Don Rickles, Phyllis Diller starred in the 2 biggest TV turkeys set on Long Island

Long Island has been the setting of several memorable sitcoms, notably "Everybody Loves Raymond" (Lynbrook) and "Growing Pains" (Huntington). On the other hand, we're now here to celebrate two other sitcoms set in the region. Both featured big-name comedians. And both were bona fide TV turkeys.

The Pruitts of Southampton (ABC, 1966-67) 

Over-the-top comedian Phyllis Diller starred in this sitcom as Phyllis Pruitt, the widowed matriarch of a once-wealthy Southampton family. They owed $10 million to the Internal Revenue Service, but were allowed to continue living in their 60-room mansion and perpetuate the illusion they were still loaded. The supporting cast included the legendary Gypsy Rose Lee as a nosy neighbor; Lisa Loring (Wednesday from "The Addams Family") as one of Phyllis' daughters; Richard Deacon (Mel from "The Dick Van Dyke Show") as an IRS agent; and Grady Sutton (a character actor best known for appearing in several W.C. Fields movies) as the butler, who inexplicably continued to work for the deadbeat Mrs. Pruitt. (The show was shot in Hollywood, not on Long Island.)

Believe it or not, "The Pruitts" was based on the novel "House Party" by Patrick Dennis (of "Auntie Mame" fame).

"The Pruitts" debuted on Sept. 6, 1966, and critical reaction was, um, quite critical. Newsday's Barbara Delatiner said: "Diller, lacking the skill of a clown like Lucy, substitutes an overbearing vulgarity for humor."

See for yourself — the show's first episode is available on YouTube.

Ratings were so bad that ABC decided to give it a face-lift. "The Pruitts" returned in January 1967 with a new title, "The Phyllis Diller Show" (Diller was given more control over the program), a new time slot and a new premise — the mansion had become a boardinghouse that allowed all sorts of odd guest stars to pass through, such as Paul Lynde, John Astin and Louis Nye.

Even fewer viewers tuned in and ABC chose not to renew it for the next season.

"It was wrong from the start," Diller said in a postmortem. "I knew it from the first day of shooting the pilot. But you learn from failure and it really gives you more confidence."

Nevertheless, the show has the honor of being included in "The Worst TV Shows Ever," a 1980 compendium of TV turkeys by Bart Andrews and Brad Dunning (a second edition is long, long, overdue).

The Don Rickles Show (CBS, 1972)

Darrin Stephens ("Bewitched") wasn't the only prime-time character toiling on Madison Avenue in '72. Mr. Warmth played Manhattan ad-agency exec Don Robinson (of Kingston, Cohen and Vanderpool, Inc.), who lived with his family in Great Neck in this long-forgotten sitcom where plots shifted between work — where he was aggravated by clients — and home — where he was aggravated by his wife (Louise Sorel) and daughter (Erin Moran, the future Joanie Cunningham of "Happy Days"). In one episode, Bob Newhart guest-starred as Rickles' brother-in-law, a smooth-talking lawyer trying to get him into making a will.

It was developed by Sam Denoff, the co-creator of "That Girl" and a former writer for "The Dick Van Dyke Show." The opening began with Rickles doing his stand-up onstage in front of an audience and then segued into him in character sitting at his office desk. (Sounds vaguely familiar; was a teenage Jerry Seinfeld watching, perhaps?)

The show premiered on Jan. 14, 1972, and was gone by May 26. (Did we mention that it aired Friday nights at 10:30 p.m.? What were those hockey pucks at CBS thinking?) 

The show at least had one fan: Newsday's longtime TV critic Marvin Kitman. In a column dispensing his personal Emmys for 1972, Kitman bestowed his "Most Likable (New) Personality" award on the Merchant of Venom, writing: "For his acting as a nice guy on 'The Don Rickles Show' and to the American pharmaceutical industry for making the tranquilizers which made Rickles' new amiable personality possible."