Courthouse | CBS | 1995

September - November 1995

CBS | 11 episodes | Drama

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Patricia Wettig, Jenifer Lewis, Annabeth Gish, Shelley Morrison, Nia Peeples, Michael Lerner  (and Jorja Fox who plays a drug addict in the pilot)

SYNOPSIS: Partially inspired by NYPD Blue and the OJ Simpson case, Courthouse portrays the daily trials and tribulations in one courthouse (assumed to be in New York, going by the first episode) and people who are employed there - judges, district attorneys and public defenders.

The show included Jenifer Lewis (as Juvenile Court judge Rosetta Reide) as the first recurring African American lesbian character on TV, but the role was ordered to be toned down for broadcast.

VERDICT: In the opening scene a Judge (clearly disliked, from the brief minute he's in it) is gunned down in the courtroom by an offender he's just put to death. Later on, Jorja Fox's character is dragged by two cops from her hospital bed back to prison, just because another judge felt like exercising his right over Nia Peeples public defender character.

From what I can see, Courthouse was hated. Poorly rated from the offset, I'm surprised how it managed to get to nine episodes (plus three unaired). But is it crap? No, the characters are strong and interesting, and Jenifer Lewis' character is the stand-out (more so than Patricia Wettig who assumed she was the star). The language is a bit more adult - an asshole, a bastard, here and there.

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? Not quite right for 1995, but it would have fared better a few years later. I'd watch more episodes.

Charlie Grace | ABC | 1995

September - October 1995

ABC | 9 episodes | Drama

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Mark Harmon, Leelee Sobieski

SYNOPSIS: Charlie Grace is a former LA cop turned private eye raising a 12-year-old daughter. In the first episode, Charlie finds out that "Mad Dog", a con he put away eight years ago, is out of prison and seeking revenge. To crack the case, Charlie needs to rely on the cops that he blew the whistle on.

Nine episodes of the show were produced, but only six were broadcast.

VERDICT: "I'm Charlie Grace, and I'm a private detective..." opens the show, with Mark Harmon in the midst of a back alley fist fight with a bunch of thugs (who later turn out to be Police officers). The narration continues throughout and adds enough without being annoying.  It's from 1995 but feels older, but then again, it is from 25 years ago. 

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? The story had a few twists and turns. I'd watch more episodes. More the kind of show you would watch on Sunday night.

Champs | ABC | 1996

January 1996 - August 1996

ABC | 12 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? I don't recognise anyone.

SYNOPSIS: Sitcom about five friends - Tom a chauvinist, Vince a womanizer, Herb a doctor, and Marty a dour divorcee - who played on a championship basketball team in high school 20 years earlier (that's it, that's the show).

This was the first TV series produced by DreamWorks SKG; 12 episodes were produced, but the show was pulled off the air after four episodes, five were then burned off over the summer, and three were left unaired.

VERDICT: In first episode, several characters delivered the line: "It was 20 years ago!". I'm guessing that was the show's catchphrase? It seemed to be a family sitcom, but then also buddies that hang out together, with sports puns thrown in: "I'm raising three boys myself, fatherhood is a contact sport!". Though, by the end of the first episode I was sick of hearing about THAT game 20 years ago!

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? No, and definitely not a forgotten gem. I can't even find cast photos from the show.

Can't Hurry Love | CBS | 1995

September 1995 - February 1996

CBS | 19 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Nancy McKeon, Mariska Hargitay

SYNOPSIS: The series is about Annie (a Monica Gellar type), a single, thirty-something living in New York City and her three friends (no, it's not Sex and the City). The general premise of the series centers around Annie's search for romance in the big city.

Most of the action takes place in either Annie's small studio apartment or the employment agency she manages. Supporting characters included Roger and Elliot (Think Joey and Ross) who work with her at the agency, and Didi (somewhere between Rachel and Phoebe), the slaggy free spirit of the group, who often lives across the hallway from Annie (in the pilot she's on hand with a roll of condoms).

VERDICT: Definitely CBS' attempt at Friends: 30-somethings living in New York City, hanging around one apartment. I think looking back 25 years later, this is one of the shows you can say "I wish it had more episodes". Two episodes of the show reference Maxwell Sheffield from The Nanny, almost insisting upon that they share the same New York universe. 

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? Yes, it's not Friends, but it has its moments, for example: In the pilot, Annie feeds a couple of pigeons on her windowsill, naming them Bill and Hillary. "how can you tell them apart?" asks one of her colleagues, "Bill is the one banging the blue jay"

Buddies | ABC | 1996

March - April 1996

ABC | 13 episodes (8 unaired) | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Dave Chappelle, Christopher Gartin

SYNOPSIS: Buddies, which was touted as “the new comedy from the creators of Home Improvement” (as if that’s going to get people to watch), starred Dave Chappelle and Christopher Gartin as friends who start a film company against the protests of their elders, who worry about their racial differences more so than their ability to start a business.

VERDICT: ★☆☆☆☆

Following his hit appearance on Home Improvement alongside fellow comedian Jim Breuer, ABC executives fast tracked the series to capitalise on the chemistry between the two stars and Buddies became a reality almost one year to the day of that said appearance. At some point during rehearsals, ABC decided that the chemistry just wasn’t working and fired Breuer and replaced him with another comedian, Christopher Gartin, but still playing the same character. Apparently, Breuer just couldn’t act and hammed up every scene he was in. Chappelle and Breuer were real-life friends at the time and Chappelle was so upset over Breuer's firing that he wanted to quit the show. Thankfully he didn’t have to – the show was cancelled after five episodes had aired. Chappelle later commented about the show: “It was a bad show. It was bad. I mean when we were doing it, I could tell this was not gonna work.”

 

Watching the episode “A Room with a Pyew” it comes across as another one of those early days of FOX, UPN, WB, etc shows – just too forced and very much a sitcom by the numbers. In the episode, concerned that their neighbour “old man Ramsey” has died, Maureen, the trailer trash mother of Lorraine, John’s girlfriend, attempts to catch his attention by flashing at him through the window: “aww god bless him! He’s toast!”. Most of the episode is about how Maureen is excited to find an apartment so close to her daughter so she can make up for lost time, and of course that she’s finally able to move out of her trailer. Meanwhile, John and Lorraine try to find ways to put Lorraine off because they don’t want her to move in. Maureen has the apartment by the end of the episode, much to the chagrin of Dave’s father, Hank, the owner of the property: “You promised me that you had the perfect tenant! Are you telling me that this crazy bourbon-swilling white woman went to university?!”

 

The only thing I liked about the show was the main apartment set which had a kind of “Friends” vibe about it. Outside of their window was a small courtyard, with the “Buddies” using the window as an entrance. Would have been perfect on “Friends”!

CANCELLED TOO SOON? I'd say no - but all episodes were available on DVD, for some reason. Other episodes are on YouTube, linked above.

Brotherly Love | NBC/The WB | 1995

September 1995 - May 1997

NBC/The WB | 40 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? The Lawrence brothers

SYNOPSIS: Brotherly Love starred real-life brothers Joey, Matt, and Andy Lawrence playing the protagonists Joe, Matt and Andy. 

In the Pilot Episode, Matt and Andy's estranged older half-brother Joe comes to town intending to sell his 25% stake in their late father's garage, but he discovers that the garage has been struggling financially since his father's death. After getting to know his younger brothers; 15-year-old Matt (who deals with the normal trials and tribulations of being a teenager), and 6-year-old Andy (who initially was often seen in costume), he decides to stick around and help run the business.

VERDICT: The show ran for two seasons and I can understand why - it's inoffensive and has its moments. Very much more The WB than NBC.

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? No. (more than likely will show up on Disney+ I can imagine)

Boston Common | NBC | 1996

March 1996 - April 1997

NBC | 32 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Anthony Clarke, Traylor Howard, Hedy Burress

SYNOPSIS: Created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, in what was their last big project before they hit the jackpot with Will & Grace, the series centered around Boyd Pritchett, a young handyman from rural Virginia, as he moved his younger sister, Wyleen, to Boston, so she could start her life as a student at the fictional Randolph Harrington College. Boyd was only supposed to stay a few days to help Wyleen get settled in before returning home, only to end up falling in love with attractive graduate student Joy Byrnes, and getting a job as a maintenance worker at the university. 

VERDICT: ★★★☆☆

While the Los Angeles Times called it the "Boston Hillbillies", ratings for the series premiere were strong and Boston Common ranked eighth overall in the 1995-96 television season. Variety remarked that "if [the] program’s positioned right, its future looks good". For season two, however, ratings plummeted. Boston Common finished 51st in the overall ratings for 1996-97. Why? The show was moved from the highly coveted Must See TV Thursdays to a Sunday slot. Many viewers were not even aware that it had returned for a second season.

The writing in the pilot was pretty good – funny one-liners, interesting characters. The standout character for me was sarky Tasha, quipping to two students: “Excuse me, you’re gonna have to take 5 steps away from my desk, because you’re MAKING ME SICK!” as they discussed a bouji vacation to Botswana.

The two lead characters, Boyd and Wyleen, have Southern accents and I can imagine the series played off this - fish out of water, rural characters in the big city, etc.

CANCELLED TOO SOON? Yes, I will watch more episodes.

The Bonnie Hunt Show | CBS | 1995

September 1995 - April 1996

CBS | 13 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Bonnie Hunt (Jumani was released December 1995, while this show was on the air)

SYNOPSIS:  Bonnie Hunt played Bonnie Kelly, a television reporter who moves from Wisconsin to take a job with a local TV station in Chicago. In addition to the stories surrounding her personal life and her life at the station, each episode showed one of Bonnie's television news features, where she would interview real people. For example, in the pilot episode, Bonnie says to a young African-American girl with dreadlocks: "I love your work in Sister Act".

It seems it ran for 6 episodes before being put on hiatus and returned with some retooling.

VERDICT: Not bad, the first episode pretty much captured the first day nerves of starting at a new job - not knowing where things are, who you're working with, etc. The setting was Chicago, but felt more of a New York type of show. The scene where Bonnie is talking to her neighbour over the alleyway, their windows barely a foot apart, living cheek by jowl, is something you're going to get in any metropolis really. 

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? I'd watch more episodes.

Bless this House | CBS | 1995

September 1995 - January 1996

CBS | 16 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Andrew Dice Clay and Cathy Moriarty

SYNOPSIS: A sarcastic postal worker and his equally snarky wife raise their kids in small apartment in New Jersey. 

In the first episode, the couple go house-hunting and are asked by a rude realtor: "have you ever lived in a house?"

"No, I grew up in a cardboard box" Burt (Dice Clay) snaps back, segueing into the next scene where he drinks from a bidet, thinking it's a water fountain.

VERDICT: Typical kind of sitcom where the family are snapping at each other, but by the end of the episode everything is ok. Very Roseanne, King of Queens, etc. Not horrible, not spectacular. In 2002, TV Guide ranked Bless This House number 48 on their 50 Worst Shows of All Time.

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? Maybe not.

American Gothic | CBS | 1995

September 1995 - July 1996

CBS | 22 episodes | Supernatural Drama

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Gary Cole, Lucas Black, Sarah Paulson, Jake Weber

SYNOPSIS: A quiet, seemingly-quaint small town is ruled over by its charming yet evil sheriff who uses his demonic powers to remove anyone who dares to stand in his way. The only one he fears is a young boy whom he fathered through rape.

VERDICT: ★★★★☆

During the first episode, Sarah Paulson's character, Merlyn, is murdered by the local sheriff who snaps her neck after she’s almost bludgeoned to death by her own father. Sheriff Buck then manipulates Sarah’s father into committing suicide so he can claim Sarah's brother, Caleb, his biological son, as his own. Later in the episode, Merlyn returns in ghost form to help guide Caleb from Sheriff Buck’s grasp. Caleb is further assisted by the newly arrived Dr Crowther (Jake Webber), and his out of town cousin, Gail, who begin to uncover the sheriff’s role in the deaths of Merlyn and her father.

American Gothic only lasted for one season, not because of the quality of the writing or production, but mostly because the show wasn't really given a chance by CBS. It seems several episodes were aired out of order, and the show wasn't given as much publicity as CBS' other shows in the 1995-96 TV season.

CANCELLED TOO SOON? Yes, check anywhere and American Gothic is far from forgotten. Contemporary critics say had the show been made today, it would have been a hit - mostly because networks now have a better idea on how to promote and schedule this type of show. The show is on DVD - I will definitely watch more!

Almost Perfect | CBS | 1995

September 1995 - October 1996

CBS | 34 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Nancy Travis and Kevin Kilner.

SYNOPSIS: the series focused on the professional life of the female executive producer of a television cop show, her witty, zany staff which doubled as her family, and initially, how she balanced her high-powered role with that of her newfound romance with a busy assistant D.A. 

VERDICT: Actually, not bad. The show had moderate success for the first season, but it seems due to a regime change and claims that Travis and Kilner lacked chemistry, format changes were abound and the plug was pulled.

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? Yes, well, it's typical sitcom of the 90s - mid-30s female in the workplace looking for love, but the jokes were sharp and witty.

Aliens in the Family | ABC | 1996

March 1996 - August 1996

ABC | 8 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Nobody that I recognise? (in the first episode, anyway).

SYNOPSIS: The show was about single dad Doug Brody (John Bedford Lloyd), who is abducted by single alien mom Cookie (Margaret Trigg). The two fall in love, get married, and try to live a normal life on Earth as a mixed-species family. 

It seems it only lasted 8 episodes because they were made in advance. The show lasted two weeks in prime time and then was burned off over the summer on Saturday mornings.

VERDICT: Awful. 

The style of the show was odd: much of the humour was derived from gags involving the assimilation of the alien family into everyday life - despite being pink and having massive heads (puppetry provided by Jim Henson) everyone on Earth seems to accept their presence. You could see the setup of the gags a mile off, as it if was a spoof of sitcoms from the 50s.

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? No way!

Forgotten TV Rewind - Rewatching the somewhat forgotten shows

Thanks to several collections on YouTube, I've been able to review shows from the 90s that perhaps nobody remembers - the ones that were cancelled after a couple of episodes, those which receive a full-season and then disappeared and anything in-between.

Sadly (or thankfully, depending on the show), I've only been able to find one or two episodes of a lot of these shows. Perhaps the full season is sitting on the shelf of an avid TV collector somewhere? (There has to be more people like Marion Stokes)

Friends and Seinfeld pretty much dominated the 90s and unfortunately a lot of shows were measured against this success and were unable to compete. Beyond the well-remembered hits, what were these forgotten shows about? Who starred in them? Did they deserve to be cancelled so quickly?

First up, it's the 1995-96 TV season, which was a year after Friends made its debut. Shows are ordered alphabetically in each post. Any shows missing means that I've not seen any episodes or can't find the content.

After that, it'll be the 1994-95 season, then will follow consecutively.