# Good TV Sitcoms that only lasted a few episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088 "2004-04-03T18:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/41 "2004-04-06T17:35:37Z")
**Carnac** , I remember _Heartland_. I thought it was pretty good - the only episode I remember, though, is when the grandfather took his granddaughter to NYC for a Julliard audition and then ended up staying at a skeezy rent-by-the-hour hotel. I also liked _Partners_, a sort-of-ripoff of _Friends_ with Tate Donovan and John Cryer. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/42 "2004-04-06T18:17:27Z")
> [@Torgo](#): > > I think I’m the only one on the planet who remembers these shows, but if there are any other Dopers who do, please show yourselves! > > \*\*Open All Night (1981), \*\* a sharply written and witty show about life in a 24-hr. convenience store. A then-unknown David Letterman made a cameo (as himself) in the last episode. Again, gone after 1 season. I liked this one too and am surprised it’s remembered by anybody else. Susan Tyrrell played the wife on that- she went on to play some really memorable horrid women in _Cry Baby_ and on _Wings_. (She recently had her legs amputated but is still acting.) For some reason known only to the gods of the Pittsburgh mass transit system, the theme song for that actually stuck in my head to this day (along with the one for **Best of the West** ): \*This is the story of Gordon Feester born in Cincinatti on the day before Easter didn’t go to college but he wasn’t a fool… \* Oh well, I’ve made my pointlessness. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/43 "2004-04-06T19:04:26Z")
I liked “Partners” too…for some unknown reason. I don’t really like “Friends” Three cheers for “The Tick” & “Andy Richter”, and I’ll add “Sports Night” to the discussion. ---
**Author:** ![jeevwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@jeevwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeevwoman)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/44 "2004-04-06T19:09:14Z")
> [@Santos L Halper](#): > > And I’ll throw in a non-sitcom that really loved that seems to have been pretty much forgotten: **Call to Glory** (1984). Craig T Nelson played an Air Force Pilot in 1963. Oh my god, I LOVED that show! Faked illness to get out of dinner with my grandma so I could watch the ep where JFK was killed. And _Cupid_ was great, too! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/45 "2004-04-06T19:36:16Z")
[TV Tome](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/EpisodeGuideServlet/showid-64/Family_Dog/) agrees with **Mr. Blue Sky** regarding _Family Dog_’s number of episodes. I see where the confusion is, one of the user comments at IMDb says there are indeed 10 eps. but only half were shown in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/46 "2004-04-06T20:00:56Z")
I seem to remember one called **Pig Sty** that I think was made by UPN … Agree on **Brisco County jnr** , **Now and Again** and **Bakersfield PD** ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/47 "2004-04-06T21:41:47Z")
\*\*[Spencer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086805/) \*\* was a funny show way back in the mid-eighties starring Chad Lowe. I only remember it lasting about 4 or 5 episodes. And I’ll second **The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.** Does **Futurama** count? Or is 4 seasons not considered early in the running? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/48 "2004-04-07T05:52:36Z")
How about [The Thorns](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094567/combined) ? A Reagan-era satire about a shamelesssly social-climbing family of New Yorkers. The theme song include the classic lines: “We’re upping our income/so why don’t you up yours?” ---
**Author:** ![Sengkelat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088/49 "2004-04-07T07:26:58Z")
Brisco County Jr. was fun. And, it figures, having just started watching TV again after a 2 year hiatus, I sort of liked Wonder Falls, and now it’s cancelled. After 4 episodes? WTF? Oh well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-tv-sitcoms-that-only-lasted-a-few-episodes/238088.md?page=2)