James "Jimmy" Stewart was one of the most successful movie stars of his generation, best known today for his lead roles in many of Alfred Hitchcock's best movies or perhaps as George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life." He was a lovable everyman-type lead, and in 1971 he briefly tried to bring that approachable charm of his into the world of television: in September 1971 the first episode of his sitcom, "The Jimmy Stewart Show," aired on NBC. The reviews were rough.

"'The Jimmy Stewart Show' may succeed because Jimmy Stewart is the star," wrote TV critic Clarence Peterson in the aftermath of the premiere. "But the debut was a half-hour idealization of 'the good old days.' Most of the humor was inadvertent."

Critic Larry Williams at the Memphis-based paper The Commercial Appeal was even harsher, declaring the show "dull, trivial," and criticizing the show for being a waste of Stewart's talents. He wrote, "It is sad to think that two of the finest actors Hollywood has produced, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda -- are reduced to 30-minute TV sitcoms which are nothing more than time consumers."

Williams compared the show negatively to "The John Forsythe Show," a '60s sitcom starring another movie star lead who was trying and failing to cash in on the young medium of TV. That show had been called "milksoppy" and "cliché" by critics of the time, and was canceled before it could reach the second season. Williams followed this comparison to its natural conclusion, correctly implying that Stewart's show would itself fail to make it into season 2 unless it seriously shook things up. As he put it, "One [episode] does not a season make, but Jimmy Stewart and producer Hal Kanter will have to improve by a thousand leagues over last night."