# What caused that TV show to end? (real life reasons) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229 "2005-06-28T17:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/21 "2005-06-28T21:32:12Z")
Oh, and _Under Cover_ basically ended when John Erik Hexum was accidentally shot and killed on set (I think he was the guy who shot himself in the head with “blanks”). ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/22 "2005-06-28T21:38:58Z")
> [@SlyFrog](#): > > Oh, and _Under Cover_ basically ended when John Erik Hexum was accidentally shot and killed on set (I think he was the guy who shot himself in the head with “blanks”). I thought the older start of the show “Voyagers” that, IIRC, had something to do with a magic stopwatch? Straight Dope on this, anyone? I suppose the rumors coming out in this thread was inevitable. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/23 "2005-06-28T22:04:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Tina Louise’s contract was up during the 4th season and plans were made for her character to be rescued, get amnesia (so she couldn’t tell about the other castaways) and replaced by **two** more characters. [emphasis added] So that’s what the casting director meant by “Tina Louise is leaving, so we need another nice pair on the island”? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/24 "2005-06-28T22:17:48Z")
Didn’t puberty end Leave to Beaver, Pete and Pete and Land of the Lost? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/25 "2005-06-28T22:31:06Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > I thought the older start of the show “Voyagers” that, IIRC, had something to do with a magic stopwatch? > > Straight Dope on this, anyone? > > I suppose the rumors coming out in this thread was inevitable. > > -Joe John Eric Hexum IS the older star of _Voyagers_. After _Voyagers_ ended, he was signed to _Under Cover_. Meeno Peluce, however, went back to being Soleil Moon Frye’s lesser-known older brother. I’d be bitter, too. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/26 "2005-06-28T22:44:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > **Battlestar Galactica** was cancelled because, while popular, it couldn’t make a profit due to its exorbitant $1.5 million per episode production costs. **The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.** was cancelled for exactly the same reason. It was popular, got good ratings, but still cost more to make than it was bringing in. I heard (but can’t swear that this part is true) that the network wanted to keep it on but that the producers refused to compromise the quality of the show by going with a smaller budget. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/27 "2005-06-28T22:47:35Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Didn’t puberty end Leave to Beaver, Pete and Pete and Land of the Lost? Leave it to Beaver is kind of interesting, because it only lasted a year on CBS, and then was picked up by ABC for another 5 years. It’s ratings started to drop in the 6th season, so ABC said, “We’ll pick it up for another season, but only if you colorize it and agree to expand it to an hour”. The producers didn’t have the money to do that. Meanwhile, Hugh Beaumont, who played Beaver’s father, was sick of the role. So, the show ended. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/28 "2005-06-28T22:48:58Z")
**The Dick Van Dyke** show went off the air because Van Dyke wanted to go into movies, and they felt they wanted to go out on top, before the show declined. Same with **The Mary Tyler Moore Show**. \*\*ST: TNG \*\* ended after seven seasons because that was the end of the principal actor’s contracts (most TV shows sign their stars to seven years). The actors and production team wanted to go on, but Paramount preferred movies and not having to negotiate new contracts for everyone (plus they had more than enough episodes to syndicate it forever). Same with DS9. **The Fugitive** went off the air because David Janssen tired of the role. They were the first TV series to have a series finale. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/29 "2005-06-28T22:56:22Z")
IIRC The Original Series of Star Trek ended because by the time it was realised the show was popular to the right audiences, Shatner and Nimoy at least had signed contracts for other shows and couldn’t come back. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/30 "2005-06-28T23:11:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Didn’t “Alias Smith and Jones” end because Pete Duel killed himself, or was it already cancelled? Nope. Peter Duel killed himself in 1971; the show continued till 1973. > [@](#): > > “My Sister Sam” ended with the murder of one of the stars. Nope. _My Sister Sam_ was cancelled in 1988; Rebecca Schaefer was killed in 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/31 "2005-06-28T23:18:44Z")
The show **Maude** was cancelled because ratings plummeted when Maude had an abortion. (It was really a stupid idea for a show because in addition to being extremely controversial Maude had a teenaged grandchild and had made jokes in previous episodes about her menopause [in the past tense].) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/32 "2005-06-28T23:22:20Z")
**Diff’rent Strokes** and **Golden Girls** were both cancelled but picked up by another network immediately. In both cases, the new network version folded after a season. (_Golden Girls_ actually had a new name- _Golden Palace_ and some cockamamie plot about the girls [minus Bea Arthur] sinking all their money into a beachfront motel, which [along with no Bea Arthur] helped euthanize it; _Strokes_ had just over-run its course.) **Webster** was cancelled when it was revealed that star Emmanuel Lewis had eaten human flesh. (Oh sorry… I’m thinking about the Billy Moyers program.) ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/33 "2005-06-28T23:28:40Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > _Roseanne_ was going full speed ahead into its eighth or ninth season when Roseanne Barr insisted on doing all the writing herself. The last two seasons stank to heaven, and the series tanked. A classic example of a star’s ego running out of control. I realize that we’re not in GD and this isn’t the most important issue in the world, but do you know where I can find out more about this (in other words, but in the nicest way possible…“cite?”)? I’d always heard it was the other writers who let it get out of control, and the stars didn’t like it…Roseanne tried wrapping it all up in the end with the last few shows. TVtome (now [tv.com](http://tv.com)) gives Roseanne the writing credit to just the Halloween episode in season 8, and only a few (the more reasonable ones, IMO: halloween, the Christmas episode, Darlene’s baby’s birth, and the final episode) in the ninth season. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/34 "2005-06-29T01:08:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The show **Maude** was cancelled because ratings plummeted when Maude had an abortion. (It was really a stupid idea for a show because in addition to being extremely controversial Maude had a teenaged grandchild and had made jokes in previous episodes about her menopause [in the past tense].) No. the abortion episode was in Novermber, 1972, during the first season. The show ran until 1978. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/35 "2005-06-29T03:35:59Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > No. the abortion episode was in Novermber, 1972, during the first season. The show ran until 1978. Hmm. I stand corrected. (Thanks and apologies.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/36 "2005-06-29T03:50:26Z")
Researching **Maude** to see why I thought that: the show was dropped from about 30 markets due to the abortion (due to protests); somewhere a wire crossed. Whether the show **Ellen** sank in the ratings (and thus got axed) due to controversy or simply because it wasn’t very good has proponents on both sides. I think it was a combination. An interesting reason why a show **didn’t** get cancelled is _St. Elsewhere_. The show was never huge in the ratings (respectable, middle-of-the-road at best), but advertisers loved it because of the viewers it _did_ pull in: it was a major favorite among college educated 30-somethings, the exact people that many auto, alcohol and tourism (among other) folks were trying to reach. **Queer as Folk** was cancelled because most of the cast had contracts up for renewal and they wanted to move on. (Ratings are still good.) **Cagney & Lacy** (another Sharon Gless show) was cancelled due to very low ratings but was one of several shows to be returned due to a massive write-in campaign (especially by women who were glad to see women crimefighters who didn’t look like Cheryl Tiegs) and thus made the networks question the Nielsens. A similar thing happened with **Mama’s Family** - ratings were terrible and the plug was pulled, but so many people wrote in that its creators/producers elected to syndicate it and it ran for several more years. **The Jeffersons** was cancelled completely unexpectedly while still drawing in strong ratings. The cast was very irked that there was no “goodbye” episode (though Archie Bunker in various incarnations ran even longer and had better ratings and didn’t have one either). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/37 "2005-06-29T07:14:02Z")
Didn’t Sarah Michelle Gellar ambush the producers of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ by revealing in an interview that she was quitting at the end of the seventh season unbeknownst to them? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/38 "2005-06-29T07:24:46Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > \*\*ST: TNG \*\* ended after seven seasons because that was the end of the principal actor’s contracts (most TV shows sign their stars to seven years). The actors and production team wanted to go on, but Paramount preferred movies and not having to negotiate new contracts for everyone (plus they had more than enough episodes to syndicate it forever). Same with DS9. While you’re correct for TNG, I’m pretty sure DS9 ended after seven years just because TNG had. Same for VGR and, if it hadn’t tanked in the ratings and had the President of Programming prejudiced against it, ENT. > [@Pushkin](#): > > IIRC The Original Series of Star Trek ended because by the time it was realised the show was popular to the right audiences, Shatner and Nimoy at least had signed contracts for other shows and couldn’t come back. _Star Trek_ had already been renewed for a third season because of a massive letter campaign organized by Bjo Trimble and Gene Roddenberry and there was a similar (but smaller? **Sir Rhosis** , you out there?) campaign to have a fourth but NBC most emphatically did not care. They set it up to fail and it did so spectacularly… it wasn’t until years later, in the early to mid-seventies, that it became a hit in syndication that NBC gave it a second shot with _The Animated Adventures_ which failed again, getting cancelled after 1.5 seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/39 "2005-06-29T07:42:45Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > **The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.** was cancelled for exactly the same reason. It was popular, got good ratings, but still cost more to make than it was bringing in. I heard (but can’t swear that this part is true) that the network wanted to keep it on but that the producers refused to compromise the quality of the show by going with a smaller budget. Not according to Bruce Campbell’s bio, **If Chins Could Kill**. He said the show’s big budget was indeed a strike against it, but ultimately it was low ratings that killed **Brisco**. The producers did everything they could to promote the series, the critics loved it, and it did catch on with a small but loyal fan base, but in the end it wasn’t enough. I even recall TV Guide including it one of their _Intelligent Shows That Most of You Mindless Sheep Aren’t Watching_ articles. Oddly enough, just about everyone I knew watched the show and loved it, and to this day whenever I mention it someone will inevitably say, “That show was great! I was so mad when they cancelled it!” Evidently even a too-small fan base is still pretty large. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/40 "2005-06-29T08:01:51Z")
Clerks: The Animated Series. 6 Episodes were made, but only 2 were aired, out of order and againest extremely popular shows(Apparently the first season of Survivor and a famou football game). AKA Network programmers have pointy hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229.md?page=3)