Before ‘Everybody Loves Raymond,’ Peter Boyle Played a Dog in a Rejected Pilot
What To Know
- Before his iconic role on Everybody Loves Raymond, Peter Boyle starred in a 1990 NBC pilot called Poochinski, where he played a cop reincarnated as a talking bulldog.
- Despite a strong cast and creative team, the show was rejected largely due to the unconvincing animatronic dog puppet, which failed to impress network executives.
- The pilot later gained cult status online, and Boyle went on to achieve greater fame and critical acclaim as Frank Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond.
Peter Boyle had a long and acclaimed career that spanned everything from Young Frankenstein to Taxi Driver, but he is perhaps best known for his Emmy-winning run as the gruff Frank Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. However, before he became one of the most recognizable sitcom dads of the ’90s, he was the star of a pilot that never became a show—and it had a premise so strange, you may not even believe it.
On July 9, 1990, the pilot for a show called Poochinski was shown, starring Boyle as a cop who gets killed in the line of duty, and then gets reincarnated as a bulldog. He picks up the job where he left off with the help of his former partner, played by George Newbern.
Who was in Peter Boyle’s rejected pilot?
The cast itself was pretty solid. Along with Boyle and Newbern, the pilot featured Amy Yasbeck (who would later become better known as John Ritter’s widow), Frank McRae, and Brian Haley, with Will Mackenzie directing. The script came from David Kirschner, Brian Levant, and Lon Diamond, all names that would later be attached to far more conventional hits. Kirschner, in particular, was known for projects like Hocus Pocus and An American Tail.
Brian Levant said, according to Cracked, “Peter Boyle was our first choice, and he really elevated the project. You didn’t really see Peter Boyle on TV in those days, so he was a get. He was funny as hell, and he liked being the voice of something. I mean, think about it: He did two scenes in the pilot, and he potentially wouldn’t have to appear on camera for the next seven years! It was every actor’s dream job.”
Why didn’t Poochinski work?
Where things began to unravel was the dog itself. The bulldog was created as an animatronic puppet built with the help of Industrial Light & Magic, a company famous for high-end movie effects. Unfortunately, the finished puppet didn’t quite live up to expectations. Its proportions looked off as the legs were too long, the movement felt stiff, and the eyes weren’t quite right. Because of those limitations, the production had to rethink certain scenes and shoot around the puppet’s weaknesses, which took some of the visual fun out of the concept.
When NBC executives screened the pilot on a large projection screen, the illusion didn’t hold. Brandon Tartikoff, who was running the network at the time, reportedly enjoyed much of the episode but openly admitted that every cut to the dog made him cringe. Creator Lon Diamond added, “We were all worried about the dog. I remember John Ritter cracking dirty jokes just to keep everyone loose.” That reaction sealed the show’s fate. Despite the creative team’s belief in the idea and the cast’s enthusiasm, Poochinski never moved forward as a series.
In the years that followed, the pilot quietly picked up a second life. Clips began circulating online. In 2018, the full pilot even streamed during a live broadcast on Adult Swim, introducing it to a whole new audience. Of course, the most interesting part of the story may be how completely Boyle rebounded. Just a few years later, he landed the role of Frank Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, a part that turned him into a household favorite and earned him an Emmy Award.
Remind 
February 2021
1990s Rom-Coms
Pop some popcorn and cozy up to feel-good movies and TV shows from a generation ago.
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