They seemed to tinker and change things every single season until ultimately it became an entirely different show. Did they panic too soon? Was it justified panic? What were your thoughts on all the cast, set and storyline changes???

I loved the show during it's first 3 seasons. I think it was a perfect companion show with Three's Company. I don't know why ABC moved it in it's third season. I didn't watch it much during season 3 and after it went into first run syndication, I couldn't get the show at all. I've been watching some of those episodes lately and it isn't as good as when it was on ABC. I think getting rid of the girls was a huge mistake. It just survives on the talent of Ted Knight alone. I know the show was already renewed for another season when Knight died but IMO it was a shadow of what it originally was.

I loved the show during it's first 3 seasons. I think it was a perfect companion show with Three's Company. I don't know why ABC moved it in it's third season. I didn't watch it much during season 3 and after it went into first run syndication, I couldn't get the show at all. I've been watching some of those episodes lately and it isn't as good as when it was on ABC. I think getting rid of the girls was a huge mistake. It just survives on the talent of Ted Knight alone. I know the show was already renewed for another season when Knight died but IMO it was a shadow of what it originally was.


I agree, the Ted Knight Show was nowhere near as good as Too Close For Comfort.

I agree, the Ted Knight Show was nowhere near as good as Too Close For Comfort.thats for sure

They seemed to tinker and change things every single season until ultimately it became an entirely different show. Did they panic too soon? Was it justified panic? What were your thoughts on all the cast, set and storyline changes???


The show did well when it aired after Three's Company the 1st two seasons and then ABC moved it to Thursday Nights at 9pm to compete with Simon and Simon on CBS which led to failure.

I thought it was odd how the show went from #16 to #6 in season 2 and after that it was over.

The show did well when it aired after Three's Company the 1st two seasons and then ABC moved it to Thursday Nights at 9pm to compete with Simon and Simon on CBS which led to failure.

I thought it was odd how the show went from #16 to #6 in season 2 and after that it was over.
Yep. I was a Simon & Simon fan so that's why I didn't watch it much during season 3.

Yep. I was a Simon & Simon fan so that's why I didn't watch it much during season 3.


You and a lot of other people since it was a top ten show that season. And you couldn't DVR it LOL

You and a lot of other people since it was a top ten show that season. And you couldn't DVR it LOL
I didn't even have a VCR until 1986. lol

I didn't even have a VCR until 1986. lol


So back then you really had to make a decision on what you were going to watch, wow LOL

So back then you really had to make a decision on what you were going to watch, wow LOL


So true, and unlike a DVR, networks couldn't find out your viewing habits from a VCR. lol

The show was a very solid second in its time slot. IIRC it finished the season at #38. It blew Cheers out of the water during the first half of the season, but when Gimme A Break was moved over from Saturdays they were practically neck-and-neck.

It's Nell Carter's fault. :D

I'm guessing the ratings were trending down over the third season and that it was ranking lower than 38 in the weekly ratings by the end of the season. I do remember that the third season premiere, in which Andrew was born, ranked in the top 10.

It wasn't as good in syndication, even before the transition to the Ted Knight Show. They got new writers for season 4, and it just wasn't as much fun any more.

I loved the show during it's first 3 seasons. I think it was a perfect companion show with Three's Company. I don't know why ABC moved it in it's third season. I didn't watch it much during season 3 and after it went into first run syndication, I couldn't get the show at all. I've been watching some of those episodes lately and it isn't as good as when it was on ABC. I think getting rid of the girls was a huge mistake. It just survives on the talent of Ted Knight alone. I know the show was already renewed for another season when Knight died but IMO it was a shadow of what it originally was.

Here's a New York Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/04/arts/too-close-and-fame-get-new-life.html) from 1983 on Metromedia helping bring Too Close for Comfort back for the first-run syndication market:
'TOO CLOSE' AND 'FAME' GET NEW LIFE

By Sally Bedell Smith

June 4, 1983, Section 1, Page 48

Two prime-time series canceled by ABC and NBC this spring are expected to return (https://books.google.com/books?id=ph3cXrvD6CYC&pg=RA2-PA166&lpg=RA2-PA166&dq=metromedia+too+close+for+comfort&source=bl&ots=QEq4E90Zrh&sig=ACfU3U1FzhgjJuw9Kt056j4ZHQbB-q2KLA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwil4PSJk5-AAxUglokEHW6kAM44HhDoAXoECAMQAw) on ad hoc networks (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1983/06/27/metromedia-takes-on-tvs-big-3-networks/0ce22eb6-ae41-4e99-b920-321876001c27/) of independent (https://books.google.com/books?id=JrScpCn7PXgC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=metromedia+too+close+for+comfort&source=bl&ots=7qppw4ysPK&sig=ACfU3U0o_b4RJwNyRWxIyw1h4NtHGX24Nw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwil4PSJk5-AAxUglokEHW6kAM44HhDoAXoECAQQAw) and network affiliated stations (https://www.retrojunk.com/c/tWzmmhObpH/too-close-for-comfort-on-wfld-metromedia-32-i) next fall, the producers of the shows have announced.

The series are ''Too Close for Comfort (https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/too-close-for-comfort),'' a half-hour situation comedy (https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/26/arts/capital-cities-style-can-it-transfer-to-abc.html) starring Ted Knight (https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1985/02/17/shes-california-dreaming-now/62773771007/) and Nancy Dussault that ran on ABC (https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1986-09-07-8602230198-story.html) for three years, and ''Fame,'' a critically praised drama about New York's School of Performing Arts that was on NBC for two years. Both series are set to appear weekly (https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1986/BC-1986-01-06.pdf) with a full schedule of new episodes (https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/02/arts/fresh-fare-puts-a-new-face-on-independent-stations.html).

Their planned revival is part of a growing tendency among producers to salvage shows that earned strong loyalty among their viewers but failed to reach a large enough audience to continue on the networks.

Such efforts have received new impetus in the last few years with the expansion of cable television and the increased strength of independent stations. ''The Paper Chase,'' a drama about a law school that was canceled because of low ratings by CBS in 1979, reappeared (https://casetext.com/case/metromedia-broadcasting-v-mgmua) this year with seven new episodes on Showtime, a cable channel seen by four million subscribers. Next fall, ''SCTV Network,'' an acclaimed comedy series canceled in April by NBC, will return with 18 new episodes on Cinemax, a cable channel operated by Home Box Office that is available to two million subscribers nationwide.

Don Taffner (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-03-04-ca-24343-story.html), the producer of ''Too Close for Comfort (http://www.poobala.com/tedandtoo.html),'' said in an interview that his show would continue (https://books.google.com/books?id=n9EOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT760&lpg=PT760&dq=metromedia+too+close+for+comfort&source=bl&ots=ATOxGFhlKr&sig=ACfU3U3plF9giBf1Zndf1B4DQpNZChWlnQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwil4PSJk5-AAxUglokEHW6kAM44HhDoAXoECAIQAw) through a partnership with Metromedia Inc. Metromedia (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/04/13/wttg-five-alive/3a418509-5b40-4bda-a1f8-2544b5886830/) will invest (https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/28/arts/is-it-time-for-a-fourth-tv-network.html) in 22 new episodes costing about $350,000 each, and its seven stations, including WNEW-TV in New York, will broadcast (https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-TV-Radio-Age/80s/1986/1986-09-04-RTVA.pdf) the show. Additional independent and network-affiliated stations are being sought to carry the show. So far, stations covering 40 percent of the television audience have agreed to pick it up, according to Mr. Taffner.

Only last week, Metromedia announced that its stations planned to carry 24 new episodes of ''Fame'' next season. ''Fame'' is produced by M-G-M/UA television, which is seeking additional stations to carry the program.

In all these cases, on cable as well as syndicated networks, the producers have said the shows were being produced at lower cost than if they were on ABC, CBS or NBC. ''We can do it for about 10 percent less than the network paid us because we can do things more efficiently, such as producing the show on film and editing it on tape,'' said Richard S. Reisberg, president of television production for M-G-M/UA.

Mr. Taffner said that the future would bring more arrangements such as that made for ''Too Close for Comfort.'' ''The marketplace outside the networks cannot yet pay the same prices as the networks can pay,'' he said. ''But I believe that once this is a trend, in about four or five years, there will be a lot more avenues to sell these shows.''

^You dig up some really interesting articles, TMC. This substantiates the fact TCFC was working with a much smaller budget after it left ABC network.

Taffner was as bit of a visionary partnering with Metromedia but unfortunately by the late 80's Fox had bought up most of those independent stations and eventually started producing their own shows. Even if Ted had lived longer I doubt his show would've lasted more than another 2 seasons.

FWIW I think ABC made unfortunate scheduling decisions around that time. By the mid 80's they were solidly behind NBC and CBS in the ratings.