If
you could have one more season of any TV show, which show would you choose?
That
was a question posted recently in a Facebook classic TV group. The responses ranged from Grizzly Adams to Family Ties to Knots Landing
(really? 14 seasons were not enough?), along with more
recent shows like Bates Motel and Longmire.
As
fans of the Comfort TV era one would think we’d want more episodes of all the
shows from that time. But let’s be honest – most of the classics said just
about everything they had to say before leaving the air. In fact, one could
argue that some should have quit earlier than they did.
Consider
how often the final season of a series was its weakest: Bewitched served up barely-rewritten versions of previous (and
better) episodes. Marriage and/or kids removed some of the magic from Get Smart and I Dream of Jeannie.
Multiple cast changes weakened The Waltons and Laugh-In and Happy Days
and Designing Women. Budget cuts and
the departures of several talented writers hastened Star Trek’s cancellation. Dallas
and Moonlighting were out of good
ideas even before their final seasons.
Other
classics maintained a high standard of quality right to the end: I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The
Mary Tyler Moore Show, That Girl,
The Bob Newhart Show, The Fugitive, Room 222, The Defenders, The Rockford Files. But I’m not sure I’d
want to gamble with their reputations by adding one more season that might fail
to measure up to its predecessors.
It’s
tempting to just look at shows with comparatively short runs, but that alone
should not be sufficient criteria for consideration. Much as I liked them all,
I’m fine with The Monkees quitting
after two seasons, The Patty Duke Show having
just three seasons, and The Partridge
Family parking the bus after season four.
All
that said, there certainly have been some shows that left us too soon. After
much contemplation, here is my list of five series that deserved (at least) one
more year.
The Courtship of Eddie’s
Father (1969)
Three Seasons, 73
Episodes
Of
the selected shows on my list this one lasted longest, but it still was not
enough for me. A fourth season would have had Brandon Cruz’s Eddie approaching
his teen years, which would have inspired rich story material to explore
between Eddie and Bill Bixby, whose Tom Corbett should be on every TV fan’s
list of the medium’s best dads.
Granted,
the show’s final season suffered a bit by playing more to James Komack’s
bohemian photographer Norman Tinker. But this would have been an easy
correction (“James, thanks for creating the show, but you’re not the reason
people are tuning in.”). I’d have welcomed more stories about Mrs. Livingston
when she wasn’t cooking and cleaning for the Corbetts – and perhaps a return
visit from Suzanne Pleshette as Valerie Bessinger, whose courtship with Eddie’s
father was the show’s most memorable.
Gidget (1965)
One Season, 32 Episodes
Gidget had the misfortune of
becoming a hit after it was canceled. Scheduled against The
Virginian and The Beverly Hillbillies,
the series was a flop the first time around, but the ratings soared in summer
reruns. By then it was too late to bring it back, so ABC did the next best
thing by casting Sally Field in a new series - The Flying Nun.
Gidget was and remains the better show, and Sally Field could not have
been more adorable as the sassy, surf-loving beach bunny.
Don Porter’s casting
was equally perfect as Gidget’s understanding father. At least we can be
grateful that back in 1965, a single TV season could produce 32 episodes. But
32 more would not just give us more Sally to treasure, it also would have kept
her out of the nun’s habit she hated for three years.
Harry O (1973)
Two Seasons, 45 Episodes
As
a huge David Janssen fan I would gladly watch more cases be solved by
downtrodden beachcomber detective Harry Orwell.
The
prickly friendship between Orwell and Anthony Zerbe as police lieutenant Trench
was still a delight to watch, as they both buried their mutual respect between
layers of open hostility. There were also memorable supporting turns from Les
Lannom as geeky sleuth Lester Hodges, and Farrah Fawcett as Harry’s neighbor
with benefits. But like The Fugitive
this is Janssen’s show all the way, and he carries every scene with a magnetism
that only the best TV stars attain.
Ellery
Queen (1975)
One
Season, 22 Episodes
After
creating one of TV’s greatest detectives in Columbo, Richard Levinson and
William Link introduced Ellery Queen to television, in the genial presence of
star Jim Hutton. Set in the 1940s, the series revolved around Queen assisting
his police detective father (David Wayne) on baffling murder mysteries. The
high point of each episode had Hutton turning to the camera and addressing the
audience at home, just before he cracked the case. “Have you figured it out?”
he’d ask, before reminding us of the suspects and the most important clues.
Rarely has it been more fun to match wits with the characters on screen.
In
addition to Hutton, who had a likable Jimmy Stewart quality, and the irascible
David Wayne, the series had a great supporting cast: John Hillerman as Simon
Brimmer, a supercilious radio personality and amateur sleuth who always guessed
wrong, and Ken Swofford as bulldog journalist Frank Flannigan. I wish I could
have spent more time in their company.
The
Green Hornet (1966)
One
Season, 26 Episodes
This Batman spin-off
was played with similar visual style but less camp, and is best remembered now
for Bruce Lee, who appeared opposite Van Williams as the Green Hornet’s
high-kicking chauffeur, Kato. It was the first time many Americans had seen
martial arts performed by a master, and the charismatic Lee insisted on
authenticity in the fight choreography.
The Green Hornet was a cult series from day one, and as such
was not likely to have a very long shelf life. But one more year would have put
the number of episodes over 50, which sounds about right. Given the shortness
of his subsequent film career, it would be wonderful to have more Bruce Lee
action scenes to enjoy.
Runners
Up:
My
World and Welcome To It (1969)
James
Thurber whimsy channeled through William Windom. It won Emmys but not viewers. Perhaps, like Cheers and The Dick Van Dyke
Show, it might have found an audience after a slow start had the network stuck with it.
Apple’s Way (1974)
Writer
Earl Hamner Jr.’s second attempt to create a hit series was not as successful
as The Waltons, though its premise is
one that might work better now: a family gets fed up living in gridlocked Los
Angeles and moves to a small rural town in Iowa.
The Secrets of Isis
(1975)
Just
22 episodes? Oh, mighty letdown!
