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Long Lived Network Shows That Quickly Died in Syndication

M

MattParker

Playing off the other thread about shows that didn't last long in their first run but were in syndication for an extended period of time, some shows were highly rated and had long runs (five years or more) on network TV and did not cut it in syndication.

The example that comes to mind is Murphy Brown. The show entered syndication with episodes from the early seasons while still on CBS and had pretty much fizzled out in syndication by the time the network run ended.

Another is ER, which didn't do well even in repeat episodes on NBC and had a brief life in syndication. Some said this was because of the serial nature of the show, although Dallas had a pretty good run in syndication.

Any other network-winners, syndie-failures come to mind?
 
Speaking of serial-type shows like ER, the two prestigious MTM dramas of the 1980s, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere come to mind. Of course, neither show was a big Nielsen hit (especially St. E); both had astonishingly lengthy runs on NBC despite that. I remember seeing reruns of St. E on the PBS station in Memphis, Tennessee, WKNO, while in college circa 1990-91, indicative of the tendency of pubcasters at that time to take critics' favorites of the past from commercial TV onto their schedules.

Generally, escapist stuff like sitcoms, westerns, sci-fi, and the like have a longer "shelf life" than do dramas. And, please, Lord, don't bring up the subject of reality shows. "Throwaway" are their middle names, as far as I'm concerned.
 
Night Court
The Love Boat
Ironside
The FBI
Mission: Impossible
Mod Squad
Hill Street Blues
Lou Grant
St. Elsewhere
Marcus Welby MD
Medical Center
Trapper John MD
77 Sunset Strip
Dallas
Dynasty
Knots Landing
Beverly Hills 90210
Melrose Place
Northern Exposure
Empty Nest
Blossom
 
Braves2005 said:
Night Court
The Love Boat
Ironside
The FBI
Mission: Impossible
Mod Squad
Hill Street Blues
Lou Grant
St. Elsewhere
Marcus Welby MD
Medical Center
Trapper John MD
77 Sunset Strip
Dallas
Dynasty
Knots Landing
Beverly Hills 90210
Melrose Place
Northern Exposure
Empty Nest
Blossom
Click to expand...

I don't know . . . Mission: Impossible (the original 1966-73 version) was a fixture on local TV stations from 1973 well into the '90's. Ironside was seen up to the '80's or so (in its first years syndicated as The Raymond Burr Show), as was Marcus Welby, M.D. (originally in syndie-land as Robert Young, Family Doctor).

I can easily name two of the biggest syndication duds: the repackaging in the 1980's of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and the syndication of The Dean Martin Show in the late 1970's/early '80's. And both shows were the biggest thing since sliced bread when they were originally on. A runner-up was the repackaging of old 1962-66 Jackie Gleason American Scene Magazine episodes as the half-hour Jackie Gleason Show, though when it started some stations in some markets ran it back-to-back against Benny Hill and some others may've run him alongside Carol Burnett & Friends. I don't think The Flip Wilson Show did too well in syndication, either. And he was also big stuff.
 
I think these died in syndication...

The Golden Girls
The Wonder Years
Clueless
Unhappily Ever After
The Parent Hood (Robert Townsend's sitcom, not the 1990 show based on the 1989 movie)
The Wayans Bros.
The Bernie Mac Show
Will and Grace
Sex and the City
One on One

It seems that a lot of the UPN/WB sitcoms have a very short shelf life in syndication. They do better on cable. I'm wondering if "Lost" is still in syndication.
 
MattParker said:
Playing off the other thread about shows that didn't last long in their first run but were in syndication for an extended period of time, some shows were highly rated and had long runs (five years or more) on network TV and did not cut it in syndication.

The example that comes to mind is Murphy Brown. The show entered syndication with episodes from the early seasons while still on CBS and had pretty much fizzled out in syndication by the time the network run ended.

Another is ER, which didn't do well even in repeat episodes on NBC and had a brief life in syndication. Some said this was because of the serial nature of the show, although Dallas had a pretty good run in syndication.

Any other network-winners, syndie-failures come to mind?
Click to expand...

Dramas don't have a good record in OTA syndication, they tend to be suited better for cable
 
Actually, I must disagree with whoever mentioned ER. If memory serves, that show's weekend repeats began in the late 1990s and into the 2000s decade. I think (he/she) might be confused that tenure with the five month run on The WB shortly before closure...
 
"Alias" with Jennifer Garner had a hard time in syndication when it was released recently. It might do better in later years.

I believe that "The Fugitive" also had issues when it first came out into syndication. It did better in the later years. Sometimes, letting these series be off the air for a few years might help with syndication as people who did not see the original run might get interested. That was the case with me and "The Fugitive". I was too young to see it in first run, but I got into it when I saw it in the 80's and 90's.
 
wbhist said:
I can easily name two of the biggest syndication duds: the repackaging in the 1980's of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and the syndication of The Dean Martin Show in the late 1970's/early '80's. And both shows were the biggest thing since sliced bread when they were originally on.
Click to expand...

"Carson's Comedy Classics", the repackaging of the comedy sketches from the 1970s episodes of "The Tonight Show", also didn't do very well in syndication, either.
 
Shows surviving syndication are the ones with little time references. "I Love Lucy", "Andy Griffith" and "Seinfeld" translate well through time. Shows like "Murphy Brown" are only relevant to those who lived during the first run.
 
Similar to a post above....many shows, due to topicality, don't last well in syndicated reruns.

When ch 39 Miami debuted in 1982, they had rights to reruns of "Laugh-In" (!!!!).....I remember how I was watching, and Dan Rowan announced News of the Future, 20 Years from Now....."1988 (remember the show was in 1968)....U.S. President Ronald Reagan----" and the crowd howled in laughter!

How "All in the Family" flies under the radar is another story!

cd
 
azumanga said:
wbhist said:
I can easily name two of the biggest syndication duds: the repackaging in the 1980's of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and the syndication of The Dean Martin Show in the late 1970's/early '80's. And both shows were the biggest thing since sliced bread when they were originally on.
Click to expand...

"Carson's Comedy Classics", the repackaging of the comedy sketches from the 1970s episodes of "The Tonight Show", also didn't do very well in syndication, either.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised to hear that. I think most people found the skits out of date by then current standards. But I always liked Johnny Carson and he was very funny. Both KCRA 3 here in Sacramento and WGN had the reruns, as did KTLA 5. Today, they areon the Reelz channel, which is on Dish Network, DirecTV and most cable systems.
 
Although it was tried several times, WKRP never seemed to last very long in syndication or on cable. It would run about a year or two and then drop off, at least in the Memphis area. Also, I don't remember seeing Newhart (80's) in syndication anywhere in the Memphis area, and its runs on cable have always been short.

There's also the factor of shows that went directly to cable with little or no syndication to local stations that happens with a lot of shows now.
 
Do any of you remember a May 1980 TV Guide article on syndicated off network shows like I Love Lucy, Gilligan's Island,Star Trek and MASH that at the time, did well in syndication, while others like The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres and Marcus Welby did not?.

For a time Hillbillies did not do well in syndication, but thanks to WTBS and later WGN and also WSBK Boston, they did well, and as for Acres it did well thanks to WTBS and later CBN ,Nick At Nite and TV Land among others.
 
Ironside, Mission: Impossible, The Mod Squad, Marcus Welby, The FBI and others probably did well in syndication initially when they first started reruns but they seemed to fall off the radar after the 1980's. Mission: Impossible seemed to be a fixture on TBS during the early 1980's airing either on the weekends, the wee hours of the morning or after Braves or Hawks games but I have never seen it on a schedule on a local station after the late 1970's. I don't remember seeing a schedule featuring The Mod Squad, The FBI, Adam-12 and Ironside after the late 1970's other than in California. Marcus Welby was seen on Lifetime very briefly when Lifetime first started running reruns of shows in the mid and late 1980's as did Medical Center when it aired on CBN in the 1980's and then on TNT in the mid 1990's but anywhere after the early 1980's did you see both shows on local stations.
 
CleveFan- You may be right that Golden Girls was less than a hit in syndication to local stations, but it has done very well on cable - primarily Lifetime. A few years ago , it became a huge hit on college campuses and with young adults in general. That was only possible thru reruns considering today's young adults were barely out of diapers during the show's original run.

I believe it currently runs on Hallmark.
 
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