On the subject of Bonanza, Lorne Greene's failed to land a hit series after 14 years on the show.

Immediately following Bonanza's cancellation he starred in the short lived detective series Griff. Then Battlestar Galactica -78/79 Galactica 80 and Code Red 81/82.

Cicely Tyson was a master of television movies, but only was a regular on two series, the acclaimed but short lived "East Side West Side" and the one season "Sweet Justice" with Melissa Gilbert. That was Gilbert's second attempt at another series post "Little House" after a flop sitcom on Fox called "Stand By Your Man".

Robert Urich had an interesting trend of his biggest success being two to three season shows, "S.W.A.T", "Vega$" and "Spenser: For Hire". He had plenty of flops, including the "Bewitched" spinoff "Tabitha, a "Love Boat" revival on UPN and his final TV series role was in "Emeril".

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by ReddFoxx

2 hours ago, te. said:

David Boreanaz has had a similar run, starting with Buffy (1997-1999), Angel (1999-2004), Bones (2005-2017) and SWAT (2017-2024). This year is the first time he's not had a lead role on a television series in 27 years!

Wow, I had not thought of him, but that's an incredible run. The lawsuit he and Emily Daschenel had to file against Fox in 2019 for concealing profits has likely hurt their careers, but the settlement they reached after Fox appealed the $179 million judgment rendered in arbitration likely ensured that they're now very rich.

35 minutes ago, ReddFoxx said:

Robert Urich had an interesting trend of his biggest sucess being two to three season shows, "S.W.A.T", "Vega$" and "Spenser: For Hire". He had plenty of flops, including the "Bewitched" spinoff "Tabitha, a "Love Boat" revival on UPN and his final TV series role was in "Emeril".

And let's not forget the ill fated sitcom he endured with Faye Dunaway: It Had To Be You.

Regarding Loni and Burt, both she and Burt were hurt with the constant tabloid frenzy, but I think, as @DaytimeFan and @Khan among others mentioned, what hurt her most of all was never really finding a real role after WKRP. At her career peak, she did a number of TV-movies that were focused on her sex appeal, when Jennifer worked because it was about her being more than just a sex symbol. Then she had a short-lived sitcom or two to finish out the '80s. After that was the divorce, and many of her roles just seemed like ways to earn money, rather than showcases.

There was a very cruel Mad TV sketch I watched recently, from fall 2001, that was mainly just taking shots at celebrities pretending they were on the Weakest Link, and they had Mo Collins as Loni devastated by plastic surgery. It made me feel sad because I know she was more than that, but she never really got the chance to show that by this point.

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by DRW50

8 minutes ago, DaytimeFan said:

Wow, I had not thought of him, but that's an incredible run. The lawsuit he and Emily Daschenel had to file against Fox in 2019 for concealing profits has likely hurt their careers, but the settlement they reached after Fox appealed the $179 million judgment rendered in arbitration likely ensured that they're now very rich.

And let's not forget the ill fated sitcom he endured with Faye Dunaway: It Had To Be You.

I'd forgotten about that lawsuit. Bones was a huge moneymaker for FOX. Emily and David deserved every penny.

I think Robert was also on that much-too-late Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice show.

Robert Urich

Bob & Carol...72 ABC

SWAT 75/76 ABC

Soap S1 77 ABC

Tabitha 78 ABC

Vegas 78- 81 ABC

Galvilan 83 NBC

Spencer for Hire 85-88 ABC

American Dreamer NBC 90-91

Crossroads ABC 92-93

It Had to be You CBS 93

Lazarus Man TNT 96

Love Boat Next Wave 98-99

Emeril 2001

Would Urich hold the record for most primetime shows?

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by Paul Raven

If Urich doesn't hold the record then he probably he is very close to it because that is a lot of shows.

Carol Burnett is another successful icon who tried and failed with ventures after her big hit. "Carol & Company" was an comedy anthology series that lasted 33 episodes. After that failed, Burnett went for a revival of the "The Carol Burnett Show" but it didn't catch on.

11 hours ago, DRW50 said:

After that was the divorce, and many of her roles just seemed like ways to earn money, rather than showcases.

What Loni really needed, IMO, was a talk show: something that would have allowed her to rebuild her career, while also keeping herself and her family afloat financially. And before anyone scoffs at the idea of Loni Anderson hosting a talk show...

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by Khan

11 minutes ago, ReddFoxx said:

Carol Burnett is another successful icon who tried and failed with ventures after her big hit. "Carol & Company" was an comedy anthology series that lasted 33 episodes. After that failed, Burnett went for a revival of the "The Carol Burnett Show" but it didn't catch on.

"Carol & Company" had a really novel premise, but I could see why Carol herself elected to end it. Essentially, they were doing a new pilot every week, which must have been one hell of a grind. Perhaps, if it were done now, when doing 12-13 episodes per season is more the norm, it'd be more sustainable.

I really wanted to like the "Carol Burnett Show" revival, but comedy had changed so much by that time, and it just seemed like she couldn't keep up.

Nobody can deny that what went on with Loni Anderson and Delta Burke at that time was more than just issues at work or solely their faults. The media eviscerated Delta for gaining weight, and she herself was struggling with so much emotional damage that the show didn’t understand or care to at the time. The fact that all those women were able to reunite and talk about it publicly and privately, including Linda Bloodworth makes me think it was legitimate mental illness and they have all said they could have handled it better. The tabloid media was at the peak of their powers in the early 90’s as far as influence.

If Loni Anderson had to fight back because of the stuff Burt Reynolds was saying then so be it. He is a terrible arbiter of the truth, and has an incredible ego that never got checked. All the way up to being a pain in the ass making Boogie Nights, fighting the whole way and hating the material to end up Oscar nominated and be pissed he didn’t win. As others have said Loni was great as Jennifer because the whole point was she was not a bimbo. She walked that line with just the right amount of warmth and sarcasm. Nothing else really got how to use her correctly, and I am sure she made poor decisions too.

It was truly gross during those days with women celebs (not that it’s all that great now either, just different). Look at any Barbara Walters interviews with almost any famous woman.

16 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

Michael Landon was a jerk behind the scenes. He was insanely jealous of actors he thought was competition. He had Guy Williams canned as a possible replacement for Pernell as the Cartwright cousin. He also had a jealous hatred of Bill Bixby. Bixby was known as one of the nicest men in the business and Landon couldn't stand it. Landon who was still doing Bonanza in the early 70's was pissed that Bixby was starring as a loving Dad in " The Courtship of Eddie's Father" and getting accolades for the role. He felt he should be playing Dad roles. Bixby tried to engage him at and event and Landon snubbed him. When Bonanza was cancelled, he quickly moved into "Little House on the Prairie" as all American Dad Pa Ingles. Years later Landon never got over his hatred of Bixby. On Highway to Heaven, he wrote an episode about an ego monster actor (Played by Ned Beatty) who was the father on a sitcom to a little boy who treated the child actor like crap. It was clearly a dig at Bixby and Courtship. In reality Bixby and Brandon Cruz who played his son Eddie remained close till his death. Cruz even named his son after Bixby. When Michael Landon was diagnosed with cancer Bixby was diagnosed at the same time. Bixby stated that he wept when he learned Landon had it and when he later died.

I also read he treated Karen Grassle like sh*t too on set, very sexist and whatnot towards her and others

Karen Grassle talks about that in her book. From what I know Landon was often drunk on set (he'd show up like that) and tried to limited Karen's role when she asked for a raise, which she deserved because she did a lot of good work on the show. At the Little House 50th Anniversary she did her panel and didn't put a single ounce of shade into anything about Landon when he was mentioned, so she is very classy.

Speaking of Little House drama, the problem amongst the younger actors was Melissa Sue Anderson who shoved Melissa Gilbert off of a wagon and called Alison Arngrim stupid.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by ReddFoxx

Tichina Arnold has a perfect record on broadcast, with a hit every decade. Martin in the 90s, Everybody Hates Chris in the 00s and The Neighborhood in the 10s.

5 hours ago, Khan said:

What Loni really needed, IMO, was a talk show: something that would have allowed her to rebuild her career, while also keeping herself and her family afloat financially. And before anyone scoffs at the idea of Loni Anderson hosting a talk show...

That would have made sense (even with the inevitable moment where Burt was invited on as a guest).

Carol & Company is probably where I first saw Carol. I need to go back and rewatch. I remember liking the show. I can definitely see where it was too much to keep doing.