The show seemed to lack heart once they retooled the show. Yes, the brought Monroe Ficus with them for comedy, but, I think the dynamic of Henry with his two daughters was key. Besides, by the time they switched formats, Ted Knight was sick with cancer. What do you think?




Here's a Synopsis of the show:

In late 1985, several changes were made before further episodes were produced, including changing the show's title to The Ted Knight Show (not to be confused with the short-lived 1978 CBS show of the same name). Jackie and Sara were written out of the show, and Henry and Muriel, along with Monroe, move to a house in Marin County, north of San Francisco. Henry leaves the cartoonist profession and becomes editor and 49% owner of a newspaper, The Marin Bugler, while Muriel takes a job with the paper as a photographer. Hope Stinson (Pat Carroll), owns the other 51%, creating friction with Henry. Lisa (Lisa Antille) was also added to the cast as the Rushes' maid and eventual romantic interest for Monroe. Along with the new title, a new opening was filmed in Marin County. The theme song was re-recorded in a smoother style.

First-run episodes of The Ted Knight Show were broadcast starting in April 1986. A total of 22 episodes were produced prior to the summer of 1986. The revamped show continued to be successful and was scheduled to resume production for another season, but Ted Knight, who had been battling colon cancer since 1985, died on August 26, 1986, aged 62, and the series was not continued. First-run episodes continued to air through September 1986.

Wow, I never even knew TCFC morphed into the Ted Knight Show. I had never ever heard of the Ted Knight Show until your post!!

I have not even seen more than the first 2 seasons of TCFC and I'd really like to but how??!? They haven't released more seasons on DVD.

And how could I ever see the Ted Knight Show??

I never got to see the show in "The Ted Knight Show" phase.......if this ever comes out, it will be like brand news episodes.

yes after the girls left the show became boring and bland

From what little I saw, it just wasn't the same.

I never got to see the show in "The Ted Knight Show" phase.......if this ever comes out, it will be like brand news episodes.

Yes, it will be like brand new episodes to me too.

From what little I saw, it just wasn't the same.

Who is Deanna Marie Klann Salcius??

I never got to see the show in "The Ted Knight Show" phase.......if this ever comes out, it will be like brand news episodes.
Watch some of them on YouTube on my channel: FELLNORM (I wonder how long they let them be there). I don´t think they were worse than the original TCFCs, just different.

Watch some of them on YouTube on my channel: FELLNORM (I wonder how long they let them be there). I don´t think they were worse than the original TCFCs, just different.

Thanks but it would be better to watch them on DVD of course but since that's such a rare show I think I'll check your channel out.

Watch some of them on YouTube on my channel: FELLNORM (I wonder how long they let them be there). I don´t think they were worse than the original TCFCs, just different.

I went to your channel but couldn't find the Ted Knight Show.

Can you please give me the direct link?

I found the Ropers but it was only clips that were a few minutes long and not the entire episode.

I never got to see the show in "The Ted Knight Show" phase.......if this ever comes out, it will be like brand news episodes.

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/d2/7e/29/d27e29da92fcc83c82d8dad1884d14f1.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f5/cd/76/f5cd76290a2c560058c9fa4bc37c3469--ted-knight-comedy.jpg

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/697/The_Ted_Knight_Show_1986_Ad.JPG

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Was the transition (https://books.google.com/books?id=sMB1MHrE3oYC&pg=PA384&lpg=PA384&dq=the+ted+knight+show+1986&source=bl&ots=4jSkiFdWyf&sig=dzIxepckwiHpJZCQbR6q-BoA6P4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5u4u2oa3dAhUKPa0KHbCYBa84PBDoATAFegQIBRAB#v=onepage&q=the%20ted%20knight%20show%201986&f=false) from Too Close for Comfort to The Ted Knight Show (http://www.poobala.com/tedandtoo.html) ever explained on screen? Like why did Henry and Muriel (with Monroe and young Andrew in tow) decide to move out of San Francisco in favor of nearby Mill Valley (atch.com/california/millvalley/where-is-the-ted-knight-show-house-located-in-marin)? How exactly did Henry go from being an illustrator to a newspaper editor (https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/05/arts/tv-the-ted-knight-show-about-a-small-town-paper.html), which presumably would require you to be a great writer at first? We know that Jackie moved to Italy to focus on her fashion career, but what happened to Sara?

From what little I saw, it just wasn't the same.

It seemed like they were trying to change the show from essentially a domestic/family sitcom to a work sitcom a la Ted Knight's old show The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The problem is I suppose is that the work stuff is generally forgettable. This goes back to my earlier point that Ted Knight needed to be surrounded by stronger actors and a strong supporting cast like on MTM to make it work.

yes after the girls left the show became boring and bland

I was just reading an interview (https://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2008/10/sitcomsonlinecom-exclusive-interview_29.html#google_vignette) that SitcomsOnline did with Lydia Cornell (Sara Rush) back in 2008. Lydia believes that what happened was that Deborah Van Valkenburgh (Jackie Rush) simply didn't want to do the show anymore. She was at that point, more interested in theater and wanted to go on to darker roles. You may remember that Deborah before Too Close for Comfort, was in the cult classic, The Warriors. And she would work with director Walter Hill again in 1984's Streets of Fire.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, Ted Knight had an ownership stake in the show. And after Arne Sultan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arne_Sultan) died, new producers came in whose sole purpose according to Lydia, was to appease and satisfy Ted. They probably viewed the two Rush girls as expendable since they were never properly developed and their roles were dismishing in the last few years.

Wow, I never even knew TCFC morphed into the Ted Knight Show. I had never ever heard of the Ted Knight Show until your post!!

I have not even seen more than the first 2 seasons of TCFC and I'd really like to but how??!? They haven't released more seasons on DVD.

And how could I ever see the Ted Knight Show??

It was a mistake to call it The Ted Knight Show, when it was ostensibly, still Too Close for Comfort. The only difference is that Jackie and Sara were absent, Henry and Muriel lived in a different house, and Henry now worked as a newspaper editor instead of a cartoonist. But they're merely cosmetic changes instead of a radical overhaul in the premise. I mean, Jackie had already been written out in the season prior, so it isn't like it's a total shell shock. Plus, there was already a show called The Ted Knight Show (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ted_Knight_Show_(1978_TV_series)), that didn't last very long, so what's the point in going back down that well?

Secondly, they needed to find a way to keep Lydia Cornell involved. I didn't like how they suddenly acted like Sara didn't exist (with Jackie, at least we know that she went off to Italy, to work as a fashion designer, thus we were getting accustomed to her absence). I don't understand the point in bringing in Lisa the housekeeper, when you could've obviously left that spot open for Sara. And only so much of Henry's interactions with Monroe can go a long away.

And the stuff at Henry's newspaper offices is so dry and boring because Henry it seems like, only interacts with Monroe and Mrs. Stinson. I mean, why aren't there anybody else working there, to give Henry somebody else to bounce off off. Plus, Ted Knight unfortunately, was really ill at this point, so of course, the show in its retooled format was never going to reach its full potential either way.

^That's pretty cool to see an actual ticket from the show taping!

Yeah I definitely think they were trying to change TCFC into a work type show centered in a newsroom similar to the MTM show during the "Ted Knight" season. I'm assuming that was probably done to appease Ted after Arnie Sultan left due to illness. Of course they were working with a very limited budget as a first run syndication show and it just ended up mainly being Mr Stinson, Monroe, and Henry working for the paper. Deborah/Jackie had already moved on from the show and the Sarah character had already graduated college and had her own career. It would've been nice if they had explained what happened to her (she got married, moved, whatever).

A few years back I watched an old ET interview with Ted from early in 1986. It was just a short 1 minute clip that was on youtube although I don't believe it is there anymore. My main take away was that Ted seemed pretty tired by that point. He had done sitcoms since 1970 and sounded like he was ready to move on but basically the paychecks were keeping him on the show at that point.

From everything I've heard the MTM production company was pretty cheap compared to other production companies of that era. I don't really think Ted made the big bucks in his career until TCFC so can't blame him for trying to ride that cash cow as long as he could.

Regardless I do think Ted was strong enough to be a lead on his own show but the supporting cast especially that last season was a bit weak. Losing both the girls was a big loss even if their roles were diminished a bit by that point. TCFC always had strong guest stars such as Audrey Meadows, Ray Middleton, Hamilton Camp, Bill Dana, Selma Diamond, etc. Outside of one appearance by Meadows we didn't see any of that caliber of guest stars the final season of the show under the new format.

^That's pretty cool to see an actual ticket from the show taping!

Yeah I definitely think they were trying to change TCFC into a work type show centered in a newsroom similar to the MTM show during the "Ted Knight" season. I'm assuming that was probably done to appease Ted after Arnie Sultan left due to illness. Of course they were working with a very limited budget as a first run syndication show and it just ended up mainly being Mr Stinson, Monroe, and Henry working for the paper. Deborah/Jackie had already moved on from the show and the Sarah character had already graduated college and had her own career. It would've been nice if they had explained what happened to her (she got married, moved, whatever).

A few years back I watched an old ET interview with Ted from early in 1986. It was just a short 1 minute clip that was on youtube although I don't believe it is there anymore. My main take away was that Ted seemed pretty tired by that point. He had done sitcoms since 1970 and sounded like he was ready to move on but basically the paychecks were keeping him on the show at that point.

From everything I've heard the MTM production company was pretty cheap compared to other production companies of that era. I don't really think Ted made the big bucks in his career until TCFC so can't blame him for trying to ride that cash cow as long as he could.

Regardless I do think Ted was strong enough to be a lead on his own show but the supporting cast especially that last season was a bit weak. Losing both the girls was a big loss even if their roles were diminished a bit by that point. TCFC always had strong guest stars such as Audrey Meadows, Ray Middleton, Hamilton Camp, Bill Dana, Selma Diamond, etc. Outside of one appearance by Meadows we didn't see any of that caliber of guest stars the final season of the show under the new format.

I recently learned (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/35846383-shows-that-underwent-a-massive-retooling) that when Too Close for Comfort was going to be retooled to become The Ted Knight Show, the producers planned on dumping Nancy Dussault (Muriel). Originally, the producers wanted to make Ted's character (in this new "universe") a widower or divorcee, to open up potential comedic situations. Jim Bullock (Monroe) would however, stay on as his goofy sidekick.

However, Nancy Dussault still had a year left on her contract with DL Taffner. She refused to accept a (discounted) buy-out and threatened to sue them for breach of contract. Taffner didn't have "just let her sit home & do nothing" money, especially for a first-run syndicated program....so Nancy/Muriel stayed in the short-lived retooled show.