Primetime shows that were cancelled too soon

[All My Shadows]

Flamiiiiiingo Roooooadddd.

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[MrPrezident]

Central Park West. God, I miss Kylie Travis!

 

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[Soaplovers]

 

Ringer was on the wrong network.  It was a pilot for CBS but they passed because they didn't do serialized shows so CW picked up.  The ratings dropped after a 2 month hiatus..and the demos skewed older then CW wanted.  Nowadays it would be a hit for CW.  Great show (3 season bible) wrong network and era.

[amybrickwallace]

I LOVED this show as a kid...and it had a terrific theme song performed by Bill Medley. This should have been a TGIF staple for several years.

 

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[Franko]

At one point, Just the Ten of Us' Wikipedia page heavily implied it was cancelled due to network politics. ABC wanted to have Miller-Boyett as sole producer of TGIF's programs. The discussion points exist, albeit toned down, for the page about Going Places. 

 

I'd love to see more of Good and Evil, Witt Thomas Harris' five-episode flop from 1991. In her autobiography, Teri Garr wrote it was pitched to her as a satire of what we'd now call the 1 percent. That satire kept getting watered down as production continued.

 

Plus, Lane Davies and Susan Harris' dialogue is a match made in heaven.

(fast-forward to 7:50)

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Edited November 24, 2017 by Franko

[amybrickwallace]

 

Bill Kirchenbauer confirmed all that in a podcast interview found here:

 

http://justmyshow.blogspot.com/2010/04/jms-interviews-bill-kirchenbauer-of.html?m=1

[Franko]

It seems to me ABC was throwing out the baby with the bathwater, especially since Going Places was a one season wonder. Plus, where else was Just the Ten of Us going to fit? After Growing Pains? 

[Melroser]

My first thought was Central Park West too! Madchen Amick as Carrie was everything to me! haha

 

A quick second thought was...Titans. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcY_lhECtcE

Edited November 25, 2017 by Melroser

[amybrickwallace]

 

The only two cast members of Going Places who immediately benefited from its cancellation were Staci Keanan and Chris Castille. They were quickly hired on to the show that replaced Going Places - Step by Step.

[dc11786]

 

The pilot for "Good and Evil" is bizarre. Harris developed the show in the early 1980s with two brothers instead of two sisters. She tweaked the script for ABC. I love Susan Harris, but she has a habit of recycling pieces. In this case, I didn't find it effective. The bit with Genny in the lab talking to her late husband was a less emotional version of a scene she had with Betty White on "The Golden Girls" where Rose tells Charlie she is selling the house and moving to Miami. Similarly, I felt Denise's monologue about being unloved as a child was a less sensitive take on Elaine's confession to Danny where she talked her sister's death and what led to her being bad on "Soap." Having a laugh track going while Marian Seldes is telling Teri Garr they didn't invite her to family holidays because they didn't like her was foolish. To be fair, I feel like "Good and Evil" really needed an hour long pilot to be done well. Seth Green's David appears without any lines in the family dinner. 

 

With that said, I have seen the other episodes of "Good and Evil" and some of it is very well done even though it seems to me Harris has left the show. The Ginny / Eric / Charlotte story moves a bit too quickly, but, for my money, the real story worth watching is between Seth Green's David and William Shockley's Sonny. I know they recycled a bit of the show on "The Golden Girls." Lane appeared as the lawyer during Dorothy and Stan's slum lord case, Marius Weyers played the jewel thief during Blanche's Moonlight Madness party, and the bar where Sonny and David hang out was later used for the Rusty Anchor on "The Golden Girls." I was really shocked to see the Tate mansion used for the Sandler home.  

 

Speaking of 1990s serial comedies that deserved more time, "Grand" could have played out a bit longer. I even find some of the self-contained second season episodes highly enjoyable. 

[All My Shadows]

Some others:

Here Come the Brides

The New Dick Van Dyke Show

Baa Baa Black Sheep

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

James at 15

Campus Ladies
The Book of Daniel
Swingtown
Hidden Palms

Edited November 25, 2017 by All My Shadows

[Franko]

The two brothers idea is interesting. I wonder how it would have played in Dallas' heyday, before the self-parodying last few seasons.

 

I'm really glad to know Seth ended up being memorable. It was a real buzzkill watching the episode and realizing he did nothing.

 

Oh thank goodness, it *is* the Tate house. I thought my eyes were tricking me.

[amybrickwallace]

 

They had to revamp Going Places late into its brief run to try to raise its abysmal ratings - dumping Holland Taylor and adding a couple of "cute kids". Needless to say, it didn't work. The show sank without a trace and was replaced by Step by Step.

[Forever8]

I discovered this show as it comes on over the air channel called Start TV. Though it comes on at 4 in the morning. I wish it would've continued too. 

[sheilaforever]

Glad you’re enjoying it. I have never seen any rerun and therefore just relying on destinc memories, but I  had a real soft spot for Kathleen

Quinlan and the stellar cast of Family Law.