Sitcom Graveyard-Must See TV Failures - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 12-10-2013, 05:37 PM

http://www.manic-expression.com/apps...ee-tv-failures

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In the 80's and 90's, NBC Must See TV was king! If you were watching TV on Thursday night, chances are you were probably watching NBC. Unless you were over 60 than you would be watching CBS. Just kidding...anyways,the shows that aired are classics, Cheers, Cosby Show, Seinfeld, Friends, and so on.

Well, not all the shows are classics. There was a dark side to Must See TV, in that the show had to be really special to make an impact. Some shows struggled for a season or two before being moved to a different timeslot and quietly fading away. Anyone remember The Single Guy, Caroline in the City, or Veronica’s Closet? Others were just bombs, gone so fast many don't even remember them. How could a show fail in that time slot? Well, let's take a look at a few that did.

Grand-This one is cheating because it did manage to get a full season of episodes out. But it sure didn't rise to the popularity of the show it was after, Cheers. Actually the post Cheers spot was a tough one.Night Court worked well there, but Wings and Dear John did not. Seinfeld was the show that really took off at that time slot. Grand was like Soap from the 70's, a soap opera parody which satirized rich people and their quirky ways.

Rhythm and Blues-Now this was just a horrible show. The premise was simple; an all black radio station gets a new D.J. The hook? The new D.J. is white! Yeah not only was this full of stereotypes but the show was based on one joke. You can't sustain a whole series when every episode has basically the same gag.

Out All Night-Yawn! That's what I think of when I remember this show. Patti LaBelle was the owner of a nightclub and the show was about the quirky employees. Boring. Every episode ended with a musical number from some celebrity of the week, and usually the story was rushed to get to that number. A sitcom is not a variety show; you can't rush the story in favor of a celebrity singer. They even did a crossover with Fresh Prince of Bel Air and even that didn't help this series.

Madman of the People-How do you premiere in 1994, after Friends and Seinfeld and as the lead in to ER, and still suck? This show found a way! Dabney Coleman starred in this vehicle as an outspoken newspaper columnist. The premise of the show is that Coleman's daughter is brought in to help her father be more contemporary. This show just didn't know what it wanted to be, and it sure wasn't funny. This was the first show to demonstrate how tough the post Seinfeld or Friends slot was. It didn't to that bad in the ratings, but if you're the show airing after Seinfeld you need to be better than that.

Union Square-Hey, what if we took all the Central Perk scenes from Friends and make a show about that? Dear lord did this show suck! I really have no idea what they were thinking with this one. It was basically about a group of friends who hang around a union square cafe in Manhattan. This as a true Friends clone, the main character was just like Rachel and the show even copied jokes right from Friends. The problem I had with this show is that while Seinfeld and Friends atleast felt like it could be in the real world. Union Square clearly was not. It was so fake that it was a turn off, which is what most people did. Turned itoff.

Battery Park-Elizabeth Perkins starred in this cop show which barely lasted a month. Don't have much to say about this one.

Stark Raving Mad-I actually didn't hate this show. Tony Shaloub was an eccentric horror novelist obsessed with practical jokes. Neil Patrick Harris is his editor who has all kinds of phobias and is a hypochondriac. The problem was that the premise didn't really go too much further than that, and while the characters were strong the stories were not.

Inside Schwartz-There are failures, and then there are FAILURES. This was a stupid idea which never should have been green lit. What was it about? A guy named Adam Schwartz goes on dates, and imaginary sportscasters comment on it. Yeah that's about it. This was supposed to be a long lasting series? The show featured other sports cameos but it was just dumb and if you weren't into spots than the cameos were meaningless.

Cursed-What a fitting title for this show! If you’re goingto create a premise..think it out! Steve Weber played a man who gets cursed in the pilot, and the series was supposed to be about what happened next. But the gag fell flat and audiences were not interested. The cursed stuff was forgotten and the show renamed The Steve Weber Show. It still didn't work.

Leap of Faith-This show was about....you know, I have no idea. I have no memory of it. It premiered after Friends in 2002 and lasted three episodes. It was yet another Friends rip off. Why do executives do that? Just because a format works once doesn't mean it will work over and over.

Coupling-What's worse than a bad rip off of Friends? How about a bad rip off of an English series which is a bad rip off of Friends ?Yeah this was based on a British series which was critically acclaimed. This was not and disappeared fast. The show seemed more about the risqué stuff and less about being funny.

For some reason NBC just couldn’t understand that no matter how popular their Thursday night line up was, you couldn’t just throw anything on there. People still wanted quality and if they didn’t get they weren’t afraid to change the channel. Eventually they did get that and the network started stacking the deck so to speak by putting proven shows like Will & Grace, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, and Scrubs on the schedule. There is just one last series I had to mention:

Joey-Yeah this one really hurt. True It doesn't really count because it did manage a second season, but how could I not mention this? The spin-off of Friends was supposed to keep NBC Thursday running, instead it was the final nail in the coffin that killed it! The show was terrible, making Joey into a jerk and losing everything we liked about the character.

I still miss Must See TV, it was a fascinating experience, and I am just glad that I still have many of these shows on my videotapes. I still like to pop them in every so often and get that nostalgic tear in my eye.

zachattack12 · 12-10-2013, 07:44 PM

I only watched one of these and that was Stark Raving Mad. It was brilliant, though. Great writing, great cast. The stories were good, but characters are more important anyway. Weirdly enough, critics didn't like it. It wasn't the best show ever, but I think it was a lot better than Will & Grace. Check it out on YouTube, it's pretty awesome. Granted, it being cancelled meant Shalhoub could get the role of Monk. So it's not a total loss.

TMC · 02-12-2015, 05:27 PM

https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/n...225830929.html

The Single Guy, Madman of the People and Boston Common were among the shows used as filler when Seinfeld and Friends ruled Thursday nights.

king of comedy · 02-12-2015, 05:44 PM

The only one I remembered was Grand. It wasn't bad.

factsoflife · 07-10-2015, 04:08 AM

I've seen most of these.

king of comedy · 07-10-2015, 05:37 PM

the only one I remembered was Grand.

opus · 07-10-2015, 05:49 PM

Remembered? Vaguely, most of them.
Watched? Just one.

Retro4Life · 07-10-2015, 06:42 PM

Grand was good, it deserved a longer run.

Never saw a second of any of the rest, and I'm glad.

Mr. Television · 07-10-2015, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Grand was good, it deserved a longer run.

Never saw a second of any of the rest, and I'm glad.

Same here. I liked Grand. It was sort of an updated version of Soap. Don't know why it didn't catch on.

jehobden · 02-12-2016, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/n...225830929.html

The Single Guy, Madman of the People and Boston Common were among the shows used as filler when Seinfeld and Friends ruled Thursday nights.

I imagine NBC could've shown reruns of My Mother the Car between Friends & Seinfeld and had a top 10 rating, at least once. Looking over some of the Must-See-TV flops, I wish sometimes it had tried that instead of some of these shows. I did like Veronica's Closet & Suddenly Susan at times, and I saw a filming of Suddenly Susan once in its third season. I thought it became unwatchable in its last season after David Strickland died and Judd Nelson left the show.

king of comedy · 02-13-2016, 09:57 AM

Caroline of the city lasted 4 seasons. That is longer than the ones that lasted 1 season.

tlc38tlc38 · 02-14-2016, 09:22 AM

"Stark Raving Mad" was a pretty good show. It should've lasted longer.

tlc38tlc38 · 02-14-2016, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jehobden

I did like Veronica's Closet & Suddenly Susan at times, and I saw a filming of Suddenly Susan once in its third season. I thought it became unwatchable in its last season after David Strickland died and Judd Nelson left the show.

I used to like Suddenly Susan but now I don't think I could watch it because of Kathy Griffin. I can't stand that lady now.

70s show watcher · 03-11-2016, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

"Stark Raving Mad" was a pretty good show. It should've lasted longer.

i kind of enjoyed it too

jehobden · 04-08-2016, 06:08 PM

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Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

I used to like Suddenly Susan but now I don't think I could watch it because of Kathy Griffin. I can't stand that lady now.

I agree with you there. Wanda Sykes is another example of someone who used to be fun to watch but now comes across as completely bitter & obnoxious.

02-12-2015, 05:27 PM	#3
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,589	Remembering the forgettable shows that ran during NBC's Must-See TV heyday https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/n...225830929.html The Single Guy, Madman of the People and Boston Common were among the shows used as filler when Seinfeld and Friends ruled Thursday nights.

07-10-2015, 04:08 AM	#5
factsoflife Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 11, 2000 Posts: 8,747	I've seen most of these.
	__________________ "and to the fans. I was only supposed to be on every other Tuesday. But, thanks to you, I'm here, and I promise! I will try my best never to let you down. I am going back into that studio on Monday, and I'm going to play Erica Kane for all she's worth!"-- Susan Lucci, May 1999 Daytime Emmy Speech.

07-10-2015, 06:42 PM	#8
Retro4Life Accept No Substitutes Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 04, 2009 Location: IL Posts: 6,708	Grand was good, it deserved a longer run. Never saw a second of any of the rest, and I'm glad.
	__________________ Alex Reiger :[Trying to convince Louie not to antagonize Bobby] "It's not hard to make people feel bad about their lives. What's hard is making people feel good about their lives."

02-14-2016, 09:22 AM	#12
tlc38tlc38 Every day’s a Dolly day! Forum Star Join Date: May 02, 2008 Location: I’m just travelin’ thru Posts: 19,259	"Stark Raving Mad" was a pretty good show. It should've lasted longer.
	__________________ Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. Deuteronomy 15:10 In loving memory of my best friend, my Mama.

12-10-2013, 07:44 PM	#2
zachattack12 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 11, 2012 Location: Greenbelt, MD Posts: 70	I only watched one of these and that was Stark Raving Mad. It was brilliant, though. Great writing, great cast. The stories were good, but characters are more important anyway. Weirdly enough, critics didn't like it. It wasn't the best show ever, but I think it was a lot better than Will & Grace. Check it out on YouTube, it's pretty awesome. Granted, it being cancelled meant Shalhoub could get the role of Monk. So it's not a total loss.

02-12-2015, 05:44 PM	#4
king of comedy Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 31, 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,140	The only one I remembered was Grand. It wasn't bad.

07-10-2015, 05:37 PM	#6
king of comedy Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 31, 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,140	the only one I remembered was Grand.

07-10-2015, 05:49 PM	#7
opus VB Forum Superstar Join Date: May 16, 2015 Location: VB Galaxy Posts: 32,576	Remembered? Vaguely, most of them. Watched? Just one.

02-13-2016, 09:57 AM	#11
king of comedy Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 31, 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,140	Caroline of the city lasted 4 seasons. That is longer than the ones that lasted 1 season.