Poochinski (1990)

This was an NBC comedy pilot (a test episode for a new show) that aired in the summer of 1990 for unknown reasons,something having to do with a tax write off no doubt. It featured Peter Boyle as a hard boiled cop (Stanley Poochinski) who was killed in the line of duty and his soul goes into the body of a dog he had befriended. I believe a clip of this show was featured on a special titled "The worst shows that were never made" or something along those lines. Given that this was a talking dog sitcom where the title character's actual name just happened to be Poochinski, is that really a surprise to anyone? As the story goes, Peter Boyle (Poochinsky) is killed on duty and his soul goes into his dog. The dog then talks to young cop George Newburn (Father Of The Bride) and helps solve crimes. Of course his hard boiled boss is the cliché big hard boiled black "Your'e off the case!" captain played for the hundredth time by big black hard boiled actor Frank McRae. Nothing against McRae, he is a good actor, but I'll wager he has had to bury his soul to play these parts time and time again. This is one of those shows that cannot make up it's mind if it's a sitcom, a kids show or a cop show. The end result is a comedy for all the wrong reasons. The mechanical dog they spent (rumor has it) 6 figures on looks worse than the mechanical Abe Lincoln at Disneyland. A real dog and a $4 jar of peanut butter would have served them better.

In one of the few highlights comedian Brian Haley plays a small but memorable role as the uptight Sgt. Shriver (that's about as funny as the script gets) but it's not enough to save this ticket from defeat.