After this week, there will be a two week break on the blog for the holidays so the next Wednesday "One Season Wonders" post will be on January 6.
Programming Details:
September 15, 1995 - February 17, 1996
18 episodes
ABC
Starring: Marie Osmond, Betty White, Ashley Johnson, Amy Hill, Craig Ferguson
Created by: Michael Jacobs, Bob Young & Susan Estelle Johnson
Plot: Julia Wallace (Osmond) is a recent divorcee running a bakery with her mother, Shirley (White) while also trying to raise her daughter Gracie (Johnson).
September 15, 1995 - February 17, 1996
18 episodes
ABC
Created by: Michael Jacobs, Bob Young & Susan Estelle Johnson
Plot: Julia Wallace (Osmond) is a recent divorcee running a bakery with her mother, Shirley (White) while also trying to raise her daughter Gracie (Johnson).
I think perhaps the first episode that aired (and that I watched) was not the actual pilot because the second episode was titled "Maybe This Time," which sounds like a first episode title since it's the same as the show. Either way, the first episode that aired gave me a good idea of what the show was like. This was a show with a winning cast but not winning writing or performances. Betty White can only do so much and they didn't give her much to work with making this a pretty forgettable blip on White's stellar career. They just didn't give her character any sort of edge or bite, which is White's specialty.
Marie Osmond has had a lot of success in a variety of formats, but she's pretty bland as a sitcom lead. And Ashley Johnson was pretty terrible and in an awkward stage (a scene she shared with Betty White at the start of the episode involved everything terrible about precocious 90s sitcom kids). Craig Ferguson is oddly used as a "man candy" type role which seems completely playing against type for the goofy Ferguson. Spoiler, it doesn't work.
What Went Wrong:
Maybe This Time was part of a new comedy block that ABC was trying to establish on Saturday nights in the Fall of 1995. Unlike now, networks actually were still trying original programming on Saturdays but it was well past the time of massive hits like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family airing on the night. By the mid 90s, the only lineups that really worked on the night were old skewing ones like CBS's lineup bookended by Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Walker, Texas Ranger. Dr. Quinn also provided formidable competition for the family audience.
Maybe This Time aired at 8:30pm following another new family sitcom, The Jeff Foxworthy Show. Both shows had preview episodes in more desirable slots with Maybe This Time airing the night before as part of TGIF. So despite the efforts by ABC to get these shows going, they were doomed in their sleepy Saturday slot. They trudged along for several months. Foxworthy was actually yanked first and replaced by Hudson Street, but the whole comedy hour was shelved by March. Both shows were cancelled by ABC but Foxworthy got a reprieve and was picked up by NBC for a second season. Of course White, Osmond and Ferguson have all had varying degrees of success before and since so this is a pretty forgotten career moment for all three of them.
Tomorrow: A look at the fourth season of That 70s Show!
Wednesday in 3 Weeks: A look at 2000s flop That 80s Show!
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