Why was Car 54 canceled?

[sixfingers]

I have tried in vain to find the answer to this question and so far I haven't even found a rumor.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by sixfingers

I have tried in vain to find the answer to this question and so far I haven't even found a rumor.

I can only guess, but it appears the show was in decline, rating wise that is. The first year the show finished number 20, the second year it finished out of the top 30. It was the lead in show for NBC's biggest hit (Bonanza), so any decrease in audience might have a negative impact on Bonanza, which in fact dropped from number 2 to number 4 in Car 54's second season.

It was also an expensive show to do with a large cast of recurring characters, so the network might have felt the expense wasn't getting enough of a return.

Another issue, what was available to replace the show. The network suits might have felt Imogene Coca's series Grindl worked as a better bridge between Disney and Bonanza.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

what series occupied Sundays at 8:30pm(et) on NBC from 1961 through 1972. And that sponsor was Procter & Gamble; they bought that time period just so they could follow "WALT DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR", which they knew would give them added "protection" against "THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW" on CBS. Sure enough, the first show they scheduled, "CAR 54", was able to hold its own against "Old Stoneface" in its first season. However, the second season was a disappointment to P&G, as far as ratings were concerned. They decided another series would do better for the fall of 1963, and were convinced by Screen Gems/Columbia to take David Swift's "GRINDL", starring Imogene Coca, as "CAR 54"'s replacement.

Unfortunately, the ratings for "GRINDL" ended up even lower than "CAR 54"'s had been, and P&G decided to cancel that after one season, moving "THE BILL DANA SHOW" from their 7pm(et) Sunday time slot to 8:30 for the fall of '64. This time, ratings were so mediocre, they decided to go with Chuck Connors' "BRANDED" as a mid-season replacement in January 1965 {Procter & Gamble had previously been the primary sponsor of "THE RIFLEMAN" (1958-'63), and liked Connors}. That was successful enough to renew for another season [in color]...but then, "THE FBI" premiered on ABC at 8pm(et) in the fall of '65- now, there were TWO alternatives that viewers seemed to prefer more, and "BRANDED" went off in the summer of '66. P&G then decided to go after the "youth audience" with a sitcom from Garry Marshall & Jerry Belson, "HEY LANDLORD!". Again, ratings were insufficient enough to them to renew that series for a second season. After a summer of "LET'S MAKE A DEAL", they almost bought Sheldon Leonard's "EVERYWHERE A CHICK CHICK", starring Jerry Van Dyke. But P&G ultimately objected to the theme of a divorced Las Vegas comedian trying to raise his son on a farm while surrounded by Vegas trappings, and withdrew their support [that series became "ACCIDENTAL FAMILY", airing on Fridays under "particiapting sponsorship" in the fall of '67, and was cancelled at mid-season]. Instead, Procter & Gamble honored their commitment to Desi Arnaz by scheduling "THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW" that fall. But, after a somewhat successful first season, NBC wanted to cancel the show. But after P&G strongly hinted they might move it to another network, NBC agreed to schedule it for another season...for less money. Cast member Roger C. Carmel refused to take a salary freeze, Richard Deacon replaced him, and the ratings dipped low enough for P&G to cancel the show after its second season. Then came "THE BILL COSBY SHOW" in the fall of '69 (in which he played "Chet Kincaid", physical education teacher). Again, the series held its own against Ed Sullivan and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in season one, but the second season's ratings were much lower....and P&G then decided to buy Hal Kanter's sitcom, "THE JIMMY STEWART SHOW", for the fall of 1971. Now, as popular and beloved as Jimmy was, his series really wasn't. And when NBC needed the time to schedule their "SUNDAY MYSTERY MOVIE", Procter & Gamble relinquished their half-hour in the fall of 1972.

So you see, it wasn't just "CAR 54" that was unsuccessful in that time period: even when they were "successful", virtually all of the series in that 8:30 Sunday night time slot lasted no more than two seasons. And since Procter & Gamble controlled that time period, they had the final say. They're still the world's #1 advertiser, but they don't control blocks of time as they used to: they recently ended their last self-produced daily soap opera on CBS, "AS THE WORLD TURNS", after 54 years.

[comedyfreak]

That was very interesting tv knowledge.

[Vince53]

I still remember my surprise when Car 54 was cancelled. TVKnowledgeFan, that was some impressive research.

[missy's pop pop]

I knew Procter and Gamble sponsored "Car 54," because they sponsored a contest in which Toody and Muldoon were lost somewhere around the country during the '61-'62 season, but I didn't realize P & G held the 8:30 pm slot as long as they did! Such was also the case with many sponsors back in those days.

[JohnnyFever6]

A very underrated show!!!

[ThomasE]

I wish this show had a couple more season under the belt. It was good. I discovered it when it aired on Nick At Nite. It could have but P and G was wrong for sure.

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

what series occupied Sundays at 8:30pm(et) on NBC from 1961 through 1972. And that sponsor was Procter & Gamble; they bought that time period just so they could follow "WALT DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR", which they knew would give them added "protection" against "THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW" on CBS. Sure enough, the first show they scheduled, "CAR 54", was able to hold its own against "Old Stoneface" in its first season. However, the second season was a disappointment to P&G, as far as ratings were concerned. They decided another series would do better for the fall of 1963, and were convinced by Screen Gems/Columbia to take David Swift's "GRINDL", starring Imogene Coca, as "CAR 54"'s replacement.

Unfortunately, the ratings for "GRINDL" ended up even lower than "CAR 54"'s had been, and P&G decided to cancel that after one season, moving "THE BILL DANA SHOW" from their 7pm(et) Sunday time slot to 8:30 for the fall of '64. This time, ratings were so mediocre, they decided to go with Chuck Connors' "BRANDED" as a mid-season replacement in January 1965 {Procter & Gamble had previously been the primary sponsor of "THE RIFLEMAN" (1958-'63), and liked Connors**. That was successful enough to renew for another season [in color]...but then, "THE FBI" premiered on ABC at 8pm(et) in the fall of '65- now, there were TWO alternatives that viewers seemed to prefer more, and "BRANDED" went off in the summer of '66. P&G then decided to go after the "youth audience" with a sitcom from Garry Marshall & Jerry Belson, "HEY LANDLORD!". Again, ratings were insufficient enough to them to renew that series for a second season. After a summer of "LET'S MAKE A DEAL", they almost bought Sheldon Leonard's "EVERYWHERE A CHICK CHICK", starring Jerry Van Dyke. But P&G ultimately objected to the theme of a divorced Las Vegas comedian trying to raise his son on a farm while surrounded by Vegas trappings, and withdrew their support [that series became "ACCIDENTAL FAMILY", airing on Fridays under "participating sponsorship" in the fall of '67, and was cancelled at mid-season]. Instead, Procter & Gamble honored their commitment to Desi Arnaz by scheduling "THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW" that fall. But, after a somewhat successful first season, NBC wanted to cancel the show. But after P&G strongly hinted they might move it to another network, NBC agreed to schedule it for another season...for less money. Cast member Roger C. Carmel refused to take a salary freeze, Richard Deacon replaced him, and the ratings dipped low enough for P&G to cancel the show after its second season. Then came "THE BILL COSBY SHOW" in the fall of '69 (in which he played "Chet Kincaid", physical education teacher). Again, the series held its own against Ed Sullivan and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in season one, but the second season's ratings were much lower....and P&G then decided to buy Hal Kanter's sitcom, "THE JIMMY STEWART SHOW", for the fall of 1971. Now, as popular and beloved as Jimmy was, his series really wasn't. And when NBC needed the time to schedule their "SUNDAY MYSTERY MOVIE", Procter & Gamble relinquished their half-hour in the fall of 1972.

So you see, it wasn't just "CAR 54" that was unsuccessful in that time period: even when they were "successful", virtually all of the series in that 8:30 Sunday night time slot lasted no more than two seasons. And since Procter & Gamble controlled that time period, they had the final say. They're still the world's #1 advertiser, but they don't control blocks of time as they used to: they recently ended their last self-produced daily soap opera on CBS, "AS THE WORLD TURNS", after 54 years.

Great analysis as always! I remember we discussed the history of this timeslot on The Mothers-in-Law board awhile back. I went through a book of mine, The TV Schedule Book, and through old TV Guides to follow this timeslot through full seasons as well. Strangely enough, in its higher-rated Season 1, NBC took Car 54 off the air after the regular season to run a British series called Sir Francis Drake as a summer replacement:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Fra...ke_(TV_series)

Car 54 did have regular summer reruns on NBC after the last original episode aired April 14, 1963. (Car 54 seemed to produce fewer episodes per season than a lot of its contemporary series, just an average of 30 per season.)

As you mentioned, NBC took Hey, Landlord! off the air (in early May 1967) to run a primetime version of Let's Make a Deal. Oddly enough, it was NBC's refusal to do the same for Monty Hall again in 1968 (to replace Accidental Family; NBC ran Hollywood Squares in primetime instead starting that January) that caused Monty Hall to switch Let's Make a Deal to ABC (which did find a primetime slot for his show in addition to the same daytime slot) on December 30 (5th anniversary of its NBC premiere date). NBC's daytime schedule crashed soon after, which probably led to its biggest game show cancellation day ever, September 26, 1969, when it cancelled 4 game shows which had been on NBC a combined 15+ years and changed the hosts of 2 others the following Monday. Although it was cancelled in the US in May, I saw from a Canadian TV Guide from late July 1967 that Hey, Landlord! went through the full summer rerun cycle on a Canadian tv network.

As a final schedule change in this timeslot. NBC cancelled Julia (which was already in summer reruns) at the end of May 1971 and moved The Bill Cosby Show to its Tuesday night timeslot, filling this timeslot with reruns of NBC's half-hour version of The Red Skelton Show, which had moved to NBC fall 1970 after almost 20 years on CBS.

[jehobden]

Here is (to me anyway) a fascinating webpage which details all that went into NBC's fall 1966 tv schedule from planning to results:

http://www.tvobscurities.com/article...1966_schedule/

Branded was supposed to be renewed, with Lola Albright and Suzanne Cupito (who goes by Morgan Brittany as an adult) as new cast members, but NBC decided to cancel it, move Hey, Landlord! into its timeslot, and fill Hey, Landlord!'s Monday night timeslot with The Roger Miller Show. Eventually Roger Miller's show was cancelled the following January in favor of Captain Nice.

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by jehobden

Great analysis as always! I remember we discussed the history of this timeslot on The Mothers-in-Law board awhile back. I went through a book of mine, The TV Schedule Book, and through old TV Guides to follow this timeslot through full seasons as well. Strangely enough, in its higher-rated Season 1, NBC took Car 54 off the air after the regular season to run a British series called Sir Francis Drake as a summer replacement:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Fra...ke_(TV_series)

Car 54 did have regular summer reruns on NBC after the last original episode aired April 14, 1963. (Car 54 seemed to produce fewer episodes per season than a lot of its contemporary series, just an average of 30 per season.)

As you mentioned, NBC took Hey, Landlord! off the air (in early May 1967) to run a primetime version of Let's Make a Deal. Oddly enough, it was NBC's refusal to do the same for Monty Hall again in 1968 (to replace Accidental Family; NBC ran Hollywood Squares in primetime instead starting that January) that caused Monty Hall to switch Let's Make a Deal to ABC (which did find a primetime slot for his show in addition to the same daytime slot) on December 30 (5th anniversary of its NBC premiere date). NBC's daytime schedule crashed soon after, which probably led to its biggest game show cancellation day ever, September 26, 1969, when it cancelled 4 game shows which had been on NBC a combined 15+ years and changed the hosts of 2 others the following Monday. Although it was cancelled in the US in May, I saw from a Canadian TV Guide from late July 1967 that Hey, Landlord! went through the full summer rerun cycle on a Canadian tv network.

As a final schedule change in this timeslot. NBC cancelled Julia (which was already in summer reruns) at the end of May 1971 and moved The Bill Cosby Show to its Tuesday night timeslot, filling this timeslot with reruns of NBC's half-hour version of The Red Skelton Show, which had moved to NBC fall 1970 after almost 20 years on CBS.

I missed one other summer schedule change in this timeslot: Branded Season 1 summer reruns were replaced in July 1965 with reruns of NBC's 1958-59 Western Buckskin for 6 weeks, and then the Branded reruns returned until Season 2 began in September.

[TeeVeeCloset]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

what series occupied Sundays at 8:30pm(et) on NBC from 1961 through 1972. And that sponsor was Procter & Gamble; they bought that time period just so they could follow "WALT DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR", which they knew would give them added "protection" against "THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW" on CBS. Sure enough, the first show they scheduled, "CAR 54", was able to hold its own against "Old Stoneface" in its first season. However, the second season was a disappointment to P&G, as far as ratings were concerned. They decided another series would do better for the fall of 1963, and were convinced by Screen Gems/Columbia to take David Swift's "GRINDL", starring Imogene Coca, as "CAR 54"'s replacement.

Unfortunately, the ratings for "GRINDL" ended up even lower than "CAR 54"'s had been, and P&G decided to cancel that after one season, moving "THE BILL DANA SHOW" from their 7pm(et) Sunday time slot to 8:30 for the fall of '64. This time, ratings were so mediocre, they decided to go with Chuck Connors' "BRANDED" as a mid-season replacement in January 1965 {Procter & Gamble had previously been the primary sponsor of "THE RIFLEMAN" (1958-'63), and liked Connors**. That was successful enough to renew for another season [in color]...but then, "THE FBI" premiered on ABC at 8pm(et) in the fall of '65- now, there were TWO alternatives that viewers seemed to prefer more, and "BRANDED" went off in the summer of '66. P&G then decided to go after the "youth audience" with a sitcom from Garry Marshall & Jerry Belson, "HEY LANDLORD!". Again, ratings were insufficient enough to them to renew that series for a second season. After a summer of "LET'S MAKE A DEAL", they almost bought Sheldon Leonard's "EVERYWHERE A CHICK CHICK", starring Jerry Van Dyke. But P&G ultimately objected to the theme of a divorced Las Vegas comedian trying to raise his son on a farm while surrounded by Vegas trappings, and withdrew their support [that series became "ACCIDENTAL FAMILY", airing on Fridays under "particiapting sponsorship" in the fall of '67, and was cancelled at mid-season]. Instead, Procter & Gamble honored their commitment to Desi Arnaz by scheduling "THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW" that fall. But, after a somewhat successful first season, NBC wanted to cancel the show. But after P&G strongly hinted they might move it to another network, NBC agreed to schedule it for another season...for less money. Cast member Roger C. Carmel refused to take a salary freeze, Richard Deacon replaced him, and the ratings dipped low enough for P&G to cancel the show after its second season. Then came "THE BILL COSBY SHOW" in the fall of '69 (in which he played "Chet Kincaid", physical education teacher). Again, the series held its own against Ed Sullivan and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in season one, but the second season's ratings were much lower....and P&G then decided to buy Hal Kanter's sitcom, "THE JIMMY STEWART SHOW", for the fall of 1971. Now, as popular and beloved as Jimmy was, his series really wasn't. And when NBC needed the time to schedule their "SUNDAY MYSTERY MOVIE", Procter & Gamble relinquished their half-hour in the fall of 1972.

So you see, it wasn't just "CAR 54" that was unsuccessful in that time period: even when they were "successful", virtually all of the series in that 8:30 Sunday night time slot lasted no more than two seasons. And since Procter & Gamble controlled that time period, they had the final say. They're still the world's #1 advertiser, but they don't control blocks of time as they used to: they recently ended their last self-produced daily soap opera on CBS, "AS THE WORLD TURNS", after 54 years.

TV GOD's I miss member "TV Knowledge Fan", I know we all come and go because of various life activities, but as one that also comes and goes due to life, when I return, I have taken much grief at times over my long factual posts instead of endless attack opinion posts....being a member for way over a decade now I have only posted around 1600, but in the "olden days...lol" there was much more serious discussion like shown above. I seem to notice a new what I have expressed lately as snarky silly posts in this new one sentence world, before I get too long....does anyone know what happened to "TV Knowledge Fan"?

PS...I noticed Paven doesn't even post anymore, though he continues with the must read daily blog here, but Pav I miss you buddy!

[kclj520]

Car 54 was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it as a young boy on Nick at Nite, with the other great classic shows that played in that era of the late 80s early 90s.

Also, thanks for the post about P&G, that was interesting information!

[TMC]

Did you know that Car 54, Where Are You? was lambasted by critics at the time for disparaging police officers, and that the series was a spiritual sequel to The Phil Silvers Show? Car 54, Where Are You? was a television sitcom that ran for several years during the early 1960s. Although the show is considered a cult classic nowadays and was ahead of its time in many respects, it had a hard time finding an audience during its initial airing. Because of this, the show wasn’t a huge success and ended up being taken off the air.

▬Contents of this video▬

• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:39 - Car 54, Where Are You? Featured a Great Comedic Duo
• 02:08 - A Spiritual Sequel to The Phil Silvers Show
• 03:29 - Gunther and Francis Were the Best of Friends!
• 04:23 - Car 54, Where Are You? Had a Great Ensemble Cast
• 05:37 - Why Car 54, Where Are You? Got Cancelled
• 06:33 - Outro

Car 54, Where Are You? was created by a man by the name of Nat Hiken, who had previously created the successful sitcom The Phil Silvers Show. The Phil Silvers Show was the series that popularized the character of Sergeant Bilko. The Phil Silvers Show satirized the army, while Car 54, Where Are You? satirized the police force. Despite carrying on The Phil Silvers Show’s successful brand of comedy, Car 54, Where Are You? wasn’t received quite as well by audiences.

Car 54, Where Are You? ended up being taken off of the air because it couldn’t find an audience, but there were other things working against the cult-classic television show. This includes the fact that many critics and audience members found it too critical of authority. Join Facts Verse as it’s finally clear why Car 54, Where Are You? got canceled.

[Dude111]

I dont know which I liked better.. This show or Adam 12