| What's Alan Watching? | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Bob Tischler |
| Directed by | Thomas Schlamme |
| Starring | Corin Nemec |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Eddie Murphy |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | Eddie Murphy Television Paramount Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | February 27, 1989[1] |
What's Alan Watching? was a 1989 CBS television series pilot.
Overview
Produced by Eddie Murphy and his company, Eddie Murphy Television, What's Alan Watching? starred Corin Nemec as Alan, a 17-year-old couch potato who views life, and his family, as if they were on television. Libby (Barbara Barrie) and Leo (Peter Michael Goetz) are his parents, Gail (future sitcom star Fran Drescher) is his sister, Jeff (David Packer) is his brother and Alyssa (Cheryl Pollak) is his girlfriend. Murphy also had a cameo in the episode, playing a protester decrying James Brown's incarceration, as well as Brown himself.
The episode was directed by Thomas Schlamme and aired on CBS on February 27, 1989. The network passed on making it a regular series,[1][2] but What's Alan Watching? did win the Television Critics Association's TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials.
See also
- Dream On (1990)
- Remote Control (1987)
In popular culture
TV critic Alan Sepinwall named his personal television blog "What's Alan Watching?" after the television program.[3] The blog was used to recap, and review television programs after they had aired the night before. Sepinwall is in particular, credited with being one of the television reviewers who popularized the recap and review format for post-air television discussions in the blogosphere.[4]
References
- ^ a b Atkinson, Terry (February 27, 1989). "TV REVIEW : 'What's Alan Watching? 'Eddie Murphy's Shot in the Arm for Ailing CBS". The Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "What's Alan Watching?". The New York Times. 1989.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (2 December 2011). "What's Alan watching? Why, the 'What's Alan Watching?' pilot, of course!". Uproxx. Warner Music Group. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
- ^ Herman, Alison (31 July 2018). "Previously On: How Recaps Changed the Way We Watch Television". The Ringer. Vox Media. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
External links
