Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Pursuit Of Happiness: Paul Provenza

The Pursuit of Happiness aired from October 1987 until January 1988 on ABC.

A short-lived comedy about an idealistic young history teacher who, after years of wandering around the country searching for " meaning," decided to see if he could find it teaching history at a small Philadelphia college. David (Paul Provenza) was especially anxious to meet his idol, noted historian and author Roland G. Duncan (Brian Keith). Duncan was not what he expected, gruff and very practical ( "They can't fire me-I've got tenure!") but he nevertheless became the older man's protege. Other eccentrics inhabiting David's new world were Margaret (Wendel Meldrum), a brilliant Egyptian studied scholar unable to cope with everyday life; Duncan's sexy, not-too-bright teenage daughter Sara ( Judie Aronson); and David's college buddy Vernon ( Wesley Thompson). David had two other role models-the intellectual in him idolized President Thomas Jefferson and the sports lover idolized Los Angeles Laker basketball star Magic Johnson. Whenever he had a problem, both of his idols would "come to life" ( Kevin Scannell played Thomas while Magic Johnson played himself)to offer David advice. Since their approaches were very different Thomas and Magic would often disagree about which course of action he should take.

A Review from USA TODAY

TV PREVIEW/BY MONICA COLLINS

A truly unhappy 'Pursuit'

So this is happiness? Give us a cold glass of grimness.

As unfunny a TV series as any you have to suffer through, The Pursuit of Happiness features a neuotic angry cast of characters. A dreadfully unhappy bunch.

The setting is a university where a young man who has spent six months as a lobsterman here, six months as a lumberjack there and a few years as a nobody nowhere, gets a job as a history teacher.

His idols? Thomas Jefferson and Magic Johnson. ( Johnson puts in a cameo appearance , exhorting the prof to give him a " high five.")

Actually you can give Johnson a high-five for having more presence than anybody else.

The professor ( played by Paul Provenza) is excited about meeting another idol: historian Roland G. Duncan ( Brian Keith), who heads the department.

Duncan turns out to be a sourball, mean and nasty with no apparent reason for being except to inject some phony tension.

The tension is such that you feel it keenly. Not between the characters, but between you and your remote control device. Your fingers will itch to zap the dial. Succumb.

For if you keep watching this, you will soon encounter the most ridiculous character of all. An Egyptian history professor who acts like a sphinx on speed. Played by Wendel Meldrum, this character turns a joke about academic neurotics into a painful charade.

She's so tic-ridden you wonder whether she's a teacher or dog coming in from the woods.

Watch this professor slurp beer in a gruesomely awkward scene and your entire hand will be perched above the remote-control zapper.

Pursuit of Happiness replaces Max Headroom, which had a lot more creativity even if a large audience didn't get it. Better to have saved Max then to subject us to an aimless Pursuit.

For the Official Brian Keith Website go to http://www.briankeith.com/

For an article on Magic Johnson go to http://www.nba.com/history/players/johnsonm_summary.html