But first a couple of martinis and a couple of beers. Then POOR DEVIL (1973) a TV pilot for a proposed sitcom starring Sammy Davis Jr. as a perpetual loser doomed to shovel coal in the 8000 degree furnace of hell. Christopher Lee co-stars as the devil, and in the pilot Jack Klugman stars as a miserable loser accountant at a trendy San Francisco department store. Oh, and Adam West stars as his boss, nice.
Sammy (his character's name is also Sammy) is a loser because in over 700 years in hell he's never been able to actually convince someone to sell his soul. But Burnett J. Emerson (Klugman) is a good prospect. He's worked at the store for 25 years and is still a junior accountant. They didn't even recognize his work anniversary and give him the standard gold watch. So in desperation, he mumbles something about selling his soul to the devil. Boom, Sammy appears and wackiness ensues. Funky 70's kitsch, plus they make some hay out of San Francisco being full of people who have sold their souls. There's even a mentioned to the Church of Satan down the street. And not coincidentally, Sammy Davis Jr. got an invitation to join shortly after this aired.
Anyway, it was pretty funny and kinda makes me wish that the series had been picked up. On the other hand, I can see the joke getting stretched pretty thin and there's only so many places they can go every week.
Oh yeah, and this was actually shown on a 16 mm film print obtained from the estate of Sammy Davis Jr. himself. Pretty freakin' cool, daddy-o!
Running Time: 73 minutes
My Total Minutes: 340,073
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