Shortlived: The Charmings

Fantasy sitcoms had a tough time after their 1960s heyday, the Charmings was a good attempt to bring it back but it pretty much fell flat. What if Snow White, Prince Charming and their family woke up in modern times? Complete with evil witch step mother and whacy neighbour?

Opening as a mid season replacement, Charmings got good initial reviews and it generated enough ratings to return the following season. Unfortunately the orginal Snow White, played by Caitlin O'Heaney was replaced in season 2 by Carol Huston. No offence to Ms Huston but the sun set and rose over Caitlin O'Heany to 17 year old me, I completely stopped watching.

Other notable faces in the cast were Paul Winfield as the magic mirror and future Reba star (and the guy who played Archie) Christopher Rich as Prince Charming. 19 episodes isn't a long life but it's about 7 episodes longer than most shows of this nature.

Chilling Facts About Mama's Family

• There are one hundred and thirty episodes of Mama's Family available in Syndication, that's more than WKRP or Taxi.
• The first season on NBC used to feature an intro by Harvey Korman as Alastair Quince, all of this was cut out of syndication.
• The show only ran for a season and a half on NBC, the remaining four years were in first run syndication where much of the show's cast (and quality) were cut.
• At the time of the writing Vicki Lawrence is merely a spry 60 years old, still has the outfits and is waiting for Hollywood to call.

Short Lived: The Mullets

Oh UPN, how I miss thee. Like Fox before it, a last placed channel will often take risks with it's programming because the only way is up.

The Mullets was one of those chances, the titular characters not only rocked what I've always called "The Short Long" but it also happens to be their last name (like almost every DC comics villain).

Loni Anderson played their mom and Mr. Peterson himself, John O'Hurley was on hand as their step dad. I've never seen an episode of this but judging from this clip, I have missed absolutely nothing.

Early reviews called it everything from charming to absolute crap, methinks the name damned it, it's like calling "King of the Hill" something like "Crewcut".

Short Lived: We Got It Made

I think 1983's "We Got It Made" was the first time I ever watched something due to negative reviews. At the time, critics pretty much lambasted it as "the stupidest new series" so me being me, I had to check it out.

I still remember the feeling of watching the pilot, which sucked but not in a 'fun way" and I never looked again. Apparently the American public felt the same way as "We Got It Made" opened to high ratings then nose dived into cancellation.

The series revolved around two sloppy bachelours who hire a sexy live in Maid (Teri Copely) despite objection from their girlfriends. Copely's sex appeal was supposed to keep you tuning in, even at 13 I couldn't care to do so, what does that say? As I recall, the dialogue and acting in the pilot were on par with most pornographic films.

Inexplicably during the "Syndication Spree" of 1987, somebody thought to bring this back with part of the original cast, it was cancelled yet again. I think this time though, the drowned it in the river and buried it behind the shed.

Poll: The Age Old WKRP Question

You knew this was coming, the one question that floated around my college dorm (along with other things) for the entirety of 1990, so here it is gents:

Jennifer or Herb?

Be Honest.

Merch: The Odd Couple Sings

I'm actually shaking I want this so much, as a fan of embarrassing celebrity records, the thought of Jack Klugman singing is probably the best thing ever. Klugman has been open of his disdain for this project and one wonders who the hell thought this was a good idea?

You can listen here, I plan to spend the rest of my evening doing entirely that...

Review: Fox Sunday Night Schedule

Fox unveiled it's Sunday night block of cartoons last night and I thought I'd take a look at it. Fox has owned Sunday night in my house when my "house" consisted of a cinder blocked room with orange carpeting and stolen furniture, it's a tradition that I really enjoy.

The Simpsons: Somewhere a few years ago the Simpson's went from being a real laugh powerhouse to this sort of whimsicle series. Unlike a lot of my peers, I still enjoy The Simpson's. Now it's in 21st year, they proved that there is still life in those bones. The plot was somewhat recycled (how many hollywood productions will star Simpson family members?) but the Seth Rogan (who wrote the show) character kind of redeemed the piece as did the scenes of the final film.

The Cleveland Show: Family guy nieghbour Cleveland Brown (I just got that joke) gets his own series by moving back to his home state and marrying his high school sweetheart.

As pilots go, this one kind of clunked along and made me wonder if we have our first animated example of "Fish". Cleveland was a fun character on Family Guy but I never thought "Hey, I wanted more Cleveland in this one".

I've been wrong before so I'll give it a few more chances. I haven't watched "king of the Hill" in over five years, preferring to work online instead, so I'm not sure if I'll be productive or not at 8:30 this Sunday.

Family Guy: Last season was a bit dodgy for me and Family Guy, the show was really starting to show a few creaks but this opener was pretty terrific. I really didn't care if the multiverse idea found any sort of a plot, it was just kind of fun. I hope it gets revisited again.

Family Guy is the second stop into an hour and a half of Seth McFarlane programming, does anybody else wonder when he plans on sleeping?

American Dad: This series sure took it's knocks when it debuted but last nights season premiere shows how funny it can be. The Viet Nam reenactment piece was great as was Roger's subplot. Most likely my favourite show of the evening.

Over all I enjoyed the block and found it entertaining although I wonder if it will grind over time, apparently we are in for 35 episodes of "The Cleveland Show" whether we like it or not BTW.