Why You'll Never Be Able to Stream Christopher Lloyd's Lost Western Comedy
Before Back to the Future Part III turned him into a time-traveling blacksmith, Christopher Lloyd briefly played a retired outlaw-turned-chef in a forgotten ABC sitcom you've probably never seen — and likely never will.
The show was called Best of the West, and it aired for exactly one season in 1981. It starred Joel Higgins as a Civil War veteran-turned-town marshal named Sam Best, keeping the peace in a parody Old West town full of saloon brawls, mail-order brides, and gun-toting idiots. Lloyd guest-starred as "The Calico Kid," a washed-up gunslinger with more ambition than skill, appearing in just three episodes. Why so few? He was still busy on Taxi, playing a spaced-out ex-hippie.
Lloyd's appearances included:
- Episode 4: "The Calico Kid Returns" – where his character gives up gunslinging to become a chef.
- Episode 15: "The Calico Kid Goes to School" – where he has to pass a third-grade test to get married. Yes, really.
The series was the brainchild of sitcom veteran David Lloyd, a writer best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and later Cheers and Frasier. (And no — he's not related to Christopher Lloyd, despite bringing him on as a guest star. Though, in a twist, David did have a son named Christopher Lloyd… who went on to write Modern Family. Try explaining that family tree at a party.)
Best of the West was a family-friendly spoof riding the coattails of Blazing Saddles without the R rating or social bite. It aired during ABC's early '80s sitcom era — the kind where three-camera setups, canned laughter, and wacky theme songs were still king.
So why can't you stream it? Because no one bothered to preserve it. The show is completely unavailable on any streaming platform.
There was a DVD release in 2017, but good luck finding a copy — it's out of print and practically extinct. Your best bet is grainy VHS rips buried in YouTube playlists labeled "TV intros I vaguely remember."
There's no big rights dispute. No secret vault. Just indifference. Best of the West flopped in its time, and nobody saw value in keeping it alive for the modern age of binge-watching. Unless a niche archive label does a rescue mission, it'll stay a footnote in Lloyd's career and an entry in "sitcoms you'll never see."
So if you're dying to watch Christopher Lloyd in cowboy boots, you'll have to stick with Back to the Future Part III. At least that one's on streaming — and, unlike Best of the West, you won't need to pass a third-grade test to enjoy it.