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Primetime shows that were cancelled too soon


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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.

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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)

 

Edited by Franko
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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. 

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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.

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