Billy is the name of a short-lived situation comedy that CBS aired in the United States in 1979. The series was based on Tom Courtenay's turn-of-the-century British play Billy Liar. Billy starred Steve Guttenberg as Billy Fisher, a mortician's clerk with a tendency to daydream. His Walter Mitty-like tendency would have him imagining that he was a famous surgeon, a rock superstar, a disk jockey, a television network executive, or a football star. Each episode of Billy had at least two of his fantasies, which included appearances by Suzanne Somers, Don Adams, Larry Csonka, Merv Griffin, and Lou Ferrigno. Peggy Pope and James Gallery portrayed Billy's often-frustrated parents (she thought Billy had a vivid imagination; he viewed Billy as a chronic, compulsive liar). Paula Trueman played his grandmother, who believed that Billy was insane, and Bruce Talkington played Billy's friend Arthur Milliken, a fellow worker at Shadrack and Shadrack funeral home. Billy replaced the ill-fated Co-Ed Fever in CBS' Monday night lineup in February 1979. It didn't fare much better as Billy was cancelled two months later. Its last episode was broadcast by CBS on April 28, 1979.
References and external links
- Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present ISBN 0-345-45542-8
- TV Guide Guide to TV (2006) ISBN 0-7607-7572-9
- IMDB listing for Billy (1979 TV series)
- tv.com's listing for Billy (1979 TV series)
