Hot Hero Sandwich was created by the executive producers Bruce and Carole Hart, who previously worked on Sesame Street and Marlo Thomas’ award-winning TV special and album, Free To Be . . . You and Me.
The series was filmed at Rockefeller Center, in NBC’s famous Studio 8-H, the long-time home of Saturday Night Live, which was on its 1979 summer hiatus while Hot Hero Sandwich was being filmed.
The main cast include:
- Vicky Dawson
- Denny Dillon
- Matt McCoy (IMDB profile)
- Michael Longfield (L. Michael Craig)
- Nan-Lynn Nelson
- Paul O’Keefe
- Jarett Smithwrick
- Frankie Faison (IMDB profile)
- Saundra McClain
- Adam Ross (IMDB profile)
- Claudette Sutherland
The band members include:
- Richie Annunizato, Guitar
- Robert Brissette, Bass
- Mark Cunningham, Guitar (IMDB profile)
- Mike Ratti, Drums
- Producer: Felix Pappalardi (IMDB profile)
- Engineer: Ed Stasium
The music performers appearing include:
- Eddie Money
- Joe Jackson
- KISS (June 1979 filmed performance at Madison Square Garden)
- Rex Smith
- Sister Sledge
- Stephen Stills
- The Little River Band
- The Palmieri Brothers
- The Persuasions
David Kaestle, noted graphic designer, who also did graphics and logo designs for National Lampoon and Henson Associates (producer of the Muppets), among many others, designed the iconic Hot Hero Sandwich logo.
Hot Hero Sandwich executive producers Bruce and Carole Hart wrote and produced for Sesame Street. Bruce Hart and his music writing partner Stephen Lawrence, co-wrote the classic Sesame Street theme song in addition to writing the very awesome Hot Hero Sandwich theme song.
Additionally, Sesame Street actor Northern Calloway, who portrayed David on the show, served as creative consultant for the series.
- David Axlerod (IMDB Profile)
- Joe Bailey (IMDB Profile)
- Andy Breckman (later creator of Monk)
- Richard Camp
- Sherry Coben (later creator of Kate and Allie)
- Marianne Meyer
NBC decided to produce Bruce and Carole Hart's Hot Hero Sandwich series in part to fulfill its commitment to the 1979 NBC Year of the Child campaign. Unfortunately, the network’s support for the series was short-term and several factors played into this decision, whose fate may have already been decided on before the show premiered.
First, the series got a late start for the Fall 1979 season debuting on Nov. 10. By November, viewing patterns have already been established and pulling children away from their favorite shows could be problematic, and was.
Second, due to the show’s timeslot at either 11 AM or 12 Noon, depending on the market, the show was frequently preempted for sports programming. This was not consistent nationwide and affected West Coast markets more than those on the East Coast. While the show reportedly enjoyed high opening ratings of approximately 28 million viewers, due to the preemptions, the ratings dropped. The show aired on 186 of the 216 NBC network affiliated stations. Due to these preemptions, the last episode was only seen in about four to five markets.
Finally, production costs exceeded more than US$1 million (approximately US$ $4,332,506.89 in 2024) per episode. Combined with dropping ratings, lost ad revenue due to preemptions in numerous markets, the time slot, and weak network support, once the 1979 NBC Year of the Child campaign was over, there was little incentive for the network to renew the series for a second season.
Unfortunately, there were no albums, singles, posters, t-shirts, or related merchandise ever released, including making available the series on VHS or DVD.
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