# Once popular shows that sank into obscurity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768 "2005-11-19T04:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/21 "2005-11-19T16:11:51Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > Dinosaurs. > Not the Moma! Whack dady with a pan. God, I loved that show. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/22 "2005-11-19T16:32:37Z")
Not sure these were popular, but the first two are still shown on some channels (reruns), and the last one has disapeared into the depths of obscurity. They were pretty popular in my channels, though that probably doesn’t mean much. I am the one that watched a cartoon called Silverhawks, one that not even my friends remember. Sliders- went on for a few seasons at least. Was pretty popular among my friends. Too bad they don’t make any more. ☹ Quantum leap: Whatever happened to Sam? I don’t know, but they show reruns all the time on several channels. My mom loved this show, and so did most of my friends. Time Trax: This one was my RPG groups favorite for some reason. I don’t even know if it went into a second season. Guess that says something about it’s popularity, but seemed pretty well recieved in my small sample. Oh yeah, Dinosaurs! Loved that show. Do they even show reruns anymore? How about obscure popular cartoons? : Thunderlizards and Eek the cat? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/23 "2005-11-19T17:32:18Z")
> [@stuyguy](#): > > I’ve told this story before, but it fits the thread perfectly so I’ll tell it again. > > A few years ago when my mom was still alive she used to really enjoy **The Weakest Link**. As we probably all remember, this show was white – I mean _white_ – hot at its peak. > > As it began to cool it was moved around the schedule, causing my mom to chase it down. This was annoying enough to her, but when it seemed to disappear entirely it really disappointed her. My mom was not too technology savvy so I told her not to fret; I would do a quickie search on the web to discover where the schedulers had moved it this week. I was confident it was still on the air, just hiding out in a new time slot where it would entertain the greatest part of that uncountable army of fans that surely still loved the show. After all, this show was white – I mean _white_ – hot only a few months earlier. > > Well, sure enough, TWL was still on the air – running once a week on Tuesdays at like 2:30 a.m.! > > I could not believe how far the mighty had fallen. I mean, this show had been white – I mean _white_ – hot in its prime! I was a contestant on one of the last Weakest Links. The show was killed by Sept 11. After Sept. 11, NBC thought the show was too mean spirited so they made some celebrity episodes. Of course, celebrity episodes are like narcotics, and the producers got hooked. Also, the show was often interrupted during the fall of 2001 for news alerts about Sept 11 and the Anthrax scares. The remaining episodes were syndicated and the 30 min George Gray version began. The show lives on the Game Show Network. However, with so few episodes, they are repeated frequently. Also, BBC America shows the British version of the Weakest Link. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/24 "2005-11-19T17:49:47Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > Quantum leap: Whatever happened to Sam? I don’t know… Nobody does. 🙂The ending was left open with the line “Sam never returned home.” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/25 "2005-11-19T20:25:21Z")
Star Trek. How many people besides hardcore Trekkers continued with the franchise all the way thru movie #10 and all 4 seasons of ENT? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/26 "2005-11-19T22:58:55Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I was surprised when someone started an **ER** thread the other day. That show’s still on? Huh. Even though I still watch it every week, I am surprised every single week when I scan the top 20 rated shows and ER clocks in in the teens. It still draws about 14 million viewers a week, believe it or not. > [@Operation Ripper](#): > > I love The King of Queens. > > make that I’m in love with leah remini I was in the same boat up until last season. I was amazed at how much less enjoyable the show was when Leah got pregnant. And how old is the baby now? Any chance on dropping that weight? Seriously, the eye candy was one of the best things about that show. A shrieking harpy hot chick is funny. A screaming harpy fat chick? Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/27 "2005-11-19T23:18:39Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > Even though I still watch it every week, I am surprised every single week when I scan the top 20 rated shows and ER clocks in in the teens. It still draws about 14 million viewers a week, believe it or not. For me, ER is just one of those shows that I liked but for no particular reason I can remember, I haven’t watched for three or four years. Eventually, it’ll be one of those shows I’ll enjoy watching on DVD, a season at a time. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/28 "2005-11-20T04:02:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Law & Order: SVU (1999) and Family Guy (1999). Granted, the latter had a cancelation break up the run. But technically it survived into the 21st Century, died, was revived and is still running today. I didn’t count the second because of the gap in its broadcasting. But I did miss the first; I guess I probably overlooked it, thinking about the original series. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/29 "2005-11-20T04:40:46Z")
I honestly don’t know if there are still episodes of _Queer Eye for the Straight Guy_ in production or not. That show opened with a “the show _everybody_ is talking about\*” bang with people across the country, myself included, having _Queer Eye_ viewing groups, then just flatlined. I didn’t watch any of the last season. Back in the Day: _One Day at a Time_ died a lingering cast changing death and most people had forgotten it by the time it was cancelled. _The Jeffersons_ was similar and was never given a farewell episode. _Good Times_ was a hugely popular show that I remember from the late 70s having to look for in the TV guide because nobody was watching it by the end. The departures of John Amos and Esther Rolle just killed the show. (To this day I don’t know what happened to Florida’s second husband, Carl- did he die also or did she divorce him or what?) ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/30 "2005-11-20T04:53:46Z")
My wife is a devoted _ER_ fan. By this time, it is just a soap opera, and a bad one at that. Every possible tragedy, every possible disaster, has been mined and mined again in the show. With the departure of Noah Wylie at the end of last season, IIRC there are no original cast members on the show. I’m still shocked _Will and Grace_ is on. With _Friends_ leaving, is there really anything of quality on the long-time mighty NBC Thursday night? Speaking of that, I’d like to nominate _Friends_. Now that was a white – I mean _white_ – hot show. While I suppose it picked up a bit at the end there, and went out with a bang, it really lingered on there for a while. It probably jumped the shark after about 3 or 4 seasons, and then at least all my friends got sick of the Ross/Rachel thing and stopped watching. It stuck around for a total of 10 years… And I think the definitive answer to the thread must be _Saturday Night Live_. Sure, it is still lingering on, but somebody really needs to take it out behind the shed and put it out of its misery. The ghosts of Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Chris Farley, and Dan Ackroyd cry out every Saturday night. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/31 "2005-11-20T05:51:13Z")
Good Lord, what happened to Dan Ackroyd? :eek: _Homicide_ and _Married with Children_ were groundbreakers that also sort of petered out, although the former got a nice send-off with its own TV movie (miss ya, Gee). MWC not only was cancelled two weeks AFTER its last episode of the season had been shot, but they’d been making fun of themselves being on so long when Jefferson heard the theme music once and said “Is that _thing_ still on the air?” As for the RL cast, they learned about it not from Fox but from talk radio, calls from friends, and in Ed O’Neill’s case, from a young couple in a parking lot who came up to him to sympathize. He thanked them and took them out to breakfast. 🆒 _The X Files_ and _NewsRadio_ also sputtered to a halt, although the latter had a good if tragic reason. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/32 "2005-11-20T06:06:02Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Good Lord, what happened to Dan Ackroyd? Nothing. He didn’t die, just his career did. And oddly, this is the second time today the topic of Dan Aykroyd’s career has come up. ---
**Author:** ![Southessex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Southessex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southessex)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/33 "2005-11-20T07:29:04Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I honestly don’t know if there are still episodes of _Queer Eye for the Straight Guy_ in production or not. That show opened with a “the show _everybody_ is talking about\*” bang with people across the country, myself included, having _Queer Eye_ viewing groups, then just flatlined. I didn’t watch any of the last season. What do you call those types of shows? I mean, they’re “reality shows” in the sense that they’re unscripted, but when most people think of “reality shows” they think of some sort of competition like _Survivor_, _Amazing Race_ or _Hell’s Kitchen_ or whatnot. Anyway, since the missus and I are heavy DVR users, I can tell you what _I_ think the reason is for the decline of these types of shows: they’re too predictible. Honestly, how many times can it be interesting to watch some hapless hetero guy being all dolled up by five gay guys? I mean, some of the stories are interesting - I remember one _Queer Eye_ about an older man whose wife had died; that one was kind of sweet. But for the most part, the people they have on the shows are stereotypical straight men - dudes with piles of dirty clothes everywhere, a fridge filled with beer, mustard, mayo and Chinese takeout leftovers, etc. etc. It’s the same thing every week, and it gets old’ having a DVR means that you can watch the important bits - the beginning and the end - in around 15 minutes, tops. It’s the same thing with my nominee - _Trading Spaces_. It’s another “before and after show”, but this one is even more limited. I mean, given a thousand dollar budget there’s only some much redecorating one can do. No wonder painting is (was?) so popular on the show! One thing that _really_ annoyed me about the show - aside from Paige Davis - was that the math never added up. Sure, you can do what they do for $1000 _if_ (and only if) you get the free services of a carpenter and a decorator. After all, most “normal” people don’t have ASID credentials, so it’s not like they can walk in to showrooms and buy stuff. And even if they’re just buying stuff off the shelf, it’s typically only designers that know where to find these things. Bleh! I see most of TLC\Discovery’s “new” lineup falling into the same category as _Queer Eye_ and _Trading Spaces_. After all, there are only so many times one can watch a motorcycle being built before it gets old, no matter what the “off-screen” drama is. Oh - and lastly… the blatant product placement in _Queer Eye_ got _realllllly_ annoying after a while. Just my HO. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/34 "2005-11-20T07:49:24Z")
Oddly enough, Paige Davis is the only reason I would watch Trading Spaces. There was a mock TV listing in The Onion a few years back. One of the shows was “Malcolm’s Still On?” That’s 70s Show is still on? Didn’t Forman and Donna leave? Who is still watching this show? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/35 "2005-11-20T07:52:03Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > Dinosaurs. > Not the Moma! Whack dady with a pan. Heh. I loved that show; didn’t last that long, but it was pretty funny. **Northern Exposure** was fairly popular to begin with, was it not? Who knows where it is now. Also, **Gargoyles** , was, IMHO, a great cartoon. I’m not sure why it ended as quickly as it did either. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/36 "2005-11-20T08:12:45Z")
I was shocked to learn that **Hawaii 5-0** was on for \*thirteen \* seasons (1968-1980). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/37 "2005-11-20T08:31:22Z")
I think _Dinosaurs_ died because it was very expensive, and needed a guaranteed ratings level that was quite high to sustain itself. It’s easy for a new season to lose a few million viewers, and for a show like that it was all it took to can it. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/38 "2005-11-20T08:39:12Z")
When **JAG** went off the air last year, the near universal reaction was “That’s still on?” Also, not the white, or even red hot, but fairly consistently warm. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/39 "2005-11-20T08:46:57Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > I was shocked to learn that **Hawaii 5-0** was on for \*thirteen \* seasons (1968-1980). IIRC at the time, it didn’t fade quick either. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768/40 "2005-11-20T12:37:12Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Oddly enough, Paige Davis is the only reason I would watch Trading Spaces. > > There was a mock TV listing in The Onion a few years back. One of the shows was “Malcolm’s Still On?” > > That’s 70s Show is still on? Didn’t Forman and Donna leave? Who is still watching this show? Foreman left, Donna is still on. I caught it this past Wed and it is pretty bad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-popular-shows-that-sank-into-obscurity/331768.md?page=3)