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Post by wildojinx on Nov 17, 2021 16:26:00 GMT -5
Just found an episode of The Charmings (Snow White and Prince Charming get sent to America circa 1987) online, which gave me the idea for this thread. What are some short-lived sitcoms that you remember?
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Post by Jaws the Shark on Nov 17, 2021 16:43:43 GMT -5
My first thought was Heil Honey I'm Home!, which was axed immediately after its first episode.
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Post by DiBiase is Good on Nov 17, 2021 16:47:09 GMT -5
Heil Honey I’m Home! Lasted one episode before getting removed from TV.
For those who have somehow never heard of it, it was a pastiche of American sitcoms and involved Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler living next door to a Jewish couple.
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Nov 17, 2021 16:49:39 GMT -5
Fox is infamous for having shows that got cancelled after first few episodes.
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hassanchop
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Post by hassanchop on Nov 17, 2021 17:05:39 GMT -5
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CMWaters
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Post by CMWaters on Nov 17, 2021 17:14:28 GMT -5
"I Married Dora".
Only remembered now for this.
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Post by Gravedigger's Biscuits on Nov 17, 2021 17:21:50 GMT -5
Quintuplets, starring Andy Richter.
I liked it well enough as a kid, but it only lasted one season.
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Post by Celexa Bliss 54 on Nov 17, 2021 17:26:31 GMT -5
I will never understand how Heil Honey I'm Home got greenlit in the first place lol
Also:
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Post by BorneAgain on Nov 17, 2021 17:34:22 GMT -5
Trouble with Tracy is an interesting case. Basically, the CTV needed to create more original Canadian content, and with no real budget or resources, ended up cutting a lot of corners to get the show made. It only lasted a single season... but they made 130 episodes in that time, and the show played in returns for a while. Because of the quantity over quality approach, this meant cheap and/or wobbly sets, no filming outside, use of a laugh track, no retakes, and most significantly, recycling 25-year-old radio comedy scripts for the stories.
Now the thing is, a lot of bad comedy out there comes from stale gags, shallow characters, forced punchlines, jokes based on stereotypes, or moments that are more to shock than amuse. However, you can still see them and recognize the attempts at humor, albeit ones that fall flat on their face. Even Big Bang Theory which gets laughs from "hey the characters mentioned this nerdy thing" may be lazy, yet one can see how it's intended to be humorous, even if it isn't to you personally.
With Trouble with Tracy though, the combination of outdated scripts, the rushed production, and the actors clearly having little time to develop any sense of delivery or timing with their scenes creates a sitcom where it's not bad jokes that don't work... but a series where it honestly impossible to see what the jokes are even supposed to be:
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Nov 17, 2021 17:36:52 GMT -5
My first thought was Heil Honey I'm Home!, which was axed immediately after its first episode. Pretty sure it would be everybody who has heard of it's first thought. And for those who are curious... Rancid stuff. |
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Nov 17, 2021 17:45:18 GMT -5
Moonlight, a TV show about a Detective who's also secretly a Vampire that aired on CBS
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Post by Jaws the Shark on Nov 17, 2021 17:57:12 GMT -5
My first thought was Heil Honey I'm Home!, which was axed immediately after its first episode. Pretty sure it would be everybody who has heard of it's first thought. And for those who are curious... Rancid stuff. I remember looking it up ages ago out of sheer curiosity, and I wasn't offended by it personally (although I completely understand why people were), I just found it really boring and even taking away the concept it was badly done.
Interestingly on its IMDb page, the first "More like this" was the wretched The Wright Way, which also belongs in a discussion about short-lived sitcoms and was similarly clumsy and badly written, even if it wasn't as overtly offensive.
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Post by James Fabiano on Nov 17, 2021 17:58:17 GMT -5
Jennifer Slept Here!!
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Nov 17, 2021 18:01:25 GMT -5
I don’t know if anyone remembers ABC’s “Work It” two St. Louis guys in drag running the rat race, but everybody hated it and some of the unaired episodes might be totally lost forever far as we know.
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Post by clodhopper on Nov 17, 2021 18:07:21 GMT -5
The one that I always remember is Captain Butler, starring Craig Charles as a pirate. I might have my timeline a bit messed up but I think it aired post Red Dwarf VI, when it seemed as though that show might not come back. I liked it as a kid, haven't seen it since, get the impression it might actually be a bit rubbish.
Also Red Dwarf related, wasn't there one with Chris Barrie as a retired footballer or something?
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Post by MolotovMocktail on Nov 17, 2021 18:08:54 GMT -5
That’s My Bush, by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, had George W. And Laura Bush in what was meant to be a spoof of 50’s sitcoms, much like Heil Honey I’m Home. It got canceled after about 6 episodes.
USA had a show called Campus Cops in the mid 90’s about college security guards, that I vaguely remember.
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Post by Feyrhausen on Nov 17, 2021 18:11:55 GMT -5
Emilys Reasons Why Not. ABC sitcom starring Heather Graham. Cancelled after 1 episode.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Nov 17, 2021 18:18:49 GMT -5
The one that I always remember is Captain Butler, starring Craig Charles as a pirate. I might have my timeline a bit messed up but I think it aired post Red Dwarf VI, when it seemed as though that show might not come back. I liked it as a kid, haven't seen it since, get the impression it might actually be a bit rubbish. It aired in January 1997, which was when for one night per week you couldn't escape Craig Charles - Red Dwarf VII aired on BBC 2, The Funky Bunker aired on ITV, and Captain Butler aired on Channel 4. It was awful, but somehow managed to last two seasons. |
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Nov 17, 2021 18:19:59 GMT -5
Sister Kate - about a nun sent to take care of an orphanage of misfit kids, which included a girl in a wheelchair, an underage smoker and a pre-90210 Jason Priestly. I remember it always being advertised alongside Golden Girls.
Princesses - meant as a comeback vehicle for former actress/model Twiggy (credited as Twiggy Lawson) who had kinda disappeared from public consciousness during the 80's, this 1991 sitcom starred her as a widowed member of the British Royal Family who through a series of contrived events wound up sharing her luxury NYC penthouse apartment with a local school teacher, played by Julie Hagerty, and a department store cosmetics clerk, played by Fran Drescher. The show was a mess behind the scenes. Eight episodes were made, only five were aired, Julie Hagerty walked off set never to return after the fourth. That said, Fran Drescher's attempts to save the show impressed the CBS head of programming so much that a year later he invited her to pitch some ideas for her own show leading to the creation of The Nanny. Supposedly Mr. Sheffield's character was based on Twiggy's husband.
The Fanelli Boys - another short-lived 90's sitcom about a widowed elderly woman running a Brooklyn funeral parlor with her four adult sons and her Priest brother. My Mother really liked this show, I think because it reminded her of her own family, derogatory Italian stereotypes and all. I remember it best for using Billy Joel's "Why Should I Worry?" (best known as the main theme for the Disney movie Oliver & Company) as its theme song.
What A Dummy - largely considered one of the worst television shows of all time, this first-run syndicated sitcom was basically ALF if instead of ALF being a lovable space alien, he was a nightmare-inducing sentient ventriloquist dummy, who was also kind of a jerk.
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Post by clodhopper on Nov 17, 2021 18:27:48 GMT -5
The one that I always remember is Captain Butler, starring Craig Charles as a pirate. I might have my timeline a bit messed up but I think it aired post Red Dwarf VI, when it seemed as though that show might not come back. I liked it as a kid, haven't seen it since, get the impression it might actually be a bit rubbish. It aired in January 1997, which was when for one night per week you couldn't escape Craig Charles - Red Dwarf VII aired on BBC 2, The Funky Bunker aired on ITV, and Captain Butler aired on Channel 4.
Always used to try and stay awake late enough to watch The Funky Bunker even though it was crap, think the late timeslot made young me feel like I was watching something special when it clearly wasn't. Same with Eurotrash, The Girlie Show, all that stuff.
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