The Cancelled Shows you Remember .....

[Elmo]

It's the best season of the series.

The military school mystery didn't really do anything for me until the final episode. Loved that moment with Linden and the kid at the piano.

However, the spoilers:

Linden & Holder trying to cover up the murder was wonderful.

end of spoilers

[Professor Moriarty]

..."Pauly"?

yeah my memory is starting to go.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Since its been near a month , this is a new "Cancelled Show , many may have forgotten". Anyhow....in watching Krampus (a funny horror film just released) Conchata Ferrell plays the fun role of Aunt Dorthy. Ferrell would appear in various TV and film roles for 40+ years. But it was her role as "Berta" on Two and Half Men that made her a big star and known to everyone. But as I said earlier....not everyone knew her for years and her various roles.

After a guest spot on Norman Lear's "Maude" , Ferrell would make it to Lear's next planned sitcom and stardom was predicted for her.....

Hot L. Baltimore.

The premise was Hot L. Baltimore took place in a motel with a bunch of fun wacky people and was based on a Broadway play. With it being a Norman Lear show , Lear pushed various topics as having 2 prostitutes be part of the cast and the 1st homosexual couple onscreen. Lear had made himself famous for tackling mature themes and ideas in comedies. This was no different as I posted. The cast itself would be very deep as well with James Cromwell , Richard Masur and Charlotte Rae.

A promo from Hot L Baltimore.



The show was given a huge promotional push by ABC given the name behind it that year. Lear had a streak of hit shows from 1971 to 1975 and they included Sanford & Son (NBC) , All in the Family (CBS) , Maude (CBS) , Good Times (CBS) and the Jeffersons (CBS). So in getting a very solid cast and Norman Lear ABC felt it would be a hit. Except ....it wasn't. The show debuted against Rockford Files and NBC's strong Friday Night lineup. Which...comically was powered by Sanford and Son (#2 in the TV ratings that year).

Also the show being as controversial as it was had a few ABC affiliates refuse to air the show. One being the affiliate in Baltimore. People would be forced to watch the DC affiliate to see the show. This was considered Norman Lear's 1st real failed TV series. After a string of 5 straight hits posted , Hot L Baltimore was his 1st big blow.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Mike and Molly was quietly cancelled yesterday

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Its been two months and well folks , time for a TV Show you wouldn't remember. In fact this one shocked me since I was on youtube and it showed TV Show intros to terrible cancelled shows. Now in his history Jerry Van Dyke is most famous for being in the worst TV series ever conceived ('ll get to that). This Jerry Van Dyke who went on to have a long career in Hollywood and played Luther Van Dam on "Coach".



Van Dyke showed major success can come even late as the role made him a star on a TV series and one of the best supporting characters on TV. In fact the best scenes on Coach always involved the Luther character driving Haden Fox bonkers and him yelling out , "Dear lord , Luther !"




Anyhow Jerry is the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke. The man who has had a 7-8 decade career and is past 90. That same Dick Van Dyke who decided to help really launch his brother into Hollywood by having him play his TV series brother in appearance as Stacey Petrie on "Dick Van Dyke Show". Of course after 5 seasons the show was ended by Dick who felt 5 years was long enough and he didn't want the quality to dip.

Jerry Van Dyke would soon get offers and one of them was actually replacing Don Knotts on "Andy Griffith Show". In a colossal blunder Jerry would seal his immortality and took a lead role on a sitcom called ..."My Mother the Car". It has became an epic punchline as the worst ever conceived series and tanked in less than a season. Of course Van Dyke would try other TV roles and his career bounced between his stand up act shows and Hollywood. This would last until 1979 when Jerry Van Dyke would try yet another TV series. One many likely would forget.





13 Queens Boulevard was a series that really was about the vast different residents of an apartment complex. Jerry Van Dyke was now playing a married husband of 15 years named Steven Winters. The show would air in 1979 and run 9 episodes (March to July) with ABC not airing the final episode . 13 Queens would also be given a 10:30 PM Tuesday time slot on ABC's powerful Tuesday lineup in the 1978-1979 season that year. How powerful was that Tuesday line up ? Well here was the shows that aired from 8pm-10pm and the rankings ...Happy Days (#3) , Laverne & Shirley (#1) , Threes Company (#2) , Taxi (#9) and The Ropers (#8). So basically ABC had 5 of the top 10 shows in that block.

I'd imagine that 13 Queens just couldn't perform well and while I don't have a ratings chart with me , it has no number across from it. So I'd say it did pretty terrible with that powerful lineup. While I never have seen an episode , the cast itself had some talent Eileen Brennan played Felicia and she herself had a big 40+ year career from 1967 to 2009 in Emmy nominated guest roles and more. She also was nominated for an Oscar in Private Benjamin . Sadly Brennan would pass away in 2013 due to bladder cancer.


Helen Page Camp sadly had her chance at a huge role in Laverne & Shirley as the girls landlady that 1st season named Mrs. Havenwurst. The character was dropped and a new landlady was created. Camp would do other roles and she would pass away in 1991. Frances Lee McCain would actually go on to play numerous mother roles in the 1980's and 1990's. She would have parts in Scream and Patch Adams.


For Van Dyke however his time was coming and a decade later he would get the TV role that made him famous. The eccentric single man Luther Van Dam . A role that when NBC announced a potential spin-off series with a new Coach helping his son , a number of people spoke up in anger that Jerry Van Dyke wasn't cast for it. The show basically died soon after as NBC passed on it.

[madder_hat]

Az you cn see Sir Digby, my cunning plan shall not be stopped by you 'n Ginger or even you. Until you or me meet again for the first time, fare you well - Dr Ernst Volkswagen

[Osiris-Rex]

Freaks and Geeks. One of the best shows ever. I was more angry at it being cancelled than any other show before or since.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Usually in the case of actors who become so well known by their iconic roles they get , its hard to move past them. In the case of some , they play a role as Jerry Van Dyke did in a short lived series and then later became known as Luther Van Dam. In this case the following 2 stars each fit this. As one became a star later in an iconic role he'd have til he died in 2000. Even though he did other roles , Jim Varney was Ernest P. Worrell.

Even though the character of Ernest began due to Varney's talent and needing a character for regional commercials in 1980 , by the mid 1980's the character became so famous it spawned national commercials , Saturday morning commercials and then a film series til Varney died. But back in 1983 , the character's popularity hadn't yet exploded fully and Varney was an actor needing jobs. So he took a role in a TV adventure series called "The Rousters".




NBC had scored a hit earlier in the year with the A-Team and felt that "The Rousters" would grab that same niche market. The series premise was that the family were related to the legend Wyatt Earp. His great great grandson Wyatt Earp III was a bounty hunter who in his off hours with his family work running a circus. Varney played his kinda dim-witted , con-artist , bad repairman brother Evan Earp.

When it launched NBC proclaimed that "The Rousters" would take down "The Love Boat" but well...it didn't. Within 6 episodes NBC benched the series and cancelled it. Airing the final 7 episodes the summer of 1984. At this point Jim Varney's popularity had started to explode and he'd go onto Ernest and never look back. The other actors managed to keep working past this. Chad Everett (Wyatt Earp III) was a TV/Film star for 20+ years before this series and stayed one the next 30 years nearly til his death at age 75 due to lung cancer in 2012.

Mimi Rogers (Ellen Slade) had just started her career 2 years earlier and this was her 8th role. She has had a 35 year career and recently appeared in Ash vs. Evil Dead ! Maxine Stuart who portrayed the mother Amanda Earp had long been acting since the 1950's and would star in TV and film roles til 2003. She would pass away in 2013 at the age of 94. Child actor Timothy Gibbs who was 17 when this series began played Michael Earp. He has become a B-Movie star and has done countless films in that genre as he's still doing films 30+ years later. And finally actor Hoyt Axton (Jack Slade) was a country/folk singer who actually wrote hit songs "Joy to the World" and "Never Been to Spain" for 3 Dog Night !

Axton's mother even wrote "Heartbreak Hotel" for Elvis Presley. That is wild to learn. Sadly after a near 40 year TV/Film career , Axton would pass away in 1999. Which sadly means that almost the entire cast of The Rousters are gone. Sad ....


Moving on from that , as I posted sometimes an iconic role hurts you awhile. Jaleel White has long struggled to move on from his iconic role of Steven Urkel on "Family Matters". As his character saved the show from cancellation and pissed off Jo Marie Payton who was told she and the family would be the focus of this TV sitcom. Suddenly the series would soon become focuses on the wild Urkel and Carl's wacky adventures (aka The Big Guy). But this isn't about Jaleel White , this is about someone who a decade earlier was struggling to emerge from an iconic role.....Henry Wrinkler.




Much like Urkel would a decade later take over Family Matters ; Happy Days in the mid 1970's launched and was struggling awhile. It wasn't til Frank Marshall wanted a tall blond Italian cool kid to play the role of the greaser Fonz , did Wrinkler walk in and blow him away. He wasn't blond but Marshall realized Wrinkler added an element his show needed. An edgy cool guy with a heart that people soon took to. Within 2 seasons Arthur Fonzarelli took over the series and ABC executives came to him and Marshall wanting to rename the series "Fonz's Happy Days". Wrinkler refused to do this believing it was a group show.

After a 10+ year run where the show basically ended due to everyone wanting to move on finally , Henry Wrinkler had a problem. Even though he had done films (Heroes , Night Shift) he wasn't sadly getting much offers after Happy Days ended. In fact Wrinkler had only 6 acting credits from 1985-1993 and one was an uncredited voice role ! So his career was paying the price of being such an iconic character. So in 1994 Wrinkler was looking at a change of his image. A move to create something new and he took a TV series role to break away from the Fonz.

He became Rush Limbaugh.




No seriously ...his character was essentially Rush Limbaugh in a very on target comedy aimed at mocking some conservatives. Originally the show was supposed to air on NBC , but they got spooked by some of the ideas conceived. One was Monty Richardson (Wrinkler) was supposed to have a lesbian daughter who comes out to him. NBC got scared of the material then and quickly declined the show. Once it moved to Fox however , a change was made and it was a son who was liberal and had married a very liberal lady to spar with Monty.

To the shock of no one this show failed. Wrinkler was trying something new and the series actually gave his career a rejolt. Wrinkler would go onto big roles in Scream , The Waterboy and numerous TV series credits (Arrested Development). So his gamble seemed to pay off. Also his son in this TV series.....David Swimmer would go onto FRIENDS a year later.

[CliffHanger2]

Almost Human miss that show.

[Da Boat]

The 1991 Dark Shadows remake.

Lasted about a year. Monster shows (and true ones, not teeny stuff like Vampire Diaries) have always been a rarity and finally there was a true pure vampire show and it was well made and fun. So I ate it up, every week I was watching the show. And these NBC bastards cancelled it.

[Blind Otto]

Dead like me.
Reaper
Birds of Prey
Farscape
Quantum Leap (yes, it ran forever, but I was still sad to see it go)
Young Justice
Lie to me
Constantine (hey, someone had to like it!)

[Midvillian1322]

Made a list last year, id add forever to that. I know it wasnt popular but i liked it,

[KOSLOX]

I loved the first and only season of ESPN's Playmakers, I also really enjoyed Hung on HBO.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I been recently watching a number of Newhart episodes on youtube. One channel has the entire series on there in pretty damn good quality. A lot of the episodes as I can tell were taped in the 1990's and in fact it brings me back to discovering them on Nick at Nite back in the 1990's and discovering the comedy genius of Bob Newhart. For those who never followed Newhart , his popularity grew due to his straight man act and ability to be the sanest man in the room around crazies.



For 2 decades Bob Newhart ruled TV comedy. His 1st show where he played Dr. Robert Hartley a Chicago psychologist became popular due to Bob's handling his wacky patients who came through his office each episode. Plus the office staff and his neighbor who lived across the hall Howard Borden. For the 1st 3 seasons the show ranked in the top 20 but once the Mary Tyler Moore Show started to slip , Bob Newhart Show's ratings felt it. After it left the air Bob Newhart was gonna end the series after the 5th season but viewer mail and people begging him for 1 last season led him to keep it around and he finished that show in 1978.

It would take Bob Newhart 4 years to do another show and this one would become his most successful series. Playing a writer named Dick Louden , Bob had the character and his wife Joanna move to Vermont to run an Inn . The same premise seemed to fit this show as Bob again played the straight man around a town of local crazies who at times would drive him bonkers. Newhart became a beloved show and even the series finale is in the greatest finales of all time. (Its been parodied a lot)

Newhart had a 2 decade run and as the 1990's would hit many wondered what he'd do next. In 1992 , it was announced he had a new show.





"Bob" was basically about a man named Bob McKay who had been the creator of a comic book character named Mad Dog back in the 1960's. A new comic publisher formed and wanted McKay to do the characters relaunch 30 years later as a blood thirsty vigilante. This created conflict for those two in this comedy series. The cast was one that actually seemed very fun and featured a young Lisa Kudrow as his young 20 something who was best friends with Bob's daughter.

As pictured above Dick Martin would appear at times that 1st season as Buzz Loudermilk and actually directed a good many of this shows episodes. The series that 1st season also featured an iconic moment for comic creators as Bob Kane, Jack Kirby, Mell Lazarus, Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Mel Keefer and Sergio Aragones would guest star in an episode called "You Can't Win". Mark Evanier actually wrote "Bob" so its no shock that with a series tied into comics , that legendary creators wouldn't show up.

But given all that and Bob Newhart's trademark wit and straight man persona ..."Bob" struggled that 1st season. The series along with another new sitcom and 2 that were moved from Monday's were placed on the Friday night schedule. CBS was taking at aim at taking down the ABC "TGIF" block. So they had moved Major Dad and Designing Women to Friday's with the newly acquired spin-off from Golden Girls , "The Golden Palace" airing alongside Bob. All 4 shows struggled badly.

CBS was determined to stick by Bob Newhart. They had remembered that his last series "Newhart" had struggled with some of the casting and didn't really become a big hit til the 3rd season. They just had to find elements that worked. And some of those elements meant....dropping nearly all of the cast except for Bob and his family and changing the direction of the series.

The entire comic book direction of the series was dropped when it returned in the fall of 1993. The final episode of the 1st season basically hinted this would happen as everyone was fired (including Bob) from the comics publisher. Bob McKay would go back to work at a greeting card company and CBS retooled by hiring accomplished cast members like Betty White , Jere Burns and Tom Poston (who had been in Newhart) to help. The idea was that these veteran additions and Jere Burns playing an egomaniac would play off Bob Newhart's humor well.

Sadly for Bob Newhart and the network , the retooled series didn't work. Even with a move to Monday's , 5 episodes aired and CBS shelved the series for good. The final 3 episodes wouldn't air til a decade later on TV Land and now you can actually own the entire series of "Bob" on DVD. There was only 33 episodes made. It was Bob Newhart's 1st real TV failure after 2 decades of success.

But it hasn't hurt Bob Newhart. He would go onto countless movie and TV roles. In his 80's he would become known for a major recurring role on Big Bang Theory as Arthur Jeffries.

[MichaelC]

He became Rush Limbaugh.




No seriously ...his character was essentially Rush Limbaugh in a very on target comedy aimed at mocking some conservatives. Originally the show was supposed to air on NBC , but they got spooked by some of the ideas conceived. One was Monty Richardson (Wrinkler) was supposed to have a lesbian daughter who comes out to him. NBC got scared of the material then and quickly declined the show. Once it moved to Fox however , a change was made and it was a son who was liberal and had married a very liberal lady to spar with Monty.

To the shock of no one this show failed. Wrinkler was trying something new and the series actually gave his career a rejolt. Wrinkler would go onto big roles in Scream , The Waterboy and numerous TV series credits (Arrested Development). So his gamble seemed to pay off. Also his son in this TV series.....David Swimmer would go onto FRIENDS a year later.

Yeah, I remember that show. It was unfunny and too mean-spirited. It could have been Archie-Bunker 2.0, but instead had the vibe of being written by people who absolutely hated conservatives in a bitter, angry, unfunny way. Instead of poking gentle fun at conservatives and a bit at liberals the way Archie Bunker did, there was a lot of people scowling with cold hated at Winkler's character when he said something conservative, and literally telling him things like, "you're an idiot" in a coldly hateful tone. Really had the vibe of being written by someone who's puppy had been injected with cancer by a conservative.