# TV Shows that made a big pop culture splash but are now disproportionately forgotten **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849 "2014-11-17T13:36:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [November 21, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/121 "2014-11-21T13:29:03Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > Tour of Duty Oh yeah, and _China Beach_ was a big deal, too, it having launched the career of Dana Delany. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/122 "2014-11-21T15:14:08Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I don’t know much about the original Dragnet series in general but I do wonder what happened to the LSD trippin’ Blue Boy from time to time. He died. “Benjy” Carter’s body was found by Friday and Gannon at the end of the episode. The “just desserts” portion reveals that an inquest ruled the death self-inflicted as an accidental overdose of barbiturates. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/123 "2014-11-21T15:55:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > He died. “Benjy” Carter’s body was found by Friday and Gannon at the end of the episode. The “just desserts” portion reveals that an inquest ruled the death self-inflicted as an accidental overdose of barbiturates. Unless you were asking about the actor. In which case, after a respectable career as a child actor, he [retired from acting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Burns_%28actor_and_historian%29), got his Ph.D. at Yale, and became a history professor. He’s written several books about the Dreyfuss Affair, apparently. Not bad for a drug-addled old Blue Boy! ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/124 "2014-11-21T16:00:51Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Here’s an off-topic weird thing. Does anybody else remember the animated series about a family of lions that used the same dialogue soundtrack as _Wait Till Your Father Gets Home_? > > Or did I dream that? [This one?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roman_Holidays) I sort of remember it, but I found it by Googling “wait till your father gets home lions.” ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/125 "2014-11-21T16:24:05Z")
How about _[Maude](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maude_%28TV_series%29)_? It’s not _forgotten_ because I’ve often seen it mentioned in works about television history or depictions of women on television, and it also came up when Bea Arthur died, but I’m in my 30s and have never seen an episode of the show. I’ve seen reruns of _All in the Family_, fellow _All in the Family_ spin-off _The Jeffersons_, and even _Maude_ spin-off _Good Times_, but not _Maude_. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard it mentioned in conversation, not even by older people. But this was a pretty popular show in its day (in the top ten for its first four seasons) and I gather was considered somewhat controversial too. The only episode I really know anything about, in which Maude decides to have an abortion, is one that would probably be if anything even more controversial today. Wikipedia tells me that _Maude_ reruns showed up briefly on TV Land in 1999 and Nick at Nite in 2001 and that the first season was released on DVD in 2007, but it looks like those were the only chances for anyone in the US to see the show during my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/126 "2014-11-21T18:13:41Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Wikipedia tells me that _Maude_ reruns showed up briefly on TV Land in 1999 and Nick at Nite in 2001 and that the first season was released on DVD in 2007, but it looks like those were the only chances for anyone in the US to see the show during my lifetime. You can see **Maude** currently on the Antenna TV cable channel, if you get that. Weekends at 6pm Eastern. Very funny show, I recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/127 "2014-11-21T19:02:18Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Yeah, I was going to suggest _Glee_ as an example of a show that made a big pop culture splash with its first two seasons but seems to have been largely forgotten by the public already…and it still has its final half-season to go. > > The AV Club recently referred to _Glee_ co-creator Ryan Murphy as “TV’s current king of diminishing returns” and put _Glee_ and two of his other shows (_Nip/Tuck_ and _American Horror Story_) as the first three items on their list of “[One-season what-ifs: 14 TV series that should’ve stopped after one season](http://www.avclub.com/article/one-season-what-ifs-14-tv-series-shouldve-stopped--211896)”. Man, if glee ended after one season, it’d likely be one of the most fondly remembered shows. It’s almost amazing to think of how good that first season was when watching the dreck that came after (even Season 2 wasn’t completely suck, but then it went sharply downhill) ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/128 "2014-11-21T19:36:44Z")
Did I miss something in the premise of this thread? How on earth have we gotten to this point in discussing television shows that seemed earth-shaking when they aired, were at least moderately successful, but have subsequently fallen off the table completely, without mentioning… _ **LOST** _ Or did I miss it as I scanned the thread? I’ll admit, I was a LOSTEE. Loved it, looked forward to it airing each week, went online and gossiped "but what did that really _mean_? with all my fellow lostees. I think I own every season on DVD. (goes over to cabinet, yep, there they are) Thought I would at some point watch the whole thing all over again, catching all the things I missed the first time. etc. Have never watched a single second of it again. Have not seen it in syndication, have not heard anyone reference it in pop culture. But at the time, it was HUGE. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/129 "2014-11-21T20:31:08Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > Tour of Duty > That’s Incredible > Those Amazing Animals > Real People > Felicity > The Equalizer > Gabriel’s Fire > Emergency! > Aeon Flux The Equalizer just had a movie adaptation. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/130 "2014-11-21T20:40:21Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Here’s an off-topic weird thing. Does anybody else remember the animated series about a family of lions that used the same dialogue soundtrack as _Wait Till Your Father Gets Home_? > > Or did I dream that? There was a cartoon called Father of the Pride. Was that it? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/131 "2014-11-21T20:46:46Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > There was a cartoon called Father of the Pride. Was that it? I doubt it. Father of the Pride was a CGI-animated show from a few years ago, featuring a family of white lions from Siegfried and Roy’s menagerie. In some ways it was similar to WTYFGH (schlubby dad, feminist daughter, precocious boy, domestic mom) but aside from that the comparisons weren’t strong. As an aside, I thought the best part of FotP was the Siegfried and Roy bits. They were hilarious! The lions, not so much. ("Oh no! I forgot to factor in the cosine of root beer!') ---
**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:** [November 22, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/132 "2014-11-22T00:46:03Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > [This one?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roman_Holidays) > > I sort of remember it, but I found it by Googling “wait till your father gets home lions.” I do remember that show too, but that wasn’t it. My memory of the lion show is from a documentary about how TV is produced, possibly made in 1980 or thereabouts, so I guess it may not have been a real thing that was broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/133 "2014-11-22T00:49:44Z")
Lots of westerns i imagine ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/134 "2014-11-22T01:12:56Z")
[quote=“Shagnasty, post:100, topic:704849”] I don’t know much about the original Dragnet series in general but I do wonder what happened to the LSD trippin’ Blue Boy from time to time. That is one of the most unintentionally funny episodes of TV ever made. You can watch it on Youtube. [/QUOTE] > [@leftfield6](#): > > Did I miss something in the premise of this thread? How on earth have we gotten to this point in discussing television shows that seemed earth-shaking when they aired, were at least moderately successful, but have subsequently fallen off the table completely, without mentioning… > > _ **LOST** _ > > Or did I miss it as I scanned the thread? > > I’ll admit, I was a LOSTEE. Loved it, looked forward to it airing each week, went online and gossiped "but what did that really _mean_? with all my fellow lostees. I think I own every season on DVD. (goes over to cabinet, yep, there they are) Thought I would at some point watch the whole thing all over again, catching all the things I missed the first time. etc. > > Have never watched a single second of it again. > > Have not seen it in syndication, have not heard anyone reference it in pop culture. But at the time, it was HUGE. I’m glad you mentioned this! I have often thought the same thing. It just…disappeared. Done. Gone. Some cable station could re-run the thing, an episode a night, for years. Why not? What’s the deal with this?? I LOVED the show, I think I missed one episode. I would love to watch it all over again, but I don’t really want to run out and buy a box set. I would love to settle down at a certain time in the evening and watch an episode. I am getting mighty sick of dozing off to the 100th re-run of Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/135 "2014-11-22T02:04:22Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Here’s an off-topic weird thing. Does anybody else remember the animated series about a family of lions that used the same dialogue soundtrack as _Wait Till Your Father Gets Home_? > > Or did I dream that? Well, you know how dreams are weird. 🙂 And they do mix and mismatch memories. I think this is another deep past time memory that is changed by time too. (Very interested on this as I have seen this item pop up many times when searching for - Did I dream that - past entertainment media and even I noticed cases of funny scrambled memories that I had) As soon as you mentioned an animated family that was riffing or that looked similar to _Wait Till Your Father Gets Home_, I did remember the The Barkleys. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/p1BCkQiB5ag/hqdefault.jpg "The Barkleys Lib and Let Lib") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1BCkQiB5ag) Not a family of lions, a family of dogs. I did see then in the old country back in the 70’s dubbed to Spanish, the sound track was different to the other show, I thought that it was possible that the same audio was used in English, but then I do remember how productions companies recycled the ideas from theirs or other companies (still happens), and the same voice talent cropped up when studios worked on productions that had similar or same formulas. So I did a search with both _Wait Till Your Father Gets Home_ and _The Barkleys._ And my hunch was correct: > **[Wait Till Your Father Gets Home](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wait_Till_Your_Father_Gets_Home)** > > Wait Till Your Father Gets Home is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired in first-run syndication in the United States from 1972 to 1974. The show originated as a one-time segment on Love, American Style called "Love and the Old-Fashioned Father". The same pilot was later produced with a live cast (starring Van Johnson), but with no success. The show was the first primetime animated sitcom to run for more than a single season since fellow Hanna-Barbera The s... > [@](#): > > Many of the stories [About _Wait Till Your Father Gets Home_] revolve around the generation gap between Harry and his children, in which the series’ sympathy is typically on his side, leading the character to usually win his arguments. During the 1972-73 season, the DePatie-Freleng studio had an animated Saturday morning series called The Barkleys with a very similar family, only they were all dogs.\*\* Joan Gerber was also the voice of the “mom” on that show, Agnes\*\*. The Barkleys had married couple Arnie and Agnes, teenage kids Terry and Roger, and pre-teen Chester. So, not the same audio track, just animation groups producing similar things with the same voice talent. -Ed. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/136 "2014-11-22T02:38:38Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > So, not the same audio track, just animation groups producing similar things with the same voice talent. > > -Ed. And in a way, that same technique was used for an animated lion family…James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair played a lion king and queen in **The Lion King** , six years after they’d played a human king and queen in **Coming To America**. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/137 "2014-11-22T04:30:28Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > The Electric Company My students were digging the old Electric Company shows today. They actually asked me if I still had the DVDs. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2014, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849/138 "2014-11-22T09:04:44Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Well, you know how dreams are weird. 🙂 And they do mix and mismatch memories. I think this is another deep past time memory that is changed by time too. > > As soon as you mentioned an animated family that was riffing or that looked similar to _Wait Till Your Father Gets Home_, I did remember the The Barkleys. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1BCkQiB5ag](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1BCkQiB5ag) > > Not a family of lions, a family of dogs. A brave effort. Good work. However, on my brief search after originally posting this, I did find that info the same as you, and like you I wondered if maybe that’s what had happened, a merged and confused memory. But it really doesn’t match what I was thinking of, so I’m still not sure. However, [this does](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068148/board/flat/54927169) match my memory. [QUOTE=Another Dude With The Same Memory] The audio was lifted straight from “Wait Till Your Father Gets Home”, but the animation was a family of lions instead of humans. [/QUOTE] But then later he discovers the truth: [QUOTE=Another Dude With The Same Memory] Looks like I’m about to answer my own question. A few more careful searches found what I was looking for. It was an unsold pilot called either “Harry Safari” or “Harry’s Safari”. The audio was in fact lifted right from WTYFGH. Some of the footage appeared on a 50th anniversary special for Hanna Barbera in 1989. Whatever show I had seen it on must have been promoting the special. [/QUOTE] That Hanna Barbera 50th Anniversary doc was an expanded version of [this documentary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2349136/combined) which came out in 1977. And I am pretty sure that’s where I saw this weird failed pilot, apparently called _“Harry Safari”_, and inspired by [Born Free](http://www.toonzone.net/forums/retro-classic-cartoons/174655-wait-till-your-father-gets-home-makes-its-return-tv-2.html#post2289905), of all things. I can’t find any clips of it anywhere yet. Sorry for this weird hijack, everyone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disproportionately-forgotten/704849.md?page=6)