I was wondering how many tv shows existed that went through such radical changes in their settings or personnel that they became basically entirely different programs.

The best (and probably most extreme) example I can think of is the Joey Bishop show: Season 1 Joey is a somewhat inept, milk-toasty assistant to a Hollywood PR firm in Los Angeles who lives with his somewhat dysfunctional parents and sister. Season 2-4, he became an ultra-hip, witty TV talk show host in New York with a "trophy wife" and a zany sidekick.

Or Mission:Impossible changed from it's orginal international spy theme to the point that in the last couple seasons it was mostly about fighting organized crime ("The Syndicate")

And the British show "The Avengers" went from a subdued first season about two men fighting criminals to become an iconic Swinging 60's show about a secret agent and his sexy female partner fighting science-fiction villains.

Some shows evolved slowly away from their orginal premise and the change in focus was less dramatic, but still apparent - like the current show Cougar Town - started out as a show about a 40 year old divorced woman who chased after guys in their 20's, but by the end of the forst season it became a more typical show about two firty-year-olds having a romance.

Family Matters! :lol:

I have never seen it, but I know that The Doris Day Show had a couple of format changes.

Well, Tea Leoni's sitcom "The Naked Truth" fits this bill:

In the first season it focused on Nora (Tea Leoni) post-divorce and working at a sleazy tabloid. It has more of a slap-sticky feel to it. In season two, it moved to another network (left ABC and moved to NBC) and it has various cast changes, and dropped the slap-stick vibe to be more like other NBC series like "Friends" and "Seinfeld". Lastly in the third season, the show as re-tooled again, basically got an entirely new cast, except for Tea Leoni and Holland Taylor, hold-overs from the first season.

One of the oddest occurrences of this show was the character named Dave, who in the first two seasons was portrayed as being mentally challenged, but by season three was somehow without explanation not mentally challenged any longer. (according to Wikipedia).



Another show that had frequent changes was the Jamie Lee Curtis series, "Anything But Love", which ran for four seasons, none of which even remotely resembled the previous season. The changes to that show were so extensive I can't keep track of them all, instead, here is a link to the Wikipedia page for the show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anything_but_Love


Lastly, "Hanging with Mr. Cooper" saw it's fair share of changes too:


First off, the series started off as a show about three adult roommates, played by Mark Curry, Holly Robinson and Dawnn Lewis. But Lewis left the show after 1-season, and the show became more of a typical family-style sitcom. Sandra Quateramine was added as Mark's cousin, and her daughter played by Raven Symone became a major character. Nell Carter also had an arch on the show at one point.

I have never seen it, but I know that The Doris Day Show had a couple of format changes.
THE DORIS DAY SHOW had more than a couple format changes; it had a few!!
In the first season she played a widow living on a farm with her father and her 2 sons, then the next season she got a job in the city and would comutte back and forth between the farm and her job and some new characters were added to the cast. Then the next season she moved to the city (San Fransisco) with her 2 sons and 2 more charcters were added to the cast. Then the next season, she was still working at the same place (a magazine) but some of the cast was dropped, she was now a globe-trotting reporter and she had different co-workers and I think that was the last season.

Bob Newhart's sitcom "Bob" was totally revamped in the second season.

THE DORIS DAY SHOW had more than a couple format changes; it had a few!!
In the first season she played a widow living on a farm with her father and her 2 sons, then the next season she got a job in the city and would comutte back and forth between the farm and her job and some new characters were added to the cast. Then the next season she moved to the city (San Fransisco) with her 2 sons and 2 more charcters were added to the cast. Then the next season, she was still working at the same place (a magazine) but some of the cast was dropped, she was now a globe-trotting reporter and she had different co-workers and I think that was the last season.

Starting with the 4th season, the kids and dog just disappeared, never to be mentioned again. And at some point, she went from being "Mrs." Martin, a widow, to "Miss" Martin, apparently never married before!

The Jeff Foxworthy show.

Season 1 was in a suburban area, Jeff had to acclimate to his new surroundings with his wife and son running his HVAC operation.

Season 2, different network, Jeff's new wife now had to acclimate to Jeff's surroundings and learn to deal with a more southern feel. Jeff and his 2 sons, with apperances by Jeff's rowdy father. Jeff now ran a shipping company surrounded by his buddies who were not too sharp.

I love both seasons, and thankfully Sony put them out on DVD just as Jeff's stock was rising in the early 2000's.

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo In the first season he was in a Small Town, then for the second season he and his Deputies moved to Atlanta, Ga.

Wasn't Happy Days essentially a lighthearted single-cam series dealing with adolescences that morphed into a zany, lowest common denominator sitcom based on the broad appeal and popularity of Fonzi?

Mrs. Columbo - it went from being a spinoff of Columbo where he was mentioned and there were scenes of Kate Mulgrew talking on the phone to her husband. When people didn't take to the show, Mrs. Columbo became Kate Loves a Mystery and her last name was changed to Callahan and she had divorced the detective. The changes still didn't work and the show got cancelled.

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo In the first season he was in a Small Town, then for the second season he and his Deputies moved to Atlanta, Ga.


I was getting ready to say that and you beat me to it.

and of course we all know what happened with MASH.

and of course we all know what happened with MASH.


The Lucy Show. She and Viv were two BFF's sharing a house with their kids. Vivian Vance leaves the series with the kids and then Lucy's kids are phased out and then Lucy moves from Connecticut to California where she eventually gets a roomate in Carol Burnett for a brief time.

All in the family/Archie Bunker's Place. When Jean Stapleton decides to leave the show, the action ends up taking place at the bar that Archie owned instead of at home.

Also, The Lucy Show was revamped again 3 years later to become Here's Lucy.

....and in 1957 I Love Lucy was reformatted to become The Lucy- Desi Comedy Hour.

Well, Tea Leoni's sitcom "The Naked Truth" fits this bill:

In the first season it focused on Nora (Tea Leoni) post-divorce and working at a sleazy tabloid. It has more of a slap-sticky feel to it. In season two, it moved to another network (left ABC and moved to NBC) and it has various cast changes, and dropped the slap-stick vibe to be more like other NBC series like "Friends" and "Seinfeld". Lastly in the third season, the show as re-tooled again, basically got an entirely new cast, except for Tea Leoni and Holland Taylor, hold-overs from the first season.

One of the oddest occurrences of this show was the character named Dave, who in the first two seasons was portrayed as being mentally challenged, but by season three was somehow without explanation not mentally challenged any longer. (according to Wikipedia).



Another show that had frequent changes was the Jamie Lee Curtis series, "Anything But Love", which ran for four seasons, none of which even remotely resembled the previous season. The changes to that show were so extensive I can't keep track of them all, instead, here is a link to the Wikipedia page for the show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anything_but_Love


Lastly, "Hanging with Mr. Cooper" saw it's fair share of changes too:


First off, the series started off as a show about three adult roommates, played by Mark Curry, Holly Robinson and Dawnn Lewis. But Lewis left the show after 1-season, and the show became more of a typical family-style sitcom. Sandra Quateramine was added as Mark's cousin, and her daughter played by Raven Symone became a major character. Nell Carter also had an arch on the show at one point.

I have to agree with you on Anything But Love. It was a great show. But, it just kept changing. Finally by the fourth season "Anything" didn't work anymore (Pun intended)

Still. Any show that has Jamie Lee Curtis, Richard Lewis, and Bruce Weitz is a winner. Loved it.

The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971-74) - During the first 2 seasons, The Prestons lived in Arizona, Dick Preston was a local talk show host on a Phoenix Radio Station. The third season, the family moved to Hollywood, and Dick was featured in a daytime soap-opera. With the exception of Dick, his wife, Jenny and daughter, Annie, the cast in the third season was all new.

I thought of another one - The John Forsythe Show. It only lasted 1 season, I think, but it started out as a comedy about the life of a superintendent of a military school for boys, and became a comedy spy show. That was one of the more extreme re-boots.

I have to agree with you on Anything But Love. It was a great show. But, it just kept changing. Finally by the fourth season "Anything" didn't work anymore (Pun intended)

Still. Any show that has Jamie Lee Curtis, Richard Lewis, and Bruce Weitz is a winner. Loved it.

They just kept retooling it partly because after ABC moved it's timeslot ratings plummeted so it was put on hiatus for awhile, and it was totally changed. One of the biggest mistakes IMHO was ditching Sandy Faison as Pamela Payton-Finch. I think that character could have been HUGE.

Also, The Lucy Show was revamped again 3 years later to become Here's Lucy.
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I disagree, Here's Lucy was a different show with a different cast and character.

I would name Busom Buddies as changing formats it was about two friends who lost their apartment and dress as women to live in a Hotel for women only. Season 2 their identities were discovered and didn't dress as women, plus they started their own advertising agency.

Angie was another about a woman who worked as a waitress and met a man she later marries. The show is set in a diner. Season 2 Angie gets married and has money and the set moves away from the diner.

The John Larroquette Show definitely went through some re-tooling as well. After the first season the network (NBC, I think), felt the show was too dark in tone and gave John the chance to re-tool the series. The show which originally centered on a recovering alcoholic working the night shift with broken people at a bus station was revamped to a more standard sitcom and instead of night shift the characters were moved to the day shift. One character played by Gigi Rice, who was a hooker in season 1 went "straight" and became a bartender or something like that.

It didn't help and it was canceled mid-way through the series fourth season.

I have never seen it, but I know that The Doris Day Show had a couple of format changes.

It sure did! I never understood how they could make her children and Father in law just vanish.
:confused:

Valerie Harper to Sandy Duncan.

NBC to CBS.

And it lasted from 1986 to 1991!

Didnt Suddenly Susan have change to it? Or maybe it was just there theme song that changed

Didnt Suddenly Susan have change to it? Or maybe it was just there theme song that changed

Yes actually. Suddenly Susan went through two big changes. First after shooting it's pilot, nearly the entire supporting cast was fired and replaced. Also the original pilot, initially more dramatic featured Susan working at a publishing house and working as an editor to a romance novelist played by Elizabeth Ashley. That pilot was totally scrapped and the entire supporting cast fired; Susan was made a writer instead at a magazine.

BUT the one you're talking about happened later in the series run; in-between the series third and fourth season; when the entire writing staff (except one lady who joined in season three) was fired, the series creators left; and the magazine "The Gate" was transformed into a men's magazine, and several new cast-members were added. Andrea Bendenwald and Judd Nelson left and were replaced by Sherri Shepherd, Eric Idel and Rob Estes.

This was the series final season and it was canceled with four episodes left unaired. (they later aired in late-night slots later in the year).

california dreams seasons 1 2 centered around garrison family and the band
season 3 the garrisons were all gone

The John Larroquette Show definitely went through some re-tooling as well. After the first season the network (NBC, I think), felt the show was too dark in tone and gave John the chance to re-tool the series. The show which originally centered on a recovering alcoholic working the night shift with broken people at a bus station was revamped to a more standard sitcom and instead of night shift the characters were moved to the day shift. One character played by Gigi Rice, who was a hooker in season 1 went "straight" and became a bartender or something like that.

It didn't help and it was canceled mid-way through the series fourth season.

I was just gonna say this show! Good call!

77 Sunset Strip:
When most of the original cast, save for Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was axed, Stuart Bailey was a solo detective and the show became darker in tone, thanks to Jack Webb.

Alvin and the Chipmunks:
For the show's 8th and final season, all episodes were spoofs of movies, hence the name Alvin and the Chipmunks: Go To the Movies

Airwolf:
When all of the original cast from the 1st 3 seasons was axed for its 4th and final season on USA, the show not only was shot in Canada but they used stock footage for its entire season and made the show look like an entirely different and cheaper show.

I was just gonna say this show! Good call!

Thanks!

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch: It started off a fairly typical family-sitcom, about a teenage witch living with her aunts and learning how to be a witch. However, after 4 seasons on ABC, the series was cancelled and picked-up by The WB network. At this point it transitioned to Sabrina living in a dorm (or rather, sharing a house) while attending college; the Aunts weren't featured as regulars anymore, and Sabrina had to adjust to a new situation with her roommates not knowing she was a witch.

Eventually, the Aunts were dropped completely and Sabrina and her friends Roxy and Morgan moved into the Aunt's house, and the show switched to Sabrina's life in her 20's and as a young professional.


Although magic was still present on the show and a big focus, the show was nothing like it's original concept.


Oh, and then there is the odd, strange story of Saved By The Bell....


It all started in 1988 when NBC ordered a pilot starring wildly popular actress Hayley Mills. The pilot called "Good Morning Miss Bliss" centering on a sixth grade teacher in Indiana was not picked up, although did air on NBC in July 1988 (in the timeslot of The Facts of Life) The pilot however was re-shot and was picked up by The Disney Channel, though with an entirely different cast than in the pilot. It aired for one season and was cancelled due to low ratings.

However, somewhat shockingly, a year later, NBC decided to re-tool the series, and dropped Hayley Mills from the show, changed the setting from an Indiana Middle School (junior high) to a California High School, and shifted focus from the teachers to primarily centering on the students. Much of the same cast was present, including Mr. Belding (the principal played by Dennis Haskins), and students Screech and Zach (Dustin Diamond and Mark Paul Gosslear) and Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies); except now they were in high school and lived in California. Other characters from the Good Morning Miss Bliss show were dropped and never mentioned again.

New characters included Kelly, Jesse and Slater (Tiffani Amber Thissen, Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez) and the show was a massive hit.