Must See Thursday-Could Things Have Been Different? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

nitcrt1 · 02-19-2006, 04:54 PM

I was doing an internet search and noticed that when "Night Court" was part of the original Must See TV Thursday night line-up, their season rank was terrific.

In the 84-85 season it was overall 17th
In the 85-86 season it was overall 1oth
In the 86-87 season it was overall 7th
In the 87-88 season it was overall 7th

*It was also nominated for an Emmy for Best Comedy Series three years straight.*

After the 87-88 season NBC moved it to Wednesdays:
In the 88-89 season it was overall 21st
In the 89-90 season it was overall 29th

I found no other data for the last two years, but remembered it finished somewhere in the 30's both seasons.

This made me wonder...what if NBC never took it from that coveted 9:30 slot? I've read that once "Night Court" was removed from that slot, NBC failed to find another show to replace it in that slot.

Would "Night Court" have been a different show if it was allowed to stay on Thursday nights? Would Reinhold Weege have stayed on if "Night Court" never moved from that slot? Would the writing have been better? Would Harry Anderson have finally won an Emmy award?

Here are my thoughts. I think "Night Court" would have been a different show if it was allowed to stay in its Thursday slot. I think Reinhold would have stayed on. But once the network started screwing around with the show, he took a powder and, in a way, I can't blame him. In any case, if "Night Court" kept that time slot, I think the writing would have still been stellar if not better (don't forget it would have had a reputation to uphold). If it stayed a ratings winner I think the writers would have been given more freedom. The only way to have known is if they had kept the show on Thursdays. I also think "Night Court" would have seen a tenth and final season which would have resulted in a fitting finish and over 200 episodes (It fell short by 7 episodes). I also could never figure out why NBC never moved "Night Court" back to Thursdays when the other shows they tried tanked. I know they were trying to "spread the wealth" by putting "Night Court" on Wednesday nights. ("Night Court" did win its time slot every time.) However, I guess the damage was done once they moved "Night Court" in the first place. There was no way to recover then.

What are your thoughts on this subject?

judgestone · 02-19-2006, 07:12 PM

I beleive that N.C should stay on Thursday night along with Cheer that is why the rating helped becasue of Cheer. For Wednesday the reason why that N.C moved to Wed is because of Seinfield.

Yes I believe that Harry and Markie should have won the award too.

ClassicTVGal · 02-20-2006, 01:02 AM

Well said NitCrt1.

McFly121 · 02-20-2006, 02:42 AM

Well, "Cosby" was the anchor for all those other Thursday night shows. Cheers, NC, and Family Ties were all ranking near 100 when Cosby brought their audience as the lead-in. Then NBC went and did an oddball thing, moving Family Ties to Sundays in 1987 (where it suffered), and Night Court to Fridays in 1988!!! I still remember reading a trade paper blurb that a Mr. Belvedere *rerun* beat a *new* Night Court on Friday, simply because no one knew NC had moved.

After the failure of Friday nights, for whatever inexplicable reason, they stuck it on Wednesdays were it did respectable, finishing in the 20s. But I'm sure that got Weege's ire, that a show which had zero ratings problems, was dumped to Fridays, then put on a day it wasn't before, being Wednesdays. And I can't honestly remember what replaced NC Thursdays at 9:30.

nitcrt1 · 02-20-2006, 09:37 AM

I think you may be incorrect. "Night Court" moved to Wednesdays after being removed from the 9:30 slot. It moved to Fridays in year eight (1990-1991 season.) I know because I had to tape it...I played in the marching band so I was missing it. On Fridays it didn't do well against the original T.G.I Friday line-up on ABC. Finally, NBC moved "Night Court" back to Wednesdays mid-season because what they had on Wednesday nights at nine wasn't working, so they put "Night Court" back in it the nine o' clock time slot. There was one point in season nine when NBC put an original episode on a Sunday night!!! What was that about? In any case NBC moved "Night Court" all over the place, but eventually fans found it. I think that also contributed to the poor quality of the show, because it seemed NBC didn't really care at that point.

judgestone · 02-20-2006, 01:26 PM

NBC should have thought of move N.C to Saturday night along with Golden Girls too before Golden Girls or after Golden Girls they should leave those two alone both time slot & on Saturday it could helped the rating after all Golden Girls and N.C ended 1992 it just a thought.Golden Girls has a good rating for NBC and they beat Cosby show. My thought they should have move to Saturday along with Golden Girls or whatever Golden Girls time slot well you know what I mean .

I think that ABC has something to do with it. Roseanne at that 1987 or 1988 (I dont like Roseanne).
then Home Improvement came long in 1991 maybe that NBC rating slipping at that time.

judgestone · 02-20-2006, 01:53 PM

One more thing before I go for CBS- Murder She Wrote on Sunday night(I watch it on Sunday night too no offense everyone) that is why Family Ties was slipping. I think NBC is trying beat ABC and CBS. That must be the reason they shuffle around.

Those are my scheuled that NBC should do on Thursday Night or Saturday night central time. How would the rest of you make up your own schedule for NBC?

1) Night Court 7pm to 730
2) Golden Girls 730 to 8pm
3) Cheer 8pm to 830
4) Family Ties 830 to 9pm
5) Saturday Night live 9-10pm if all of those show on Saturday Night

nitcrt1 · 02-20-2006, 09:21 PM

"Night Court" would not have fared well on Saturday nights because of the demographics at the time. "The Golden Girls" did well due to the older demographic home on a weekend. "Night Court" appealed more to a younger demographic.

I'm just talking statistically. So if anyone gets angered by my above statement, I apologize. I'm just thinking like a network executive here.

McFly121 · 02-21-2006, 04:01 PM

Ah, I think what I was remembering was that it had aired on a couple Friday nights in like '88 as well as Wednesday, but when it didn't make a dent it was just left on Wednesday. Because I do remember the report about Mr. Belvedere beating it, and Mr. B.'s last ep was June 1990. So by the time it was moved to Fridays Mr. B. was gone.

But, Nitcrt1, I did go ahead and look it up and you were correct, because I was stunned to see it actually aired for four months on Friday (Sept.90-Jan.91), before being moved back to Wednesday.

nitcrt1 · 02-21-2006, 05:57 PM

You were right too. I found a website that had it's schedule. It wasn't completely accurate but it did have "Night Court" airing during a very brief time in 88' then it was moved to Thurdays then back to Wednesdays again. Very confusing.

As for it airing Friday nights when I had to tape it, that was a nightmare. It turns out that whatever they put on Wednesday nights at 9:00 in place of "Night Court" didn't do well at all. So, NBC ended up putting "Night Court" back on Wednesdays after "Unsloved Mysteries." I don't know what show was put in place of "Night Court" during those few months. I think whatever it was got yanked from the schedule and cancelled. Of course, then we had the "Seinfeld" incident. "Night Court" was its lead in, but Jerry Seinfled whined in the USA Today about what a terrible lead in it was and that "Night Court" was old. Jerry wanted the 9:00 slot, because he felt "Night Court" pulled his ratings down. Well, NBC gave Jerry his way...and it backfired. "Night Court" kept its audience in their new 9:30 slot after "Seinfeld" and "Seinfeld" lost viewers. NBC then ended up placing "Night Court" back in the 9:00 slot. After reading Jerry's rant about "Night Court", I agreed that the show aged. However, his words were just down right nasty and very classless to say in a well-known newspaper. He should have kept his comments to himself no matter how he felt. To vent in public was very unprofessional to me. I was so appalled after reading that article, that I vowed that day to NEVER watch an episode of "Seinfeld" ever again. To this day, I still have never watched an episode. I remember when that article came out, several "Night Court" cast members were on late night talk shows. They were asked what their thoughts were on the comments made by Jerry. They all handled the situation with class and didn't even bother to dignify his comments with a reply. This all happened in "Night Court's" eighth season. Not long after that "Night Court" got renewed for a ninth season and the comment from Chriss Cluess and Stu Kriesman was, "Say what you will about the show, but we're still here." That was the smartest thing those two ever said or did. Anyway, I boycott anything any "Seinfeld" cast member is in now...especially Jerry.

It may seem silly, but it gives me a piece of mind not to follow a pompous jerk!

McFly121 · 02-22-2006, 04:33 PM

Well, I don't follow Seinfeld as well, simply because I'm one of the few people who just doesn't find him funny

. So I'm doing my part as well, lol.

But we know how underrated and "black sheep" NC was on the old Thursday NBC line-up. Cosby and Family Ties were family shows, Cheers was a mainstream sitcom for adults, but NC had that slapsticky/raunch factor that made people write it off. Despite Larroquette's four consecutive Emmys, which shows the quality was there.

02-19-2006, 04:54 PM	#1
nitcrt1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 22, 2003 Posts: 482	Must See Thursday-Could Things Have Been Different? I was doing an internet search and noticed that when "Night Court" was part of the original Must See TV Thursday night line-up, their season rank was terrific. In the 84-85 season it was overall 17th In the 85-86 season it was overall 1oth In the 86-87 season it was overall 7th In the 87-88 season it was overall 7th It was also nominated for an Emmy for Best Comedy Series three years straight. After the 87-88 season NBC moved it to Wednesdays: In the 88-89 season it was overall 21st In the 89-90 season it was overall 29th I found no other data for the last two years, but remembered it finished somewhere in the 30's both seasons. This made me wonder...what if NBC never took it from that coveted 9:30 slot? I've read that once "Night Court" was removed from that slot, NBC failed to find another show to replace it in that slot. Would "Night Court" have been a different show if it was allowed to stay on Thursday nights? Would Reinhold Weege have stayed on if "Night Court" never moved from that slot? Would the writing have been better? Would Harry Anderson have finally won an Emmy award? Here are my thoughts. I think "Night Court" would have been a different show if it was allowed to stay in its Thursday slot. I think Reinhold would have stayed on. But once the network started screwing around with the show, he took a powder and, in a way, I can't blame him. In any case, if "Night Court" kept that time slot, I think the writing would have still been stellar if not better (don't forget it would have had a reputation to uphold). If it stayed a ratings winner I think the writers would have been given more freedom. The only way to have known is if they had kept the show on Thursdays. I also think "Night Court" would have seen a tenth and final season which would have resulted in a fitting finish and over 200 episodes (It fell short by 7 episodes). I also could never figure out why NBC never moved "Night Court" back to Thursdays when the other shows they tried tanked. I know they were trying to "spread the wealth" by putting "Night Court" on Wednesday nights. ("Night Court" did win its time slot every time.) However, I guess the damage was done once they moved "Night Court" in the first place. There was no way to recover then. What are your thoughts on this subject?
	__________________ House to Cuddy: "Jail. You'd like that. No more naughty schoolgirl. (turning to Vogler) Conjugal visit-that's her new fantasy." -Mob Rules-

02-19-2006, 07:12 PM	#2
judgestone HELLO Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 19, 2005 Location: MINNESOTA Posts: 135	I beleive that N.C should stay on Thursday night along with Cheer that is why the rating helped becasue of Cheer. For Wednesday the reason why that N.C moved to Wed is because of Seinfield. Yes I believe that Harry and Markie should have won the award too.
	__________________ Harry: Like what? I feel like that Im on Dallas and Im dreaming all of this!!!!! Harry: I guess magic marker is.... Christine: Better put the cap back on, sir Harry: yeah I hate to see it dried out

02-20-2006, 02:42 AM	#4
McFly121 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 18, 2004 Location: calif Posts: 812	Well, "Cosby" was the anchor for all those other Thursday night shows. Cheers, NC, and Family Ties were all ranking near 100 when Cosby brought their audience as the lead-in. Then NBC went and did an oddball thing, moving Family Ties to Sundays in 1987 (where it suffered), and Night Court to Fridays in 1988!!! I still remember reading a trade paper blurb that a Mr. Belvedere rerun beat a new Night Court on Friday, simply because no one knew NC had moved. After the failure of Friday nights, for whatever inexplicable reason, they stuck it on Wednesdays were it did respectable, finishing in the 20s. But I'm sure that got Weege's ire, that a show which had zero ratings problems, was dumped to Fridays, then put on a day it wasn't before, being Wednesdays. And I can't honestly remember what replaced NC Thursdays at 9:30.
	__________________ "That was Bob's donut!"

02-20-2006, 01:02 AM	#3
ClassicTVGal Traveler Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 26, 2004 Posts: 3,457	Well said NitCrt1.

02-20-2006, 09:37 AM	#5
nitcrt1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 22, 2003 Posts: 482	I think you may be incorrect. "Night Court" moved to Wednesdays after being removed from the 9:30 slot. It moved to Fridays in year eight (1990-1991 season.) I know because I had to tape it...I played in the marching band so I was missing it. On Fridays it didn't do well against the original T.G.I Friday line-up on ABC. Finally, NBC moved "Night Court" back to Wednesdays mid-season because what they had on Wednesday nights at nine wasn't working, so they put "Night Court" back in it the nine o' clock time slot. There was one point in season nine when NBC put an original episode on a Sunday night!!! What was that about? In any case NBC moved "Night Court" all over the place, but eventually fans found it. I think that also contributed to the poor quality of the show, because it seemed NBC didn't really care at that point.

02-20-2006, 01:26 PM	#6
judgestone HELLO Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 19, 2005 Location: MINNESOTA Posts: 135	NBC should have thought of move N.C to Saturday night along with Golden Girls too before Golden Girls or after Golden Girls they should leave those two alone both time slot & on Saturday it could helped the rating after all Golden Girls and N.C ended 1992 it just a thought.Golden Girls has a good rating for NBC and they beat Cosby show. My thought they should have move to Saturday along with Golden Girls or whatever Golden Girls time slot well you know what I mean . I think that ABC has something to do with it. Roseanne at that 1987 or 1988 (I dont like Roseanne). then Home Improvement came long in 1991 maybe that NBC rating slipping at that time.

02-20-2006, 01:53 PM	#7
judgestone HELLO Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 19, 2005 Location: MINNESOTA Posts: 135	One more thing before I go for CBS- Murder She Wrote on Sunday night(I watch it on Sunday night too no offense everyone) that is why Family Ties was slipping. I think NBC is trying beat ABC and CBS. That must be the reason they shuffle around. Those are my scheuled that NBC should do on Thursday Night or Saturday night central time. How would the rest of you make up your own schedule for NBC? 1) Night Court 7pm to 730 2) Golden Girls 730 to 8pm 3) Cheer 8pm to 830 4) Family Ties 830 to 9pm 5) Saturday Night live 9-10pm if all of those show on Saturday Night

02-20-2006, 09:21 PM	#8
nitcrt1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 22, 2003 Posts: 482	"Night Court" would not have fared well on Saturday nights because of the demographics at the time. "The Golden Girls" did well due to the older demographic home on a weekend. "Night Court" appealed more to a younger demographic. I'm just talking statistically. So if anyone gets angered by my above statement, I apologize. I'm just thinking like a network executive here.

02-21-2006, 04:01 PM	#9
McFly121 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 18, 2004 Location: calif Posts: 812	Ah, I think what I was remembering was that it had aired on a couple Friday nights in like '88 as well as Wednesday, but when it didn't make a dent it was just left on Wednesday. Because I do remember the report about Mr. Belvedere beating it, and Mr. B.'s last ep was June 1990. So by the time it was moved to Fridays Mr. B. was gone. But, Nitcrt1, I did go ahead and look it up and you were correct, because I was stunned to see it actually aired for four months on Friday (Sept.90-Jan.91), before being moved back to Wednesday.

02-21-2006, 05:57 PM	#10
nitcrt1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 22, 2003 Posts: 482	You were right too. I found a website that had it's schedule. It wasn't completely accurate but it did have "Night Court" airing during a very brief time in 88' then it was moved to Thurdays then back to Wednesdays again. Very confusing. As for it airing Friday nights when I had to tape it, that was a nightmare. It turns out that whatever they put on Wednesday nights at 9:00 in place of "Night Court" didn't do well at all. So, NBC ended up putting "Night Court" back on Wednesdays after "Unsloved Mysteries." I don't know what show was put in place of "Night Court" during those few months. I think whatever it was got yanked from the schedule and cancelled. Of course, then we had the "Seinfeld" incident. "Night Court" was its lead in, but Jerry Seinfled whined in the USA Today about what a terrible lead in it was and that "Night Court" was old. Jerry wanted the 9:00 slot, because he felt "Night Court" pulled his ratings down. Well, NBC gave Jerry his way...and it backfired. "Night Court" kept its audience in their new 9:30 slot after "Seinfeld" and "Seinfeld" lost viewers. NBC then ended up placing "Night Court" back in the 9:00 slot. After reading Jerry's rant about "Night Court", I agreed that the show aged. However, his words were just down right nasty and very classless to say in a well-known newspaper. He should have kept his comments to himself no matter how he felt. To vent in public was very unprofessional to me. I was so appalled after reading that article, that I vowed that day to NEVER watch an episode of "Seinfeld" ever again. To this day, I still have never watched an episode. I remember when that article came out, several "Night Court" cast members were on late night talk shows. They were asked what their thoughts were on the comments made by Jerry. They all handled the situation with class and didn't even bother to dignify his comments with a reply. This all happened in "Night Court's" eighth season. Not long after that "Night Court" got renewed for a ninth season and the comment from Chriss Cluess and Stu Kriesman was, "Say what you will about the show, but we're still here." That was the smartest thing those two ever said or did. Anyway, I boycott anything any "Seinfeld" cast member is in now...especially Jerry. It may seem silly, but it gives me a piece of mind not to follow a pompous jerk!

02-22-2006, 04:33 PM	#11
McFly121 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 18, 2004 Location: calif Posts: 812	Well, I don't follow Seinfeld as well, simply because I'm one of the few people who just doesn't find him funny . So I'm doing my part as well, lol. But we know how underrated and "black sheep" NC was on the old Thursday NBC line-up. Cosby and Family Ties were family shows, Cheers was a mainstream sitcom for adults, but NC had that slapsticky/raunch factor that made people write it off. Despite Larroquette's four consecutive Emmys, which shows the quality was there.