A little info - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Ericguy · 10-02-2002, 02:21 PM

I just thought I would pass this along for those who don't know it and if you do maybe you can comment. CBS never liked WKRP and the reason is that Mary Tyler Moore(whose company produced the show) was on a talk show right after her crappy show went off the air. She was asked about what she liked currently on tv, because by then I guess she was TV queen, and she mentioned that she was embarassed about WKRP being affiliated with her company because it showed no class. After that is seemed CBS tried to kill WKRP by changing its time slot, putting it on hiatus, and generally not promoting it at all. The thing as that it did well everywhere so eventually they just killed it anyway. Sometimes politics plays a major part in schedules. By the way, this not the first time CBS hated a show and tried to kill it, The Dukes of Hazzard and many others come to mind, but to not like WKRP is criminal.

jaime_weinman · 10-02-2002, 07:37 PM

Uh.... her "crappy show?" That "crappy show" is regarded by many of us as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. There would never have been a WKRP if it hadn't been for the success (and the example) of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Anyway, Mary Tyler Moore's comment, tactless though it may have been, had nothing to do with the show getting killed. She didn't even run MTM; her husband, Grant Tinker (one of the greatest TV executives who ever lived) ran the company. The reason WKRP got moved around a lot is because some CBS execs didn't like it, period. There may have been an added problem that by 1982 Grant Tinker was gone from MTM (he went to run NBC) and his inept successors might not have given WKRP their full support. But you can't blame Mary Tyler Moore for any of this. (According to Tinker's autobiography, Moore tried to warn him that he was leaving MTM in the hands of people who would run the company into the ground, and he didn't listen.)

Ericguy · 10-03-2002, 11:56 AM

Well when I say that MTM's show was crappy it is just my opinion. I like Three's Company and it gets bashed like a softball at a company picnic. I don't think what she said actually was the only thing that killed the show but it didn't help the situation any, a woman of her power at CBS bashing it. She did not run the network but it did not mean she did not influence it. I wonder why networks, particuarly CBS, puts shows on they are ashamed of in the first place. I mean getting a show on the air is a long process from the pitch to the pilot to the final scheduling, these executives see the pilot and THEN decide to put on thier fall or spring schedule. It is not like they order it based on premise or idea. If they hate a show when they see it then why do they order it? They did it with WKRP, Dukes of Hazard, American Gothic and many others. I know networks like thier shows to be emmy nominated, critcally acclamied, and respected but some shows are just funny and are not trying to "smart" like Frazier (ugh) or blessed Mary Tyler Moore but not all shows fit into that category. I love Three's Company, Perfect Strangers, SOAP, and some shows just because when I sit down and watch them they make me laugh. That is really all that counts.

10-02-2002, 02:21 PM	#1
Ericguy Banned Banned!! Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 09, 2002 Posts: 185	A little info I just thought I would pass this along for those who don't know it and if you do maybe you can comment. CBS never liked WKRP and the reason is that Mary Tyler Moore(whose company produced the show) was on a talk show right after her crappy show went off the air. She was asked about what she liked currently on tv, because by then I guess she was TV queen, and she mentioned that she was embarassed about WKRP being affiliated with her company because it showed no class. After that is seemed CBS tried to kill WKRP by changing its time slot, putting it on hiatus, and generally not promoting it at all. The thing as that it did well everywhere so eventually they just killed it anyway. Sometimes politics plays a major part in schedules. By the way, this not the first time CBS hated a show and tried to kill it, The Dukes of Hazzard and many others come to mind, but to not like WKRP is criminal.

10-02-2002, 07:37 PM	#2
jaime_weinman Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 22, 2000 Posts: 122	Uh.... her "crappy show?" That "crappy show" is regarded by many of us as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. There would never have been a WKRP if it hadn't been for the success (and the example) of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Anyway, Mary Tyler Moore's comment, tactless though it may have been, had nothing to do with the show getting killed. She didn't even run MTM; her husband, Grant Tinker (one of the greatest TV executives who ever lived) ran the company. The reason WKRP got moved around a lot is because some CBS execs didn't like it, period. There may have been an added problem that by 1982 Grant Tinker was gone from MTM (he went to run NBC) and his inept successors might not have given WKRP their full support. But you can't blame Mary Tyler Moore for any of this. (According to Tinker's autobiography, Moore tried to warn him that he was leaving MTM in the hands of people who would run the company into the ground, and he didn't listen.)

10-03-2002, 11:56 AM	#3
Ericguy Banned Banned!! Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 09, 2002 Posts: 185	Well when I say that MTM's show was crappy it is just my opinion. I like Three's Company and it gets bashed like a softball at a company picnic. I don't think what she said actually was the only thing that killed the show but it didn't help the situation any, a woman of her power at CBS bashing it. She did not run the network but it did not mean she did not influence it. I wonder why networks, particuarly CBS, puts shows on they are ashamed of in the first place. I mean getting a show on the air is a long process from the pitch to the pilot to the final scheduling, these executives see the pilot and THEN decide to put on thier fall or spring schedule. It is not like they order it based on premise or idea. If they hate a show when they see it then why do they order it? They did it with WKRP, Dukes of Hazard, American Gothic and many others. I know networks like thier shows to be emmy nominated, critcally acclamied, and respected but some shows are just funny and are not trying to "smart" like Frazier (ugh) or blessed Mary Tyler Moore but not all shows fit into that category. I love Three's Company, Perfect Strangers, SOAP, and some shows just because when I sit down and watch them they make me laugh. That is really all that counts.