A Painful Ending - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Smartboy · 07-02-2015, 03:24 PM

I see that my most recent thread on this page has 28 views and zero replies. When I posted it, I thought that maybe somebody who had seen the episode that was on yesterday morning might want to offer me his or her words of wisdom about it. In any event, I would like to commemorate the 28 views of this thread by mentioning that 28 years ago, this series finally went under. It seemed that the network had finally come to their senses and realized that they had gotten what they could out of this series and it was time to move on. Unlike shows like "Seinfeld" and "Friends" that left people wanting more, this series dragged on until virtually nobody watched it. I believe that the network's final attempt to salvage the show was by putting it on Tuesday Night. At this stage in the game, it had already been put in slots on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday Nights. And for the record, I would just like to point out that another show that was popular in its day by the name of "Mad About You" had been tried on every night of the week other than Friday before it finally went under.

Wildchats · 07-03-2015, 12:17 AM

I hate how the show just "ended". They did this to Diff'rent Strokes and Silver Spoons as well. Neither show's final season finale was promoted as the series finale, they just ended on a regular episode.

I think there was at least one more season worth of stories left to tell for Gimme A Break! Or, at least, a few more episodes to close out the show in season 6.

At the time season 6 ended, Nell, I believe, lost her job at McDillon And Loud (remember, the new owner sold the company). There was an un-aired episode "Someday My Prince" which screwed up continuity before the final episode aired, but we all knew if the show was coming back that Nell wasn't going to be working there anymore.

I don't think Nell becoming house mother at Sam's college would have worked. It would have ruined the show even more. I think Sam in her own spinoff would have been better. The network was going to make season 7 showing Nell as housemother at Sam's college dorm. It would have completely ruined the series even worse.

I think where the show was headed (in storylines) that Mama Maybelle and Ernie could have gotten married. I think we would have at least seen that before the series closed out (had they known they were getting cancelled). It would have spelled a return of Loretta, Howard and Jerome (all who moved to New York and we didn't even see them in the final season ONCE which is crazy.

The other new characters were very lame, nothing big I bet would have happened to them. But I think James Roland could have tracked Nell down as the girls were now grown up, and the two could have reunited...he just sort of disappeared after several episodes of season 3, and seemed like he was definitely "The one" for Nell to end up with, unlike all the other jerks she got let down by.

07-02-2015, 03:24 PM	#1
Smartboy Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 06, 2007 Location: South Orange, NJ Posts: 4,231	A Painful Ending I see that my most recent thread on this page has 28 views and zero replies. When I posted it, I thought that maybe somebody who had seen the episode that was on yesterday morning might want to offer me his or her words of wisdom about it. In any event, I would like to commemorate the 28 views of this thread by mentioning that 28 years ago, this series finally went under. It seemed that the network had finally come to their senses and realized that they had gotten what they could out of this series and it was time to move on. Unlike shows like "Seinfeld" and "Friends" that left people wanting more, this series dragged on until virtually nobody watched it. I believe that the network's final attempt to salvage the show was by putting it on Tuesday Night. At this stage in the game, it had already been put in slots on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday Nights. And for the record, I would just like to point out that another show that was popular in its day by the name of "Mad About You" had been tried on every night of the week other than Friday before it finally went under.

07-03-2015, 12:17 AM	#2
Wildchats Me Senior Member Join Date: Jul 15, 2001 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,076	I hate how the show just "ended". They did this to Diff'rent Strokes and Silver Spoons as well. Neither show's final season finale was promoted as the series finale, they just ended on a regular episode. I think there was at least one more season worth of stories left to tell for Gimme A Break! Or, at least, a few more episodes to close out the show in season 6. At the time season 6 ended, Nell, I believe, lost her job at McDillon And Loud (remember, the new owner sold the company). There was an un-aired episode "Someday My Prince" which screwed up continuity before the final episode aired, but we all knew if the show was coming back that Nell wasn't going to be working there anymore. I don't think Nell becoming house mother at Sam's college would have worked. It would have ruined the show even more. I think Sam in her own spinoff would have been better. The network was going to make season 7 showing Nell as housemother at Sam's college dorm. It would have completely ruined the series even worse. I think where the show was headed (in storylines) that Mama Maybelle and Ernie could have gotten married. I think we would have at least seen that before the series closed out (had they known they were getting cancelled). It would have spelled a return of Loretta, Howard and Jerome (all who moved to New York and we didn't even see them in the final season ONCE which is crazy. The other new characters were very lame, nothing big I bet would have happened to them. But I think James Roland could have tracked Nell down as the girls were now grown up, and the two could have reunited...he just sort of disappeared after several episodes of season 3, and seemed like he was definitely "The one" for Nell to end up with, unlike all the other jerks she got let down by.