Why it didn't last?

I hope that once they (the networks and/or producers of shows) get all of the kinks details worked out with youtube and the like, they can get obscure shows out to the public because they won't really have to invest new money to make them available as downloads. They don't have to worry about production costs like packaging, marketing, shipping, etc.... They can just make their specific back catalog of shows not available on DVD available for download. Cost wouldn't be much more than someone loading the episodes on a computer somewhere. With very little cost to them, they could feed the obscure TV junkies Monster out there. They could probably get away with charging more for the obscure stuff, listing it as some sort of specialty product. Stuff like It's Like, You Know, Partners (w/ Jon Cryer), Bob, The Royal Family (w/ Redd Foxx), The John Larroquette Show, The Good Life (w/ Drew Carey) and the list goes on and on. There is no reason that they couldn't put these obscure shows out this way. They just wouldn't be money making as DVD's because of their obscurity, but with the low cost this way, I think that they would make a pile of money compared to cost. The audience for these shows is smaller, but are more passionate and willing to buy. They could probably get away with charging DVD rates for these shows as downloads. The only marketing they would need is someone starting a thread on each show's board at IMDB. I've been rambling long enough. Take care.

"It's not the ups and downs that make life difficult, it's the jerks." Charles Chaplin

abc canned it because of who wants to be a millionaire? plain and simple
they ended up putting it on three nights a week...and putting the half hour sitcoms that were already hits into pairs of two.....meaning they only had room for six sitcoms on their sked over three nights (tues, wed, and fri)and because of their focus on getting millionaire on as many nights as they could some solid sitcoms fell by the wayside....


they weeded out the shows that either weren't already solid hits for the network like drew carrey show, dharma and greg, and spin city....or shows that showed very early promise with their ratings (two guys a girl and a pizza place, and the norm mcdonald show---both shows got very promising ratings their first year or two out but then flatlined when abc tried to move them both to friday nights with millionaire as a lead-in.) that was five shows...they had room left for one more show and sadly for us they chose to keep sports night instead of this one. (it made sense for abc to keep sports night since abc was getting a looooot of praise for sports night even if it never made a dent in the ratings so they chose to keep that one low rated but critically approved show rather then this one)

this one prob would have been kept for at least one more year if millonaire hadn't taken off the way it did. (although the fact that abc chose to dump this one prob indicated they didn't really care either way)