Do You Think ABC & The Writers PANICKED Too Much With 'Too Close For Comfort' Ratings - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 02-05-2012, 03:18 PM

They seemed to tinker and change things every single season until ultimately it became an entirely different show. Did they panic too soon? Was it justified panic? What were your thoughts on all the cast, set and storyline changes???

Mr. Television · 02-05-2012, 03:27 PM

I loved the show during it's first 3 seasons. I think it was a perfect companion show with Three's Company. I don't know why ABC moved it in it's third season. I didn't watch it much during season 3 and after it went into first run syndication, I couldn't get the show at all. I've been watching some of those episodes lately and it isn't as good as when it was on ABC. I think getting rid of the girls was a huge mistake. It just survives on the talent of Ted Knight alone. I know the show was already renewed for another season when Knight died but IMO it was a shadow of what it originally was.

Brian Damage · 02-05-2012, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

I loved the show during it's first 3 seasons. I think it was a perfect companion show with Three's Company. I don't know why ABC moved it in it's third season. I didn't watch it much during season 3 and after it went into first run syndication, I couldn't get the show at all. I've been watching some of those episodes lately and it isn't as good as when it was on ABC. I think getting rid of the girls was a huge mistake. It just survives on the talent of Ted Knight alone. I know the show was already renewed for another season when Knight died but IMO it was a shadow of what it originally was.

I agree, the Ted Knight Show was nowhere near as good as Too Close For Comfort.

70s show watcher · 02-12-2012, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

I agree, the Ted Knight Show was nowhere near as good as Too Close For Comfort.

thats for sure

TVFactFan · 02-12-2012, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

They seemed to tinker and change things every single season until ultimately it became an entirely different show. Did they panic too soon? Was it justified panic? What were your thoughts on all the cast, set and storyline changes???

The show did well when it aired after Three's Company the 1st two seasons and then ABC moved it to Thursday Nights at 9pm to compete with Simon and Simon on CBS which led to failure.

I thought it was odd how the show went from #16 to #6 in season 2 and after that it was over.

Mr. Television · 02-12-2012, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

The show did well when it aired after Three's Company the 1st two seasons and then ABC moved it to Thursday Nights at 9pm to compete with Simon and Simon on CBS which led to failure.

I thought it was odd how the show went from #16 to #6 in season 2 and after that it was over.

Yep. I was a Simon & Simon fan so that's why I didn't watch it much during season 3.

TVFactFan · 02-12-2012, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

Yep. I was a Simon & Simon fan so that's why I didn't watch it much during season 3.

You and a lot of other people since it was a top ten show that season. And you couldn't DVR it LOL

Mr. Television · 02-12-2012, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

You and a lot of other people since it was a top ten show that season. And you couldn't DVR it LOL

I didn't even have a VCR until 1986. lol

TVFactFan · 02-12-2012, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

I didn't even have a VCR until 1986. lol

So back then you really had to make a decision on what you were going to watch, wow LOL

Brian Damage · 02-12-2012, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

So back then you really had to make a decision on what you were going to watch, wow LOL

So true, and unlike a DVR, networks couldn't find out your viewing habits from a VCR. lol

TV_on_the_Porch · 02-19-2012, 05:13 AM

The show was a very solid second in its time slot. IIRC it finished the season at #38. It blew Cheers out of the water during the first half of the season, but when Gimme A Break was moved over from Saturdays they were practically neck-and-neck.

It's Nell Carter's fault.

TV Guy · 05-19-2017, 05:45 PM

I'm guessing the ratings were trending down over the third season and that it was ranking lower than 38 in the weekly ratings by the end of the season. I do remember that the third season premiere, in which Andrew was born, ranked in the top 10.

It wasn't as good in syndication, even before the transition to the Ted Knight Show. They got new writers for season 4, and it just wasn't as much fun any more.

TMC · 07-21-2023, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Television

I loved the show during it's first 3 seasons. I think it was a perfect companion show with Three's Company. I don't know why ABC moved it in it's third season. I didn't watch it much during season 3 and after it went into first run syndication, I couldn't get the show at all. I've been watching some of those episodes lately and it isn't as good as when it was on ABC. I think getting rid of the girls was a huge mistake. It just survives on the talent of Ted Knight alone. I know the show was already renewed for another season when Knight died but IMO it was a shadow of what it originally was.

Here's a New York Times article from 1983 on Metromedia helping bring Too Close for Comfort back for the first-run syndication market:

Quote:

'TOO CLOSE' AND 'FAME' GET NEW LIFE

By Sally Bedell Smith

June 4, 1983, Section 1, Page 48

Two prime-time series canceled by ABC and NBC this spring are expected to return on ad hoc networks of independent and network affiliated stations next fall, the producers of the shows have announced.

The series are ''Too Close for Comfort,'' a half-hour situation comedy starring Ted Knight and Nancy Dussault that ran on ABC for three years, and ''Fame,'' a critically praised drama about New York's School of Performing Arts that was on NBC for two years. Both series are set to appear weekly with a full schedule of new episodes.

Their planned revival is part of a growing tendency among producers to salvage shows that earned strong loyalty among their viewers but failed to reach a large enough audience to continue on the networks.

Such efforts have received new impetus in the last few years with the expansion of cable television and the increased strength of independent stations. ''The Paper Chase,'' a drama about a law school that was canceled because of low ratings by CBS in 1979, reappeared this year with seven new episodes on Showtime, a cable channel seen by four million subscribers. Next fall, ''SCTV Network,'' an acclaimed comedy series canceled in April by NBC, will return with 18 new episodes on Cinemax, a cable channel operated by Home Box Office that is available to two million subscribers nationwide.

Don Taffner, the producer of ''Too Close for Comfort,'' said in an interview that his show would continue through a partnership with Metromedia Inc. Metromedia will invest in 22 new episodes costing about $350,000 each, and its seven stations, including WNEW-TV in New York, will broadcast the show. Additional independent and network-affiliated stations are being sought to carry the show. So far, stations covering 40 percent of the television audience have agreed to pick it up, according to Mr. Taffner.

Only last week, Metromedia announced that its stations planned to carry 24 new episodes of ''Fame'' next season. ''Fame'' is produced by M-G-M/UA television, which is seeking additional stations to carry the program.

In all these cases, on cable as well as syndicated networks, the producers have said the shows were being produced at lower cost than if they were on ABC, CBS or NBC. ''We can do it for about 10 percent less than the network paid us because we can do things more efficiently, such as producing the show on film and editing it on tape,'' said Richard S. Reisberg, president of television production for M-G-M/UA.

Mr. Taffner said that the future would bring more arrangements such as that made for ''Too Close for Comfort.'' ''The marketplace outside the networks cannot yet pay the same prices as the networks can pay,'' he said. ''But I believe that once this is a trend, in about four or five years, there will be a lot more avenues to sell these shows.''

michelala · 09-07-2023, 10:38 PM

^You dig up some really interesting articles, TMC. This substantiates the fact TCFC was working with a much smaller budget after it left ABC network.

Taffner was as bit of a visionary partnering with Metromedia but unfortunately by the late 80's Fox had bought up most of those independent stations and eventually started producing their own shows. Even if Ted had lived longer I doubt his show would've lasted more than another 2 seasons.

FWIW I think ABC made unfortunate scheduling decisions around that time. By the mid 80's they were solidly behind NBC and CBS in the ratings.

02-05-2012, 03:18 PM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,108	Do You Think ABC & The Writers PANICKED Too Much With 'Too Close For Comfort' Ratings They seemed to tinker and change things every single season until ultimately it became an entirely different show. Did they panic too soon? Was it justified panic? What were your thoughts on all the cast, set and storyline changes???
	__________________ The Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: John 3:3 *Money Doesn't Buy Happiness...But I'd Rather Cry in My Private Jet*

02-05-2012, 03:27 PM	#2
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,125	I loved the show during it's first 3 seasons. I think it was a perfect companion show with Three's Company. I don't know why ABC moved it in it's third season. I didn't watch it much during season 3 and after it went into first run syndication, I couldn't get the show at all. I've been watching some of those episodes lately and it isn't as good as when it was on ABC. I think getting rid of the girls was a huge mistake. It just survives on the talent of Ted Knight alone. I know the show was already renewed for another season when Knight died but IMO it was a shadow of what it originally was.
	__________________ Sonny

02-19-2012, 05:13 AM	#11
TV_on_the_Porch anything good on? Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Posts: 879	The show was a very solid second in its time slot. IIRC it finished the season at #38. It blew Cheers out of the water during the first half of the season, but when Gimme A Break was moved over from Saturdays they were practically neck-and-neck. It's Nell Carter's fault.

05-19-2017, 05:45 PM	#12
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	I'm guessing the ratings were trending down over the third season and that it was ranking lower than 38 in the weekly ratings by the end of the season. I do remember that the third season premiere, in which Andrew was born, ranked in the top 10. It wasn't as good in syndication, even before the transition to the Ted Knight Show. They got new writers for season 4, and it just wasn't as much fun any more.

09-07-2023, 10:38 PM	#14
michelala Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 08, 2023 Posts: 68	^You dig up some really interesting articles, TMC. This substantiates the fact TCFC was working with a much smaller budget after it left ABC network. Taffner was as bit of a visionary partnering with Metromedia but unfortunately by the late 80's Fox had bought up most of those independent stations and eventually started producing their own shows. Even if Ted had lived longer I doubt his show would've lasted more than another 2 seasons. FWIW I think ABC made unfortunate scheduling decisions around that time. By the mid 80's they were solidly behind NBC and CBS in the ratings.