So I'm searching for stuff about "F Troop" and I read something surprising. After airing for only two seasons as a network show, "F Troop" did very well in syndication just like other two season favorites like "The Addams Family", "The Monkees" and "The Munsters". Maybe there is a kind of magic that happens when a show runs for only two seasons. You have to admit, that short list has some amazing tv shows in it.
Let me take a moment and praise Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch for their roles as "Sergeant O'Rourke" and "Corporal Agarn" on F Troop. They were more than just funny - they seemed to love the characters as much as the audience! Too bad there were no used cars in 1865 for these two natural businessmen to sell, they would have cornered the market!
Let me take a moment and praise Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch for their roles as "Sergeant O'Rourke" and "Corporal Agarn" on F Troop. They were more than just funny - they seemed to love the characters as much as the audience! Too bad there were no used cars in 1865 for these two natural businessmen to sell, they would have cornered the market!
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So I'm searching for stuff about "F Troop" and I read something surprising. After airing for only two seasons as a network show, "F Troop" did very well in syndication just like other two season favorites like "The Addams Family", "The Monkees" and "The Munsters". Maybe there is a kind of magic that happens when a show runs for only two seasons. You have to admit, that short list has some amazing tv shows in it.
Let me take a moment and praise Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch for their roles as "Sergeant O'Rourke" and "Corporal Agarn" on F Troop. They were more than just funny - they seemed to love the characters as much as the audience! Too bad there were no used cars in 1865 for these two natural businessmen to sell, they would have cornered the market!
Let me take a moment and praise Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch for their roles as "Sergeant O'Rourke" and "Corporal Agarn" on F Troop. They were more than just funny - they seemed to love the characters as much as the audience! Too bad there were no used cars in 1865 for these two natural businessmen to sell, they would have cornered the market!
Lastdaysofrain
139 Posts
16 years ago
There were a lot of shows that were failures on Networks that were huge in First Run syndication (slightly different from this F Troop example), such as Baywatch, Charles in Charge, and It's a Living.
Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch, Bewitched, Lucy...
The Little Rascals could be considered in that regard as well. And definitely, the Honeymooners.
Lastdaysofrain
There were a lot of shows that were failures on Networks that were huge in First Run syndication (slightly different from this F Troop example), such as Baywatch, Charles in Charge, and It's a Living.
Far Out! You mentioned "It's a Living".
So good to know I'm not the only one who remembers that show.
ChinoNYC
The Little Rascals could be considered in that regard as well. And definitely, the Honeymooners.
Don't forget to mention any of your personal favorites that fall into this group.
Didn't Mama's Family also find success in first-run Syndication, or am I just imagining that?
Dawg
Didn't Mama's Family also find success in first-run Syndication, or am I just imagining that?
I only saw "Mama's Family" as a syndicated show, and by that time some character changes had been made. For one, Bubba the grandson released from juvenile detention. For another, Iola the snooty neighbor. I never saw the earlier episodes with Rue McClanahan and Betty White.
Strange thing about Mama's Family, it keeps showing up somewhere on TV year after year after year. Since 1983 "Mama's Family" has never really left television.
System
79987 Posts
16 years ago
There's nothing wrong with showing reruns in syndication, man. 8)
sonic64
There's nothing wrong with showing reruns in syndication, man. 8)
Hey, syndication saved Star Trek.
Sometimes it really is better the second time around!
Sometimes it really is better the second time around!
ACcountryFan
7 Posts
15 years, 11 months ago
eddstarr88
Don't forget to mention any of your personal favorites that fall into this group.
Hee-Haw is my personal favorite program that was canceled by a network but found success in syndication. It ran on the CBS network two seasons, 1969-1971, then CBS canceled all of the rural shows in spite of high ratings. Hee-Haw went into syndication, airing in the same time-slots as it did on the network, and continued in first-run syndication from the fall of 1971 through the summer of 1992. I don't have my book with me but there was well over 500 episodes made. It's 21 years in first-run syndication, 1971-1992, was the record holder until being surpassed by Soul Train, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy.
ACcountryFan
eddstarr88Don't forget to mention any of your personal favorites that fall into this group.
Hee-Haw is my personal favorite program that was canceled by a network but found success in syndication. It ran on the CBS network two seasons, 1969-1971, then CBS canceled all of the rural shows in spite of high ratings. Hee-Haw went into syndication, airing in the same time-slots as it did on the network, and continued in first-run syndication from the fall of 1971 through the summer of 1992. I don't have my book with me but there was well over 500 episodes made. It's 21 years in first-run syndication, 1971-1992, was the record holder until being surpassed by Soul Train, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy.
Absolutely awesome! YES, ACcountryFan you are awesome! Hee Haw started on CBS as a summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. And just like "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour", in the minds of network types, Hee Haw was not suppose to endure.
And that brings up one of my pet topics - The CBS Rural Purge of 1970. This was the biggest mistake that CBS had ever made. By 1969 the network heads decided that CBS was too "redneck" and therefore the entire program schedule needed an overhaul. In one fell swoop CBS eliminated some of its most popular shows.
Immediately canceled: Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Hee Haw, The Glenn Campbell Goodtime Hour, Mayberry RFD and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Petticoat Junction had been canceled a year earlier following the death of Bea Benaderet.
Also say goodbye to Hogan's Heroes, The Ed Sullivan Show, To Rome with Love, and Family Affair. And the real shocker - so long to The Red Skelton Hour! After all that Red Skelton had done for CBS it was a stunner how easily the network gave him the boot.
CBS didn't act alone, prompted by pressure from advertisers, the network decided to refocus its schedule on new urban-themed shows to grab a more sophisticated urban audience.
Hey it was 1970!
triviaprofessor
164 Posts
15 years, 11 months ago
Storch and Tucker did have good chemistry. Does anybody remember them in a Saturday morning "Kiddie Show" in the mid 1970's called: "The Ghost Busters?" By the way, it doesn't have anything to do with the Bill Murray "Ghostbuster" movies.
Here is a clip to refresh your memory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4-Io8xMHL4
Cheers!
Sincerely, Steve B. :)
Here is a clip to refresh your memory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4-Io8xMHL4
Cheers!
Sincerely, Steve B. :)
triviaprofessor
164 Posts
15 years, 11 months ago
Yes, I must admit, it is cheezy by todays standards, but to a kid growing up in the 1970's, it was cool!
Here are some more Saturday morning favorites from my youth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpd8zg5VWA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-yLYz6ejqw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3U9BuOMkmM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0MRU1f2SJ0&feature=related
As you can see, the "kiddie shows" in the 70's had a different atmosphere than the ones they have nowadays!
Cheers!
Sincerely, Steve B. :)
Here are some more Saturday morning favorites from my youth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpd8zg5VWA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-yLYz6ejqw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3U9BuOMkmM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0MRU1f2SJ0&feature=related
As you can see, the "kiddie shows" in the 70's had a different atmosphere than the ones they have nowadays!
Cheers!
Sincerely, Steve B. :)
triviaprofessor
Yes, I must admit, it is cheezy by todays standards, but to a kid growing up in the 1970's, it was cool!
You have a point here buddy... the time define what's "cool" and what's not, taking in consideration the timeline here and what not, all of this was really good.
About the syndication, yeah, no wonder all of those series were a boom at their time, "kind of wow kind of now"...
Nice to have Mr Monkey eating-an-ice-thingie back...
SWEET! I'd forgotton how cool Lidsville was.
What a blast to see those old intros again.
Awesome job triviaprofessor!
What a blast to see those old intros again.
Awesome job triviaprofessor!
frito23
926 Posts
15 years, 11 months ago
triviaprofessor
Storch and Tucker did have good chemistry. Does anybody remember them in a Saturday morning "Kiddie Show" in the mid 1970's called: "The Ghost Busters?" By the way, it doesn't have anything to do with the Bill Murray "Ghostbuster" movies.
Here is a clip to refresh your memory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4-Io8xMHL4
Cheers!
Sincerely, Steve B. :)