Comments on: 6 Shows Saved by First-Run Syndication

By: pete

pete — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:59:29 +0000

Also, the Powell military patriach was played by none other than James Widdoes. Or, you may know him as Hoover, the Delta Tau Chi President from “Animal House”. It was his role in Charles in Charge that also lead him to direct, for which he did many sitcoms in the future. Some of his work includes: 8 Simple Rules, The King of Queens, and Two And A Half Men, just to name a few.

By: John

John — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:02:33 +0000

A few points:
The original 1960′s Star Trek ran on NBC and was cancelled in 3 years. The show was syndicated and became popular enough to be brought back as movies.

(Maybe this could be another column: shows that were cancelled and came back as movies.)

Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine were both “first run syndication”, meaning they never started on a specific network. (When he was developing Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry said he didn’t want to deal with the pressure of working for a TV network.)

Star Trek: Voyager was shown on the brand-new UPN network, then syndicated later.
Star Trek: Enterprise was also shown on UPN, and I don’t remember if the show survived when UPN became the CW.

Family Guy was first shown on FOX, then shown in syndication when there were enough episodes. The show was never released as “first run syndication”: new episodes always aired on FOX first.
In this case, the syndicated shows and the DVD’s helped convince FOX to bring the show back.

By: antonio

antonio — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:05:06 +0000

Actually the pilot for Star Trek:TNG was shown as a 2 hour movie on ABC.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:49:23 +0000

Pink Coat and NYCGirl, I am SO glad someone else remembers Denver! I thought I was the only one!

By: Militant Lezbian

Militant Lezbian — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:11:32 +0000

I admit proudly I watched all of these shows whenever they were on.

By: NYCGirl

NYCGirl — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:07:18 +0000

Pink Coat, I SO remember “Denver, the Last Dinosaur.” In fact, its theme song still pops into my head from time to time. :O

I watched all of these shows, except for “She’s the Sheriff” and “Madame’s Place.” And I’m another one who still remembers the words to the “Charles in Charge” theme song. There were actually two versions: a “lives upstairs” version and a “lives downstairs” version, though I don’t remember which version belonged to which family. (Yes, I am rather embarrassed. Why do you ask? ;))

By: pacificsherpa

pacificsherpa — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:10:53 +0000

wouldn’t Family Guy fall into this list as well? It might have initially ran for more than one season on Fox, but it then got dumped to syndication only to be re-picked up after its popularity grew. Correct?

By: Addie

Addie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:56:38 +0000

If I could have one wish in the world, to this day, it would be to have Evie’s powers!!! Oh, if only I could stop time!!!

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:58:07 +0000

There’s a new boy in the neighborhood
He lives downstairs and its understood
he’s there just to take good care of me
Like he’s one of the family….

Charles in Charge of our days and our night
Charles in chare of our wrongs and our rights
and i want charles in charge of me…

By: Tyk

Tyk — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:38:32 +0000

Yeah, hate to admit it, I watched Charles in Charge every day after school. LOVED it.