Was it a Mistake to Change Too Close for Comfort into the Ted Knight Show?

[michelala]

^That's pretty cool to see an actual ticket from the show taping!

Yeah I definitely think they were trying to change TCFC into a work type show centered in a newsroom similar to the MTM show during the "Ted Knight" season. I'm assuming that was probably done to appease Ted after Arnie Sultan left due to illness. Of course they were working with a very limited budget as a first run syndication show and it just ended up mainly being Mr Stinson, Monroe, and Henry working for the paper. Deborah/Jackie had already moved on from the show and the Sarah character had already graduated college and had her own career. It would've been nice if they had explained what happened to her (she got married, moved, whatever).

A few years back I watched an old ET interview with Ted from early in 1986. It was just a short 1 minute clip that was on youtube although I don't believe it is there anymore. My main take away was that Ted seemed pretty tired by that point. He had done sitcoms since 1970 and sounded like he was ready to move on but basically the paychecks were keeping him on the show at that point.

From everything I've heard the MTM production company was pretty cheap compared to other production companies of that era. I don't really think Ted made the big bucks in his career until TCFC so can't blame him for trying to ride that cash cow as long as he could.

Regardless I do think Ted was strong enough to be a lead on his own show but the supporting cast especially that last season was a bit weak. Losing both the girls was a big loss even if their roles were diminished a bit by that point. TCFC always had strong guest stars such as Audrey Meadows, Ray Middleton, Hamilton Camp, Bill Dana, Selma Diamond, etc. Outside of one appearance by Meadows we didn't see any of that caliber of guest stars the final season of the show under the new format.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by michelala

^That's pretty cool to see an actual ticket from the show taping!

Yeah I definitely think they were trying to change TCFC into a work type show centered in a newsroom similar to the MTM show during the "Ted Knight" season. I'm assuming that was probably done to appease Ted after Arnie Sultan left due to illness. Of course they were working with a very limited budget as a first run syndication show and it just ended up mainly being Mr Stinson, Monroe, and Henry working for the paper. Deborah/Jackie had already moved on from the show and the Sarah character had already graduated college and had her own career. It would've been nice if they had explained what happened to her (she got married, moved, whatever).

A few years back I watched an old ET interview with Ted from early in 1986. It was just a short 1 minute clip that was on youtube although I don't believe it is there anymore. My main take away was that Ted seemed pretty tired by that point. He had done sitcoms since 1970 and sounded like he was ready to move on but basically the paychecks were keeping him on the show at that point.

From everything I've heard the MTM production company was pretty cheap compared to other production companies of that era. I don't really think Ted made the big bucks in his career until TCFC so can't blame him for trying to ride that cash cow as long as he could.

Regardless I do think Ted was strong enough to be a lead on his own show but the supporting cast especially that last season was a bit weak. Losing both the girls was a big loss even if their roles were diminished a bit by that point. TCFC always had strong guest stars such as Audrey Meadows, Ray Middleton, Hamilton Camp, Bill Dana, Selma Diamond, etc. Outside of one appearance by Meadows we didn't see any of that caliber of guest stars the final season of the show under the new format.

I recently learned that when Too Close for Comfort was going to be retooled to become The Ted Knight Show, the producers planned on dumping Nancy Dussault (Muriel). Originally, the producers wanted to make Ted's character (in this new "universe") a widower or divorcee, to open up potential comedic situations. Jim Bullock (Monroe) would however, stay on as his goofy sidekick.

However, Nancy Dussault still had a year left on her contract with DL Taffner. She refused to accept a (discounted) buy-out and threatened to sue them for breach of contract. Taffner didn't have "just let her sit home & do nothing" money, especially for a first-run syndicated program....so Nancy/Muriel stayed in the short-lived retooled show.