Underground Televisionmen

Underground Televisionmen

Underground Televisionmen is an American sitcom that ran on ABC and later MeMoreTV syndicates from May of 1982 to June of 1993, with a total of 453 episodes across 11 seasons.

The show currently available on MeMoreTV's streaming and gaming service, Triple Play Classic.

Plot

The show focused on the life of Twins, Spunn Toby and Tight Toby (Larry and Markle Beond), former cops who are banned from surface level New York City because of gambling and tax evasion. To avoid jail time for these crimes, The Toby Twins must live in an underground cavern as full-time social workers among a community of television obsessed men, helping them deal with their television obsessions and aid them in their daily tasks. Other characters in the show include fellow social workers Trabby Johnson (Melissa Dupez), Elfer Pent (Lars Vleicher), and Spunn's sometime girlfriend and former prostitute Reema Teema (Rachel Homrad). The Twins' boss on the program for the first several episodes was named Nelson Bridewell (Barry Husher). This character was quickly replaced by a new boss, Rimmer Tanned (Victor Wells), whom the Twins frequently antagonized and pranked.

Production

By 1982, the surge in production of television shows about underground caverns, holes, and digging was in decline. While pumping gas, producer Max Tracey was introduced to a family that lived underground. This meeting inspired Tracey to pitch a sitcom that would revitalize cavern comedy. ABC ordered 10 seasons.