# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/81 "2005-06-30T21:52:27Z")
At least one hit show was cancelled due to the McCarthy Hearings/House Unamerican Activities Committee: [Stud’s Place](http://imdb.com/title/tt0154089/), a sitcom starring Studs Terkel as a restaurant owner, ran for three years to decent ratings but was dropped like a flaming Chihuahua when Terkel was blacklisted. (The much more popular [The Goldbergs](http://imdb.com/title/tt0041027/) had a choice of “be cancelled or lose your male lead” as Philip “Jake Goldberg” Loeb was blacklisted as well; the show’s owner/star/producer Molly Goldberg let Loeb go (but felt terribly guilty about it and continued paying him out of her own share of the show’s profits) and the show went on for years with a revolving door series of Jakes. (Loeb has been said to have killed himself over his recasting, but there were other factors that led to his suicide as well.) ---
**Author:** ![Axel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6de8d8/32.png) [@Axel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Axel)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/82 "2005-06-30T22:05:38Z")
Father Ted ended because of the death of Dermot Morgan. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/83 "2005-06-30T22:43:52Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Bonnie Hammer was an exec at the USA Network before moving to Sci-Fi. She doesn’t give a rat’s ass about science fiction per se; she’s just running a business. God, I hated her. Or still hate her. I dunno, does she still work at Sci-fi? If you google her name you’ll see that lots of people hate her. They’ve even got petitions asking for her removal. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/84 "2005-06-30T23:50:22Z")
**Sports Night** on ABC. A very well-written show produced by Aaron Sorkin, but it was “too intelligent” for them at the time and they kept bouncing it for _The Drew Carey Show_. I believe this caused the ratings to drop and although there was a farewell episode of sorts, where Aaron got his digs in at ABC (One of the characters said “If you can’t make money with Sports Night you need to get out of the money making business”) I still miss the show and regret its untimely cancellation. I would talk about **Joan of Arcadia** , but that wound is still to fresh. I need time to heal. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Swede\_Hollow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Swede\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swede_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/85 "2005-07-05T01:04:17Z")
> [@Axel](#): > > Father Ted ended because of the death of Dermot Morgan. ☹ According to the DVD interviews/commentaries it is true that Dermot died the day after they finished shooting the last episode, but they said it was already decided and the cast already knew that there would be no more seasons (or series as the Brits call it) of **Father Ted**. They felt it was just time to move on. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/86 "2005-07-05T01:31:56Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > **Sports Night** on ABC. A very well-written show produced by Aaron Sorkin, but it was “too intelligent” for them at the time and they kept bouncing it for _The Drew Carey Show_. I believe this caused the ratings to drop and although there was a farewell episode of sorts, where Aaron got his digs in at ABC (One of the characters said “If you can’t make money with Sports Night you need to get out of the money making business”) I still miss the show and regret its untimely cancellation. Sorkin having that other show to juggle didn’t help, either. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/87 "2005-07-05T01:35:02Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > **Sports Night** on ABC. A very well-written show produced by Aaron Sorkin, but it was “too intelligent” for them at the time and they kept bouncing it for _The Drew Carey Show_. I believe this caused the ratings to drop and although there was a farewell episode of sorts, where Aaron got his digs in at ABC (One of the characters said “If you can’t make money with Sports Night you need to get out of the money making business”) I still miss the show and regret its untimely cancellation. I would have brought this up, except I figured the reason wasn’t any more than ABC were idiots who didn’t properly showcase a brilliant show. Not much of a story. Or give any special features to the DVD release, which some of us still watch way too often, making the resentment ever-fresh. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/88 "2005-07-05T01:53:03Z")
Leslie Neislen had two short lived series that were both comedies and pretty funny but shortlived Police Squad (1982) Shaping Up (1984) Does anyone know what happened to them? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/89 "2005-07-05T02:21:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **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**. I recently saw a clip of Mary Tyler Moore saying the producers (of which she was one) decided to end the show because _the writers_ said they had run out of ideas. That may be a bit of revisionism. MTM’s marriage to Grant Tinker was breaking up at the time, the co-stars all had shots at getting their own shows and MTM had learned something from Dick Van Dyke about quitting while on top. Incidentally, I’ve also heard that DVD’s “let’s quit while we’re on top” reasoning only came after CBS said they wouldn’t renew the show unless it were filmed in color. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/90 "2005-07-05T16:29:51Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Sorkin having that other show to juggle didn’t help, either. If you’re talking about West Wing, Sports Night was cancelled quite a bit before WW hit the air. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/91 "2005-07-05T16:39:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Leslie Neislen had two short lived series that were both comedies and pretty funny but shortlived > > Police Squad (1982) > Shaping Up (1984) > > Does anyone know what happened to them? I never heard of Shaping Up, but all episodes of **Police Squad!** (the exclamation point was a deliberate part of the title) were made available on videotape as Police Squad! and More Police Squad! I haven’t seen them on DVD. I’m sure that the show had a deliberate limit of six episodes – every show referenced _every_ show that had preceded it, and that would’ve been rough to continue past six shows. A lot of the jokes got recycled in the Naked Gun movies, especially the third one. One of the all-time great TV comedies. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/92 "2005-07-05T17:40:36Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > If you’re talking about West Wing, Sports Night was cancelled quite a bit before WW hit the air. That’s what I thought, and was about to make the comment in my post… Until I looked it up on IMDB: [Sports Night 1998-2000](http://imdb.com/title/tt0165961/) (RIP) [West Wing 1999-Present](http://imdb.com/title/tt0200276/). ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/93 "2005-08-11T21:05:49Z")
> [@BayleDomon](#): > > There is, of course, **Firefly** , which I’m surprised hasn’t been brought up due to the recent flurry of activity about it. It was another case in which the network screwed the show over. FOX did not permit the pilot to run (it actually was the last episode to air), and the episode which replaced it didn’t do as good a job of introducing the series as the pilot would have. With that and a couple other executive decisions, it was hard for viewers to get into it while it was on television and it was canned before the first season was over. > > Of course, with the movie coming out, it’s hard to say whether it’s really _canceled_ as such, but it’s pretty clear there’s no more TV episodes to be had. This is the only TV show I’ve felt strongly enough about to buy the DVD (although NYPD Blue is a strong candidate for a second purchase). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/94 "2005-08-11T22:40:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **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. Partly that, but money was also a reason. The show had been on 5 years (enough to syndicate), all the actors’ contracts were up and CBS was pressuring them to film in color (which apparently was a damn sight more expensive than black and white at the time.) VanDyke’s wanting to do movies was just one more reason to quit. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/95 "2005-08-11T22:47:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I never heard of Shaping Up, but all episodes of **Police Squad!** (the exclamation point was a deliberate part of the title) were made available on videotape as Police Squad! and More Police Squad! I haven’t seen them on DVD. > > I’m sure that the show had a deliberate limit of six episodes – every show referenced _every_ show that had preceded it, and that would’ve been rough to continue past six shows. A lot of the jokes got recycled in the Naked Gun movies, especially the third one. > One of the all-time great TV comedies. I agree with everything you said, except Police Squad! _was_ canceled. **Silenus** and I discussed it [not long ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=324961&highlight=Police+Squad) ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/96 "2005-08-11T23:09:41Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > That’s what I thought, and was about to make the comment in my post… > > Until I looked it up on IMDB: > [Sports Night 1998-2000](http://imdb.com/title/tt0165961/) (RIP) > [West Wing 1999-Present](http://imdb.com/title/tt0200276/). Then, I stand corrected. Thanks!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/97 "2005-08-12T00:07:06Z")
What happened to Wonder Falls? Oh yeah, it was on Fox. I loved Brisco County. It was also on Fox. Firefly, never got a chance to see it because it got cancelled before I could. Fox. Most of the good shows on Fox meet their demise because they are on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/98 "2005-08-12T00:48:16Z")
Did I miss it or has no one mentioned **News Radio**. Great program, but it never recovered from the murder of Phil Hartman. I’m not sure it really even tried. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/99 "2005-08-12T01:41:58Z")
> [@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. I read somewhere (in a book that I can’t find right now) that it wasn’t until years later when they started looking at ratings differently that the network realized that it had actually been quite popular among males 18-34 – the magic group, dontcha know. Nothing to do with Shatner and Nimoy’s contracts at the time. In the sixties apparently they counted sheer numbers, and didn’t track what sort of people the numbers were counting. This is from one of the producers, who if I recall right says that if they had a show with those ratings now there’s no way it’d have been killed the way it was. ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229/100 "2005-08-12T01:59:33Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Didn’t puberty end Leave to Beaver, Pete and Pete and Land of the Lost? If puberty is what killed Pete and Pete, well that’s just a freakin’ travesty. That show was at it’s creative peak when it was killed. **Batman: The Animated Series** was a critical and financial hit, but the network figured they had enough episodes in the can, and re-runs are cheaper than new episodes, and what the hell, it’s only kids watching and kids don’t care about re-runs, so they axed an enormously succesful show. YOU BASTARDS! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-that-tv-show-to-end-real-life-reasons/310229.md?page=6)