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Failed Sitcoms from the 80s/90s (4 Viewers)

rick6668 said:
.The 4400.  (4 seasons) This one actually lasted but went downhill in seasons 3/4.
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Really liked this one too, 4th season was better than 3rd, and it ended on a huge unresolved cliffhanger. I read pre-COVID that some network was planning on rebooting it. CW maybe?

 
Walking Boot said:
I think I've seen all of these. :bag:   This is my wheelhouse.

Unmentioned so far, but, I absolutely loved The John Laroquette Show back in the day. I recently found bootleg recordings of maybe 75% of the episodes. Working up to plowing through them all. Doubting it'll hold up to what I remember, though.
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Almost mentioned this one too. First season was the best, super dark show. They lightened the show up after that, I don’t even really remember the last few seasons other than they brought in a new love interest.

Edit: One of those examples of network meddling, the first season is dark comedy - all about the main character and his struggle with alcoholism after hitting rock bottom. The Execs forced them to go much lighter in the later seasons and also insisted on calling it the John Laroquette Show for the ratings draw when Laroquette didn't want that. I recall one episode in particular where he is driving around with Daryl Mitchell's character who was the black-activist foil to Laroquette's character always ripping each other and suddenly they start head banging and singing along to "Kill Whitey!" I laughed so hard it almost brought me to tears.

 
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The Jackie Thomas Show - obnoxious tv show host guy starring Tom Arnold (always felt it was patterned after my fav below)

also ...hard to call it a failed show, because it was TV sitcom majesty ...Buffalo Bill - starring Dabney Coleman (included a young Geena Davis) about an obnoxious local tv host

if you've never seen it, find a way to check it out.  

 
Don Quixote said:
As OP mentioned TV shows in addition to sitcoms, The Dana Carvey Show comes to mind.  I thought it was pretty funny, but everyone just seems to remember the Bill Clinton breastfeeding bit.
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Never was able to recover from Bill Clinton breastfeeding opening episode. Critics and public were turned off. Show got progressively better as they worked out the bumps.

There was an excellent documentary by Hulu  (Too funny to fail) about why it tanked  which included interviews' with Carvey, Steve Carrell, Stephen Colbert and other cast members.

 
Walking Boot said:
Yet to see a show in here I didn't watch at least one season of :bag:
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Most, but not all for me. Was a lot easier - way fewer channels, premium cable was movies and for rich families, no smart phones/internet in its infancy if there at all for much of the time period.

 
Police Squad was awesome for all six episodes. They played 4 in March and another 2 in July and that was it. Of course, it evolved into the Naked Gun movies. Not sure why people loved the movies but not the tv show. 

 
He’s the Mayor.

The Art of Being Nick (Family Ties spin-off)

The Last Precinct

non sitcom: The Master

 
Boston Common:  After moving to Boston from Virginia, to spy on his sister who just started college, Boyd finds himself working for the student union where he raises hell more often than he should.

 
8 simple rules - lasted 3 seasons/76 episodes but Ritter passed after season one.

Kaley Cuoco got her first role has his daughter. 

 
Holy cow, there was a TV show called Gung Ho that starred Scott Bakula?

Was this in another universe?  I have never heard of this.

 
STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
8 simple rules - lasted 3 seasons/76 episodes but Ritter passed after season one.

Kaley Cuoco got her first role has his daughter. 
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Was a good show as far as sitcoms go and a modest hit during its 1st season. They tried to salvage it after he passed but it wasn’t the same. Didn’t help that ABC moved it to a Friday night death slot for season 3 either.

 
rick6668 said:
ETA: Title says sitcoms, so these don't fit, but I'll leave the post.

I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi shows, almost every one I watch gets cancelled

00's-

Veritas the Quest (1 season) - Really liked this, Gulf War happened and it was never shown on US TV again.  Caught up on youtube years later as it was shown in Australia.   Cobie Smulders was so hot.

The 4400.  (4 seasons) This one actually lasted but went downhill in seasons 3/4.

Journeyman (1 season) - Thought this was excellent, still bummed it was not renewed.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2 seasons) - Another favorite.

Flashforward (1 season) - Was liking this, cancelled.
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What, no Firefly? Earth 2? Cancelled Sci-Fi could be its own thread. 
 

/hijack

 
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Gally said:
Head of the Class was not bad for the time
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Pretty sure every show my kids watch right now is a Dan Schnieder show.  And thanks the last few months I have seen marathons of all of them.

My 13/14 year old self wanted more episodes of Hey Dude.

 
I was a huge Hill Street Blues fan in the 80s and knew they had a terrible spinoff.  I had to look it up.

Beverly Hills Buntz

Beverly Hills Buntz aired on NBC from November 5, 1987 to April 22, 1988. It was a half-hour comedy, a hybrid between light private eye fare and a sitcom. The main character, Norman Buntz (Dennis Franz) quit Hill Street, moved to Beverly Hills with Sid "The Snitch" Thurston (Peter Jurasik), and became a private investigator. 13 episodes were filmed, of which only nine were broadcast.

 
Gr00vus said:
One of the first ones I thought of when I saw this thread. Jason Bateman's been playing basically the same role his entire life.
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I recall this show so vividly that on Ozark when they did a flashback to Bateman's youth and used another actor, I found it distracting to the point of not paying attention to the dialogue. 

 
Joe Bash

Peter Boyle played an aging NYC cop who has to spend his remaining days until retirement walking the beat on 3rd shift, meeting all sorts of wacky characters. I remember it as having a feel of an outdoor version of Barney Miller, which makes sense because it was created by the same guy.

 
Jeez, I must have watched a ton of TV in the 80's and 90's (still do, I guess) because I remember 95% of the shows being mentioned in this thread and even more obscure ones that were not, like the ones that had shows like Herman's Head as their lead in: "Flying Blind" and "Woops!" I even remember that fall of 1992 Sunday lineup for Fox: Ben Stiller Show, In living Color, Roc, Married With Children, Herman's Head, Flying Blind, Woops!

I'm like the Marilu Henner of TV schedules. Whenever someone mentions a show I recognize, I can usually recall the day and time slot it aired. 

 
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I agree with the "other universe" with some of these:

He's The Mayor

Nothing Is Easy  - This one had a young Scott Grimes (Steve on American Dad)

If I didn't know they were real I'd think they were a fake promo.

 
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rick6668 said:
Holy cow, there was a TV show called Gung Ho that starred Scott Bakula?

Was this in another universe?  I have never heard of this.
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It was a spinoff of the hit movie which had starred Michael Keaton. Bakula played Keaton's role. Gedde Watanabe reprised his role from the film, but the character was changed to make him more like the strict Japanese bosses from the film. The show lasted 9 episodes.

 
The Noid said:
Jeez, I must have watched a ton of TV in the 80's and 90's (still do, I guess) because I remember 95% of the shows being mentioned in this thread and even more obscure ones that were not, like the ones that had shows like Herman's Head as their lead in: "Flying Blind" and "Woops!" I even remember that fall of 1992 Sunday lineup for Fox: Ben Stiller Show, In living Color, Roc, Married With Children, Herman's Head, Flying Blind, Woops!

I'm like the Marilu Henner of TV schedules. Whenever someone mentions a show I recognize, I can usually recall the day and time slot it aired. 
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I watched a lot of those Fox shows. "Flying Blind" was everything that "Dharma & Greg" tried to be, but without the watered-down sitcom tropes. Téa Leoni :wub:

They also had a sketch comedy show around that time called "The Edge," which starred a bunch of people who weren't exactly known for their sketch comedy (Wayne Knight? Cameron from Ferris Bueller?) but also gave Jennifer Anniston a chance to exercise her comedy chops.

 
Brunell4MVP said:
I enjoyed a Jon Lovitz voice animated TV show called The Critic.   It was really funny in a droll way. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zOKUTzN9Wk

It certainly moved too slow for the masses.  I expect the humor hasn't held up either.
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Loved it, and it got two seasons, so not quite a failure. I watched the DVDs not too long ago and the humor itself still holds up, but only if you get the dated references used to convey it. A Gen X'er discovering it now would probably enjoy it, but the under 30 set wouldn't really get it. 

 
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Great thread, brings back some memories.  Loved how TV was so much simpler back then.  I don't even watch TV except for live sports and I will record/watch crap like Pawn Stars and Ghost Adventures to watch at night before bed.  Hulu, Apple TV, Disney Plus, Amazon stick, whatever... just too much to digest for me.

 
Walking Boot said:
OK, this is a far, far, reach, but, perhaps the best sitcom I'd ever seen at the time was a completely obscure show that I'm nearly positive no one else watched. And certainly no one else loved as much as I did:

The Steven Banks Show

It was really, really good. I have no idea how it came to be: it was a sitcom made for PBS of all things. But it was genuinely one of the best shows on TV at that time in the mid 90s. Just well written and performed. It lasted 13 episodes. Steven Banks went on to become the head writer on Spongebob Squarepants. 
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HOLY CRAP

I was just thinking of Banks last week.  His one-man show from 1989 was hilarious.  I remember recording it and watching it over and over.  Probably haven’s seen it in close to 30 years.  Still holds up.

STEVEN BANKS ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

If any of you have never seen it...do it.

 
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