10 hours ago, Khan said:

It's just a shame that that film didn't translate into more "serious" gigs for him. I feel like he was primed and ready for a lead on a really good, really dark drama series, like how Bryan Cranston went from "Malcolm in the Middle" to "Breaking Bad."

He may have missed out on them back then but in the changing climate of the 2010s, etc. he would absolutely have had at least one or two of those by now, same as Cranston. What a waste.

11 hours ago, Khan said:

IIRC, "Sling Blade" was the moment when the industry, at least, sat up and took notice of John Ritter as more than just the dude from "Three's Company" who "fell funny." It's just a shame that that film didn't translate into more "serious" gigs for him. I feel like he was primed and ready for a lead on a really good, really dark drama series, like how Bryan Cranston went from "Malcolm in the Middle" to "Breaking Bad."

This is likely what helped get him his guest work as the villain of the week in "Buffy." I remember his performance getting a lot of praise.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by DRW50

John Ritter did serious work in a lot of tv movies in the 90s... I think he even played a killer and he was creepy. Shame people didn't pay attention to tv movies back in the day because back in the 80s and 90s, they were an outlet for comedic actors/actresses to play more serious and darker roles (i.e. Meredith Baxter, Joanna Kerns, Judith Light, Kirstie Alley, etc).

Streaming has caused a huge uptake in quantity, but the quality has kind of diminished in some ways. It's why a lot of older shows from the 2000s and earlier seem to do well in streaming despite a loud minority proclaiming how out of touch those classic shows are.

Bringing it back to a soap opera focus... William Devane had trouble finding a successful series after Knots Landing ended.

Phenom - An odd coupling pairing with Judith Light where the two had a good comedic chemistry.. but didn't survive past one season.

The Monroes - Prime soap where he and Susan Sullivan played well opposite one another... but bad time slot and a slow start killed the show.

Turks - A short of Blue Bloods esque show about a family of cops in Chicago that came out in the late 90s

The Michard Richards Show - I understand work is work, but the Seinfeld curse was still a thing in 2000 LOL

Crumbs - He and Jane Curtin were feuding exes with Fred Savage as their gay son... Such an odd pairing of performers LOL

The Grinder - I believe he played the father of Rob Lowe and Fred Savage.. lasted just a season.

His best success post Knots Landing was a strong recurring role in 24 and also some good tv movies.

8 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

Loni Anderson was an actress who never managed to duplicate the success she enjoyed on WKRP in Cincinnati, which is really a shame because she was a skilled comedienne. In her last role, in a Lifetime TV movie, she proved she still had the comedic chops. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact she was beautiful and glamorous in her private and public image, so in the 80s they weren't casting someone who looked like her in a comedy.

Anderson Co-starred with Lynda Carter in the series "Partners in Crime" (1984). Carter is another example of having a hit show in the 1970's, but failed to duplicate that in another series. She did the short lived 'Hawkeye" (1994-95) with Lee Horsley (who also failed to duplicate a successful series). Lynda was and is still gorgeous. Why Aaron Spelling did latch onto her for one of his shows is a mystery.

How much of Loni Anderson’s struggles were related to Burt Reynolds too? He was such a chauvinist, and like Lee Majors with Farrah Fawcett didn’t like being outshined by the women he was involved with.

Michael J. Fox found success after "Family Ties" with "Spin City". Of course he had to leave that for health reasons.

Demond Wilson did "Baby...I'm Back!" post Sanford and Son. It got decent ratings, but was apparently canceled because Norman Lear wanted another season of "Good Times". Unlike a lot of shows that feature acts from massive hits, Wilson had a supporting cast that was fairly decent (Denise Nicholas and Helen Martin). A few years later he started in "The New Odd Couple" with Ron Glass, but a writers strike forced the show to recycle episodes from the original series and it was canceled because it didn't find an audience even after original scripts were written.

Pernell Roberts had a good run of seven years with "Trapper John MD" years after he left "Bonanza".

"Nurse" was very short lived, but it did net Michael Learned a fourth Emmy after three others for "The Waltons".

I think Michael J. Fox would've likely found another lasting success had his illness not progressed so much further. He tried a show a few years back despite his condition and it was neither the right fit nor time. He's still warmly received whenever he appears in anything, and still has his charm.

(I had no idea til just now he is apparently on Shrinking for Apple TV - a streamer almost no one watches, where his costar is Harrison Ford. Apparently they get along very well)

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Vee

One instantly came to my mind.

Jimmy Smits

Despite years of having success working in television, pretty much except for LA Law and NYPD Blue, he never got a long-term role on a long-lasting show.

But I guess for every The West Wing, Dexter, and Sons of Anarchy, there was unfortunately a "Cane" (still pissed it got canceled despite getting 11 million viewers in 2007, though the writer's strike might've had an effect on its premature cancellation), The Get Down, and East New York.

1 minute ago, Forever8 said:

But I guess for every The West Wing, Dexter, and Sons of Anarchy, there was unfortunately a "Cane" (still pissed it got canceled despite getting 11 million viewers in 2007, though the writer's strike might've had an effect on its premature cancellation), The Get Down, and East New York.

The brainchild of Cynthia Cidre, who was accused later of xeroxing elements of Cane for her Dallas revival.

Jimmy Smits is still well renowned, but I wish he would get something more lasting too.

7 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Streaming has caused a huge uptake in quantity, but the quality has kind of diminished in some ways.

ICAM. I'm not aware of everything that's available now on streaming, but what I am aware of, I'm in no rush to watch.

2 hours ago, titan1978 said:

How much of Loni Anderson’s struggles were related to Burt Reynolds too?

I'd say Burt and his own struggles had a lot to do with Loni's career momentum stalling in the '80's, beginning with "Stroker Ace," which was a DISASTER at the box office, setting them both back professionally. In a way, I can't fault Burt wanting to do the picture in the first place (and turning down Jack Nicholson's Oscar-winning part in "Terms of Endearment") as a gesture of loyalty to director Hal Needham, who had directed him in several other pictures, including "Smokey and the Bandit," but everyone involved should've known better.

IMO, Loni was another actor who, like Delta Burke, was wrongly vilified by the tabloids in the '90's. The press enjoyed portraying her as Burt's clawing ex, and a washed-up bimbo who was clinging desperately to the shreds of a once-promising career. As I see it now, though, Loni was really an abused wife, married to a narcissistic pillhead, who couldn't cope with the fact that he had trashed his own career through bad decisions and ego.

That's why I felt so bad for Loni when people snickered at her joining NBC's "Nurses" just as the whole "Burt vs. Loni" saga was still playing out publicly. I'm sure Loni knew "Nurses" was a crap show, but I also believe she took the job for two reasons: 1) to rebuild her career and prove herself again as a comedienne after taking a back seat to Burt and his career for so long; and 2) to keep their adopted son, Quinton, in the lifestyle to which he was accustomed.

2 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Lee Majors with Farrah Fawcett

Poor Farrah. IMO, she was a much better actress than people ever gave her credit for. Her performances in "The Burning Bed," "Extremities," "Small Sacrifices" and even the short-lived sitcom she did with Ryan O'Neal (and which was supposed to be Ryan's big comeback vehicle) bear this out. Yet, all anyone ever talked about were the damn hairstyle and the pinup poster. (I call it "Rita Hayworth Syndrome," lol).

Living with Lee must've been paradise, though, compared to living with O'Neal, an s.o.b. who knocked out his son's teeth and hit on his own daughter at a funeral. As Sophia Petrillo would say, "he makes Wallace Beery look like Adolphe Menjou."

Just now, Khan said:

ICAM. I'm not aware of everything that's available now on streaming, but what I am aware of, I'm in no rush to watch.

There's a lot of great stuff out there (and a lot of teeming mediocrity). The problem is there is just too much 'content' period, too many streamers and half the shows out there you don't know exist until it's too late in the streaming crash and its ongoing boom/bust cycle, which has yet to settle down. Like I said re: Apple TV - there's some very good work but almost no one in America uses it or knows about over half its product, lol. Who would know it now has an ongoing Bill Lawrence situation comedy starring Harrison Ford and now Michael J. Fox?

6 minutes ago, Vee said:

The brainchild of Cynthia Cidre, who was accused later of xeroxing elements of Cane for her Dallas revival.

I'll be blunt: Cynthia Cidre might be a terrific writer, but she had no business being part of "Dallas." She knew nothing or next to nothing about the original series, or even how a serialized drama like "Dallas" operates, and she didn't care.

11 minutes ago, Vee said:

Apple TV - a streamer almost no one watches

They're literally giving it away now when order on Doordash. "Three months for free! Just tap yes! For God's sake!"

15 minutes ago, ReddFoxx said:

Michael J. Fox found success after "Family Ties" with "Spin City". Of course he had to leave that for health reasons.

"Spin City" still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, because of how proud Gary David Goldberg was of himself as he told the press he deliberately chose not to add any older writers to the staff (never mind that it was an older writer who'd helped Goldberg break into the biz back in the '70's, or that he, himself, was now the oldest guy in the room). It's the same reason I'll never watch anything that that ageist, aging frat boy Bill Lawrence attaches his name to.

10 minutes ago, Vee said:

Who would know it now has an ongoing Bill Lawrence situation comedy starring Harrison Ford and now Michael J. Fox?

See above post, lol.

Just now, Khan said:

They're literally giving it away now when order on Doordash. "Three months for free! Just tap yes! For God's sake!

Unfortunately I need it for work but those promos never seem to apply to me because I was a past subscriber, lol. Considering making a burner email to get in on this.

4 minutes ago, Vee said:

Considering making a burner email to get in on this.

LOL!!