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Cancelled Fox show gets memorial

On that same DHD site, Nikki Finke reports that CBS is interested in possibly picking up Back To You as a potential mid-season replacement.

Coincidence or not, CBS is also the network that ran:

Goodnight, Beantown, an incredibly unfunny and unwatchable sitcom that starred Bill Bixby and Marriette Hartley. It was an anchorman-anchorwoman storyline. Sound familiar? It was not successful. It was doomed just by it's title, when CBS insulted the city of Boston. Just like San Franciscans hate it when the City is called 'Frisco, Bostonians hate the name Beantown. Great way to alienate a key market, CBS.

Another anchorman-anchorwoman flop show on CBS was Good Sports, which starred Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett as ESPN-type anchors. It was about as funny as the gout, and lasted about as long as a banana in an elephant's trunk.

If CBS wants a show like this to succeed, maybe they might want to consider one where the anchorman and anchorwoman don't have an off-camera relationship. It's been tried unsuccessfully in these three examples, and it hasn't worked yet. Or does CBS never learn? :mad:
 
A typical old fashioned TV sitcom where you could see the jokes coming a mile away. Set-up - Pitch - Punchline. The only thing I can't figure out is why two talented actors coming off of two critically acclaimed first rate sitcoms would want to be in this show. I'm sure Grammar has enough money to live a dozen lifetimes, while Heaton might run out of cash in three lifetimes...but it seems like they both could have waited for better shows to come along.
 
RicoGregg said:
Just like San Franciscans hate it when the City is called 'Frisco, Bostonians hate the name Beantown. Great way to alienate a key market, CBS.
Click to expand...

Has anybody (among the learned society or otherwise) ever convincingly explained why?

It's a wonder the Rivieras' "California Sun", with the line "The girls are frisky in ol' 'Frisco", ever saw more than a sliver of daylight.

I imagine "Radio-Info" (the name, not the website) must be an epithet to somebody, somewhere, somehow. ::) Not me, though. ;D

ixnay
 
Do people in Chicago hate the term "Chi-Town"? Also, why are they the "Windy City" when other areas of the country have more wind on average than they do? It could be worse...Hartford's slogan is "New England's Rising Star". Doesn't that tell the world "Look! We've had so much heartache and despair, plus our hockey team left! Give us a second chance?" ;)

Seriously, I never gave that sitcom a chance. Is the show with Brad Garrett still on? I only watch FOX for Family Guy and that's it.
 
"Just like San Franciscans hate it when the City is called 'Frisco, Bostonians hate the name Beantown. Great way to alienate a key market, CBS."

Ancient history...

When I first arrived in San Francisco in 1973, there were a lot of old-time San Franciscans (senior citizens, then) who took great pride in being SF born and bred. They often had an unusual - almost NYC sounding accent that I have never heard before or since. I remember they pronounced many of the street names oddly. Geary St was pronounced "Gary," and Kearny St was pronounced "Carney." Many of these folks remembered the 1906 earthquake. They took great pride in their city and were offended by the the nickname "Frisco." If you used that word in their presence, you would get scolded.

Needless to say, these folks are long gone now. I don't know of anybody alive today who cares.
 
ixnay said:
Has anybody (among the learned society or otherwise) ever convincingly explained why?

It's a wonder the Rivieras' "California Sun", with the line "The girls are frisky in ol' 'Frisco", ever saw more than a sliver of daylight.

I imagine "Radio-Info" (the name, not the website) must be an epithet to somebody, somewhere, somehow. ::) Not me, though. ;D

ixnay
Click to expand...

Does an entire city owe anyone an explanation? I don't live in San Francisco, but I do enjoy visiting there occasionally. I've heard the town called 'Frisco virtually all my life, and I don't know how the disdain of the name started, but somehow it got some bad PR.

There have been exceptions. "California Sun" is a freakin' great song, period. I don't recall any offense taken to that quick reference to 'Frisco in the lyrics.

Then there was the 80s film "The Frisco Kid", a western starring Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. While not a cinematic masterpiece, it was way above average, and contained nothing that offended sensibilities, unless you're anti-semitic. Wilder plays a rabbi who totes a six shooter, and kills a man in self-defense. Again, no offense was apparently taken by The City (a local term used by SF residents).

When somebody takes offense to the Radio-Info tag, get back to me. I'm happy to be able to post here, and I like the name.
 
KML-224 said:
Do people in Chicago hate the term "Chi-Town"? Also, why are they the "Windy City" when other areas of the country have more wind on average than they do? It could be worse...
Click to expand...

The name Chicago, loosely translated from the native Illini tribe language, means "It smells funny".

Chicago is called "The Windy City", which a Cubs' game at Wrigley Field proves every time. It's not called "The Windiest City". According to the first Book of Lists, that honor goes to Buffalo.
 
And I thought Chicago meant something like land of the wild onion? Who knows? Getting back to the show, I never watched a single episode of it. Apparently, many others did the same thing.
 
Lkeller said:
When I first arrived in San Francisco in 1973, there were a lot of old-time San Franciscans (senior citizens, then) who took great pride in being SF born and bred. They often had an unusual - almost NYC sounding accent that I have never heard before or since. I remember they pronounced many of the street names oddly. Geary St was pronounced "Gary," and Kearny St was pronounced "Carney."
Click to expand...

The pronunciation of these names are not exclusive to San Francisco. General Hospital star Anthony Geary pronounces his name the same way.

Kearny State College in Kearny, Nebraska is also pronounced "Carney". The town, the college, and the reference can be seen in the film Terms of Endearment.

And now, back to Back To You....
 
When San Franciscans are speaking with each other or to other people in the Bay Area they don't say "San Francisco" or "Frisco" but rather just "The City". Everyone in the BA knows where you're talking about when you say The City.

Most SF-cans probably wouldn't bother to correct an outsider if they said "Frisco" but they would never say it.

There used to be a train called The Frisco whose slogan was painted on the side of every boxcar - "Ship It On The Frisco".
 
"Does an entire city owe anyone an explanation? I don't live in San Francisco, but I do enjoy visiting there occasionally. I've heard the town called 'Frisco virtually all my life, and I don't know how the disdain of the name started, but somehow it got some bad PR. There have been exceptions. "California Sun" is a freakin' great song, period. I don't recall any offense taken to that quick reference to 'Frisco in the lyrics."

I would never personally call it "Frisco" in polite company, anymore than I would have said the F word (and I don't mean Frisco) when my mother was in the room. But nobody takes offense anymore. The difference these days is that - like many California cities - most people you meet are transplants from some other places, often on the east coast. A Bay Area "native" is now somebody like me who has been here a generation or more, but not necessarily somebody who was born or grew up here.

Also, let's not forget the town of Frisco, Colorado - "The Main Street of the Rockies.". I drove through Frisco about 25 years ago. Took about a minute. http://www.townoffrisco.com/
 
"The pronunciation of these names are not exclusive to San Francisco. General Hospital star Anthony Geary pronounces his name the same way. Kearny State College in Kearny, Nebraska is also pronounced "Carney". The town, the college, and the reference can be seen in the film Terms of Endearment."

Interesting information, Rico. Thanks to the wonders of Google and Wikipedia, I have learned that Kearny St. in San Francisco, Kearny Mesa (San Diego), and Fort Kearny in Nebraska were all named after General Stephen W. Kearny - who fought in the Mexican-American War, and the first American military governor of California. The city of Kearney, Nebraska town was named after the fort, and the extra "e" (legend has it) was added due to a mistake by the post office, and it just stuck. We can't reanimate the Governor to ask how he pronounced his name, but I know that if you pronounced it "Carney" these days in San Francisco, only a very old person would know what street you were talking about.

Of course, this has nothing to do with that Fox show that was canceled. What was it called, again?
 
More info: (Can't guarantee if it's interesting, though.)

In the late 60's-early 70's, I attended San Diego City College with a young lady whose last name was Kearny. I asked her if she was related to whomever they named Kearny Mesa after, and she said yes, but she didn't know any backstory.

I'm also hearing that supposedly, people in Orange County do not like the term OC. I don't live there, and I don't know but one person there, so I can't take that as gospel.

I don't think people in the Inland Empire mind IE though. Having lived in that area for a long time, I think that they're grateful for any recognition at all, even if it means being mixed up with Internet Explorer.

This ongoing discussion could get better ratings than Back To You. :)
 
RicoGregg said:
On that same DHD site, Nikki Finke reports that CBS is interested in possibly picking up Back To You as a potential mid-season replacement.
Click to expand...

And they'll (CBS) probably get it! This was actually a very good show in league with Cheers (and from the same team). The ratings were not bad. Fox just didn't want to spend the money (not enough bang for the buck).

I'm suprised NBC didn't try to pick it up for Thursdays, because its PERFECT, but then they rushed their schedule to get a jump on the up-fronts, oh well...
 
quote from Rico Gregg:
Loosely translated from the native Illini language, Chicago means "It smells funny".
Click to expand...

KML-224 said:
And I thought Chicago meant something like land of the wild onion? Who knows?
Click to expand...

The Chicago thing was bothering me, so I consulted Wikipedia, and here is what they say:

The name "Chicago" is the French rendering of the Miami-Illinois name shikaakwa, meaning wild leek. Etymologically, the sound /shikaakwa/ in Miami-Illinois literally means 'striped skunk', and was a reference to wild leek, or the smell of onions. The name was initially applied to the river, but later came to denote what is presently the site of the city. The sound Chicago is said to be the result of a French mis-transcription of the original sound by Louis Hennepin, a Catholic priest, missionary, and explorer, who in 1683 first placed the name 'Chicago' on a map.

I got the "It smells funny" answer from a show I was board-opping during Sunday morning Public Affairs time in the 70s called Ask The Professor, which I think may still be running.

Maybe Back To You can do an entirely new episode on this matter. :)
 
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