Show retoolings that have worked....

[Irishfl]

How about "8 Simple Rules"? When John Ritter
died, James Garner came in as the kids' grandpa
and was, as always, a pleasure to watch.

While that show certainly had to retool, I don't know if it worked. Most fans of the show agree it went downhill after Ritter's death. The ratings certainly took a dive after the first few non-Ritter eps (altough the highest rated ep ever was the goodbye one). As a result of falling ratings they sorta did another retool bringing on David Spade to try and save the show, but in the end, the show only lasted 1 extra season without Ritter.

 

[KML0224]

I really liked the show in its first season. That, plus Caley Cuoco was/is such a hottie! It was nice to have John back on TV again. I also agree that the show tanked once they put David Spade on it. (I could tolerate James Garner though.) I know that Cuoco is now on CBS' Rules of Engagement. No clue what Amy Davidson, Martin Spanjers or Katey Segal are doing now.

 

[FilmCritic3K]

I really liked the show in its first season. That, plus Caley Cuoco was/is such a hottie! It was nice to have John back on TV again. I also agree that the show tanked once they put David Spade on it. (I could tolerate James Garner though.) I know that Cuoco is now on CBS' Rules of Engagement. No clue what Amy Davidson, Martin Spanjers or Katey Segal are doing now.

Actually Kaley Cuoco is now on the CBS series The Big Bang Theory.

I've no idea what the others have been up to but Katey Sagal has been on the FX series Sons of Anarchy (as her husband, Kurt Sutter, is a writer and producer on the series), she's been voicing Leela for the Futurama direct-to-DVD films, and doing guest starring roles on series like Ghost Whisperer, Boston Legal, The Shield, Eli Stone, Lost, and CSI.

 

[FilmCritic3K]

Sliders was a promising series when it first debuted on Fox. However, the quality starting to tank after the network starting retool it from a "What if?" series to the action movie parody mess that became season three. It got a little bit better in the fourth season when Scifi picked it up, but the fifth and last season was awful in my opinion.

Ah, yes the third season. When the producers decided to look at that weekend's box office offerings and tailor that week's episode to "tie-in".

"What's coming out in theaters that Friday? Twister? Excellent. Let's have them slide into a world where a scientist makes tornadoes prevalent."

"Ooh, a Jurassic Park sequel's out on this particular weekend in May? Have 'em land in a dinosaur world in that episode!"

Though some hated the series finale, I loved it. Usually I hate cliffhangers but something about this one I loved.

I wish someone would start airing Sliders weekdays. I'd say SCI FI should, as they and the series are owned by NBC Universal, but then again these days SCI FI is the very antithesis of the genre they puport to be the end-all be all of and have been for many years now.

 

[rch66]

I really liked the show in its first season. That, plus Caley Cuoco was/is such a hottie! It was nice to have John back on TV again. I also agree that the show tanked once they put David Spade on it. (I could tolerate James Garner though.) I know that Cuoco is now on CBS' Rules of Engagement. No clue what Amy Davidson, Martin Spanjers or Katey Segal are doing now.

Actually Kaley Cuoco is now on the CBS series The Big Bang Theory.

I've no idea what the others have been up to but Katey Sagal has been on the FX series Sons of Anarchy (as her husband, Kurt Sutter, is a writer and producer on the series), she's been voicing Leela for the Futurama direct-to-DVD films, and doing guest starring roles on series like Ghost Whisperer, Boston Legal, The Shield, Eli Stone, Lost, and CSI.

I liked how they did a Katey Sagal / Ed O'Neill reunion on 8 Simple Rules, but the show was pretty much out of it after John Ritter passed away, and the addition of David Spade was the final nail to end it. I wonder why on Desperate Housewives, which uses TV celebrities as guest roles, there hasn't been a Dean Cain / Teri Hatcher reunion. Speaking of Desperate Housewives, that show has gone downhill this season. The 5 year jump could have been used to add interest, but they made the kids grow up too fast, and are never around (Lynette and her kids), Gabrielle as a mom, the main characters are the same, and story isnt interesting.