''The Best of Times'' is a 1981

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

episode directed by

Don Mischer Donald Leo Mischer (born March 5, 1940) is an American producer and director of television and live events and president of Don Mischer Productions. Career Mischer has been honored with fifteen Emmy Awards, a record ten Directors Guild of America ...

that was never picked up as a series. It marked the acting debuts of

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...

and

Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for portraying eccentric characters on screen, such as George McFly in ''Back to the Future'' (1985), Layne in ''River's Edge'' (1986), Andy Warhol in ''The Doors'' ...

Plot

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

about life as a teenager as seen through the eyes of eight actual teenagers (Crispin, Julie, Jill, Nicolas, Kevin, Lisa, David and Janet) who perform skits, songs and dances that relate their views between childhood and adulthood.

Cast

as Crispin *

Jill Schoelen Jill Marie Schoelen (born March 21, 1963) is an American former actress. She is best known for ''Chiller'' (1985), '' The Stepfather'' (1987), '' Cutting Class'' (1989), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (1989), '' Popcorn'' (1991), '' Rich Girl'' (1 ...

as Jill *

as Nicolas (credited as Nicolas Coppola) *

Julie Piekarski Julie Ann Piekarski (born January 2, 1963 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American actress, best known for her role as Sue Ann Weaver on '' The Facts of Life''. Piekarski got her first big break in show business as a Mouseketeer on ''The New Mick ...

as Julie *Kevin Cortes as Kevin *Lisa Hope Ross as Lisa *

David Rambo David Rambo (born May 28, 1955) is an American writer, playwright, actor and producer. Outside of work in the entertainment field, he is a distinguished guest speaker at Hampshire College and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, ...

as David *

Janet Robin Janet Robin (born 1966) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, film and television composer, and guitar coach. Robin was named on the ''Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists Bonus List'' in '' Guitar Player '' in 2017. Early life Robin grew up in N ...

as Janet *

Jackie Mason Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; yi, יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His 1986 one-man show ''The World According to Me!'' won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Cir ...

as Mr. O'Reilly *Betty Glover as Crispin's Mother

External links

* 1981 American television episodes Television pilots not picked up as a series ABC network original films 1981 comedy films Television films as pilots 1980s English-language films {{1980s-comedy-film-stub