# TV series that were never on the rails to begin with **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882 "2016-05-16T01:57:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/61 "2016-05-17T19:48:38Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > FIFY Please do not alter text within the quote box. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/62 "2016-05-17T21:41:52Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > That would probably be my reaction to **My Mother the Car** , if I ever saw it as an adult. I have watched it as an adult. It’s been on Antenna TV. Jerry Van Dyke deserved better, and got it on _Coach_. And Avery Schreiber as Captain Manzini was nothing more than a three-dimensional cartoon villain. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/63 "2016-05-18T06:52:25Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A better example is _The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer_. The concept was terrible from the start – the idea that Abraham Lincoln was an oversexed idiot just wasn’t going to fly, and once the NAACP started picketing over its portrayal of slavery, you knew it was a disaster. Year before last, I dialed up the six episodes of **Desmond Pfeiffer** on YouTube, and I have to say, it wasn’t that bad. For the mid-nineties it was terrible, but years of **South Park** and **Family Guy** have recalibrated my offensensitivity meter. First off, it’s not racist if the black guy is the most intelligent and least neurotic one in the bunch! Desmond was English, so he was free, not a slave, and I don’t recall any other black characters, slaves or otherwise\*. Hey, it was farce. Not defending the portrayal of Lincoln, but General Grant being a drunk **is** accurate, and I couldn’t help laughing at Stonewall Jackson giving orders while having his uniform fitted by a cranky Jewish tailor. (Yes, another stereotype; it was that kind of show. As I said, worse things show up in Seth McFarlane productions all the time.) I think because I’m so well-informed about the Civil War, I can kid because I love. \*Though I may have blocked them out, the way I blocked out Joey Lawrence singing “Mammy” in blackface on **Gimme a Break**. That is, I remembered the singing, but not the blackface. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/64 "2016-05-18T14:54:12Z")
The US version of the wonderful British show _Coupling_. Really, really awful. They made 11 episodes but only the first four aired in the US. They even used the British scripts for the most part at first!\* Bad acting, bad production, etc. - So the Hollywood people of course blamed the writing for the failure.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/65 "2016-05-18T18:35:35Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The US version of the wonderful British show _Coupling_. > > Really, really awful. They made 11 episodes but only the first four aired in the US. > > They even used the British scripts for the most part at first!\* > > Bad acting, bad production, etc. > > - So the Hollywood people of course blamed the writing for the failure.:smack: Possibly because it had already been done on US TV…as _Friends_. Okay, I’ve only ever seen three or four episodes of _Coupling_. But I distinctly remember thinking, “Hey, lookit that! The Brits actually remade one of our shows, and not vice versa!” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/66 "2016-05-18T19:43:34Z")
Another Sherwood Schwartz classic: “It’s About Time.” Two astronauts go faster than the speed of light and end up back in the Stone Age (with requisite dinosaurs). I thought it was pretty cool when I was a kid watching it. It’s been airing on one of the cable channels on the weekend, and I’ve caught a few eps, and it’s pretty hard to watch now. About 2/3 of the way into the sole season, they decided to retool the ‘fish out of water’ scenario and had the astronauts fixing the spacecraft and taking some of the cave dwellers back to the modern age. Still canceled after the first season. Joe E. Ross’s mugging gets a little old, although when I was a little kid, I thought he was really funny. He got the few spots that he did not so much as because he was funny or particularly talented–he just _looked_ funny. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/67 "2016-05-18T21:45:41Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Possibly because it had already been done on US TV…as _Friends_. This is a very unfortunate point of view. Not all shows with similar superficial cast properties are _Friends_. E.g., _The Big Bang Theory_ has revolved around a cast of 3 men and 3 women (none initially married) for some time but is quite unlike _Friends_. Umm. Sorry about that. Bad example.😉 Anyway: the characteristics of number/gender/marital status do _not_ define the premise of a show. Otherwise you get _3rd Rock from the Sun_ ~ _Seinfeld_. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/68 "2016-05-18T22:36:45Z")
I’m sick of people ripping on Small Wonder. It was a kids’ sitcom, and for that it wasn’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882/69 "2016-05-18T23:41:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A better example is _The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer_. The concept was terrible from the start – the idea that Abraham Lincoln was an oversexed idiot just wasn’t going to fly, and once the NAACP started picketing over its portrayal of slavery, you knew it was a disaster. Ah, yes, back on the UPN network. It wasn’t even Pfeiffer (Fifer) it was (Puh-fifer.) Lincoln was played by Dann Florek, and Pfeiffer was played by Chi McBride. I can only assume someone had blackmail photos of them to get them to act in this horrid show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-were-never-on-the-rails-to-begin-with/754882.md?page=3)