Just watched this pilot for a proposed "State Fair" TV series as an extra on the 1962 State Fair DVD disc (which is disc 2 of which the 1945 version is disc 1). There's the farm family, the girl-boy siblings (though this time the female half has now been divorced with a pre-teen grandson in tow and Wayne is now still in high school in this one), and the upcoming fair. There's now also an older adult son, a teen girl (Linda Purl) who like Wayne wants Country Music stardom, and a former boyfriend of Karen's (the renamed sister who used to be called Margy). Oh, and the grandson is a bit rebellious because he misses his father. Okay, first off why name the series "State Fair" since that's just an annual event if not for the chance to cash-in the title of what was originally a novel that was later made into a non-musical film starring Will Rogers and Janet Gaynor and then two musicals with songs written by Rodgers and Hamerstein? And how much compelling drama could be had from the conflict between Wayne and the more ambitious Bobbie Jean (Ms. Purl's) character concerning their music or between the grandson and the family especially since he seemed okay at the end of this pilot? I'm guessing when this actually aired at the end of the 1975-76 season on CBS, it didn't do too well so it didn't go to series so one could only imagine... Just as well, it didn't.
