Anyone remember the name of this sitcom?

[Dejackso]

I have been desperately trying to find the name of this sitcom for years, however, I don't remember a whole bunch about it.

Here is what I can remember (or at least think I remember):

1. It was on during the late 1980s or early 1990s.

2. The original pilot was about a father who died (in a car wreck, I think) and came back as a ghost to help raise the kids (and no, this was not Ghost Dad).

3. The show randomly dropped the ghost dad character and continued on for a little while afterwards.

I realize that isn't a lot of information, but it is all I have. It's been bothering me for years.

Any help would be, well, helpful.

[TV_on_the_Porch]

Second Chance, 1987-88 on Fox. Charles Russell (Kiel Martin) gets a second chance to have his eternal fate decided by going back in time and shepherding his younger self (Matthew Perry--yes that one). later renamed Boys Will Be Boys when the character of Charles Time (who wasn't 'dad') was dropped.

[ScorpionJay]

you got me.....

[TMC]

How a Supernatural Time-Traveling Matthew Perry Show Became Just a ‘Dudes Hanging Out’ Sitcom

In a feature spotlighting TV show drastic revamps, Brian looks at how Matthew Perry's sitcom involving supernatural time-traveling just became a sitcom about dudes hanging out together.



Today, we look at how a sitcom about a time-traveler trying to avoid going to hell by mentoring his younger self became a sitcom about three dudes just chilling in California.

This is “Gonna Make a Change,” a feature where I spotlight shows that underwent major revamps during their runs to avoid cancellation. Note that I mean MAJOR revamps, not, like, M*A*S*H getting more serious as it went on or Cheers becoming more of an ensemble comedy once Shelley Long left.

One of the interesting things in retrospect is to look at the TV season after a famous show went off the air, to see where the various cast members end up. In the case of Hill Street Blues, Kiel Martin was a long-time standout as the lecherous Detective J.D. LaRue (who was just good enough of a guy to truly WANT to try to be better), and when the show ended, his follow-up series was called Second Chance and it was…quite interesting.

Original Concept: Second Chance saw Martin play Charles Russell, who dies in the year 2011 (there was a whole bit back in 2011 about the fact that the episode also showed the death of Muammar Gaddafi and he actually DID die in 2011) and is a rare person who is stuck between being sent to Hell and being sent to Heaven, so he is allowed to back to 1987 where he will try to lead his 15-year-old self, Chazz Russell (Matthew Perry), to lead a better life and get into Heaven this time.

Revamped Concept: The show flopped, but obviously, everyone agreed that Matthew Perry was a clear star in the making, so the show then retooled, dropping the supernatural angle entirely, and now it was just about Chazz and his two buddies, Booch and Eugene. The show was now called Boys Will Be Boys…

Did it get the show more than one last season?: No, it did not. It did at least finish out a full first season, though!