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PROGRAMS SYNDICATED--OR--SEEN EVEN WITH VERY LIMITED EPISODES

Dave said:
I remembered WPWR-TV airing Angie during the morning hours when they were on channel 60. This was around 1983 or1984 to the latest, maybe 1986 (they moved to channel 50 in January 1987). Supposedly there were 36 episodes made, but only 35 were aired (according to wikipedia) within 2 seasons.

If I remember correctly, Square Pegs was offered in syndication here & there, & had been on MeTV when it was just in Chicago. There were just 20 episodes, & that 1 season is out on DVD.
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WPWR used to do a lot of this. I recall seeing "The Tony Randall Show," and "Nanny and the Professor" among other short runs on there. Usually they were overnight. I think there was some rule, back then, you couldn't do two 30 minute infomercials in 1 hour so they would run an infomercial then one of these short run shows, then another infomercial
 
That's My Mama! (1974-1975) with pre-Amen Clifton Davis ran for 39 episodes total and it was in syndication in the mid 1980s, later reran on TV One recently. Gidget (1965-1966) with pre-Flying Nun Sally Field lasted only one season, but was in syndication too. The Bold Ones (1969-1973) lasted 87 episodes together in four series (Doctors, Lawyers, Protectors, and The Senator) and it was in syndication in the 1970s-1990s and reran shortly on TV Land in 1999 before it was last seen on RTV. I think China Beach (1988-1991) had less than 100 episodes, reran on networks like Lifetime, TV Land, History Channel, and ALN. The 1991 Dark Shadows revial on NBC lasted only around 12 episodes. But it was reran on Sci-Fi (now Syfy) and later Chiller. Ironically, Syfy and Chiller are part of NBC Universal. Freaks & Geeks (1999-2000) with James Franco (before he beacme a movie star) lasted only one season but reran on TeenNick recently. Same story for Undeclared (2001-2002). E/R (1984-1985) with Elliott Gould and George Clooney lasted only one season but last seen in reruns on Lifetime in the 1980s. Not to be confused with Clooney's other ER series.
 
I remember "It Takes Two" with 22 episodes in syndication. Not much of a show, but a pretty good cast: Richard Crenna and Patty Duke Astin as the parents--kids were Helen Hunt and Anthony Edwards.
 
There were a lot of shows syndicated with fewer than 100 eps. WKRP In Cincinnati for example only managed 90.

One with very few episodes and a recent syndication run was Chappelle's Show.
 
I'm Dickens, He's Fenster-32 episodes..Had a run in syndication just shortly after they were canceled on ABC-I know they were on WEWS-5 Cleveland from 1963-65 practically the next week after they were cancelled
 
BBC show "Keeping up Appearances" seems to have a small number of episodes, I'd kill to see more of "the bucket woman" and company
 
Would "Sienfeld" count? I know it ran for 8 or 9 seasons on NBC, but it seems like everytime I see it either on TBS or on Fox17 in Nashville, it's the same handful of episodes over and over again. There are some episodes I've seen 4 or 5 time in the last three months while other episodes I can't recall seeing in several years. Same thing with "2 and 1/2 Men'' and "Big Bang Theory".
 
chrish said:
BBC show "Keeping up Appearances" seems to have a small number of episodes, I'd kill to see more of "the bucket woman" and company
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They only made 44 episodes of 'KUA', between '90 and '95. Doing a limited number of episodes per year is a common practice outside the US. In contrast, 'As Time Goes By', another 1990s Britcom, did 64 episodes, and three specials, over nine series, and "Are You Being Served?" did 10 series with 69 episodes, as well as a short-lived revival('Are You Being Served? Again!' in the US, 'Grace and Favour' in the UK) in the mid-90s, with another two series of about a dozen episodes
 
Another show to add to the under-100-episodes club:

Small Wonder lasted 96 episodes over four seasons (1985-1989) in first-run syndication (being produced by Metromedia [which was later acquired by 20th Century Fox], it was on a lot of then-independent stations that were owned by that company; many of these are now Fox O&Os or affiliates--e.g. WNYW 5 NYC1, KTTV 11 L.A.1, WTAF (now WTXF) 29 Philadelphia1, WFLD 32 Chicago1, KTVU 2 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose2). Reruns of it were shown in many markets through the early to mid-1990s; in some markets on the local Fox affiliates/O&Os (in Philly, it was last seen in 1995 on now-WTXF Fox 29, which I know from reading the retro TV schedules on this board; in L.A., KTTV Fox 11 showed them until the end of the summer of 1996, which I know from living in L.A. all my life and watching this show as a child. From what I read on Sitcoms Online, KTTV was the last station in the U.S. to air the show). In other markets, the show aired on then-independent stations owned by other companies; most, if not all, of which went on to become other network affiliates/O&Os.

BTW, Seasons 1 and 2 are out on DVD. No word on when, or if, Seasons 3 and 4 will see a DVD release.

1O&O
2Affiliate (non-O&O)
 
ISTR here in Miami, when ch 33 debuted, one of the reruns they showed was "On the Rocks", a comedy about minimum-security prison life, which ran 1 season, 1975-76 (shown in 1984 as reruns). I kinda liked that one. Tom Poston was one of the guards.

cd
 
13 weeks at 5 days a week. I remember when that aired on WTAT in our area. They put it in a prime slot, 9:30am, but the show couldn't draw flies in the major markets. That didn't make it much past the first of the year. There's barely even any clips on YouTube (one episode and a Money Cards round).

Many game shows are like that. NBC used to rerun "Classic Concentration", but that show had more than 1,000 episodes. USA used to rerun Hit Man with 65 episodes.

Global Guts only had 126 episodes in the early 90s, yet it was rerun on Nick GAS well into the 2000s, until the channel ended.

Double Dare 2000 only had 65 episodes (I remember watching many of them) yet Nick GAS reran it until the channel ended.
 
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