Wow, never knew until today Facts of Life was the lowest NBC show of the

[TVFactFan]

1979-80 season which led to the retooling of the show and just focus on 4 girls. Normally when a show is ranked that low after it's first season it is a instant cancellation.

[valentina warner]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

1979-80 season which led to the retooling of the show and just focus on 4 girls. Normally when a show is ranked that low after it's first season it is a instant cancellation.

WHAT???? NO WAY!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by valentina warner

WHAT???? NO WAY!

After the 1st season the show was ranked 74th out of 79 shows and that's why they retooled the show and only had 4 girls in season 2

[Sitcommania]

I’m sorry. I’m really not trying to stir the pot, but you’re status is “Forum Legend” and you’re honestly claiming to have not known this?

It didn’t have great ratings, true, but it was given a second chance with the hopes it might pull a bigger audience.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Sitcommania

I’m sorry. I’m really not trying to stir the pot, but you’re status is “Forum Legend” and you’re honestly claiming to have not known this?

It didn’t have great ratings, true, but it was given a second chance with the hopes it might pull a bigger audience.

I never knew it was the lowest rated NBC show after it's 1st season

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I never knew it was the lowest rated NBC show after it's 1st season

But the ratings went up by quite a bit during the summer reruns in 1980.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

But the ratings went up by quite a bit during the summer reruns in 1980.

They did. The show actually entered the top 20 over the summer, once its time slot was changed.

[cfr1970]

To put this into perspective though, just look at the dates that first season aired---

ep 1--8/24/79
ep2--8/31/79
ep3--9/7/79
ep4--9/14/79

And the next episode didn't air until 3/12/80. Keep in mind, those first 4 episodes were still in summer before the fall TV season even began, so it was naturally hard to find an audience when most people were still outside enjoying their summer vacations rather than back in front of the TV in the evenings.

And when March rolled around, i'm sure most viewers were all like "what the hell is this show with all these screaming girls and why the hell is Mrs. Garrett from Different Strokes living with them all?"

The way those first season weeks were separated between summer and spring would naturally make any new sitcom back then have terrible ratings. Also, and thankfully, back then shows were given more time and patience to find an audience in comparison to today.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by Sitcommania

I’m sorry. I’m really not trying to stir the pot, but you’re status is “Forum Legend” and you’re honestly claiming to have not known this?

It's possible he didn't. Back in the day, he was mainly about Good Times not being a spinoff of Maude and had that discussion on so many boards here I don't know if he ever posted on this forum before recently. If he's a newer fan of the show, he's probably learning a lot about the show behind the scenes and wants to share.

Forum legend doesn't really hold much value on here. If you go to the Chit Chat Politics board, you'll see a member who only posts news topics post after post in her own threads. She's a Forum Legend because she does that. She's made 16 threads like that and they get closed after a little over 1,000 posts. I don't think that should qualify you a Forum Legend since the only one you're posting for is yourself.

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I never knew it was the lowest rated NBC show after it's 1st season

This topic has been discussed a lot here. If you do a search, you'll find many threads of the first season fans trying to justify the bad ratings and give excuses it was doing better in reruns. The first season didn't work. After the retooling, NBC had a show that became a hit and a trend setter for female cast shows. I fall in with the majority of viewers that prefer the show at the start of season two with Mrs. Garrett and her four girls.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Christopher

It's possible he didn't. Back in the day, he was mainly about Good Times not being a spinoff of Maude and had that discussion on so many boards here I don't know if he ever posted on this forum before recently. If he's a newer fan of the show, he's probably learning a lot about the show behind the scenes and wants to share.

Forum legend doesn't really hold much value on here. If you go to the Chit Chat Politics board, you'll see a member who only posts news topics post after post in her own threads. She's a Forum Legend because she does that. She's made 16 threads like that and they get closed after a little over 1,000 posts. I don't think that should qualify you a Forum Legend since the only one you're posting for is yourself.


In syndication?

This topic has been discussed a lot here. If you do a search, you'll find many threads of the first season fans trying to justify the bad ratings and give excuses it was doing better in reruns. The first season didn't work. After the retooling, NBC had a show that became a hit and a trend setter for female cast shows. I fall in with the majority of viewers that prefer the show at the start of season two with Mrs. Garrett and her four girls.

[DJM77]

I'm thinking that my post in this thread https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=390071 is what inspired the creation of this thread.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by DJM77

I'm thinking that my post in this thread https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=390071 is what inspired the creation of this thread.

you are correct

[80s Dude]

Here is a list of shows that didn't do well in their first season and later became hit series. The X-Files is one. https://www.ranker.com/list/great-tv...lexandra-plesa

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by Christopher

Forum legend doesn't really hold much value on here. If you go to the Chit Chat Politics board, you'll see a member who only posts news topics post after post in her own threads. She's a Forum Legend because she does that. She's made 16 threads like that and they get closed after a little over 1,000 posts. I don't think that should qualify you a Forum Legend since the only one you're posting for is yourself.

Jeez...yeah, "Forum Legend" that is not, lol.

Originally Posted by Christopher

This topic has been discussed a lot here. If you do a search, you'll find many threads of the first season fans trying to justify the bad ratings and give excuses it was doing better in reruns.

Well, it did do better in reruns. I had no idea of that until I saw others posting the research here. I know there's been debates on both sides, but I think it was a combination: It was building a bigger audience in reruns, it was promoted as returning, and after it came back retooled, fans stuck around and more showed up to check it out and jump on board.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by Christopher

Forum legend doesn't really hold much value on here. If you go to the Chit Chat Politics board, you'll see a member who only posts news topics post after post in her own threads. She's a Forum Legend because she does that. She's made 16 threads like that and they get closed after a little over 1,000 posts. I don't think that should qualify you a Forum Legend since the only one you're posting for is yourself.

If you call that "news"...