# Hit shows/movies that disappeared **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2011, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697 "2011-07-03T07:09:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/1 "2011-07-03T07:09:55Z")
I was thinking about the “Andy Griffith Show” when I remembered its spinoff, “Mayberry RFD”. It was basically the same show without Andy Griffith, and in its first two years it was a top five show. Yet while “Andy Griffith” is still rerun constantly, I’ve never seen “Mayberry RFD” in any sort of reruns and it has no DVD releases. It’s like the show never existed. What other hit TV shows or movies have totally disappeared from the public eye? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/2 "2011-07-03T08:58:34Z")
Home Improvement. This was one of the biggest shows of the 90s and it’s more or less no where. Yes, there are DVD sets and yes, it’s still on TV. But it’s shown on TV Land at 2 AM, not exactly the dignified rerun factory that Seinfeld or The Simpsons can claim. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/3 "2011-07-03T09:42:24Z")
The Drew Carey Show. It lasted as long as Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond, yet there are no reruns to be found any longer. ---
**Author:** ![charmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@charmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charmstr)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/4 "2011-07-03T13:25:38Z")
Shows just reach their saturation point. Sometimes this happens before the end of the network run, more often for the more popular sitcoms, this happens after syndication. Mary Tyler Moore, Happy Days, Night Court, Barney Miller, and WKRP In Cinncinnati were all extremely popular sitcoms that were also successful in syndication. Eventually, every episode had been seen at 4:30 in the afternoon so often that no one needed to ever see it again. At one time, in just about any major metropolitan viewer catchment, M_A_S\*H could be viewed on one channel or another any time of the day or night. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/5 "2011-07-03T14:00:38Z")
Not to be ornery, but it sounds like what we need is a listing of older shows (five years or more) that aren’t being shown at one time or another on those networks like _TV Land_ and _Nick at Nite_. I haven’t watched a show on those networks in years, if at all, so any shows I might list have a good chance of being available there or on Netflix. But now that you mention it, and with the proviso just alluded to, shows I would watch if they came up, but which were off the air as first run items long ago: Peter Gunn Mr. Lucky Mannix The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Secret Agent ( [Danger Man - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Man) ) literally dozens of Westerns like _Cheyenne_ ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/6 "2011-07-03T14:12:32Z")
A bunch from the early 70s: **Bridget Loves Bernie, Arnie, Paul Sands: Friends and Lovers** and **Story Theater**. These were all very popular in their first season and kind of limped along or disappeared afterwards. **Paul Sands** was under the MTM umbrella of shows; **Sands** and **Story Theater** kind of spun out of Second City/Compass improv and onto TV. Many of these shows were kind of experimental and couldn’t sustain momentum into a second season. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/7 "2011-07-03T14:28:53Z")
Maude, Rhoda and Phyllis. Kojak. The Bionic Woman. ---
**Author:** ![charmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@charmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charmstr)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/8 "2011-07-03T14:52:22Z")
You know what, if you go back far enough, you have tons of shows that were once quite popular but no longer get aired. Just about all of them, in fact. Maybe all television programming has a limited lifespan that is only occasionally overcome by quality or popularity. You’re right about TVLand though. They are apparently airing tons of shows that I thought were gone forever (and bunches that really, really should be). **TVLand Shows** 3rd Rock From the Sun The A-Team AFI Life Achievement Award AfriCOBRA All in the Family The Andy Griffith Show Best Night In The Beverly Hillbillies Bewitched The Bob Newhart Show Bonanza Boston Legal The Brady Bunch The Carol Burnett Show Charlie’s Angels Cheers The Cosby Show The Cougar Everybody Loves Raymond Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Fantasy Island First Love Second Chance Gilligan’s Island Good Times Green Acres Gunsmoke Happily Divorced Harry Loves Lisa High School Reunion Hogan’s Heroes Home Improvement Hot in Cleveland How’d You Get So Rich? I Dream of Jeannie I Love Lucy The Jeffersons Just Shoot Me Leave it to Beaver Little House on the Prairie MASH The Nanny - Starring Fran Drescher Roseanne Sanford and Son Scrubs She’s Got The Look Star Trek Three’s Company ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/9 "2011-07-03T15:46:23Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > **The Drew Carey Show.** It lasted as long as Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond, yet there are no reruns to be found any longer. That’s the one I came in here to mention. People forget just how big this show was for a few years in the late '90s. They were one of the few sitcoms from that era to make effective use of the gimmick episode and garnered a lot of positive reviews. But they just sort of petered out without much fanfare after nine seasons. I remember hearing an interview with Drew Carey in 2003 and being surprised that the show was even still on (it ended the following year). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-shows-movies-that-disappeared/587697/10 "2011-07-03T16:16:17Z")
Wings had a credible eight season run, ending in 1997, and once upon a time it felt like the syndicated episodes were the only show USA was able to air. I don’t think I’ve seen it in years and years though. It’s not even on the TVLand list **charmstr** posted.