Neil Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 "Life with Lucy" had plenty of company on the 1986-7 sitcom scrap heap. 12 comedies debuted in 1986 making a total of 28, not counting Fox. Only 2 debuting shows survived (by my recollection). I never saw "Alf" but it ran 4 years. "Designing Women" ran 7. The big hits that debuted that season were "LA Law" and "Matlock". Not included in this clip montage is the ill-fated but puzzlingly long-running "Valerie" ("Hogan Family"). Perhaps it was a mid-season holdover from the previous season as was "You Again" which didn't last long. Considering the other 11 new ones and some of the other comedies returning that season, was "Life with Lucy" ANY worse? For the record the returning series were Kate and Allie, Newhart, Who's Boss, Growing Pains, Perfect Strangers, Gimme a Break, Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court, Webster, Mr. Belvedere, Facts of Life and 227. "Cheers" was great. I liked the film pilot of "Ellen Burstyn" but the subsequent shows on videotape didn't play as well. Still it deserved better. I was a mild fan of "Newhart" but the rest including "Cosby", you can keep. (I thought there was something creepy and arrogant about Bill Cosby even back then). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie2 Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 You left out Golden Girls!!! Cosby was terrific for its first two seasons but most of the series beyond that isn't worth watching. LWL was more or less on par with a majority of 80s sitcoms- it just had unbelievably high expectations on its frail shoulders. For an era of television that hosted so many multi-cam sitcoms, you'd think there'd be more that hold up, but not really. From the "Sitcom Era", roughly 1985-1993, I'd say that Cheers, Golden Girls, and Newhart are the only ones worth your time in 2016. Valerie is coming to AntennaTV next month and I'm curious to watch because Val Harper and Jason Bateman are two of my favorite actors ever. I'm betting on a disappointment. And speaking of that show, I CANNOT watch Sandy Duncan in anything without thinking of real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie2 Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 Of the debuting shows in the video, besides ALF and DW, I think My Sister Sam ran for two years. Amen w/ Sherman Hemsley had five (surprisingly highly rated) seasons. Head of The Class I'm pretty sure lasted for awhile, too. And Our House was certainly not a sitcom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted December 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 You left out Golden Girls!!! Cosby was terrific for its first two seasons but most of the series beyond that isn't worth watching. LWL was more or less on par with a majority of 80s sitcoms- it just had unbelievably high expectations on its frail shoulders. For an era of television that hosted so many multi-cam sitcoms, you'd think there'd be more that hold up, but not really. From the "Sitcom Era", roughly 1985-1993, I'd say that Cheers, Golden Girls, and Newhart are the only ones worth your time in 2016. Valerie is coming to AntennaTV next month and I'm curious to watch because Val Harper and Jason Bateman are two of my favorite actors ever. I'm betting on a disappointment. And speaking of that show, I CANNOT watch Sandy Duncan in anything without thinking of real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran. How could I have forgotten the bright light of that era: The Golden Girls? I was unaware of Amen's run or the others you mentioned. I obviously wasn't paying attention. Watching these opening credits with all the "stars", my question is 'where are they now?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 Never thought till now but the over acting and speaking annoying like the LWL Supporting cast was normal policy in 1986. I was born a year later but saw a lot of these in early to mid 90s in reruns. They were from all right to awful but today I only like Cheers and Golden Girls, I agree Cosby was overrated the supporting cast was to me better than Cosby himself always didn't like him. Too bad their legacy especially Phylicia Pashad. LWL isn't bad and has its fun moments like a few of the other 80s sitcoms above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 Well I suppose one reason most of these ....efforts (ahem) are long-forgotten is that they either were long-running but aired so long ago, were too short-lived to be in syndication and/or primarily, other than "Girls" and to a lesser degree, "Cosby" they aren't being played anywhere and haven't for years! GG is one of those evergreens along with ILL, DVD and AITF, to name a few, which really have never been off the air; "Cosby" -- understandably due to his ....notoriety of late is all but impossible to find at this point...but I was never a big fan (certainly not now!) so I don't really care one way or the other. As long as "Girls" keeps running somewhere.... I'll be happy. The rest of those listed can stay "lost" as far as I'm concerned; well, to be honest, the one exception for me would be for Valerie/Valerie's Family/Hogan Family (whew, did I cover all the titles??) as I ADORE Valerie Harper and also Jason Bateman and Edie McClurg (Mrs. Poole) and haven't seen these since they originally aired, even if they're not as good as I fondly remember them I would LOVE to see them at least once more! Valerie can do no wrong in my book and I think I would still have a hard time watching the later episodes with Duncan -- not that I dislike her or begrudge her taking Harper's place or anything she simply isn't Valerie. Bring 'em on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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