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?

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

Aside from "All in the Family," I don't think Norman Lear's shows from the '70's rerun all that well. Not because of the topical nature of stories, but because the acting style tended to be so loud and strident. Even the early years of AITF are hard for me to take. I much prefer the latter seasons, after production had moved from CBS Television City to Metromedia Square, and the writers began to de-emphasize topical stories in favor of more character-driven ones.

Good Times seemed to do well (it's run for years - has it ever been off the air?), but I agree about his shows. I think most Gary Marshall shows are annoying too, although they do much better in syndication.

As for China Beach's syndication issues, they have no problem airing The Wonder Years recently [...] so I'm not sure what that deal is.

It could be that "The Wonder Years" was more popular in its day than "China Beach."

I'm mad that they ditched Too Close for Comfort.

I wish I felt the same. I watched the entire run on Antenna TV last year while I still lived in NYC. I was stunned to realize what I thought was funny as a kid was no longer as an adult.

The Wonder Years has much easier subject matter than China Beach.

Doogie Howser is another show that seemed to fall off the radar.

I read an article somewhere awhile back that Serial shows do better in terms of DVD sales then when they are re-run on tv. Hence why you see NCIS, CSI, etc re-run to death while shows like Knots Landing, Friday Night lights, etc don't rerun. Though Knots Landing was rerun on TNT for several years during the 90s. I remember it re-ran in the early 90s for the first 7 seasons on TNT then was pulled.. after a huge viewer write-in, TNT obtained the full series run in 1993 and ran it twice in the 90s before SoapNet took over running it in the early 2000s.

Dynasty was re-run on FX in the 90s as well while Dallas was re-run on TNN in the late 90s (how I was introduced to it).

Good Times seemed to do well (it's run for years - has it ever been off the air?)

True. But I think African-American audiences are responsible for their longevity. There's enough of us out there, I think, to keep Black-oriented sitcoms going for years in local syndication and on niche networks such as TVOne and Centric, where the audience number expectations are lower.

True. But I think African-American audiences are responsible for their longevity. There's enough of us out there, I think, to keep Black-oriented sitcoms going for years in local syndication and on niche networks such as TVOne and Centric, where the audience number expectations are lower.

I was happy when Gimme A Break started re-running on TV one earlier this year, and I love 227, Living Single, and Amen too

I agree that African american audiences are a power-ful audience hence why I can watch tv-movies as well as comedies quite frequently on TVOne. Are there any good African american dramas from the 70s, 80s, or 90s?

I read an article somewhere awhile back that Serial shows do better in terms of DVD sales then when they are re-run on tv. Hence why you see NCIS, CSI, etc re-run to death while shows like Knots Landing, Friday Night lights, etc don't rerun.

KNOTS LANDING's DVD sales were poor, though, in comparison to DALLAS and DYNASTY's. Not even the "original 'Desperate Housewives'" buzz-words seemed to help. And as for FALCON CREST -- oh, brother! Last I heard, that series was an "on-demand" title on Amazon -- meaning, "We're not wasting any more manufacturing time and equipment than we have to." Maybe they could do the same for KL?

Are there any good African american dramas from the 70s, 80s, or 90s?

Well, there's "Soul Food" and...that's it.

Oh, wait, you meant "good," didn't you?

Edited October 8, 201312 yr by Khan

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

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

Taxi is airing on Me-TV. MTM was but I'm not sure if it's still on. Ellen is on FX.

I agree that the serialized dramas don't repeat too well but certain of the self-contained ones do quite well. I think Perry Mason is one of the highest-rated (if not THE highest) programs on Me-TV. The westerns seem to play quite well. People were begging Me-TV and/or Antenna TV for Emergency and Me-TV put that on.

Edited October 11, 201312 yr by applcin

KNOTS LANDING's DVD sales were poor, though, in comparison to DALLAS and DYNASTY's. Not even the "original 'Desperate Housewives'" buzz-words seemed to help.

But they only released KNOTS LANDING's first two seasons on DVD.. which were mostly self-contained episodes. Had Warner Brothers released up to season 4 or 5, then sales might have been better.

But they only released KNOTS LANDING's first two seasons on DVD.. which were mostly self-contained episodes. Had Warner Brothers released up to season 4 or 5, then sales might have been better.

I wouldn't argue with you there, Soaplovers. IA that WB exercised poor strategy in their releasing schedule. Doing a season-by-season schedule never would have worked for KNOTS since (IMO) it was a series that didn't kick off with fans until the end of its third season. Perhaps WB should have released S's 1&2 as one set, followed immediately with S3?

Edited October 9, 201312 yr by Khan

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.

Kate & Allie also had a healthy run on Oxygen about ten years ago. They also aired Love, American Style at some point around that time.

I know FX had Family at some point, some of the episodes on YouTube are taped from those airings. It's kinda frustrating because a bunch of old random shows on YT will have the bug from a familiar network in the corner, and it's hard to conceptualize FX or USA ever airing an obscure medical drama from the early 70s.

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.

HSB was on the AmericanLife Network, which had previously been GoodLife TV. They aired tons of shows that weren't on anywhere else over their lifetime: Flamingo Road, Homefront, Combat!, The FBI, a bunch of westerns, Finder of Lost Loves, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, F Troop, Welcome Back Kotter, Chico and the Man, and then later Lou Grant, Rhoda, Phyllis, Tarzan, etc.

Good Times seemed to do well (it's run for years - has it ever been off the air?), but I agree about his shows. I think most Gary Marshall shows are annoying too, although they do much better in syndication.

Honestly, I think the main four Norman Lear shows have been extremely successful in syndication. All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Sanford and Son were all on locals here as recently as maybe two or three years ago, and they've all had successful TV Land runs. Only The Jeffersons isn't on Antenna TV now. Those four are usually every easy to find, and the DVDs have been released consistently.

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.

Home Improvement is on Hallmark Channel now, airing in the afternoons. Taxi and MTM are on Me-TV, and MTM is also on one of those random "family" channels.

What about Here's Lucy and The Doris Day Show? Oldies, definitely, but I can't believe with I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show regularly getting play in syndication that Here's Lucy never really shows up anywhere.

Was Falcon Crest ever reran before SOAPnet?

CHiPs hasn't been seen nationally since it was late night filler on TNT ten or so years ago. I'd faithfully check the onscreen guide to see when it'd show up so I could set my VCR.

Silver Spoons is nowhere. Charles in Charge and Webster, as well. My Two Dads was on USA at one point in the early mornings, and I'd watch before school.

Edited October 9, 201312 yr by All My Shadows

Don't know if it's been listed yet. But, Perfect Strangers.

Ran 8 seasons. Spawned an extremely popular spin off (Family Matters) and was part of the TGIF lineup for 5 years.

Balki. Fvck yeah!

I think I need to clarify a statement I made earlier in this thread. When I said the majority of Norman Lear's '70's sitcoms don't rerun well, I didn't mean they weren't successful in reruns. I meant they just don't hold up in terms of quality. Specifically, as I've said before, acting styles on those shows tend to be obnoxious -- which is to say nothing of the writing.

Was Falcon Crest ever reran before SOAPnet?

IIRC, back when Lifetime was starting out and was a true "woman's channel," they ran FC in the mornings.