The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / How Hard Is It To Launch A New Hit Show? This Tells The Tale

**Posted by RadioActive** March 12, 2025 11:59 am

I came across two separate line-ups from TV Guide's once essential "Fall Preview Issue." (I used to always look forward to that one issue, their biggest seller of the year. Still miss it in my mailbox every September!)

One is from 1973, the other from 1990. In the former, the new shows are highlighted in yellow. In the latter, they're in all caps. It's a testimony to how hard it is for a network to find a true long lasting ratings winner when you look at both of these.

Outside of "The Six Million Dollar Man" on ABC, "Kojak" on CBS and NBC's "Police Story" in '72, or "Law & Order" and "Fresh Prince Of Bel Air," both on NBC 17 years later, can you recall any of these newly launched programs? ("Cop Rock" is generally recalled only because it was such a tremendous flop that it still resonates today.)

Take a look at the line-ups and see if you recall any of these new shows. They certainly did not last long.

**Posted by BowmanvilleBob** March 12, 2025 12:31 pm

Lotsa Luck was an effort by NBC to match CBS's All in the Family. Loosely based on the popular British sitcom On the Buses, it starred Dom DeLuise (starved to within an inch of his life) playing Stanley, who worked in the lost and found department of an unnamed city bus company. There was the usual cast of side characters (lazy mooching brother-in-law, bossy mother, crazy best friend) and a mild attempt to push the sitcom boundaries of the early 70s with plenty of references to sex and toilets.

I read an interview with Dom DeLuise a long time ago where he admitted he knew the show was pretty much doomed from the start, but that he put a lot of effort into it in the hope it would score a breakthrough with American audiences. With only the big three networks in the U.S. at that time, anything less than a 20-point share in the audience was considered "on the edge" for cancellation. The show only lasted one season, but DeLuise acknowledged that it helped raise his profile with the public and he got more than a few guest shots and spots on other sitcoms as a result.

**Posted by RadioActive** March 12, 2025 12:52 pm

BowmanvilleBob wrote:
Lotsa Luck was an effort by NBC to match CBS's All in the Family. Loosely based on the popular British sitcom On the Buses, it starred Dom DeLuise (starved to within an inch of his life) playing Stanley, who worked in the lost and found department of an unnamed city bus company. There was the usual cast of side characters (lazy mooching brother-in-law, bossy mother, crazy best friend) and a mild attempt to push the sitcom boundaries of the early 70s with plenty of references to sex and toilets.

I read an interview with Dom DeLuise a long time ago where he admitted he knew the show was pretty much doomed from the start, but that he put a lot of effort into it in the hope it would score a breakthrough with American audiences. With only the big three networks in the U.S. at that time, anything less than a 20-point share in the audience was considered "on the edge" for cancellation. The show only lasted one season, but DeLuise acknowledged that it helped raise his profile with the public and he got more than a few guest shots and spots on other sitcoms as a result.

I actually remember watching this show and in my dim memory, it wasn't that bad. I remember my father really liked it. But it was on opposite Gunsmoke and at the time, nobody beat Marshall Dillon to the timeslot draw.

Interesting to note ABC was showing a drama called "The Rookies" in that slot, and now there's another show called "The Rookie" (singular) also on ABC. The more things change, etc...

**Posted by RadioActive** March 12, 2025 1:21 pm

Lotsa Luck from the 1973 Fall Preview issue:

**Posted by RadioActive** March 12, 2025 1:53 pm

Speaking of shows that never made it but should have, Canadian TV scribe Bill Brioux pays tribute to a sitcom you've probably never heard of - He & She.

A sort of early Mary Tyler Moore Show (many of the people connected to this later went on to write or direct that show), it even had a pre-Ted Baxter character in the form of kids' TV show superego star Oscar North (played to perfection by Jack Cassidy, the father of soon-to-be-teen heartthrob David Cassidy.)

This show was brilliant yet cancelled after only one season. It was a sophisticated comedy that was just a few years ahead of its time. I've seen all the episodes and loved every one of them. This could have and should have been one of television's greatest series. The fact that it wasn't speaks volumes about where audiences were in the late 60s and the lack of faith CBS had in its audience. It's one of those shows I would bring back if I could.

One Season Wonders to celebrate: He & She

**Posted by paterson1** March 13, 2025 8:59 am

I remember the names of most of the new shows in 1973. I agree Lotsa Luck wasn't bad, and I did enjoy He and She. I seem to remember having a teenage crush on Paula Prentiss. Probably watched at least half of the new shows on the schedule from '73.

By 1990 my interest in prime time TV had started to slide, and I don't remember many of the new shows listed other than the ones that were on more than a few seasons.

Strikes me how many movie nights all of the networks had back then. Movies were a big part of prime time for all of the networks.

**Posted by RadioActive** March 13, 2025 10:04 am

Slightly off topic, but the "Friends" YouTube channel (and yes, there really IS a Friends YouTube channel) has put up the first two episodes of the spinoff show "Joey" (including the pilot), which - as far as I know - has never been seen since NBC cancelled the show in 2006. Odd that they'd choose to highlight a flop and there's no word if all two seasons will ever be uploaded.