NBC sitcom''s last hope

Quote: Pacomartin

Time Travel has been a staple of movies now for some time, and has appeared on individual episodes of many sci-fi series. But it has really been central to some British and Canadian TV series , but I can't remember it being the central theme of American TV series since Time Tunnel in the 1960s.

"Quantum Leap" in the 1980s was a great show.

Quote: AZDuffman

"Quantum Leap" in the 1980s was a great show.

"Quantum Leap" and "Early Edition" weren't strictly time travel based series.

Quote: Pacomartin

"Quantum Leap" and "Early Edition" weren't strictly time travel based series.

It had its moments.

Though I never understood the one where they both leaped onto the bridge of the Enterprise ;)

Regarding Continuum

Quote: 1nickelmiracle

I love this show about time-travelling, from the year 2077 to the year 2012, and all the complexities of the time jump where some are trying to change the future and some want it kept the same. In the future, all countries have gone bankrupt, and the corporations have bailed them out and now are the government. Inequality is great for some, but for the many who want liberty, they will be willing to do anything to get it back. The original plan was to only go back 6 years, but they went back 65, so complications are many.

The first season is available on Netflix and the second season is running now Fridays on Sci-Fi. It's actually a Canadian show first, so it's running on Showcase in Canada, when I don't know. This thread I hope to solve the mysteries of the show if anyone is interested.

Continuum ran for 42 episodes from May 27, 2012 - October 9, 2015 . It had some of the best and worst of time travel stories. The worst is some very complicated plots as characters move forward and backward in time and sometimes overlap themselves. It is better to binge watch but it can get tedious.

This SHOWCASE network in Canada concentrates on hot girls and hunky men with some nice special effects. They are slightly racier than American shows, but still within the PG-13 level.


One hallmark of Continuum and "Lost Girl" (both SHOWCASE series) is the movement of characters back and forth across the boundary from being evil to being good. It is not as common in US TV series where characters tend to stay in one side of the morality curve.

Continuum does have an unexpected ending (or at least I didn't predict it).

Quote: AZDuffman

I am an outlier I know, but when the lists are posted in this thread usually I have not even heard of them. "Friends" is probably the last sitcom I made time to tune in to, or at the end DVR. I think I watched 2 episodes of "Joey."

I pretty much missed the entire run of Friends the first time around. I've watched most of it in reruns. Same with Seinfeld. Although I did watch the first few episodes of Seinfeld and wrote it off. Then eventually probably watched all of Seinfeld in reruns as well.

Quote: Pacomartin

I watched a Modern Family pilot for Season #8 ("A Tale of Three Cities") While I always liked the series I haven't seen it in a while. I found it actually irritating. Television veterans Nathan Fillion and Martin Short will assume recurring roles this season of Modern Family.

I watch MF every day because they air
2 ep's while I eat dinner at 7pm. The
first 4 seasons are the best. The 1st and
2nd are gems. Since the kids have all
grown up, most of the humor is gone.
They've done every Gay joke with the
Gay couple, every older man-younger
woman joke with the grandpa couple.
It's just not funny anymore, this might
be the last season.

Quote: Evenbob

It's just not funny anymore, this might be the last season.

The ratings while still decent are dropping like a rock. Given the massive salary, and two well known actors for recurring roles this year, I can't imagine how it got renewed for season 8.

season) viewers for opening episode of season
8) 8.16 million viewers
7) 9.46 million viewers
6) 11.38 million viewers
5) 11.68 million viewer
4) 14.44 million viewers
3) 14.53 million viewers
2) 12.67 million viewers
1) 12.60 million viewers

Still, 8 years for a sitcom is pretty decent

14 years The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
12 years My Three Sons
11.5 years Two and a Half Men
11 years The Danny Thomas Show
11 years The Jeffersons
11 years Married... with Children
10 years Happy Days
10 years Friends
10 years The Big Bang Theory (already renewed for 10th year)

One thing nobody remembers is, in the
50's and 60's TV seasons were much
longer. Gunsmoke had 36 ep's per season.
Andy Griffith, Green Acres, etc, had 30-32.
Those actors worked their asses off for
a fraction of what they get now for a
paltry 22 ep season. Don Knott's only
did 5 seasons as Barney Fife, but was in
150 ep's. It would take 7 seasons to do
that today. And there was no residuals
in those days for reruns. That show plays
hundreds of times a day around the world
and the actors get nothing.

Like professional athletes.

Star Wars figures
Robert Iger Net Worth:$100 Million (CEO of Star Wars)
J.J. Abrams Net Worth: $120 Million (Director of Star Wars; TFA)
Harrison Ford’s $230 million net The 73 year old was paid just $10,000 for the original “Star Wars” in 1977. But he pulled in $100,000 for “The Empire Strikes Back” and banked $500,000 for “Return of the Jedi.” For “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Ford earned $24.4 million
Carrie Fisher Net Worth: $25 Million The young actress made the critical mistake of signing away her likeness, meaning she has missed out on mountains of money from Star Wars merchandise.
Oscar Isaac Net Worth: $8 Million (Poe Dameron)
Mark Hamill Net Worth: $6 Million
Daisy Ridley Net Worth: $2 Million
John Boyega Net Worth: $2 Million
Adam Driver Net Worth: $2 Million
Peter Mayhew Net Worth: $500,000
Lupita Nyong’o Net Worth: $500,000

Quote: Pacomartin

Still, 8 years for a sitcom is pretty decent

I think if Matt Groening were to read that, he'd chuckle :)