This Sid and Marty Krofft-produced Saturday morning children’s show for CBS was set on a street corner similar to the one where the host, comedian Richard Pryor had actually grown up.
Pryor played several characters in educational playlets set around a single theme or moral in each show.
Also appearing was Pryor’s younger self, Little Richie (played by Akili Prince) and a cast of Krofft puppets and guest stars, including Robin Williams, Sammy Davis Jr., Henry Winkler, Lily Tomlin, Scatman Crothers, John Ritter, Willie Nelson, and Pat Morita.
Despite the show’s good intentions, some did not see reformed drug user Pryor as an appropriate host for a kid’s series.
One who did not was Charles Brakefield, general manager and president of WREG in Memphis, Tennessee, who announced at a CBS affiliate meeting in May 1984 – without even seeing the show, which debuted in September – that the decision to use Pryor was “disgraceful.”
Nevertheless, Pryor’s Place won numerous awards during its only season on the air.
Richard Pryor
Himself Little Richie
Akili Prince Wally
Cliffy Magee Miss Stern
Marla Gibbs Solly
Milt Kogan
Episodes
High Noon at 5:30 PM | To Catch a Little Thief | Love Means Never . . . | Voyage to the Planet of the Dumb | Close Encounters of . . . | Sax Education | Readers of the Lost Art | Divorce Children’s Style | The Kimosabe Blues | The Showoff | Cousin Rita | Home Free | Too Old Too Soon, Too Smart Too Late
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