I am just wondering what shows have saved a Network (or atleast got them out of last place...).

Reportedly, THE COSBY SHOW not only saved NBC but the whole sitcom genre.

Desperate Housewives on ABC

well, Desperate Housewives AND Lost saved ABC, you needed both for it really to be saved.

What about Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS? It was their first real sitcom hit since Murphy Brown and CBS' only "bid" at a blockbuster in the past twenty years the way NBC had Seinfeld, Friends, Cosby and Cheers and ABC had Roseanne and Home Improvement.

I don't know if this counts, but I'd say 7th Heaven saved the WB. I mean if 7th Heaven hadn't been a hit like it was, the network probably would have went under, so thanks to 7th Heaven being one of the very first hits on the WB, that paved the way for Charmed and Gilmore Girls, etc....

Can't save a network that died....

well, look at it this way... the WB died with Charmed and 7th Heaven, lol

Oooooh, boy. This is gonna be a very tough one.

All I can think of is The Cosby Show saving NBC's backsides.

Dallas for getting CBS back to it's #1 top spot again after the brief slump in the late '70s, thanks to ABC w/ Happy days, Three's Company, and Laverne and Shirley.

Married With Children?

I'd go with Married with Children and 21 Jump Street, they put Fox on the map and Fox was struggling at the time.

Can't save a network that died....

The network wasn't dead in 1996, and if you're referring to now, 7th Heaven will be gone before the CW comes along.

Hard to tell how successful the CW will be

Oooooh, boy. This is gonna be a very tough one.

All I can think of is The Cosby Show saving NBC's backsides.

Dallas for getting CBS back to it's #1 top spot again after the brief slump in the late '70s, thanks to ABC w/ Happy days, Three's Company, and Laverne and Shirley.

the only ones I know of are "The Cosby show" on NBC and "Dallas" on CBS

was CBS ever dead in the 70's? even in the late 70's, it was a strong #2 to ABC thanks to shows like M*A*S*H, The Jeffersons, Alice, One Day At A Time and latter-era (which wasn't as big, but still a frequent top 10 hit) All In The Family. I think that's a lot different than Cosby on NBC, before TCS came out, NBC was #3 out of 3 and The A-Team and The Facts Of Life were really the only hits NBC had at that point (Diff'rent Strokes had fallen from a top 20 show to the 40's by 84) and then suddenly when Cosby hit the scene, NBC became the "it" network.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire propelled ABC from third to first. Then it promptly helped the network to slide back to (an eventual) fourth again.

Last season on ABC was a comeback like never experienced before. It was a combination of series working for ABC and all hitting at once- DH, Lost, Extreme Makeover: HE, and later, Grey's Anatomy. Even more impressive still, the year has been even stronger, with "GA" breaking out, Commander In Chief having huge early numbers and Dancing With The Stars busting out.

Another case would be American Idol on Fox. Fox had never ranked higher than fourth place (in viewers) until "Idol" came along. Last season it was first in adults 18-49 for the first time ever (although that was owed to the Superbowl pushing the network just slightly ahead of CBS on the season).

Watch out for NBC now. It's in dire straights. What show will pull it out? It hasn't happened yet this season.

As for Raymond & CBS, it really didn't save the network. Raymond broke 15 million viewers on the season for the first time in 1998, and by that time CBS was already on the mend. CBS's worst season was 1994/1995. What show pulled it out of that? I would say "Touched By an Angel" which frequently drew 25-28 million viewers on Sunday nights in the fall of 1996.

I'd say The Simpsons and Married...With Children saved Fox.

I've heard that "Hill Street Blues" did alot for NBC.

Married with children saved FOX
I think Deal or no deal will really help NBC

Aaron Spelling & Gary Marshall Save ABC back in the Mid-70s

The Cosby Show did save the NBC Network in 1984-85 Season and lauch a new era of Sitcoms

Roseanne did not save ABC But Brough ABC Back along with TGIF also have a lot to do with it

American Idol put the Fox Network as a Major Network

Housewives Brought ABC Back from the Dead

The Facts of Life saved NBC during the early eighties. The head of NBC at the time, Fred Silverman, even credits the show for saving NBC.

Aaron Spelling & Gary Marshall Save ABC back in the Mid-70s

Not only did Garry Marshall's show save ABC in the mid-'70s, but also it propelled ABC to Number 1 network in the late '70s along w/ Soap and Three's Company as well!

I'd say The Simpsons and Married...With Children saved Fox.

I think that taking the NFL away from CBS in 1994, was what really put Fox on the map in regards of being seen as equal to CBS, ABC and NBC.

Though not a show...Brandon Tarikoff brought NBC out of its 1st Dark Ages by bringing back the sitcom and having strong dramas.

He was sooooo good, the formula for NBC lasted until 2002.

Aaron Spelling & Gary Marshall Save ABC back in the Mid-70s

The Cosby Show did save the NBC Network in 1984-85 Season and lauch a new era of Sitcoms

Roseanne did not save ABC But Brough ABC Back along with TGIF also have a lot to do with it

American Idol put the Fox Network as a Major Network

Housewives Brought ABC Back from the Dead
Actually the NFL made Fox a major network. Fox had been making strides but the major networks didn't take notice until the NFL arrived.

SMASH!!!

lol jk

I Love Lucy helped CBS dominate the 50's, I don't know if it saved it because it had actually just started as a tv network. The Cosby Show saved NBC in the 80's and Seinfeld saved the network in the 90's. Survivor and CSI saved CBS in the 2000's. Grey's Anatomy and Desperate housewives saved ABC in the 2000's. In Living Color, The Simpsons, and Married With Children saved Fox when it first started out in the 80's.
For Cable The Real World saved MTV in the 90's and The Real Housewives saved Bravo.

SMASH!!!

lol jk
:lol:

It's funny because many thought it would be the show to save NBC. Amazing how quickly things change.

:lol:

It's funny because many thought it would be the show to save NBC. Amazing how quickly things change.
I watched the first episode and was bored silly. :lol:

Home Improvement saved ABC in the 1990s and Everybody Loves Raymond saved CBS in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

For Game Shows:

The Price is Right & Match Game save CBS back in the early 1970s

Blockbusters & Sale of the Century save NBC back in the early 1980s

Currently ABC’s Summer Fun & Games Block saves ABC

well, Desperate Housewives AND Lost saved ABC, you needed both for it really to be saved.

What about Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS? It was their first real sitcom hit since Murphy Brown and CBS' only "bid" at a blockbuster in the past twenty years the way NBC had Seinfeld, Friends, Cosby and Cheers and ABC had Roseanne and Home Improvement.



Not really. Before ELR, CBS had a legitimate hit sitcom with "The Nanny" (1993-1999) and CBS wasn't in dire straights either as they had huge dramas like "Touched By An Angel" (which for a time was among the highest-rated dramas on TV and was CBS's top performing drama for many years).

The Facts of Life saved NBC during the early eighties. The head of NBC at the time, Fred Silverman, even credits the show for saving NBC.

The Facts of Life was intended to save NBC, but I think it fell kind of short of doing so. The first season was an epic failure on every level; creatively, critically and with viewers. The fact it lived to see a second season speaks only to how dire the situation at NBC was in 1979. FOL certainly performed decently for NBC in its second and third seasons; but it was "Cheers", "Family Ties" and "The Cosby Show" that really saved NBC by providing the network with three substantial hits that also were a huge success with critics; something FOL never could boast. Cheers took about a season before viewers warmed to it, but once they did it was a huge hit.

I don't know if this counts, but I'd say 7th Heaven saved the WB. I mean if 7th Heaven hadn't been a hit like it was, the network probably would have went under, so thanks to 7th Heaven being one of the very first hits on the WB, that paved the way for Charmed and Gilmore Girls, etc....


I think 7th Heaven becoming a hit was one of two shows that really saved the network from a premature extinction; the other was "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer" which in 1997 debuted and become a surprise success. It was that show that put the WB on the cultural map, paving the way for later hits like Dawson's Creek, Charmed, Felicity and Gilmore Girls.

How about Survivor?

Saved by the Bell
Saving Grace
Saving Hope
Saved
Save Our Business
Saved by the Bell: the New Class
Saved by the Bell: the College Years
:winkgrin :wink2:

On a serious note, American Idol saved FOX. They went from a perennial last place network among the big four to several #1 finishes.

Not really. Before ELR, CBS had a legitimate hit sitcom with "The Nanny" (1993-1999) and CBS wasn't in dire straights either as they had huge dramas like "Touched By An Angel" (which for a time was among the highest-rated dramas on TV and was CBS's top performing drama for many years).The Nanny was hardly a smash hit on the levels of Seinfeld, Friends, Home Improvement, Roseanne, or Frasier. Out of six seasons, The Nanny only made the top 25 twice. Its best rank was a tie for #16, and the only other top 25 appearance was #24. Four seasons it missed the top 25 completely. Everybody Loves Raymond had several top 10 appearances and was easily TV's highest rated sitcom by the time it peaked.