| Buddies | |
|---|---|
DVD cover |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Carmen Finestra David McFadzean Peter Tolan |
| Written by | Carmen Finestra David MacFadzean Peter Tolan Matt Williams |
| Directed by | Paul Lazarus John Pasquin Andrew Tsao |
| Starring | Dave Chappelle Christopher Gartin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (8 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Carmen Finestra David MacFadzean Matt Williams |
| Location(s) | Burbank, California |
| Camera setup | Videotape; Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Wind Dancer Productions Touchstone Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Picture format | NTSC (480i) |
| Original run | March 5 – April 3, 1996 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Home Improvement |
Buddies is the name of a short-lived sitcom starring Dave Chappelle that aired on ABC in 1996.
Contents |
Comedians Dave Chappelle and Jim Breuer attracted the attention of TV network executives with their guest appearance in the March 14, 1995 episode of ABC's highly rated sitcom Home Improvement.[1] The storyline had Chappelle and Breuer play a duo of friends who appear on Tool Time to ask Tim Taylor advice on their girlfriends. The characters' single outing on the episode proved so popular that ABC decided to give Chappelle and Breuer their own half-hour sitcom.
After subsequent rehearsals, Jim Breuer was replaced with Christopher Gartin as Dave Chappelle's "buddy". The unique comic timing and chemistry that Chappelle had with Breuer, his real-life friend, was not present with Gartin, and Breuer's abrupt firing exacerbated ill will. This prevented Chappelle and Gartin from developing the rapport and comedic chemistry necessary for the characters' believability and likeability.[2]
Buddies premiered on Tuesday, March 5, 1996. The show garnered disappointing ratings. When a move to Wednesday night failed to improve its performance, Buddies was off the air on April 3 after a broadcast history of only five episodes out of the 13 that were produced.[3] Dave Chappelle himself, was not proud of his involvement with Buddies in retrospect:
| “ | It was a bad show. It was bad. I mean when we were doing it, I could tell this was not gonna work.[4] | ” |
| Series # | Title | Notes | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | No synopsis available. | March 5, 1996 |
| 2 | "A Room with a Pyew" | No synopsis available. | March 13, 1996 |
| 3 | "Regarding Henry" | No synopsis available. | March 20, 1996 |
| 4 | "Famous Last Words" | No synopsis available. | March 27, 1996 |
| 5 | "Marry Me ... Sort Of" | No synopsis available. | April 3, 1996 |
| 6 | "Lights, Camera ... Yuck!" | No synopsis available. | Unaired |
| 7 | "Pet Peeves" | No synopsis available. | Unaired |
| 8 | "The Content of Their Character" | No synopsis available. | Unaired |
| 9 | "There Goes the Groom" | No synopsis available. | Unaired |
| 10 | "The PSA Story" | No synopsis available. | Unaired |
| 11 | "John, I've Been Thinking" | No synopsis available. | Unaired |
| 12 | "Engagement Hell" | No synopsis available. | Unaired |
| 13 | "Whack and Blight" | No synopsis available. | Unaired |
For a limited time in 2005, Best Buy had an exclusive DVD available that contained 10 episodes of Buddies, 8 of which were never aired.[5] The DVD was originally released on May 15, 2005[6] but seems to have been discontinued as Best Buy currently lists the item as "backordered." It is unclear why the DVD did not include all 13 episodes of the show or if the remaining 3 episodes will ever receive a home video release.
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