Desmond Pfeiffer'''.
-Nine episodes were recorded, but only four aired because the serie caused a lot of controversies: many felt it took the issue of American Slavery too light heartedly. Additionally, poor ratings and the fact that President Lincoln was depicted as a fool may have contributed to the early cancellation of the show.
+Nine episodes were recorded, but only four aired because the series was the subject of controversy; many felt it took the issue of American Slavery too light heartedly. Additionally, poor ratings and the fact that President Lincoln was depicted as a fool may have contributed to the early cancellation of the show.
-The episodes that aired have not been seen since the original airing date, and the unbroadcasted one have never been made available to the public ever, though synopsis for episodes #5 and #7 are available. Videos of episodes #1, #2 and #4 have been leaked on the net by people who recorded the original broadcasts, but episode #3 doesn't seem to have circoulated much, additionally.
+The episodes that aired have not been seen since the original airing date, and the unbroadcasted one have never been made available to the public ever, though synopsis for episodes #5 and #7 are available. Videos of episodes #1, #2 and #4 have been leaked on the net by people who recorded the original broadcasts, but episode #3 doesn't seem to have circulated much.
-While there's no reason to think that the master tapes of the episodes do not exist anymore, the sit-com was so controversal and unpopoular (often listed today as one of the worst examples of televison) that it won't be likely released on DVD anytime soon.
+While there's no reason to think that the master tapes of the episodes do not exist anymore, the sitcom was so controversial and unpopular (often listed today as one of the worst TV series of all time) that it won't be likely released on DVD anytime soon.
 ==Episodes==