CBS: Big Ratings for Old People

[BruiserBrody]

Discuss vintage and current CBS stuff.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1377142427811602433

I have zero recollection of this show, but 8 year old Brody would have no idea who Jean Stapleton was/is.

Whoopi was a really big deal in Hollywood in the late 80s. I was stunned a bit to see her doing a sitcom.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I remember The Nanny being a solid CBS hit in the mid-1990s and helping propel Fran Drescher as a notable sitcom name.

Random Notes
- I had no idea Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was a CBS property and that it ran for 6 seasons until 1998. I was always aware of the name/saw a few episodes but associated it more with like a TCM style channel.
- Same goes for Touched By An Angel going from 1994 - 2003(!). Thought that was a WB or UPN show forever.
- I do remember Chicago Hope and it kind of following the ER medical show train prior to House M.D.'s premiering on FOX.

 

[King Kamala]

Chicago Hope wasn't an ER knockoff, it actually premiered the night before it! Big preseason buzz in '94-'95 was which medical show would be the bigger hit and a lot of people actually thought it'd be Chicago Hope since it had more established names.

Chicago Hope was also the first network series where someone said "shit". I remember Fox News having a meltdown over it during my brief flirtation with conservatism in the early '00s (#KancelKamala)

Also for being the Ryan Leaf to ER's Peyton Manning, it had a pretty good run on its own right. Six seasons and a movie a bunch of Emmy Nominations plus decent-ish ratings for '90s CBS standards.

 

[Epic Springs]

Whoopi was a really big deal in Hollywood in the late 80s. I was stunned a bit to see her doing a sitcom.

1990 is also when Ghost came out which she won an Oscar for. Academy Award winners doing network TV isn't a bit deal nowadays but I guess back then it was.

 

[BruiserBrody]

30 years on, the magical realism of "Northern Exposure" is a gentle balm for our cabin fever

The CBS comedy-drama, which premiered in 1990, feels especially poignant amid social isolation

www.salon.com

'Northern Exposure' at 30: How the quirky summer CBS drama changed TV

"Northern Exposure," the dramedy about a doctor who reluctantly practices in Alaska, arrived in the 1990 summer doldrums with a refreshing take.

www.usatoday.com

I loved me some Northern Exposure. It is one of the few TV shows I bought a complete DVD set of.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Discuss vintage and current CBS stuff.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1377142427811602433

I have zero recollection of this show, but 8 year old Brody would have no idea who Jean Stapleton was/is.

Whoopi was a really big deal in Hollywood in the late 80s. I was stunned a bit to see her doing a sitcom.

Bagdad Cafe (TV series) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Aired Opposite of "Family Matters". Now I know why I would have never watched it.

 

[King Kamala]

More random old school (CBS) observations.

CBS seemed like they really wanted Bob Newhart to have a '90s sitcom that worked like Newhart did for them in the '80s and The Bob Newhart Show did for them in the '70s. I feel like it's a sign of just how bad CBS was in the '90s more than Bob Newhart's style of comedy being out of date.

Thanks (TV series) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Absolute worst forgotten CBS sitcom for the '90s was Thanks, the sitcom about pilgrims. What a hilarious premise. At least they had sense to bury it in August. I feel like that was first time I ever hatewatched something.

Baby Bob - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Close 2nd is Baby Bob. Sitcom based on talking baby commercials. Luckily, baby was able to continue his ad pitchman career afterward. Elliot Gould somehow got roped into it!? He really needed a better agent after 1980 or so.

 

[BUTT]

I watched Rescue 911 when I was 7 or 8. That's probably the only CBS prime time show that I regularly tuned into. I didn't even watch Unsolved Mysteries when it made the jump to CBS. However, I recently discovered this Youtube channel that has a bunch of opening credits from old TV shows - much of it CBS - and I figure that will be good for discussion in this thread. Furthermore, I was raised on the Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows and I know far more than I should about forgotten TV curiosities from decades ago. So let's start here:

This Elliot Gould family sitcom was unremarkable and bombed in the ratings, but it got a second chance and a new title - only Gould's character was killed off in a car accident. (On a side note, Gould's previous TV gig before this series was another CBS sitcom titled E/R. George Clooney actually appeared in several episodes. There was another actor who appeared in both E(/)Rs too but I forget their name). Anyway, this gave way to the one of the most depressing sitcom openings of all time. Just dripping with dead dad energy.

 

[BUTT]

Did you know that Heart's #1 hit "Alone" was previously recorded for a CBS sitcom called Dreams starring John Stamos? Their album also featured a song called "Kiss Me Red" that later covered by Cheap Trick.

 

[King Kamala]

George Clooney was on an insane number of canceled sitcoms before he broke out with ER. It's baffling that it took so long for Hollywood to figure out how to properly utilize him.

 

[BUTT]

Clooney was the male lead on Baby Talk, the spiritual predecessor to Baby Bob, but I never saw the show in that era, only when he was replaced by Scott Baio. But that's discussion for a hypothetical ABC thread that may be unnecessary since so much of it would focus on the shows already covered by the TGIF thread.

 

[King Kamala]

In the Dawn of 'Sunset's' Demise : Television: The CBS show starred a rock musician and got heavy promotion during the World Series, but still managed to join the ranks of an unenviable club.

As a member of the rock group the Eagles, Glenn Frey had five Billboard No. 1 hits, making the band 13th on the list of all-time hitmakers.

www.latimes.com

Also in the '90s CBS blunders category, South of Sunset, a buddy cop show starring Glenn Frey (yes, from the GD Eagles) and a young Aries Spears. One of the rare shows canceled after one episode. Even Thanks got multiple episodes!

 

[OldSchoolWrestling]

Did you know that Heart's #1 hit "Alone" was previously recorded for a CBS sitcom called Dreams starring John Stamos? Their album also featured a song called "Kiss Me Red" that later covered by Cheap Trick.

That's one of my all time favorite songs. I played it this morning and have it on my once a month playlist.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Chicago Hope wasn't an ER knockoff, it actually premiered the night before it! Big preseason buzz in '94-'95 was which medical show would be the bigger hit and a lot of people actually thought it'd be Chicago Hope since it had more established names.

Chicago Hope was also the first network series where someone said "shit". I remember Fox News having a meltdown over it during my brief flirtation with conservatism in the early '00s (#KancelKamala)

Also for being the Ryan Leaf to ER's Peyton Manning, it had a pretty good run on its own right. Six seasons and a movie a bunch of Emmy Nominations plus decent-ish ratings for '90s CBS standards.

That's cool to know as I always thought ER came out like a year or two prior to Chicago Hope since George Clooney was being cast in movies while still being a star on ER.

 

[BUTT]

I think I've mentioned this show on this board before but: Tequila and Bonetti, from JAG/NCIS creator Donald Bellisario, is about an NYPD officer who accidentally kills a young black girl in a shootout. This would definitely not be part of the backstory for a TV protagonist in 2021, and it's pretty iffy for 1992 but it made the air. Anyway, in this comedy/drama (!) he relocates to L.A. where he is teamed with a dog whose thoughts you can hear a la Buck Bundy. Mariska Hargitay co-stars, but you won't believe who plays the sergeant. (Go to around the 5:40 mark)

 

[Baby Shoes]

That opening credit sequence for Tequilla and Bobetti is super jarring. Depressing opening sequence with killing the innocent little girl then into wacky antics and colors. I can’t imagine how anyone ever thought that was an appropriate intro and the backstory is even more insanely out of place in a talking dog comedy.

 

[BUTT]

This briefly aired weekday mornings on CBS when I was 5. Given that I was in kindergarten at the time I couldn't have seen it on more than a handful of occasions, but it's always stuck with me. Paul Thomas Anderson was a P.A. on this show and it inspired the game show plot in Magnolia.

 

[tekcop]

‘Ghosts’ Comedy Starring Rose McIver & Utkarsh Ambudkar Picked Up To Series By CBS

CBS has picked up to series Ghosts, its single-camera comedy pilot headline by Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar, from Joe Port & Joe Wiseman, Lionsgate Television, BBC Studios and CBS Studios. Primetime-Panic Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series orders See All Rebecca Wisocky...

deadline.com

No mention in the article that Ghosts is a currently running BBC show already available in the US on HBO Max and that it's excellent.

I guess I can't complain since I like the American The Office, but this feels like one of the most unnecessary remakes I've seen in a while.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1377870086854340609

There are litterally dozens of books on Bad TV ideas, and yet Mr Ed somehow works. I know I watched it a lot in the 80s.

 

[strummer]

I remember The Nanny being a solid CBS hit in the mid-1990s and helping propel Fran Drescher as a notable sitcom name.

Random Notes
- I had no idea Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was a CBS property and that it ran for 6 seasons until 1998. I was always aware of the name/saw a few episodes but associated it more with like a TCM style channel.
- Same goes for Touched By An Angel going from 1994 - 2003(!). Thought that was a WB or UPN show forever.
- I do remember Chicago Hope and it kind of following the ER medical show train prior to House M.D.'s premiering on FOX.

It was on TV the other day while I was flipping through channels and damn yeah I was shocked Touched by an Angel lasted until 2003(!) it somehow lasted 9(!) seasons

 

[King Kamala]

I think that Touched By An Angel and Diagnosis: Murder were on for so long because they were the last network TV shows explicitly targeted towards old people. Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman too but they had that hunky guy who could draw in middle aged housewives too.

 

[strummer]

As a kid I almost never watched CBS either. Only sports I guess. I thought their shows like Major Dad and stuff were awful. When Letterman went there in 93 I watched as well.

I was always "loyal" to NBC because I loved the Thursday shows, old Letterman, SNL. Plus NBC sports was the best

 

[Baby Shoes]

I think that Touched By An Angel and Diagnosis: Murder were on for so long because they were the last network TV shows explicitly targeted towards old people. Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman too but they had that hunky guy who could draw in middle aged housewives too.

It’s refreshing to see you as an expert of list objects of the middle aged

 

[Hawk 34]

As a kid I almost never watched CBS either. Only sports I guess. I thought their shows like Major Dad and stuff were awful. When Letterman went there in 93 I watched as well.

I was always "loyal" to NBC because I loved the Thursday shows, old Letterman, SNL. Plus NBC sports was the best

I will not tolerate this slander towards Major Dad.

Evening Shade? Fine. NOT MAJOR DAD.

 

[King Kamala]

It’s refreshing to see you as an expert of list objects of the middle aged

Well. Having dated a few women in their forties as I have...

 

[Hawk 34]

Well. Having dated a few women in their forties as I have...

Were these ladies in their forties during the heyday of Dr Quinn and Early Edition?

 

[King Kamala]

No but my mom was.

wait. This is awkward.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Were these ladies in their forties during the heyday of Dr Quinn and Early Edition?

No besmirching Early Edition. I liked the Quantum Leap-ish quality to the show.
The syndicated Early Edition reruns aired at Midnight (11?) here on Saturdays and I was of the belief that this was my peak TV hour as it aired opposite our local indy wrestling on UPN, WOW (Women of Wrestling) on Fox, and I think Battle Dome was in the mix too.

 

[King Kamala]

I don't think how odd yet shrewd of a decision David Letterman picking Tom Snyder to host the 12:35 AM show in 1995 was. Singlehandedly, he destroyed any notion that there'd be an eventual succession controversy (like there was with him and Leno over The Tonight Show in '92/'93), took the boot off of Conan's neck, and made up for Late Night replacing Tomorrow a decade and a half earlier.

Letterman picking someone remotely young and hip probably would have killed Conan's late night career.

But also wow, who the hell (besides Letterman apparently) wanted to see Tom Snyder on late night television in the late '90s?

 

[strummer]

Yeah and 95 was when Conan noticeably started to relax and late night took off into a near five year groove. The pressure was gone when he realized he had no competition to worry about