Big hits that are rarely seen today

[DRW50]

Khan mentioned Chico and the Man in another thread, and it reminded me of the fact that I never saw this show in syndication. I grew up watching reruns of shows like Good Times, and Sanford and Son (some of my family just loved Fred and laughed and laughed at every episode), and the MTM sitcoms, and the Gary Marshall sitcoms, and the other Norman Lear sitcoms, but I never saw this.

What are other shows that were huge hits at one point, then sort of vanished?

[All My Shadows]

One Day at a Time -- 9 seasons, hasn't been seen regularly since the late 90s

[DRW50]

Yeah. I think the last time I saw it was on E (that and Alice).

[All My Shadows]

Yep. Alice has been luckier. It was on TNN for a few years, then it resurfaced on the Ion Network or I Network or whatever it was called back then.

There are tons of non-sitcoms that were long-running shows that rarely get any airtime these days. All of the primetime soaps, especially. I have a sad feeling that SOAPnet was their last hurrah. Barnaby Jones, Medical Center, Baretta...don't know when these ever had any life in syndication, though they could show up on MeTV at any time (Barnaby Jones especially, since they already have Cannon). Eight is Enough hasn't been around in years.

[Gray Bunny]

Popular & high-rated dramas of yesteryear don't always seem to catch on as much in rerun syndication. Dynasty and Melrose Place are 2 that I would think would live on in reruns but they're nowhere to be found.

[DRW50]

Medical Center is one of those shows I've never seen anywhere.

[Khan]

"Trapper John, M.D." and "Police Story" are two series I haven't seen in years, save for YT clips and DVD's.

[All My Shadows]

Police Story was running nightly on the Retro Television Network a few years ago, at least it was here.

Have It's a Living and House Calls ever been rerun on a national level? I figure IaL is something Antenna TV would snap up for a nice little run. Speaking of Antenna, when they were launching, one of the shows that were set to air was The Farmer's Daughter, but they claimed the video prints needed to be remastered or digitized or whatever. It was supposed to be added later, but it never happened, and that show hasn't been seen since the early 80s, I believe.

[ReddFoxx]

Hill Street Blues and LA Law have been somewhat scarce in syndication, American Life Network gave them full runs at least a couple of times, but other than that I don't think they've aired very much.

Empty Nest had seven seasons, but it hasn't been seen outside of a run on Lifetime years ago and a fleeting one on Hallmark a couple of years back.

There was an old show called Sisters that my mother and aunt watched, it wasn't a hit, but it did stay on longer than most shows with middling ratings do. SOAPNet might have aired it, but it's definitely not a show that was distributed much after it's original run.

[Khan]

"Family" is another series I haven't seen rerun much on TV.

[Gray Bunny]

I would LOOOOVE Sisters (and Empty Nest for that matter) to air in reruns and to be put out on DVD.

It'd be cute if one of the cable networks recreated NBC's Saturday night line-up and had Golden Girls, Empty Nest, and Sisters reruns (and throw in The Nurses too, it lasted 3 seasons). Wishful thinking....

[soapfan770]

Funny not too long ago I was chatting on another board about the epic failure of Mad About You in syndication. I haven't seen Wings, Blossom, or Dave's World in years either.

LA Law had a nice A&E run where I discovered it but it's been off for at least ten years now.

[beebs]

I remember Empty Nest being in syndication a lot in the 90s, but, even with its Golden Girls connection has really disappeared since it went off the air. Shame. Murphy Brown is another one I rarely see anymore, though I suppose its topicality may well have been its downfall.

[saynotoursoap]

Dramas very seldom perform well in syndication, and hence, receive far less play. Sitcoms fare much better, but it seems that even those are becoming harder to get on the air unless they were produced in the last decade (ie Two and Half Men). Only Roseanne and Everybody Loves Raymond seem to get significant airplay...aside from the series shown on MeTV or Antenna TV. Of course, with so many series now on DVD, I do not understand why anyone would prefer to watch them butchered to hell and loaded with commercials on television. Personally, I wish MeTV and Antenna TV would show only series not currently on DVD. I am annoyed when "classic networks" run something I can buy for home or watch on Netflix.

[~bl~]

Wings was getting replayed on TVGuide Network, I saw it over the summer.

Barnaby Jones used to be reran on local television in the 80s and 90s in NYC, but disappeared after that. Eight is Enough used to be broadcast on FX, back 18-20 years ago when they used to show reruns. They had a lot of superhero shows also that I haven't seen run anywhere else.