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ONE SEASON WONDERS: The Monroes

On Wednesdays, I look at shows that lasted one season or less. Today I am looking at 1990s flop The Monroes!

THE MONROES









Programming Details:
September 12, 1995 - October 19, 1995
6 episodes
ABC

 Starring: William Devane, Susan Sullivan, David Andrews, Steven Eckholdt, Cecil Hoffmann, Darryl Theirse, Tracy Griffith, Tristan Tait, Lynn Clark
Created by: Rick Kellard

Plot: A primetime soap centered on a very ambitious and powerful political family. John Monroe (Devane) is a power broker running for Governor of Maryland. The rest of his family includes supportive wife Kathryn (Sullivan), Congressman son (Andrews), attorney daughter Greer (Hoffman), former astronaut son Steven (Eckholdt), and photographer daughter Ruby (Griffith).

Brief Pilot Review:
Before there were the Roys of Succession, there were The Monroes. This is such a 90s-era version of a wealthy family soapy drama. It's not as opulent or ridiculous as the 80s ones like Dynasty and Knots Landing (also starring Devane) but it's also not as biting or sharp as more recent ones, most notably Succession, have been. It had a pretty decent pilot and the characters were well defined and decently performed. Each character definitely had their chance to be in the spotlight so it didn't feel cluttered. But it just felt sort of boring. 

The stakes felt pretty low for being a drama about a family that deals so often with very high stakes. It just felt way too gentle and I think it was missing those other elements I mentioned (either ridiculousness or bite). I think a big reason was Devane needed to be a bigger personality in the lead role, he was far too gentle for such a powerful and potentially scandal-ridden figure. For a 90s era drama, the production quality was pretty good though not the best (this was a year after ER changed the game after all). But I know mid 90s dramas were able to have better writing than this.
What Went Wrong:
This was the second failed drama called The Monroes in TV history. There was a frontier drama of the same name that aired in the 1966-67 season and starred a young Barbara Hershey among others. This version of The Monroes was part of an ABC attempt to take back some audience on the NBC dominated Thursday night. They tried three new dramas which seems like a suicide mission in hindsight. Their big gun was Murder One, which was heading to 10pm after airing its first couple episodes in the Tuesday 10pm NYPD Blue slot. Meanwhile, The Monroes and Mark Harmon drama Charlie Grace ventured out on Thursdays.

The night was a disaster. So much so that the three dramas only aired together twice. Murder One finally came over to Thursdays on October 12 and then The Monroes and Charlie Grace were yanked from the lineup after their October 19 airing. Soon, Murder One was pulled from the night too and it was back to the drawing board for ABC. The unaired episodes of The Monroes never saw the light of day and it was quickly forgotten but wealthy and powerful family dramas have never gone out of style for TV networks and streamers looking for prestige plays.

Tomorrow: A look at the second and final season of F Troop!
Next Wednesday: A look at 2000s flop Accidentally on Purpose!
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