# Popular TV shows that aren't anymore **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [December 22, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017 "2024-12-22T14:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/42 "2024-12-22T21:59:58Z")
“Fool of a Fife!” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/43 "2024-12-22T22:49:34Z")
[Make a Wish](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126165/) was a hugely popular show for kids that ran 1971-1976, but it has been buried in ABC’s vaults ever since. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/44 "2024-12-22T22:58:42Z")
_Chicago Hope_ was a critically acclaimed medical drama that had the misfortune of being scheduled against the blockbuster _ER_. The second year it was moved to a more secure time slot and got better ratings, but then Mandy Patinkin left the cast. Then it got moved to Wednesdays. Then Patinkin returned to the show but in a major retooling, five of the major characters were written out. In a final indignity, it was moved back to Thursdays where it was against _Frasier_ and what was then the hottest show on the air, _Who Wants to Be a Millionaire._ ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/45 "2024-12-22T23:04:16Z")
Alf?.. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/46 "2024-12-22T23:09:30Z")
I would say he is remembered fondly. OTTOMH He appears, seemingly voiced by the same actor as in the original program and the Saturday morning cartoon, in an episode of Family Guy “By the end of the third season I was so coked up, I was completely incontinent. Would I do it again . . .” and in an episode of Duncan Rules where he still eats cats and works in an eighties nostalgia club. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/47 "2024-12-22T23:23:52Z")
Alf was apparently a nightmare to be on. The set had huge holes for the people operating Alf to roam, driving the rest of the cast crazy. And Max Wright, the dad, hated playing behind a puppet. On the last day of filming, once it wrapped he walked off the set without saying goodbye. > **[Alf: 1986-1990](https://people.com/archive/alf-1986-1990-vol-53-no-25/)** > > Alf: 1986-1990 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/48 "2024-12-22T23:30:00Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > And Max Wright, the dad, hated playing behind a puppet. On the last day of filming, once it wrapped he walked off the set without saying goodbye. I am not sure he deserved better. IIRC He had a recurring role in Oz as a mentally ill prisoner with a limited vocabulary and obssession with dental hygiene. He had a recurring role as (I do not remember. some figure with authority of some kind over the lead character) on The John Laroquette Show. He was not very memorable. He was very replacable. There were probably a dozen other actors you could stick in any of his roles without making a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/49 "2024-12-22T23:39:04Z")
Yeah, I liked Chicago Hope in its first season. Remember when Ally McBeal was a huge cultural phenomenon (I never watched it but it seemed like everyone was discussing it). Then, nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/50 "2024-12-22T23:40:46Z")
Yeah, I was really startled to see Florek playing more normal characters later on. He did marry Roxanne, and at one point when the law firm was in receivership, he was the receiver for some reason (IIRC). Notably, Dan Castellaneta played a client on L.A. Law - he worked at an amusement park in a Homer Simpson costume and had been unjustly fired. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/51 "2024-12-22T23:44:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > **Andy Griffith** \*? _ **Danny Thomas** _? _ **My Three Sons** _? No way! _Andy Griffith_ is easily in the top ten undying classic TV shows of all time. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/52 "2024-12-22T23:45:32Z")
I loved “Cold Case” but that too has dealt with music rights when doing reruns. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/53 "2024-12-22T23:48:07Z")
Has anyone mentioned _ **Twin Peaks** _ yet? I missed it on American TV, but I remember hearing people talk about it whenever I ate in a restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/54 "2024-12-22T23:49:52Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Has anyone mentioned _ **Twin Peaks** _ yet? I missed it on American TV, but I remember people were talking about it whenever I ate in a restaurant. It was popular enough to receive a (truly insane) follow-up series 26 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/55 "2024-12-22T23:50:24Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Has anyone mentioned _ **Twin Peaks** _ yet? I missed it on American TV, but I remember hearing people talk about it whenever I ate in a restaurant. Are you sure you weren’t eating _at_ Twin Peaks? > **[Twin Peaks (restaurant chain)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks_(restaurant_chain))** > > Twin Peaks is an American chain of sports bars and restaurants based in Lewisville, Texas, which has been described as an "ultimate sports lodge" and breastaurant along with similar chains. The chain is known for having its waitresses, primarily young women and typically referred to as "Twin Peaks Girls", dress in revealing uniforms that consist of cleavage- and midriff-revealing red plaid tops, as well as khaki shorts or denim short shorts. At other times, waitresses wear revealing s Twin Peak... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/56 "2024-12-22T23:53:10Z")
I haven’t seen “St. Elsewhere” mentioned. I don’t recall watching it when it aired in the 1980s, but I understand that it’s extremely hard to find on other formats, and I’d like to check some episodes out without shelling out a lot of money. I loved “Lost” until I figured out who was going to get off the island, a season or two before it ended, and had no desire to continue watching. Another time-travel series, “Manifest” started out great but then went off the rails; I did finish it anyway and in fact kept my Netflix subscription active in order to do so. And “Madam Secretary” was also a great series! I loved the way her kids aged in real time. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/57 "2024-12-22T23:54:22Z")
How about that Beauty and the Beast show with Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton? Didn’t he live in the sewer? > **[Beauty and the Beast (1987 TV series)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(1987_TV_series))** > > Beauty and the Beast is an American fantasy drama television series that first aired on CBS from September 25, 1987 to August 4, 1990. Creator Ron Koslow's updated version of the fairy tale has a double focus: the relationship between Vincent (Ron Perlman), a mythic, noble man-beast, and Catherine (Linda Hamilton), a savvy Assistant District Attorney in New York City, and a secret utopian community of social outcasts living in a subterranean sanctuary. Through an empathic bond, Vincent senses Cat... ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/58 "2024-12-22T23:55:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _I stuck with it for a while, but finally quit watching because few of the shows were as good as I remembered them._ **Andy Griffith** (the ones with Don Knotts) are still pretty good. **Danny Thomas** and **My Three Sons** are pretty dreadful. One night recently at 3am I couldn’t sleep and turned on an episode of the **Donna Reed Show** on Tubi, which ran for a long long time on ABC. I thought it would put me to sleep, but it was so dismally unfunny it had the opposite effect. I had to turn it off after 10 minutes. “Family” sitcoms of the 50s and 60s were mostly awful. And don’t get me started on **The Real McCoys.** I’ll have that damn theme song going through my mind for hours. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/59 "2024-12-22T23:55:17Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I haven’t seen “St. Elsewhere” mentioned. That one had some greatness. A young Howie Mandel, Ed Beigly jr, that old guy who always seems to play doctors, the voice of KITT/ Mr Feeney from Boy Meets World and some truly great writing. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/60 "2024-12-22T23:56:10Z")
Ha! 😄 I was stuck in Minneapolis working nights during most of the show’s run. I didn’t get to see it until I moved to Moscow, where it was on Russian TV in the winter of 1992–93. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/61 "2024-12-22T23:57:02Z")
Kind of the sewers, there was an implausible abdandoned underground world with a whole community. Vincent was seemingly the result of genetic experiments that Father was a part of. We never found out. The show still has a cult following. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017.md?page=4)