The Jetsons had originally made only one season back in the 60s, but a new season-plus was made in the mid to late 80s when they were resurrected in syndication.
Around 1971, CBS TV had the #1 show in the Nielsen’s, but they cancelled it. What show was it, and why did they cancel it?
ANSWER DOWN BELOW:
Bet a lot of you guessed “The Smothers Brothers,” right? Wrong! It was “The Lawrence Welk Show”! People forget just how popular Lawrence Welk was. His variety show was, by far, the most watched program in television in 1971- but CBS didn’t like the demographics of Welk’s viewers. The great majority of his fans were elderly people, and advertisers aren’t interested in older viewers. In spite of the high ratings, Welk’s show was becoming a money loser, because the only advertisers he could attract were Geritol, Phillips Milk of Magnesia, Halley’s M-O, Sominex, and various laxatives.
So, CBS cancelled the #1 show in the ratings. But don’t feel too sorry for Welk. He went into syndication almost immediately, kept making new shows for many years, and made a fortune.
Baywatch lasted a season on NBC (1989-1990) before it was cancelled. A year or so later it returned in syndication to become one of the most popular shows in the world. [Norm MacDonald] Which just proves my theory: Germans Love David Hasselhoff. [/Norm MacDonald]
Eonwe, as a fan of the network Trek, I beg to differ. It’s been a burgeoning phenomenon for decades in movie/syndication/new quasi-spinoff series/etc. But it became a “cult favorite” while still a network show. Had demographics rather than raw ratings been the standard when it was cancelled, it would not have been.
[hijack]
Personally I think that network cancelation was a good thing in the long run. If the show had continued on it would have invariablly died under it’s own weight and the fan masses would have had their Star Trek appetites largely sated. The syndication of a series pulled in (or even before) its prime kept the appetite alive and allowed the movies and the spin-offs.
[/hijack]
Indeed, if it were not for Bjo Trimble and the fan mobilization after Trek was cancelled after season 2, there never would have been a third season. Even though that last year was generally sub-par, it made Trek a syndicable show (at 79 episodes, which was then the minimum as 100 is today), which enabled it to survive and generate the spin-offs and films.