# Odd television facts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833 "2011-06-17T14:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/301 "2011-06-28T01:37:39Z")
All I know about Belushi is that, if you live in the western suburbs of Chicago you better not say anything bad about him because there is likely to be a friend or relative of his or his wife within earshot. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/302 "2011-06-28T01:48:08Z")
There was a trend in the 1980s and 1990s to bring back shows in syndication. Two examples are _What’s Happening Now?_ which continued the story of _What’s Happening_ now that the three ‘yutes’ from the original were young adults and had most of the original cast other than Raj’s mother (the actress had major health problems). It ran for 3 seasons from 1985-88. (Fred ‘Rerun’ Berry, probably the most famous character, quit after the first.) _The New WKRP in Cincinatti_, which had two seasons of new episodes from 1992 & 1993. Its carryovers were Arthur Carlson, Les Nessman and Herb Tarlek, with guest shots by other old series regulars (several by Howard Hesseman as Johnny Fever). Neither terrible nor memorable. _Sanford_’s return as a 1 season show abd the continuations of _The Brady Bunch_ have been mentioned. Were there any other U.S. shows that were revived after a hiatus of a few years? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/303 "2011-06-28T01:55:49Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > _Sanford_’s return as a 1 season show abd the continuations of _The Brady Bunch_ have been mentioned. Were there any other U.S. shows that were revived after a hiatus of a few years? Well, Family Guy and Futurama. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/304 "2011-06-28T02:07:18Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Were there any other U.S. shows that were revived after a hiatus of a few years? _Still the Beaver/The New Leave It to Beaver_. A middle-aged Jerry Mathers was NOT a good idea. _Mission Impossible_ - the 1988 version. The real trivia here is that Grant Collier of the 1988 version was the son of Barney Collier of the 1960’s version. Grant was played by Phil Morris, son of Greg Morris, the original Barney. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/305 "2011-06-28T02:12:15Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Grant was played by Phil Morris, son of Greg Morris… And he was (still is) Jackie Chiles! https://www.youtube.com/embed/_8yGngmDj1o?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/306 "2011-06-28T02:42:35Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Were there any other U.S. shows that were revived after a hiatus of a few years? Twilight Zone came back after about 25 years. Not to mention Hawaii 5-0. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/307 "2011-06-28T03:03:49Z")
Michael Warren, who played Officer Bobby Hill on _Hill Street Blues_, is Jessica Alba’s father-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/308 "2011-06-28T03:06:13Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Were there any other U.S. shows that were revived after a hiatus of a few years? Also _Star Trek_, _Battlestar Galactica_, and _The Night Stalker_ - although these were reboots rather than revivals. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/309 "2011-06-28T03:10:26Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > Twilight Zone came back after about 25 years. _The Twilight Zone_ was revived twice. The original series, with Rod Serling, ran from 1959 to 1964. Then there was a revival from 1985 to 1989 and another one from 2002 to 2003. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/310 "2011-06-28T03:58:16Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Someone gave me a book, Forbidden Channels by Penny Stallings that is chock full of stuff like this. One snippet about I Love Lucy: > > “…snip ‘He should be playing my father,’ she often complained. Vance also deeply resented a clause in her contract that allowed her character to be written out of the show if anything happened to Frawley.” > snip… I read somewhere that Vance also had it in her contract that she would remain at least 15 pounds heavier than Lucille Ball. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/311 "2011-06-28T05:44:39Z")
On the topic of TV series revivals. DRAGNET first ran on television from 1951-1959. It came back with Jack Webb from 1967-1970. Webb planned a revival in 1982 but it was cut short by Webb’s death. A syndicated revival aired in 1989. A new version aired in 2003. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/312 "2011-06-28T06:19:53Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > On the topic of TV series revivals. DRAGNET first ran on television from 1951-1959. It came back with Jack Webb from 1967-1970. Webb planned a revival in 1982 but it was cut short by Webb’s death. A syndicated revival aired in 1989. A new version aired in 2003. Along with the syndicated revival of Dragnet, there was also a revival of Adam-12, also known as “The New Adam-12.” And “The New Addams Family” aired on FOX Family (now ABC Family) from 1998 to 1999. It was strongly reminiscent of the original ABC series from the 60s. John Astin even made a few cameo appearances as Grandpapa Addams. The theme was horrible, however. Nothing like the iconic Addams Family theme by Vic Mizzy. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/313 "2011-06-28T13:00:34Z")
Not really a revival or a reboot, but more of a sequel: _[The Munsters Today](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094518/)_ had Grandpa putting the family to sleep in 1966 (the year the original series went off the air) and waking up in 1988. I was surprised to see that this lasted 3 seasons in syndication and actually aired one more episode (73) than the original (72). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/314 "2011-06-28T13:08:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Also _Star Trek_, _Battlestar Galactica_, and _The Night Stalker_ - although these were reboots rather than revivals. Ditto for _Lois and Clark_, kinda sorta. (Complete with Inspector Henderson!) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/315 "2011-06-28T17:29:37Z")
Chuck Wooley of Wheel of Fortune fame Elkin “Bubba” Fowler recorded as the musical duo The Avant-Garde which had one-hit wonder success in 1968 with the top 40 pop hit “Naturally Stoned.” " Chuck Barris of Gong Show fame wrote Freddy Cannon’s big hit “Palisades Park.” People were auditioned to be the Gong Show host, but nobody was what Barris had in mind–someone who would not take the show seriously. Finally someone pointed out that, since Barris was the only person who knew what he had in mind as a host, Barris himself should host. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/316 "2011-06-28T18:00:31Z")
Not really TV trivia, but Belushi’s wife is still around and creating art. I’ve been in her gallery a couple of times. Interesting stuff but not my style. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/317 "2011-06-28T20:08:52Z")
Jim Rockford of “The Rockford Files” came back from the 1970s to do some TV movies in the 1990s. Brett Maverick of the 1950s-60s “Maverick” show came back to do one season of “Brett Maverick” in the early 1980s. Both series starred the great Jim Garner, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/318 "2011-06-28T20:36:33Z")
Frances Fisher (Kate Winslett’s mother in _Titanic_) was originally cast as Jill Taylor in _Home Improvement_. According to Patricia Richardson, who replaced her after the pilot, Fisher played a scene with Tim Allen as if she were genuinely afraid of Tim Taylor’s quest for “more power” and producers decided she killed teh funny. Richardson got the part when she played against Allen as if he were an arrested adolescent and she was his exasperated mother. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/319 "2011-06-28T22:46:20Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Not really TV trivia, but Belushi’s wife is still around and creating art. I’ve been in her gallery a couple of times. Interesting stuff but not my style. Does anybody know if she was a heavy drug user? I know she’s written a book but I never read it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833/320 "2011-06-28T22:57:55Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Does anybody know if she was a heavy drug user? I know she’s written a book but I never read it. As noted above, I dasn’t ask. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-television-facts/585833.md?page=17)