Rob Reiner had attempted to talk Norman Lear into hiring his then girlfriend Penny Marshall to play Gloria, but Lear was taken with Sally Struthers. So Marshall joined her brother Garry's show The Odd Couple.

Hey, Fletch! Good to see you here, assuming if you're the same person from that OTHER message board...

The one and only. Lol. Not much activity on these three alternatives (Movie Chat, Movie Database, and Sitcoms online). Bastard IMDB.

It's probably going to be a while before anything happens here...

How many decades? I turn 55 this year...

I heard it bore no resemblance to the actual show. I'm guessing the third time was the charm.

All three pilots were quite similar. The only differences were the supporting actors. Reiner was by far the best in that role. The first son-in-law wasn't aggressive enough, and the second one looked like he could rip Archie in half if he wanted to. The first two Glorias had good qualities, but Struthers was Lear's favorite. But the reason for the cast changes were due to the pilots not being picked up.

Oh my bad. I thought the original pilot having the title justice for all had them as judges or something. I heard it was on the DVD collection. How were they different?

Norman Lear originally named the character Archie Justice, with Mickey Rooney in mind to play him. But Rooney, after reading the script, considered the character to be unAmerican.
The pilots were the same scripts with minor differences. The original pilot had the link sausage vs. patty debate, which turned up later in season one when Gloria was pregnant. Also, Archie and Edith's "G.D." argument which appeared on season four's "We're Having a Heat Wave" originated on the first pilot. The sets were different also.

Thank you

That does sound interesting. I think the current pilot is ok. They are coming home from church during the anniversary. But I rather see the other ideas