1977-78 Short-Lived TV Shows 

When I first saw the opening for the Hanna Barbera Happy Hour, I thought I was high.

Can't imagine the work that goes into these videos...Brings back a lot of memories from my junior high and high school days.

Watching this, no wonder I quit watching TV while at college in the late 70's.

at 22:37 an early Taco bell commercial. Patrick Duffy is the person working the window. too funny!

On Our Own comes in at an over all #30 and gets cancelled. harvey korman comes in at 15 and gets the axe! that is crazy. those shows probably brought in numbers that modern shows can not even dream of.

I was 10 years old in 1978, back when there were only the three big networks. Due to some merciful Act of God, nearly all these shows were wiped from my memory--until now!!

I really enjoy your channel and i like the way you edit the intros with the promos and commercials... well done👍

Anything that went against little house on the prairie was doomed to fail I noticed

Little House on the Prairie was a frigging juggernaut this season!

While Redd Foxx was failing on his own, his old sitcom, retooled as "The Sanford Arms", was flopping as well.

The little girl in Mulligan’s Stew was also Tracy on The Partridge Family.

Your videos are very well researched and put together. I really get a lot of enjoyment out of them. Great work!

I remember Sugar Time--but all the rest saw it as a forgotten show! Could have lasted until at least 1986.

I find it fascinating that a careful observer can see the difference between the video titling systems of the major networks. Like the titles for the NBC Chuck Barris show are clearly from the same graphics system as the early titles on SNL or in The Rutles movie. ABC and CBS also had distinctive looks/fonts.

Richard Pryors show only lasted for 4 episodes because he kept getting censored and after appearing basically nude in the final episode he told the executives to stick it...

The Freshen Up gum commercial @ 42:15 starring Beverly Archer followed by the promo for the failed Beverly Archer series We've Got Each Other is so 70's TV

I love how you show a commercial with someone who is in the following show and guess what show is coming up😂

I had a stroke that year-I was 13. Severe (and I mean severe) abuse and neglect will do that to a child. I am struggling to remember most of this… but I have to try to revive my memory somehow..

Just discovered your channel and it’s awesome content. Appreciate the care and fun you put into your posts.

Mithcell Ryan: Working Actor, he never phoned it in. RIP Mitch.

Thank you for making these videos they are very entertaining

TNT had an awesome commercial for Logan's Run when they aired reruns in the '90s: "Because life really is over when you're thirtysomething."

On Our Own wins its time slot…and gets cancelled. Brutal!

The fact that “Sugar Time” flopped, then was brought back and flopped again proves there’s hope for humanity.

Helen Hunt was instantly recognizable even as a young teenage girl.

I sure enjoy spending time with your work. Thanks again.

This is really great stuff. Thank you for the memories. Some of these I don't even remember...😀

This is AMAZING!! About 89% of these shows I've never heard of before. I was in Jr. High, and I must've been too busy for prime time that year. I remember some show titles and certainly many of the actors, but I certainly didn't put any of these shows on my schedule. Thanks for posting this. I do remember they tried soooooooooo hard to get Suzanne Sullivan in to a successful, prime time show. Guest spots (and many of them on commercials) was almost all she could achieve.

That Master Charge commercial with Don Galloway and Patti Deutsch was a hoot!

Great work! I know this took a lot of time. Thank you!

I'm impressed at how few of these shows I recall. "Quark", "The Man From Atlantis" and "Logan's Run" primarily, plus oh yeah, "James At 15."

The Fitzpatricks went up against Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. Dead. Show. Walking.

Awesome topics man. Thanks for your hard work 😊

I'm 7:55 into the video and I'm noticing a theme for why none of these shows stood a chance. Thing is if Little House were to air today I don't think I could sit through an episode but when I was seven my eves were glued to the television. We really did take what we could get back then and we appreciate every second of it.

I'm 60+ yrs old & I don't remember seeing any of these shows, I was probably getting ready for midnight shift or out at night in my '72 SS Chevelle.😀

“Rosetti and Ryan” - the story of two guys who get law degrees so they can hang around the courthouse and gawk at women.

I remember the commercials more than some of the shows or actors!

During the 1977-78 television season I can remember our family watching "Quark," "Logan's Run," and "Husbands, Wives & Lovers" (parents watched it, I was sent to my room during the show). Thanks again for the wonderful memories!

I was 10 years old and had the biggest crush on Lance Kerwin. It was painful😍💘 May he R.I.P

There was a mall near me that had a picture of Beth Armstrong on the wall until the '90s along with other hairstyles. Always reminded me of this.

I was a senior in high school. I only remember and watched 2 shows out of the whole bunch! LOL

Thanks again for the memories, both good and bad…I started my senior year of high school in August of 1977 then my dad passed away in September of that year. My TV watching had become sporadic, but I still tried for what the critics or my mom and sister wanted to watch (also some of my critics….😮). I remember trying for Richard Pryor but only caught one show before the infamous network shuffle. PBS carried “I Claudius” on “Masterpiece Theater “ that year which drew my eye away from Network TV programming. Some short lived shows I remember watching were “A man from Atlantis” , “The Class of 65”, “Logan’s Run”. The disappointments: “Fish” “Sanford Arms” “Redd Fox Show” . Allot of the shows you shown I just don’t remember, or were so-bad my mind blanked out…😂! Have a great day!

You compile your videos with such care. 'no need to ask he's a smooth operator... smooth operator' Great stuff.

Tabitha: Robert Urich was acting in this show and Soap at the same time. His wife Heather Menzies was starring in Logan's Run. "The marriage was going straight to hell," he said. "Neither of us were too broken up when her series got canceled." (Tabitha was also csnceled, and he was killed off on Soap.)

I remember some of these shows, I was fifteen at the time. I remember we would start to get interested in a show, then it would get canceled. 📺

Others have already said this, but I think “James at 15/16” was probably the best of these shows, sensitively and thoughtfully written. It deserved a happier fate than one season. And a personal sidenote about the star of one of these shows: I grew up down the street from Mel Tillis and his family, though I only remember seeing him in person once.

Surprised Suzanne Crough got cast on another family show after Partridge Family.

YES, I been waiting to see this one. The year I turned 9 a few weeks after the start of new seasons.

I don't know if anybody else has said about the San Pedro Beach Bums..."Football, you bet."

Nothing can touch THREE'S COMPANY FOR A SITCOM DURING THAT TIME.... THE 70'S WERE A BEAUTIFUL DECADE ❤❤❤❤❤😂

I was only a few months old when these aired: now that I've seen these intros, I wish I could see the shows.

there are some massive deep cuts from my childhood in this video. I love it

I forgot how many spectacularly bad TV shows there were back then, especially on NBC. I thought "James at 15/16" was a good show, and I was in love with Kim Richards. I was one of the 37 people who watched the "San Pedro Beach Bums." It is fascinating how NBC survived the 70s and then became a powerhouse in the 80s and 90s.

Tony Roberts was also a regular on the "CBS Mystery Theater" Radio Program around that same time

Not as many cop or action shows. I vaguely remember “Quark” but otherwise, don’t remember even hearing about these others. Fun to go back, though, and see the trends back then and the actors. A very enjoyable investment of 45 minutes. 👏🏼

I saw Baby I’m back several years ago in reruns and I liked it.

"MULLIGAN'S STEW" threw me for a loop when it debuted because there was a 1972 an educational show still airing in reruns on my PBS station called "MULLIGAN STEW". Ultimately, I watched neither show.

"James At 15" was a great show-Too bad NBC cancelled it.

Another amazing collection of shows great job Rob. James at 15 was a quality show with a top performance from Lance kerwin. The Ted Knight show looked like an accident waiting to happen. Helen Hunt in The Fitzpatrick 's was probably to close to Mulligan 's stew they cancelled each other out.

I also noticed The Man from Atlantis was still on while Patrick Duffy already was on Dallas

I started working 3rd shift in 1977 and did so until October 1978, so all of these shows I never saw.

I was 14 during this TV season. I can remember checking out the various series starring former cast members of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," so I'm sure I watched at least one episode each of "The Betty White Show" and "The Ted Knight Show." I'm pretty sure I caught an episode or two of "Rosetti And Ryan" as well. The one show in this list that we watched regularly was "James At 15." I can even remember the episode in which he had his birthday and the "15" was crossed out and replaced with "16." I had forgotten that it only lasted for one season. That Freshen Up gum commercial looks really familiar, too.

Redd Foxx left Sanford & Son for his variety show, S&S kept going on, the variety show fails, he goes BACK to Sanford & Son, son Lamont leaves for his show which bombs then tRedd leaves again and they try Sanford Arms which also bombs. What a ride.

In 1971-2, there were seven full season series and 14 half season... This season we had 2 full season 11 half. TV got worse instead of better just in the 70s, sheesh.

I was a teen through the 70s and they had new shows every week it seemed. Some shows you saw 2,3 times and that was it.

I never ever heard of any of this tv shows at all.

Amazing comp, and big thanks for the explainers between show trailers. The commercials were nice, too (Freshen Up was real, younguns, a gum with goop inside, lol). I wish I could help you with "We've Got Each Other", except that I've seen this trailer before, I think from the RwDt09 channel you cite in the Description. Nothing useful to add except that the writers and producers must've learned the limits of how much America was going to tolerate "realistic-looking", hideous people in a romantic dramedy. That these shows failed is unsurprising. Only one show, "Quark", stands out as something that coulda been a contender. I think it was supposed to be a cynical "Star Trek", and it might've worked if it hadn't been for the Osmonds and Wonder Woman. Which leads me to my next remark: TV was clearly in a holding pattern, waiting for the 70s to end, waiting for the fascination with the Osmonds to end, waiting for variety shows to die, waiting for people to tire of "Happy Days", "Laverne & Shirley", and all things late 50s/early 60s. Well, it wasn't THIS year. Yeah, "Star Wars" was new and influential, but space stuff was expensive (hence the failure of "Quark", no doubt). Elements of a few of these shows, however, would find life in much later TV series. The two that stood out for me: "James at 15 (16)" and "Whatever Happened to the Class of '65?" The 80s and 90s would mine the "realistic look at teenagers" vein to varying degrees of success. "Class of '65" is the grubby, unemployed dad to shows like "Family Ties", "thirtysomething", and "The Wonder Years". But most of these shows are reheated ideas, like 3-day-old leftovers. I counted at least 4 shows about Young Women Making It On Their Own, the network geniuses evidently forgetting that "Mary Tyler Moore" spent the past 7 years doing just that and was no longer even in the Top 20 by the time the show hurriedly quit before it got cancelled. Shows about 19th century rural America were rapidly going out of vogue as the decade wore on. Variety shows were having death gurgles in their forgotten beds. But most of these shows were the things I just described. And you know what? It got worse next year!

I've read some stories on how the ratings worked before the internet era. One thing that came up was if a show was successful but lost audience, it might get moved to another night or cancelled. If the show at 8 pm gets 10 million viewers but your show at 8:30 gets 7 million viewers, that might seem good because 7 million might mean you're number one at 8:30. But in reality it means one third of the network's audience is leaving when your show starts. That might cause the network to cancel your show.

Splendid Years~Splendid Memories...

Betty White @8:00. Boy tv shows had long intros and theme songs that doesn’t hold up today.

Just couldn't beat Little House. Or Happy Days/Laverne and Shirley. It's funny how the "rural purge" really didn't last that long, with The Waltons and Little House being monster hits. It just morphed into dramas from comedy. Most of these appear to be wannabes of other hits. And trying to repeat the magic of the Mary Tyler Moore Show/Barney Miller/All in the Family with former cast members. NBC low point.

I think some of them where a lot better than the reality shows that they have now

I'd watch Beverly Archer in anything, but she was a character actress. In street clothes, her resemblance to Billie Jean King made the casting of Beverly in a romantic comedy a bit suspect.

I had a subscription to Dynamite magazine. I remember the issue with Logan's Run on the cover.

What I miss with shows now is they don’t have theme songs like they did on the 70a and 80s.

You had to go outside, then clean up, eat, watch an hour of tv then go to bed, school..... You could hear it though till you went to sleep...

As a 13 yr old I definitely remember Sugar Time .

the another day theme song sounds like a paul williams composition with him on vocals,well done

"We've Got Each Other," cause no one else would have us.

We all know what happened with Patrick Duffy- from “Man From Atlantis” to “Dallas”! The Master Charge commercial (before it became Master Card) featured Patti Deutsch- who was featured on many game shows in the ‘70’s and would later do voice work on “The Wild Thornberry’s” Richard Benjamin was already very well known in the late ‘60’s doing work with his wife, Paula Prentiss. Mel Tillis was a big-time Country singer- but he also had a severe stuttering issue when he talked, which would disappear when he sang! This lead to a popularity in research on speech. “Logan’s Run” was an early vehicle for Gregory Harrison, who would go on to do “Trapper John, M.D.” opposite Pernell Roberts. Beverly Archer did loads of commercials, usually typecast as a teacher or librarian. She also played Iola on “Mama’s Family” opposite Vicki Lawrence, Ken Berry and Dorothy Lyman. David Groh was best known as Joe on “Rhoda” opposite Valerie Harper, Julie “Marge Simpson” Kavner, Nancy Walker, Harold Gould, and Lorenzo “Garfield” Music.

I remember " baby I'm back" I watched the first show and gave up on it.

I listen to Golden Age of Radio programs online. I would love to see a channel which completely followed the scheduled line up of the Networks over the years

The odds of being in a hit show are horrendously bad. First, the pilot you are in has to be picked up. Then it has to not be cancelled after 5 episodes. Then if it makes it through a complete season it has to be renewed. In some years the new shows get cancelled fast. Serials are left hanging and shows that networks had high hopes for (remember "Blood and Oil" with Don Johnson in 2016?) drop like flies. "What happened to the class of 65" was based on a non-fiction book. "Quark" is on DVD and has a cult following now. "Logans Run" with Heather Menzies in that pink miniskirt is (or was) on Tubi and is on DVD. It had definite possibilities but apparently audiences weren't interested.

I always think of the mom on My So Called Life as the actress from On Our Own!

i remember a lot of these: Tabitha, Logan's Run, Man from Atlantis, Quark, Class of '65,

I would like to offer my apologies to the creators of these shows for watching so much Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley.

Of all the short live TV shows featured in this video, I do remember watching 31:44 Quark. The sci-fi comedy started off strong with a really good quasi-parody of Star Wars for its pilot episode. Unfortunately, the series never lived-up to its early expectations of wacky sci-fi comedy/parody. Like "Spaceballs" for example. While the series was never bad, a lot of the humor just fell flat in the following episodes, and it just wasn't consistently funny enough to keep you tuned-in every week.

The only shows from this group my family watched regularly were Logan's Run and Quark. We may have watched an episode of some of the others, but most of these were complete unknowns.

For me Tony Roberts is so talented that he gets blanket amnesty for any inferior work he is in

Ted Knight, Betty White, Georgia Engel and Mary Tyler Moore all had flop series post-MTM. Gavin MacCleod had much better luck with his post-MTM series The Love Boat. Meanwhile, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman and Ed Asher already had successful spin-offs.

I was a big Quark fan!

Baby...I'm Back, a show in which the African-American "hero" is a compulsive gambler and cad who walked out on his family, and only returned after seven years because his wife declares him legally dead so that she can remarry. Try creating THIS show in the 21st Century!

The Sugar Time intro music sounded like a typical porno flick from back then.

All those shows, and I think I only watched the first episode of 'the Man from Atlantis'

What Really Happened To The Class Of 65 was a good show

James at 15, Man From Atlantis and Baby I’m Back were good shows

The Oregon Trail...died of dysentry.

James Komack was sure given a lot of chances.

The San Pedro Beach Bums!

I really enjoyed James at 15…and 16. I was actually sad when it ended. Not long after that, a show called Friends premiered…not THE friends….but another one, about 3 kids who were around 12 or 11. I liked that one too…but it was short lived as well.