# Shows that died and came back **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769 "2004-05-30T06:53:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/1 "2004-05-30T06:53:30Z")
What shows in the history of television have been cancelled, taken at least a full season off, then re-emerged? This question occurred to me as I pondered the strange saga of “Family Guy” – the only show I can think of so far that qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/2 "2004-05-30T07:39:23Z")
It’s definitely a rare event. The only one I can think of is “9 to 5”, which re-emerged several years after it was cancelled, but with only one of its original cast members. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/3 "2004-05-30T08:18:10Z")
It’s a Living. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/4 "2004-05-30T09:41:32Z")
Didn’t My So Called Life get cancelled then reborn on MTV? (before being cancelled again) ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/5 "2004-05-30T10:13:07Z")
When “Due South” was cancelled by CBS, and I figured that was it. I simply forgot about it, until I started seeing new shows crop up in syndication a year or so later. (I can’t remember—I think there was over a year between when CBS cancelled it and when they started making new shows.) The star, Paul Gross, apparently owned some rights to it or something, so he found a way to produce new shows. He didn’t get his original co-star back (though David Marciano did guest star), but he got several other original stars in the show and I think they did okay. A few eps. were dumb or more than a little weird, but some episodes definitely had their moments. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/6 "2004-05-30T12:36:49Z")
_Star Trek_ will never die. Neither will _Doctor Who_. And didn’t _The Sopranos_ go without a new episode for 15 months? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/7 "2004-05-30T12:39:46Z")
> [@Darkhold](#): > > Didn’t My So Called Life get cancelled then reborn on MTV? (before being cancelled again) Nah, that was just reruns. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/8 "2004-05-30T12:42:09Z")
> [@Darkhold](#): > > Didn’t My So Called Life get cancelled then reborn on MTV? (before being cancelled again) [Nope](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108872/combined). MTV picked up the episodes which had already been made but didn’t produce any new ones. I suppose the classic example of a show that was cancelled by a network and picked up in syndication would be _Baywatch_ although I don’t know how much down time there was between NBC’s cancellation and the start of the syndicated run. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/9 "2004-05-30T13:02:20Z")
If there is an Og in heaven Futurama will one day be added to this list. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/10 "2004-05-30T13:25:41Z")
Would the four or five incarnations of Lucille Ball on television count? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/11 "2004-05-30T13:48:17Z")
There was that new WKRP series, I guess it likely wouldn’t count as the same series, and isn’t in the spirit of what the OP wants. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/12 "2004-05-30T14:08:02Z")
After lord knows how many years - well, according to [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com), seven - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles somehow appeared recently with another cartoon. As far as I can tell it’s in much the same style as the older cartoon, only with a sluttier-looking April O’Niell. I can’t imagine who thought it was a good idea to resurrect _that_ old, faded relic for another go. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/13 "2004-05-30T14:16:35Z")
If I’m remembering correctly, didn’t ‘Good vs. Evil’/‘G vs E’ start out on USA Network, get cancelled, and then get picked up by Sci-Fi Channel? Darn good show, for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/14 "2004-05-30T14:24:45Z")
> [@foxymoron](#): > > If I’m remembering correctly, didn’t ‘Good vs. Evil’/‘G vs E’ start out on USA Network, get cancelled, and then get picked up by Sci-Fi Channel? > Darn good show, for the most part. Don’t know about GvE, but Stargate SG1 was picked up by Sci-Fi. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SuperNova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNova)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/15 "2004-05-30T15:35:39Z")
**Ren and Stimpy** was brought back briefly on Spike TV. Sadly, the new episodes paled in comparision to the original. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/16 "2004-05-30T15:46:21Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > but Stargate SG1 was picked up by Sci-Fi. As was Sliders, which started out on Fox. Also, The Critic began on ABC, and moved to Fox. Michael Moore’s show “TV Nation” also moved to Fox, from NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/17 "2004-05-30T16:00:25Z")
**The Paper Chase** did a full season on CBS, was cancelled, then three more seasons were produced for Showtime. There was a five year gap between the first year and the second. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/18 "2004-05-30T16:51:37Z")
I believe the original black and white Dragnet was off the air for at least a year before it went back on in color. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/19 "2004-05-30T17:01:16Z")
> [@Enola Straight](#): > > I believe the original black and white Dragnet was off the air for at least a year before it went back on in color. Nope–\*eight \*years. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769/20 "2004-05-30T17:29:03Z")
What about MST3K? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-died-and-came-back/247769.md?page=2)