TV Shows that you wish hadn't been cancelled....

[Kimmer]

I'm sure we all have our favorites....from our childhood to the current TV season that are no longer on TV. Which shows do you really miss that you can't see now? (keeping in mind that different towns do show different shows in reruns) Name as many as you want....

2 shows that I miss are "Rescue 911" and "Unsolved Mysteries." I think they should still be on. "Rescue 911" was pretty educational and "Unsolved Mysteries" was just a neat show. I loved seeing the mysteries that were solved and there were some that I always wondered about....

[Midge]

Great topic, Kimmer! I would also put Unsolved Mysteries at the top of my list. Another show I miss was NBC News Overnight, which was co-hosted by Linda Ellerbee and BIll Schechner in the early 1980's. It aired in the wee small hours, 1 or 2 a.m. Because the program had such a small audience, Ellerbee and Schechner had more creative freedom than they would have on any other network news program. They took a somewhat satirical, ironic attitude toward the news stories of the day (much like Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC). The writing was superb, and the show drew a devoted cult following.

[precoder]

I agree about "Unsolved Mysteries" myself. Whenever that was on, I stopped whatever I was doing to watch that ...

One of my favorite shows ever was "The Waltons" ... The first season or two especially were very good I thought. Later after that, the show jumped the shark and didn't work anymore so it was cancelled, but I loved it at the beginning. I haven't seen any re-runs for years ...

[Midge]

I miss Johnny Carson.

[diane]

I really love "Columbo" - I have them on tape and every few
years I re-watch them. The newer episodes (that I didn't
really like when I first saw them) I have grown to appreciate.
Some of the first series had some great stars from the past
- my favourite was called "Forgotton Lady" with Janet Leigh as
a faded star making a comeback and John Payne as the man
that always loved her.
Another show that I loved and whenever I watch it I'm always
sad that it is coming to an end. It is an Australian show called
"Murder Call". You may not have it in America but it has a cult
following over here. It ran from 1997 to 2001.
It was a detective show (suprise :uhuh: ) but it took a lot of it's
settings from "film noir" - the office seemed to be in sepia -
there were always open venetian blinds etc. Tessa was always
in black and (for a detective salary ) always seemed to be
dressed in designer clothes. But it was a very gritty show
with never less than 2 dead bodies per show.
The two detectives - Tessa, relied on intuition while Hayden
went by the book.
Kimmer this is a great topic and I am sure I will think of many
more that I liked.

[Midge]

Diane, "Forgotten Lady" is my favorite Columbo episode! That detective show sounds really excellent.

[Roger Thornhill]

Yesterday I watched Columbo Goes To The Guillotine (1989) I watched as much as time would allow. This episode is rather silly in parts but Columbo is always hugely enjoyable. I have all the episodes except a few of the later ones. Soon all of them will be available. "Gee that's terrific"

[Larry's 66 Diner]

"Oh, and Mr Thornhill, just one more question...."

Well this is a great topic! I can probably start off with a list of many, many TV shows that I wish never would have been cancelled:

• Columbo
  
• The Waltons
  
• Barnaby Jones
  
• Dallas
  
• Falcon Crest
  
• Knots Landing
  
• Dynasty
  
• Little House on the Prairie
  
• V
  
• The Rockford Files
  
• The Dukes of Hazzard
  
• Macmillan and Wife
  
• Hawaii Five-0
  
• Quincy, M.E.
  

Believe me, I can probably add lots more to this list later! :devilish:

[diane]

Boy Larry - your list has bought back so many memories.
We were avid "Knot's Landing" fans in the 80s. I can remember Donna Mills
was the "vixen" - who went through all the men in the crescent except the
one that was her brother. I can remember many years after there was the
inevitable movie - "Return to Knots Landing" - Val looked weird as though
she had had too much plastic surgery or something like that.

[Larry's 66 Diner]

Out of those night-time "soap operas" (as we call them here in the States), Dallas was my long-time favorite. In fact Knots Landing had "spun off" of Dallas. Yes, indeed, Donna Mills played an excellent villain, didn't she?! :devilish: Valene Ewing was one of my favorites on there for the longest time although she didn't look totally healthy, as you suggested.

On Dallas, however, Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray) was one of my all-time favorites! The only thing that really messed everything up on Dallas, was when Bobby Ewing returned, and they messed up the whole show by indicating he had stepped out of the shower and Pamela had "dreamed" the entire previous season! That was a cop-out!

Followed by Dallas, Falcon Crest was my second favorite, although they messed it up in later seasons too!

[Kimmer]

I totally agree with your comment about the dream year of "Dallas." That also messed up "Knots Landing" because Gary and Val's twin son was named after his "dead" Uncle Bobby and, of course, Bobby wasn't dead after all. Even though I kept watching both shows, it sort of ruined "Dallas" for me....

Hey Larry!! Here's some trivia for you since you like Linda Gray....remember the famous poster for the film "The Graduate?" The leg in that poster belongs to Linda Gray, NOT Anne Bancroft. (And, before anyone asks....yes, I'm 100 % sure of this!! ;D)

[Midge]

Good knowledge, Kimmer! I didn't realize that Anne Bancroft needed a leg double!

[Larry's 66 Diner]

kimmer said:

remember the famous poster for the film "The Graduate?" The leg in that film belongs to Linda Gray, NOT Anne Bancroft. (And, before anyone asks....yes, I'm 100 % sure of this!! ;D)

WOW! Interesting! Quite honestly, I never realized that! :huh:

[Kimmer]

I just checked my post....I hope everyone understood that I meant the leg in the poster was Linda Gray's....I changed it just to be on the safe side.

[Midge]

Gee, Kimmer, and I thought the leg was Dustin Hoffman's!
(Actually your post was very clear.)

[diane]

This is a great topic. I'm starting to think of all the TV shows I loved and haven't seen
for years. "The Night Stalker" was one I never missed but I don't think it's been on (in
Australia) since it was first shown. Darren McGavin was Kolchak, a reporter (if I remember)
and he was always assigned murders with ghostly or supernatural circumstances. It was a
terrific show and I don't know why they ever stopped making it as it wasn't on long.

[annavandenhazel]

Hmmm, there were lots of good shows I recall that didn't last long:

"Life with Lucy": Lucille Ball came out of retirement at the request of fans to create this show in the mid 80's; it only lasted a few episodes, and a woman wrote a rude letter to TV Guide: "When will TV producers get it that we do NOT love Lucy and are tired of having her shoved down our throats?" (My answer would have been: when people like you don't watch her show)

"Charlie & Co.": This sitcom featured Flip Wilson and Gladys Knight as the parents of 3 children and taught good family values; not all that different than the original format of "Family Matters" which came out a year later and lasted a long time (maybe C&C was in a bad time slot?). Ironically, the oldest son on this program "Junior" was played by Jaleel White, best known for his portrayal of Steve Urkel on Family Matters (I didn't realize this until I checked out a website that explained this show).

"The Invisible Man" with David McCollum in the starring roll. Almost every show that came out in the mid-70's only lasted a year, and this was no exception.

Given the above statement, I was shocked to see "Little House on the Prairie" come back after one season - don't get me wrong, I love the show, but I honestly expected it to die along with everything else that came out in the fall of 1974.

[precoder]

diane said:

This is a great topic. I'm starting to think of all the TV shows I loved and haven't seen
for years. "The Night Stalker" was one I never missed but I don't think it's been on (in
Australia) since it was first shown. Darren McGavin was Kolchak, a reporter (if I remember)
and he was always assigned murders with ghostly or supernatural circumstances. It was a
terrific show and I don't know why they ever stopped making it as it wasn't on long.

Totally agree with that. "Kolchak~The Night Stalker" was a show I never missed. Ever. I thought all the episodes were well written and creative. Like a running comic strip in some pulpy mystery magazine. What I liked is that no one would ever believe him and at the end, we, the audience were left wondering, along with Kolchak himself, if the events actually really happened. He'd sit in the dark typing his chronicals and narrating all the while knowing it would never get printed ...

It only ran one season 1974 and then was cancelled after 20 episodes. I haven't bought it yet because I'm waiting for the price to come down, but the new DVD looks great and I'm wanting to get that. I totally loved it when it was on ... It premiered opposite "The Rockford Files" ...

www.amazon.com/Kolchak-Night-Stalker-Simon-Oakland/dp/B000ATQYWY/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6268947-4143821?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1182913671&sr=8-1

[amvets1947]

T V Shows that I miss Wild Wild West, Tour Of Duty, JAG, I Spy, Man From Uncle, Honey West, Burks Law, Dan August, and Hawk and no not the guy from Spenser Spin off

[diane]

Last year my son asked if there were any music CDs from "Tour of Duty".
We were like "how have you even heard of that show let alone want the
music from it". Apparently it was on at about 11.00 at night and he would
get mad if by some chance he missed it - so even now the show is winning
new fans. Herb (my husband) unearthed a couple of his "Tour of Duty" music
cassettes. They put out so many - it was obviously one of the first shows to
incorporate 60s music on the soundtrack.

[amvets1947]

Diane, All three years are now on DVD thru Amazon.com, I did not know about the music being realeased

[diane]

Thanks for that amvets1947.
Another show I really liked was "Fame".

[dvdjunkie]

Can't believe that no one has mentioned the television show that is the reason we are all here meeting like this - "Route 66" starring Martin Milner. Now that was a fun show. Only on for four seasons (1960-64) but it was a lot of fun. Co-starring with Milner was George Maharis.

I really miss the old original "Dragnet" with Jack Webb and Ben Alexander. This was just a really good show to watch. Dum-de-dum-dum.

[Midge]

Oh, yes, "Dragnet!" I loved that show, too.
"This is the city. Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm a cop. My name is Joe Friday."
"Names have been changed to protect the innocent."
"In a moment, the results of that trial."

[Roger Thornhill]

midge said:

Oh, yes, "Dragnet!" I loved that show, too.

Friday - "Didn't I pick you up on a 4/12 last year?"

Dragon - "A 4/12 ? WHAT'S a 4/12??"

Friday - "Overacting"

[Roger Thornhill]

From the same sketch -

St. George: No, Sir. We heard there was a dragon operating in this neighborhood. We just want to know if you've seen him.

Knave: Sure, I seen him.

St. George: Mmm-hmm. Could you describe him for me?

Knave: What's to describe? You see one dragon, you seen 'em all.

St. George: Would you try to remember, Sir? Just for the record. We just want to get the facts, Sir!

Knave: Well, he was, you know, he had orange polka dots . . .

St. George: Yes, Sir.

Knave: Purple feet, breathing fire and smoke . . .

St. George: Mmm-hmm.

Knave: And one big bloodshot eye right in the middle of his forehead and, uh, like that.

St. George: Notice anything unusual about him?

Knave: No, he's just your run-of-the-mill dragon, you know.

St. George: Mmm-hmm. Yes, Sir. You can go now.

Knave: Hey, by the way, how you gonna catch him?

St. George: I thought you'd never ask. A Dragonet.

[Midge]

[Larry's 66 Diner]

Oh, Jeff! :nervous: :huh: There's just .... no .... hope .... :uhuh: :toilet:

[diane]

"Route 66" was just great - it had the best theme music for a TV show - EVER.
"The Outer Limits" was one I can remember sitting around the set to watch - I
don't think it lasted very long.
I don't know whether this show belongs on this thread or the one about shows
hanging on - but Dad loved "Adam 12". I can't recall whether they were policemen
(Dad was a fireman) but they were always called out to emergencies (cats up trees,
kids stuck in drains etc.) Dad liked all the English shows like "Z Cars", "Gideon" and
"Softly, Softly" so it was unusual for him to watch an American police show.

[tclion]

Hey jeff you should write professionaly you are really talented.

I always liked one Adom 12 that wasa good show for its time.