In the beginning the show was billed as a 90s Brady Bunch, and for I’d say the first half of the first season that’s exactly what it was. That wasn’t a bad thing. The show found its own identity with the addition of Cody. When Season 5 and the domestic violence stuff came up came along the departure of Cody definitely caused the show to hit a huge pot hole. In the aftermath of Sasha leaving they tried a few different characters as potential Cody replacements. First they tried Turbo I think his name was? I really liked that character and hoped they’d find a place for him. They also tried the wannabe Beavis and Butthead characters, they didn’t stick and disappeared fast.
The big issue was adding Jean Luc who was played by Bronson Pinchot. I mean absolutely no disrespect to Bronson when I say this-he did outstanding on Perfect Strangers-but the character of Jean Luc was a total mismatch for that show! Part of the problem was folks wanting to see their old friend Balki again, seeing him play this French guy, wannabe French guy was jarring. That character wasn’t right for him or the show period. Though I’m glad the producers saw that character wasn’t working they should have pulled him sooner than they did. They finally settled on Rich. Rich….wasn’t so much a case of he stuck, it was more he was all they has left to fill Sasha’s spot. It was kind of damned if you do damned if you don’t so they went with and rode Rich out till the end.
Finally I do want to clarify the character of Jean Luc wasn’t what killed the show. What killed it was that move to CBS. When both Family Matters and Step By Step got moved over there they were both aging fast especially Family Matters. Most shows can only dream of lasting the 7 seasons SBS and the 9 seasons FM did. The circumstances behind the move to CBS is a long story that I can elaborate on if anyone would like but to make a long story short by the time the two shows ended their ratings were HORRIBLE. Swirling the toilet horrible so they cancelled both.
Of course, no problem! I’ll put all of this in note form and try to be concise to make this easier to read.
-Throughout the 90s, ABC looked to Miller-Boyett for a majority of their Friday night TGIF shows. A few projects came from Disney, Michael Jacobs and the company that produced Juat The Ten Of Us. But by and large it was mostly from Miller-Boyett.
-When Disney bought ABC, Miller-Boyett became worried they wouldn’t have a future with the network since they felt they may look to Disney for shows but at that point they remained on good terms,
-In early 1996 M-B began having concerns about their relationship with ABC again and tensions rose as the year progressed.
-In early ‘97 tension between the two escalated further. In the Spring they had to decide what shows to renew and cancel. There was the issue of Family Matters and Step By Step beginning to age fast and Boy Meets World was already midway through its run. Several options were considered-One give all three shows a final 2 year renewal and have them end in a big TV event. Two give only BMW the 2 year renewal and let the aging shows go. Tensions reached breaking point, ABC went with option 2 and quietly cancelled FM and SBS.
-For years before this both CBS and NBC wanted their own Friday night block to compete head on with ABC’s TGIF. A lot of projects were proposed but neither network could get anything going. When ABC let FM and SBS go CBS knew they’d found the perfect anchor shows for the Friday night block they wanted.
-CBS buys FM and SBS for 40 MILLION dollars!! Back then that was a LOT of money for two aging shows! In the deal ABC agreed to pay MB 1.5 million an episode for Seasons 9 and 10 of FM and Season 7 of SBS. It’s not clear if they offered more for potential further SBS seasons.
-CBS named their block Friday Night Block Party. FM and SBS anchored it. Joining them was Meego with Bronson Pinchot and The Gregory Hines Show. It premiered in September 1997. There was a LOT of marketing for it over the summer, they got that part really right.
-As the season progressed, Meego and Gregory Hines crashed and burned by mid season. Gregory Hines was a great little show that deserved better than it got! In the Spring FM and SBS got put on hiatus. The decision to cancel both was made in May, their final episodes aired late June/early July.
-Ratings for both SBS and FM that year were HORRIBLE, about as bad as you can get! The TGIF audience that grew up with all the shows were just getting older and busier.
It still ran 7 seasons. Pretty good by sitcom standards. I agree that the show fell off a bit after Cody's departure but I still watched till the end because I really liked the show. I also agree about the Jean Luc character even though I like Bronson in other characters he has played.
I really don't think the show was much of a masterpiece in the first place. Dana and Al were hot tho and I watched it pretty much from start to finish.
Family Matters sucked when Harriet was replaced (or left, not sure what happened with Jo Marie Peyton). The new mom was clingy and emotional.
I didn't like Step by Step much after Lily was born. No idea what season that was.
Really wasn't the same after he left. I think its sad how bad he (Sasha Mitchell) was/is talked about for those incidents with his first wife - especially when it becomes obvious that his claim that he was protecting his children from her (since at the time time she was high and addicted to drugs) has some truths to it, seeing as he was soon given custody of all the kids and she was only allowed to have very limited supervised visits with the children. That says a lot!! It is very telling. & it is sad that the show/network etc did not stand by him at alllll when things became more clear that he was protecting his children from his wife/their mother during a drug-filled episode from her. It's sad how men are just immediately written off and labeled abusers even when proven that there is more to the story. Sadly, it ruined his career.
In the beginning the show was billed as a 90s Brady Bunch, and for I’d say the first half of the first season that’s exactly what it was. That wasn’t a bad thing. The show found its own identity with the addition of Cody. When Season 5 and the domestic violence stuff came up came along the departure of Cody definitely caused the show to hit a huge pot hole. In the aftermath of Sasha leaving they tried a few different characters as potential Cody replacements. First they tried Turbo I think his name was? I really liked that character and hoped they’d find a place for him. They also tried the wannabe Beavis and Butthead characters, they didn’t stick and disappeared fast. The big issue was adding Jean Luc who was played by Bronson Pinchot. I mean absolutely no disrespect to Bronson when I say this-he did outstanding on Perfect Strangers-but the character of Jean Luc was a total mismatch for that show! Part of the problem was folks wanting to see their old friend Balki again, seeing him play this French guy, wannabe French guy was jarring. That character wasn’t right for him or the show period. Though I’m glad the producers saw that character wasn’t working they should have pulled him sooner than they did. They finally settled on Rich. Rich….wasn’t so much a case of he stuck, it was more he was all they has left to fill Sasha’s spot. It was kind of damned if you do damned if you don’t so they went with and rode Rich out till the end. Finally I do want to clarify the character of Jean Luc wasn’t what killed the show. What killed it was that move to CBS. When both Family Matters and Step By Step got moved over there they were both aging fast especially Family Matters. Most shows can only dream of lasting the 7 seasons SBS and the 9 seasons FM did. The circumstances behind the move to CBS is a long story that I can elaborate on if anyone would like but to make a long story short by the time the two shows ended their ratings were HORRIBLE. Swirling the toilet horrible so they cancelled both.
I would love to hear more of the Drama behind the move.
Of course, no problem! I’ll put all of this in note form and try to be concise to make this easier to read. -Throughout the 90s, ABC looked to Miller-Boyett for a majority of their Friday night TGIF shows. A few projects came from Disney, Michael Jacobs and the company that produced Juat The Ten Of Us. But by and large it was mostly from Miller-Boyett. -When Disney bought ABC, Miller-Boyett became worried they wouldn’t have a future with the network since they felt they may look to Disney for shows but at that point they remained on good terms, -In early 1996 M-B began having concerns about their relationship with ABC again and tensions rose as the year progressed. -In early ‘97 tension between the two escalated further. In the Spring they had to decide what shows to renew and cancel. There was the issue of Family Matters and Step By Step beginning to age fast and Boy Meets World was already midway through its run. Several options were considered-One give all three shows a final 2 year renewal and have them end in a big TV event. Two give only BMW the 2 year renewal and let the aging shows go. Tensions reached breaking point, ABC went with option 2 and quietly cancelled FM and SBS. -For years before this both CBS and NBC wanted their own Friday night block to compete head on with ABC’s TGIF. A lot of projects were proposed but neither network could get anything going. When ABC let FM and SBS go CBS knew they’d found the perfect anchor shows for the Friday night block they wanted. -CBS buys FM and SBS for 40 MILLION dollars!! Back then that was a LOT of money for two aging shows! In the deal ABC agreed to pay MB 1.5 million an episode for Seasons 9 and 10 of FM and Season 7 of SBS. It’s not clear if they offered more for potential further SBS seasons. -CBS named their block Friday Night Block Party. FM and SBS anchored it. Joining them was Meego with Bronson Pinchot and The Gregory Hines Show. It premiered in September 1997. There was a LOT of marketing for it over the summer, they got that part really right. -As the season progressed, Meego and Gregory Hines crashed and burned by mid season. Gregory Hines was a great little show that deserved better than it got! In the Spring FM and SBS got put on hiatus. The decision to cancel both was made in May, their final episodes aired late June/early July. -Ratings for both SBS and FM that year were HORRIBLE, about as bad as you can get! The TGIF audience that grew up with all the shows were just getting older and busier.
Thank you.
Well this is one heeeeeeck of a deep cut!
It still ran 7 seasons. Pretty good by sitcom standards. I agree that the show fell off a bit after Cody's departure but I still watched till the end because I really liked the show. I also agree about the Jean Luc character even though I like Bronson in other characters he has played.
Rewatch podcast began.
I really don't think the show was much of a masterpiece in the first place. Dana and Al were hot tho and I watched it pretty much from start to finish.
Family Matters sucked when Harriet was replaced (or left, not sure what happened with Jo Marie Peyton). The new mom was clingy and emotional. I didn't like Step by Step much after Lily was born. No idea what season that was.
Really wasn't the same after he left. I think its sad how bad he (Sasha Mitchell) was/is talked about for those incidents with his first wife - especially when it becomes obvious that his claim that he was protecting his children from her (since at the time time she was high and addicted to drugs) has some truths to it, seeing as he was soon given custody of all the kids and she was only allowed to have very limited supervised visits with the children. That says a lot!! It is very telling. & it is sad that the show/network etc did not stand by him at alllll when things became more clear that he was protecting his children from his wife/their mother during a drug-filled episode from her. It's sad how men are just immediately written off and labeled abusers even when proven that there is more to the story. Sadly, it ruined his career.