After Short-lived Sitcom Showcase

Wednesday's post was a big hit but all things in this world are finite, and all good things must inevitably perish. Fortunately, entertainment has many lives, so yesterday's post will live on. In the new post, Post moves from Wednesday to Thursday, with an entirely different cast of links and possibly a previously unseen sibling. So sit back, tune in and if you haven't read it, it's new to you! This is must-read blogging.

Bob was BACK—Newhart, that is. The beloved stammering star of two successful sitcoms returned in a premise that appealed to me. I was starting college when it began, and majoring in art with the hopes of someday drawing comic books. Bob was a comic artist who in his later years earned his living drawing greeting cards, only to be pulled back to his first love when one of his creations was revived. The tension was created by the fact that the comic book company had modernized his silver age hero as a typical nineties vigilante. Apparently the premise appealed to a very small audience, and not the fans of Newhart, since Bob lasted only 8 episodes into its second season.

That ‘80s Show was more that like anachronism show. A lot of people who watched That ‘70s Show might not remember the 70s, but the 80s were so fresh that I had friends pointing out songs they were playing years before they were popular left and right. It had some marginal potential, rushed a romance too soon between the lead characters, and overall was made about a decade sooner than it would have been popular.

Undeclared was great. A motley cast of characters, some cute girls, and a geek that looked a little like a young Zach Braff and got his dream girl while still only a freshman. Great show that didn't rely on a laugh track, had some great guest-stars(wow, like ”Gwen Raiden”), and didn't last more than a season. I particularly enjoyed a musical battle two girls have when neither enjoys the other's music, and repeatedly change CDs and turn their respective radios louder. It was some of Monica Keena's finest pre-Freddy vs. Jason work.

Did anyone other than me watch Ned and Stacey? If nothing else Thomas Haden Church broke his typecasting as a simpleton from Wings. Greg Germann and Debra Messing still found roles after the show's demise, so it couldn't' have hurt them too bad.

What about the show that followed Ned and Stacey, Partners? Tate Donovan went on to play a prominent recurring role on Friends, and Jon Cryer showed the world he's not going anywhere, Superman IV be damned. I actually like the dynamic between his character and Charlie Sheen's, whenever I've happened to catch Two and a Half Men. I thought Maria Pitillo was absolutely gorgeous. Excuse me for a second while I shake my fists in rage at Godzilla trampling her career....

...aaaaand we're back. In What's Happening Now!!, so was the late, great Fred “Rerun” Berry and friends. It lasted for three seasons but I didn't. It just wasn't the same as the reruns of the original show I grew up on. Anyone remember when Rerun almost joined a cult? Good times....(not to be confused with Good Times.

What's that? Ratings are down on this spin-off post? Canceled??? But...but I haven't even gotten to The Single Guy, or Happy Family or Double Rush or The Powers That Be or Three's a Crowd, or My Secret Identity or even Small Wonder! No George Carlin Show? No Get a Life?

Fine, there's always the possibility of a reunion movie....post.