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Post by Lance Uppercut on Feb 5, 2022 17:00:23 GMT -5
I have a theory about some of the shows from the so called Golden age of television. It seems that everyone loved them when they’re new and will watch week to week or binge when new, but the true test is low long it survives in syndication. Hate all you want on Big Bang theory, but it seems to have some timeless classic thing about it that’s gonna stick in the pop culture years after it ended.
Anyways, I remember when Brooklyn 99 was on TBS. Tbs made a really big deal about it and booked a lot of time in its 8-11 slot Monday through Friday blocks that the Big Bang theory usually is. It lasted about a month before they out the Big Bang theory back and Brooklyn 99 shows up very randomly on their schedule. Usually around 1:00 am. Ditto with New girl and two broke girls.
I loved that show The Mentalist and was excited when I heard it was on tnt. But when I finally reactivated my cable, it was gone. Not even middle of the night airings. Meanwhile they were still playing Bones and castle non stop and they still air it sometimes in the morning.
Here on local tv, our local fox/my network tv got rights to Modern family, Big Bang theory, and 30 rock. They play the shit out of Big Bang theory on both channels (not to mention tbs) and modern family as well (not to mention USA and now E!). But 30 rock? Not so much.
Our really local/independent channel 56 tried making a big deal out of community, but I think it only ran one or two cycles. Meanwhile that same channel seems to love them some Last man standing.
While not critically acclaimed as the others (and older), Those tnbc shows that aren’t saved by the bell didn’t fare too well. I remember abc family was airing hang time and I was so glad I could watch the last couple season I missed from tnbc. When I kissed them again, I thought I could watch it again when it cycled back to the end again. But they only played it once.
Saved by the bell the new class. I was hyped to watch it on USA and thought it was funny that the USA versus tbs war continued from wrestling to Peter Engle shows since it aired directly against the original saved by the bell episodes. Man they cancelled that show after one full cycle of programming. It was 1996 and they still had 4 more years of new programming to receive but nope. Never played it again.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2022 18:13:29 GMT -5
Most of the shows you listed as not having a strong presence in reruns weren't even that popular.
Like, yeah, people watched The New Class. But even back when it was on, did you legit know anyone with a fandom for that show like the original? I didnt.
And shows like Brooklyn 99 and 30 Rock are totally cult hits, but likewise they weren't smash successes like Seinfeld or The Office or something.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2022 18:29:38 GMT -5
Grace Under Fire was apparently meant to be this huge "get" on syndication, but at least on my local affiliate, everyone got mad because it cut into The Simpsons back in the day (ironically, The Simpsons is no longer a syndicate juggernaut, probably because of the quantity of "bad" episodes, so my local affiliate just puts it on weekends now) that, within a week or so, they pulled it off.
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Post by wildojinx on Feb 5, 2022 18:34:20 GMT -5
Anything with a continuing plot. Stuff like Lost, Walking Dead, Smallville, Agents of SHIELD all bombed in syndication, and they didnt even bother syndicating the Arrowverse shows. Strangely, How I Met Your Mother DOES have a continuing plot (and Last Man Standing had an overreaching arc) , yet that does well.
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Spider2024
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Post by Spider2024 on Feb 5, 2022 19:02:02 GMT -5
Anything with a continuing plot. Stuff like Lost, Walking Dead, Smallville, Agents of SHIELD all bombed in syndication, and they didnt even bother syndicating the Arrowverse shows. Strangely, How I Met Your Mother DOES have a continuing plot (and Last Man Standing had an overreaching arc) , yet that does well. HIMYM works because it has a lot of funny individual episodes that can be watched as standalones and still be enjoyed. You could say it's similar to Gilligan's Island, which had one overall mission through the whole series, but many enjoyable episodes with their own plots.
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Cranjis McBasketball
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Feb 5, 2022 19:19:08 GMT -5
Grace Under Fire was apparently meant to be this huge "get" on syndication, but at least on my local affiliate, everyone got mad because it cut into The Simpsons back in the day (ironically, The Simpsons is no longer a syndicate juggernaut, probably because of the quantity of "bad" episodes, so my local affiliate just puts it on weekends now) that, within a week or so, they pulled it off. Was it? Had I not been alive to know it was show, I’d just assume you made up a show. It’s another one of those 90 shows that just kind of died after it aired. Like Drew Carey, Home Improvement being other notable examples. Huge hits in their day, but once done, the world moved on. Hell, Home Improvement beat Seinfeld in head to head ratings but Seinfeld is a monster syndicate and streaming hit and no one has seen Home Improvement in 20 or more years.
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rocket
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Post by rocket on Feb 5, 2022 19:21:48 GMT -5
Anything with a continuing plot. Stuff like Lost, Walking Dead, Smallville, Agents of SHIELD all bombed in syndication, and they didnt even bother syndicating the Arrowverse shows. Strangely, How I Met Your Mother DOES have a continuing plot (and Last Man Standing had an overreaching arc) , yet that does well. I swear when 24 was broadcast on A&E it didn't last that long.
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cjh
Hank Scorpio
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Post by cjh on Feb 5, 2022 19:41:29 GMT -5
"The Middle" got dropped from local syndication pretty fast. HIMYM did pretty well for a bit, but I don't see it anywhere now.
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Feb 5, 2022 19:43:22 GMT -5
Here's Lucy (Lucille Ball's third sitcom) went six seasons and was quite popular in its day, but had a hard time in syndication in the 70's and 80's, mainly because they just didn't want to air it. Ball's previous two shows (I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show) were still very successful airing in syndication throughout most of the country at the time and the stations felt airing a third Lucy show would somehow undermine their success. In the few markets that tried airing it was considered a failure. It didn't find a regular home until Pax TV in the late 90's.
It's a shame, the series includes one of the most historic forgotten moments on television -
This is kinda stretching the definition of "popular", but Unhappily Ever After was briefly in syndication around the turn of the millennium. It did not do well at all and was very quickly dropped.
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Post by Cyno on Feb 5, 2022 19:44:18 GMT -5
Anything with a continuing plot. Stuff like Lost, Walking Dead, Smallville, Agents of SHIELD all bombed in syndication, and they didnt even bother syndicating the Arrowverse shows. Strangely, How I Met Your Mother DOES have a continuing plot (and Last Man Standing had an overreaching arc) , yet that does well. Arrow actually got syndicated, but I don't think it did very well. Haven't seen hide or hair of the other ones.
Superhero shows in general seem to do pretty poor in syndication outside of the animated kids' shows.
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Post by wildojinx on Feb 5, 2022 19:53:19 GMT -5
Here's an example from the world of animation: Superfriends. It did air in syndication in the early to mid-80s (they would air the one hour first season eps split in two on Monday and Tuesday, the 30 minute segment of All New Superfriends Hour on Wednesday, the other shorts on Thursday, and Challenge on Fridays), but it was gone by the mid-80s once all the big 80s toy-based shows took over syndication. They didnt even get to the Worlds Greatest, Super Powers Team or Galactic Guardians years, those wouldnt be seen again until Cartoon Network.
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Post by burdette25159 on Feb 5, 2022 22:19:55 GMT -5
Anything with a continuing plot. Stuff like Lost, Walking Dead, Smallville, Agents of SHIELD all bombed in syndication, and they didnt even bother syndicating the Arrowverse shows. Strangely, How I Met Your Mother DOES have a continuing plot (and Last Man Standing had an overreaching arc) , yet that does well. Dallas was another example, it was still on CBS when it got syndicated in the mid 1980s
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Post by AKIMan64 on Feb 5, 2022 22:22:16 GMT -5
Two Guys and a Girl - You would think with how big Ryan Reynolds has gotten since the show ended that this would be in reruns in some form. I think it was on WE TV for a bit, and I'm not sure if it's on any streaming service. Even then, it gets lost in the mix with other popular 90s sitcoms.
Blossom - This was on the Hub Channel (now Discovery Family) for the first time since WGN/local affiliates acquired it throughout the mid-to-late 90s. It didn't get as much longevity in syndication either.
Angel - Buffy had moderate success in reruns, and for awhile it seemed to be the case for Angel when it was syndicated to TNT in the mid to late 2000s. Guess that's what DVDs and streaming services are for.
Suburgatory - Leaning towards 2010s. Wasn't a massive hit, wasn't a massive flop either as it ran for 3 seasons yet I don't recall this show in reruns after it ended. So I suppose this may or may not count as a show that "bombed" in this scenario.
Fringe - Was on the Science Channel (I think) or some niche network on a digital cable provider, right around the time the show had ended. This was a weird one since it started out with self contained episodes then it became arch driven for the remainder of the series' run, so perhaps it's for the same reasons stated with other binge heavy shows.
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Feb 5, 2022 22:50:38 GMT -5
Two Guys and a Girl - You would think with how big Ryan Reynolds has gotten since the show ended that this would be in reruns in some form. I think it was on WE TV for a bit, and I'm not sure if it's on any streaming service. Even then, it gets lost in the mix with other popular 90s sitcoms. I was gonna say it probably didn't have enough episodes for a traditional syndication offering, but I was surprised to discover when I looked it up it went four seasons. I could've sworn it got canceled after two.
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y4j1981
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Post by y4j1981 on Feb 5, 2022 23:45:19 GMT -5
"The Middle" got dropped from local syndication pretty fast. HIMYM did pretty well for a bit, but I don't see it anywhere now. Freeform usually airs The Middle with couple episodes round 7amish and then 3 or 4 around 10-11am
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cjh
Hank Scorpio
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Post by cjh on Feb 6, 2022 0:34:26 GMT -5
"The Middle" got dropped from local syndication pretty fast. HIMYM did pretty well for a bit, but I don't see it anywhere now. Freeform usually airs The Middle with couple episodes round 7amish and then 3 or 4 around 10-11am In my area, the local Fox station starting aired reruns of it in, I think, 2014, and that lasted less than a year. It's also been picked up, then dropped by Hallmark Channel.
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Post by Jedi-El of Tomorrow on Feb 6, 2022 2:25:28 GMT -5
Anything with a continuing plot. Stuff like Lost, Walking Dead, Smallville, Agents of SHIELD all bombed in syndication, and they didnt even bother syndicating the Arrowverse shows. Strangely, How I Met Your Mother DOES have a continuing plot (and Last Man Standing had an overreaching arc) , yet that does well. Charmed and Supernatural are still all over TNT in the mornings. X-Files was in syndication for a LONG time. No telling what shows with overarching plot will do well in syndication.
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Post by Ash Kingston on Feb 6, 2022 2:36:07 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure Murphy Brown was popular when it was first airing, but if it ever went into syndication, it sure as heck didn't last very long.
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Post by RadcapRadsley on Feb 6, 2022 2:42:09 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure Murphy Brown was popular when it was first airing, but if it ever went into syndication, it sure as heck didn't last very long. So much of it's humor was baked into whatever was in the news/politics of that current time frame so it made the show kinda dated even when it was still making new episodes. Like their is a reason no one is watching reruns of Jay Leno or David Letterman monolugues from 1995.
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Post by James Fabiano on Feb 6, 2022 3:50:57 GMT -5
Here's an example from the world of animation: Superfriends. It did air in syndication in the early to mid-80s (they would air the one hour first season eps split in two on Monday and Tuesday, the 30 minute segment of All New Superfriends Hour on Wednesday, the other shorts on Thursday, and Challenge on Fridays), but it was gone by the mid-80s once all the big 80s toy-based shows took over syndication. They didnt even get to the Worlds Greatest, Super Powers Team or Galactic Guardians years, those wouldnt be seen again until Cartoon Network. I actually remembered seeing what you described, except the ANSFH elements were replaced with the '78 core team adventures.
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