Can a cancelled show be resurrected? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Seaver]

But I wonder if there will ever be a show that goes off the air for a few years then comes back with most of the same people.

Relatively common in the UK, I think - I'm pretty sure there have been multi-year breaks between Red Dwarf series, for instance. I know there have for Absolutely Fabulous.

The Sopranos has had some long layoffs between seasons, but I don't know whether it would count, as the show never really disbanded and regrouped.

Dragnet may be another example - would you call the 50s and 60s series two distinct shows or one with a multi-year gap in the middle?

 

[MarkHastings]

Yes a lot of shows can come back in a short time, But I wonder if there will ever be a show that goes off the air for a few years then comes back with most of the same people.

When Seinfeld ended, they were thrown in jail for a year. At one point Jerry says something like "So, we're in here for a year, and then we're BACK!"

At that time, there were all these rumors about what Jerry seinfeld was going to do after the show. I honestly thought the show would be off the air for a season and then resurface with new episodes a year later. :b

 

[Danny Tse]

Wasn't "Taxi" cancelled by ABC, only to return on NBC, IIRC??

"Baywatch" was definitely cancelled by NBC. Only to return to syndication for the next 10 years. I wonder which NBC idiot made that decision??

 

[Jason Seaver]

Taxi didn't last long on NBC, though. It was also a weird, mid-season change, IIRC.

The Baywatch cancellation was probably defensible, though. NBC didn't get a cut of the international sales, which is where the show made most of its money, and its US syndication ratings weren't in the same neighborhood as what networks got at the time for the first few years. Later, as it became a cult success (and network ratings dropped), it began to look like a bad decision, but at the time it really wasn't.

 

[TheLongshot]

The Baywatch cancellation was probably defensible, though.

It also helped that the show was retooled when it went into syndication, getting rid of Parker Stevenson and Erika Eleniak, and adding Pamela Anderson and Nichole Eggert helped....

Jason

 

[Danny Tse]

I believe "Baywatch" lasted one year on NBC, then it was cancelled.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Actually, the re-runs of Family guy have been so good for cartoon network, they said they're in talks to start producing new episodes. I swear I read this.

 

[Yee-Ming]

but from a creative standpoint, I have often wondered if some shows would be better to take a 2 or 3 year break and resume for a few more seasons,

A certain Paramount sci-fi franchise comes to mind...

 

[Brian Lawrence]

A certain Paramount sci-fi franchise comes to mind...

Which one?

I don't recall any of the Trek shows folding up then coming back a few years later with new episodes. Sure they come out with spin-offs but thats not the same.

 

[Yee-Ming]

What I meant is Paramount should do what you suggested, take a break from ST for a few years before doing anything with it again. Let everyone involved take stock, heck get new talent on board (cue anti-B&B rants in other threads) and let the fans "rest", before either continuing with either Enterprise, or a new incarnation of ST.

 

[Richard Travale]

Didn't the Wayne Brady show get canceled and now its back on this season?

Actually I think that show was totally reworked. It started out as a varity show ala "Donny & Marie" and is now a talk show much like the Caroline Rhea show.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

A new interview with Seth MacFarlane explains that any future episodes of The Family Guy will be produced directly for DVD by Fox with the same (or better) production values and cast members.

This time, due to no network contraints, they will be a little more raunchy with possibly cartoon nudity, more swearing (like the F word), and will probably be like an R rated 80's comedy/sex romp (according to MacFarlane).

Its new straight-to-video life could either hurt or help The Family Guy's material as MacFarlane kept saying in the DVD audio commentaries that the Fox TV censors kept them from scraping the very bottom of the barrel for laughs and ratings, and forced them to be slighly more aware of people's sensibilities (he would even have liked the censors to have told him to cut out the JFK PEZ-dispensor getting its head shot off sequence) and helped them stay away from South Park type overkill (he doesn't like South Park all that much). Too much creative freedom than before could wind up turning its core audience off.

MacFarlane went back to Fox for his new, in developement cartoon after getting a royal screwing on TFG because he believes Fox learned its leason (and wants something to replace the aging Simpsons) and has the resources to give him an 80 piece orchestra and choir (that's why TFG musical numbers were pretty great), better than average animation, and some "adult" content allowances.

Dan

 

[MarkHastings]

Too much creative freedom than before could wind up turning its core audience off.

In the case of South Park (the Movie), it wasn't a case of me being turned off, it's more a case of that movie didn't have any restrictions and when you switch back to the new episodes on TV, they seem so borring and plain.

It definitely would be nice to see an R rated DVD version of Family Guy, as long as they continue to do the show like they did on Fox and only use the R rated material to 'enhance' the comedy and not just use it as a way of using the 'F' word all the time. It gets old fast when the characters constantly say it (i.e. Like the South park episode where they kept saying Shit to the point that it didn't mean anything).

 

[JeremySt]

Mystery Science Theater 3000 was cancelled by local Minnneapolis tv in 1989 during it's debut year, but local fans called the station and wrote letters, and the station continued with the show.

It was picked up by the Comedy Channel about 1 year later, where MST3K began its "official" run as a series.

Comedy Central cancelled the show in 1996. This was when they were re-tooling the network as "hipper, more like MTV." to boost ratings. (it worked... daily show, south park, viva variety)

After a nearly ayear in hiatus... The show was resurrected by The Sci Fi Channel. In early 1999,it was cancelled again.

All said and done, fans can't complain much...it had a decent run of nearly 200 90+ minute episodes in 10 years.

Today, it consistently makes many critic's "best ever" lists for comedy television. Not bad for being cancelled three times.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

A new interview with Seth MacFarlane. . .

I would like to read this interview. Can you post a link to it (if it is online)?

 

[Dan Hitchman]

I think I remember it being on IGN online.

Dan

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

The BC has recently announced that they are beginning work on a new series of Doctor Who. Since the last series ended in 1989, it has been 14 years since that show was cancelled, and 7 years since the 1996 TV movie.