Phenom TV Series

[James28]

Originally Posted by Mr. Television

Phenom was ranked #27 for that season. I guess it lost too much of FH's audience but it was one of my favorite shows. ABC was being too picky in developing some of their new sitcoms during this time.

Full House was ranked #16 for 1993-94 season, with a 14.2 rating; Phenom's rating was 13.2. I wouldn't call losing just one ratings point from its lead-in's audience "too much".

Phenom actually retained about 95% of the Full House lead-in throughout most of its first and only season. That fact makes the cancellation of Phenom inexplicable. Usually, a new sitcom would be cancelled after one season if it loses about one-third, or even one-fourth, of the lead-in audience from a network's top sitcom. I find it odd that a network has to cancel a new sitcom that retains 95% of the lead-in audience from a network's top sitcom. And I'm guessing that Phenom's critical reception must have been very bad.

Phenom was replaced in the Tuesday-at-8:30 timeslot the following season (1994-95) by Me and the Boys, which was cancelled after one season despite ranking in the top 30.

[GSU2004]

Originally Posted by James28

Full House was ranked #16 for 1993-94 season, with a 14.2 rating; Phenom's rating was 13.2. I wouldn't call losing just one ratings point from its lead-in's audience "too much".

Phenom actually retained about 95% of the Full House lead-in throughout most of its first and only season. That fact makes the cancellation of Phenom inexplicable. Usually, a new sitcom would be cancelled after one season if it loses about one-third, or even one-fourth, of the lead-in audience from a network's top sitcom. I find it odd that a network has to cancel a new sitcom that retains 95% of the lead-in audience from a network's top sitcom. And I'm guessing that Phenom's critical reception must have been very bad.

Phenom was replaced in the Tuesday-at-8:30 timeslot the following season (1994-95) by Me and the Boys, which was cancelled after one season despite ranking in the top 30.

ABC was trying to purge from the family friendly network to feature more adult oriented programs to better compete with NBC. Many shows did that skewed more family audiences were canned despite good ratings. The goal at the time was limiting the amount of such broadcasts to make way for other shows. ABC believed that TGIF and another hour somewhere else during the week was good enough for families. Steve Harvey told the LA Times that ABC officials called his show 'too kiddy' for the direction the network wanted to go in. There were talks of moving it to Friday nights but Miller Boyett owned that night and Me and the Boys like Phenom were produced by ABC Productions. It was some weird calls being made on their schedules around that time.

[Wildchats]

It's the only show I recall that deserved a renewal. It could have stayed on ABC for a few seasons. I used to watch it all the time because it was on the same night as Full House, I believe.

It could have been a hit and lasted at least until 99/00.

[James28]

Originally Posted by GSU2004

There were talks of moving it to Friday nights but Miller Boyett owned that night and Me and the Boys like Phenom were produced by ABC Productions.

Actually, ABC Productions didn't produce Phenom. Phenom was produced by Gracie Films (who also produced The Simpsons on FOX-TV) and Columbia Pictures Television.

Also, there's this whole thing about William Devane (a former Knots Landing star) not receiving on-screen credit for Phenom despite being one of its main cast, which is strange.

It's because Mr. Devane wanted top billing after the producers wanted him billed second after Judith Light. Both the producers and ABC refused to move Devane's billing, believing that Judith Light having sole first billing would draw in more of the female 18-49 demographic that is attractive to advertisers and would bring back ABC viewers who had made Ms. Light's previous series, Who's the Boss?, a success. Mr. Devane ultimately decided that if he didn't get such a billing change, he would not get billed at all. I shouldn't have cared what particular demographic ABC was trying to attract at that time. There shouldn't have been any excuse for Mr. Devane being forced to go without any billing on Phenom, and I believe they should have went with the shared billing anyway.

What does anyone else think of a main-castmember's strange lack of billing on a TV series?

[TV Guy]

Judith Light had signed a development deal where she was entitled to top billing. Devane joined the series later in development and apparently decided that if he couldn’t have top billing, he wouldn’t be billed at all. Bizarre.

[ThomasE]

Bill Devane should have accepted billing AFTER Judith Light or towards the end of the opening cast credits with "and starring" and called it a day. I thought it was appropriate that Judith Light was billed first. She was one year done with Who's The Boss and she did have the development deal. While Bill Devane has finished Knots Landing earlier that year, he did not seem like he was the star to me. However, billing should have been 2nd or last with a "and starring" title above his name. That is my two cents.

[Charley Knox]

I remember the crazy older brother and girlfriend always stealing the show. It definitely deserved a 2nd season.

[TV Guy]

I agree with you, Thomas.

Some actors get really hung up on billing and use it as a measure of their success. I saw an interview with Sharon Gless where she talked about joining Cagney and Lacey. Tyne Daly was contractually entitled to top billing on that show, and she had it during the first season when Meg Foster played Cagney. Sharon said that she told Tyne that she was not wiling to take a step back in her career at that point and accept second billing. And the show’s future was precarious. So Tyne agreed to share top billing with her.

[jericho]

I've just started uploading another series Angela Goethals was in from 2002 called "Do Over". She plays the annoying older sister.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR--...ature=youtu.be

[TMC]

Originally Posted by James28

Actually, ABC Productions didn't produce Phenom. Phenom was produced by Gracie Films (who also produced The Simpsons on FOX-TV) and Columbia Pictures Television.

Also, there's this whole thing about William Devane (a former Knots Landing star) not receiving on-screen credit for Phenom despite being one of its main cast, which is strange.

It's because Mr. Devane wanted top billing after the producers wanted him billed second after Judith Light. Both the producers and ABC refused to move Devane's billing, believing that Judith Light having sole first billing would draw in more of the female 18-49 demographic that is attractive to advertisers and would bring back ABC viewers who had made Ms. Light's previous series, Who's the Boss?, a success. Mr. Devane ultimately decided that if he didn't get such a billing change, he would not get billed at all. I shouldn't have cared what particular demographic ABC was trying to attract at that time. There shouldn't have been any excuse for Mr. Devane being forced to go without any billing on Phenom, and I believe they should have went with the shared billing anyway.

What does anyone else think of a main-castmember's strange lack of billing on a TV series?

Without having the benefit of going back and watching Phenom, I personally don't get why William Devane was so hung up over being wanting to be first billed other than a simple ego thing. I even back then, assumed that Judith Light was a much bigger name than William Devane. I mean, she was the co-lead (along with Tony Danza) for Who's the Boss?, which enjoyed an eight year run on ABC not too long in the past.

Was William Devane in comparison, really the out and out "star" of Knots Landing? I mean, Donna Mills was arguably, the most notable cast member on that show, or the one who had the most impact since she was playing the show's resident antagonist. And Michelle Lee was I believe, the only person to appear in every single episode of Knots Landing (about 344 of them). So you can make an argument that she was the de facto "lead".

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by TMC

Without having the benefit of going back and watching Phenom, I personally don't get why William Devane was so hung up over being wanting to be first billed other than a simple ego thing. I even back then, assumed that Judith Light was a much bigger name than William Devane. I mean, she was the co-lead (along with Tony Danza) for Who's the Boss?, which enjoyed an eight year run on ABC not too long in the past.

Was William Devane in comparison, really the out and out "star" of Knots Landing? I mean, Donna Mills was arguably, the most notable cast member on that show, or the one who most impact playing the show's resident antagonist. And Michelle Lee was I believe, the only person to appear in every single episode of Knots Landing (about 344 of them). So you can make an argument that she was the de facto "lead".

He was big on KL. He was my favorite character.

[Mr. Television]

I don't know why they couldn't give him the and billing or special guest star. It worked for some other stars.

[icecream]

Originally Posted by GSU2004

ABC was trying to purge from the family friendly network to feature more adult oriented programs to better compete with NBC. Many shows did that skewed more family audiences were canned despite good ratings. The goal at the time was limiting the amount of such broadcasts to make way for other shows. ABC believed that TGIF and another hour somewhere else during the week was good enough for families. Steve Harvey told the LA Times that ABC officials called his show 'too kiddy' for the direction the network wanted to go in. There were talks of moving it to Friday nights but Miller Boyett owned that night and Me and the Boys like Phenom were produced by ABC Productions. It was some weird calls being made on their schedules around that time.

That is VERY ironic considering how filthy Family Feud has become since Steve Harvey took over as host. Really, with how much of a smash hit family friendly Home Improvement was airing at 9:00, ABC should have re-thought that strategy.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Charley Knox

I remember the crazy older brother and girlfriend always stealing the show. It definitely deserved a 2nd season.

What Went Wrong:

Phenom is an interesting case because there aren't many obvious reasons why it was cancelled after just one season. It was an expensive show to produce. It was reported to cost $850,000 an episode, second only among sitcoms behind top-rated and lead-out Roseanne at $900,000. A large reason for that was the salaries of top talent Judith Light and William Devane. The show also had some drama behind the scenes before it premiered. Devane wanted to have top billing or share top billing with Light but producers disagreed, believing giving Light top billing alone would appeal to their intended audience more. As a result, Devane refused to be billed at all and though he appears in the credits himself, his name does not.

Phenom was given one of the best slots on TV, between Full House and Roseanne on Tuesday nights. Reviews were mixed with critics generally praising Devane's performance while criticizing the banality of the rest of the show. It aired a full season in its prized timeslot but was cancelled at the end of the season. Usually when that happens, it's because it is losing too much of its lead-in but that wasn't the case here. It was holding onto 95% of the Full House audience. The creators were surprised by the cancellation, telling the LA Times it was "a complete mystery." There were reports that ABC wasn't happy with the show creatively but even then, it's surprising they didn't try it in another slot. ABC replaced it with a sitcom they owned, Me and the Boys, which was also a one and done show.

[darkrage6]

Anyone on here have the episode "Angela's Wild Ride?". It's the one episode that wasn't uploaded to CTV for whatever reason. I know one of the users on here(lasabia01)had it uploaded on their Youtube channel at one point back in 2008 in three parts, but unfortunately two of those parts have been copyright claimed by Sony(despite other episodes of this show being availible on Youtube with no issues)and the third part got privated. So i'm curious if anyone on here happens to have that particular episode(either through downloading it from Youtube and saving it or from elsewhere)?