After looking at the ratings for both shows from 1981 to 1985 why was Different cancelled and not Gimmie a Break??

DS ranked 30's two times between 1981 and 1985 and never fell below 51. GAB on the other hand only finished in the 30's once and finished as low as 62 after the 82-83 season. Not only that, after the 1984-85, DS finished 37th and GAB finished 41st and DS was cancelled???:lol::lol:

DS

1981-82...#36
1982-83....#51
1983-84....#50
1984-85....#37...Cancelled


GAB

1981-82....#47th
1982-83....#62nd
1983-84.....#48th
1984-85.....#41st
1985-86.....#36th
1986-87......#46th

Yeah, but remember that when TV execs make decisions on when to renew shows, they don’t look at just the ranking. They look at the rating (size of audience, which is different from ranking), year-over-year rating increase/decline, the age of the audience, the difficulty of the time slot, whether it’s building or dropping from the lead-in, the cost of the show, and where the show plans to go creatively.

The difference in ratings of a show that was ranked 37th vs one that was ranked 41st is negligible. Diff’rent Strokes was an older, and presumably more expensive show. It’s possible that GAB’s audience was younger. And DS was played out creatively with the original kids having grown up.

That said, I always thought NBC’s attachment to GAB was a bit of a head scratcher. It was a low-brow show that wasn’t really on-brand for NBC at the time. NBC’s other youth-oriented taped sitcoms, like “Facts of Life”, weren’t sophisticated either, but were more consistent in delivery and aimed higher. I think I read somewhere that Brandon Tartikoff thought Nell Carter was a big talent (which she was) and was afraid that she’d go do a big hit show on another network.

Differant Strokes was more popular.

Yeah, but remember that when TV execs make decisions on when to renew shows, they don’t look at just the ranking. They look at the rating (size of audience, which is different from ranking), year-over-year rating increase/decline, the age of the audience, the difficulty of the time slot, whether it’s building or dropping from the lead-in, the cost of the show, and where the show plans to go creatively.

The difference in ratings of a show that was ranked 37th vs one that was ranked 41st is negligible. Diff’rent Strokes was an older, and presumably more expensive show. It’s possible that GAB’s audience was younger. And DS was played out creatively with the original kids having grown up.

That said, I always thought NBC’s attachment to GAB was a bit of a head scratcher. It was a low-brow show that wasn’t really on-brand for NBC at the time. NBC’s other youth-oriented taped sitcoms, like “Facts of Life”, weren’t sophisticated either, but were more consistent in delivery and aimed higher. I think I read somewhere that Brandon Tartikoff thought Nell Carter was a big talent (which she was) and was afraid that she’d go do a big hit show on another network.

Yes, at that point NBC probably viewed DS as "played out" after seven seasons. The addition of Dixie Carter (and to a lesser degree Danny Cooksey) breathed some new life into it, but the net. nabobs may have known about the loss of Dixie after only one season (well, a season and a half). In any event NBC was right, Mary Ann Mobley was a poor casting choice (nothing against the actress--she was wrong for the role), and the scripts for the abbreviated eighth ABC season were mostly pretty bad. Also at that point we were way beyond the original concept of the show.

Yes, at that point NBC probably viewed DS as "played out" after seven seasons. The addition of Dixie Carter (and to a lesser degree Danny Cooksey) breathed some new life into it, but the net. nabobs may have known about the loss of Dixie after only one season (well, a season and a half). In any event NBC was right, Mary Ann Mobley was a poor casting choice (nothing against the actress--she was wrong for the role), and the scripts for the abbreviated eighth ABC season were mostly pretty bad. Also at that point we were way beyond the original concept of the show.

Im just surprised GAB ran for two more seasons after DS was cancelled while not showing much improvement

I think TV Guy's explanation makes sense. NBC wanted to keep Nell Carter.

Still, those ratings were really bad. It may be that the demographics made up for it.

Besides DS was really off their course no longer centered around Willis and Arnold's lives plus it was clearly obvious that it was getting difficult to pass Gary off as being in junior high when he was actually around 16-17 years of age.

Besides DS was really off their course no longer centered around Willis and Arnold's lives plus it was clearly obvious that it was getting difficult to pass Gary off as being in junior high when he was actually around 16-17 years of age.

Both shows should have been cancelled lol

True very true

Sam and Maggie were terrible additions to Diff'rent Strokes, especially Sam. What had been a good show was ruined, should have stayed cancelled instead of ABC picking it up for season 8.

Sam and Maggie were terrible additions to Diff'rent Strokes, especially Sam. What had been a good show was ruined, should have stayed cancelled instead of ABC picking it up for season 8.

It still managed to do better than gimmie a break

Eh - barely. Gimme a Break had a 14.2 rating (41st place) and Diff’rent Strokes had a 14.7 (37th place) during the 84-85 season. A difference of about 3%. And the next year, Gimme a Break ranked 34th, and DS ranked 69th.

Eh - barely. Gimme a Break had a 14.2 rating (41st place) and Diff’rent Strokes had a 14.7 (37th place) during the 84-85 season. A difference of about 3%. And the next year, Gimme a Break ranked 34th, and DS ranked 69th.

The next year DS was on ABC

It's not like NBC had a lot of hits in the early-80s, esp. sitcoms. I imagine they had to keep what they could; Cheers got renewed and was at the bottom of the ratings its first season.

My guess is, when things turned around with the arrival of The Cosby Show, which strengthened its Thursday night lineup. NBC realized some shows were expendable, even the Saturday night ones. In 1985, the network struck gold with Golden Girls and 227 on Saturdays.

It's not like NBC had a lot of hits in the early-80s, esp. sitcoms. I imagine they had to keep what they could; Cheers got renewed and was at the bottom of the ratings its first season.

My guess is, when things turned around with the arrival of The Cosby Show, which strengthened its Thursday night lineup. NBC realized some shows were expendable, even the Saturday night ones. In 1985, the network struck gold with Golden Girls and 227 on Saturdays.

Facts of Life wasnt a hit but stayed in the top 30 and had more viewers than DS and GAB

It's not like NBC had a lot of hits in the early-80s, esp. sitcoms. I imagine they had to keep what they could; Cheers got renewed and was at the bottom of the ratings its first season.

My guess is, when things turned around with the arrival of The Cosby Show, which strengthened its Thursday night lineup. NBC realized some shows were expendable, even the Saturday night ones. In 1985, the network struck gold with Golden Girls and 227 on Saturdays.

I just saw Cheers was ranked 74th after its 1st season