Author: Episode 30

The 1988-89 television season was delayed by the longest writers’ strike in the history of the Writers Guild of America. Production of prime-time series didn’t ramp up until after the strike was settled in August of 1988. Most shows didn’t premiere until October or November. Once the season started, there were a few (mostly one-sided)…

In the fall of 1987, The Cosby Show was entering its fourth season after finishing the last two years as the overall ratings champ. Desperate for something, anything, to compete with NBC’s ratings juggernaut, ABC dared to challenge it with another sitcom. This was just one of three nights that fall that featured sitcom showdowns,…

Though The Cosby Show helped revive the sitcom in the 1984-85 season, the fall of 1985 featured no sitcom showdowns. By the fall of 1986, though, the networks had enough sitcoms on their schedules that it was inevitable some would be scheduled opposite each other. Kate & Allie vs. Alf on Monday at 8:00 p.m.…

Going into the 1984 fall television season, some experts declared the sitcom was dead. The once-dominant format had fallen into disarray over the past few years. Long-running hits like M*A*S*H, Happy Days, Three’s Company, One Day at a Time, Laverne & Shirley, Barney Miller, and Taxi ended their runs. Other hits, including Soap, Mork &…

NBC trailed CBS and ABC badly in the ratings during the 1982-83 season. Despite their middling to low ratings, NBC renewed freshmen series Cheers, Family Ties, St. Elsewhere, Knight Rider, Remington Steele, Mama’s Family,and Silver Spoons. These renewals eventually paid off with higher ratings for Cheers, Family Ties, Knight Rider, and Remington Steele. Disappointed by…

Moving a hit sitcom to another night is always a risk. When it works, it increases a network’s comedy presence. When it doesn’t, it can damage the show and the lineup from which it moved. In the fall of 1982, it nearly ended the runs of two shows that were red-hot ratings hits the previous…

A second straight television season was delayed in 1981-82, this time by a writers’ strike. There was just one sitcom showdown that fall, but it pitted two two-hour sitcom blocks against each other. Mork & Mindy, Best of the West, Barney Miller, and Taxi vs. Harper Valley, Lewis & Clark, Diff’rent Strokes, and Gimme a…

The 1980-81 and 1981-82 television seasons were delayed by actors’ and writers’ strikes, respectively. Once the seasons did get underway, there were a few intriguing head-to-head matches among sitcoms. 1980-81 Taxi and Soap vs. Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life on Wednesday at 9:00-10:00 p.m. (ET) Wednesday had long been one of ABC’s strongest…

A look at the pilots of three 1960s flop sitcoms provides some clues as to why these shows didn’t take off. Many Happy Returns In the fall of 1964, CBS gave the cushy timeslot behind The Andy Griffith Show and The Lucy Show on Monday night to Many Happy Returns. That prime slot may have…

Five years after I Love Lucy aired its final half-hour episode, Lucille Ball returned to weekly television in The Lucy Show. Airing from 1962 to 1968, the series was a hit with viewers, landing in the top 10 all six seasons. While it lacked the husband/wife humor of I Love Lucy, the series originally explored…