NBC Mystery regarding Gimme a Break and Diff'rent Strokes in the 80's - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TVFactFan · 03-22-2020, 02:12 AM

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???

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

TV Guy · 03-22-2020, 07:44 AM

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.

king of comedy · 03-22-2020, 12:36 PM

Differant Strokes was more popular.

stevea · 03-22-2020, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TV Guy

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.

TVFactFan · 03-22-2020, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevea

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

stevea · 03-22-2020, 03:03 PM

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.

jimpickens · 03-22-2020, 09:26 PM

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.

TVFactFan · 03-22-2020, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimpickens

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

jimpickens · 03-23-2020, 01:43 AM

True very true

icecream · 03-23-2020, 02:20 PM

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.

TVFactFan · 03-23-2020, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catsrule

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

TV Guy · 03-24-2020, 08:59 PM

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.

TVFactFan · 03-24-2020, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TV Guy

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

bgva · 03-25-2020, 01:19 PM

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.

TVFactFan · 03-25-2020, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgva

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

03-22-2020, 02:12 AM	#1
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,055	NBC Mystery regarding Gimme a Break and Diff'rent Strokes in the 80's 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??? 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

03-23-2020, 02:20 PM	#10
icecream Cat-tastic and Whiskerlicious Forum Celebrity Join Date: Sep 01, 2006 Location: The Catacombs Posts: 20,731	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.
	__________________ Top 200 TV Shows https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...14#post6225214 Top 150 Movies https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...84#post6175384 Top 1100 Scripted TV Characters https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=493306 Top Rookie TV Shows by Calendar Year https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=365017 Top Movies by Calendar Year https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=473533

03-22-2020, 07:44 AM	#2
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	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.

03-22-2020, 12:36 PM	#3
king of comedy Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 31, 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,140	Differant Strokes was more popular.

03-22-2020, 03:03 PM	#6
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,584	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.

03-22-2020, 09:26 PM	#7
jimpickens Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 01, 2007 Location: weston,wv Posts: 1,389	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.

03-23-2020, 01:43 AM	#9
jimpickens Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 01, 2007 Location: weston,wv Posts: 1,389	True very true

03-24-2020, 08:59 PM	#12
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	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.

03-25-2020, 01:19 PM	#14
bgva Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 10, 2015 Location: VA Posts: 413	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.