# TV Binge Watch (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [October 4, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711 "2022-10-04T16:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 447
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8921 "2025-08-02T09:18:59Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > **Shows that were retooled** 1. Tattingers becomes Nick & Hillary, going from an hour-long comedy-drama to a half-hour sitcom before getting cancelled. 2. The Naked Truth, season one focused on the world of tabloids, then the show switched networks and was retooled to focus more on the lead’s personal life. 3. Barney Miller - early episodes were focused on Barney, and featured his home life as well as his life at the 12th Precinct; Barbara Barrie, who played his wife Liz, had second-billing in the credits. Starting with the second season, the writers refocused the show on the ensemble cast of detectives, and largely wrote the Liz character out of the series. 4. Teachers Only - Sitcom, two seasons, set in a high school. Most of the Season 1 cast was replaced with a different cast for Season 2; the two members that remained kept their names but had different jobs at the school. The school changed also. 5. The Big Bang Theory - the pilot episode featured the characters of Leonard and Sheldon, and two female leads: “Katie” and “Gilda”. Katie was a wise-cracking street-smart woman who moves in with the men, and Gilda was a colleague of theirs. The producers retooled the show by replacing both female leads with Penny, as the guys’ neighbor. 6. Seinfeld - originally called The Seinfeld Chronicles, Kramer was a hermit named Kessler, George wasn’t neurotic and there was no Elaine. 7. These Friends of Mine changed to Ellen, characters were dropped and added, and Ellen DeGeneres became more of the focal point of the show. 8. Roseanne became The Conners after Roseanne Barr was fired from the show for controversial tweets; her character was killed off 9. When CBS didn’t want to renew _Cagney & Lacey_ for a 2nd season, Cagney was recast, but there were other changes: the theme music was changed from a gritty “life’s tough” song to a wordless jazz piece that didn’t give away the show’s genre, and the opening montage was generic, instead of “how they became detectives.” The biggest change was how the supporting cast was written: there was a lot less casual sexism and mild harassment from the men in the precinct. ---
**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8922 "2025-08-02T16:19:20Z")
**Shows that were retooled** 1. Tattingers becomes Nick & Hillary, going from an hour-long comedy-drama to a half-hour sitcom before getting cancelled. 2. The Naked Truth, season one focused on the world of tabloids, then the show switched networks and was retooled to focus more on the lead’s personal life. 3. Barney Miller - early episodes were focused on Barney, and featured his home life as well as his life at the 12th Precinct; Barbara Barrie, who played his wife Liz, had second-billing in the credits. Starting with the second season, the writers refocused the show on the ensemble cast of detectives, and largely wrote the Liz character out of the series. 4. Teachers Only - Sitcom, two seasons, set in a high school. Most of the Season 1 cast was replaced with a different cast for Season 2; the two members that remained kept their names but had different jobs at the school. The school changed also. 5. The Big Bang Theory - the pilot episode featured the characters of Leonard and Sheldon, and two female leads: “Katie” and “Gilda”. Katie was a wise-cracking street-smart woman who moves in with the men, and Gilda was a colleague of theirs. The producers retooled the show by replacing both female leads with Penny, as the guys’ neighbor. 6. Seinfeld - originally called The Seinfeld Chronicles, Kramer was a hermit named Kessler, George wasn’t neurotic and there was no Elaine. 7. These Friends of Mine changed to Ellen, characters were dropped and added, and Ellen DeGeneres became more of the focal point of the show. 8. Roseanne became The Conners after Roseanne Barr was fired from the show for controversial tweets; her character was killed off 9. When CBS didn’t want to renew _Cagney & Lacey_ for a 2nd season, Cagney was recast, but there were other changes: the theme music was changed from a gritty “life’s tough” song to a wordless jazz piece that didn’t give away the show’s genre, and the opening montage was generic, instead of “how they became detectives.” The biggest change was how the supporting cast was written: there was a lot less casual sexism and mild harassment from the men in the precinct. 10. _Star Trek_ - The pilot episode with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike and Majel Barrett as Number One was replaced with William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy was moved from a secondary role to become the ship’s first mate, Mr. Spock. Barrett was recast in a minor role as Nurse Chapel. (Hard to believe no one listed this earlier. I’m fairly certain someone will come along to point out discrepancies in my synopsis.) **TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8923 "2025-08-02T17:23:14Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8924 "2025-08-02T17:39:49Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ 3. Spot - _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ Data’s pet cat. [![](https://images.prismic.io/star-trek-untold/NzRlMzU2NzctYzRkOC00NzUyLWE3MDEtNGJlN2Y1YWY3NjFl_datas-day-hd-149.jpeg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,1438,1080&w=1438&h=1080) ](https://images.prismic.io/star-trek-untold/NzRlMzU2NzctYzRkOC00NzUyLWE3MDEtNGJlN2Y1YWY3NjFl_datas-day-hd-149.jpeg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,1438,1080&w=1438&h=1080) ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8925 "2025-08-02T18:55:17Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ 3. Spot - _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 4. Comet - _Full House_ ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8926 "2025-08-02T19:13:14Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ 3. Spot - _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 4. Comet - _Full House_ 5. Sparky - _WandaVision_ ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8927 "2025-08-03T00:53:37Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ 3. Spot - _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 4. Comet - _Full House_ 5. Sparky - _WandaVision_ 6. Tiger - _The Brady Bunch_ ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8928 "2025-08-03T02:04:32Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ 3. Spot - _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 4. Comet - _Full House_ 5. Sparky - _WandaVision_ 6. Tiger - _The Brady Bunch_ 7. Lucky - _ALF_ ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8929 "2025-08-03T02:33:29Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ 3. Spot - _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 4. Comet - _Full House_ 5. Sparky - _WandaVision_ 6. Tiger - _The Brady Bunch_ 7. Lucky - _ALF_ 8. Odie - _Garfield and Friends_ Garfield himself “spoke” by way of having his thoughts spoken, and walked on two legs. But Odie did not. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8930 "2025-08-03T04:23:12Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ 3. Spot - _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 4. Comet - _Full House_ 5. Sparky - _WandaVision_ 6. Tiger - _The Brady Bunch_ 7. Lucky - _ALF_ 8. Odie - _Garfield and Friends_ 9. Porthos - _Star Trek: Enterprise_ For more: [Porthos | Memory Alpha | Fandom](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Porthos) ---
**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8931 "2025-08-03T05:10:00Z")
**TV Pets** (No supernatural, anthropomorphic, fantastic creatures. Just basic cats, dogs, etc. May have some characteristics but don’t speak or act human-like.) 1. Fred - _Baretta_ 2. Mr. Turtle - _My Name Is Earl_ 3. Spot - _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 4. Comet - _Full House_ 5. Sparky - _WandaVision_ 6. Tiger - _The Brady Bunch_ 7. Lucky - _ALF_ 8. Odie - _Garfield and Friends_ 9. Porthos - _Star Trek: Enterprise_ 10. Ben - _Gentle Ben_ pass ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8932 "2025-08-03T11:07:10Z")
> [@knoodler](#): > > pass **More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ Argo was superior to a typical horse in her ability to understand human speech, but I wouldn’t call it supernatural, given what normally happens on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8933 "2025-08-03T11:24:25Z")
**More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ 2. Bear - chimp; B.J. and the Bear ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8934 "2025-08-03T13:01:43Z")
**More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ 2. Bear - chimp; _B.J. and the Bear_ 3. Clyde - tortoise; _Elementary_ ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8935 "2025-08-03T13:27:16Z")
**More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ 2. Bear - chimp; _B.J. and the Bear_ 3. Clyde - tortoise; _Elementary_ 4. Rocco - Zoe’s pet rock _Sesame Street_ ---
**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8936 "2025-08-03T15:12:36Z")
**More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ 2. Bear - chimp; _B.J. and the Bear_ 3. Clyde - tortoise; _Elementary_ 4. Rocco - Zoe’s pet rock; _Sesame Street_ 5. Homer - Wednesday’s pet spider; _The Addams Family_ (1964) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8937 "2025-08-03T15:26:31Z")
**More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ 2. Bear - chimp; _B.J. and the Bear_ 3. Clyde - tortoise; _Elementary_ 4. Rocco - Zoe’s pet rock; _Sesame Street_ 5. Homer - Wednesday’s pet spider; _The Addams Family_ (1964) 6. Santa’s Little Helper - T_he Simpsons_ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8938 "2025-08-03T16:45:21Z")
**More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ 2. Bear - chimp; _B.J. and the Bear_ 3. Clyde - tortoise; _Elementary_ 4. Rocco - Zoe’s pet rock; _Sesame Street_ 5. Homer - Wednesday’s pet spider; _The Addams Family_ (1964) 6. Santa’s Little Helper - T_he Simpsons_ 7. Marcel - _Friends_ Ross’s pet white-headed capuchin monkey during the series’ first season. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8939 "2025-08-03T18:09:04Z")
**More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ 2. Bear - chimp; _B.J. and the Bear_ 3. Clyde - tortoise; _Elementary_ 4. Rocco - Zoe’s pet rock; _Sesame Street_ 5. Homer - Wednesday’s pet spider; _The Addams Family_ (1964) 6. Santa’s Little Helper - T_he Simpsons_ 7. Marcel - _Friends_ 8. Sweet Cheeks - Guinea pig; _Abbott Elementary_ ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/8940 "2025-08-03T19:49:13Z")
**More TV Pets!** (bonus points for non-cats/dogs) 1. Argo – horse; _Xena, Warrior Princess_ 2. Bear - chimp; _B.J. and the Bear_ 3. Clyde - tortoise; _Elementary_ 4. Rocco - Zoe’s pet rock; _Sesame Street_ 5. Homer - Wednesday’s pet spider; _The Addams Family_ (1964) 6. Santa’s Little Helper - T_he Simpsons_ 7. Marcel - _Friends_ 8. Sweet Cheeks - Guinea pig; _Abbott Elementary_ 9. Noelle = Suzanne Sugarbaker’s pig; _Designing Women_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711.md?page=446) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711.md?page=448)