TMC
01-11-2022, 01:13 AM
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/hey_reddit_im_jay_abramowitz_in_the_1980s_and_90s/
How much of an impact (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0qoc42/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) did moving The Hogan Family from NBC to CBS have on its cancellation?
The Hogan Family changing networks was a symptom, not a cause (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0qrl55/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). NBC felt the show wasn’t strong enough but CBS thought it still had potential. Low ratings on CBS were then the show’s final death knell. But by that time I’d moved on.
Appreciate you taking the time to do this. As a writer, what was it like when Valerie Harper left the show (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0q1mys/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)? I image it was pretty much chaos.
It was indeed chaos when Valerie left (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0q4ie5/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). We’d already written a bunch of episodes for her character, and the ones we couldn’t rewrite we had to trash.
More significantly, we knew we were losing one of the most talented actors on TV. That was very demoralizing. I remember one of the Exec Producers going into a long speech about how we’d be fine, we were strong writers, the remaining cast was good and the show would end up being even better…and tagging with the punchline “OH MY GOD WE’RE ****ED!!” Luckily, Sandy Duncan, Valerie’s replacement, was a sweet person and a real pro.
The chaos lingered to a certain degree, though. The showrunners were preoccupied with legal issues for the rest of the season and writing and production were a lot rockier than they would have been.
Did you ever want to do any darker, grittier episode (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0q0rpt/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)s, but the network or producers shut you down?
What's the darkest episode you think they'd have let you do?
My sensibility has always been much darker than that of the shows I worked on. The dark ideas that reared their heads while I was on Full House etc. were legion — just see my answer to the question about my episode. Although, now that you mention it, I did pitch an end-of-season story for The Hogan Family where Jason Bateman’s character gets laid. What a naïve fool I was to imagine for a second that they’d do that one.
I actually wrote a story (https://hollywooddementia.com/nikki-finke-fiction-a-teaser-for-the-tv-industry-by-jay-abramowitz/) that could function as an answer to your question.
Why do you think a show like Full House (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/30055300-john-stamos-had-top-billing-on-full-house) still resonates with audiences today while a show like The Hogan Family seems forgotten (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0pxk2z/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) by most? Huge Hogan Family fan here, bitter I can’t stream the hell out of that show.
The common wisdom is that it’s the kids’ shows with the broad that thrive in syndication. I think The Hogan Family was the best of the sitcoms I worked on (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0pz8ru/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). It had the most sophisticated, realistic, believable writing. It had the best actor I worked with on sitcoms, Jason Bateman. (Sadly, I only worked with the wonderful Valerie Harper three days before she got canned.) The people running that show were excellent writers and the Exec Producers, Bob Boyette and Tom Miller, let them do their thing. The year I was on Hogan Family was, I think, the first year of Full House. After a funny, successful rehearsal, Tom Miller once made a rueful joke about having to leave to go to a rehearsal of a lesser series of his — Full House. It’s the latter series that will still be running long after everyone reading this is dead.
How much of an impact (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0qoc42/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) did moving The Hogan Family from NBC to CBS have on its cancellation?
The Hogan Family changing networks was a symptom, not a cause (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0qrl55/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). NBC felt the show wasn’t strong enough but CBS thought it still had potential. Low ratings on CBS were then the show’s final death knell. But by that time I’d moved on.
Appreciate you taking the time to do this. As a writer, what was it like when Valerie Harper left the show (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0q1mys/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)? I image it was pretty much chaos.
It was indeed chaos when Valerie left (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0q4ie5/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). We’d already written a bunch of episodes for her character, and the ones we couldn’t rewrite we had to trash.
More significantly, we knew we were losing one of the most talented actors on TV. That was very demoralizing. I remember one of the Exec Producers going into a long speech about how we’d be fine, we were strong writers, the remaining cast was good and the show would end up being even better…and tagging with the punchline “OH MY GOD WE’RE ****ED!!” Luckily, Sandy Duncan, Valerie’s replacement, was a sweet person and a real pro.
The chaos lingered to a certain degree, though. The showrunners were preoccupied with legal issues for the rest of the season and writing and production were a lot rockier than they would have been.
Did you ever want to do any darker, grittier episode (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0q0rpt/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)s, but the network or producers shut you down?
What's the darkest episode you think they'd have let you do?
My sensibility has always been much darker than that of the shows I worked on. The dark ideas that reared their heads while I was on Full House etc. were legion — just see my answer to the question about my episode. Although, now that you mention it, I did pitch an end-of-season story for The Hogan Family where Jason Bateman’s character gets laid. What a naïve fool I was to imagine for a second that they’d do that one.
I actually wrote a story (https://hollywooddementia.com/nikki-finke-fiction-a-teaser-for-the-tv-industry-by-jay-abramowitz/) that could function as an answer to your question.
Why do you think a show like Full House (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/30055300-john-stamos-had-top-billing-on-full-house) still resonates with audiences today while a show like The Hogan Family seems forgotten (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0pxk2z/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) by most? Huge Hogan Family fan here, bitter I can’t stream the hell out of that show.
The common wisdom is that it’s the kids’ shows with the broad that thrive in syndication. I think The Hogan Family was the best of the sitcoms I worked on (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d657gs/comment/f0pz8ru/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). It had the most sophisticated, realistic, believable writing. It had the best actor I worked with on sitcoms, Jason Bateman. (Sadly, I only worked with the wonderful Valerie Harper three days before she got canned.) The people running that show were excellent writers and the Exec Producers, Bob Boyette and Tom Miller, let them do their thing. The year I was on Hogan Family was, I think, the first year of Full House. After a funny, successful rehearsal, Tom Miller once made a rueful joke about having to leave to go to a rehearsal of a lesser series of his — Full House. It’s the latter series that will still be running long after everyone reading this is dead.