In 1974, he created and co-wrote the teleplay for an unsold sitcom pilot for ABC called "The Fireman's Ball." The plot concerned the misadventures of a group of San Francisco firemen. ABC liked the concept enough to recast and re-shoot another pilot in 1975, with Johnny Brown and David Ketchum the only returning actors but the network decided not to pick it up for their fall line-up when the audience reaction to its 1975 airing was decidedly cool.