A few weeks ago, I posted a thread arguing that this current TV season may turn out to be the worst in OTA broadcast history. All the new shows look especially uninspiring and there are few I’d even want to sample. The Real Love Boat? Really?
 
But then I happened to look back on the TV Guide Fall Preview issue from 1990 and I’m beginning to reassess my opinion. Consider this: in that era of pre-streaming and still relatively early cable, the four major U.S. networks is where the majority of programming came from. Out of 34 new shows launched that year, only four, including Law & Order and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, managed to last more than a single season.
 
I was actually aghast at some of what the networks thought you would watch back then. Consider this one, which seems to be in incredibly bad taste and was certainly no “Six Feet Under.”
 
Good Grief
 
A comedy that took place in one of those great funny places – a funeral home – didn’t even have an actual cast when Fox thought it was a good enough idea to greenlight the show. It was – you should pardon the expression – DOA not long after it aired.



 
Uncle Buck

Over on CBS, the TV version of the John Candy movie “Uncle Buck” was garnering attention, but for all the wrong reasons. At a time when saying “damn” on TV was still a bit verboten, this one featured young kids saying “you suck” to adults, leading to newspaper articles decrying the language of this comedy. It was Bucked off the network almost immediately.
                               

 
The Flash
 
It was more like a Flash in the pan. Long before the revamped series became a hit on the still-to-be-created CW Network, this show slowed down CBS’ Thursday night lead-off. In a nice tip of the hat to the show, the CW’s version decades later also featured the star of this show, John Wesley Shipp, as the Flash from an alternate universe.
 

 
The Fanelli Boys
 
I’m betting the people involved in this one don’t even remember being in it – or would want to admit it. I included it in this list only because of the guy second from the right in the picture. Take a close look at him, without examining the names. Do you recognize him? I had to look three times before I could believe it was him, an actor who became part of the longest running drama in TV history.  
 

 
Give up? He’s listed as “Chris Meloni” but he’s better known these days as “Elliott Stabler,” a character that started on “Law & Order: SVU” and now on his own spinoff of the L&O franchise. Not only does he look younger in this pic, but he has all his hair!
 
And by the way, 1990 was the season when Law & Order first went on the air. It – and its various flavours - really haven’t been off TV since. An interesting coincidence.

 
Not every new show that appeared in 1990 was awful. But that didn’t stop them from flopping. Probably the most infamous was this one:
 
Cop Rock
 
Execs. thought Steven Bochco could do no wrong, after shows like Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law. But the idea of a crime show where perps and police broke out into song was roasted by critics, who thought it hit nothing but sour notes. I always liked the stories, but the music kept getting in the way! 
 

 
Gabriel’s Fire
 
A terrific show that starred Darth Vader – er – James Earl Jones – as a prisoner who gets out of jail after decades behind bars. Jones was great in the part and the famous “hot dog cart” scene – where he gets his first taste of fast food in 20 years - remains one of my all time favourites. It was a wonderful show but it was very dark-themed and no one watched. The fact it was up against NBC’s Must See TV Thursday certainly didn’t help.
 
ABC didn’t want to let Jones go, so they revamped the show the following year, added Richard Crenna of The Real McCoys fame, and changed the focus to a detective comedy-drama called “Pros and Cons.” But it had more cons than pros and it, too, was sentenced to an eternity in cancellation. But the original was great while it lasted.
 

 
 

  
The Storyteller

One more. And it proves it wasn’t just primetime where flops were flipped. CBS introduced this thing into their late night line-up when Pat Sajak’s talk show couldn’t buy a vowel. A Norman Lear show, no less. It sounds totally bizarre. Does anyone remember this?