TV Land- No more 80s? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

tvparadise · 03-09-2007, 02:32 PM

It seems like TV Land is making moves to remove all 80s and beyond shows from its schedule.

The contracts for 227 and Benson have been terminated in exchange for 60s shows.
Shows like Cheers, Night Court, Miami Vice, Highway to Heaven, and Wings have been taken off the line-up and their show pages have been removed from the website- making it look as if there are absolutely no plans for them to return. Highway to Heaven, Wings, and Night Court never really took off. Miami Vice formerly had a pretty good run on TNN/Spike. I don't know what happened with Cheers. It seemed to do quite well a few years ago, airing on TV Land, Nick at Nite, and Spike. I don't know if the ratings greatly dropped or if new acquisitions just outperformed it. It seems that with Cheers it got edged out of its time slots that generally fell between 11pm - 2am by newer shows and didn't really work anywhere else on the schedule so it just got knocked off all together.

The only 80s series still listed are Knight Rider, Simon & Simon, and The A-Team. The first 2 have hardly aired and seem to not perform as well as Miami Vice so I really don't know why they remain on the list. The A-Team seemed to be pretty successful so out of all 80s series it probably has the best chance of returning.

TV Land also removed "Classic 80s TV Moments" from its broadband player. If you click on it on the pull down menu it will just go to 70s clips. The above shows have also been removed from the theme songs page.

I guess the baby boomer research did not go in favor of 80s shows. Which to me is sad as there is really not a place to see many shows from this decade. It seems like they are kind of taking a step backwards and I don't ultimately see it working out. I do enjoy several 60s series, but like Oldies radio, within time, most of these shows will become to old to remain viable. It does not seem like TV Land is continuing with being a representation of classic television from all decades. I think TV Land is making some bad moves, I do however feel that Nick@Nite is making a good move with only focusing on family series.

catlover79 · 03-09-2007, 02:46 PM

Too bad they can't have more of an even mix of shows from the '50s-'80s. Time was, most of the '80s show reruns were on Nick At Nite.

TVFactFan · 03-09-2007, 02:50 PM

Saturdays should be Variety Show day on TV land and it would be all variety shows from the 60's and 70's all day on Saturday like it is for the westerns, 12pm to 8pm

clj2 · 03-09-2007, 04:47 PM

I sympathize with those that like the 80s shows...I like many of them myself, but they were really just out of place [Wings, Murphy Brown, Night Court, 227 especially], IMO. I'm personally glad that TV Land is going in the 50s-70s only direction, being a fan of those eras. I'd like to see a network catering to 50s-70s [TV Land] and a network for 70s-80s shows [ION seems to be the best bet for this]. TV Land's Switchboard list, which is usually a good indicator of what shows will join the line-up in the next two or so years, looks like they're not planning on acquiring any more 80s anytime soon, and I don't blame them personally.

ION Television has access to a good amount of 80s shows, like Silver Spoons, Perfect Strangers, Kate and Allie, The Wonder Years, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Amen, and I'm sure there are lots more. They're already showing Mama's Family and Growing Pains from the 80s. Hopefully they'll show them and stop airing things already on other networks, or, ultimately, expand their line-up.

omg65 · 03-10-2007, 03:17 PM

50's-70's direction?
Exactly what 50's shows do TV Land air?

catlover79 · 03-10-2007, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omg65

50's-70's direction?
Exactly what 50's shows do TV Land air?

They USED to air Leave It To Beaver, which debuted in 1957. I believe they also aired episodes of Ozzie & Harriet and The Donna Reed Show, but I might be wrong.

omg65 · 03-10-2007, 03:24 PM

You are right about Leave it to Beaver.
TV Land was founded on those 50's and 60's shows.Then they started airing the 80's stuff and lost their core audience.Brilliant.

BensonFan · 03-10-2007, 04:21 PM

Here's what I'm wondering: Did TV Land initially advertise themselves as being only a 50s & 60s station? Or was it just that 50s & 60s shows were what they began with? If it's the former, I can understand people being ticked when they brought in 70s and 80s shows, but if it's the latter then the criticisms are not really fair.

I don't personally watch a great deal of 80s shows myself, but I think TV Land definitely needs a better variety (showing the same show more than once a day isn't providing said variety), or, like some have already suggested, have two channels for the two different eras. That probably makes the most sense and maybe that was the purpose of N@N but even that station repeats shows too often.

clj2 · 03-10-2007, 04:23 PM

TV Land shows I Love Lucy and Leave it to Beaver, both 50s.

Dynomite · 03-10-2007, 04:29 PM

That's really sad! 90's shows aren't safe, either. I had gotten used to seeing Wings come on a half-hour after Happy Days. Now, since TV Land no longer airs either, maybe we should lobby for CBS Paramount to re-syndicate reruns of both.

Madness · 03-10-2007, 04:40 PM

The show which I feel should've never been removed from the weekday lineup is Cheers. That show has classic written all over it, 80's or not. And with 11 seasons, it really is more difficult to be rerun into the ground.

Makes no sense to not have this show airing on any of their networks.

bencasey · 03-11-2007, 03:56 AM

They really don't need to air anything from later than the 70s. There are already enough networks airing 80s shows, like Nick at Nite, Sleuth, the new Chiller Channel, TBS, etc. If it was up to me they wouldn't air 70s either, just 50s and 60s.

TVJunkie101 · 03-11-2007, 08:17 AM

I think our best hope for any 80s shows is going to be ION for comedies and Sleuth and Chiller for adventure/drama/crime shows, IMO.

clj2 · 03-11-2007, 08:52 AM

I bet you're right, TVJunkie. ION has a few 80s dramas, but who knows if they'll ever show them.

TVFactFan · 03-11-2007, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bencasey

They really don't need to air anything from later than the 70s. There are already enough networks airing 80s shows, like Nick at Nite, Sleuth, the new Chiller Channel, TBS, etc. If it was up to me they wouldn't air 70s either, just 50s and 60s.

If TV Land was like that I would request to my cable company that they replace it with the Discovery Channel 4-lol

03-09-2007, 02:32 PM	#1
tvparadise Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 18, 2003 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 299	TV Land- No more 80s? It seems like TV Land is making moves to remove all 80s and beyond shows from its schedule. The contracts for 227 and Benson have been terminated in exchange for 60s shows. Shows like Cheers, Night Court, Miami Vice, Highway to Heaven, and Wings have been taken off the line-up and their show pages have been removed from the website- making it look as if there are absolutely no plans for them to return. Highway to Heaven, Wings, and Night Court never really took off. Miami Vice formerly had a pretty good run on TNN/Spike. I don't know what happened with Cheers. It seemed to do quite well a few years ago, airing on TV Land, Nick at Nite, and Spike. I don't know if the ratings greatly dropped or if new acquisitions just outperformed it. It seems that with Cheers it got edged out of its time slots that generally fell between 11pm - 2am by newer shows and didn't really work anywhere else on the schedule so it just got knocked off all together. The only 80s series still listed are Knight Rider, Simon & Simon, and The A-Team. The first 2 have hardly aired and seem to not perform as well as Miami Vice so I really don't know why they remain on the list. The A-Team seemed to be pretty successful so out of all 80s series it probably has the best chance of returning. TV Land also removed "Classic 80s TV Moments" from its broadband player. If you click on it on the pull down menu it will just go to 70s clips. The above shows have also been removed from the theme songs page. I guess the baby boomer research did not go in favor of 80s shows. Which to me is sad as there is really not a place to see many shows from this decade. It seems like they are kind of taking a step backwards and I don't ultimately see it working out. I do enjoy several 60s series, but like Oldies radio, within time, most of these shows will become to old to remain viable. It does not seem like TV Land is continuing with being a representation of classic television from all decades. I think TV Land is making some bad moves, I do however feel that Nick@Nite is making a good move with only focusing on family series.

03-09-2007, 02:46 PM	#2
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,382	Too bad they can't have more of an even mix of shows from the '50s-'80s. Time was, most of the '80s show reruns were on Nick At Nite.
	__________________ "Jesus loves you and He approves this message." "I'm alive. I'm feeling good. I'm trying to live every moment as much as I can." - Valerie Harper, March 2013

03-09-2007, 04:47 PM	#4
clj2 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 16, 2005 Location: SC Posts: 3,501	I sympathize with those that like the 80s shows...I like many of them myself, but they were really just out of place [Wings, Murphy Brown, Night Court, 227 especially], IMO. I'm personally glad that TV Land is going in the 50s-70s only direction, being a fan of those eras. I'd like to see a network catering to 50s-70s [TV Land] and a network for 70s-80s shows [ION seems to be the best bet for this]. TV Land's Switchboard list, which is usually a good indicator of what shows will join the line-up in the next two or so years, looks like they're not planning on acquiring any more 80s anytime soon, and I don't blame them personally. ION Television has access to a good amount of 80s shows, like Silver Spoons, Perfect Strangers, Kate and Allie, The Wonder Years, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Amen, and I'm sure there are lots more. They're already showing Mama's Family and Growing Pains from the 80s. Hopefully they'll show them and stop airing things already on other networks, or, ultimately, expand their line-up.
	__________________ -Chris

03-10-2007, 04:21 PM	#8
BensonFan Board Psychologist Senior Member Join Date: Mar 16, 2004 Location: Chicago, IL USA Posts: 2,733	Here's what I'm wondering: Did TV Land initially advertise themselves as being only a 50s & 60s station? Or was it just that 50s & 60s shows were what they began with? If it's the former, I can understand people being ticked when they brought in 70s and 80s shows, but if it's the latter then the criticisms are not really fair. I don't personally watch a great deal of 80s shows myself, but I think TV Land definitely needs a better variety (showing the same show more than once a day isn't providing said variety), or, like some have already suggested, have two channels for the two different eras. That probably makes the most sense and maybe that was the purpose of N@N but even that station repeats shows too often.
	__________________ HEY, SONY: Thank you for Benson, Season 2! Now can we get started on Season 3 plans?

03-11-2007, 08:17 AM	#13
TVJunkie101 Member...you 'member? Senior Member Join Date: May 28, 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 2,838	I think our best hope for any 80s shows is going to be ION for comedies and Sleuth and Chiller for adventure/drama/crime shows, IMO.
	__________________ Shawn DVD Reviews \| My TV on DVD List \| Sitcoms Online NewsBlog

03-09-2007, 02:50 PM	#3
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,073	Saturdays should be Variety Show day on TV land and it would be all variety shows from the 60's and 70's all day on Saturday like it is for the westerns, 12pm to 8pm

03-10-2007, 03:17 PM	#5
omg65 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 05, 2006 Location: hilliard oh Posts: 403	50's-70's direction? Exactly what 50's shows do TV Land air?

03-10-2007, 03:24 PM	#7
omg65 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 05, 2006 Location: hilliard oh Posts: 403	You are right about Leave it to Beaver. TV Land was founded on those 50's and 60's shows.Then they started airing the 80's stuff and lost their core audience.Brilliant.

03-10-2007, 04:23 PM	#9
clj2 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 16, 2005 Location: SC Posts: 3,501	TV Land shows I Love Lucy and Leave it to Beaver, both 50s.

03-10-2007, 04:29 PM	#10
Dynomite Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 10, 2006 Location: near Dayton, Ohio Posts: 579	That's really sad! 90's shows aren't safe, either. I had gotten used to seeing Wings come on a half-hour after Happy Days. Now, since TV Land no longer airs either, maybe we should lobby for CBS Paramount to re-syndicate reruns of both.

03-10-2007, 04:40 PM	#11
Madness I call it the rocket Senior Member Join Date: May 03, 2000 Posts: 2,047	The show which I feel should've never been removed from the weekday lineup is Cheers. That show has classic written all over it, 80's or not. And with 11 seasons, it really is more difficult to be rerun into the ground. Makes no sense to not have this show airing on any of their networks.

03-11-2007, 03:56 AM	#12
bencasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: Long Beach Posts: 1,692	They really don't need to air anything from later than the 70s. There are already enough networks airing 80s shows, like Nick at Nite, Sleuth, the new Chiller Channel, TBS, etc. If it was up to me they wouldn't air 70s either, just 50s and 60s.

03-11-2007, 08:52 AM	#14
clj2 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 16, 2005 Location: SC Posts: 3,501	I bet you're right, TVJunkie. ION has a few 80s dramas, but who knows if they'll ever show them.