Wednesday, May 19, 2010

New Hope For Old Shows?


In Ye Olden Days of TV it was the norm for a series cancelled by one network to have a second life on another.
Consider the fate of Father Knows Best (1954-1960).
Its first year was on CBS before a cancellation slip drove it over to NBC for three seasons before it was pink slipped again and headed back to CBS.
Or what about My Three Sons (1960-1972).
For its first five years it was an ABC staple and then got cancelled due to flagging ratings.
CBS picked it up for seven more seasons where it grew back in the ratings and became a big hit once again.
Taxi ran for four seasons on ABC (1978-82) , got cancelled, and then roared back on NBC for several more seasons
Last season CBS picked up Medium from NBC which cancelled it to make way for --gulp --Jay Leno's disastrous foray into prime time.
Over at CBS Medium regained some of its lost viewers and will run this Fall Fridays at 8 displacing Host Whisperer.
And last year ABC picked up Scrubs from NBC and the hospital comedy managed to eke out another season before being dispatched to rerun land.
So the question remains will ABC consider picking up either The New Adventures Of Old Christine or Ghost Whisperer now that CBS has dropped them from the fall schedule.
In defense of Ghost Whisperer it was on Fridays which is the lowest rated night of the week --except for Saturdays where reruns clutter the dial.
And CBS finally gave up on Christine as it slowly lost viewers over its past two seasons.
ABC sources are hinting the network may use one or both as midseason back ups like Scrubs last season. So stay tuned.

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