We round out 1987 with five shows, all of which are dismal failures.
singles
The Kinescope Initiative 0148 /
A hit and two flops from 1987--guess which one involved The Pudding Guy.
The Kinescope Initiative 0140 /
A sitcom with a tragic coda, three bombs, and a failed spinoff take us from 1986 to 1987.
The Kinescope Initiative 0125 /
1984 wraps up with a teenage show (and a creepy backstory), along with two shows that crashed and burned.
The Kinescope Initiative 0117 /
Three more sitcoms of 1983--a flop, a second flop that somehow made it to syndication, and a knockoff of Diff'rent Strokes that somehow became a hit.
The Kinescope Initiative 0113 /
We wrap up 1982 with a remake, a return, and two bombs.
The Kinescope Initiative 0105 /
We kick off 1981 with a knockoff, a reboot, and two movie tie-ins.
The Kinescope Initiative 0104 /
We wrap up 1980’s sitcoms with a legends’s final hurrah and another about to become a legend.
The Kinescope Initiative 0102 /
Five flops from 1980, including a second try for Stockard Channing and an unfortunately timed Russo-American series.
The Kinescope Initiative 0101 /
A sequel, a spinoff, and an extension of Garry Marshall’s brand—just some of 1980’s flops.
The Kinescope Initiative 0095 /
An earworm of an opening theme and a spinoff are the bread of a 3 flop 1979 sandwich, with another bomb as a side dish.
The Kinescope Initiative 0094 /
It’s 1979, and we get three iterations of “Animal House” knockoffs, all of which implode.
The Kinescope Initiative 0088 /
More flops as we move from 1977 to 1978, with a witch and a sci-fi-spoof.
The Kinescope Initiative 0085 /
We have six bombs in a row from 1977.
The Kinescope Initiative 0084 /
A spinoff and a remake are the bread in a Frankenstein sitcom sammich.
The Kinescope Initiative 0083 /
We finally wrap up 1976 and move on to 1977, with four flops and a rare hit for NBC at the time.
The Kinescope Initiative 0081 /
1976’s run continues with two flops surrounding the "new girl in town".
The Kinescope Initiative 0079 /
We kick off 1976 with a flop, closely followed with a huge spinoff with gals who were “doing it their way”.
The Kinescope Initiative 0076 /
The networks strike out with four more 1975 sitcoms, with bad timing leading to an incident on Carson.
The Kinescope Initiative 0060 /
Two bombs from 1971, plus a certain ottoman tripper returns.