The Peculiar Truth about Richard Pryor’s Kiddie Show

• Few American standup comedians in the mid-70s to mid-80s were as popular as Richard Pryor. He broke boundaries and set the tone for many comedians to come. His movie appearances reached a broad audience, but Pryor’s profanity-laden live act was considered adults-only material.

• That’s why fans were surprised when he hosted a Saturday morning kid’s show.

• Before that, Pryor had a couple of forays into network television. After his memorable Saturday Night Live appearance in 1975 and a highly-rated special in ’77, NBC gave him his own primetime comedy series, The Richard Pryor Show. That debuted in September 1977 and aired at 8 pm - the height of primetime. The show featured future comedy stars Robin Williams, Marsha Warfield, Paul Mooney, and Sandra Bernhard among others.

• But the material was deemed too controversial - one sketch had Pryor totally nude but with his genitalia blacked out - and the series was cancelled after just four episodes.

• Pryor’s star kept rising, though, thanks to his many popular movie roles. He became the highest-paid black film actor of his era.

• June 1980: During the filming of Stir Crazy with recurring co-star Gene Wilder, Pryor’s behavior during the movie production became erratic, according to Wilder’s memoirs, with Richard being frequently late for shooting.

• Then Pryor set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine. That became the butt of countless jokes including by Pryor himself, which he addressed in his standup show Live on the Sunset Strip in 1982. But it was much later revealed that he had attempted suicide.

• He did another standup movie in ’83 and then was approached about a project entirely different for him.

• Two well-established producers, Sid and Marty Krofft, pitched the kids’ show idea. They had success with some puppet-based series like HR Pufnstuf and Far Out Space Nuts. They proposed a show featuring child actors and guest stars. Pryor had already appeared in The Muppet Movie (1977) and proved he could perform in that genre. So he said yes.

• September 15, 1984: Pryor’s Place debuted on CBS. The style was a kind of inner-city Sesame Street. The stories were a reflection of Pryor’s black and urban childhood.

• Each half-hour episode featured Richard as a narrator and as a few recurring characters while a young actor portrayed him as a boy named Little Ritchie. The show offered a mix of mild humor and street-wise education.

• But it presented some heavy themes including bullying, shoplifting, parental divorce, and child abuse. Each episode ended with Richard imparting wise advice to the young viewing audience.

• A New York Times TV critic called Pryor’s Place “pleasantly low-key in its eagerness to enlighten and reassure…”

• Celebrity guests included Willie Nelson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Henry Winkler, Lily Tomlin, Shirley Hemphill, Robin Williams, and Sammy Davis, Jr.

• December 1984: Production abruptly ceased after 13 episodes. Various reasons have been offered for its demise. Some say Pryor grew tired of the show and left. Others say it was cancelled due to poor ratings. Regardless, it ran in reruns until the summer of ’85.

• View the first episode of Pryor’s Place here.  https://youtu.be/sLftdMfYeVM