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Would Seinfeld have left TV as a minor hit if Ted Danson had not tried to be a movie star?

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October 13th, 2016 at 3:19:08 AM permalink

Pacomartin

Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569

I heard Jerry Seinfeld talk about "the rules of television". He said the network experimented with the show on Wed and Thur night, but they ended up in a comfortable slot on Wednesday night and were a passable hit (ranked in top 50).

But then Ted Danson announced that May 1993 he wanted to leave Cheers. The network boss told Jerry that they wanted to groom his show to replace Cheers (one of the most popular sitcoms of all time). Jerry was shocked as the show had just barely made it on the air, and now they wanted to push it into the big time where he was afraid it would be cancelled.

NBC Schedule
Wednesday
Unsolved Mysteries (#9 16.9/27.0)
Night Court (#48 12.2/19)
Seinfeld (#42 12.5/20)
Quantum Leap

Thursday
The Cosby Show (#18 14.8/24)
A Different World (#17 15.2/24)
Cheers (#4 17.6/27)
Wings (#19 14.6/23)
L.A. Law (#29 13.3/23)

Jerry said they were 55 episodes shown, and by the "rules of television" shows don't blow up after 50 episodes. Of course, they moved Seinfeld to Thursday to replace Wings. The show got almost 10 million new viewers right away and by the end of the next season moved to #3 and then on to #1 the following season and eventually made Seinfeld a billionaire.


overall	Air	Millions	Day
1	Jul 5, 89	15.4	Wed <----- pilot
2	May 31, 90	22.5	Thu <---- tiniest season order in history (only 4 episodes)
3	Jun 7, 90	19.7	Thu
4	Jun 14, 90	19.1	Thu
5	Jun 21, 90	19.4	Thu
6	Jan 23, 91	15.6	Wed <------ Winter season (only 12 episodes)
7	Jan 30, 91	15.2	Wed
8	Feb 6, 91	14.8	Wed
9	Feb 13, 91	13.6	Wed
10	Apr 4, 91	24.7	Thu <------ After Cheers 
11	Apr 11, 91	23.3	Thu
12	Apr 18, 91	19.6	Thu
13	Apr 25, 91	20.6	Thu <------ After Cheers 
14	May 2, 91	22.9	Thu <------ After Cheers 
15	May 16, 91	17.2	Thu
16	May 23, 91	16.8	Thu
17	Jun 26, 91	12.5	Wed 
18	Sep 18, 91	21.7	Wed <----------- Full season with September premiere
19	Sep 25, 91	16.7	Wed
20	Oct 2, 91	15.1	Wed
21	Oct 9, 91	17.2	Wed
22	Oct 16, 91	16.4	Wed
23	Oct 30, 91	17.0	Wed
24	Nov 6, 91	16.4	Wed
25	Nov 13, 91	15.8	Wed
26	Nov 20, 91	16.3	Wed
27	Nov 27, 91	18.6	Wed
28	Dec 4, 91	18.0	Wed
29	Dec 11, 91	17.9	Wed
30	Jan 8, 92	18.7	Wed
31	Jan 15, 92	19.2	Wed
32	Jan 29, 92	16.9	Wed
33	Feb 5, 92	18.5	Wed
34	Feb 12, 92	17.0	Wed
35	Feb 12, 92	17.0	Wed
36	Feb 26, 92	19.5	Wed
37	Mar 4, 92	16.1	Wed
38	Mar 25, 92	22.3	Wed
39	Apr 22, 92	17.8	Wed
40	May 6, 92	16.4	Wed <-------- Been on TV now for almost 3 years, but only 40 episodes
41	Aug 12, 92	16.3	Wed <--- Summer
42	Aug 19, 92	15.1	Wed <--- Summer
43	Sep 16, 92	17.6	Wed <----------- Full season with September premiere
44	Sep 16, 92	17.6	Wed
45	Sep 23, 92	17.6	Wed
46	Sep 30, 92	15.2	Wed
47	Oct 7, 92	17.1	Wed
48	Oct 28, 92	15.1	Wed
49	Nov 4, 92	16.7	Wed
50	Nov 11, 92	16.2	Wed
51	Nov 18, 92	18.5	Wed <--- "The Contest"
52	Nov 25, 92	14.5	Wed
53	Dec 16, 92	16.2	Wed
54	Jan 6, 93	17.6	Wed
55	Jan 27, 93	17.6	Wed
56	Feb 4, 93	26.9	Thu	Cheers <--------------- shift to Thursday after Cheers
57	Feb 11, 93	28.0	Thu	Cheers
58	Feb 18, 93	22.7	Thu	Cheers
59	Feb 25, 93	27.4	Thu	Cheers
60	Mar 18, 93	26.4	Thu	Cheers
61	Apr 15, 93	25.0	Thu	
62	May 13, 93	27.6	Thu	Cheers
63	May 20, 93	32.8	Thu	Cheers Finale
64	May 20, 93	32.8	Thu	Cheers Finale
...
180	 May 14, 1998	76.3	Thu "The Finale" of Seinfeld

October 13th, 2016 at 6:51:27 PM permalink

AZDuffman

Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18209

"Cheers" was kind of at the end of viability anyways and looking back like "Seinfeld" years later it was good it ended when it did. Ironically "Cheers" should have been killed by the old rules and was put on after "Taxi" when NBC picked it up. Of course. "Cheers" was "Taxi in a Bar" while "Seinfeld" broke so many TV rules it had little "fit" anywhere. Back then it had to grow on most people.

Both shows got lucky before they got good.

The President is a fink.

October 13th, 2016 at 7:01:24 PM permalink

Evenbob

Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25011

Quote: AZDuffman
.
Both shows got lucky before they got good.

I was in the bar biz when Cheers came
on. It was about fantasy, no bar in
reality is like that one. They aren't
funny happy places, neighborhood
bars are full of sad alcoholics. Drunks.
They seem happy because they're
drunk. I finally joined them and was
drunk by the end of every shift
and that's when I got out. You can't
deal with drunks when you're sober
for very long without wanting to kill
them.

If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.

October 14th, 2016 at 2:21:55 AM permalink

AZDuffman

Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18209

Quote: Evenbob
I was in the bar biz when Cheers came
on. It was about fantasy, no bar in
reality is like that one. They aren't
funny happy places, neighborhood
bars are full of sad alcoholics. Drunks.
They seem happy because they're
drunk. I finally joined them and was
drunk by the end of every shift
and that's when I got out. You can't
deal with drunks when you're sober
for very long without wanting to kill
them.

Little is like TV. "LA Law" was an awful description of what it was like to be a lawyer. "Seinfeld" was nothing like what a NYC apartment was like. The new "Dallas" is so wrong on how the oil business works that some of us laughed about it in the office.

Too bad so many people think TV is reality.

The President is a fink.

October 14th, 2016 at 2:32:15 AM permalink

Pacomartin

Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569

Quote: AZDuffman
"Cheers" was kind of at the end of viability anyways and looking back like "Seinfeld" years later it was good it ended when it did. Ironically "Cheers" should have been killed by the old rules and was put on after "Taxi" when NBC picked it up.

Actually Cheers was on before Taxi in the beginning of the 9-10 prime time hour. In the Winter Cheers was put on after Gimme a break (in it's 2nd of six seasons)

The lead in show at 8PM was Fame. It wasn't until the next year that NBC started the two hours of sitcom and Cheers ratings went up. But Cheers didn't really take off until Cosby Show began airing at the 8PM slot.

I guess Cheers means Ted Danson is entitled to a sitcom on NBC until he dies

October 14th, 2016 at 2:58:46 AM permalink

AZDuffman

Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18209

Quote: Pacomartin
Actually Cheers was on before Taxi in the beginning of the 9-10 prime time hour. In the Winter Cheers was put on after Gimme a break (in it's 2nd of six seasons)

Hmmm, I must have been mixed up. What I do know for sure is that NBC had problems where to pair "Cheers." Saw some show-about-the-show. At the time NBC was doing poorly. Execs saw something in "Cheers" but the guy on the show said that the best sitcom, one of the only decent ones in the ratings, was "The Facts of Life" which was just not a good match to build a night around. Like the rural purge across town a decade earlier, NBC knew they had to retool their lineup.

It is amazing how NBC built and owned Thursday for two decades. I didn't realize "Gimme a Break" was on Thusdays ever, thought it was always a Saturday night thing.

The President is a fink.

October 14th, 2016 at 5:05:13 AM permalink

Pacomartin

Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569

I don't think NBC on Thursday nights can happen again

Year	Season	08:00 PM	08:30 PM	09:00 PM	09:30 PM	10:00 PM
1982	Fall	Fame	Fame	Cheers	Taxi	Hill Street Blues
1983	Winter			Gimme a Break	Cheers
1983	Fall	Gimme a Break!	Mama's Family	We Got It Made	Cheers
1984	Winter		Family Ties	Cheers	Buffalo Bill
1984	Summer				The Duck Factory
1984	Fall	The Cosby Show			Night Court
1985	Winter
1985	Fall
1986	Winter
1986	Fall
1987	Winter				Nothing in Common (7 episodes)	LA Law
1987	Summer				The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
1987	Fall		A Different World		Night Court
1988	Spring				The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
1988	Summer				Night Court
1988	Fall				Dear John
1989	Winter
1989	Fall				Dear John (12 episode)
1990	Winter				Grand (13 episodes)
1990	Spring				Wings
1990	Summer				Seinfeld (4 episodes)

October 14th, 2016 at 7:35:53 AM permalink
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545	Cheers was due to end soon, regardless of what Ted Danson did. Surviving the departure of Shelley Long, though, was a major feat. As for Dansons, he did rather well on TV later on. Becker wasn't great, but it was watchable, and he was very credible in the last seasons of CSI. He was also able to resist typecasting in the latter endeavors. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER

October 14th, 2016 at 11:56:25 AM permalink
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011	Quote: Nareed Cheers was due to end soon, regardless of what Ted Danson did. I liked the Frasier spinoff way better than Cheers. The character of Frasier changed on the spinoff, he wasn't the goofball he was on Cheers. I've never liked Danson in anything, he's just not that talented. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.

October 14th, 2016 at 1:16:49 PM permalink
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569	Quote: Nareed Cheers was due to end soon, regardless of what Ted Danson did. As for Dansons, he did rather well on TV later on. After Ted Danson announced that he was leaving the series, NBC wanted to continue the series by having Woody take over the bar. But Woody Harrelson refused to continue with the series without Danson. William Devane almost got the role of Sam Malone.

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