I always thought of myself having a PhD in Useless Pop Culture Knowledge but I can honestly say I'd never heard of any of these before today.

@apexone5502

6 жыл бұрын

Lazarus C Same here. I at least remember 3 of the shows but outside of those, I'm completely lost. Those shows seem like they had never existed. Shows how much we can forget over time.

@weltonvillegal6258

6 жыл бұрын

Goodnight Beantown is the only one I remember. My mom liked it.

@frodofraggins

5 жыл бұрын

this is more "unpop culture"

@juicyfruit6311

5 жыл бұрын

01:04. Don't worry. After all, "Nobody's Perfect." Hey, that's a great title for a show!

@MikeMozart

5 жыл бұрын

I watched Goodnight Beantown while I was studying for College! I liked it then, probably unwatchable now!

By the time the intros were done, for these shows the show had already been cancelled

@BAKER22-l4u

10 ай бұрын

Ridiculous

@KristianWontroba

10 ай бұрын

😂😂😂

@trarroyo

10 ай бұрын

😂😊

@Rockhound6165

9 ай бұрын

Many never made it out of the pilot stage so you're right.

@LyleFrancisDelp

9 ай бұрын

Perfectly put.

It's a such a pity that someone as genuinely talented and funny as Tim Conway could never launch a successful TV series of his own. Always a groomsman, never a groom.

Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I'd watched one of these shows, I'd have...a nickel.

@mudaalbert7984

5 жыл бұрын

im through 😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Tim-57

5 жыл бұрын

You are richer than I... hahaha 😉

@jbass6665

5 жыл бұрын

I spent more time watching this vid than I did watching those shows. Rumor has that two Nielsen died during the runs of the shows and since not a single Nielsen watched, the ratings were -2 across the board.

@joylindadichamounix

4 жыл бұрын

Which one did you watch?

@keensterd3654

4 жыл бұрын

😂

Sometimes I feel bad about watching too much television when I was younger but I never saw any of these shows so now I feel better.

@fromthehaven94

2 жыл бұрын

I'm willing to bet a majority of these 80's shows were in the 9/930 time slots Monday through Thursday nights. Because until I was in middle school, my bedtime on school nights was 9pm.

I love stuff like this. I wish Netflix or Hulu or some other service would purchase rights to these short-lived sitcoms. I'd watch a lot of these just to see them.

@lblum610

4 жыл бұрын

Not all were terrible though ....besides shows back then were lucky to get past 2 seasons...even the good ones

@notdaveschannel9843

4 жыл бұрын

They'd probably get them for crazy cheap but they'd look a bit blurry on a modern tv.

@laurabeane8862

4 жыл бұрын

They might show up now that Disney is streaming. Be careful what you wish for😀

@octaviussludberry9016

3 жыл бұрын

I think I'd need a lot of drugs to watch them.

@johnbigbooty

2 жыл бұрын

That is brilliant E Stew. Me too.

As a teenager in the 80’s I remember none of these. I think someone trained an AI on bad 80’s sitcom openings and this is what it produced.

@HowardWilsonII

9 ай бұрын

@@mezzb Based on the ONE I recognize (aka Pablo) it is because these shows barely existed. aka Pablo lasted six episodes, aired over a month. Choosing another at random, Off The Rack, same story. Other than a pilot around Christmas, 6 episodes aired over a month.

@ComeAlongKay

8 ай бұрын

There were tons of bad shows from every decade basically that didn’t make it that far.

@maevependragon

6 ай бұрын

Lol same. I feel like I'm in an alternate reality watching this. 😂😂😂

@rewing84

3 ай бұрын

Agreed

"Larry" Fishburne certainly recovered.

@andyoli75

3 жыл бұрын

Ya mean Cowboy Curtis? He was a teen in Apocalypse Now.

@hellmuth26

2 жыл бұрын

He was on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno probably 15-20 years ago, and I distinctly remember Leno calling him "Larry" and Fishburne very much disliking it.

@preahko

2 жыл бұрын

Did he, though?

@thewkovacs316

2 жыл бұрын

@@hellmuth26 thing is, he was billed as larry for a big chunk of his career.

@LittleDebbie187717

2 жыл бұрын

And is always better known as The Matrix's Morpheus.

And the best part of watching montages like these is that, although we don't know most of these actors from Adam and Eve, there are some gems like Laurence "Larry" Fishburne.

@anthonyreed3682

10 ай бұрын

That one surprised me.

@uslines

10 ай бұрын

Ron Moody was. Actually a good comedian on the silver screen.

@lanceschaina3084

10 ай бұрын

@@uslines You've got to pick a pocket or two.

@jannydots3870

9 ай бұрын

I know just about every single one

@sparklecanada0112

9 ай бұрын

@@uslines Ron Moody was Fagin in the movie Oliver with Jack Wild and Mark Lester.

The theme songs sound like they were all written by the same person.

@HD-er2cq

5 жыл бұрын

Lol

@ThePwig

5 жыл бұрын

Many probably were. Mike Post wrote a LOT of TV themes.

@chevydryden4508

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah some gay deaf mute

@Contractnik

5 жыл бұрын

Lol

@AnnusMirabilus

5 жыл бұрын

Lmfao x 1,000,000

*SITCOM FORMULA #17* 1 - Funny likeable lead guy (usually Jewish) 2 - Funny likeable sidekick (may be black / Italian) 3 - Token funny black man 4 - Hot woman to leer at 5 - Smart mouthed kid 6 - Cute little brother/sister 7 - Motherly figure to boss everyone around and be mentor 8 - Villian (usually next door neighbour, boss, chief, etc)

4 жыл бұрын

You should've been an 80s sitcom writer!

@randyjordan5521

4 жыл бұрын

King of the smart-mouthed kids: Danny from The Partridge Family.

@jonnyq680

3 жыл бұрын

9. Crusty but lovable overbearing boss

@f.lloydwrong7127

2 жыл бұрын

South Park just went ahead and named their black american character token. And although Cartman is not racist he is an equal opportunity dick and gives token a hard time because he's rich, not black. however, when he formulated a plan to kill stans mother he did name it operation "frame token".

@chrisakarazor9612

2 жыл бұрын

"Great kid, it's fabulous, it's boffo! You have the formula down exactly. Have your people call my people. We'll do lunch." - television exec 1980's

I love the 80's. But MAN! You got me. I've never heard of any of these shows before.

I remember reading about Tim Conway having a license plate that read "13 WEEKS", which was how long any of his shows following the Carol Burnett Show lasted.

@dharma63

Жыл бұрын

He mentioned that in his book.

@jdraven0890

10 ай бұрын

I don't remember the show in this video, but he had a self-named comedy skit show that was as hilarious as it was short-lived.

@SchofieldAJ

10 ай бұрын

Actually the longest show Tim Conway was on that last past 13 weeks as it lasted a few seasons was a CBS Sitcom called "Yes, Dear!" as e played the Man dude's Father which he had a recurring role for the whole Series! So all but 1 dude!

@Scorchy666

9 ай бұрын

But he was a supporting character, not the lead. His comedy was too hack to carry a series. @@SchofieldAJ

@thingfish000

9 ай бұрын

Harvey Korman didn't fare any better.

Oh no, “ He’s the Mayor” was critically acclaimed, very funny & wholesome and popular. It famously was gutted halfway through the season because the shows producers and the channel director had a huge fight that lead to horrible changes.

@KristianWontroba

10 ай бұрын

Yeah! “He’s the Mayor” and Zoro & Son are the only 2 I remember well.

@valgardener7656

9 ай бұрын

Nice theme song, too.

@recordman64

5 ай бұрын

He's the Mayor was made in 1984, but didn't air till 1986, by which time Kevin Hooks had become established as a director.

You're going to get your David Naughton in your 80s sitcoms and you're going to like it!

@jonathanbethards3689

4 жыл бұрын

only if he frequently has nazi werewolf dream sequences

@recordman64

4 жыл бұрын

At least David Naughton could smile. His brother James took himself WAY too seriously! I saw him grinning in one of these intros (Raising Miranda) and almost DIED! The guy never smiled otherwise.

@CaptainSpalding72

4 жыл бұрын

No shit. He had at least 3 shows in the 80s.

@donaldpaluga

10 ай бұрын

After all, he's a doctor😏

@Rockhound6165

9 ай бұрын

Steve Guttenberg as well.

This was the time when the intros were just as long then the show.

@johna.7362

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I remember hearing about when they were talking about shortening intros.

@rewing84

4 жыл бұрын

I concur

@hbjshowslopper

3 жыл бұрын

..... and then there's Maude!

@charlita25

3 жыл бұрын

Lol 😆

Wow, I was a huge consumer of television throughout the eighties, and I maybe remember one or two of these intros, and by the time the video was over, I probably already forgot the rest of them! It's become apparent that television producers just throw stuff at the wall to see what sticks.

@fromthesidelines

6 жыл бұрын

THEY STILL DO.

KZread has plenty of videos from old sitcoms and every time I watch one I looked in the comments and people talk about how much better television was back then. People need to watch these videos and remember 90% was forgettable garbage back then too

...starring the guy who had a minor role in a hit show, the woman from the shampoo commercial, the old comedian who mugs for the camera, a teen heart throb wannabe, a young babe and one adorable little boy with three names.

@jonnyq680

3 жыл бұрын

Now THAT'S a comedy gold formula!

@NJGuy1973

2 жыл бұрын

Created by the guy named Steven.

@testodude

2 жыл бұрын

It's like a family reunion where only your country cousins that you can't stand show up.

“No Soap, Radio” spared no expense on their opening .

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

15:55 Apparently it co-starred Steve Guttenberg, which would be enough to keep me from watching it.

@jonathanbethards3689

4 жыл бұрын

@@not-so-smartaleck8987 THANK YOU! He's the reason I can't watch Police Academy movies

@themacocko6311

2 жыл бұрын

@@jonathanbethards3689 Really? I like Steve Guttenburg.

@paulmayer6715

2 жыл бұрын

I think it followed "Police Squad," both starting mid-season.

Also, they would not give up on making David Naughton and Robert Hayes tv stars

@savvybear11781

5 жыл бұрын

After the success of Airplane!, why would Robert Hays even sign on for tv again?

@jbass6665

5 жыл бұрын

Ha, I was thinking the same. Nothing said "midseason replacement" more than those two. Doomed.

@TJ52359

5 жыл бұрын

@@savvybear11781The Failure of Airplane II...

@savvybear11781

5 жыл бұрын

@@TJ52359 smh

@TJ52359

5 жыл бұрын

@@savvybear11781 you asked...

Tim Thomerson - the patron saint of one-season wonders.

@TheSpasticAvenger

5 жыл бұрын

...and Full Moon Studios.

@baghead777

5 жыл бұрын

@@TheSpasticAvenger Thank God for Trancers.

@brucemcclendon6959

5 жыл бұрын

An all-time favorite.

@DavidTSmith-jn5bs

4 жыл бұрын

No question. Jack "Deth" saved his "Life."

One of the shows, Nick & Hillary starred(if you want to call it that) Blythe Danner. The show was produced by her husband Bruce Paltrow and of course they're the parents of Gwyneth Paltrow. Also, Off the Rack featured one Claudia Wells. She was the first Jennifer in Back to the Future. Ironically, she began filming BTTF while doing this show as well and she had to drop out of the movie. Her part was recast for the movie, however, her co-star Eric Stoltz wasn't working out so they dropped him and waited for Michael J. Fox to finish up that season's Family Ties(Fox was originally unavailable as he was the first choice for Marty but couldn't get released from Family Ties to do the movie). So when Fox became available, Wells was also finished filming her sitcom and ended up in the movie. Unfortunately she couldn't appear in the sequels because she had to take care of her ailing mother. Kind of weird how things work out.

Goodnight Beantown was an excellent show. I was bummed big time when they took it off. The scripts were good, the acting was great but I think it was too intelligent for the times.

@timriggins70

9 ай бұрын

Yeah that was a good show

@bryanstephens4800

9 ай бұрын

Yes

@MERamsden

9 ай бұрын

I remember it, too! It was fun, I was disappointed when it didn't work out.

@raraparuka

Күн бұрын

That was the only name I even recognized

What's funny is that most of these shows I am unfamiliar with, but because they come from a certain mold and have a certain style that comes uniquely from a decade I grew up in, watching and listening to these intros invokes an emotional nostalgia in me and takes me back to that younger version of myself and its also a little depressing to know that I can never go back and have those experiences again; those times and all the feelings associated with them are locked in a past I can no longer access or exist in, a time when life was simpler, happiness came with ease and dispear and disappointment were easily fixed with ice cream, Saturday morning cartoons and Sunday trips to a Hills department store or any of a dozens other places lost to the steady, unflinching march of time.

@davidbarry3493

Жыл бұрын

So perfectly stated. I just identified most of this in watching old commercials from the 70’s. 😌

@toshiojohnston3732

Жыл бұрын

Chris man you read my mind other then many familiar faces don't remember none of these shows yet something vaguely familiar about them that's the magic of what you just described you and I may disagree on many things but not this hang on to your memories I'm gonna do the same.

@LeonRedplumb-oc5cj

Жыл бұрын

There must be a word in German for this feeling.

@DTD110865

10 ай бұрын

Believe it or not, I've actually heard of some of these shows, and even wanted to see some of them.

@joltjolt5060

10 ай бұрын

You thought it would last forever like most of us

Ah the 80's credit staple of having "And _______ as ______"

@theborder1

4 жыл бұрын

And all but two of them I thought “Who the hell are they?”

@jonathanbethards3689

4 жыл бұрын

Jerry Mathers as The Beaver

@hellmuth26

2 жыл бұрын

I always thought that was weird, and it's always the really zany character.

@albireotheredguard1599

2 жыл бұрын

@@jonathanbethards3689 I hate that show!

@dorientjewoller113

2 жыл бұрын

And the ever returning "Also".

"At Ease" is clearly the result of a TV executive walking out of Police Academy and thinking to himself, "How do we steal this idea without getting sued?"

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

By making it even worse?

@houstonrebel4449

4 жыл бұрын

Kind of MASHish too.

@TeeW2023

4 жыл бұрын

I thought it was a MASH spin off/ripoff

@recordman64

4 жыл бұрын

Looked like the new Gomer Pyle, USMC to me.

@DavidTSmith-jn5bs

4 жыл бұрын

"I know! Make them INEPT SOLDIERS DURING PEACETIME instead of inept cops! It worked for Gomer Pyle and Pvt. Benjamin!"

The 80's looks now like the 50's did in the 80's.

@GaryHighFruit

3 жыл бұрын

Only in this video because the quality is soo terrible. I was a teen in the 80s, and I had to double-check the title "is this really the 80's?"

@the_letter_b

2 жыл бұрын

@@GaryHighFruit Well, it's partly due to VHS rip + digital compression but even back then most people did not have cable so there was often static mixed in with the channel, unless you had a special antennae, and the CRT TVs I think were the equivalent of 480p.

@michaeljohn8883

2 жыл бұрын

@@the_letter_b CRT's ARE 480p. Not equivalent but exactly that. These are VHS rips so they look FAR worse than they actually did at the time.

That sad part is a lot of actors and actresses had their hopes and dreams tide to these shows and it all fizzled out.

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

That's the way the business works, though. Survival of the fittest. Looked at another way, they were fortunate just to get their shot. Like a professional athlete, maybe they make it to the top levels (and possibly stay there awhile, if they're really good) and maybe they don't.

@notdaveschannel9843

4 жыл бұрын

I was about to post the same thing. Obviously most network shows (then and now) get canned in no time but they probably thought "If this is massive hit I get residuals and maybe a piece of syndication, I'll be made for life". If nothing else they can make some bank and stay in acting through a lot of the inevitable lean spells. Acting is one of the few jobs that revolve around a chronic over-supply of labour.

@jasonsteib2634

4 жыл бұрын

Roll Tide

@nouseforafap

4 жыл бұрын

😆

@Gunman610

4 жыл бұрын

If you're an actor, you shouldn't tie your hopes and dreams to a single show. That's why residuals exist: so they can still have income while looking for their next gig.

I was in my 20's throughout most of the decade, and I did work a lot, but I can't recall a single one of these programs.

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

Same here. We were too busy doing more important things in our lives than watching every crappy sitcom that was out there.

@randyjordan5521

4 жыл бұрын

@@not-so-smartaleck8987 I suspect that most of these shows failed because they aired up against another show that people actually watched.

@robinjohnson8149

4 жыл бұрын

I must have been on another planet.

Lots of decisions made whilst snorting coke by the looks of it.

@devileaterinthahowse

5 жыл бұрын

To quote the late Rick James, cocaine is one hell of a drug.

@Bacopa68

5 жыл бұрын

Not so much coke that any of these pilot intros made it to air. Even so, a few of them seem cooler than what made it to the eighties.

@ysthafellgynghori8423

5 жыл бұрын

Like most of today's shows, then.

@Syntox

4 жыл бұрын

Yep

@TheApoohneicie

4 жыл бұрын

Kind of goes without saying doesn’t it?

"Too Many Cooks"

@jmason2838

3 жыл бұрын

Michael J. Pollard ..⭐... Well - known , good actor , mostly a supporting actor , dating back to the '60's , ( ' Bonnie & Clyde' , '70's - ' Little Fauss And Big Halsey ' w/ Robert Redford ..etcetera... ) ...I always liked his work..🕶️. 🙂👍👍🤗☺️

@RoyPage1970

Ай бұрын

Check him out in a movie called American Gothic​@@jmason2838

Studio Exec: We want this series cancelled after only a few episodes. David Naughton: I got you, fam.

@STPickrell

2 жыл бұрын

He's makin it seem easy.

@davidl570

2 жыл бұрын

@@STPickrell I see what you did there!

My dad was a NYPD police officer in the 80s. Crazy to think that I was home watching all these shows while he was dealing with the crack epidemic in the Bronx. I had no idea how bad the world was at 8 years old.

"No Soap, Radio" was a bizarre, brilliant comedy. It was 22 minutes of surrealism. I was too young to truly appreciate it back then, but it stuck with me to this day. There are snippets and at least one full episode on KZread.

@davidl570

Жыл бұрын

It was bizarre, but I wouldn't say it was brilliant. I've seen FAR better.

@Fool3SufferingFools

10 ай бұрын

Like an attempt to combine Monty Python with Fawlty Towers.

@soupwizard

10 ай бұрын

For those that don't know: "No Soap, Radio" was the punch line of an surrealist joke you'd say with your pals to some unsuspecting victim: You'd make up some intro like "A priest, a lawyer, and an electrician walk into a bar. The bar tender says "hey, what do you guys want to drink?" The electrician says "No soap, radio". This punchline makes no sense, but your friends (who are in on the joke) laugh like it's the most hilarious joke they've heard in a while. The victim has no idea why it's funny, and often would start laughing along so they don't look dumb for not getting the joke. Then you'd all walk away chuckling, with the victim left wondering what was so funny.

@Fool3SufferingFools

10 ай бұрын

@@soupwizard Yes, or sometimes the joke would even reference soap, such as: "Two penguins are sitting in a bathtub. One says to the other, 'Please pass the soap.' The other one says, 'No soap, radio!'"

The transition from one show to another in this is solid. Nicely done.

That show "He's The Mayor" (5:30) put me in mind of the Suzanne Somers sitcom "She's The Sheriff"

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

The show "Gun Shy" looks like it needed a sheriff. Is Barry Van Dyke (1:38) the son of Dick Van Dyke?

@wowzer107

4 жыл бұрын

Yes he is. They were on Diagnosis Murder together in the 90s.

@OmeedNOuhadi

4 жыл бұрын

I was hoping for either a Family Matters type Carl Winslow or perhaps The Mayor from Back To The Future for He’s The Mayor. #ono

@krystalireland7951

4 жыл бұрын

I loved Shes the Sheriff!

@jonathanbethards3689

4 жыл бұрын

@David Vazquez Benson was great

"At Ease" with - oh my - Larry Fishburne!

Wow, these are amazing...I grew up during the '80s and was a TV addict, and I've only even heard of ONE of these (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and I didn't even watch it). It's neat to see how the likes of Larry Fishburne, Leslie Nielsen, Jimmy Walker, and Lynn Redgrave were in stuff like these.

@KaraokeQueen78

5 жыл бұрын

I only remember Chicken Soup....I didn't think it was funny.

@sha11235

Жыл бұрын

@@KaraokeQueen78 That wasn't a big hit. Think of it as Howard the Duck for TV.

@redstickham6394

10 ай бұрын

I remember At Ease and thinking in the real Army, those guys would have been court martialed in a heartbeat. One thing I didn't remember Roger Bowen being in it. He was Henry Blake in the original M*A*S*H film

@fromthesidelines

3 ай бұрын

ABC thought they could make Jackie Mason a sitcom star, as they did "ROSEANNE" {Barr}. They couldn't, as Jackie was not the kind of actor you could root for- and feel sympathy for- in a sitcom. After eight episodes, the network pulled it {four additional episodes remain unaired}.

I can say that "Goodnight Beantown" was the only one I can actually remember seeing at least one episode of. I also vividly remember "AKA Pablo" and also vividly remember making sure NOT to watch it! Maybe two others I have hazy memories of. Amazing how many shows get put on the air every year and how many flame out just as quick. I'm sure a 70's, 90's, 00's and 10's version of this could be made just as easily (assuming you can find the openings!)

When someone said "hey we need a good Valarie Perrine and Harvey Korman vehicle" why didn't someone throw pencils at that person.

@fromthesidelines

6 жыл бұрын

The episode they originally appeared in, on "GEORGE BURNS COMEDY WEEK"- "The Couch" [October 16, 1985]- was the genesis of the series "LEO & LIZ". The rest of the title was added to capitalize on the movie "Down and Out In Beverly Hills", which became a theatrical hit the previous January.

@dhenderson1810

5 жыл бұрын

Maybe they should have thrown something SHARPER than pencils.

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

Funny, considering I've never heard of Perrine or Korman (well, maybe Korman).

@krystalireland7951

4 жыл бұрын

That looked like a nice show

@randyjordan5521

4 жыл бұрын

@@not-so-smartaleck8987 Valerie Perrine's biggest claim to fame was playing Lex Luthor's girlfriend in Superman: The Movie.

All those forgotten faces, and some who aren't with us anymore...makes me vaguely sad. But this video made me smile a lot, too.

@jojo-fu4xh

7 жыл бұрын

TRUMP2020

@roberthaworth9097

5 жыл бұрын

C'mon, you know these people. They were on these shows in the '80s, and if you lived in the Los Angeles areas and ate out a lot, you were tipping them in the '90s.

@theshawnmurphyjournal2946

5 жыл бұрын

Nope 3 of them were around in nineties and 2000s Fishburn, Stiller and Elonzo

@dashriprock3468

5 жыл бұрын

Hahahah...very good!

@wowzer107

4 жыл бұрын

Some of the actors were big stars on other shows and movies...these are the shows they're not proud of, though...

The short-lived sitcom FM had a lot of unknown actors/actresses who by the 90's became household names. Patricia Richardson would play Jill Taylor on Home Improvement, James Avery went on to be Uncle Phil on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Lynne Thigpen was the chief on the game shows Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego and its successor Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego and would star on The District in the 2000's.

@donaldpaluga

10 ай бұрын

TBF Thigpen WAS the DJ in The Warriors

@ShermanWestlake

9 ай бұрын

I watched it. I thought it was a good show. Created by the co-creator of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, Allan Burns.

Damn that He's The Mayor theme was pretty good.

David Naughton and Tim Thomerson should do a series together.

I remember At Ease. It was basically Stripes, but they thought Jimmie Walker was an adequate replacement for Bill Murray and an actor named Joshua Mostel was an adequate replacement for John Candy. Ironically, they replaced Harold Ramis with David Naughton and that was perfectly fine.

The theme song for “Gun Shy”” sounds remarkably like the music behind some of the 1980’s Hardee’s employee training videos I had to watch in my first job.

@apexone5502

Жыл бұрын

Might be a case of both the show and the training video using stock royalty free music that studios had on deck. You know, those library albums for tv studios like the KPM series that folks like Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett had worked on?

Starring Blythe Danner; Executive Producer: Bruce Paltrow. What could possibly go wrong?

@fromthesidelines

Жыл бұрын

EVERYTHING. Brandon Tartikoff, NBC's president at the time, was SO sure "TATTINGER'S" would be a ratings hit. It wasn't.......but he wouldn't give up on the idea. He had it converted into a half-hour sitcom- and it lasted *two* episodes.

4:21- Aarika Wells is wearing Cathy Lee Crosby's original costume from the unsold 1974 "WONDER WOMAN" TV pilot......

@souljastation5463

4 жыл бұрын

Wow, that was bad, I'm glad they weren't able to sell it.

@shaner743

4 жыл бұрын

I think your right, sure looked like it.

@fromthesidelines

3 ай бұрын

Yet it *WAS* sold. Fred Silverman bought the series for NBC in the spring of 1980, in a desperate attempt to attract new audiences to his faltering network. Six episodes were filmed, but only the first three were scheduled {lousy ratings killed it}. According to Sally Bedell Smith in "Up the Tube: Prime-Time TV and the Silverman Years", one of Silverman's associates, Irv Wilson [he was vice presdient in charge of the network's TV movies division], *"was shocked by an episode ("Rumors of Peace", never shown} about a group of soldiers distressed by a rumor that the war was ending because it would upset a scam they were planning. 'How can parents whose sons died in Vietnam watch that?', Wilson wondered. Fortunately, after three episodes, it was clear that battalions of viewers were similarly repelled."* As I've said, lousy ratings caused Silverman to yank the show after only three episodes. It was *THAT* bad.

Some of these don't even have Wikipedia pages. That's how forgettable they were.

@82dorrin

3 жыл бұрын

@ Several do.

The 80’s ended for me at age 15. I remember a few of these shows just from ads during commercial breaks. I do kinda wish I sampled a few. Hector Elizondo has been one of those actors where I wondered what they were doing doing while I was growing up. Now I know with him here.

"SHAPING UP" did quite well following "THREE'S COMPANY" in the spring of 1984. But then, ABC decided that situation comedies were no longer a commodity they could afford to program. ABC president Tony Thomopoulous declared, "Comedy is dead", and limited the network's sitcoms to only FOUR the following season, preferring to fill the schedule with dramas and new Aaron Spelling series. To prove his point, Thomopoulous turned down "THE COSBY SHOW"-- which was then offered to NBC, and proceeded to become THE most successful sitcom of the 1980's. As ABC's fall schedule collapsed, they frantically tried to generate new sitcoms in mid-season.....and Tony Thomopoulous found himself out of a job in the summer of 1985.

@zapkvr

5 жыл бұрын

And the Cosby show STANK

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

+Grunthos The Cosby show was undeniably a huge success. (Say what you will about Cosby himself.)

@Gildedbutterfly1976

4 жыл бұрын

Grunthos The Flatulent that show ruled.

@randyjordan5521

4 жыл бұрын

@@zapkvr Dude, The Cosby Show single-handedly saved NBC. It led to other successes such as Seinfeld, Frazier, and Friends.

@mrmegahousefly

4 жыл бұрын

ABC was Aaron's Broadcasting Channel.

I actually remember Ace Crawford. Some of these shows had some impressive talent; Off the Rack had Eileen Brennan and Ed Asner, who is the only actor in history to win an Emmy for portraying the same character in a comedy and drama (Mary Tyler Moore and Lou Grant). Just shows what good writing can do.

I havent heard of most of these shows . But i do remember goodnight bean town . God bless Bill Bixby . The man was a joy to watch on any show .....

This is a truly painful watch! But the song for “He’s The Mayor” made the video worth watching

@suffix345

4 жыл бұрын

I remember He’s the Mayor

@jonathanbethards3689

4 жыл бұрын

Seriously. Terrible rap AND Tackleberry?!?! Sign me up

@recordman64

4 жыл бұрын

He's the Mayor sat on the shelf for about two years before it finally aired. By the time it did, Kevin Hooks got smart and decided to capitalize on his budding directorial career. He's still directing and producing shows to this day.

@Sammydx1

4 жыл бұрын

Same lettering as Family Matters

@kevinpayton2664

3 жыл бұрын

Out of all shows on this list, He's The Mayor is the only one that I know of. I watched it and it wasn't that bad of a show. This was a few years after Kevin Hooks did The White Shadow.

“No Soap, Radio.” What the hell does that mean? Is it some professional jargon? If so, what profession? Roller coasters? Plus, Steve Gutenberg? My cup runneth over...

@2up3rm4n1

2 жыл бұрын

No Soap Radio was a hilarious show, totally off-beat, and this was Guttenberg before he was Guttenberg, so you hardly noticed him, if at all. "No Soap' kind of means the same thing as "No Sh*t" but is used more as a description such as here and not so much a sarcastic comment.

Watching this is like staring into the sun

That was painful!

Number of Episodes per Series: 0:00 - Ace Crawford, Private Eye - 5 episodes (found on KZread) 0:56 - Nobody's Perfect - 8 episodes 1:27 - Gun Shy - 6 episodes 1:56 - Zorro and Son - 5 episodes (found on KZread) 2:45 - At Ease - 14 episodes 3:32 - Six O'Clock Follies - 6 episodes 4:31 - The Robert Guillaume Show - 12 episodes 5:31 - He's The Mayor - 13 episodes 6:39 - Off The Rack - 7 episodes 7:28 - Goodnight Beantown - 18 episodes 8:27 - Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs - 6 episodes 9:14 - FM - 13 episodes 10:14 - The Thorns - 12 episodes (5 unaired) 11:12 - Tattingers (60 min runtime) - 11 episodes (2 unaired) Nick & Hillary (30 min runtime) - 4 episodes (2 unaired) 11:59 - Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills - 6 episodes 13:07 - Down and Out in Beverly Hills - 13 episodes (5 unaired) 14:07 - a.k.a. Pablo - 6 episodes 14:54 - Chicken Soup - 12 episodes (4 unaired) 15:53 - No Soap, Radio - 5 episodes 16:43 - Shaping Up - 5 episodes 17:28 - Empire (1984 series) - 6 episodes

Everything back then was so different!!! It feels like another world!

Proof that I watched way too much television growing up. 🤔😭

@martymcfly754

6 жыл бұрын

Me too Sheels1976 but in true 80s fashion there was always something to watch!! No need for a tv guide back then!!

@martymcfly754

6 жыл бұрын

And you may not remember that a young Tracey Gold also starred on Goodnight Beantown with Billy Bixby.

@billshannon9450

6 жыл бұрын

I remember WAY too many of these

@bobnagel6449

6 жыл бұрын

Sheels1976 You say that as if it's a bad thing.

@apexone5502

6 жыл бұрын

Sheels1976 I'm assuming the "1976" in your handle represents the year you were born. I too was born that year and I'd have to agree that you did watch a ton of television if you remember most of the shows that were in the video. I can only remember "He's the Mayor," "a.k.a. Pablo," and "Chicken Soup." Outside of that, I couldn't remember any of the shows. Then again, I could've seen them all back then but just can't remember them like you can.

You hit it right on the head with these. I dont remember ANY of these shows 😊

HAHAHA the theme for He's The Mayor..................

5 жыл бұрын

BMT Been cancelled already. Gee, I wonder why...………………………….

@arthurm.358

3 жыл бұрын

The show actually looked promising, but I guess having a young black mayor on TV was "too much" for society at the time 😒

@audiogus2651

3 жыл бұрын

This and AKA Pablo are the only two I remember watching.

Its amazing how times they tried to make Paul Rodriguez a TV star and kept failing. You can only do so much with so little.

@jonathanbethards3689

4 жыл бұрын

there really is very little there.

@DavidTSmith-jn5bs

4 жыл бұрын

He's done better on Latino Television with his own talk show.

@scubasteve5962

3 жыл бұрын

He was the George Lopez of the 80s. Mainstream America just wasnt ready for a Latino sitcom.

@ravenkahne8484

3 жыл бұрын

@@scubasteve5962 He was insta-cringe anytime he stepped on to the screen.

@kishajenkins8542

2 жыл бұрын

😂

This must have been the year of the 'Revolving Stills' intros.

@floydlooney6837

6 жыл бұрын

A lot of the intro's tell us nothing about the program.

@jerseytomato100

2 жыл бұрын

First season of The Cosby Show, same thing

As I'm watching this it comes to "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and I see a name I recognized, Eileen Seeley. She graduated from the same high school as I did two years after me. I remember seeing her in school productions. She has a number of acting credits, mainly single TV episodes and TV movies. She was in an episode of Star Trek: TNG, I'll have to look it up.

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

At least in terms of the intro itself, I thought that one (Down and Out in Beverly Hills) was the lamest, worst-looking show here.

@Rockhound6165

9 ай бұрын

The TNG episode was Ensigns of Command Her character struck up a friendship with Data.

@adamandanna

9 ай бұрын

@@not-so-smartaleck8987 yeah rich people looking way to happy to have a transient trying to drown himself in a pool plus most movies that become tv shows are awful

Kevin Hooks from He's The Mayor went on to be a film director. Passenger 57 and other films.

I was 12 years old to 21 years old in the 80s dont remember none of these but do remember watching my soaps still watch days of our lives to this day

When FM didn't take off all I could think was "What a pisser".

All that talent, with nowhere to go. Some of them actually went up later on, but most of their careers just flatlined from here on in.

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

For a lot of them, "talent" might be a bit of a stretch.

95% of sitcoms are unmemorable. But to find the most unmemorable of the unmemorables is quite an accomplisment. 👍

It's called "programming" for a reason. After having watched so many of these great, well edited videos from this channel, it's pretty obvious that themes develop and are used by all the networks during specific time periods. Military! Travel! Government! Washington! Radio! etc. It's really very instructive. I lived through these eras and don't remember any of these shows...

W-O-W.... This was fascinating. Like being teleported to an alternate universe where none of the TV series succeeded. I like to think I know a fair amount about vintage boob tube, but there were only five or six of these that I'd ever even heard of! The staggering lack of inspiration came through time and again in many of them, from the casting to the theme song to the concept. So many people we wouldn't ever see again. This ought to make supporting actors who HAPPEN to be cast on a sitcom that really soars be ever-grateful that they were in the right place at the right time. That's a significant part of the battle.

A lot of talent on either side of the camera on some of these shows. Nobody's perfect...

never seen any of these before but noticed one of the starts of AKA Pablo was Katy Jurado. She was in probably the greatest western of all time, High Noon and played Gary Cooper's ex love interest

Wow. So, here I am, someone who grew up in the 80s, and I saw ONE of these. And that was Chicken Soup. I guess this was the wasteland of first-run syndication, or trying to make new content for first-tier table channels? Amazing to see actors such as Lawrence Fishburne, Lori Petty, Steve Guttenberg, and Tracey Gold in some of these. Had to feel sad for some of these because the concepts could have been so good. Bill Bixby and Mariette Hartley, for example -- "Goodnight, Beantown" ran for 16 episodes, says Wikipedia. And I think the concept of a show about a D.C. radio station might have been pretty cool, too, but seeing Robert Hays would have automatically made me wonder if he would pour a glass of water on his temple .... and then, of course, there was the penultimate clip with the great Leslie Nielsen. I also find it interesting that the last opening credits was of a show with Patrick Macnee, and the second show, "Nobody's Perfect," starred a character who looked just like him.

@DavidTSmith-jn5bs

4 жыл бұрын

I too was surprised to see Patrick Macnee in an American sitcom. I was ALSO surprised to see and hear him in the original "Battlestar Galactica." Ron Moody, star of "Nobody's Perfect" was on a popular UK fantasy show called "Into the Labyrinth."

The biggest star of them all...Mike The Dog! :-P

RIP, Tim Conway

Very nice collection. Some delightful obscure finds here.

Wanted to scrub through to see if I remembered any of these: 0:00 "Ace Crawford" 0:56 "Nobody's Perfect" 1:27 "Gun Shy" 1:56 "Zorro and Son" 2:45 "At Ease" 3:32 "Six O'Clock Follies" 4:31 "The Robert Guillaume Show" 5:31 "He's the Mayor" 6:39 "Off the Rack" 7:28 "Goodnight Beantown" 8:27 "Maggie Briggs" 9:15 "FM" 10:14 "The Thorns" 11:12 "Tattingers" > "Nick & Hillary" (an hour-long dramedy that got turned into a half-hour sitcom) 11:59 "Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills" 13:08 "Down & Out in Beverly Hills" 14:07 "aka Pablo" 14:54 "Chicken Soup" 15:53 "No Soap, Radio" 16:44 "Shaping Up" 17:28 "Empire" (I remembered 2 or 3...!)

@redstickham6394

10 ай бұрын

I remember Nobody's Perfect, Goodnight Beantown, and At Ease. Nobody's Perfect to me seemed like a rip off of Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau character while At Ease was an attempt to create another military comedy in the likes of films Private Benjamin(which was also a TV series) and Stripes. Goodnight Beantown was OK, mainly because it had a good cast. I never saw Empire, but not sure if I can see Patrick Macnee in a sitcom, even though I have seen him do some comedic roles.

I have fond memories of "Goodnight Beantown" and "A.K.A. Pablo."

@testodude

2 жыл бұрын

Those 2 and the Robert Guillaume show are the only 3 that I remember, and I remember skipping them.

@chrisakarazor9612

2 жыл бұрын

Pablo looked like it would be good

@kateruterbories2692

9 ай бұрын

​@@chrisakarazor9612it was actually

Aww Bridgette Anderson, RIP. She would've been my age had she lived.

I watched a lot of 80's tv and many short lived or obscure ones. However i only heard of 3 of these and only remember watching goodnight beantown. Thanks for posting these.

Thank you this was a great look back.

6 o'clock. Had Larry fishburne. Now it's Laurence. Never knew he also goes by larry. That just weird.

@jjmanzano9

8 жыл бұрын

Wow, you never saw Boyz N the Hood?

@nickbell8353

5 жыл бұрын

Or Pee-wee's Playhouse?

5 жыл бұрын

Nick Bell WHOA...…………...wait a minute. Not to sound like I've been living in a cave, but L. Fishburne appeared on that show??

@nickbell8353

5 жыл бұрын

lurch321 Yeah, he played Cowboy Curtis. Also, be on the lookout for S. Epatha Meckerson (Lt. Van Buren from O.G. Law and Order) as the mail lady.

5 жыл бұрын

Nick Bell Okay, thanks for the info!

Katy Juardo (AKA Pablo) was a gorgeous actress back in the day! You could still see her beauty even though she was older and heavier.

I distinctly remember watching the Down & Out In Beverly Hills tv show as a fan of Mike The Dog!

I remember watching my fair share of TV in the 80s (high school/college). How in the world could I not have heard of ANY of these?

I TOTALLY remember "AKA Pablo." It was on the same nights as "Three's Company." So was "Shaping Up."

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

I don't think Paul Rodriguez and Hector Elizondo would be enough to draw my attention to this show, but maybe it was directed to the Hispanic population(?)

@suffix345

4 жыл бұрын

I remember it too, on ABC

@krystalireland7951

4 жыл бұрын

Was Bibby Sherman the neighbor on that one?

@krystalireland7951

4 жыл бұрын

Sorry for typo. Bobby Sherman

@jonnyq680

3 жыл бұрын

I miss Jack La Lanne

Apparently every theme song needed a bad sax or trumpet player in the 80s

Omg... the music alone brings back flood gates of memories and feelings. Wow... thanks for this!!

Wow. I was consuming a ton of tv during the 80s and i onky vaguely remember one of these shows - Goodnight Beantown. But the overall tone and feel of these definitely take me back to childhood. Thank you for sharing this collection.

"Suzanne Pleshette is Maggie Briggs starring Suzanne Pleshette"!! I guess she got top billing!!

@RedNekLvr22

5 жыл бұрын

Remember, she came from 6 years of "Bob Newhart in...The Bob Newhart Show". I guess she felt like she earned the ridiculous billing.

@Lynn17

5 жыл бұрын

That theme song confuses me, are they actually trying to use lyrics or is it just a bunch of humming?

@not-so-smartaleck8987

4 жыл бұрын

Also co-created by Suzanne Pleshette.

@maryexstroughtonaire4244

4 жыл бұрын

Shera Danise is Peter Falk's widow.

@recordman64

4 жыл бұрын

@@maryexstroughtonaire4244 She's in a couple of shows on this list.

Unmemoreable is an understatement. Thanks for posting these corny sitcom openings anyway. Fun to watch.

Just think, everyone in these thought they were going to be a star. Yes the are some otherwise big names (like Robert Guillaume and Tim Conway) but so many names lost to the footnotes of obscure TV history.

Claudia Wells, the OG Jennifer in Back to the Future.

Who'd of thought that for Lawrence Fishburn "Apocolypse Now" wasn't the biggest military themed nightmare of his career.

@floydlooney6837

6 жыл бұрын

Jimmie Walker.... he got the dyn-o-mite

@donaldpaluga

5 жыл бұрын

Cowboy Curtis would agree

Wow lots of well-known actors and shows I've never heard of, the only exception being AKA Pablo which I remember hearing ads for on the radio I believe. And Jackie Mason in a sitcom who passed away the day I'm writing this.

@sha11235

Жыл бұрын

That Mason sitcom was considered a big disaster that season.

I wish I could have met Norman Lear. His TV shows were a great attempt at diversifying Hollywood. They were about blended families, minority families, mixed race marriages, the struggles of single parent households. The man was ahead of his time. When I was younger I thought he was either black or Latino because he tried to make TV more inclusive for us.

OMG i really remember all them my mind is flashing back. Thank you oh man we had good show well only a season good times