Khan

That is just as terrifying to watch as the "Jingles the Clown" mystery on SOMERSET, but for different reasons.

I, myself, would have dumped Emma. I appreciated what Margaret Ladd contributed initially to the show. However, as the series progressed, I think the producers struggled to make her fit into what the show was becoming.

True, on both counts. NBC only green-lit ADW in the first place because it was Cosby's show and they wanted to remain in business with him. And when they did green-light it, they never expected it to become the kind of show that it did when Debbie Allen assumed control in S2. Remember, this is the same network that thought it was perfectly okay to have a heavyset black woman play Mammy to a white widower and his three, spoiled daughters. (Of course, I can't see Grant Tinker ever green-lighting a show like "Gimme a Break!," but....) I still laugh at the thought of "Murder, She Wrote" handing "Family Ties" its' Reagan-lovin' ass in the ratings. FT so needed to die.

To this day, I'll never understand the logic behind dumping Ana-Alicia. Melissa was poised to become a major player in Tuscany Valley -- and a threat to Angela and the rest of the Channing/Gioberti clan -- like never before. If done right, it could have changed the show's entire trajectory. But, leave it to FC to shoot itself in the foot at the MOST inopportune time.

Perhaps. But, I think its' permanence in the post-Cosby time slot was actually Cosby's doing. IIRC, Cosby had total say over what show followed his on Thursday nights, and he wanted that show to be ADW, period. S4, which was the first w/ Woody, was also the first to rank in the Nielsens' top 10, at #5. The previous season, which was also the first w/ Frasier, ranked only thirteenth. James Burrows and the Charles brothers looked at Michael J. Fox's popularity on "Family Ties" and figured adding a young male character to their cast (to replace the late Nicholas Colasanto, who had played Ernie "Coach" Pantusso) would boost the ratings...and they were right. Now, I know that "Cheers" was an established hit BEFORE Woody, despite its' rough, first two seasons; and I know that conventional wisdom (for lack of a better word) today says that "Cheers," and the Sam/Diane relationship, were beloved by all (or, at least by those who began watching during S1) from start to finish. But, I ALSO know that that's a somewhat revisionist take on its' actual history. The truth is, even as "Cheers" was climbing in the ratings -- thanks, in large part, to NBC's newfound success w/ their Thursday night lineup -- there was also growing backlash to the Sam-and-Diane saga, which had been, up to that point, the show's dominant storyline. People were already getting tired of that merry-go-round -- and they were REALLY getting tired of Diane in particular. Remember that remark, on "The Golden Girls," that Paula Kelly's maid character made to Sophia as she was leaving the house for the last time? Trust me when I say she wasn't the only one glad to see "that uppity white woman," Shelley Long, finally leave, lol. The premiere of "The Cosby Show" and its' impact on the entire NBC Thursday night lineup helped "Cheers" finally become a hit, but what KEPT it a hit -- and, in fact, helped it become even stronger in the ratings -- was the combination of Shelley Long's exit and the subsequent expansion of the show's focus (to Woody; to Frasier/Lilith; and eventually, to Woody/Kelly and Rebecca and her ill-fated affair with Robin Colcord). Otherwise, had none of those things happened, and had Sam and Diane been allowed to continue dominating the show, I don't believe it would have ever cracked the top 10. Me neither. FOX likes to pretend that it was "The Simpsons" that helped them grow from "fledgling network" to major player, but that isn't exactly the truth. FOX became the player that it is today, thanks to shows like "Martin," "In Living Color," "Living Single" and even "Married...with Children"; all shows that appealed to the so-called "urban demographic." Between that period of FOX's history, and the origins of The WB and UPN, I really believe there's a book that's still waiting to be written -- about how POC helped alter the network TV landscape in the early '90's, and how they were eventually discarded by the very networks who once openly courted them.

Personally, I don't think Raines had/has chemistry with anyone. He's entirely too much of a ham. But, that wouldn't matter to me. Even if a Alan/Hope redo didn't pan out, I'd still want Hope to be there, keeping the Bauer family alive in some fashion. I'd just find someone else to pair her with.

I can't say that I blame her. For the most part, I found the writing on LOVING to be serviceable and nothing more. I never sparked to anything that happened on that show -- although, God knows, I tried, lol!

I never believed they were, lol. Again, I love DW, and I always will, but I'm not blind to its' faults. The writing and editing could be, at times, very, very sloppy. It's just a miracle that they were able to get the shows done on time for airing. However, I will say this much: LBT was right about there being a bias against her shows; and that's because the TV industry, in general, has never looked kindly toward any series that express a Southern or rural sensibility. To them, Southerners are illiterate and unsophisticated, with a sense of humor that appeals to the absolute lowest, common denominator. Trust me: if DW had been set in NYC or L.A., instead of Atlanta, CBS would have regarded it as highly as they did "Murphy Brown."

Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is a brilliant writer, but she's also a very lazy writer. People always pat her on the back for being the only woman ever to write an entire season's worth of shows by herself. However, they gloss over the fact that most of those scripts were literally hand-written, because she put off writing them until the very last minute. As a result, you have many shows during the early part of DW's run that, while they were very funny, they were also very formless. And I say all that as someone who still loves DW (or, at least, its' first five years). What REALLY helped "Cheers" soar in the ratings -- believe it or not! -- was Woody Harrelson's joining the cast. Yeah, I can't explain it either, lol. I'm not saying ADW's time slot never played a factor in its' success. I'm just saying there were several factors that fed into its' decline and subsequent cancellation, and the time slot change was just one of 'em.

I wouldn't label it as a G-rated version of "Roseanne," because that would imply that the two series had the same political sensibility, which they didn't. The truth is, "Home Improvement" was Trumpism before Trumpism was a thing. It just presented its' values in a sneakier, less polemical fashion.

Although I do think ADW's time slot change was NBC's attempt to bury the show -- the network had always been skittish about its' tackling "sensitive issues" like AIDS and apartheid, but as long as Bill Cosby was still around and still making money for the network with his own show, NBC stayed hands-off -- I don't think you can blame its' ratings decline on that alone. The fact is, once Dwayne and Whitley wed, a lot of the romantic tension that fueled the series was gone. (They tried to replicate it -- first, with a Ron/Kim/Freddie triangle; and later, with a full-fledged Ron/Freddie union -- but it wasn't the same). Add to that original cast member Dawnn Lewis' sudden departure to "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper," with little or no explanation for Jaleesa's absence on-screen (despite being still married to Col. Taylor and the mother of his newest child); "Martin," on rival network FOX, siphoning off many viewers; a lukewarm reception to the "new crew" of Jada Pinkett (Smith), Karen Malina White, Ajai Sanders, Bumper Robinson and Patrick Malone; and a sense that the writer/producers were stretching credibility to keep the core characters tied to Hillman long after they all had graduated; and, in the end, you had the recipe for a well-written, well-produced show that was getting tired nevertheless. Two theories: 1) ABC (foolishly) believed RFT could thrive in its' new time slot, without taking into account why it had been successful in its' initial tryout OR -- like you said, @Paul Raven -- that it was now being paired with a new series ("Delta") that was untried and, IIRC, incongruous with the type of show RFT was. ("Delta" was broad and coarse even by "Roseanne"'s standards.) 2) Thanks to the success of "Roseanne" and "Home Improvement," ABC was rebranding itself as a home for blue-collar-appealing shows, and a show like RFT just didn't fit into that category, so they found a way to bury it and move on.

Boy, Joss's most diehard fans were/are real pieces of work. There, you had fairly large, fairly vocal groups of people, with shared experiences of being treated like crap by the "cool kids," and what were they doing? Treating like crap those that they deemed weren't "cool enough" to be part of their circle. It's like they were deliberately getting their revenge, or the irony was lost on them, or both. Frankly, it was enough for me to stop watching Joss's shows altogether. I have much, much fonder memories of my interactions with fans of "Freaks and Geeks" and "My So-Called Life" than I have with those jackholes.

Agree. "Frasier" was never a "bad" show, but the quality did decline once Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd left as EP/showrunners and Niles and Daphne finally got married. Still, even subpar "Frasier" was an oasis of intelligent, character-driven comedy in a virtual sea of lowbrow sitcoms that invariably paired homely-looking guys with "hot" women.

Bern Bennett: "Please join us again...for THE YOUNG...AND THE MANSCAPED."

Think again. It's kind of like what I just said in the LOVING/THE CITY thread: the writing on Y&R these days is serviceable. Meaning, of course, it does the job...and nothing else. It just doesn't have any "life," and that's because (IMO) so many characters have long played out or been written into corners they can't be written out of. So, you know, even if a serial killer storyline meant the end of characters such as Jill, Traci, Lauren, etc....? It'd suck to see them die, and see them die in such grisly fashion, but if it means jump-starting this show, then it's gotta be done. Period.

Like sands through the hourglass....

All I can say is, thank God for "Frasier."

My personal choice for a Hope recast -- provided, of course, Elvera Roussel wasn't up for returning -- was Marcia McCabe (ex-Sunny, SFT; ex-Alicia, OLTL).

Agree. I applaud Y&R for resisting doing a serial killer storyline for so long, but...it's time.

ICAM. Watching the promo, I don't feel swept up in the romance of the moment. Instead, I feel like ordering pizza.

I wouldn't be surprised if she did.

Even now, with his career and reputation remaining in shambles, Joss seems too quick to deflect responsibility, blaming others for misunderstanding his intent...or his pain. Joss Whedon can politely FOAD.

In my mind, Neil DID reconcile with Liz; and he and Noelle supported her in her new career as a cruise ship entertainer. IA about Don/JA. It's a shame he's been forgotten, and that DAYS never even tried to bring him back, especially once SANTA BARBARA was finished.

Same!! Again: same!!

#Karmasabitch