No Season 10 - right or wrong choice? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

RetroTVNitekatt · 03-21-2017, 02:11 PM

Depending where you read at some point CBS wanted to order a 10th Season of ODAT - and the girls (Bonnie and Val) opted to do just a 9th and final season at some point and end the series.

Did they make the right choice? From a creative standpoint they'd played these roles for 9 seasons and wanted to go onto new things - this was one of CBS's longest running TV Shows of the era.

But what about viewership - Ratings data for Season 9 seems to be non-existent (Well, non-accessible) and Season Eight dropped into the still respected teens (#16 from #10 in Season 7)which was still very good for CBS so picking up a 9th was a good move.

So without ratings data from that point of view we don't know. Has anyone ever turned up the Season #9 Ratings data - not on Wikipedia, and I've so far not been able to turn up the data from elsewhere.

It's never been 100% Clear when they wanted to order Season 10 - when they ordered Season 9, or sometime during Season 9. There's references on the web CBS wanted a two-season pick up and the girls only wanted one and then wrap things up. two-season pick ups were very unusual in the early 1980's. Does anyone know the REAL facts.

(I personally think the network passed on the spin-off due having picked up AFTER M*A*S*H and the network didn't want two "new" spin-offs on the line-up - and AFTER M*A*S*H ironically failed in it's second season, the 1984-1985 season!)

Bonniegirl · 03-21-2017, 02:22 PM

I would have loved a Season 10 or a ODAAT spin-off !

Set more in the little house and not so much Ann's apartment ! Featuring more about Barbara and Mark, and Max meeting women and dating again!

At this point I don't think too many people were interested in Ann and her career anymore, or her husband Sam.

Focus should have been on the younger people!

opus · 03-21-2017, 02:22 PM

Looking at most of the season 9 scripts, right choice.

Still would have watched though...

Bonniegirl · 03-21-2017, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by opus

Looking at most of the season 9 scripts, right choice.

I think a nice spin off called Max loves Bonnie would have been really cool!

RetroTVNitekatt · 03-21-2017, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

I would have loved a Season 10 or a ODAAT spin-off !

Set more in the little house and not so much Ann's apartment ! Featuring more about Barbara and Mark, and Max meeting women and dating again!

At this point I don't think too many people were interested in Ann and her career anymore, or her husband Sam.

Focus should have been on the younger people!

Good point, a revamp would have freshened the show at this point and it would have avoided the staleness that set in on Alice and The Jeffersons. Which lead both to have ratings drops (Alice's last season was a bad drop) and forcing CBS to take the shows off.

But would they still have tried to give Pat his spin-off?

opus · 03-21-2017, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroTVNitekatt

But what about viewership - Ratings data for Season 9 seems to be non-existent (Well, non-accessible) and Season Eight dropped into the still respected teens (#16 from #10 in Season 7)which was still very good for CBS so picking up a 9th was a good move.

So without ratings data from that point of view we don't know. Has anyone ever turned up the Season #9 Ratings data - not on Wikipedia, and I've so far not been able to turn up the data from elsewhere.

Here you go. In Season 9 '83-'84 it dropped to #47.

http://research.omicsgroup.org/index...a_Time#Ratings

RetroTVNitekatt · 03-21-2017, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by opus

Here you go. In Season 9 '83-'84 it dropped to #47.

http://research.omicsgroup.org/index...a_Time#Ratings

Thanks for the research...#47 from #16 is "Ouch"

Here's a thought - Did the network "sabotage" the show knowing it was the final season, Using it as a "patch" show for different nights. Yes, they had aired it on other nights during the run, but clearly it's strongest were Sundays nights.

I do wonder if the move in season 8 to Mondays 2/3rd through the season was testing the waters for a non-Sunday night after 4 1/2 seasons. (which ironic the show returned to the for the first half of season 9) Which might explain the drop to #16 from #10. (Would be interesting to know if the show had gotten the Season 9 pick-up by the time they did the Season 8 to Monday Move)

Television programming in the 1970's was a 3-player chess game

TV Guy · 03-21-2017, 08:43 PM

CBS had one of the top-rated shows on Sunday nights in 60 Minutes. And for a good chunk of the 1970s and 80s, it led into a quartet of highly-rated sitcoms: All in the Family/Archie Bunker's Place, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, and Alice.

When those sitcoms started to drop off in the ratings, even though 60 Minutes was still top-rated, CBS did the smart thing and replaced them. Murder She Wrote, debuted in 1984 and with the benefit of its 60 Minutes lead-in, shot into the top 10. And CBS replaced the other sitcoms and the aging Trapper John with its Sunday Night Movie, which also shot into the top 10.

Smart move on CBS' part. You don't leave aging shows on the schedule and let them squander a great lead in. All of those Sunday night sitcoms lasted at least a season too long - they were creatively tired at the end.

03-21-2017, 02:11 PM	#1
RetroTVNitekatt Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 09, 2003 Posts: 1,258	No Season 10 - right or wrong choice? Depending where you read at some point CBS wanted to order a 10th Season of ODAT - and the girls (Bonnie and Val) opted to do just a 9th and final season at some point and end the series. Did they make the right choice? From a creative standpoint they'd played these roles for 9 seasons and wanted to go onto new things - this was one of CBS's longest running TV Shows of the era. But what about viewership - Ratings data for Season 9 seems to be non-existent (Well, non-accessible) and Season Eight dropped into the still respected teens (#16 from #10 in Season 7)which was still very good for CBS so picking up a 9th was a good move. So without ratings data from that point of view we don't know. Has anyone ever turned up the Season #9 Ratings data - not on Wikipedia, and I've so far not been able to turn up the data from elsewhere. It's never been 100% Clear when they wanted to order Season 10 - when they ordered Season 9, or sometime during Season 9. There's references on the web CBS wanted a two-season pick up and the girls only wanted one and then wrap things up. two-season pick ups were very unusual in the early 1980's. Does anyone know the REAL facts. (I personally think the network passed on the spin-off due having picked up AFTER MASH and the network didn't want two "new" spin-offs on the line-up - and AFTER MASH ironically failed in it's second season, the 1984-1985 season!)
	__________________ Old Cats don't die-they just fall off the TV set!

03-21-2017, 02:22 PM	#2
Bonniegirl AKA Hazel Horvath Forum Addict Join Date: Jul 10, 2014 Posts: 65,602	I would have loved a Season 10 or a ODAAT spin-off ! Set more in the little house and not so much Ann's apartment ! Featuring more about Barbara and Mark, and Max meeting women and dating again! At this point I don't think too many people were interested in Ann and her career anymore, or her husband Sam. Focus should have been on the younger people!

03-21-2017, 02:22 PM	#3
opus VB Forum Superstar Join Date: May 16, 2015 Location: VB Galaxy Posts: 32,280	Looking at most of the season 9 scripts, right choice. Still would have watched though...

03-21-2017, 08:43 PM	#8
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	CBS had one of the top-rated shows on Sunday nights in 60 Minutes. And for a good chunk of the 1970s and 80s, it led into a quartet of highly-rated sitcoms: All in the Family/Archie Bunker's Place, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, and Alice. When those sitcoms started to drop off in the ratings, even though 60 Minutes was still top-rated, CBS did the smart thing and replaced them. Murder She Wrote, debuted in 1984 and with the benefit of its 60 Minutes lead-in, shot into the top 10. And CBS replaced the other sitcoms and the aging Trapper John with its Sunday Night Movie, which also shot into the top 10. Smart move on CBS' part. You don't leave aging shows on the schedule and let them squander a great lead in. All of those Sunday night sitcoms lasted at least a season too long - they were creatively tired at the end.