I think Malibu, CA was the last sitcom to air on first- run syndication. After this sitcom I haven't seen any other that is on syndication (first-run)

Many people say that Charles In Charge was the last to do this but it actually was, Malibu, CA :D


I am not suprised why any network didn't want to pick up this show!

It was on the USA Network

It was on the USA Network

no it was aired in first-run syndication in most of the country. i loved this show.

Must have not been raunchy or raunchy enough for the networks to bother with.

Must have not been raunchy or raunchy enough for the networks to bother with.

I wonder why it didn't air on NBC like Peter Engel's other shows of that era? Maybe being on first-run syndication, Malibu, CA didn't have to shoehorn some heavy-handed "moral to the story" (due to the then new E/I mandate) like w/ the TNBC shows.

I wonder why it didn't air on NBC like Peter Engel's other shows of that era? Maybe being on first-run syndication, Malibu, CA didn't have to shoehorn some heavy-handed "moral to the story" (due to the then new E/I mandate) like w/ the TNBC shows.
I think this was an era that NBC had started to do away with teen sitcoms on Saturday mornings.

The First Family and Mr. Box Office are current sitcoms that are in first-run syndication.

I think this was an era that NBC had started to do away with teen sitcoms on Saturday mornings.

Well, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Hang Time, and City Guys were still in production at the time that Malibu, CA debuted. City Guys was the last of the Peter Engel produced teen sitcoms to air on NBC, having finished its run in December 2001. Saved by the Bell: The New Class and Hang Time both finished their own respective runs several months following the cancellation of Malibu, CA.

Being in syndication as opposed to a network is always going to be a double-edge sword. On one end, you don't have to worry too much about network meddling or in the case of TNBC, government mandates over your content being "educational". Thus, Malibu, CA didn't have to be beholden having to do a bunch of "very special episodes" if it were on NBC.

On the other end though, there's a lot less stability with being in syndication. You can't really promote a syndicated show outside of the generic "check your local listings", since stations that purchase the show could then theoretically run it at any time that they wish.

Well, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Hang Time, and City Guys were still in production at the time that Malibu, CA debuted. City Guys was the last of the Peter Engel produced teen sitcoms to air on NBC, having finished its run in December 2001. Saved by the Bell: The New Class and Hang Time both finished their own respective runs several months following the cancellation of Malibu, CA.

Being in syndication as opposed to a network is always going to be a double-edge sword. On one end, you don't have to worry too much about network meddling or in the case of TNBC, government mandates over your content being "educational". Thus, Malibu, CA didn't have to be beholden having to do a bunch of "very special episodes" if it were on NBC.

On the other end though, there's a lot less stability with being in syndication. You can't really promote a syndicated show outside of the generic "check your local listings", since stations that purchase the show could then theoretically run it at any time that they wish.

Plus by 2001 the first-run syndication market had very much started to dry up as cable became more dominant and the popularity of reality television was starting to eclipse scripted programming.

Stations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malibu%2C_CA_(TV_series)#Stations) that aired Malibu, CA (from what I could find thus far):
City Station

Amarillo KCPN 33[4] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?717320-Retro-Amarillo-Texas-Saturday-April-8-2000)
Atlanta WATL 36[5] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?709672-Retro-Rome-GA-Friday-December-4-1998)
Baltimore WBFF 45[6] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?638500-Request-Washington-DC-and-Baltimore-Weekday-schedules-from-10-1992-to-7-1993&styleid=2)
Boston WLVI 56[7] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?444080-Boston-TV-FALL-1999-(Part-2))
Charlotte WMYT 55[8] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?708670-Retro-Spartanburg-SC-Sunday-February-13-2000)
Chicago WGN 9[9] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AanE_vpWRtQ)
Cleveland WBNX 55[10] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?638447-Request-Cleveland-Saturday-and-Sunday-Schedules-from-10-1998-to-7-1999)
Columbus WXTX 54[11] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?570473-Retro-Southern-Alabama-Sat-Nov-11-2000)
Dallas KDAF 33[12] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?637726-Request-Dallas-Fort-Worth-Saturday-and-Sunday-Schedules-from-10-1998-to-7-1999)
Greeneville WEMT 39
New York WPIX 11[13] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?667671-Retro-Philadelphia-TV-January-1-7-2000)
Philadelphia WPHL 17
Phoenix KSAZ 10[14] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?572391-Retro-Phoenix-Flagstaff-Sat-Nov-28-1998)
Seattle KTWB 22[15] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?706360-Retro-Western-Washington-Sat-September-18th-1999)
Toledo WMNT 48[16] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?706360-Retro-Western-Washington-Sat-September-18th-1999)
Valdosta WGVP 44[17] (https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?705413-Retro-Albany-GA-Saturday-February-26-2000)


I'm putting this right here because there's an editor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mrschimpf) on Wikipedia who keeps removing (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silver_Spoons&oldid=989801336) sections that I made for the stations that aired first-run syndicated sitcoms dating back to the 1980s.

This show apparently did air on NBC in addition to syndication, episodes were shown on Sunday afternoons on the network first and then after that it was shown on WB affiliates.

We actually did get a couple of sitcoms after this that aired in syndication exclusively-The First Family and Mr Box Office aired in the early 2010s and were made by the same company and they now are shown on the FAST channel Bounce XL.