2 hours ago, Khan said:

I wonder, too, whether "Us" would've been another hit for Landon (and his first on a network other than NBC) had his cancer diagnosis not curtailed everything. Say what you will about the mawkishness of "Little House on the Prairie" and "Highway to Heaven," but Landon seemed to know better than a lot of others what people wanted to see every week on TV.

Had Landon lived, I wonder if Us would have made it to the other side of CBS ill-fated attempt at being hip and trendy, the 1995-96 season. Michael Landon being a guy probably would have helped him with Les Moonves.

12 minutes ago, Franko said:

Had Landon lived, I wonder if Us would have made it to the other side of CBS ill-fated attempt at being hip and trendy, the 1995-96 season. Michael Landon being a guy probably would have helped him with Les Moonves.

It probably would have been paired with Touched by An Angel (the female version of Highway to Heaven).

31 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

["Us'] probably would have been paired with Touched by An Angel (the female version of Highway to Heaven).

I think so, too. Numbers-wise, Saturdays weren't great for any network by that point, but CBS still performed decently there, even if their shows tended to lean toward conservative.

2 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

She also brought in her old crew members one of which was a sound man who was hard of hearing. That was sitcom material in itself.

IKR, lol? I shouldn't laugh, because Cam McCulloch was a legendary sound mixer/recordist who had worked on so many classic shows, including "I Love Lucy," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and pretty much all the MTM sitcoms. But there's something so "Remember WENN" (points to anyone who remembers THAT show!) about a sound guy who's elderly and hard of hearing.

I think it was either Tommy Krasker or Jackson Upperco who said (in their blog post about "Life with Lucy") that Gale Gordon actually looked more vibrant on camera in "Life with Lucy" - despite being near eighty at the time and not having worked regularly since "Here's Lucy" ended in '74 - than Lucy, who looked so frail to the point where audience members would actually gasp whenever she engaged in another pratfall. I also think I read somewhere that he still had a terrific memory, never once flubbing a line during tapings. So, you know, it doesn't surprise me a bit that he would ask to be paid for 22 episodes, regardless of the actual order; because, IMO, he had more than earned it.

2 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

Marla is one of the more shrewd actresses out there because she was right back on "The Jeffersons" when "Checking In" didn't last so I assume she had a strong contract.

IIRC, Marla Gibbs, who had been hesitant to do "Checking In," would not sign off unless the producers promised (in writing) that she could return to "The Jeffersons," should "Checking In" not get renewed. As much as she likely wanted her own series, she also knew what she and everyone else involved were jeopardizing by spinning off Florence...and she was right, lol.

Similarly, Norman Fell made ABC and the producers of "Three's Company" promise that he and Audra Lindley could return if "The Ropers" wasn't picked up for another season. In his case, however, it didn't work out that way.

Fell theorized that ABC deliberately waited to cancel "The Ropers" until they were no longer obliged contractually to honor their part of the deal. Otherwise, he maintained, they would've had to write back the Ropers into "Three's Company" - which would've been tough to do, I think, since Don Knotts had proven to be a big hit as Mr. Furley.

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

I wonder if Charlies angels would have gone longer if the original 3 Angels had stayed the course?

Maybe. Of course, we'll never know, since only one (Jaclyn Smith) made it all the way to the end. (I guess she wasn't as dumb as we all thought, lol). On the other hand, I think "Charlie's Angels" would've run about five seasons, regardless of whether all three had stuck with it. Personally, as much as I still love the show, I think there were only so many ways you could have gotten Jaclyn and Farrah (or Cheryl) to go undercover as bikini models before you started repeating yourself, lol.

2 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

Someone else that comes to mind with hit and miss is Delta Burke. She had a self-titled sitcom with "Delta" that didn't last and later on "Women Of The House" where she revived Suzanne Sugarbaker after patching things up with the Bloodworths.

To this day, I feel sorry for Delta Burke, whom the press, and especially the tabloids, vilified and turned the public against, even though she clearly was the victim. That's why, as badly as I felt for Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and how Les Moonves had basically black-balled her at CBS, I also think she had it coming, because there's no doubt in my mind over how she and her husband had hurt Delta on the DW set.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Khan

Reading all the posts in this thread, I realize once again how very, very smart David Hyde Pierce has been in avoiding another series after "Frasier," concentrating instead of theatre and films. He's made some limited appearances on shows like "The Good Wife," but nothing in the way of a regular gig (...yet, lol).

29 minutes ago, Khan said:

IKR, lol? I shouldn't laugh, because Cam McCulloch was a legendary sound mixer/recordist who had worked on so many classic shows, including "I Love Lucy," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and pretty much all the MTM sitcoms. But there's something so "Remember WENN" (points to anyone who remembers THAT show!) about a sound guy who's elderly and hard of hearing.

I really enjoyed the first few years of Remember WENN, until the male lead left. Even then I tried to watch when I could. I never forgave AMC for not letting the show have a proper ending.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

I never forgave AMC for not letting the show have a proper ending.

Me, too!!

32 minutes ago, Khan said:

Fell theorized that ABC deliberately waited to cancel "The Ropers" until they were no longer obliged contractually to honor their part of the deal. Otherwise, he maintained, they would've had to write back the Ropers into "Three's Company" - which would've been tough to do, I think, since Don Knotts had proven to be a big hit as Mr. Furley.

I think Norman Fell was right after ABC being shady. But I wish the Ropers had been written back in. No offense to the late Don Knotts, but I found Ralph Furley annoying. (But Fell and Lindley must have buried the hatchet with TPTB since Stanley and Helen did make one final appearance in Season 5 - which also involved Ralph Furley, ironically.)

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Wendy

2 minutes ago, Wendy said:

But Fell and Lindley must have buried the hatchet with TPTB since Stanley and Helen did make one final appearance in Season 5 - which also involved Ralph Furley, ironically.

To me, "The Night of the Ropers" felt like a consolation prize: "Yeah, we know we said we'd bring you back full-time if the spinoff flopped, but we're not gonna, so here's a guest shot on your old show to make up for it!" And if you want to know what the producers really thought of Jenilee Harrison, just watch how Jack keeps attempting to explain to Mr. Roper who Cindy is and what she's doing there, and how Mr. Roper keeps brushing him off with, "Who cares!?".

6 hours ago, Khan said:

Remember when William Hurt made that out-of-nowhere guest appearance as a shrink on "The King of Queens"?

I had no idea, lol. Nor did I know Gary Oldman did Friends!

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Reading all the posts in this thread, I realize once again how very, very smart David Hyde Pierce has been in avoiding another series after "Frasier," concentrating instead of theatre and films. He's made some limited appearances on shows like "The Good Wife," but nothing in the way of a regular gig (...yet, lol).

Almost exclusively in theater recently, with the exception of that short-lived Julia Child show on HBO. Good for him to know what he wants, a la the also out Tuc Watkins who seems to do just as he pleases these days.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Vee

49 minutes ago, Khan said:

To me, "The Night of the Ropers" felt like a consolation prize: "Yeah, we know we said we'd bring you back full-time if the spinoff flopped, but we're not gonna, so here's a guest shot on your old show to make up for it!" And if you want to know what the producers really thought of Jenilee Harrison, just watch how Jack keeps attempting to explain to Mr. Roper who Cindy is and what she's doing there, and how Mr. Roper keeps brushing him off with, "Who cares!?".

I guess that's better than nothing, but I can see why Norman Fell was still clearly unhappy over the whole thing by the time of the E! True Hollywood Story.

(reports on toxic backstage atmospheres don't hot the same without that show - imagine one for The Good Wife)

25 minutes ago, Vee said:

Almost exclusively in theater recently, with the exception of that short-lived Julia Child show on HBO.

I'd forgotten about "Julia," but with so much out there on streaming these days, can you blame me, lol?

Meanwhile, Kelsey Grammer still can't catch a break, even AFTER trying and failing to revive "Frasier." He has tried so many other sitcoms, and even a drama series or two, but nothing has stuck. Now, I see he's doing faith-based films, which is usually a sign that an actor's career has reached the end of the line.

43 minutes ago, Vee said:

Nor did I know Gary Oldman did Friends!

It's really the first time I paid any attention at all to Oldman, since I don't like most films made after 1989 or so.

Just now, Khan said:

I'd forgotten about "Julia," but with so much out there on streaming these days, can you blame me, lol?

Meanwhile, Kelsey Grammer still can't catch a break, even AFTER trying and failing to revive "Frasier." He has tried so many other sitcoms, and even a drama series or two, but nothing has stuck. Now, I see he's doing faith-based films, which is usually a sign that an actor's career has reached the end of the line.

It's really the first time I paid any attention at all to Oldman, since I don't like most films made after 1989 or so.

It is, although Grammer is very religious so I suppose this may just be where he wants to go. He was involved in that Jesus Revolution a few years ago which was a sleeper hit.

He also produced and maybe appeared in a short-lived US version of a popular British sketch show. A shame it didn't take off here as the sketch format is just about dead outside of SNL.

I kept meaning to watch that Julia shows as Sarah Lancashire is such a good actress. If you ever have time, try to watch some of her work as Raquel on Coronation Street.

I forgot it existed too. There's way too much streaming shít out there. All shows I never knew came and went on too many platforms. Don't get me started on "The Head," the goofy multi-national thriller series I discovered while on vacation a few years ago hidden deep on HBO, which centers around (you guessed it) a series of murder mysteries all involving a severed head.

Edited 51 minutes ago51 min by Vee