Author: Episode 30

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…

Network sitcoms were thriving in the mid-1960s. With a string of hits introduced between 1960 and 1965, eight sitcoms were among the top 16 shows during the 1965-66 season. By the 1969-70 season, there were only eight sitcoms among the top 30 shows. A year later, Here’s Lucy and Mayberry R.F.D. were the only sitcoms…

As in the previous season, the fall 1966 television schedule featured seven timeslots where sitcoms were pitted against each other. Gilligan’s Island vs. The Monkees on Monday at 7:30 p.m. (ET) For some reason, CBS changed Gilligan’s Island’s timeslot each year it aired. After finishing in 18th place on Saturday and 22nd on Thursday in…

Tributes to Rob Reiner have focused on his amazing career as a film director and the tragic circumstances surrounding his death, and that of his wife, Michele. However, his first major brush with fame should not be overshadowed. Reiner deservedly won two Emmys for his role as Mike Stivic on All in the Family. Before…

The 1965-66 television schedule was dotted with 34 sitcoms, nine new ones on NBC alone. So it was inevitable that some comedy series would be pitted against each other. Hazel vs. The Farmer’s Daughter on Monday at 9:30 p.m. (ET) Hazel was cancelled by NBC in 1965 after four seasons. Unhappy with its options for…

There were several sitcom showdowns during the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons. Though ABC introduced some successful new sitcoms (Bewitched, The Addams Family, The Patty Duke Show, The Farmer’s Daughter) during those two seasons, the network also foolishly tried to launch a few new sitcoms against some of CBS’ top hits. 1963-64 The Farmer’s Daughter vs.…

1960 My Three Sons vs. Angel vs. Bachelor Father on Thursday 9:00 p.m. (ET) In the fall of 1960, there was just one timeslot in which sitcoms were scheduled against each other. Oddly, that slot (Thursday at 9:00) had not two, but three, sitcoms battling head to head to head. NBC’s Bachelor Father was the…

Riding high in the ratings during the 1978-79 season, ABC made shocking changes to its fall 1979 schedule. Though the network was dominant in the ratings, its executives were unhappy with the numbers it achieved in the 8:00 hour on Friday through Monday. Perhaps the most surprising timeslot switch on the new schedule was the…