Brady Bunch Variety Hour Week: The Kroftettes

 

Brady Bunch Variety Hour Week: Sid & Marty Krofft

 

Brady Bunch Variety Hour Week: Fake Jan

 

Brady Bunch Variety Hour Week: Robert Reed

 

Brady Bunch Variety Hour Week: Sherwood Schwartz

 

Jeopardy Tuesdays: The Answer!

 

Norman Lear produced all of those shows, though he refused to put his name on The Facts of Life, and begged NBC to cancel it after the first season.

Jeopardy Tuesday!

 

(Come Back at 6PM PDT for the answer!)

FIRED! Adam Sandler

Saturday Night Live was almost canceled three times in its record breaking run. The first time was in 1980 when the new cast never caught on with viewers and Charles Rocket dropped an F Bomb. The second time was in 1986 when Lorne Michaels' return to the show provided less than stellar results. The third time was in 1995.

 

Phil Hartman was ready to move on. The show's Saturday night dominance was being challenged by Fox's Mad TV and its ratings were down. NBC was ready to lower the axe. With Johnny Carson gone from The Tonight Show and Jay Leno more of a company man, the time was possibly right to bring Tonight Show reruns back to Saturday night. They wouldn't produce higher ratings, but they'd be much cheaper. Lorne Michaels set to work to convince skeptical NBC executives to renew the show.

Regardless of their future popularity, NBC was unimpressed with Lorne's cast and wanted them all fired- Lorne had to choose between his cast or his show. He chose the show. David Spade, Chris Farley- pretty much everyone except for Tim Meadows. Even Adam Sandler was shown the door; unceremoniously fired from the show.

FIRED! Shannon Doherty

Shannon Doherty holds a special spot on our dishonor roll- she was actually fired twice from two high priority roles.

 

Her first lost role was on Beverly Hills 90210. Other than Married... With Children and The Simpsons, 90210 was one of Fox's biggest hits. The cast enjoyed huge salaries and even had a toy line. Rather than enjoy her newfound success, Ms. Doherty soon became a pain to work with, reporting to set late and making ridiculous demands. When she insisted on a car to drive her across the street during a shoot the network had enough. Ms. Doherty was fired, her character going to study overseas and never returning. Unwilling to accept any blame for her situation, Shannon claimed, of all things, that Fox fired her because of her conservative views. 

By 1998, Shannon had somewhat repaired her bad reputation. The WB Network would come calling, casting her in the drama Charmed. This time, Shannon promised she would behave, but it didn't last. She soon ran afoul of her co-stars and the network. Rather than let things get too bad, The WB chose to nip the problem in the bud. Shannon was quickly fired- again.

FIRED! Brett Butler

In the 1990's, ABC found great success with a formula it created in the late 1980's- find a popular stand upcomic then build a sitcom around them. It worked originally with Roseanne Barr, then Tim Allen, Drew Carey and even Brett Butler.

 

Brett Butler's southern charm and dry wit transferred well to television and her show was successful. Ms. Butler, however, had a substance abuse problem that resulted in her taking control in the worst way possible- by ordering the firing of the man who created it. Behind the scenes, she engaged in boorish behavior, exposing her breasts to the young man who played her son. (He was replaced by an older actor the next season.) Soon Ms. Butler's behavior became too bad to ignore. Production on Grace Under Fire halted while she dried out in a network required drug rehab.

Things seemed to get better the second time around. A stronger supporting cast was introduced to lessen the stress on Ms. Butler. Everything unraveled at a taping of the show. While a contingent of network executives watched, Brett flew into a rage at a production assistant, throwing items and using profanity in front of the live studio audience. This was the last straw. She was fired and her show was canceled.

FIRED! John Amos

When Norman Lear first approached John Amos and Esther Rolle to play the leads in a comedy about the projects, they were ecstatic. Mr. Lear was considered to be a Titan of television whose productions often shone a serious light on important issues. Truly, this opportunity would produce Good Times for all involved.

 

Their joy quickly turned sour. Audiences seemed to embrace the buffoonish JJ who was played by Jimmy Walker. Rather than concentrate on the serious topics that Mr. Amos and Ms. Rolle were originally promised, the show became The JJ Dyn-o-mite Show! Amos and Rolle expressed their anger to CBS, sitting things out and halting production on the show. The network decided to offer the duo raises to get them to return. They both agreed, though the network had a change of heart when it came to John Amos. With at least one parental unit locked down to return, they decided to make an example of Mr. Amos. He was fired from the show and his character killed off. Good Times indeed.

Fired! Suzanne Somers

Getting fired can be an embarrassing thing. Imagine if you're fired in a hugely public way where everyone knows it happened? It happens in the world of television more often than you'd think.

 

In the 1970's, ABC was firing on all cylinders. Happy Days, Love Boat, Charlie's Angels, Laverne and Shirley and many other hits made people forget about how ABC had begun life as a third wheel also-ran to the biggies. One of its biggest hits was Three's Company, a jiggle fest featuring two hot young ladies "shacking up" with a young man. The biggest star to come from the show was Suzanne Somers, who provided plenty of eye candy and the jiggliest jiggles. 

Despite signing a contract, Ms. Somers began to feel that she was owed a lot more than ABC was paying her. She staged a sick out to prove how important she was to the show. Rather than reward her by giving into her demands, ABC decided to make an example of her. When Suzanne returned, she was relegated to being away, only seen as calling in from time to time. Eventually she was released from her contract, replaced with a new blonde. The situation was deadly for Ms. Somers' career. She would eventually apologize to ABC for her behavior, though that might have been because she wanted a role on the network's TGIF sitcom Step By Step.

Nickelodeon's Orlando Folly

 

All in the Family Ruse

 

The Famous Mr. Eds

 

A Five Year Journey

 

WKRP Regrets

 

TV Facts: A True Blue Castmember

 

TV Facts: A Costly Error

 

TV Facts: Gordie Howe is Woodrow