Did the show ever jump the shark/could it have lasted longer?

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by jharison

Here's what I was told by the MFM representative: Mr Walston was not happy with the overall direction of the series, particularly in the 3rd season scripts, with the use of animals in the plots, (because it was cheaper than hiring actors) and the abandonment of the premise of the series, which was the Martian observing human nature as he tries to return home.
(He once said in a video interview, "They killed the goose that laid the Golden Egg. They didn't know how to keep the goose alive." and "We should have run for 8 years.") In another interview from the 1990s, contrasting "Martian", Mr. Walston expressed admiration for the way Star Trek had evolved, wishing MFM could have reflected such sci-fi ideas.
Therefore, because Mr. Walston wanted to leave the show, the producers then came up with the idea of his 11 year old nephew Andromeda showing up on earth, so that Ray Walston would not have to appear in every episode. If the series had been picked up for a 4th season, Uncle Martin and Andy would have returned to Mars, but Andy would have been sent back to live with Tim in order for him to learn about Earth and Uncle Martin would check in with him from time to time.
Needless to say CBS rejected that idea. The show was said to have been shopped to ABC, but without Mr. Walston's participation, that network was not interested either.

There certainly is a lot to unpack here, so first thanks for posting, although most of the information is available on the web I don't believe it has ever been presented in this forum. With that as a set up let's take a look:

"Mr Walston was not happy with the overall direction of the series, particularly in the 3rd season scripts, with the use of animals in the plots"

Uncle Martin's ability to communicate with animals was certainly a part of the first season (maybe a bit in the second season), I don't remember it being a significant part of season 3.

With respect to the abandonment of the original premise, that sounds like the observation made by Sherwood Schwartz (which I covered). I think the show was up against very formidable competition on NBC with the increasingly popular Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and on ABC Voyage To the Bottom of the Sea which started at 7pm. Martian was doing well against Voyage but the science fiction series was definitely siphoning some of the Martian audience particularly boys and younger adults, and that mixed with the female friendly Disney programming left My Favorite Martian in a very vulnerable position. Jack Chertok (the Producer) had to do something after the 14 position rating drop in season two so he introduced more elaborate gadgetry (chiefly the time machine), gave the Martian a few new powers. Of course it was gimmicky but he needed to fight fire with fire. I thought season 3 was the best so I don't agree with the premise that the scripts were bad, look at the first two episodes of season 3, funny, exciting a lot of energy, some of the best work done during the series run.

With respect to the shows that followed Martian's cancellation, see how well they did:

It's About Time 66-67 - one and done

Gentle Ben 67-69 - two seasons cancelled

To Rome With Love - Lasted one season in the 7:30 time slot, moved to Tuesday cancelled after half a season.

Hogan's Heroes 70-71 Final season

Martian did better than all those shows!

One final note Lassie the lead in series was also going down, dropping to number 17 in Martian's second season, and then to 27 in Martian's third season, and keep in mind it was not up against Disney.

I've seen the Andromeda discussion before. The key reason he was being added to the series had it gone to a 4th season was an attempt to bring back some of the younger viewers who had drifted away from the series. I thought it was a good idea, the show was up against an increasingly popular Disney show, fire with fire.

Walston wasn't going anywhere, don't kid yourself. He was a working actor, 52 years of age with a five year contract (pretty standard at the time), walking away from the series leaving the producer holding the bag would have been potential career suicide. Hollywood is a small town, old saying. I don't doubt he had issues, but my guess would be they were related to money, he considered Chertok a cheapskate.

One final note, I don't know what Walston was thinking comparing My Favorite Martian with Star Trek, to me that would be like comparing The Munsters with The Waltons.