Shows you think deserved one more season (1 Viewer)

[Phil Iturralde]

A third Sledgehammer Season would of been nice.

"Trust Me, I know What I'm Doing!"

 

[BobO'Link]

Yes, it would've been nice indeed...

 

[JamesSmith]

A third Sledgehammer Season would of been nice.

"Trust Me, I know What I'm Doing!"

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Good Choice. Why is it that these type of shows don't last very long?
--jthree

 

[MatthewA]

And by '82, WH!! would have very likely been a TOY II/CPT production (like that short-lived 1981-82 NBC comedy One of the Boys was).

Possibly. They were all over the place with Aaron Spelling, co-producing some of his shows but only syndicating others, but with Witt-Thomas-Harris, they stayed out of the production of Soap* and Benson. But unlike Bud Yorkin, Columbia never bought those other producers' companies out outright. Whether they would have taken over production of this show depends on whether the sale of TOY Productions still went through. Its still being on the air by that time might have changed things.

Carter Country, their other major production, was also doomed by naming it after the then-current President. Coincidentally (I hope), the town it was set in was called Clinton Corners. They also had a show called 13 Queens Boulevard which was on pretty late for a sitcom: 10:30 PM. The casting was good, the ratings weren't terrible, but ABC wanted them all gone and that one never even got the benefit of a second season that might have helped it get some syndication later. Carter Country aired on some Southern and Midwestern TV stations in the 1980s but seldom since then.

*I wonder how many of the ABC affiliates that refused to carry it still showed Three's Company.

 

[bmasters9]

Possibly. They were all over the place with Aaron Spelling, co-producing some of his shows but only syndicating others

The former being T.J. Hooker and Hart to Hart (Hart having Rona II in as well [for "Robert and Natalie, Second Time Around," IIRC]); the latter being Charlie's Angels and Starsky and Hutch (all four of those, BTW, being Spelling-Goldberg shows, and all four originally on ABC).

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Good Choice. Why is it that these type of shows don't last very long?
--jthree

Usually, it's the ratings. In this case, the 2nd season lower ratings were caused by the network moving the show's time slot around.

To quote the S2 insert, "The recipient of widespread critical acclaim, as well as a fiercely loyal fan base, "Sledge Hammer!" was mercilessly bounced around the ABC schedule in a variety of undesirable timeslots.

Unfortunately, as fall approached, "Sledge Hammer!" was shifted into what was then conceivably the worst timeslot in prime time ... directly against NBC's gargantuan hit of the decade "The Cosby Show"."

Oh well.

Anyway, the "Sledge Hammer!" S1 & S2 set that I bought back in 2006 was what I viewed as a collector's set. Each set included a manila, coffee stained folder, "Confidential Report From Internal Affairs - Sledge Hammer". Inside the folder was an 8 page document chock full of information with nice tid-bits of trivia boxes thrown-in, as shown in the attached pictures below.

Season 1:

Season 2:

 

[MartinP.]

What's Happening!!

Carter Country, their other major production, was also doomed by naming it after the then-current President.

I saw a taping of both these series. Mabel King was not in the WH episode I saw because of something to do with her filming The Wiz, I recall.

The Carter Country taping was a Thanksgiving episode.

 

[MatthewA]

To quote the S2 insert, "The recipient of widespread critical acclaim, as well as a fiercely loyal fan base, "Sledge Hammer!" was mercilessly bounced around the ABC schedule in a variety of undesirable timeslots.

Unfortunately, as fall approached, "Sledge Hammer!" was shifted into what was then conceivably the worst timeslot in prime time ... directly against NBC's gargantuan hit of the decade "The Cosby Show"."

Who's got the last laugh now?

 

[danielanderson4500]

That was the last year Brandon Tartikoff programmed NBC, and it seemed like he was in a mood for fantasy; that season had a Stephen J. Cannell/Disney collaboration called The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage that never made it past its first season. 60 Minutes Syndrome struck again; that was the main competition. But The Disney Channel did not continue the format. The ratings didn't justify the costs, unfortunately.

Not just that, but if CBS switched to another NFC game during football season, that would hurt too. First Camera never had a chance against 60 Minutes or NFL overruns.

 

[MatthewA]

The list of Sunday at 7:00 PM casualties is long and sad and spans over four decades by now, covering practically every genre of scripted TV and even other newsmagazines. It's telling if NBC settled on essentially the same thing with Dateline NBC.

 

[jcroy]

Usually, it's the ratings. In this case, the 2nd season lower ratings were caused by the network moving the show's time slot around.

To quote the S2 insert, "The recipient of widespread critical acclaim, as well as a fiercely loyal fan base, "Sledge Hammer!" was mercilessly bounced around the ABC schedule in a variety of undesirable timeslots.

Unfortunately, as fall approached, "Sledge Hammer!" was shifted into what was then conceivably the worst timeslot in prime time ... directly against NBC's gargantuan hit of the decade "The Cosby Show"."

Oh well.

Anyway, the "Sledge Hammer!" S1 & S2 set that I bought back in 2006 was what I viewed as a collector's set. Each set included a manila, coffee stained folder, "Confidential Report From Internal Affairs - Sledge Hammer". Inside the folder was an 8 page document chock full of information with nice tid-bits of trivia boxes thrown-in, as shown in the attached pictures below.

Season 1:
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Season 2:
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This first Anchor Bay version looks a lot nicer than the one I purchased.

My copy was the re-released 2011 version, which came in generic multdisc viva dvd case without any of the special features/packaging.

 

[danielanderson4500]

That was the last year Brandon Tartikoff programmed NBC, and it seemed like he was in a mood for fantasy; that season had a Stephen J. Cannell/Disney collaboration called The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage that never made it past its first season. 60 Minutes Syndrome struck again; that was the main competition. But The Disney Channel did not continue the format. The ratings didn't justify the costs, unfortunately.

I can think of only one show that survived 60 Minutes Syndrome- and that was Life Goes On, starring Broadway actress Patti Lupone and a then young Kellie Martin(before her ER stint). And Life Goes On lasted longer than anyone else opposite 60 Minutes!

 

[MatthewA]

And that was on during that time period you quoted.

 

[danielanderson4500]

Fox's NFL overruns might be the closest completion that 60 Minutes gets these days. When NBC had Sunday afternoon rights, I'd wonder how those games did opposite 60 Minutes.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

The following from down-under, deserved another season (series), Mr & Mrs Murder is a 13-part Australian crime comedy TV series.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Dark Shadows 1991
American Gothic
Crusade

 

[Neil Brock]

One of my favorite 80's-martyred series was doomed to die, the moment ABC placed it in the 'cannon fodder" slot opposite the '87 season of NBC's Cosby Show--
ABC's Our World was a prime-time news-spinoff History Channel series trying to cash in on post-Big-Chill nostalgia, and would have been years ahead of its time if it'd lasted more than half a season against the Huxtable Juggernaut:


This is a series one-season-curiosity disk sets were made for.

(And yeah, near the end, they were starting to go to the "'39 prewar isolationism" well a little too often, to hint at the Reagan era, but nothing a new show runner, and slapping down Murphy Ellerbee's ego, couldn't fix.)

Great show. Glad I recorded them all.

 

[Neil Brock]

Occasional Wife
He and She
Gidget
Love on a Rooftop
Governor and JJ
Rich Man Poor Man
Lucas Tanner
East Side West Side
The Immortal

 

[JamesSmith]

Neil, what is your opinion on the Governor and JJ? I've been very curious about it and remember it vaguely. Was it a comedy or drama? Wish more late sixties and early seventies one year series would come out. You also remember Lucas Tanner, would like to see more of that.

--james

 

[Joe Bernardi]

Derry Girls