When did reruns of scripted TV programs enter syndication

[James28]

This thread is about when certain scripted TV programs first had reruns of their episodes broadcast in syndication (broadcast or cable). It can happen while the show is still producing new episodes or after its original run ends.

I'll provide an example: The Big Bang Theory first entered syndication in the fall of 2011.

[bookandfilmnut]

Originally Posted by James28

This thread is about when certain scripted TV programs first had reruns of their episodes broadcast in syndication (broadcast or cable). It can happen while the show is still producing new episodes or after its original run ends.

I'll provide an example: The Big Bang Theory first entered syndication in the fall of 2011.

Syndicated reruns used to not be available while a tv show was still in production. In fact, several tv shows in the 1960's were cancelled because of the lucrative syndication possibilities after cancellation - I Spy is a good example of this in 1968.

I grew up in the 70's and my earliest tv memories would be from about 1973 or so. The syndicated reruns I recall in the early to mid 70's ran in the mornings (9:00 to 11:00), afternoons (4:00-6:00) and early evenings (7:00-8:00). They seemed to be all shows that had ceased production by the time they were in syndication. Andy Griffith, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched are among the first tv shows I recall seeing in the mornings or afternoons. It's possible that some of them were being rerun before the end of production, but I would have been too young in 1970-71 to remember seeing them. I vaguely recall that perhaps The Brady Bunch was in syndication as early as about 1973, but wouldn't swear to it. The first time I definitively recall a television program being rerun in syndication while it was still in production was when MASH started airing in syndication around 1977 or so - about the time it was entering it's 6th season in production.

[torcan]

Generally, shows didn't enter syndication until after production had ended prior to the late '70s. It's true that Brady Bunch, Bewitched, I Love Lucy and dozens of others aired in morning and afternoon hours while still in production, but those were network daytime reruns.

Brady Bunch, for example, started in 1973 on ABC daytime but didn't enter syndication until 1975.

The first shows to enter syndication while still in production were All in the Family, MASH and Happy Days, all in the fall of 1979.

[biffbronson]

I believe The Beverly Hillbillies also had network daytime reruns circa 1970 before the series was cancelled -- either that, or it was an exception and had entered syndication. But the series in that year was right alongside The Lucy Show, etc. in daytime (which of course had ended).

[bookandfilmnut]

Originally Posted by torcan

Generally, shows didn't enter syndication until after production had ended prior to the late '70s. It's true that Brady Bunch, Bewitched, I Love Lucy and dozens of others aired in morning and afternoon hours while still in production, but those were network daytime reruns.

Brady Bunch, for example, started in 1973 on ABC daytime but didn't enter syndication until 1975.

The first shows to enter syndication while still in production were All in the Family, MASH and Happy Days, all in the fall of 1979.

Was it that late when MASH started being syndicated? I had thought it was year or two earlier - but that is only based on my own jumbled personal memory. I do recall that by about 1977 or 78, CBS was showing older reruns of MASH, sows from the first four seasons, at 11:30 PM on weeknights, just before they launched into their late night movies, but as you pointed out those were network reruns, not local broadcasts of syndicated episodes.

[Sal]

I think you have to go way back to "I Love Lucy". I had read that during one season, during the summer, CBS didn't know what to put in its place, so they started showing old episodes from the previous season, and that's how the rerun was born. Both Lucy and Desi also made the wise decision to shoot their episodes on film instead of kinescopes to make the show easier to preserve for repeat showings, and they also received a sweet deal from CBS when the reruns began airing in the daytime. A few years later, "The Phil Silvers Show" was suddenly cancelled not because of low ratings but over a dispute over the syndicated reruns, which was too bad because that was a great show that should have been on for far longer.

Now as to when the reruns of scripted shows first began to appear, according to Wikipedia, during the 1957-58 season, ironically when "Lucy" finished production, the networks filled the daytime hours with game shows and soap operas. The following season, 1958-59, reruns of sitcoms began to appear and would stay for many years. The first lucky customers were "I Love Lucy", (of course), "Love That Bob", and "The Gale Storm Show". In 1959-60, they were joined by "December Bride". Everyone else would soon follow but not right away. In 1961-62, ABC added "Make Room For Daddy" and in 1962-63, three more joined them: "Father Knows Best", "Pete and Gladys", and "The Real McCoys". On average, about a couple of sitcoms would join and others would leave the lineups right through the '60s and it was also around this time that local stations would start offering them so maybe that's when you would first have been aware of them in your childhoods. For the record, here is when the most popular sitcoms of the 60s and early 70s first began to appear in syndication on the daytime network schedules (local channels may differ):

1958-59: I Love Lucy, Love That Bob, The Gale Storm Show
1959-60: December Bride
1961-62: Make Room For Daddy
1962-63: Father Knows Best, Pete & Gladys, The Real McCoys
1964-65: Andy Griffith (known as "Andy Of Mayberry"), The Donna Reed Show
1965-66: Dick Van Dyke Show
1966-67: The Beverly Hillbillies
1967-68: Bewitched
1968-69: The Lucy Show (replacing "I Love Lucy"), That Girl
1969-70: Gomer Pyle USMC
1970-71: Family Affair, Love American Style
1971-72: My Three Sons
1972-73: Brady Bunch
1975-76: Happy Days, All In The Family, Sanford & Son

By the early 70s, sitcoms were being phased out of the networks' daytime schedules, to the point where the Bradys were the only show that appeared in 1974-75, but were prospering on local stations and continued to do so for decades until recently.

[James28]

I believe All in the Family entered syndication around 1976; when that occurred, it was originally syndicated by Viacom until 1991, when syndication rights were handed over to Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television).

The Cosby Show entered syndication in 1998. It was also distributed by Viacom until 1995, and then by Paramount Domestic Television until 1996.

Roseanne entered syndication in 1993, it was also distributed by Viacom and then by Paramount Domestic TV.

Carsey-Werner formed their own distribution company in 1997.

[James28]

According to some issues of Broadcasting Magazine from September and October of 1981, the comedy-drama programme Eight is Enough made its syndication debut in the fall of 1982 — a year after the show's cancellation.

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by James28

I believe All in the Family entered syndication around 1976; when that occurred, it was originally syndicated by Viacom until 1991, when syndication rights were handed over to Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television).

The Cosby Show entered syndication in 1998. It was also distributed by Viacom until 1995, and then by Paramount Domestic Television until 1996.

Roseanne entered syndication in 1993, it was also distributed by Viacom and then by Paramount Domestic TV.

Carsey-Werner formed their own distribution company in 1997.

The Cosby Show entered syndication in 1988, and as far as I remember, it was the first sitcom syndicated after only 4 seasons. Now this seems to be common practice with most sitcoms that go 4 seasons. For instance, The Middle, which premiered in 2009, entered syndication fall 2013. Probably because its first 2 seasons were so short, (5 & 13 episodes), Seinfeld was syndicated locally in 1995 after 6 seasons. I wasn't hooked on Seinfeld until I started seeing it in syndication reruns late at night, after which I started watching the remaining primetime seasons on NBC.

Sitcoms used to have to go much longer to be syndicated while they were still being aired. M*A*S*H, for example, ran for 7 seasons before it was syndicated to local stations fall 1979, though CBS reran the show in both daytime & late-night (once a week for 35 mins) 1978-79.

[broadmoor]

I remember how weird it struck me when I saw "Happy Days" syndicated as "Happy Days Again," while the series was still in production. Sure, there had been network morning reruns of sitcoms for ages, like "I Love Lucy," "Andy Griffith," "Donna Reed," "Beverly Hillbillies" and the like for years, very often being run while new episodes were still being made. But technically, that's something apart from actual syndication to local channels. Seemed like a series always had to totally wrap up before reaching that status. Excepting some things like "Lassie" or "Death Valley Days" which were very long-running and had seemingly different incarnations, and were handed new titles.

It would be interesting to figure which 'network' sitcom series was the first to actually enter rerun syndication. I'd probably think it was something like "My Little Margie" or "The Stu Erwin Show," both which had ended by 1955. But maybe it's more likely to be "Meet Mr. McNulty" with Ray Milland, or "My Hero" with Bob Cummings, which I think ceased production even earlier. Could have even been that Jackie Gleason version of "Life of Riley," although I really don't know how much that circulated in reruns back then, if at all. It was likely removed from reruns, at very least, when the Bendix version started up, I'd think.

[Regulus]

Originally Posted by broadmoor

I remember how weird it struck me when I saw "Happy Days" syndicated as "Happy Days Again," while the series was still in production. Sure, there had been network morning reruns of sitcoms for ages, like "I Love Lucy," "Andy Griffith," "Donna Reed," "Beverly Hillbillies" and the like for years, very often being run while new episodes were still being made. But technically, that's something apart from actual syndication to local channels. Seemed like a series always had to totally wrap up before reaching that status. Excepting some things like "Lassie" or "Death Valley Days" which were very long-running and had seemingly different incarnations, and were handed new titles.

It would be interesting to figure which 'network' sitcom series was the first to actually enter rerun syndication. I'd probably think it was something like "My Little Margie" or "The Stu Erwin Show," both which had ended by 1955. But maybe it's more likely to be "Meet Mr. McNulty" with Ray Milland, or "My Hero" with Bob Cummings, which I think ceased production even earlier. Could have even been that Jackie Gleason version of "Life of Riley," although I really don't know how much that circulated in reruns back then, if at all. It was likely removed from reruns, at very least, when the Bendix version started up, I'd think.

It wasn't that unusual to give a show a different name if it was still in production Examples included the following:

Dragnet "Badge 714"

Bonanza "Ponderosa"

Emergency! "Emergency One"

Chips "Chips Patrol"

And of course, Lassie "Jeff's Collie" Seasons 1-3 "Timmy and Lassie" Seasons 5-8 and simply "Lassie" for Seasons 12 to 19

I my area they never showed Season 4 and seasons 9-11. Only after I found the entire series for sale on ioffer was I able to piece the entire puzzle together.

Your guess is as good as mine on WHY they did this.

[Frenky]

100 episodes was threshold for entering syndication in the past, so basically after 5th or 6th season.

I guess syndicated reruns were shown in primetime hour when cable channels started taking away audience from Big 3 in early 80s.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by James28

I believe All in the Family entered syndication around 1976; when that occurred, it was originally syndicated by Viacom until 1991, when syndication rights were handed over to Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television).

The Cosby Show entered syndication in 1998. It was also distributed by Viacom until 1995, and then by Paramount Domestic Television until 1996.

Roseanne entered syndication in 1993, it was also distributed by Viacom and then by Paramount Domestic TV.

Carsey-Werner formed their own distribution company in 1997.

`Cosby Show` Syndication: `Arrogant` Hardball

TELEVISION : The $600-Million Man : Will a Record Syndication Gamble on 'Cosby Show' Re-Runs Pay Off?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by James28

I believe All in the Family entered syndication around 1976; when that occurred, it was originally syndicated by Viacom until 1991, when syndication rights were handed over to Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television).

The Cosby Show entered syndication in 1998. It was also distributed by Viacom until 1995, and then by Paramount Domestic Television until 1996.

Roseanne entered syndication in 1993, it was also distributed by Viacom and then by Paramount Domestic TV.

Carsey-Werner formed their own distribution company in 1997.

For what it's worth...

Reruns of The Cosby Show began selling to stations in November 1986 on a blind-bidding, per market basis. One hundred-twenty-five episodes came online in October 1988, for a 182-week (3.5 year) license term.

The syndicator (Viacom) set a minimum reserve price for each market, which interested stations were to match without going over. The stations were also allowed to submit bids of the reserve price-plus-multiples of five percent, and one with an alternative price.

Some of the winners (and the price per episode, plus the weekly market reserve figure) include:

New York: (W)WOR-TV ($349,440; $125k reserve)
Los Angeles: KCOP ($327,600; $150k reserve)
Chicago: WFLD-TV ($196,500; $100k reserve)
Philadelphia: WCAU-TV ($125,220; $86k reserve)
San Francisco: KPIX ($167,440; $80k reserve)
Boston: WCVB-TV ($150,000; $60k reserve)
Cincinnati: WLWT ($43,680; $20k reserve)
Detroit: WDIV ($101,920; $50k reserve)
Phoenix: KPHO-TV ($81,540; $36k reserve)
Seattle: KIRO-TV ($58,240; $26k reserve)
Minneapolis-St. Paul: KARE ($55,330; $38k reserve)

Stations in several large markets, including Cleveland and Tampa Bay, passed on the show during Viacom's first go-around shopping the series. There was a backlash against the high rights fees, and stations in these markets waited until prices dropped in the second wave of primarily smaller-market sales.

But Cosby's high prices set a precedent: Who's the Boss?, which also went into syndication in the fall of '88, commanded similar prices when it went on the market not long after Cosby did.

[danderson400]

I remember the same year that Cosby went into syndication, St. Elsewhere went into syndication too. Who's the Boss? also went into syndication in the fall of '88
EDIT: i think that St. Elsewhere went into syndication in 1987, but can't be sure.