TDVDS was "Unfinished"

[SawgrassSteve]

I just heard a comment from Suzanne Sommers. She was asked why she thought people were still interestred in her and "Three's Company" even after so many years of being off the air. She said it's because the show was unfinished. She said that when something good goes unfinished, it makes people want more of it.
I guess that's the case with TDVDS. It stopped production with ratings other shows would love to achieve. People just never got enough of the show, because it never seemed to actually end.
Just a thought.
Happy Birthday, Christina!

Steve

[ScottD]

I agree! As much as I would love for the show to have continued, I also think it's good that they ended it when they did and while it was still as good as ever. It does leave you wanting more. A lot of shows just stay on the air too long. I think that 8- 10 years is just too long especially for a sitcom. I think that when they get beyond 5 years that they kind of just start to repeat themselves and get a little stale. One of my other favorites is Bewitched, which ran for 8 seasons. That show just started recycling a lot of the scripts that were done in the first four seasons of the show and it definitely didn't go out on top. Not to mention the infamous Darrin switch! Anyway, I think people also tend to not remember a show as well when it goes on for too long. Roseanne is a good example of this too. So as much as I'd love to be greedy and have even more episodes of TDVDS, I think it's so admirable that they ended it when they did and we basically have five seasons of perfection!

[Lolac]

I agree. The fact that some of my favorite episodes of TDVDS are in Seasons 4 and 5 attests to me the fact that this show never got stale, ever. I am truly hoping my season 4 set comes today. I want to see "Never Bathe on Saturday." One of my favorite lines is after the first time Rob tries to bust the door down, hurts his shoulder and Laura yells from the bathtub, "Did you hit it yet?" I'm furioulsy working to get my work done today so I can sit and watch if it comes.

Lolac

[Petrie Malone]

Originally posted by Lolac
I agree. The fact that some of my favorite episodes of TDVDS are in Seasons 4 and 5 attests to me the fact that this show never got stale, ever.

I agree 100%! You couldn't have said it better! There was an article in USA Today a while ago called "10 Ways to Stack Up Sitcom Sucess." The article selected 10 TV sitcoms and picked a "rule" that could be learned from them. I posted this article under another thread a few months ago, but I'll post it again anyway...



"10 Ways to Stack Up Sitcom Sucess"

Can't anyone around here put a sitcom together anymore?

Every year since the 1994 debut of Friends, the last of the true blockbuster sitcoms, the networks have said that the next big sitcom hit was just a season away. Well, here we are eight seasons later, and the only thing that has changed about TV's run of sitcom futility is the excuse. When sitcoms dominated the schedule, we were told there were too many shows, and they were diluting the audience and the talent pool. Now that sitcoms are in shorter supply, we're told there aren't enough shows or time slots, so writers aren't given a chance to develop their talents.

While we wait for those talents to appear, we're left with a depressing mix of quick flops and aging favorites. And in another year, we won't even have Friends, which has been used to launch so many losers that people now routinely skip the post-Friends show (even a good one like Scrubs).

How far has the sitcom fallen? In 1998, at the end of Seinfeld's final season, six sitcoms made it into the top 10. This season, only two have reached that level, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond, each of which is nearer the end of its run than the beginning.

The only time that sitcoms have done worse in the past 20 years was in 1983, when Kate & Allie was the only comedy to crack the top 10. Then, a year later, The Cosby Show revived the genre. Ah, yes, Cosby. That's the Hollywood Holy Grail -- a super-sized hit like Cosby that can spark another sitcom cycle. But how to do it, when the audience has splintered, the competition has increased, the best creative talents seem to be drawn to dramas, and the water-cooler buzz centers on reality?

The answer, perhaps, is a return to basics. Obviously, creating a hit sitcom is not as simple as following a few set rules; if it were, TV would be all I Love Lucy and no Hidden Hills. But looking at this season's dismal output, it does seem that networks and writers have lost sight of the essentials, the building blocks of a good sitcom.

Know when to leave: The Dick Van Dyke Show
(CBS, 1961-66; highest rank, No. 3)

Admittedly, most shows should be so lucky as to be saddled with excess longevity. And yes, Van Dyke's decision to leave after only five seasons probably was precipitous. The ratings had declined, not the quality.

In the big scheme of things, though, Van Dyke was right. Hanging on past your natural expiration date is a problem, not just for a show itself, but for the genre. When sitcoms run on past their power to entertain, they tie up time slots, actors, writers and money that could be put to better use.

But what's too long? Friends is still the most popular sitcom on television, and still one of its best. The producers and stars, however, have wisely realized that the time has come to wrap up the story, before viewers decide their TV friends have overstayed their welcome. It's a shame the people at Frasier -- once a far better show than Friends, and now, sadly, far worse -- haven't come to the same conclusion.

Still, when it comes to long, sad goodbyes, no show matches Drew Carey, which is no longer popular and no longer funny. Yet it runs on, because ABC made an incredibly bad deal with the show's studio. Carey is capable of much better work, but he'll never do it as long as he's getting paid to do this.



Hope you found that enlightening,
Kurt

[ScottD]

Thanks for that article Kurt--it's so true!

[Burford Lives!!]

I understand what everyone is saying, but I'm not sure I agree, for the exact reasons stated above. Some of the best episodes WERE in Season 4 and 5, and I don't believe TDVDS was ready to jump the shark yet, and I believe that at least Season 6 would have been very good, and it disappoints me that we won't have a Season 6 to look forward to.

It reminds me of when a musician dies, and I think about all of the songs that were never written. I understand why DVD left when he did, but I believe there was at least one or two more good seasons left to be written. Thank goodness they had as many shows in a season as they did back then, so at least we get more shows than we would today.