Short lived shows during 70-75 (1 Viewer)

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

From my own list, I'd say the strongest, in descending order, would be:

1.) HARRY O - would probably snag FUGITIVE fans, Farrah Fawcett fans, has some critical cache, plus DVD releases of MANNIX, COLUMBO and ROCKFORD FILES have been successful

2.) LONGSTREET - mainly because of the Bruce Lee factor

3.) GHOST STORY/CIRCLE OF FEAR - horror has a strong fanbase, and most of the other extant post-1950s horror/suspense anthologies (the major exceptions: Boris Karloff's THRILLER and THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR) have gotten some form of DVD release already

4.) THE IMMORTAL - might interest sci-fi fans, FUGITIVE/THE INVADERS fans, plus the entire run (including the movie-length pilot) was shown in good shape (remastered?) on the SCI-FI Channel in the late 1990s

From other lists, in no particular order, I'd say:

BORN FREE - animal/environmental show = video babysitter (always a market for those)
DAN AUGUST - 1970s Burt Reynolds
NICHOLS - James Garner, in this type of persona, remains popular
WHEN THINGS WERE ROTTEN - lots of Mel Brooks fans still around
THE NEW ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW - popular star
THE NEW DICK VAN DYKE SHOW - ditto
CADE'S COUNTY - ditto
HAWKINS - ditto
THE SMITH FAMILY - ditto, Henry Fonda & Ron Howard

 

[JamesSmith]

I also think there was a "Griff" starring Lorne Greene as a sort of Barnaby Jones character.

I do think "Bearcats" could stand a DVD release.

James

 

[younger1968]

How about the following shows:

1. Holmes and yoyo
2. Carter Country

 

[FrankNolan]

From the same era as "Spiderman", I seem to remember watching a "Captain America" TV movie when I was kid in the early Eighties. Was that just a pilot that went nowhere, or did they do an actual series?

After watching the Smothers Brothers '60s shows on dvd, I'd kinda like to see their short-lived '75 variety series. I know it had Chevy Chase as one of its writers (a few months before SNL), and appearances by Steve Martin and Don Novello. There's at least one clip online that looks promising.

I've read that there was actually a TV series of "Catch-22" in '73, starring Richard Dreyfus as Yossarian. Did anyone ever see this?

 

[FrankNolan]

"Carter Country" was later in the Seventies, after Carter became president (hence the title), and it wasn't that short-lived compared to most of these shows. I think it even made it to syndication, but I could be wrong.

 

[MCCLOUD]

1975 Quinn Martin Show Caribe starring Stacy Keach and Carl Franklin. I would like to see this show. Has anyone ever seen any episodes of this series?

Robert

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Yes, it was a Norman Lear production that ran maybe a season and a half. It essentially covered a fractious romance between political operatives - Crenna was a conservative while Peters was a liberal. For trivia's sake, it was the show that brought Ben Stein to Hollywood - he was hired as a consultant to the series.

What I would love to see but will likely never emerge is NBC's short-lived remake of the very popular and very adult Australian sitcom "NUMBER 96" - there was lots of promotion and controversy prior to its debut, but it wound up getting yanked after just a few weeks. Since "NUMBER 96" is mentioned in the upcoming docco on Ozploitation NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD, it jogged my memory.

 

[Neil Brock]

Some others not mentioned:

The Silent Force
Most Deadly Game
Barefoot in the Park
Make Room For Granddaddy
Nancy
Jimmy Stewart Show
The Good Life
Funny Face
Getting Together
Sarge
Shirley's World
Man and the City
The Interns
The Sandy Duncan Show
Temperatures Rising
The Paul Lynde Show
The Men
New Adventures of Perry Mason
Lotsa Luck
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Love Story
Calucci's Department
Roll Out
Needles and Pins
Griff
Sons and Daughters
The New Land
Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers
The Corner Bar
The Super
Love Thy Neighbor
Thicker Than Water
Paris 7000
The Tim Conway Show
Strange Report
The Sixth Sense
Me and the Chimp
Here We Go Again
The Cowboys
Doc Elliott
Chopper One
Firehouse
Archer
Karen
Khan

 

[TonyD]

CARTER COUNTRY- "Handle It!"

I Hope for
Hot L Baltimore
and
When Things Were Rotten.

Also fron the way it was mentioned here it looks like there was ANOTHER
Planet of the Apes series different from the one
already on dvd?

 

[cajunhillbilly]

I remeber both of those shows with fond memories. Would love to see them again.

 

[cajunhillbilly]

I just checked the episode list for both programs. They both only lasted 11 or 13 episodes. One was in 1971 the other in 1972. Wow, I had no idea they lasted such a short time. Yet I really enjoyed them. Oh well.

 

[cajunhillbilly]

also found a website that mentions the fact that Paramount destroyed the prints of the shows in 1973, so they are gone forever.

 

[Michael Rogers]

The prints of what shows?

 

[cajunhillbilly]

Funny Face
The Sandy Duncan Show

 

[Michael Rogers]

Something survived because I have a couple discs of a few Sandy Duncan/Funny Face shows. I think they are from 16mm.

 

[JamesSmith]

Just a loose tabulation on my part, but it's about approximately 70 some short lived programs that existed in about 70-75.

That number still seems way smaller than all the failed programs we've had from 2000-2005 from NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, WB, UPN, and cable channels such as SCiFi, Cartoon Network, Nick, HBO, etc.

Have we progressed or what?

James
[email protected]

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
Harry O
Sierra
Born Free
Movin' On
Hawkins
The Sixth Sense
O'Hara
The Magician
Hec Ramsey
Toma
Ghost Story
Dan August
Petrocelli

 

[Elena S]

Has Bracken's World been released yet?

 

[Neil Brock]

Fox

 

[Professor Echo]

In recent months I've managed to see nearly the complete run of the 1970-72 CBS show ARNIE, which starred Herschel Bernardi and Sue Ann Langdon. This is the largely forgotten entry in what would turn out to be the Must See TV of its day, the powerhouse CBS lineup that caused people to stop going out on Saturday nights. The show held up really well, I thought, but was definitely more anachronistic when compared to ALL IN THE FAMILY and THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW.

I also saw about five episodes of THE GOOD LIFE, a half-season 1971 sitcom that starred Larry Hagman and the incredibly cute Donna Mills before she raccooned her eye make up on KNOTS LANDING. This show was in the vein of I LOVE LUCY and featured lots of wacky situations and slapstick. Seeing it again I thought it was very funny and it's too bad it didn't find an audience as their should always be room for that type of sitcom, something the success of THE NANNY proved.

One show that hasn't been mentioned, unless I missed it, is THE NEW PERRY MASON, which had a half season run in the fall of 1973. This ill advised venture starred Monte Markham as Mason, Harry Guardino as Berger and Dane Clark as Lt. Tragg. I recently watched six episodes of it and found it to have great guest casts and relatively good production values, but was just so ill conceived to air only a few years after the Burr incarnation ended. It's obvious CBS just wanted the MASON name as its hook, but one has to wonder if they had instead just used their excellent cast in a new lawyer show and Markham played an original character, it might have stood a better chance. Just by the obvious and inevitable comparisons to what was already an established classic, it was doomed from the start.

I also got to see two episodes of THE CHICAGO TEDDY BEARS, which I had been very attracted to as a kid in 1971, but not enough to tear myself away from THE BRADY BUNCH on ABC. I have nothing positive to say about the two episodes I watched, they were horrid, even on a juvenile level. The funniest thing about it was that though the setting for the series was Chicago in the 1920's, everyone had early 70's dry look hair and immense sideburns. LOL.

I have curiosity about many shows from that era, most of which I never had a chance to watch because in those pre-VCR days you actually had to CHOOSE what you wanted to watch and often it was difficult to decide. I still remember when I was very little having to choose between the series premiere of THE MONKEES, which had been hyped all the summer, or the season premiere of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, which featured Gilligan as a vampire! I mean, come on, what would YOU have picked when you were 7 years old?

Even when the summer rolled around and you thought, well, now I'll catch the reruns of that other series that I could never watch, you could still be done in by a "Summer Replacement Show," or the lure of longer and longer days playing outside.

Thus I find myself attracted to all those shows that, for whatever reason, just slipped by from me and then faded away. So with the luck of meeting a very nice trading partner, I've managed to get a hold of some copies legally and at least can sample some of this vintage stuff that may never see the light of day otherwise. Though it's not exactly cricket to say so in these forums, I thank God for the private collectors who preserve what the studios have virtually no vested interest in.