Buffalo Bill is an American sitcom television series that featured the misadventures of an egotistical talk show host, played by Dabney Coleman, and his staff (including Geena Davis and Joanna Cassidy) at WBFL-TV, a small TV station in Buffalo, New York. It premiered June 1, 1983, on NBC and ran for two seasons (1983–84). It was also shown on the then-new UK fourth TV channel Channel 4.
Contents
Characters
Dabney Coleman as "Buffalo" Bill Bittinger, raging egocentric local talk show host
Joanna Cassidy as Joanna "Jo-Jo" White, no-nonsense producer of the talk show, in an on-again, off-again relationship with Bill
Max Wright as Karl Shub, WBFL's station manager who suffers from an inability to inhibit Bill's bad behavior
John Fiedler as Woodrow "Woody" Deschler, stage manager who is independently wealthy yet seems to enjoy working for Bill
Geena Davis as Wendy Killian, a diligent but naive production assistant
Charlie Robinson as Newdell Springs, make-up artist who is trying to move up the ladder
Meshach Taylor as Tony, assistant director
Claude Earl Jones as Stan (recurring), a stagehand whose name Bill struggles to remember
Pippa Peartree as Melanie Bittinger, Bill's (estranged) daughter who is desperate for his approval and begins working at the station.
Synopsis
Most of the humor came from Bill's completely irredeemable qualities and from the staff's frustration at dealing with him.
Episodes
In 2005, Lionsgate (under license from Brillstein/Grey Communications) released the entire series on Region 1 * Note - Episode Season 2 Episode 1 - "Hit the Road, Newdell" - The "Hit the Road Jack" (lip synced to the Ray Charles song) Sequence has been omitted on the DVD. It has been speculated that the scene was cut due to licensing problems. .
Reception
The series received 11 Emmy Award nominations (including two for Outstanding Comedy Series). Joanna Cassidy also won a Golden Globe Award in 1984. In 1999, TV Guide ranked Bill Bittinger number 42 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list. Former NBC President Brandon Tartikoff wrote in his memoirs that his biggest professional regret was canceling the show.