WHY WOULD FOX CANCEL TITUS? Grrrrr - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

DragonsClaw · 12-27-2002, 03:47 AM

I'm not taking this well at all. Very few shows make me laugh today (out loud) Titus was one and Whose Line is pretty darn funny too! Anyone gonna miss this 1/2 hour as much as me?

WHY OH WHY FOX?

I miss you Christopher Titus! Your SHOW ROCKED! The characters were HILARIOUS!

DC

An NBC drama? hmm we'll see...

SBTB Geek · 01-12-2003, 09:50 PM

FOX sucks... that's why.

nimrod_86 · 01-27-2003, 11:21 PM

It didn't bother me as much when they cancelled Grounded For Life, even though I loved that show. But Titus was in the top 20 ratings.

TMC · 01-06-2015, 05:26 AM

http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.co.../titus-tv.html

Quote:

In the 1990s, probably due to the influence of Seinfeld, the TV networks started scouring the standup clubs to create vehicles for sitcoms. So you had things like Everyone Loves Raymond, Home Improvement, and King of Queens. These all showed a warts-and-all family life where there were problems and frustrations and wacky quirks. Toward the end of this, though, stand-up comic Christopher Titus had his own sort of show. The main difference: the family was psychotic (sometimes literally).

Titus had grown up in a wildly dysfunctional family: an alcoholic, selfish father, a mentally disturbed mother, and run-ins with drugs and drinking. After nearly killing himself by falling into a bonfire, he managed to turn his life around and turned to comedy. After the success of a one-man show, Fox gave him a time slot for his autobiographical comedy, Titus.

In it, Titus was dealing with his alcoholic and selfish father, Ken (Stacy Keach), his not very bright brother, Dave (Zach Ward*), his nice guy friend, Tommy (David Shatraw), and his girlfriend Erin (Cynthia Watros), who kept him sane.

The show had its own regular structure. It would start out with Titus addressing the camera about the theme for the episode (shot in black and white and referred to as the neutral space). There would be quick cuts to scenes from his past to illustrate his point, then the story for the episode would unfold (usually on a single set), cutting back to to the neutral space from time to time, with more inset scenes. The show would end in the neutral space, usually ending with the same line that started it.

The Titus family was by far the most dysfunctional one** on TV and the reason was Ken Titus. He had less compassion than a brick wall and was completely insensitive to the feelings of others -- other than trying to make them as miserable as possible. At the same time, he was very successful as a ladies' man, even if he had trouble dealing with a relationship once it went past dating (as his five marriages attest). Stacy Keach had a field day portraying the nastiest father ever to appear on TV.

The show had a very dark edge. The themes were not the usual fodder for comedy -- alcoholism, schizophrenia, heart attacks, AIDS, death, abuse (both emotional and physical***) -- without being gross or tasteless.

Christopher Titus is, of course, great in the role; it was his life, after all. Zach Ward is fun as his doofus, pot-smoking bother, who lives with Ken. And Cynthia Watros deserves praise for taking the role as the sane one faced with the madness (though she has some baggage of her own).

The show was a critical and ratings success in a limited run in 2001, so was brought back. But as time went on, there was tension between Titus and Fox about how much he was pushing the envelope. Toward the end, Fox offered some story suggestions that Titus didn't like. When he turned them down, they stopped promoting the show, its ratings dropped, and it was canceled.

Great comedy always surprises, and you couldn't get better surprises than Titus. It's a shame it went off the air.

Yong Fang · 01-06-2015, 07:03 AM

Titus' mother killed and ate the network President's poodle. So that was that.

Mace Dolex · 01-06-2015, 02:34 PM

I caught the show a couple of times I think it was on after Martin or Family Guy and I didn't feel like flipping channels, can't say I remember much of it only that Stacey Keach played the pain in the ass father really well.

Blackout · 01-06-2015, 02:39 PM

it was a great show

Blackout · 01-06-2015, 02:40 PM

and the fact the DVD goes for over 100 bucks depresses me

icecream · 01-06-2015, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yong Fang

Titus' mother killed and ate the network President's poodle. So that was that.

Mace Dolex · 01-06-2015, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackout

and the fact the DVD goes for over 100 bucks depresses me

Wow that must mean it's a real rare collector's item.

You know kind of like how rare a copy of Action Comics #1 is.

Yong Fang · 01-07-2015, 03:12 AM

I speak about the character, not the real life guy. But the show was a loose biography of his parents, so it was a bit off color.

Titus' mother was insane. My favorite episodes is when the mother comes back with the "I've changed," or "I'm cured." with everyone debating whether to drop their guard down, and then she goes nuts. The father, played by Stacey Keach, was a multi married alcoholic. I have an older cousin like this guy. Drunk, arrogant, divorced, hard on his kids.

This show did a good job mixing up the comedy and tragedy. The current show "Mom" is similar in style. Probably this show was 10 years behind the times. I have not seen Christopher Titus in anything on TV, but is probably a successful comedian.

According to Wikipedia, it seems that FOX got nervous of its content, again the show should have been in the 10s rather than the 00s. Usually shows get cancelled when the ratings aren't making it, and Fox is the first network that will cancel at a minute drop. Show made it three seasons, and it is an accomplishment for a comedian to have a multi season show.

TMC · 10-02-2019, 12:57 AM

Based on his stand-up, does anybody get the impression that the series actually ended at the exact right time? His personal life was very interesting and had some really traumatic events that could be digested with Titus’ fun approach to dealing with it all. Since then, his life seems to be fairly boring so a lot of his stand-up focuses on politics.

TMC · 01-04-2024, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.co.../titus-tv.html

Christopher Titus didn't like one network executive's suggestion to do a divorce storyline akin to what was at the time, going on with Dharma & Greg. And after that, the Fox executive in question did almost everything they could to get the show cancelled.

01-27-2003, 11:21 PM	#3
nimrod_86 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 11, 2002 Posts: 196	It didn't bother me as much when they cancelled Grounded For Life, even though I loved that show. But Titus was in the top 20 ratings.
	__________________ It's a dog eat dog world, and i'm wearing milk-bone underwear. Sorry, Peg not sex tonight.

01-06-2015, 02:39 PM	#7
Blackout Sart Bimpson Senior Member Join Date: Jan 13, 2003 Location: where the sun rises Posts: 2,235	it was a great show
	__________________ MOHRIOR

12-27-2002, 03:47 AM	#1
DragonsClaw Member First Time Poster Join Date: Dec 27, 2002 Location: California Posts: 1	WHY WOULD FOX CANCEL TITUS? Grrrrr I'm not taking this well at all. Very few shows make me laugh today (out loud) Titus was one and Whose Line is pretty darn funny too! Anyone gonna miss this 1/2 hour as much as me? WHY OH WHY FOX? I miss you Christopher Titus! Your SHOW ROCKED! The characters were HILARIOUS! DC An NBC drama? hmm we'll see...

01-12-2003, 09:50 PM	#2
SBTB Geek Smooth Moderator Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 21, 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 6,004	FOX sucks... that's why.

01-06-2015, 07:03 AM	#5
Yong Fang Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 04, 2009 Location: Memphis Tennessee Posts: 3,073	Titus' mother killed and ate the network President's poodle. So that was that.

01-06-2015, 02:34 PM	#6
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,666	I caught the show a couple of times I think it was on after Martin or Family Guy and I didn't feel like flipping channels, can't say I remember much of it only that Stacey Keach played the pain in the ass father really well.

01-06-2015, 02:40 PM	#8
Blackout Sart Bimpson Senior Member Join Date: Jan 13, 2003 Location: where the sun rises Posts: 2,235	and the fact the DVD goes for over 100 bucks depresses me

01-07-2015, 03:12 AM	#11
Yong Fang Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 04, 2009 Location: Memphis Tennessee Posts: 3,073	I speak about the character, not the real life guy. But the show was a loose biography of his parents, so it was a bit off color. Titus' mother was insane. My favorite episodes is when the mother comes back with the "I've changed," or "I'm cured." with everyone debating whether to drop their guard down, and then she goes nuts. The father, played by Stacey Keach, was a multi married alcoholic. I have an older cousin like this guy. Drunk, arrogant, divorced, hard on his kids. This show did a good job mixing up the comedy and tragedy. The current show "Mom" is similar in style. Probably this show was 10 years behind the times. I have not seen Christopher Titus in anything on TV, but is probably a successful comedian. According to Wikipedia, it seems that FOX got nervous of its content, again the show should have been in the 10s rather than the 00s. Usually shows get cancelled when the ratings aren't making it, and Fox is the first network that will cancel at a minute drop. Show made it three seasons, and it is an accomplishment for a comedian to have a multi season show.

10-02-2019, 12:57 AM	#12
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 125,181	Based on his stand-up, does anybody get the impression that the series actually ended at the exact right time? His personal life was very interesting and had some really traumatic events that could be digested with Titus’ fun approach to dealing with it all. Since then, his life seems to be fairly boring so a lot of his stand-up focuses on politics.