Oddity Archive: Episode 228 - Bad ‘80’s Syndicated Sitcoms
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- Benny the Script Doctor makes a housecall regarding some bad sitcoms.
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I actually interviewed Smirnoff (real name: Pokhis) on my radio show circa 2000. I said, "In America, we listen to the radio!", and Yakov, bless him, came right back with, "In Russia, radio listens to you!". Cool guy.
0:49 Isn’t every episode of OA simultaneously nostalgic and anti-nostalgic? That’s what makes the series so good!
i didn't grow up with these as i am neither American nor born in the 80s, but i love how these videos make me feel even if i have never experienced these programs. they're so interesting and calming, thanks Ben!
@@winkleperiwinkle808 I did grow up in America in the ‘80s, and Ben does a very good job of explaining how it really was.
@@5roundsrapid263 So did I! And I'm proud to have lived that lively decade!
As a big Don Adams fan I really enjoyed check it out. But I also enjoyed it for the fact that there was a gay character that was seen as an equal among the supermarket staff. Growing up gay in the 80s was a tough thing, and that stupid show made it a little easier.
It reminds me of the ‘70s British sitcom “Are You Being Served?” which had a gay character as an integral part of the cast, but set in a department store.
@@5roundsrapid263 Yes, Mr. Humphries (played by the late John Inman) was he. Though the Aussie Version did cause quite a stir.
For some reason portraying gay people as normal was common for Canadian programmes. I know Kids in the Hall from the era did the same.
It goes to show you that sometimes the small things have a positive effect.
I seriously loved Get Smart also. Don was an early hero of mine. I have early memories of Get Smart playing on the television. When I got older, I begged dad to take me to see The Naked Bomb. Regrets aside, knowing that Don would be okay with me as I was meant a lot.
I vaguely remember that show but I don’t remember a gay character. All I remember was most of the budget must’ve gone towards getting Don Adams a passport into Canada.
The cable spaghetti joke is so bad an anti-joke it actually elicited from me the most laughter from the whole episode.
Oh yes, Learning the Ropes, the show Jim Cornette HATED having to do as it "exposed the business"
Cornette even got Bill Irwin to reveal the cause of David Von Erich's death. It was a secret that Fritz tried hard to keep.
That jab at plutoTV made me laugh. I’m just trying to watch the same 3 episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and they keep showing me these stupid ads.
The one issue with plutotv i also have.
It use to be worse back in 2019
One of the _weirdest_ trends in late 1980s syndication was reviving even the most short-lived sitcom for syndication. For example, _We Got It Made_ was one of NBC's fall 1983 shows, and as with all its stablemates, did not last more than a season. Strangely, it was revived for a second season in 1987 for syndication, where it also bowed out after a season.
I think that the only sitcoms that transitioned from network to first-run syndication that were successful were "Too Close for Comfort", Mama's Family", "It's a Living", "Silver Spoons" & "Webster", although some of them, like Mama's Family, were retooled somewhat for syndication.
Manimal,Riptide, Greatest American Hero,, Empty's Nest,Falcon Crest and Head of the Class are some of the failed Network Television sitcoms that did bettor in syndication alongside Mama's Family, Silver Spoons and Knight Rider.
@@Tornado1994 Those shows, that you mentioned, didn't have any new episodes produced for first-run syndication though.
@@r66f80 Yes. I know that. That why I called them failed Network TV Sitcoms.
@@Tornado1994 Oh, ok.
10:16 You're right- it isn't Alzado. It was "Dr. Death" Steve Williams under the mask. Williams got injured while doing this show, which scuttled plans for him in NWA-WCW (as World Championship Wrestling had been "officially" founded in 1987).
As for the rest of the wrestler cast, a good chunk of them were indeed wrestlers in the NWA.
Along with Lyle Alzado, a lot of the wrestlers who appeared on the show died young too. Just from this video, Lyle Alzado, Steve Williams, and Road Warrior Hawk died in their 40’s, and Road Warrior Animal died at 60. Ivan Koloff, the crazy Russian who was actually just a guy from Canada, at least lived into his 70’s. The guy he was playing cards with was just an actor.
Don Adams was also known for voicing the titular character in Total Television's Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (September 28, 1963 - January 29, 1966) prior to starring in Mel Brook's Get Smart (September 18, 1965 - May 15, 1970).
7:39 When I saw that Yannick Bisson was in "Learning the Ropes", I figured that the sitcom had to be a Canadian production. He later starred in "Sue Thomas F.B.Eye" (2002-05) & is now on "Murdoch Mysteries" (2008-present), also both Canadian productions as well.
And the voice of Inspector Gadget!
And was that Don Adams in a penguin costume? I’m going to have to check Check it Out out instead of off. 🤣
@@r66f80 A lot of the Canadian productions made their way to the ION network in the US. Sue Thomas was on as well as Flashpoint and Rookie Blue. They air really, really late in the wee hours though.
The wrestler who portrayed the Masked Maniac in the ring in "Learning the Ropes" was "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, one of the toughest badasses in the sport.
He suffered a major injury filming this show that kept him outta wrestling for several months.
Older media ain't always great, sometimes it's painful garbage. At least it's fun to poke at these sitcoms.
Since two of the shows were remakes of British ones, I wouldn't have minded seeing a British remake of Learning The Ropes.
It would star Big Daddy as the headmaster of a school, with Giant Haystacks as the nefarious deputy headmaster who is always trying to find a way of taking Daddy's job by underhand means but failing. With Skull Murphy as the school's chef and Kendo Nagasaki as the gardener.
Someone was watching ITV on Saturday afternoons, I see.
@@richardgadberry8398 Sure was!
By the time this came out the British wrestling scene was on its uppers and still stuck in the 60s and 70s. Its attempts at modernisation at the time wasn't brilliant, to put it mildly.
I am not from the U.K, so I don't know those guys, but that would have been so cool to see it.
I went to a taping of Learning The Ropes. The episode with Ivan Koloff as the guest star. It was shot in an old warehouse converted into a TV studio. Most of the audience left during a break mid-way through the shoot. I was agog at the laugh track added before airtime.
I always liked Yakov Smirnoff too, and I never really got all the hate for him. But I'm kind of glad I missed these shows.
On an unrelated note, happy early birthday, Benny Boy. :)
Many in the industry hated him because you had to work very hard and be very lucky to make it and he just stumbled into fame only because he did anti soviet jokes.
The one thing I've always hated about these bad 80s syndicated sitcoms was that you can learn EVERYTHING about them from the intro. The characters, the quirks, and even the plots from just the intro. Nothing deviated from formula because we were afraid to make people think in the 80s.
We DID make people the 80s think. You've never seen Golden Girls?
Yes, Small Wonder was incredibly dumb if we're talking syndication.
@@Tornado1994 You mentioned the exception to the rule. There were a LOT of sitcoms (both network and syndicated) that made sure you got the joke because there was nothing more for the audience to figure out afterwards. After the turbulent 70s, most 80s sitcoms wanted their audience not to think.
Steve Brule is a way better protagonist for "Check it out !" IMO
@@geekzakidd Yes, I saw it. It's great.
The first thing I thought of when I saw "Check It Out!" was "Bagboy". It's a parody of "Check It Out!" and it's really well done in a "so bad it's good" way. It's on TH-cam.
trippers day was renamed to slingers day and returned for 2 more seasons
That one starred game show host Bruce Forsythe.
@@cityhawk it did indeed. and it was terrible
I think the precursor to Mind Your Language and What A Country is Life with Luigi from both radio and TV (1948-53).
"We don't mingle: we mangle!" That line enough would've sold me on a sitcom about pro wrestler roommates.
When I heard that Yannick Bisson was in "Learning the Ropes", I figured that sitcom was a Canadian production. Yannick Bisson later starred in "Sue Thomas F.B.Eye" (2002-05) & now stars in "Murdoch Mysteries" (2008-present), both of which are Canadian productions.
I remember seeing Sue Thomas F.B Eye on syndication. Is that the one with the deaf actress or character?
@@brad3042 You remember correctly.
@@brad3042 The actress that played Sue Thomas is deaf & can read lips in real life.
Blame that show on Jim Herd. Nobody liked him...especially the Wrestlers.
@@graymanmedia The Hunchbacks, the Ding Dongs, Black Scorpion, Big Josh, Oz, etc.
Learning The Ropes would've been more interesting if instead of Lyle Alzedo as the star, his role is done by the Road Warriors instead. With various Pro Wrestling Icons as the other teachers and various staff of the school. Macho Man Randy Savage is the groundskeeper, Mean Gene Oakerland is the custodian, etc.
Lyle died of Cancer that even he admitted came from excessive Steroid abuse.
It certainly would’ve been more surreal like many other sitcoms at the time,, as Ben pointed out.
The Ultimate Warrior could be the principal. This show could really use the destrucity.
Yeah. Maybe Harley Race could be the superintendent, and Abdullah the Butcher would be the chef who makes the school lunches.
In the UK there was an effort to revive Tripper's Day after the death of Leonard Rossiter by changing the lead character to a man called Slinger played by veteran entertainer Bruce Forsyth - naturally the show's title was adjusted accordingly. It wasn't any more successful. I do have a love of old TV and radio, but even I have to admit the vast amount of it was utter shite. Why on earth did an American TV producer look at a failed British sitcom like Tripper's Day and try to remake it? I mean, with Mind Your Language, objectionable as it was, at the time it drew in a big audience so you could see the commercial argument for adapting it for the US. But Tripper's Day? Really?
Having watched it when repeated on Forces TV recently, it's not great, and not as good as everything else Rossiter was in, but probably not as bad as it felt at the time.
Obviously I've watched a lot of rubbish since!
Remaking Tripper's Day makes about as much sense as remaking The Bottle Boys or Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt.
Mind Your Language objectionable? Funny is the word you're looking for, plus it had an amazing diverse cast.
Funny enough, Lyle Alzado played himself on one episode of Small Wonder.
The 80s were such an odd time for the US, eh?
Am from the states myself, but I did recognize Diana Christie as the woman who released a radio single about the birth of prime minister Trudeau.
The start of the Fox Network was the king of one season bad syndicated sitcoms. They were throwing everything at the wall to see what would stick kinda akin to Netflix and their 3 seasons and done model.
That also seemed to happen to Fox during the early 2000s with weird Cop Footage shows and World Record shows.
I recall that Don Adams did have a post Get Smart network series called Partners. He played a cop and the tone was trying to be another Get Smart. Don't think it lasted a full season.
"Learning the Ropes" kinda seems similar to "Big Brother Jake," with Jake Steinfeld the bodybuilder who marketed "Body By Jake" home gym equipment. Although I think he played a muscle-bound babysitter instead of school principal.
The casts of these shows are a who’s who of “who?”.
That’s how I feel like when I watch a compilation of intros to crappy short-lived sitcoms.
6 episodes is also the length of a British comedy season
it feels to me that Canada was a hotbed of syndicated sitcom productions. I live in NL Canada, and i can remember stuff like Boogie's Diner in the 90s starring Jim J Bullock and James Marsden. A lot of it i watched on a Hamilton ON station over cable tv called CHCH, famously the home of The Hilarious House of Frightenstein with Vincent Price and Billy Van.
Canada and Ontario had (and still have) tax credits for TV and film production. I see it in the credits all the time. A lot of cable channels like HGTV make almost all their shows in Canada.
Boogies Diner was based on an actual chain. The only one left is in Aspen.
There was apparently this weird confluence of economic and tax law factors in the late 80s that led to this desperate need for cheap new scripted content of any kind, and encouraged it to be produced in Canada in particular.
Nickelodeon in the 80s!
@@Tornado1994 PBS in the ‘80s was packed with Canadian programming, too. I’m one American who knows the metric system by heart!
When I think of failed 80s sitcoms, I think of "The New WKRP in Cincinnati", which carried over Arthur Carlson, Herb Tarlek and Les Nessman from the old cast, and brought back some of the other original cast in guest-starring appearances to help boost the ratings.
New WKRP is early '90's.
@@OddityArchive D’oh! That shows you how much I am trying to forget that turkey.
That reminds me of “What’s Happening Now?”. That was a big failure, too.
@@OddityArchive They even Rebooted Get Smart on Damn FOX back in 1994! I wish I knew why since the new formula they attempted fell flat.
New Monkees anyone?
Another good episode, Ben! I was in high school during this time frame and the only one I have any memory of is What A Country. Yakov was something of a groundbreaker at the time, especially in the earlier part of the 80s. By that time, two generations had grown up being taught that "the Russians" were evil and cold and only wanted to kill us all. And then here came goofy little Yakov cracking jokes and being pretty much harmless, and he put a human face on what was supposed to be our enemy. For many people he was the first Russian we'd ever seen "in the wild," so to speak, and he was a good guy. For that reason, I can't hate him either. (Even though, as someone else already said, he wasn't technically "Russian." But he was close enough for TV, I guess.)
Apparently in the 80s there’s a failed munsters revival called the munsters today
I’ve actually never seen this revival mainly for two reasons
1. I’m a bit selective when it comes to sitcoms I love father Ted but I hate saved by the bell and the Big Bang theory
2. While I’ve recently have a renewed fondness of 80s stuff (including some 80s cartoons although there are some terrible ones) I wasn’t born in the 80s
I don't know if I'd call Munsters Today a "failed" sitcom. It ran for 3 seasons and 73 episodes. More than the original Munsters!
I have seen this revival, mainly for one reason - the actress who played Marilyn (Hilary Van Dyke) was crazy hot.
Actually the show was pretty good. They aged down Marilyn and aged up Eddie and gave them a sibling relationship that allowed their characters to be explored better then the 60's series did.
@@BlackoutCreatureYes she was. for male viewers, 13-45,she was the sole reason watch this.
I remember Out of this World with Donna Pescow. She played a mother with a daughter that were space aliens
No no. The daughter was half space alien. The Mother was from earth. I think she was the mayor of the town or something. Mom was ‘Donna’ daughter was ‘Eveie’. Eveie could stop time time by putting her fingers together. Dad talked to her from his planet from a diamond like device.
@@erickamorgan4564 the dad was Burt Reynolds (voice only)
With this episode, Ben has now covered two sitcoms (Check It Out here, and The Trouble With Tracy being the other) that were in The Canadian Sitcom Hall of Shame in the great book Mondo Canuck, which explores a wide array of Canadian pop culture through mini-essays and lists. Highly recommended if you're curious about TV, movies, and music up here! The other Cancon sitcoms in Mondo Canuck's Hall of Shame? Toby, Delilah, Custard Pie, Flappers, Snow Job, Not My Department, In Opposition, Mosquito Lake, and Dog House, though I'm not sure if any of those got airplay on US stations. The next page is just in praise of King of Kensington, one of our very few multi-camera laugh track sitcoms that has ever been truly successful unironically (we're primarily better known for sketch comedy and single-camera shows)
I remember the What a Country! series, and also remembered that it was similar a failed back door pilot from an episode of Diff’rent Strokes. Since Diff’rent Strokes was a Norman Lear show, it makes since that he would have also tried to copy a the same British series. His first series hit’s were based on British comedies.
In defence of Check It out, it is a Canadian sitcom, and Canadian Sitcom humour is gentler than US sitcoms, so the writing might appear to be weak, but, actually it was a big hit in Canada, and, on the full CTV network, that's why it lasted three seasons, that, and the fact, that Canadian networks were legally obligated back then to air so many hours of Canadian content. This rule is not in effect now, so we get nothing but repeats of Big Bang Theory.
I remember Learning the Ropes from Wrestling With Wregret's overview of the series. Many of the wrestlers on the show were in fact active members of the NWA roster up to and including the Road Warriors and Ric Flair. You could theorize this could've been NWA's answer to the WWF's celebrity juggernaut, most notably Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper
I feel like you just rebranded Pluto TV as the OK Soda of streaming content.
For a future episode. Could you do one on the bad syndicated 90's action shows?
9:23 After watching the close-caption, I think it's "Yes, then you are fighting me! After I give him sleeper, you see him in fracture ward!" (The "sleeper hold" is real, and was infamously used by Hulk Hogan on Richard Belzer, live, on Belzer's late-night talk-show [q.v. *Belzer v. Bollea* ]; the "fracture ward" is presumably where the hospital staff deals with fractures, although I don't think it's ever actually called that.)
He said, "Nyet! Maniac fighting me! After I give him sickle, you'll see him in...traction ward!" The Russian Sickle was his (Ivan Koloff's) version of a lariat, or swinging arm strike. The second part of the sentence got garbled, partly by the tape degradation and partly by Ivan tripping over his line.
@@tommynesbitt4837 You're right, it's "sickle"; the hand gesture confirms it.
Check it out was aired in Argentina as Supermarket 99... Even dubbed locally... Ufff...
It also aired in Italy as "The most crazy supermarket in the world". And Sweden had a similar show, called "Full Fry's".
@@dougbrowning82 Holly cow!
I'd forgotten all about What a Country and Check It Out! but I did watch them. My favorite syndicated 80s sitcom was Throb, which ran from 1986-1988 and co-starred Jane Leeves, years before Frasier. That might be one to tackle if you do a Part 2.
Did Jane have a British accent in that show as well?
Do you remember Perfect Strangers? I think I recall that far more than What a Country.
@@Tornado1994 PS was successful show that ran seven seasons, apples and oranges.
Throb, Marblehead Manor, She's the Sheriff, Small Wonder, Out of This World... A follow-up video wouldn't be hard since there's so much corniness to choose from!
Man, all 3 of these could have worked with just a few changes.... then again, that can be said of dang near every failed show
Nice video, presentation, series finds and their reviews!
Get Smart was hilarious. He was 40 when he did that show so it's weird to see him in his 60s still doing physical comedy.
British sitcoms back in the day only had 6 episodes per season. But it's possible the Tripper's Day series may not have been renewed for other reasons too.
I vaguely recall "Check it out". I agree it was due to Don Adams.
Have you seen the 1995 revival of Get Smart?
Call it bad all you want but I still love Check It Out! - still have 2 seasons of it I watch now and then. I’m sure you were joking but it’s Crenshaw Melons.. lol
Weird the Howard Bannister is Adams's character name in "Check It Out!" because that's also Ryan O'Neal's name in "What's Up Doc?" I think.
You mentioned Small Wonder and didn’t actually covered it? I remember loving it back in 80’s but when I saw it in adulthood all I could think of how awful it was. If you’re saving it for an volume 2, then I submit “My Secret Identity”. A Canadian production about a teenage superhero starring Jerry O’Connell who found fame in the US in the sitcom Camp Wilder, and the action series Sliders. Another cheesy sitcom was a typical cop and dog called K9. I don’t know if My Secret Identify or K9 reached syndication in the United States but did air as Friday night prime time block of sitcoms with Learning The Ropes.
Woah woah woah, full stop. While Small Wonder is an acquired taste (I enjoyed it, but I was five when it started so what do I know?), My Secret Identity was a genuinely good show. Yeah it could get cheesy at times, but it was well written and acted and does not deserve to be bashed with the likes of these shows.
My Secret Identity did air in the US. I remember watching that one. I remember being annoyed by the first episode, where the main character chooses the name "Ultraman" as his superhero identity because he claims no one had used that name before.
My Secret Identity definitely aired in the US. I remember Mad (or Cracked) Magazine doing a parody of it.
I haven't watched an OA video in ages.
Feels good to be back.
Is that Murdock from Murdock Mysteries in Learning the Rope. Good to see his career survived the show.
Looking forward to the millionth episode of Oddity Archive. That's gonna be banger.
Yakoff was really the Jeff Foxworthy of the 80s.
I've learned about 'Check It Out' from various online articles, and your observation of it is quite accurate. If Don Adams played Howard Banister as more of a straight man, it would help distinguish him from Maxwell Smart, and Inspector Gadget. However one other role Don Adams was known for that's a little bit of both would be Tennessee Tuxedo. He was both the straight man, (or penguin in this case) and a comedic foil.
I remember all 3 of these shows. The one "Check It Out" I saw had a plot of Howard's blind date MIGHT be gay." "Learning The Ropes" had coworkers from both his jobs interacting. The Wrestlers were in character.
i would watch the shit out of a crappily written 80's based sitcom filmed in carpetvision where ben is a salesman of a radioshack equivalent and gets pissed at customers
I love your content, been watching since approx 2012, keep up the good work if weird!!!!
Interestingly, with regards to Tripper's Day, despite the loss of Leonard Rossitter it had a second series commissioned. It was retitled Slinger's Day, and it starred showbiz legend Bruce Forsyth in the title role - a very rare sitcom outing for Brucie.
Would locally produced comedy shows from the past 50 years or so be a good candidate? Sioux Falls did have one such show during the 2000s, known firstly as "Captain Caribou Show" which appeared to riff of Captain Kangaroo at first but later devolved into a more general purpose sketch comedy riffing on popular culture and local affairs as "The Caribou Show". While most of the comedy bits have become dated over the years and the show being extremely low budget, I watched this religiously for nearly three years from 2004 to 2007 when it came to an end. I even have that entire run recorded onto VHS tape. I have a bizarre appreciation for this show. For all it's faults, some of the sketches I did enjoy a lot and the creators clearly had fun making it. One of the producers is on TH-cam, and uploads episodes every now and then along with the occasional new short comedy film for area film festivals. The other shifted towards PBS kids shows, making "Nature Adventures" for SDPB, and later on, a very low-budget quiz show for Amazon Prime Video.
Honestly, for all the stuff I learned about obscure TV shows in 2017 (mostly for writing articles for Wikia's version of the Lost Media Wiki), I can't say I've EVER heard of "Learning the Ropes" or "Check it Out!" before. You learn something new every day...
Yakov Smirnoff is still doing shows , I think he's doing more in-law type jokes. FYI, Yakov isn't even Russian
He knew he wouldn't get as many laughs during the Cold War using Ukraine as his frame of reference.
I remember Christopher Guest and Rich Hall than I do Yakov Sminoff.
@@Tornado1994 If you are a Rich Hall fan, he does excellent documentaries about America for the BBC , YT might have a few.
@@tomservo5007 I am and I'll check it out!
If that's true (that he's doing mother-in-law jokes instead of Russia ones), he missed a golden opportunity for Russia-focused material over the past four years lol. Although Sacha Baron Cohen has probably filled that niche now.
This is a very awesome episode.
Thank God I had my NES to keep me away from those cringe sitcoms from the 80's, although I did see a couple of episodes of "Check It Out!" out of curiosity on USA Network.
Poor Don Adams. 😞
Surprised this didn't make it into Ben's feature on the USA Network. But like he said there's always room for a "volume 2" lol.
I remember one of the final tv interviews Alzado did before his death (probably on Larry King?). He looked beyond broken. He was horribly frail, gaunt and you could tell on top of that, he was mentally having to deal with the fact that he was not only bringing his eventual demise upon himself, he also might have convinced younger athletes to take steroids, therefore messing up their lives as well. It’s also interesting that people remember Alzado as a member of the Oakland Raiders when he spent twice as long with the Denver Broncos (and almost as long with the Cleveland Browns)!
Lyle Alazdo also was a Hanes spokesperson selling men white briefs. The commercials are still on TH-cam and I still have the print advert. I thought he was very “daddy” before it was a thing and I’m surely not the only one to remember the ads or commercial.
Edit: Alzado- misspelled
17:00 I legit thought that was an ad break.
well... at least they were willing to experiment with shows then.
Not like today... Oh! another talent show!... Oh! another talent show!... Oh! another talent show!... Oh! another talent show!... Oh! another talent show!... Oh! another talent show!... Oh! another talent show!... Oh! another talent show!... Oh! another talent show!...
You perfectly described Pluto TV because that's the issue I have with the service is the same stupid ads repeat over 5 million times especially for the channels and shows they're airing like that goddamn promo for Family Ties with that annoying kid that asks where do babies come from that got on my nerves after like 5 times, sometimes there's no transition to ads sometimes it just abruptly gets cut off by an ad or it abruptly resumes with no transition, those are like the only problems I have, not to mention how sometimes the identifications kinda go on a little too long after show or movie ended.
Peaches...Dah-Dum!
I might be wrong but I believe Learning The Ropes was inspired by the backstory of legendary wrestler George “The Animal” Steele (probably best known to most folks for playing Tor Johnson in the movie Ed Wood). Steele, real name William Myers, was a teacher and football coach at a suburban Detroit high school when he got into wrestling as a side hustle. To avoid being found out he primarily worked in the New York-based World Wide Wrestling Federation (precursor to today’s WWE) where he wound up becoming a popular star. Unlike today wrestling promotions were strictly regional back then including their TV broadcasts, so he was able to maintain his double life for years until wrestling became his primary source of income.
There’s another failed 80s sitcom based on a classic character
It’s called life with Lucy it obviously flopped because the setup is way too similar to Lucy’s earlier shows without any updating to fit modern times with modern audiences
For some reason the show found a way to dvd despite it being a huge flop
Now I’m not the hugest fan of I love Lucy since I’m not a huge sitcom person but I do respect the show for being the show that caused everyone to buy their own TV set back in the 50s
She basically tried to do what Bob Newhart did much more successfully.
You only scratched the surface, there is also Small Wonder and Out of This World.
Gotta keep the door open for a Volume 2, ya know.
Out of This World mostly aired on Nickelodeon in the States . We haven't even mentioned You Can't Do That On Television, which is also Canadian and also was syndicated.
@@Tornado1994 False. I didn't have cable and OOTW was on my local ABC and Fox stations.
Learning the Ropes is...not a good show but it's great as a pro wrestling fan!
7:42 *"ALL THE WAY WITH STEPHANIE KAYE!"*
I find it interesting that Lyle alzado of all people had a career as an actor and TV spokesman after he retired from the NFL. If I remember right, he was her known as one of the meanest players in football during his playing days.
Wow, I watched way more bad sitcoms in the 1980s than I admitted at the time--like What a Country--yet have NO memory of Learning the Ropes. Unless it was so bad that it didn't even look potentially funny or entertaining in any way in network promos, not sure how I missed it completely.
Speaking of What a Country, I didn't know it was based on a previous British sitcom. My own fan theory was that it followed up on a DOA attempted backdoor pilot episode of Different Strokes several years prior.
You should do one of these videos for the 90's. I dare you to watch "What a Dummy". I double dog dare you!
I tried for the first three minutes. It was incredibly brutal and torturous.
Maybe one about the worst of the cable-first '90s sitcoms, pick one from each channel: The Family Channel, Nickelodeon, HBO?
The opening monologue makes we want to recommend the country song In the Good 'Ol Days (When Times Were Bad) by Dolly Parton. Good song. Merle Haggard's version is fine like a particle.
@ 1:30 - "60s easy listening garbage" - ach, that wounds me to the core! I was personally stamped out in the 60s and I am into listening as easily as possible these days.
The guy who made steve brule on the other check it out from adult swim coincidentally also made a parody of that Check it out sitcom and its pretty good.
Tonya Williams also played Olivia on Young and the Restless, if I'm not mistaken.
I faintly remember seeing a promo (once!) for "Learning the Ropes" circa 1990 or 1991 on KTXH-TV (then independent, now a myNetworkTV affiliate) in Houston, Texas. It seems, like the show itself, it didn't stick around there long either.
the show what a country is based on a popular british 70s sitcom called mind your langauge
Not "Edna".. it's "Edner"! lulz Not only did Don Adams get new hair and a 'stache, he got new teeth by the last season of Check It Out!
There was not a lot of choice on Canadian TV in the 80s and Canadian shows didn’t really run on ratings but how much funding they could get for how long. So Check It Out had a fairly long shelf life whether you liked it or not. I mostly remember it now for two of the actors - Gordon clapp who went on to NYPD blue and Henry Beckman who played a cop in Breakfast At Tiffany’s and another cop in The X-Files. Other than that the show was torture.
Used to watch Learning The Ropes because of Nicole Stoffman who I had a huge crush on thanks to Degrassi. Last I heard she became a French jazz singer.
If you want more bad and obscure, find Snow Job, a sitcom that aired around the time of Check It Out.
"She's The Sheriff" with Suzanne Somers should have been featured.
Wrestling With Wregret did a good video on Learning The Ropes.
9:19 "Nyet. Maniac fighting me. After I give him sickle you see him on stretcher board."
12:45 "Crenshaw Melons."
Also, in the UK six episodes isn't unusual. One series.
was that Teller? lol
I agree that get smart was and still is one of the top 2 or 3 greatest sitcoms of all time. I would say that the odd couple is about the only show that would tie with this. The next spot would be a little harder to place,but contenders would be Sanford at son and perfect strangers which may be the most underrated of all time.
I remember Yakov mainly because he would occasionally appear between the cartoons Saturday mornings on ABC, where after he did his "what a country" bit he'd mention some weird edutainment fact like cats' saliva being a natural antiseptic.
I remember seeing those as a kid during the commercial breaks of a cartoon those Saturday mornings.
in America you put on jacket...in soviet Russia, jacket put on you...what a country!
I was just thinking about bad syndicated sitcoms since Hats Off Entertainment did a video on the Harry and the Hendersons show a few days past. While I've never heard of any of these, and only found out about "Check it Out" via Retro Ontario's channel, there is something stupid called "Out of This World" I used to catch. It predated the sitcom version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but somehow feels like a cheap, unfunny, oddball ripoff of Sabrina. Just no snarky Nick Bakay voiced animatronic cat to make it watchable. Somehow the show is memorable in the wrong ways and completely forgettable for the most part. As I said on that video's comments, it's one of those very hazy "was this a dream?" type shows because of that weird unremarkable yet somehow still something managed to be memorable in that existed quality.
Also, in Soviet Union, review watches you!
I just watched that Harry and the Hendersons video! Someone else mentioned “Out of This World” in the comments. I remember it well. The mother was played by Donna Pescow of Saturday Night Fever. The father’s voice was actually Burt Reynolds!
I’ve never heard of the Harry and the Henderson’s sitcom until now
All I got to say is how can they make a sitcom out of a lassie or benji story but with Bigfoot?
If they wanted to make a Harry and the Henderson’s tv series I think a more ideal format would be something like lassie meets swamp thing
I guess it’s no wonder the show got canceled
Out of this World? The One with the alien family?
@@jamesborlan2850 According to the video, the project was originally going to be a sitcom, but they were convinced into making it a movie. As for the show itself, it never had a prime time, mainstream network airing being syndicated and all. Syndication based local channels sometimes have a tendency to hold onto these kinds of cheap acquisitions for a long time. And it did quite a deal better than most TV sitcoms based off of movies. Sure, not the extent of M*A*S*H*, which went on so long it surpassed the movie's popularity, but certainly more than the titanic failure of My Big Fat Greek Life (yes. That WAS a sitcom). All I remember about the series it that it was on my Fox affiliate early Saturday Mornings before the Fox Kids broadcast, and I watched it to patiently wait for that line up. I cannot recall a single thing from that show.
@@5roundsrapid263 That's the kind of detail I would have remembered if the show left any impact on me at all. All I remember is the really bad theme song rendition of "Would you Like to Swing on a Star," and a very specific episode. Every time someone said mouth or teeth, the alien girl's power would trigger the appearance of these two fat, middle aged back up singer women from a dentist commercial, and at the end of the episode she somehow turned them into a restaurant commercial for her mother. ALF it was not. Sabrina it was not.
16:35 - did that say "Sanchez of Bel Air"?? What in the world is that lol (update: I went down that rabbit hole and wow, I don't remember anything at all about that show lol! Fresh Prince used the same set years later. Weird.)
I remember watching the show Down To Earth on TBS in the mid 80’s when the network was still WTBS. I was a little disturbed by the show as a child with all the talk of death and heaven. You should research the show. I think it was TBS’s first original produced program.
I thought John C. Reilly's Bagboy looked familiar.
Always loved Don Adams.. Max Smart, Tennessee Tuxedo, Inspector Gadget.. "Missed it by that much, Chumley.. I'm always on duty!"
Small Wonder and We've Got it Maid come to mind as bad 80's syndicated sitcoms.
The "maid" was a hot piece.
Trippers Day in the UK became Slingers Day, it lasted 2 seasons with 12 episodes. Wasn’t great.
So, a while back, ESPN runs these promos for a sitcom named 'Hoops Malone' which from these shorts, would seem to fit in perfectly with the kind of shows seen here. Imagine my surprise when I learned the promos were the only things they ever made. It was a dead parody of these types of syndicated shows with a former celebrity leading the cast.