Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Coming to America, which aired on CBS in 1989.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Fresh off the success of the film Coming To America, Eddie Murphy served as executive producer of a series based on the film.  How did that work out?  Read on to find out!

Episode 1.1 “Pilot”

(Dir by Tony Singletary, originally aired on July 4th, 1989)

The pilot for Coming to America begins with the story already in progress.  We get an overhead shot of New York while Prince Tariq (Tommy Davidson, speaking with an unconvincing accent) explains that he and his minder, Omar (Paul Bates), have been sent to America so that Tariq can attend college.  (Tariq is established as being the younger brother of the character that Eddie Murphy played in the original film.)  Tariq and Omar have rented a room from diner owner Carl Mackey (John Hancock).  Carl is a curmudgeon.  Tariq expects everyone to treat him like royalty.  Carl grumbles about not getting to eat unhealthy food before a doctor’s visit.  Tariq does an extended Stevie Wonder impersonation.

Uh-oh, Tariq’s out of money!  In just nine months, he spends all of his money on movies and clothes.  What can Tariq do?  Maybe he and Omar can work in Carl’s diner!  Uh-oh, Tariq’s started a dance party in the diner and he orders Omar to join the fun!  Carl shows up at an inopportune time and Omar is fired.  Can Tariq take responsibility for his actions?

“I’m a Beverly Hills Cop, you’re a Beverly Hills cop too and in 48 hours, we’re Trading Places.” Tariq says at one point and seriously, you have to wonder why they didn’t toss a reference to The Golden Child in there.  Tariq is royalty so it certainly would have made more sense for him to refer to himself as being a Golden Child as opposed to being a Beverly Hills Cop.  That’s the type of show this is, though.  The humor is heavy-handed but it also misses way too many opportunities.

My friend from Australia, Mark, sent me the link for this pilot (it’s on YouTube) and he dared me to see how much I could watch before turning it off in disgust.  I managed to get through the entire thing but it wasn’t easy.  To be honest, I nearly stopped this thing as soon as Tariq’s opening narration began.  When that much exposition is stuffed into the opening narration, you know that you’re about watch a disjointed mess of a program.  Indeed, one could argue that calling this program disjointed is a case of me being charitable.  In the end, the main problem is that, after all the build-up of Tariq being a prince, the plot itself could just as easily been the plot of a thousand other mediocre sitcoms.  How many times did Lisa and Kelly have to take jobs at the Max in Saved By The Bell?  Both Malibu CA and One World suggested that working at a restaurant was the best — perhaps the only! — way to learn responsibility.  The Coming to America diner looks almost exactly like the City Guys diner.  How is this not a Peter Engel production?

Coming to America aired once.  There was never a second episode.  Hence, today, we’ve started and ended a series!  Next week, something new will premiere in this time slot.  Hopefully, it will be better than both Malibu CA and Coming to America.