Meanwhile (as this is basically the all purpose American sitcom thread) I bought the first two seasons of Taxi on DVD in CEX today. Then I wondered whether (as is often the case) they were actually available on one of the streaming services, or tucked away on a channel I don't know about, each involving slightly less effort than swapping DVDs around. But no - joining a growing list of American shows I grew up with which seem to be completely off the radar in the UK now - LA Law and Moonlighting were two that I thought would be around somewhere, thirtysomething I thought possible (it did turn up a few years ago) and, admittedly a longer shot Petrocelli - all nowhere to be found.
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We're used to the idea that pop culture is ephemeral and therefore it marks a certain era before mostly fading away never to return unless it's something that keeps being reinvented like James Bond or Batman.Originally posted by Balderdasha View Post
That was especially true of TV in the 50s and 60s. If you didn't see it when it was on, you missed it and moved on with life.
But then syndication came along and kept certain shows alive well past their runs.
And then cable came around and created a lot more real estate on the TV schedule that couldn't be filled with new programming, so more and more shows were syndicated and older shows could be flogged for longer. Meanwhile, the first generation of TV watchers were reaching the age of nostalgia, so they wanted to watch I Love Lucy.
And now we've reached the point where just about everything that's ever been on TV is accessible any time.* So now, as Faulkner said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
The ultimate example of a non-kids show squeezing every last dime out of its popularity is Cheers. That show has been off the air for almost 30 years, but I think you can still buy Cheers merch in Logan Airport. At least you could a few years ago. And there was a second branch at Faneuil Hall - that actually looks like the one on the show - was opened in 2001 but just closed during the pandemic and isn't coming back. There used to be Cheers bars in other airports too.
The bar called Cheers on Beacon Hill is still hanging in there. It was only actually used for the outside establishing shot and, to some extent, the inspiration for the vibe.* I'm not sure, but I assume the show was made in Burbank.
As we've discussed, the same goes for music. It used to be that you had to go to the gig to get the shirt. Now it's not uncommon to have a shirt for a band who broke-up before one was born. And that's fine (in my opinion. Purists will disagree).
*I've never went there when I lived in Boston because it was told by somebody who worked there not to bother. As I recall, the guy who owned it - maybe he still does - was reputed to be a bit of an anti-labor dick and a lot of the locals weren't happy with him for turning the Bull & Finch, which was a nice after-work neighborhood bar, into a giant tourist trap.Comment
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I recall Petrocelli and his endless house building escapades being repeated on daytime BBC 1 (or was it 2?) around the turn of the millennium. That was probably the last time it ever aired on British TV. Thirtysomething would get semi-regular airings on More4 (alongside Hill Street Blues) during the 00's but little since. I haven't seen LA Law or Moonlighting in donkey's years, but that's not to say they haven't been broadcasted. Taxi's a strange one - much loved and highly regarded, it was a mainstay of the old Paramount Comedy Channel (before it became Comedy Central) but seems increasingly ignored these days. Similar situation with Soap.
Last edited by George; 19-09-2020, 07:44.Comment
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LA Law had a run maybe 10 years ago, maybe on one of the Channel 4 affiliates. I couldn't keep up with it on series link (think whoever was showing it showed it daily) and ended up buying the DVDs instead.
I looked up Petrocelli and was surprised there were only two seasons. Even now "Petrocelli's House" is still in use among our group as a term for something that goes on indefinitely.
A lot of US sitcoms disappeared in the UK, despite being massively popular here at the time. In the US there is (or was) TV Land, Nick at Nite etc where these things have endured longer, but guess our equivalents of Gold and Dave are more focused on domestic oldies.Comment
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Crap! Wrong fucking thread.Comment
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I don't know if TV Land or Nick at Nite are still on, but a lot of old shows are on Netflix, Hulu, and the owners of shows are now generally more interested in getting those streaming deals than traditional cable syndication deals, or so I've read. That's good for the dedicated fans of those shows, because it means they can watch any episode whenever they want, but it removes the chance for serendipitously finding something new and interesting while flipping channels as we did in the old days.Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
In the past, getting to 100 episodes was a major milestone for a show, because that was usually the threshold for syndication and how creators and, perhaps, the actors could really make a lot of money. Apparently, that's just not true any more. On the other hand, a streaming platform doesn't need 100 episodes of something for it to be a hit. In fact, it appears that the streaming services aren't particularly interested in having very long running shows because they can get more new subscribers by constantly introducing new shows. So maybe that creates more opportunities for more creators.
One thing that has kept a lot of old shows and some films from being available is clearing the rights to music. If the show had a lot of songs by different artists in it, then they either have to keep paying those artists royalties or get new music, and often the creators don't want to do that. That's also an issue with keeping old episodes of late night shows and SNL available, although now most of those are and some of the music performances are on youtube too, but not all of them.
I've read that is why Northern Exposure isn't on any streaming platform or, as far as I can tell, on DVD, even though it was groundbreaking and popular and the sort of thing that might have found a new audience in the 21st century. That was my favorite show in the late 80s and it was syndicated for a while but is now largely forgotten. I probably mentioned that before.
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