This may be a very wide question, but let's say a combination of bad luck, bad creative decisions, overexposure in the press, and the aging of its core demographic all contributed to the series declining in popularity. And aside from TV buffs or hardcore TV geeks it is show that went from being influential, acclaimed, and popular (https://www.quora.com/Which-TV-show-had-the-single-biggest-drop-in-popularity-ever) to something that not many people talk about (https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-examples-of-TV-shows-that-were-very-popular-but-didnt-stand-the-test-of-time) or remember at all.

Well, it seems the Cosby Show is a candidate, because it had so far to fall. I'm doubtful of any assertions of failing popularity, because programmers effect things so much. Rural sitcoms were declared out of style, but remained among the most-watched shows in syndication for decades.

Maybe Welcome Back Kotter. It was only around 4 seasons. It was Huge. they had lunch boxes and dolls. But they hit the iceberg when Travolta leaves. They nosedived in the 4 th season. They choose a really bad replacement. Gabe Kaplan who the show revolved around is barely there anymore. The show went south really fast.

I nominate Batman. The series was the ultimate flash in the pan, the two weekly episodes ranking 9 and 13 in the ratings for the first half season. When it returned in the fall for its first full season it was in free fall. The series was barely renewed, one night ranking 37, and the other ranking 52, the renewal was for a single episode a week with a steep budget cut. The third season the show continued the downward trend and was ultimately cancelled.

I would nominate "Chico and the Man" and "8 Simple Rules" for the same reason. Both were big hits in their first year but the sudden death of their stars Freddie Prinze and John Ritter shocked their fans so much (even today) that they simply couldn't continue to watch once the shows continued. The fact that their replacements had very little talent or charisma (like David Spade!!) also hurt a lot.

Lucille Ball's third sitcom, Here's Lucy: It ran for six seasons (https://moviechat.org/tt0062570/Heres-Lucy/58c728da5ec57f0478f0b1f0/Surprised-this-lasted-6-seasons) and produced 144 episodes. It was also in the top ten of the Nielsen ratings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here%27s_Lucy#Episodes) for its first four seasons. The highest it got was #3 in Season 3 (1970-71). And yet, come syndication time, the show is for all intent and purposes, a non-entity (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/16531038-here-s-lucy-not-widely-syndicated-trivia). This is merely because stations just didn't want it since Lucy's prior to shows (https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/07/archives/lucy-reruns-bow-out-for-soap-opera.html) were still successfully airing in syndication (https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/27/archives/miss-ball-to-end-heres-lucy-show-comedienne-after-23year-reign-will.html). They simply felt that a third Lucy show would undermine the other shows' success. And the few stations that did dare to try Here's Lucy deemed it a failure.

Murphy Brown: The show ran for 10 seasons (11 if you count the short lived revival in 2018), earned Candice Bergen five Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series twice. Plus, the show even got the attention of the Vice President of the United States at the time, Dan Quayle. And yet, the show has never lasted long in syndication in no small part due to the dated nature of the humor.

I nominate Batman. The series was the ultimate flash in the pan, the two weekly episodes ranking 9 and 13 in the ratings for the first half season. When it returned in the fall for its first full season it was in free fall. The series was barely renewed, one night ranking 37, and the other ranking 52, the renewal was for a single episode a week with a steep budget cut. The third season the show continued the downward trend and was ultimately cancelled.

Mork & Mindy was another "flash in the pan" show. It was ranked #3 in the Nielsens for its first year. But in a classic case of "if it isn't broke don't fix it", ABC in their infinite wisdom, began to tinker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mork_%26_Mindy#Second_season) with the show anyway. By its final season in 1981-82, the show ranked 60th in the Nielsens.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?- the original Regis version. It went from being a smash hit in 1999 and 2000 to low rated and pulled from May sweeps in 2002.

I would nominate "Chico and the Man" and "8 Simple Rules" for the same reason. Both were big hits in their first year but the sudden death of their stars Freddie Prinze and John Ritter shocked their fans so much (even today) that they simply couldn't continue to watch once the shows continued. The fact that their replacements had very little talent or charisma (like David Spade!!) also hurt a lot.


I wouldn't count shows where the actors died.

Get Smart was a huge hit for a few years and then tanked in the ratings.

Glee--Nominated for Best comedy series twice, winner of numerous other awards and a ratings powerhouse. The show has serious critical acclaim but then through overexposure, a decline in quality and many other factors the show just simply stopped being popular. Nowadays it's only mentioned in terms of a cast member having a social media scandal or as the butt of a joke, or about how problematic its writing was.

NYPD BLUE--- A critical darling, ratings phenomenon and cultural touchstone, this show was a huge show when it aired; but as ultimately ahead of its time. It's anti-hero lead characters and it's gritty writing was new stuff in 1994, but by the start of the new millennium pretty much every show on cable had copied its format and was perfecting an art it started. Nobody even talks about the show anymore.

Mad About You- It was a pretty popular sitcom, was part of NBC's "Must See TV" line-up and earned numerous awards, including four Lead Actress Emmy's for Helen Hunt, and now nobody talks about it, nobody mentions it and a recent reboot got so little attention it didn't even air on a major network, it ended up on a minor network few people have.


Desperate Housewives---The show was an absolute powerhouse in the Neilsen Ratings for its first few seasons; was a critical success and earned numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. Sometime around the second season the critical support began to wane and as the show continued airing its ratings began to drop each season. This show is barely talked about anymore.

Twin Peaks? Season one was a phenomena with everyone following the clues to the mystery -- season two showed that the mystery didn't really exist, they were just making it up as they went.

Mad About You- It was a pretty popular sitcom, was part of NBC's "Must See TV" line-up and earned numerous awards, including four Lead Actress Emmy's for Helen Hunt, and now nobody talks about it, nobody mentions it and a recent reboot got so little attention it didn't even air on a major network, it ended up on a minor network few people have.
The original Mad About You is 100 times better than its wretched spin-off Friends, too bad the ratings and syndication success have been the exact opposite. :mad: Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt have the best chemistry of any married TV couple. The revival is more widely available now if you have access to Amazon Prime, complete classic series is on there too.

Grace Under Fire - During its first two seasons, it was the fifth and fourth rated show in the Nielsens (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Under_Fire#Episodes) respectively. After coming in #13th in the Nielsen ratings for its third year, it plummeted to #45 in its fourth year, and then #68 in its abbreviated final season. Any time the show is brought up now, it seems like first and foremost, all of the chaos (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/GraceUnderFire) that Brett Butler caused on set (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-17-ca-19909-story.html) is talked about above all else.

The original Mad About You is 100 times better than its wretched spin-off Friends, too bad the ratings and syndication success have been the exact opposite. :mad: Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt have the best chemistry of any married TV couple. The revival is more widely available now if you have access to Amazon Prime, complete classic series is on there too.


"Friends" is not a spin-off of "Mad About You". I don't know where you got that idea. It was loosely patterned after "Seinfeld" and became a much better series. The only connection it has with "Mad About You" is that Lisa Kudrow was in both series as Ursula and her twin sister Phoebe and she was the best actor in both series. I did watch the revival on CTV last year and I thought it was good, except for one major flaw --- Lisa was not in it!!

Lisa Kudrow first appeared on Mad About You as Ursula before Friends ever premiered, then they spun off Ursula's twin sister onto Friends.

Twin Peaks? Season one was a phenomena with everyone following the clues to the mystery -- season two showed that the mystery didn't really exist, they were just making it up as they went.

Since you mentioned (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/ttmkl0/has_any_tv_had_such_a_quick_and_dramatic_fall/) Twin Peaks (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125202/http://www.jumptheshark.com/t/twinpeaks.htm):
The two-hour pilot was the highest-rated movie for the 1989–90 season with a 22 rating and was viewed by 33% of the audience. In its first broadcast as a regular one-hour drama series, Twin Peaks scored ABC's highest ratings in four years in its 9:00 pm Thursday time slot. The show also reduced NBC's Cheers's ratings. Twin Peaks had a 16.2 rating with each point equaling 921,000 homes with TVs.

With the resolution of Twin Peaks' main drawing point in the middle of the second season, and with subsequent story lines becoming more obscure and drawn out, public interest began to wane. This discontent, coupled with ABC changing its timeslot on a number of occasions, led to a huge drop in the show's ratings after being one of the most-watched television programs in the United States in 1990. Due to the Gulf War, Twin Peaks was moved from its usual time slot "for six weeks out of eight" in early 1991, according to Frost, preventing the show from maintaining audience interest. A week after the season's 15th episode placed 85th in the ratings out of 89 shows, ABC put Twin Peaks on indefinite hiatus, a move that usually leads to cancellation.

Felicity had a sharp decline or two. Sometimes the blame is placed on the adverse reaction to Keri Russell cutting her hair, but it was more complicated than that.

Felicity had a sharp decline or two. Sometimes the blame is placed on the adverse reaction to Keri Russell cutting her hair, but it was more complicated than that.

The show was moved to Sunday night, but first 2 episodes got the same ratings as S1 episodes, numbers really did start to fall after that hair incident.

Family Ties - it was one of the biggest hits of the 80s (because it aired after The Cosby Show).

Well, it seems the Cosby Show is a candidate, because it had so far to fall. I'm doubtful of any assertions of failing popularity, because programmers effect things so much. Rural sitcoms were declared out of style, but remained among the most-watched shows in syndication for decades.

It's more about Bill Cosby's issues with this one, than because of the showing just going out of style.

TV One still airs it though and Amazon keeps it in its streaming library. If Cosby had a squeaky clean personal life, the show would probably be airing on 4 cable networks across multiple owners, including the Viacom channels and not just BET, Pluto, and one digit-net.

"Friends" is not a spin-off of "Mad About You". I don't know where you got that idea. It was loosely patterned after "Seinfeld" and became a much better series. The only connection it has with "Mad About You" is that Lisa Kudrow was in both series as Ursula and her twin sister Phoebe and she was the best actor in both series. I did watch the revival on CTV last year and I thought it was good, except for one major flaw --- Lisa was not in it!!

Ursula wasn't a regular in either series. For Mad About You, she was funny being a ditzy waitress.

But, she was more unimportant in Friends, a hardly used character, not as funny and more mean and just used in a few episodes of Friends to depict Phoebe's estranged relationship with her. However, I think it is a stretch to say Friends was a spinoff, given that Friends didn't really spinoff from Ursula, though she was used in a few episodes.

As to the OP title, I don't think shows like Mad About You fits. Cheers is a show that nobody really talks about and hardly is on anymore, if we are using this as a gauge.

Cheers, Mad About You and even Desperate Housewives were successful shows for their times, even if nobody talks about it now.

We can't compare to Friends and Seinfeld. It's like comparing levels of rich. Think of billionaires and those with a low 20 million. The latter is still rich. (replace rich with success).

Glee--Nominated for Best comedy series twice, winner of numerous other awards and a ratings powerhouse. The show has serious critical acclaim but then through overexposure, a decline in quality and many other factors the show just simply stopped being popular. Nowadays it's only mentioned in terms of a cast member having a social media scandal or as the butt of a joke, or about how problematic its writing was.

NYPD BLUE--- A critical darling, ratings phenomenon and cultural touchstone, this show was a huge show when it aired; but as ultimately ahead of its time. It's anti-hero lead characters and it's gritty writing was new stuff in 1994, but by the start of the new millennium pretty much every show on cable had copied its format and was perfecting an art it started. Nobody even talks about the show anymore.

Mad About You- It was a pretty popular sitcom, was part of NBC's "Must See TV" line-up and earned numerous awards, including four Lead Actress Emmy's for Helen Hunt, and now nobody talks about it, nobody mentions it and a recent reboot got so little attention it didn't even air on a major network, it ended up on a minor network few people have.


Desperate Housewives---The show was an absolute powerhouse in the Neilsen Ratings for its first few seasons; was a critical success and earned numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. Sometime around the second season the critical support began to wane and as the show continued airing its ratings began to drop each season. This show is barely talked about anymore.

A similar thing appeared to happen (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/tvklok/comment/i3atoyq/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) with Homicide: Life on the Street (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/19/arts/television/shows-not-streaming.html) over on NBC. It too was a gritty cop show (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1993/01/31/homicide-the-cop-show-to-die-for/ef0b7050-3dd3-4902-bdf4-95a69b0d1580/) (setting the table (https://www.popoptiq.com/the-groundbreaking-brilliance-of-homicide-life-on-the-street/) for stuff like The Shield and The Wire (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/mar/27/homicide-life-street-david-simon)) back in the '90s that had a tone of critical acclaim (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/baddest-cop-show-ever-made-homicide-life-street-criminally-overlooked/) and yet, it's hardly ever brought (https://www.vulture.com/2014/09/why-is-homicide-so-underappreciated.html) up these days.

Maybe Welcome Back Kotter. It was only around 4 seasons. It was Huge. they had lunch boxes and dolls. But they hit the iceberg when Travolta leaves. They nosedived in the 4 th season. They choose a really bad replacement. Gabe Kaplan who the show revolved around is barely there anymore. The show went south really fast.

How about another James Komack produced sitcom, Chico and the Man? It was the the third highest rated (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-rated_United_States_television_programs_of_1974%E2%80%9375) show in American during its first season (1974-75). Only Sanford and Son and All in the Family were rated (http://www.classic-tv.com/features/ratings/1974-1975-tv-show-ratings) higher.

In the second season though, the ratings dropped to 25th place (with 20.8 rating). And then in its third season, it dropped further to 45th place (with a 18.8).

We all know what happens next. Freddie Prinze, the show's star, tragically kills himself towards the end of the third season. It's been said that he shot himself approximately six hours after he filmed what turned out to be his final appearance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chico_and_the_Man_episodes#Season_3_(1976%E2%80%9377)) on Chico and the Man.

Miraculously enough, Chico and the Man actually got a fourth season, which was primarily as a means of improving the show's syndication prospects. Ironically, Chico and the Man wound up being put out of its misery with only 12 episodes short of the magical "100 episode" number.

And the additional dark cloud of Prinze's tragic death made the show even more undesirable for reruns.

There's a similar discussion on-going elsewhere (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/vg87a1/shows_that_had_the_biggest_fall_off_when_it_came/), but it seems to only pertain to shows dating back to the last 15 or so years.

How about another James Komack produced sitcom, Chico and the Man? It was the the third highest rated (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-rated_United_States_television_programs_of_1974%E2%80%9375) show in American during its first season (1974-75). Only Sanford and Son and All in the Family were rated (http://www.classic-tv.com/features/ratings/1974-1975-tv-show-ratings) higher.

In the second season though, the ratings dropped to 25th place (with 20.8 rating). And then in its third season, it dropped further to 45th place (with a 18.8).

We all know what happens next. Freddie Prinze, the show's star, tragically kills himself towards the end of the third season. It's been said that he shot himself approximately six hours after he filmed what turned out to be his final appearance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chico_and_the_Man_episodes#Season_3_(1976%E2%80%9377)) on Chico and the Man.

Miraculously enough, Chico and the Man actually got a fourth season, which was primarily as a means of improving the show's syndication prospects. Ironically, Chico and the Man wound up being put out of its misery with only 12 episodes short of the magical "100 episode" number.

And the additional dark cloud of Prinze's tragic death made the show even more undesirable for reruns.

Nothing from 70s even the giant of that era(All in the family) seems to be as popular in syndication or streaming as shows from the 50,60 or 80's -current. I think a lot of that is just the color palette used on tv for homes and offices as well as most clothing from the late 60s to about 81-82 was just an eyesore.

Nothing from 70s even the giant of that era(All in the family) seems to be as popular in syndication or streaming as shows from the 50,60 or 80's -current. I think a lot of that is just the color palette used on tv for homes and offices as well as most clothing from the late 60s to about 81-82 was just an eyesore.

Also, a lot of those shows were likely shot on video tape (like All in the Family and Chico and the Man), which simply put, makes watching them an "eyesore" in themselves. This is especially true once high-definition rolled around and the washed out, harsh lighting of old video tape sitcoms made it worse. I think that some multi-camera shows (like The Conners) are now shot digitally.

The original Mad About You is 100 times better than its wretched spin-off Friends, too bad the ratings and syndication success have been the exact opposite. :mad: Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt have the best chemistry of any married TV couple. The revival is more widely available now if you have access to Amazon Prime, complete classic series is on there too.

I dont think the viewing public like Helen Hunt. She comes a cross as a bitch. The latter day Helen Crump. If a role calls for someone to be a complete bitch, give Helen Hunt a call.

Nothing from 70s even the giant of that era(All in the family) seems to be as popular in syndication or streaming as shows from the 50,60 or 80's -current. I think a lot of that is just the color palette used on tv for homes and offices as well as most clothing from the late 60s to about 81-82 was just an eyesore.

It could be also because they are too topical. There is very dated look to them. There is no mistaking it's the 70's and all the 70's topics of the day are beaten to death. The actors are shouting their dialogue. I have watched All In The Family, Good Times, Maude. They can be just tiring to watch. lol

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?- the original Regis version. It went from being a smash hit in 1999 and 2000 to low rated and pulled from May sweeps in 2002.
That was because the geniuses at ABC decided to put it on multiple times a week as a regular series, instead of saving it for "event" programming. There was a really annoying promo airing on ABC where Regis randomly interrupts profiles of new shows. And that's what viewers thought of "Millionare" soon afterwards.
Some other nominees: "Laugh-In" and "Mary Hartman Mary Hartman". Huge ratings and pop culture phenoms for the first year, but cast changes made them dead men walking eventually. And they both bombed in syndie reruns in the early 80s.

That was because the geniuses at ABC decided to put it on multiple times a week as a regular series, instead of saving it for "event" programming. There was a really annoying promo airing on ABC where Regis randomly interrupts profiles of new shows. And that's what viewers thought of "Millionare" soon afterwards.
Some other nominees: "Laugh-In" and "Mary Hartman Mary Hartman". Huge ratings and pop culture phenoms for the first year, but cast changes made them dead men walking eventually. And they both bombed in syndie reruns in the early 80s.

Speaking of Laugh-In, I found this on TV Tropes (https://web.archive.org/web/20130606151117/http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DeaderThanDisco/LiveActionTV):
Rowan And Martins Laugh In (https://web.archive.org/web/20130606151117/http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn) was the top rated show for two straight seasons and was a cultural icon in the 1960's (it would also launch the careers of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin). However, the show being one big Unintentional Period Piece (https://web.archive.org/web/20130606151117/http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn) led to a fast ratings drop (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125331/http://www.jumptheshark.com/r/laughin.htm) in the fourth season and an eventual cancellation. Nowadays, the show is barely remembered outside of a few references in books and specials on the history of television and is rarely aired on television due to the dated nature.

It also picked up a substantial hatedom for its part in Star Trek getting Screwed by the Network (https://web.archive.org/web/20130606151117/http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScrewedByTheNetwork), to the point that several performers actually left the show in protest to NBC's treatment of Star Trek, and their own exec producer's role in that treatment, which is when Rowan and Martin dropped out of the top ten in ratings.

The original "Arrested Development" is a good example of this. The first season was highly rated and loved by critics, but the show declined in its Second and especially its Third Season when it was cancelled.

Seems like Family Ties doesn’t do well in syndication and hasn’t done well in the last 10-15 years or so. But it was a big hit back in its day.

Gary Sinise is well liked from Forrest Gump and the National Memorial Day concert on PBS he has co-hosted for a long time. But while CSI: NY did well in first-run airings, it has really flopped in syndication. It was recently removed from ION Mystery for another night of CSI: Miami, which has remained on the schedule along with parent CSI. I couldn't even say what other networks CSI: NY has been syndicated on as it doesn't last long anywhere.

Seems like Family Ties doesn’t do well in syndication and hasn’t done well in the last 10-15 years or so. But it was a big hit back in its day.

Pluto dedicated a channel to it. They wouldn't do so if it was so unpopular.

Glee--Nominated for Best comedy series twice, winner of numerous other awards and a ratings powerhouse. The show has serious critical acclaim but then through overexposure, a decline in quality and many other factors the show just simply stopped being popular. Nowadays it's only mentioned in terms of a cast member having a social media scandal or as the butt of a joke, or about how problematic its writing was.

NYPD BLUE--- A critical darling, ratings phenomenon and cultural touchstone, this show was a huge show when it aired; but as ultimately ahead of its time. It's anti-hero lead characters and it's gritty writing was new stuff in 1994, but by the start of the new millennium pretty much every show on cable had copied its format and was perfecting an art it started. Nobody even talks about the show anymore.

Mad About You- It was a pretty popular sitcom, was part of NBC's "Must See TV" line-up and earned numerous awards, including four Lead Actress Emmy's for Helen Hunt, and now nobody talks about it, nobody mentions it and a recent reboot got so little attention it didn't even air on a major network, it ended up on a minor network few people have.


Desperate Housewives---The show was an absolute powerhouse in the Neilsen Ratings for its first few seasons; was a critical success and earned numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. Sometime around the second season the critical support began to wane and as the show continued airing its ratings began to drop each season. This show is barely talked about anymore.

Since you mentioned (https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/28-tv-shows-that-started-strong-then-became-straight-up-unwatchable.4949970/) Glee (https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahdobro/tv-shows-that-only-got-worse?fbclid=IwAR2g4SWVtCDj4gB9Sc-d03Gju6bWWiOM2yFbF78qRbbRXsn9fE1fGPAp3CA):
12. "I stand by my opinion that the pilot of Glee is a fantastic execution. It goes downhill from there. The first half of the first season was pretty good, and the first couple of seasons are at least watchable. Then it swan dives off a cliff."​
​
—u/Pudgy_Ninja (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/vndiue/comment/ie6xwgd/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)

"The first couple seasons were really campy and fun, and I loved that. But eventually it felt like they got to a place where they were taking themselves way too seriously, and it just wasn't working anymore. I have not watched the last season. I got like halfway through the first episode and noped out. The season or two before that wasn't very good either, but I really tried because I had loved it for so long."

—u/cdenton041793 (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/vndiue/comment/ie74yfa/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)

Seems like Family Ties doesn’t do well in syndication and hasn’t done well in the last 10-15 years or so. But it was a big hit back in its day.
I like Michael J. Fox in the Back To The Future movies but I could never get a liking to Family Ties, I would leave it on after The Cosby Show out of being too lazy to watch something else.

When I tried to watch it at again on Antenna TV I remembered why I hated the show, just the way the characters talk feels unnatural and then there's the famous drunk Uncle Ned episode where it's ok to laugh at alcoholism because the audience agrees so to.

It's more about Bill Cosby's issues with this one, than because of the showing just going out of style.

TV One still airs it though and Amazon keeps it in its streaming library. If Cosby had a squeaky clean personal life, the show would probably be airing on 4 cable networks across multiple owners, including the Viacom channels and not just BET, Pluto, and one digit-net.

The Cosby Show was probably the perfect show (in terms of finding a large audience) for Ronald Reagan's second term, 1984 - '88, which were its peak years. It matched the values of that era but outside of it, it was looked at as being pretty bland and preachy.

The Cosby Show more or less, seemed dated even by the end of its run in 1992. Other shows such as Married...with Children and Roseanne explicitly stated that they were NOT The Cosby Show (and Roseanne managed to knock TCS out of the number one slot).

Ratings had been sliding for awhile come 1992 and though the reruns were sold into syndication for a record sum, it was written that the ratings for the reruns were only middling and not worth the price tag.

The Cosby Show was probably the perfect show (in terms of finding a large audience) for Ronald Reagan's second term, 1984 - '88, which were its peak years. It matched the values of that era but outside of it, it was looked at as being pretty bland and preachy.

The Cosby Show more or less, seemed dated even by the end of its run in 1992. Other shows such as Married...with Children and Roseanne explicitly stated that they were NOT The Cosby Show (and Roseanne managed to knock TCS out of the number one slot).

Ratings had been sliding for awhile come 1992 and though the reruns were sold into syndication for a record sum, it was written that the ratings for the reruns were only middling and not worth the price tag.Garbage like Married with Children becoming popular was a very bad thing. Because of it being one of FOX's signature comedies, most of what they have done since has been full of raunchiness. That even spilled over to not as wild networks like CBS where sleazy Two and a Half Men was a hit. :barf:

In general, what television shows, which were successful both critically and popularly, have been most lost-to-time? In other words, shows that you really don't hear much reference to it now. They have virtually no repeats and barely ever come up in conversations about old TV shows.

Glee--Nominated for Best comedy series twice, winner of numerous other awards and a ratings powerhouse. The show has serious critical acclaim but then through overexposure, a decline in quality and many other factors the show just simply stopped being popular. Nowadays it's only mentioned in terms of a cast member having a social media scandal or as the butt of a joke, or about how problematic its writing was.

NYPD BLUE--- A critical darling, ratings phenomenon and cultural touchstone, this show was a huge show when it aired; but as ultimately ahead of its time. It's anti-hero lead characters and it's gritty writing was new stuff in 1994, but by the start of the new millennium pretty much every show on cable had copied its format and was perfecting an art it started. Nobody even talks about the show anymore.

Mad About You- It was a pretty popular sitcom, was part of NBC's "Must See TV" line-up and earned numerous awards, including four Lead Actress Emmy's for Helen Hunt, and now nobody talks about it, nobody mentions it and a recent reboot got so little attention it didn't even air on a major network, it ended up on a minor network few people have.


Desperate Housewives---The show was an absolute powerhouse in the Neilsen Ratings for its first few seasons; was a critical success and earned numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. Sometime around the second season the critical support began to wane and as the show continued airing its ratings began to drop each season. This show is barely talked about anymore.

One observation that I recently read about NYPD Blue is that it was a show helped usher the modern TV wave. But when shows are that popular, they get remixed and updated with better versions. So why would someone under 30 watch it when they could watch The Shield or The Wire?

Also, a show like NYPD Blue probably wouldn't work in today's TV world, because Sipowicz, who was the lead breakout character, was very bigoted. All in all, it came along when it was considered a big deal for shows after 10 PM to now push the envelope.

Glee--Nominated for Best comedy series twice, winner of numerous other awards and a ratings powerhouse. The show has serious critical acclaim but then through overexposure, a decline in quality and many other factors the show just simply stopped being popular. Nowadays it's only mentioned in terms of a cast member having a social media scandal or as the butt of a joke, or about how problematic its writing was.

NYPD BLUE--- A critical darling, ratings phenomenon and cultural touchstone, this show was a huge show when it aired; but as ultimately ahead of its time. It's anti-hero lead characters and it's gritty writing was new stuff in 1994, but by the start of the new millennium pretty much every show on cable had copied its format and was perfecting an art it started. Nobody even talks about the show anymore.

Mad About You- It was a pretty popular sitcom, was part of NBC's "Must See TV" line-up and earned numerous awards, including four Lead Actress Emmy's for Helen Hunt, and now nobody talks about it, nobody mentions it and a recent reboot got so little attention it didn't even air on a major network, it ended up on a minor network few people have.


Desperate Housewives---The show was an absolute powerhouse in the Neilsen Ratings for its first few seasons; was a critical success and earned numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. Sometime around the second season the critical support began to wane and as the show continued airing its ratings began to drop each season. This show is barely talked about anymore.

You can also assumed that part of why NYPD Blue is mostly forgotten is because it was not one of those shows always being played in reruns, and a big part of that is because this show tried pushing boundaries on Network TV with sex and nudity. It’s not as “safe” a crime show as many others from its time.

Chicago Hope was decently popular during its run, but fell off in its final two seasons and is never seen in syndication anymore

Newhart was a moderately successful show that found a niche throughout the 80s and served as Bob Newhart's other successful sitcom. It's first ~6 years were good, before biting the dust in the last two.

Once Popular TV Shows No One Talks About Anymore (https://www.looper.com/1405476/popular-tv-shows-no-one-talks-about-anymore/)

So many televisions burn bright for a while, either as mainstream hits or cult favorites, and then seem to become totally forgotten. These are 14 such shows.