# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/143 "2024-12-25T17:41:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I missed an entire third season? With Lee Majors and Carl Weathers! And Purcell becoming a junkie. There are some good ones in there. It sort of recovered from “second-season-itis”. ---
**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 25, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/144 "2024-12-25T17:50:33Z")
Wow! This must have been in 1989–90, when I was studying abroad. Wasn’t Purcell the peacenik? He must have recovered from his wounds. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/145 "2024-12-25T17:56:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Wasn’t Purcell the peacenik? Purcell was the token white farmboy, the clean cut all,American boy. In the third season he got really disillusioned and went AWOL, became a junkie. Couple of the guys busted him out if the drug den and got him into what passed for rehab on 1968. He made it home in the last ep. ---
**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 25, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/146 "2024-12-25T17:58:57Z")
The corporal then. IIRC, the sergeant made the peacenik his radioman in order to keep him close by. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/147 "2024-12-25T18:01:41Z")
There was a peacenik medic in season three as well, a “conchie” (thanks, Jeopardy! for that one). ---
**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 25, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/148 "2024-12-25T18:03:00Z")
I’ve gotta get a copy of this somehow! ---
**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 25, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/149 "2024-12-25T18:10:54Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > McClod makes me want to pay for his plane ticket back to Taos out of my own pocket. McCloud had one thing the others didn’t. A young and gorgeous Diana Muldaur. > **[McCloud (1970)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065317/mediaviewer/rm2430505217)** > > Diana Muldaur and Dennis Weaver in McCloud (1970) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/150 "2024-12-25T18:28:45Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > And I’m surprised I’m the first to mention that early Paul Reiser vehicle, _My Two Dads_ I always thought it was a bit odd for the premise of a family friendly sitcom to start with a mother who was sleeping with two men in such close proximity to one another that she didn’t know who the father was. ---
**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 25, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/151 "2024-12-25T18:34:53Z")
What was that prestige broadcast series from a couple of decades back with a whole season devoted to one murder trial from the point of view of the defense team (led by a bald man who looked like he could kill somone with his bare hands)? ---
**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 25, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/152 "2024-12-25T18:37:14Z")
[Murder One](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_One_(TV_series))! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/153 "2024-12-25T21:01:29Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I always thought it was a bit odd for the premise of a family friendly sitcom to start with a mother who was sleeping with two men in such close proximity to one another that she didn’t know who the father was.. “It says the father is ‘biologically indeterminate’.” “That’s you!” -from memory ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/154 "2024-12-27T00:27:02Z")
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned or how popular it was although it did win some awards, I loved Picket Fences. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/155 "2024-12-27T00:45:57Z")
_Louie_ went from “critics’ darling at the center of pop culture” to “that show no one talks about anymore” virtually overnight. ---
**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 27, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/156 "2024-12-27T00:46:21Z")
Ah, Ray Walston ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/157 "2024-12-27T01:45:41Z")
_ **What’s My Line** _ was a prestige game show that was huge in its time. They had a great witty set of regular panelists. It was on prime time for 17 years. Even after it ended, it was parodied by Woody Allen, SCTV and others. Apparently there is live version that has been running even longer than the original TV run. You can watch many of the episode on YouTube.I recommend it. They had a lot of great celebrity guests but one in particular stands out for this, Groucho Marx. When he was on, he dominated. His show, _ **You Bet Your Life** _, was very popular and is probably the pinnacle of his career. Today, he is mostly remembered for the movies he made with his brothers. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/158 "2024-12-27T04:40:39Z")
Surprised no one’s mentioned Party of Five yet. So much of the cast became well known. Matthew Fox for Lost, JLH for Ghost Whisperer, and the Lacey Chabert for Mean Girls and apparently 41 hallmark movies (holy crap). ---
**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:** [December 27, 2024, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/159 "2024-12-27T05:46:59Z")
Also from _Party Of Five_ is Neve Campbell from _Scream_. > [@crazyjoe](#): > > and apparently 41 hallmark movies (holy crap) Lacey Chabert’s known so much for that, that Netflix poached her for their Hallmark knock-off that is getting good buzz (in a Sharknado way) called **Hot Frosty**. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017/160 "2024-12-27T22:38:26Z")
Re: Picket Fences I know the place is fictional, but in no place would the sheriff (a county position directly elected) would care much what the mayor (a city position) says, even if 90% of the county lives in the city (Did the sheriff ever do anything outside of Rome?) Also, I think just about every county seat in Wisconsin has its own city police force - there are a couple county seats that are not incorporated, but then they would not have a mayor Brian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-tv-shows-that-arent-anymore/1012017.md?page=7)