This show had so much potential!! - That '80s Show (2002) Discussion

[–] turtleturk 12 years ago

You are correct----and it had done better over the same length of time when compared to That 70's Show (I like T7S as well). T8S show started as a "Fend For Yourself" 8pm show with no lead in to help it get started. That 70's Show premiered after a Super Bowl. Talk about getting some exposure help to get you started. Both shows had the same creators/producers and I've heard there was some bad back stage politics going on by then with them and Fox (I could be wrong). The show just never gotta legitimate shot because Fox kept moving it on the schedule and a show will never find an audience that way. Everyone was great on the show. I still can't believe Margaret Smith hasn't popped up on another sitcom over the years. She was perfect as the owner of Permanent Record. Loved it. Miss it.

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

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[–] RobBase086-1 12 years ago

I think you hit it on the nail that it did not get that much exposure and that FOX moving it from one scheduled time to another time slot people could not keep up with it at all. Plus, the dilemma was that if by chance they aired it on a Wednesday for example, at 7:00 at night and some other show that people loved to watch at the same time as when That 80's show was on then they would pick the show that they loved more to watch. Every network is known to do this because I have seen it happen ever since I first started watching TV at a young age.

Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com

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[–] nilbog_king 8 years ago

I honestly liked the characters on this show a lot, if they had just given it another season I reckon it would have hooked more viewers.

self-respect is simply the act of respecting your own wants and needs.

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[–] RobBase086-1 12 years ago

The problem is that people wanted to watch other things than this show and did not really give it a chance at all to be honest with you.

Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com

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[–] branenj001 12 years ago

It really felt like it started off as more of a parody of the 80s (like every other joke was OMG, this was in the 80s, HAHA, that 70s show was better at not so much poking it out there)but like you said, the plots were getting better and I really enjoyed it, despite the running 80s gags, they were more like a ton of random cliches that tried to hard.

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[–] RobBase086-1 12 years ago

I honestly believe that since this was done in 1990 they wanted to stick as close to the 80's as they could. It was like a transition into the 90's. See and that is what I miss about some of the things that they were doing with this show. I am glad that you agree that as the episodes were being made the plots were getting a lot better. I just think that the time slot back in 1990 when they had this on ran against a TV show on another major network that still had that drawing attention to it to where The Flash just could not get those people to drop from watching that show that was on at the same time. That is one theory of mine.

Plus, when they bounce from one time slot to another time slot in programming on a different day always made it hard for me if another show that I love to watch was on at the same time. That is why I remember when The Dukes Of Hazzard being on CBS was always on Friday nights at 7:00 when I was a kid from the time it started. I was a true loyal fan until NBC decided to move Knight Rider from its usual time slot of Sunday nights at 7:00 to place it on Friday nights at the same time as The Dukes Of Hazzard. It was very hard for me to decide on which show to watch. The TV show that won was Knight Rider and it was not soon after that The Dukes Of Hazzard was canceled. So, my point is that they did not place it in a very good day of the week or the right time to ceate a fan base in my opinion.

Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com

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[–] mikebourkefan 12 years ago

i loved the show and am still woundering if it is on dvd.fox cancelled it way to soon

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[–] RobBase086-1 12 years ago

I was watching this show when it first came out, but the problem is that FOX would not keep it in a very good time slot. Instead they would bounce this show around different days and at different times. This show did not get the exposure like That 70's Show did because I remember when That 70's Show premeired it was right after the Super Bowl. I am not sure if it is out on DVD yet, but I am sure they will eventually get it to come out on DVD though. I think FOX should have waited until after That 70's Show made its run and once it went off the air then put this show on to mark the 80's. They had it way too close to the 80's though in my opinion.

Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com

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[–] kolchak-thenightstalker 12 years ago

rob,

i'm a bit confused. what do you mean by "since this was done in 1990"? the show premiered in 2002. you mentioned The Flash. I remember that show. that was a cool show. i think a movie is coming out soon with The Flash.

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[–] RobBase086-1 12 years ago

Sorry about confusing you. That was not my intentions of doing that. I must have mistaken That 70's Show starting in the late 90's for That 80's Show starting in 2002. Yes that is going to be great to see The Flash come out in a feature film. I wonder if they will have John Wesley Shipp make an appearance in the film since he was the TV version of The Flash in the early 90's?

Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] enraged_bunny 12 years ago

To be honest I feel like this show would've been alright if it wasn't called That 80's Show. It had some pretty good plot ideas and potential.

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[–] hnt_dnl 12 years ago

Agreed. I just watched all 13 eps and you can really tell the cast was settling in to their characters comfortably and there was a lot of chemistry among the characters.

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[–] TuDiosEsMiBastardo 12 years ago

the only problem with the show was that it was too concentrated on the music scene and on dancing... and the fact that the Japanese guy was obsessed with dancing to stupid degrees spoiled everything... his character was not bad otherwise, and while Margaret was funny in attitude she was very ugly physically...

Personally I hated it how most episodes had somes scenes where they were dancing while things were happening, things seemed to false and dance-centric... another crappy thing is that the main character was so very mainstream...

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[–] hnt_dnl 12 years ago

Even though this show had it's funny moments, the jokes were kind of fairly standard, but I think more often than not, the jokes worked. I think T7S worked just because it became all about the characters, and situations and the fact that it was set in the 70s became totally secondary.

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[–] heading-for-the-disco 12 years ago

I remember when this show first came out and I was pretty excited about it, because I did love watching That 70's Show. But when they started moving it around from time slot to time slot, I kind of just gave up on it, which I think a lot of others did also. I also believe that if they would have waited to premiere the show after That 70's Show was done and over with, it might have gotten a bit more exposure. I think that was one of the big down falls. I would have probably still loved watching the show if it came out in 2006, after That 70's Show had it's long run.

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[–] scoup 12 years ago

I'm going to have to watch it again - it was really funny.

I still laugh when I think of the guy with the parachute pants sliding right off the couch.

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