Would the Jeffersons had lasted 11 seasons if Zara Cully hadn't died? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JulieSomoski · 07-28-2007, 01:27 PM

After Zara Cully died during the fifth season of the show, ratings weer already pretty low for the show. But, after she died and was permanently out of the show, ratings picked up and stayed in the top 20 for the rest of the series. So, my question is, if Zara hadn't died and was still in the show for the rest of it's run, would it have lasted as long as it did?

TVFactFan · 07-28-2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roseanne88-97

After Zara Cully died during the fifth season of the show, ratings weer already pretty low for the show. But, after she died and was permanently out of the show, ratings picked up and stayed in the top 20 for the rest of the series. So, my question is, if Zara hadn't died and was still in the show for the rest of it's run, would it have lasted as long as it did?

I don't think it would have made a difference since she was an ocassional character. I do think that her and louise probably would have no longer been arguing by the 1980's

Mr. Television · 07-28-2007, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roseanne88-97

After Zara Cully died during the fifth season of the show, ratings weer already pretty low for the show. But, after she died and was permanently out of the show, ratings picked up and stayed in the top 20 for the rest of the series. So, my question is, if Zara hadn't died and was still in the show for the rest of it's run, would it have lasted as long as it did?

Yea it still would have lasted 11 years. Ratings went up because the Jeffersons were moved to a better timeslot.

TVFactFan · 07-28-2007, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walking Tall

Yea it still would have lasted 11 years. Ratings went up because the Jeffersons were moved to a better timeslot.

Yup, the show went from saturday to Mon to Wednesday back to Saturday until it found it's magic night in 1979-SUNDAYS!!!!!!!!-lol

JulieSomoski · 07-28-2007, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAnalyzer

Yup, the show went from saturday to Mon to Wednesday back to Saturday until it found it's magic night in 1979-SUNDAYS!!!!!!!!-lol

It seems like after she died, the show got a lot of attention, if you can remember back to 1978-1979, and maybe people wanted to to tune in to the Jeffersons to see what was going to be done about it. That just my opinion. By the fourth season, the show wasn't even in the top 30 anymore, and can you really blame that on being a Saturday night show? It was on Saturday nights its first season and was in the top 10.

Mr. Television · 07-28-2007, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roseanne88-97

It seems like after she died, the show got a lot of attention, if you can remember back to 1978-1979, and maybe people wanted to to tune in to the Jeffersons to see what was going to be done about it. That just my opinion. By the fourth season, the show wasn't even in the top 30 anymore, and can you really blame that on being a Saturday night show? It was on Saturday nights its first season and was in the top 10.

Their was a differnce. During it's 1st season it was paired with All in the family. MTM, Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett were all on too. When it returned the shows on the lineup were Bob Newhart Show whch was fading, We've Got Each Other and The Tony Randall Show. Not very good shows. All of those shows were canceled at the end of the season. The Jeffersons were the only one of them to survive. ABC was starting to dominate the night around that time too. I watched the show regularly back then and to tell you the truth I didn't even know she died . I'm sure it was mentioned in the papers but I'm not sure how many people paid attention. Their wasn't the celebrity media on television like it is today.

JulieSomoski · 07-28-2007, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walking Tall

Their was a differnce. During it's 1st season it was paired with All in the family. MTM, Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett were all on too. When it returned the shows on the lineup were Bob Newhart Show whch was fading, We've Got Each Other and The Tony Randall Show. Not very good shows. All of those shows were canceled at the end of the season. The Jeffersons were the only one of them to survive. ABC was starting to dominate the night around that time too. I watched the show regularly back then and to tell you the truth I didn't even know she died . I'm sure it was mentioned in the papers but I'm not sure how many people paid attention. Their wasn't the celebrity media on television like it is today.

Another thing is it was the first season, and since it was an All in the Family spinoff, I'm sure people were curious to see how those first 13 episodes were. But, by the second season, it went from being in the top 10 to out of the top 20, which proves that either no one was home on Saturday night, or no one was interested. Anyway, by the sixth season, the first season without Zara, it went from #30-something to top 10, which was just weird in my opinion. By the eighth season, it was the third highest rated show on television

Mr. Television · 07-28-2007, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roseanne88-97

Another thing is it was the first season, and since it was an All in the Family spinoff, I'm sure people were curious to see how those first 13 episodes were. But, by the second season, it went from being in the top 10 to out of the top 20, which proves that either no one was home on Saturday night, or no one was interested. Anyway, by the sixth season, the first season without Zara, it went from #30-something to top 10, which was just weird in my opinion. By the eighth season, it was the third highest rated show on television

All in the family was moved in the fall of 1975 and The Jeffersons had to lead off the night. They lost a lot of their audience. I think a lot of the Sunday night comedies like The Jeffersons, Alice and ODAAT benefited from being paired with one another. None of them suceeded to well when they went to another night. The exception of course was AITF. I just enjoyed watching that lineup and I guess a lot of other people did too.

TVFactFan · 07-28-2007, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roseanne88-97

It seems like after she died, the show got a lot of attention, if you can remember back to 1978-1979, and maybe people wanted to to tune in to the Jeffersons to see what was going to be done about it. That just my opinion. By the fourth season, the show wasn't even in the top 30 anymore, and can you really blame that on being a Saturday night show? It was on Saturday nights its first season and was in the top 10.

Well the first season was different because it was a NEW SHOW on saturday nights and on top of that it was a midseason replacement with only 13 episodes and aired after the number 1 show in the country-"All in the Family"

TVFactFan · 07-28-2007, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roseanne88-97

Another thing is it was the first season, and since it was an All in the Family spinoff, I'm sure people were curious to see how those first 13 episodes were. But, by the second season, it went from being in the top 10 to out of the top 20, which proves that either no one was home on Saturday night, or no one was interested. Anyway, by the sixth season, the first season without Zara, it went from #30-something to top 10, which was just weird in my opinion. By the eighth season, it was the third highest rated show on television

The show that started giving the Jeffersons competition in the 70's was

Starky and hutch
Bionic Woman
Little House on the Prarie
Eight is Enough
Charlie's Angels

Once the 80's started the Jeffersons only compeition on Sunday Night from 1979 to 1985 was

ABC sunday movie
The Big event
NBC sunday Movie

So that's why the show went up in the Ratings

CWDogg · 07-29-2007, 02:53 AM

I hate to say it but I think her dying helped the show.

If you think about it after they got rid of her, the Lionels/ and Jenny. They gave more lines to Florence and I believe the show was most popular after Florence moved in and started " smart mouthing" George and whoever else came by the apartment.

Scoobiedoo30 · 07-29-2007, 01:12 PM

I think The Jeffersons would have lasted 12 Year's if Zara Cully was still Alive

TVFactFan · 07-29-2007, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWDogg

I hate to say it but I think her dying helped the show.

If you think about it after they got rid of her, the Lionels/ and Jenny. They gave more lines to Florence and I believe the show was most popular after Florence moved in and started " smart mouthing" George and whoever else came by the apartment.

No I think Sunday Nights helped the show

Scoobiedoo30 · 07-29-2007, 03:01 PM

did they stay on Sunday Night's from Day 1

JulieSomoski · 07-29-2007, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWDogg

I hate to say it but I think her dying helped the show.

If you think about it after they got rid of her, the Lionels/ and Jenny. They gave more lines to Florence and I believe the show was most popular after Florence moved in and started " smart mouthing" George and whoever else came by the apartment.

Finally, someone here who actually agrees with me! I just thought that her charactre was very boring beginning in the third season, and I wasn't glad to see her die or anything. I was just glad to see her not on the show. But, after hearing everyone here, Sunday night definitely helped the show. Saturday night was the night to watch telelvision then, but when All in the Family left, it wasn't, which is why the Jeffersons fell so drastically ratingswise.

But, by it's final season, didn't it move back to Saturday nights for awhile?

07-28-2007, 01:27 PM	#1
JulieSomoski Roseanne Reboot - March 27! Forum Veteran Join Date: Nov 06, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,558	Would the Jeffersons had lasted 11 seasons if Zara Cully hadn't died? After Zara Cully died during the fifth season of the show, ratings weer already pretty low for the show. But, after she died and was permanently out of the show, ratings picked up and stayed in the top 20 for the rest of the series. So, my question is, if Zara hadn't died and was still in the show for the rest of it's run, would it have lasted as long as it did?
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07-29-2007, 01:12 PM	#12
Scoobiedoo30 Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Jun 27, 2002 Location: KENNER, LOUISIANA Posts: 27,654	I think The Jeffersons would have lasted 12 Year's if Zara Cully was still Alive
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07-29-2007, 02:53 AM	#11
CWDogg Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 04, 2005 Posts: 280	I hate to say it but I think her dying helped the show. If you think about it after they got rid of her, the Lionels/ and Jenny. They gave more lines to Florence and I believe the show was most popular after Florence moved in and started " smart mouthing" George and whoever else came by the apartment.

07-29-2007, 03:01 PM	#14
Scoobiedoo30 Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Jun 27, 2002 Location: KENNER, LOUISIANA Posts: 27,654	did they stay on Sunday Night's from Day 1