Mister Peepers- Unaired pilot episode (1 of 4) Historic early TV series starring Wally Cox)
July 22nd, 2010 | 
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One of the earliest surviving “live” sitcoms of the 1950′s is Wally Cox’s “Mister Peepers”. The show aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. Unlike “I Love Lucy” which was shot on film, “Mister Peepers” was aired live and exists today because it was saved via the kinescope process (basically, putting a 16mm camera in front of a TV monitor and filming the screen). Due to the nature of the show and the way it was saved, the picture quality is not that amazing. (But, its historical value as one of the earliest TV series still available to see today makes up for this!) What we have here (in four parts) is the original unaired pilot for the series (circa early 1952). (Look for a young Walter Matthau as the coach!) Unlike the aired episodes, there is no audience, so the scenes seem rather quiet. This series is very low-key and probably will seem quaint and rather boring to those folks used to what passes for entertainment today. But, as the series progresses, you tend to find yourself rooting for Robinson Peepers, as he genuinely is a nice guy! (BTW, if you like the show, you really should buy the two volumes of episodes out on DVD. About half the series has been released so far, and more support might get the rest of it released!)
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I thought this was going to be Chris Katan’s saturday night live character
Matthau appeared, uncredited, as Jefferson City Junior High’s athletic coach- which Jack Warden later played in the series [as "Frank Whip"]. This unaired version of the pilot episode was not staged before a live studio audience- in fact, this could have easily be expanded and staged for Fred Coe’s “PHILCO/GOODYEAR TELEVISION THEATER”.
This was the genesis of the series: on October 28, 1951, Fred Coe, producer of NBC’s “GOODYEAR TELEVISION PLAYHOUSE”, produced a script by David Swift entitled “The Copper”, starring Wally Cox as an undercover police officer. This episode received such a response from viewers, the network asked Coe and Swift if they could create a series for Wally…
This unaired pilot was produced by David Swift for NBC’s consideration in the spring of 1952. They, in turn, were able to initially sell the series to the Ford Motor Company as a “stopgap” for their Thursday night time period on the network [9:30-10pm(et)] that summer, until their filmed “FORD THEATER” anthology premiered in October.
i’m shocked to see this on here. i’m 25, and i love this show
. mr. peepers in this pilot is actually more sad and pitiful than the one that actually aired 
. too bad walter matthau wasn’t in the one that aired.
Heh…anybody catch the youthful Walter Matthau in here?!
Gosh! I didn’t think YOU TUBE had this. Off the top of my head…I vaguely remember this show as a litly-bity girl. “MR. PEEPERS” I thought had a laugh track in it.
Thanks for the memories!