Midseason classics

[Dean Winchester]

one thing I've noticed especially with the advent of TV-DVD is just how many huge shows started out as midseason replacements, probably even more midseason replacement shows on DVD than ones who started in September.

offhand some popular midseason shows, some are on DVD, some aren't.

Seinfeld
Happy Days
Laverne And Shirley
Three's Company
The Jeffersons
All In The Family
Good Times
Diff'rent Strokes (a grey area... season 1 was 24 episodes, but it actually did replace a show on the schedule that was cancelled after a month)
Ellen
Eight Is Enough
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Cagney And Lacey
The Simpsons
Married With Children
Malcolm In The Middle
Just Shoot Me
America's Funniest Home Videos
Futurama
Family Guy
Coach
The Wonder Years
Valerie/The Hogan Family
One Day At A Time (assuming it was midseason as it premiered in December 1975)
Night Court
Fame
The A-Team
Duke Of Hazzard
Quantum Leap

feel free to add

[Adamantium]

NewsRadio - It debuted March 21, 1995. Only 7 episodes in it's first season. It would have four full seasons follwing the first.

[jamesanthony]

Very true that many shows that started in midyear became bigger hits than shows that started in the fall. Batman was one of the first shows to explode in popularity upon debuting in Jan 1966. I believe that original Dragnet started in early 1952 and Mr Ed started in early 1961, but I don't think that the networks seriously gave thought to the so-called "second season" until Batman. Before that low rated shows could stay on for a whole season uninterrupted.

Going by season I'll add a few more that I remember:

1966- Daktari- ran 4 seasons and hit the top ten at one point
1967- a new version of Dragnet- ran 4 seasons
1968- It Takes A Thief- ran 3 seasons
1970- Nanny and the Professor- this one began in early 70 and ended at the end of 1971 so it actually ran through 3 seasons (what other shows began and ended in mid year?)
1971- Night Gallery and Alias Smith and Jones both ran 3 seasons
1971- Sonny and Cher- started in summer 1971 for a brief run, then came back as a regular show in Dec and ran until 1974
1972- Sanford and Son- 6 seasons and was an immediate top 10 hit
1973- Barnaby Jones- ran 8 seasons
1974- Six Million Dollar Man- 5 seasons
1975- Baney Miller- 8 seasons
1976- Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman- I think the first ran 3 seasons and the other ran for 4
1978- Dallas- ran 14 seasons
1979- Facts of Life- like Sonny and Cher started in the summer came back in early 80 I think and ran 9 years total
1979- Knots Landing- like it's parent show ran 14 seasons
1981- Hill St Blues- ran 7 seasons- I think I read that this was supposed to have started in the fall but was held back for some reason until Jan 1981
1984- Kate and Allie- ran 6 seasons and was in the top ten in its first season
1986- Perfect Strangers- 8 seasons
1988- China Beach- 4 seasons
1988- In the Heat of the Night- 7 seasons and some tv movies
Wings and Coach fall in here somewhere either 88 or 89 (forgot which)
1990- Blossom- 6 seasons

This is a very long list and I'm tired ... someone post some more. I think in more recent years you'll see that just as many hit shows started in mid year as in the official fall premiere period including WB, UPN and Fox shows since those networks all began in the middle of TV seasons.

[Dean Winchester]

Originally posted by jamesanthony
1970- Nanny and the Professor- this one began in early 70 and ended at the end of 1971 so it actually ran through 3 seasons (what other shows began and ended in mid year?)

this also happened with Providence if I recall correctly. It premiered in early 1999 and ended at the end of 2002 or beginning of 2003, midway into the season.

[JT]

Originally posted by jamesanthony
Very true that many shows that started in midyear became bigger hits than shows that started in the fall. Batman was one of the first shows to explode in popularity upon debuting in Jan 1966. I believe that original Dragnet started in early 1952 and Mr Ed started in early 1961, but I don't think that the networks seriously gave thought to the so-called "second season" until Batman. Before that low rated shows could stay on for a whole season uninterrupted.

Going by season I'll add a few more that I remember:

1966- Daktari- ran 4 seasons and hit the top ten at one point
1967- a new version of Dragnet- ran 4 seasons
1968- It Takes A Thief- ran 3 seasons
1970- Nanny and the Professor- this one began in early 70 and ended at the end of 1971 so it actually ran through 3 seasons (what other shows began and ended in mid year?)
1971- Night Gallery and Alias Smith and Jones both ran 3 seasons
1971- Sonny and Cher- started in summer 1971 for a brief run, then came back as a regular show in Dec and ran until 1974
1972- Sanford and Son- 6 seasons and was an immediate top 10 hit
1973- Barnaby Jones- ran 8 seasons
1974- Six Million Dollar Man- 5 seasons
1975- Baney Miller- 8 seasons
1976- Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman- I think the first ran 3 seasons and the other ran for 4
1978- Dallas- ran 14 seasons
1979- Facts of Life- like Sonny and Cher started in the summer came back in early 80 I think and ran 9 years total
1979- Knots Landing- like it's parent show ran 14 seasons
1981- Hill St Blues- ran 7 seasons- I think I read that this was supposed to have started in the fall but was held back for some reason until Jan 1981
1984- Kate and Allie- ran 6 seasons and was in the top ten in its first season
1986- Perfect Strangers- 8 seasons
1988- China Beach- 4 seasons
1988- In the Heat of the Night- 7 seasons and some tv movies
Wings and Coach fall in here somewhere either 88 or 89 (forgot which)
1990- Blossom- 6 seasons

This is a very long list and I'm tired ... someone post some more. I think in more recent years you'll see that just as many hit shows started in mid year as in the official fall premiere period including WB, UPN and Fox shows since those networks all began in the middle of TV seasons.

I never understood if Dallas's April 1978 run should be considered a season or not. It was only a five-part mini series, and most of the show's fans just refer to it as 'the mini series,' but when it came out on DVD this year, it was released as the first and second seasons, when in actuality, it was just the mini-series and the real first season (1978-1979). Confusing, indeed.

"The Jeffersons" premiered in mid-season 1975. I believe "Wings" premiered in mid-season 1990, as well. "Dynasty" came around in January 1981 (the 18th, to be exact), as did "Flamingo Road" (the 6th, for this one).

[tvfan0101]

Some of the shows listed in this thread are not actually mid-season replacements. NBC, for example, aired a four-episode test run of Seinfeld on Thursday's at 9:30PM in May/June of 1990, in the timeslot occupied by Grand. Grand had had its own test run in January of 1990 and returned in July, back in its timeslot. Seinfeld did not become a full-fledged series until January of 1991, when it was shuffled into the NBC schedule on Wednesday's at 9:30. So it was, I suppose, a bit of a mid-season replacement.

Married... With Children cannot really be called a mid-season replacement either, because what did it replace? FOX began airing in earnest on Sundays in April of 1987 and Married... With Children was one of the first shows. So it is a special case.

Buffy, The Vampire Slayer is another special case and, while I agree that it is a mid-season replacement (as it premiered in March of 1997 in Savannah's Monday timeslot), it was actually produced in 1996, apparently intended for a 1996 premiere. This is clearly evident in one of the first episodes, where a banner reads 1996.

So, basically what I am saying is that while most mid-season replacements are actually mid-season replacements, some are simply test runs, some are new network premieres, and others are just something else...

EDIT: I would consider Dallas another one of those special cases. Its original run could be called both a miniseries, a limited run series or even a test run.

Television is so confusing.

[barwars]

Wow, almost every single one of Norman Lear's shows is a midseason-replacement.

In recent years, midseason replacement spells out "short lived series"

[spunkygirl]

Wings debuted in April of 1990


Actually Dallas only ran 13 seasons, and Knots Landing 14

Originally posted by jamesanthony
Very true that many shows that started in midyear became bigger hits than shows that started in the fall. Batman was one of the first shows to explode in popularity upon debuting in Jan 1966. I believe that original Dragnet started in early 1952 and Mr Ed started in early 1961, but I don't think that the networks seriously gave thought to the so-called "second season" until Batman. Before that low rated shows could stay on for a whole season uninterrupted.

Going by season I'll add a few more that I remember:

1966- Daktari- ran 4 seasons and hit the top ten at one point
1967- a new version of Dragnet- ran 4 seasons
1968- It Takes A Thief- ran 3 seasons
1970- Nanny and the Professor- this one began in early 70 and ended at the end of 1971 so it actually ran through 3 seasons (what other shows began and ended in mid year?)
1971- Night Gallery and Alias Smith and Jones both ran 3 seasons
1971- Sonny and Cher- started in summer 1971 for a brief run, then came back as a regular show in Dec and ran until 1974
1972- Sanford and Son- 6 seasons and was an immediate top 10 hit
1973- Barnaby Jones- ran 8 seasons
1974- Six Million Dollar Man- 5 seasons
1975- Baney Miller- 8 seasons
1976- Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman- I think the first ran 3 seasons and the other ran for 4
1978- Dallas- ran 14 seasons
1979- Facts of Life- like Sonny and Cher started in the summer came back in early 80 I think and ran 9 years total
1979- Knots Landing- like it's parent show ran 14 seasons
1981- Hill St Blues- ran 7 seasons- I think I read that this was supposed to have started in the fall but was held back for some reason until Jan 1981
1984- Kate and Allie- ran 6 seasons and was in the top ten in its first season
1986- Perfect Strangers- 8 seasons
1988- China Beach- 4 seasons
1988- In the Heat of the Night- 7 seasons and some tv movies
Wings and Coach fall in here somewhere either 88 or 89 (forgot which)
1990- Blossom- 6 seasons

This is a very long list and I'm tired ... someone post some more. I think in more recent years you'll see that just as many hit shows started in mid year as in the official fall premiere period including WB, UPN and Fox shows since those networks all began in the middle of TV seasons.

[USTVFanFromUK]

Originally posted by Angela Micelli
Wings debuted in April of 1990


Actually Dallas only ran 13 seasons, and Knots Landing 14

According to tvtome both Dallas and Knots Landing ran for 14 seasons. Very impressive runs, not many shows run for 8 seasons let alone 14.

[JT]

As a matter of fact, I think the April 1978 episodes of "Dallas" were indeed intended as a test run. I remember watching a special on it where Larry Hagman said that five episodes would be great, but he didn't expect any more after that, then he said that maybe it'd last a season or two, and then by season three, he was thinking that the show would be a hit.

The miniseries/test run/"first season" aired on Sundays at 10PM ET from April 2, 1978 to April 30, 1978. The show returned on September 23 on Saturdays at 10. After less than a month there (killed by ABC's "Fantasy Island," I believe), it moved back to the Sunday slot and stayed there until January 1979, where it moved to Fridays at 10. It stayed there (and became a megahit) until "Falcon Crest" premiered on December 12, 1981. Big D moved up to 9PM ET with FC following, and CBS claimed Friday nights in the ratings. The block remained like that until FC was cancelled in May of 1990. Big D was cancelled a year later. D's spin-off "Knots Landing" ran longer than the other three megasoaps (D, FC and "Dynasty), with 13 1/2 seasons (12/79 - 5/93). KL had 344 eps, but D made 357. Even without the 5-ep run in 4/78, D had 352, still beating KL. So when it comes to terms of seasons, KL technically lasted longer, but with episodes, D was longer. Not to mention that D had two TVmovie reunions ("JR Returns" in 1996 and "The War of the Ewings" in 1998) and KL had a two-part miniseries reunion ("Back to the Cul-De-Sac" in 1997).

Yes, my friends, I have all that information memorized (weird isn't it?).

[tvfan0101]

Heck, I am impressed!

The reason I think the first five episodes of Dallas was more of a test run or whatnot rather than a miniseries is because it aired weekly, not daily, as most miniseries seem to do. To be honest, the line between miniseries and limited run series is vague. For example, both The 4400 and Kingdom Hospital would, in my mind, be limited run shows, but others consider The 4400 to be a limited run series and Kingdom Hospital a miniseries, despite the fact that both of them aired weekly.

"The Winds of War," "North and South" and "Roots" were all miniseries. Although, really, "Roots" pretty much changed the way miniseries were broadcast, as it was the first miniseries to be broadcast over consecutive days.

An interesting sidenote, the era of massive miniseries really did not last long, only about a decade. It started with "Roots" and ended with "War and Remembrance," the sequel miniseries to "The Winds of War," which aired to a staggering loss in 1988. "North and South" was a huge success in 1985 and its sequel "North and South Book II" was well recieved in 1986. The third miniseries "North and South Book III: Heaven and Hell" hardly deserves a mention (it aired in 1994, by the way).

That reminds me... I need to get the complete "North and South" DVD sometime, so I can finally see Book II.

[JT]

Yeah, miniseries were HUGE in the late 70s, early 80s. Some of the big ones I've seen are Hollywood Wives (1985, very soapy starring Candice Bergen, Suzanne Somers, Angie Dickinson, Robert Stack, among others), Bare Essence (1982, another soapy one with Genie Francis, Linda Evans and Donna Mills), and Sins (1986 [I think], and yet another soapy one, with Joan Collins).

And believe it or not, I have never in my life seen Roots. I really want to watch it though.

[spunkygirl]

Originally posted by USTVFanFromUK
According to tvtome both Dallas and Knots Landing ran for 14 seasons. Very impressive runs, not many shows run for 8 seasons let alone 14.

If you count the mini series as a season then yes Dallas ran 14 years, but otherwise it was 13 if you don't count the miniseries

[barwars]

Im going with the DVDS.... Dallas had 14 seasons.
JR is the ultimate *******.

[spunkygirl]

Originally posted by barwars
Im going with the DVDS.... Dallas had 14 seasons.
JR is the ultimate *******.

Yep, but we still love to hate him

You like Dallas I wasn't sure you would since it's a soap