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?

Me-TV has said they would be airing Barnaby Jones and Quincy in the future. Looking forward to that.

I always wanted to see In Search Of again. Granted, like Robert Stack's Unsolved Mysteries or Jack Palance's Believe It or Not, things would be dated, solved or explained differently somehow since it's so many years later but it would make for a nice look back.

When I was a kid in the 70s, Tom Baker's Dr. Who was airing in the US. I don't remember seeing it since.

Before Antenna TV started airing Barney Miller and Benson, I don't think those had been aired much. I had bought the BM series on DVD and within a year Antenna announced it would be on.

Edited October 8, 201312 yr by applcin

I'm surprised no one mentioned thirtysomething or China Beach.

Edited October 8, 201312 yr by VirginiaHamilton

China Beach is one of those shows that was never a big hit and had huge music rights issues - I am grateful it was repeated briefly on TV Land (or part of it was - they stopped and then it aired briefly on The History Channel).

I read an article years ago saying Murphy Brown didn't do well in syndication because it was too topical.

Doctor Who continued to run on some PBS stations for years, and the Sci-Fi Channel for a year or two in the early 90s (that's how I got hooked on the show).

I saw In Search Of when it used to run A&E in the mornings, in the early 90s.

China Beach is one of those shows that was never a big hit and had huge music rights issues - I am grateful it was repeated briefly on TV Land (or part of it was - they stopped and then it aired briefly on The History Channel).

I read an article years ago saying Murphy Brown didn't do well in syndication because it was too topical.

That's odd because Murphy Brown reruns played heavily in my neck of the woods back in the 90s. As for China Beach's syndication issues, they have no problem airing The Wonder Years recently (a show that has yet to be released on DVD because of said music rights issues) so I'm not sure what that deal is.

Another show that I haven't seen in reruns in ages: Perfect Strangers (which, correct me if I'm wrong, folks, kicked off the Miller-Boyett era of comedies on ABC).

Some rebroadcast info about shows mentioned above –

Last time I saw Medical Center reruns on TV were as was part of CBN's family entertainment line up in the early or mid 1980's. They also aired the 1960's medical drama Ben Casey (starring Vince Edwards & Sam Jaffe) at that time

Eight is Enough aired on Me-TV Too about 3 years ago or so (I was keeping a look out for an episode with a Ryan's Hope actor's guest appearance on the show)

One Day at a Time had been on both Me-TV and Me-TV Too as recently as last year

Edited October 8, 201312 yr by safe

AMS, IaL is a tough call for me because in the late '80s I think it was a mix of reruns and first-run syndication that I remember airing. House Calls I only know because it's what the Eunice teleplay preempted as seen on YouTube. That teleplay led to Mama's Family.

I think Lifetime used to aire China Beach and I believe it was USA that used to aire Eight is Enough and maybe Family in the '80s.

And yes, SoapNet did air Sisters in the early days of the network.

PAX and/or ION aired Kate & Allie and Valerie/The Hogan Family. I can't remember what the name of the station was, maybe it was Retro, but in the early '00s they showed shows I never thought I'd see like Private Secretary/Suzy, Life with Elizabeth, and The Mothers-in-Law.

I remember Soapnet running Sisters, definitely, around 2001 or 2002.

Never seen House Calls.

I know a lot of dramas don't repeat well so it's sitcoms being MIA which surprise me.

I saw Nanny and the Professor repeated on FX, and that's it. The early days of the channel used to air very rarely seen shows, like Wendy and Me, before the channel went to hell.

Not exactly "hits", but I sure would get a kick out of watching Out of This World and Small Wonder on AntennaTV. I'm mad that they ditched Too Close for Comfort. There were some quirky first-run syndication shows that will probably never air again, like Harry and the Hendersons, Starting From Scratch, What a Dummy...

Lifetime aired Murphy Brown off and on. The too timely topical thing has also been attributed to Maude's lack of success in syndication.

Golden Girls, 227, Empty Nest, Amen, sure, but I'm struggling to remember if Lifetime or some other network reran Nurses or if I'm making that up.

How about Hill Street Blues? I know one station used to run it once a week but they stopped very early on. I think only the first two seasons are out on DVD and those are hard to find because they came out so long ago.

How about Hill Street Blues? I know one station used to run it once a week but they stopped very early on. I think only the first two seasons are out on DVD and those are hard to find because they came out so long ago.

How about Hill Street Blues? I know one station used to run it once a week but they stopped very early on. I think only the first two seasons are out on DVD and those are hard to find because they came out so long ago.

TV Land reran Hill Street Blues for several years (I used to watch that and St. Elsewhere in the middle of the night - I watched most of St. Elsewhere's run twice). I think it was on another network too, more recently, briefly.

I think Lifetime aired Nurses briefly.

I'm always surprised no one ever ran the sitcom E/R, with George Clooney and Conchata Ferrell. I saw that on Lifetime briefly, before Clooney hit it big. Yet no one put it on again after he became so popular in the 90s.

I wish Melrose Place and Dynasty were bigger hits in syndication, but I can understand why they didn't succeed: too serial. You really had to keep up with those shows for them to make any sense. It explains why Murder, She Wrote still plays in syndication so well since each episode is self contained.

Night Court is one that I haven't seen on the air in years and it was a pretty big hit in the 80s/early 90s. I wish someone would air it- I LOVE IT!

The Facts of Life was big in syndication for a while and then all but disappeared. Nick at Night briefly brought it back earlier in the decade and I think The Hub aired it for a bit, but it seems to have disappeared again.

Ellen isn't really shown anywhere anymore, which is a shame because I thought the early seasons were hilarious!

I wish someone would show thirtysomething. It's another old fave of mine.

Ally McBeal and The Practice I'd KILL to re-watch- Ally McBeal was back for a little while, I think for its 10th anniversary, only to go away again. Too bad because I was hooked all over again.

The Wonder Years never got much syndication love IMO and still doesn't- is it on The Hub anymore? (I don't get that network- wish I did)

Taxi has been gone since it's Nick at Nite run and it's a classic. Same with MTM (my all-time fave!).

Nick at Nite ruined a good thing when they started putting recent shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends on. I wish they had stuck to the 50s, 60s, 70s format and maybe included some 80s sitcoms, but that time seems to have past.

Not that I mind, but Home Improvement seems to have all but disappeared from the airwaves.

And not that it was a huge hit ever, but NewsRadio, to me, is one of the funniest sitcoms of all-time and can't be found anywhere.

It's a shame. There's a whole network to be had here, just with some of the shows mentioned in this thread.

I wish Melrose Place and Dynasty were bigger hits in syndication, but I can understand why they didn't succeed: too serial. You really had to keep up with those shows for them to make any sense. It explains why Murder, She Wrote still plays in syndication so well since each episode is self contained.

Not only that, MSW is a huge hit in international syndication too. Just about every country I've visited still reruns the show.

Edited October 8, 201312 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

I lost a lot of my interest in Nick at Nite when they began showing so much Happy Days (not a fan, sorry) and bringing on more and more recent sitcoms just made it official.

Head of the Class is another you never see anywhere.

I'm surprised no one mentioned thirtysomething or China Beach.

I'm not surprised "thirtysomething" has not been seen much in reruns. Not only did they have some music rights issues, but the show also became more serialized as time went on.

Another series: "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd." They SAY music rights are to blame for the lack of DVD releases, but I don't buy it. For one, I don't remember many popular songs playing on that show; and for another, it wasn't as if music was integral to stories. (Again, not by my recollection.)