Why didn't the So Random stand-alone spin-off last longer - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 12-13-2019, 04:14 AM

I think that everybody knows that instead of producing a third season of Sonny with a Chance, Disney in their infinite wisdom (in light of Demi Lovato having to resign from SWAC due to her personal issues) made So Random a full-blown show. So Random unfortunately, only lasted one 26 episode season.

It's too easy to suggest that the show was doomed to fail without the presence of its star. I mean we're dealing with too radically different genres and formats. One was a sitcom (I think that Demi Lovato herself, described SWAC as 30 Rock for kids) and the other was pretty much Disney-fied interpretation of Nickelodeon's All That.

From what I read, So Random started off decently. But once Disney moved it to a 7:30 PM timeslot, and during the Summer it consistently started getting less than 3 million viewers per episode. To put things into perspective, one episode apparently, exactly 2.399 million viewers, only to be followed by a new Good Luck Charlie which got over 4 million.

I suspect from the get-go So Random was hamstrung by a lack of real identity. As I said before, So Random was really the closest thing that we had to All That during the interim of it being off the air for presumably for good in 2005 to it coming back in 2019. Even so, things became incredibly confusing in that the actors (being that the "show within the show" was being spun-off) had to continue being their Sonny with a Chance characters. If you've never watched SWAC and have no clue about the backstory, you wouldn't understand why Tiffany Thornton for example is referred to as Tawni in-between skits.

TMC · 01-05-2023, 03:07 AM

I just posted this video, but I'll attempt to make some cliff-notes behind the possible reasons why So Random only lasted for a single season:

Disney didn't know how to market So Random because unlike their other live-action shows at the time, So Random didn't have a singer (like Demi Lovato on Sonny With a Chance) in its main cast. Disney is always looking for another way to make money off of each leading actor in the main cast. It probably didn't help that other than Allisyn Ashley Arm (Zora), the rest of the cast were already well in their 20s. And none of the sketches were really marketable enough that you could make merchandise from it.
Furthermore, So Random was the only live-action Disney Channel show at the time, without a main star. Being that it was a sketch comedy show in the vein of All That, it was just a bunch of sporting characters running around doing sketches. So how exactly was that going to grasp at the attention of kids?
This ties in to the next argument in that other than Sonny, did anybody truly care about the supporting cast when compared to say, Victorious or iCarly? And could you before watching the video with complete confidence, name every character on Sonny With a Chance off the top of your head? The bottom-line in this argument is that you could still do a show without Carly Shay or Tori Vega and still get people to care since the supporting casts were still so strong.
The show simply put, was very expensive to produce. Sets had to be built for each new sketch. And then, they had to make costumes and make-up for each character in the sketches. You also have to take the guest-stars into consideration. Had So Random been renewed, it's likely that the main and recurring cast members were going to ask for new deals and higher pay.
The show was probably a tad bit too offbeat and dark with its humor than any other live-action Disney Channel show at the time. It's unlike on Nickelodeon's shows like iCarly or Victorious, where the main characters could get away with just about anything without any real life lessons or morals being taught and learned.

12-13-2019, 04:14 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,453	Why didn't the So Random stand-alone spin-off last longer I think that everybody knows that instead of producing a third season of Sonny with a Chance, Disney in their infinite wisdom (in light of Demi Lovato having to resign from SWAC due to her personal issues) made So Random a full-blown show. So Random unfortunately, only lasted one 26 episode season. It's too easy to suggest that the show was doomed to fail without the presence of its star. I mean we're dealing with too radically different genres and formats. One was a sitcom (I think that Demi Lovato herself, described SWAC as 30 Rock for kids) and the other was pretty much Disney-fied interpretation of Nickelodeon's All That. From what I read, So Random started off decently. But once Disney moved it to a 7:30 PM timeslot, and during the Summer it consistently started getting less than 3 million viewers per episode. To put things into perspective, one episode apparently, exactly 2.399 million viewers, only to be followed by a new Good Luck Charlie which got over 4 million. I suspect from the get-go So Random was hamstrung by a lack of real identity. As I said before, So Random was really the closest thing that we had to All That during the interim of it being off the air for presumably for good in 2005 to it coming back in 2019. Even so, things became incredibly confusing in that the actors (being that the "show within the show" was being spun-off) had to continue being their Sonny with a Chance characters. If you've never watched SWAC and have no clue about the backstory, you wouldn't understand why Tiffany Thornton for example is referred to as Tawni in-between skits.

01-05-2023, 03:07 AM	#2
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,453	I just posted this video, but I'll attempt to make some cliff-notes behind the possible reasons why So Random only lasted for a single season: Disney didn't know how to market So Random because unlike their other live-action shows at the time, So Random didn't have a singer (like Demi Lovato on Sonny With a Chance) in its main cast. Disney is always looking for another way to make money off of each leading actor in the main cast. It probably didn't help that other than Allisyn Ashley Arm (Zora), the rest of the cast were already well in their 20s. And none of the sketches were really marketable enough that you could make merchandise from it. Furthermore, So Random was the only live-action Disney Channel show at the time, without a main star. Being that it was a sketch comedy show in the vein of All That, it was just a bunch of sporting characters running around doing sketches. So how exactly was that going to grasp at the attention of kids? This ties in to the next argument in that other than Sonny, did anybody truly care about the supporting cast when compared to say, Victorious or iCarly? And could you before watching the video with complete confidence, name every character on Sonny With a Chance off the top of your head? The bottom-line in this argument is that you could still do a show without Carly Shay or Tori Vega and still get people to care since the supporting casts were still so strong. The show simply put, was very expensive to produce. Sets had to be built for each new sketch. And then, they had to make costumes and make-up for each character in the sketches. You also have to take the guest-stars into consideration. Had So Random been renewed, it's likely that the main and recurring cast members were going to ask for new deals and higher pay. The show was probably a tad bit too offbeat and dark with its humor than any other live-action Disney Channel show at the time. It's unlike on Nickelodeon's shows like iCarly or Victorious, where the main characters could get away with just about anything without any real life lessons or morals being taught and learned.