Last week, the football-centric sitcom The Game switched channels from The CW to BET. While the show hasn’t resurfaced online (yet?), The Game is enjoying better ratings since making the switch.
Being the pop-culture freaks that you are, I’m sure you’re aware that The Game isn’t the first show in the history of TV to make such a switch. Back in 2006, The WB and UPN merged. That merger saw favorites like Everybody Hates Chris, Veronica Mars, Smallville, and Supernatural, pack up and find solace in their new home, The CW.
While you may be aware of these higher profile switches, this list of “shows that moved on” might surprise you. Take a look:
This influential, work-place comedy featuring Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd began on ABC and stayed there for four years before moving to NBC for its final season. Before getting news about the pickup, DeVito hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live that featured him blowing up the ABC building in retaliation for being canceled. Check it out here.
This cult favorite began on a local TV studio in Minnesota before creator Joel Hodgson and friends made the move to Comedy Central. After Hodgson departed, the show stayed on with Mike Nelson as the “host“ before being canceled in 1997. Soon after this cancellation, an internet based write-in campaign (could this have been one of, if not THE first internet based campaign to bring a TV show back? Anybody out there know?) successfully brought the show to The Sci Fi Channel for an additional two years before finally ending in 1999.
Remember this short-lived animated comedy from the mid-90’s? Jon Lovitz voiced the titular character, a New York film critic coping with his family and career. Despite sharing writers and much of the same humor of The Simpsons, it lasted one season on ABC before being canceled. FOX swooped in to save it, where it went on to enjoy improved ratings, but was nevertheless canceled again after its second season. Like many of the best television shows, this one was put out to pasture long before its time. In 2001, ten web-exclusive episodes were created for AtomFilms. You can’t find legal copies of the episodes online, but they do appear on the complete series DVD. Also, IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THIS SHOW WAS MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE.
JAG (Judge Advocate General) was on the air for ten years. Take a moment and think about how long that is. Empires are created and destroyed within ten years. After its first season NBC canceled JAG, only to have it last nine more on CBS between 1997 and 2005.
Diff’rent Strokes is a series remembered for its “very special episodes” and catch phrases as well as the off-screen controversy and tragedy that continued to plague the actors long after the show ended. After seven years on NBC, it moved to ABC for a final season. Diff’rent Strokes ended before whatever Willis was talking about could be disclosed. As a side note, two unofficial TV movies detailing the rise and fall of the actors from the show were produced in the 2000’s. One of them, After Diff’rent Strokes: When the Laughter Stops, apparently features actor Todd Bridges as a drug dealer selling drugs to a fictional, younger version of Todd Bridges. Meta.
The State is an example of a series that came very close to getting a second home, but never did. After three seasons on MTV, the beloved sketch comedy show almost wound up at ABC as an alternative to Saturday Night Live. After that deal fell through, CBS offered to produce a series of specials featuring the talented cast that, if successful, would be converted into a series. Due to behind the scenes problems, the CBS deal also broke down. But hey, if The State kept going maybe we never would have gotten Wet Hot American Summer, Reno 911!, Stella, Wainy Days, and countless other projects from the minds behind this legendary sketch group. For that, we should be thankful.
What other notable shows have changed networks? Any favorites that I’ve left off? Let us know in the comments.
