"The Johnsons Are Home" is a pilot for a series that was shown on "CBS Summer Playhouse"...a series that showed failed pilots, perhaps to see if the public liked them. I have no idea if any of the shows ended up getting picked up...but I know "The Johnsons Are Home" wasn't.
When I saw that Audrey Meadows (of "The Honeymooners" fame) was in "The Johnsons Are Home", I was excited. After all, she was great as Alice Kramden. My excitement was short-lived, however, as her part was abominably written. Imagine a sitcom where after folks talk, she delivers one-liners. She comes off like a nasty comedian who is doing her act in the Johnson home...and NOT a real person in any way. It made her character a caricature...and a darned annoying one at that. In fact, I never found a character like her in any show I've seen...and that is a HUGE problem with "The Johnsons Are Home"...and it must have been a major reason this pilot was never made into a regular television series. Was this all I disliked about "The Johnsons Are Home"? No. A misused laugh track also made the show hard to take.
Was there anything I liked about the show? Well, the clueless mother was kind of funny and, at times, the grouchy dad (Geoffrey Lewis) was also good. Otherwise, it was a misfire.
When I saw that Audrey Meadows (of "The Honeymooners" fame) was in "The Johnsons Are Home", I was excited. After all, she was great as Alice Kramden. My excitement was short-lived, however, as her part was abominably written. Imagine a sitcom where after folks talk, she delivers one-liners. She comes off like a nasty comedian who is doing her act in the Johnson home...and NOT a real person in any way. It made her character a caricature...and a darned annoying one at that. In fact, I never found a character like her in any show I've seen...and that is a HUGE problem with "The Johnsons Are Home"...and it must have been a major reason this pilot was never made into a regular television series. Was this all I disliked about "The Johnsons Are Home"? No. A misused laugh track also made the show hard to take.
Was there anything I liked about the show? Well, the clueless mother was kind of funny and, at times, the grouchy dad (Geoffrey Lewis) was also good. Otherwise, it was a misfire.
