WGN Outta Sight Retro Night - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

retrofan05 · 07-18-2010, 10:46 PM

So, I thought the Outta Sight Retro Night on WGN had an amazing line up when it first started with shows like Alf, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, WKRP, and The Honeymooners and while they do still air classics like Barney Miller, Cheers, and Newhart, it's just not as good as it once was. Probably my biggest complaint is having Becker as part of the lineup. It's far from retro. What are your thoughts on the changes and why do you think they happened? Ratings?

icecream · 07-19-2010, 06:22 PM

I would consider Barney Miller an improvement over The Honeymooners. Agreed on Becker, it doesn't belong, and it's a shame WKRP wasn't renewed. I hope I'm wrong on this, but I have a sinking feeling Retro Night might disappear when the fall schedule changes happen. They aren't using the Rick Dees intro at the start of shows anymore, and WGN is adding a bunch of modern crap in the fall and I haven't heard anything about new classics. Plus when Way Back Wednesdays were announced last year it was going to be a mixture of movies and series marathons. Not one marathon has aired on Wednesdays since then, it's all been movies/baseball.

Rezny@gmail.com · 07-19-2010, 06:47 PM

Remember last Halloween when,on that weekend WGN played episodes of "The Munsters"and "The Addams Family"?They could air BOTH series,back to back,at the 12-1(11-Midnight Central),because it would be a distinct mprovement over "Becker",which does NOT belong,and also there are a lot of non-Halloween episodes of both series.I sure hope Outta Sight Retro Night DOESN'T disappear,either.

Rezny@gmail.com · 07-19-2010, 06:49 PM

Yes,I also know that Retro is in the "eye of the beholder"

DSfan · 07-19-2010, 09:16 PM

Yeah, it used to be much better.

I loved when they had WKRP at 7, Newhart at 8, and Honeymooners at 9.

Then Honeymooners left and they were airing 2 hours of Newhart for a while. They added Coach and ALF from 5-7 at this time. Also, they added Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and Cheers for later on after the local news.

But then they randomly got rid of Coach, ALF, and WKRP in a short period of time and replaced them with Cosby Show (yes, it is retro but it's been overkilled on TV Land, N@N, TBS, and every station in the world before then pretty much). Becker should not be allowed on a retro night, makes no sense at all.

They did add Barney Miller which was a plus. They still have Newhart which is also good. I think they still have some good classics on the channel:
1)Beverly Hillbillies
2)Bewitched
3)I Dream of Jeannie
4)Cheers
5)Cosby Show
6)Barney Miller
7)Newhart

The problem is really that they're airing Becker from 6-7 and Cosby shouldn't be at 7.

They could really revive this lineup if they just did something like this:

6-7: Beverly Hillbillies
7-8: Bewitched (1 ep), I Dream of Jeannie (1 ep)
8-9: Barney Miller (1 ep), Newhart (1 ep)
9-10: Cheers (1 ep), Cosby Show (1 ep)
10-11: Newscast
11 onwards they could do a fan vote on their website to pick a show for the week and air maybe 4 episodes of that one show or something.

That way all the classics get to air. People seem to consider that all sitcoms need to be aired 2 episodes in a row nowadays but they should remember it never used to be like that at all. They should go back to single airings to get more variety.

Yeah, I agree this may be gone come fall because it seems that they are adding so many more modern-type shows. Hopefully, it stays and maybe they'll even get some more classic sitcoms!

MikeLutton · 07-19-2010, 10:29 PM

i want honeymooners back on i miss that classic show and Alf to

clj2 · 07-20-2010, 09:12 PM

Looks to me like they're going more in a very modern direction. They've really made no effort to improve OSRN in ages, so I wouldn't be surprised for it to be scrapped.

Cheers wasn't an impressive pickup, it's on Halmark from 1-4am weeknights and 3-4am weekends as well as a local station here.

07-18-2010, 10:46 PM	#1
retrofan05 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 25, 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,111	WGN Outta Sight Retro Night So, I thought the Outta Sight Retro Night on WGN had an amazing line up when it first started with shows like Alf, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, WKRP, and The Honeymooners and while they do still air classics like Barney Miller, Cheers, and Newhart, it's just not as good as it once was. Probably my biggest complaint is having Becker as part of the lineup. It's far from retro. What are your thoughts on the changes and why do you think they happened? Ratings?

07-19-2010, 06:22 PM	#2
icecream Cat-tastic and Whiskerlicious Forum Celebrity Join Date: Sep 01, 2006 Location: The Catacombs Posts: 20,614	I would consider Barney Miller an improvement over The Honeymooners. Agreed on Becker, it doesn't belong, and it's a shame WKRP wasn't renewed. I hope I'm wrong on this, but I have a sinking feeling Retro Night might disappear when the fall schedule changes happen. They aren't using the Rick Dees intro at the start of shows anymore, and WGN is adding a bunch of modern crap in the fall and I haven't heard anything about new classics. Plus when Way Back Wednesdays were announced last year it was going to be a mixture of movies and series marathons. Not one marathon has aired on Wednesdays since then, it's all been movies/baseball.
	__________________ Top 200 TV Shows https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...14#post6225214 Top 150 Movies https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...84#post6175384 Top 1100 Scripted TV Characters https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=493306 Top Rookie TV Shows by Calendar Year https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=365017 Top Movies by Calendar Year https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=473533

07-19-2010, 10:29 PM	#6
MikeLutton Mike Lutton DVD Legend! Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 05, 2005 Location: usa pennsyvania Posts: 6,870	i want honeymooners back on i miss that classic show and Alf to
	__________________ Tv And DVD Addict got over a hundred dvds in my collection more than anyone in the neighborhood. also huge Animal lover family man

07-20-2010, 09:12 PM	#7
clj2 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 16, 2005 Location: SC Posts: 3,501	Looks to me like they're going more in a very modern direction. They've really made no effort to improve OSRN in ages, so I wouldn't be surprised for it to be scrapped. Cheers wasn't an impressive pickup, it's on Halmark from 1-4am weeknights and 3-4am weekends as well as a local station here.
	__________________ -Chris

07-19-2010, 06:47 PM	#3
Rezny@gmail.com Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 20, 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 2,675	Remember last Halloween when,on that weekend WGN played episodes of "The Munsters"and "The Addams Family"?They could air BOTH series,back to back,at the 12-1(11-Midnight Central),because it would be a distinct mprovement over "Becker",which does NOT belong,and also there are a lot of non-Halloween episodes of both series.I sure hope Outta Sight Retro Night DOESN'T disappear,either.

07-19-2010, 06:49 PM	#4
Rezny@gmail.com Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 20, 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 2,675	Yes,I also know that Retro is in the "eye of the beholder"

07-19-2010, 09:16 PM	#5
DSfan Member Senior Member Join Date: Sep 15, 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,204	Yeah, it used to be much better. I loved when they had WKRP at 7, Newhart at 8, and Honeymooners at 9. Then Honeymooners left and they were airing 2 hours of Newhart for a while. They added Coach and ALF from 5-7 at this time. Also, they added Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and Cheers for later on after the local news. But then they randomly got rid of Coach, ALF, and WKRP in a short period of time and replaced them with Cosby Show (yes, it is retro but it's been overkilled on TV Land, N@N, TBS, and every station in the world before then pretty much). Becker should not be allowed on a retro night, makes no sense at all. They did add Barney Miller which was a plus. They still have Newhart which is also good. I think they still have some good classics on the channel: 1)Beverly Hillbillies 2)Bewitched 3)I Dream of Jeannie 4)Cheers 5)Cosby Show 6)Barney Miller 7)Newhart The problem is really that they're airing Becker from 6-7 and Cosby shouldn't be at 7. They could really revive this lineup if they just did something like this: 6-7: Beverly Hillbillies 7-8: Bewitched (1 ep), I Dream of Jeannie (1 ep) 8-9: Barney Miller (1 ep), Newhart (1 ep) 9-10: Cheers (1 ep), Cosby Show (1 ep) 10-11: Newscast 11 onwards they could do a fan vote on their website to pick a show for the week and air maybe 4 episodes of that one show or something. That way all the classics get to air. People seem to consider that all sitcoms need to be aired 2 episodes in a row nowadays but they should remember it never used to be like that at all. They should go back to single airings to get more variety. Yeah, I agree this may be gone come fall because it seems that they are adding so many more modern-type shows. Hopefully, it stays and maybe they'll even get some more classic sitcoms!