Jump to content

Four Seasons and Done


soapfan770

Recommended Posts

  • Members

I had been interested in starting this topic for a while now, but I was wondering if we could dig into shows that lasted four seasons and then done due to various reasons. Some shows start off big but ended with a whimper. 

Shows strived for that magic number of 100 for a hope of getting syndication deals, but so many failed to reach it. Obviously in the days of streaming that’s no longer relevant but it’s still notable.

Back in the 80’s two of my favorite shows Scarecrow and Mrs. King and The Equalizer suffer this fate, in the the 90’s a good number of sitcoms on both NBC (from Dear John to Caroline in the City) and CBS (Evening Shade for example ) saw this occur along with notable cult dramas as well. In more recent times shows like Ugly Betty and Revenge ended up being four at done.

Just curious on anyone else’s thoughts and examples. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 8
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

More 1980s dramas to add to your list: Knight Rider, Wiseguy, Thirtysomething, China Beach, Life Goes On

To the CBS comedy list add Major Dad, Dave's World, Cybill, Cosby.

Edited by kalbir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Interesting since in recent years the syndication number has been lowered to more like 80-90-ish episodes (ie three months of daily M-F stripped syndication), so there's a lot of examples in recent years of shows lasting four seasons. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • Members

The Equalizer original series was not a big hit yet it became a movie franchise and got a reboot series. The Equalizer reboot season 5 starts this fall, so the reboot will have a longer run than the original.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Which pisses me off to no end, lol.

No offense to Queen Latifah, or to her fans, but speaking as one who grew up watching the original series, I'll always prefer Edward Woodward and his mix of steeliness and fatherly concern over her or Denzel.

Last night, I read Edward Zwick's new memoir, "Hits, Flops and Other Illusions;" and apparently, execs at ABC were very upset when he and Marshall Herskovitz elected to end "thirtysomething" at the end of its' fourth season.  (Up to that point, the show had been the most gratifying experience of Zwick and Herskovitz's careers; but after four years, they felt they had said everything they had wanted to say with those characters).  In exchange for allowing them to end their show on their terms, Zwick and Herskovitz promised the network another show...which is how "My So-Called Life" came to be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy