# Series's that were "re-tooled" after season one and then died.



## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

Harry's Law, and Human Target are prime examples. I enjoyed both season one's of the shows and then someone decided to make changes and the shows died during season two.

What brings this up? Watching Transporter the series. Season one loved it. Just saw the first ep from season two. Maybe it will grow on me.


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## JMikeD (Jun 10, 2002)

DouglasPHill said:


> Harry's Law, and Human Target are prime examples. I enjoyed both season one's of the shows and then someone decided to make changes and the shows died during season two.
> 
> What brings this up? Watching Transporter the series. Season one loved it. Just saw the first ep from season two. Maybe it will grow on me.


Re: _Transporter_ - Yeah, I'm disappointed that they killed off Dieter and that Carla is gone. It's lost a good deal of its appeal for me. Maybe Dieter's twin brother will show up. Frank needs someone to fix his cars.

_Human Target_ is a good example... the first season was watchable, the second dropped off my Season Pass list pretty quickly.

I can't think of any other series where this happened between the first and second seasons.


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## caslu (Jun 24, 2003)

Dark Angel... very entertaining first season, miserable second season and cancelled.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

The 1988 War of the Worlds, huge shift in the show from S01 to S02, then it was gone.

I actually came into the thread to suggest Human Target as a prime example but congrats on the OP mentioning it


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

The Gil Gerard-Erin Gray version of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" was all post-nuclear war, Earth-based in season 1, with Pamela Hensley's Princess Ardala as the main antagonist, and then all of a sudden, season 2 took place on some kind of starship traveling through space. Even the robot sounded different.

If you count "Galactica 1980" as a re-tooling of the original "Battlestar Galactica," then that would be another good example, although I suppose it's better characterized as a spin-off.

***

On the flip side, one of the few examples of a successful re-tool was "JAG," which started on NBC with Andrea Parker (later, Miss Parker on "The Pretender") as the co-star in the pilot, to be replaced by Tracey Needham in season 1. NBC did not renew "JAG," but then CBS swooped in to save it from cancellation. Season 2 debuted in the mid-season, but Needham was gone, with Catherine Bell joining the cast as Sarah MacKenzie, and with previous guest stars John Jackson and Patrick Labyorteaux getting promoted to regulars. Good moves, as it lasted nine more seasons!


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Usually when a show is re-tooled for a second season, it means it was poorly rated and on the verge of cancellation and the changes were made as a condition of the network agreeing to order another season. So while you may not like the re-tooling, in almost all cases, it was either that or no more episodes at all. The fact that most of these re-tooled shows don't survive to season 3 has little to do with the re-tooling and much more to do with the fact that hardly anyone was watching in the first place.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

"Breaking In," a Christian Slater series on FOX, was a relatively recent example. Now, granted, as Devdog points out, it wasn't exactly a ratings winner, but the retooling just made it nearly unwatchable for the second season.


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## allan (Oct 14, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> Usually when a show is re-tooled for a second season, it means it was poorly rated and on the verge of cancellation and the changes were made as a condition of the network agreeing to order another season. So while you may not like the re-tooling, in almost all cases, it was either that or no more episodes at all. The fact that most of these re-tooled shows don't survive to season 3 has little to do with the re-tooling and much more to do with the fact that hardly anyone was watching in the first place.


The problem is, when they make major changes to a show, they're likely to lose their existing viewers. Both of them!


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## FACTAgent (Aug 28, 2013)

Season 1 was very cerebral and somewhat mystical, season 2 was an action show. Two characters were eliminated and two new characters introduced.


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## pgogborn (Nov 11, 2002)

Boomtown.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

Anyone remember "Grapevine?" Six episodes in 1992 and brought back in 2000 for five.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

DouglasPHill said:


> *Series's* that were "re-tooled" after season one and then died.


"Series's"? Really?   LOL!


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

Dragnet w/Ed O'Neill. I was one of the few that really liked it in S1. Then they changed it up and nobody liked S2.


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## kdmorse (Jan 29, 2001)

There's always "War of the Worlds". Although almost nobody watched the first season - even fewer watched the second...


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## ClutchBrake (Sep 5, 2001)

pgogborn said:


> Boomtown.


A shame, that one. Fantastic show. I wonder if it would do better today on a network like FX. It was ahead of its time.

Neal McDonough will always be David McNorris to me.


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## Craigbob (Dec 2, 2006)

kdmorse said:


> There's always "War of the Worlds". Although almost nobody watched the first season - even fewer watched the second...


I enjoyed War of the Worlds. And yes the 1st season was better. But I'm one of those who stuck it out till the end.


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## awsnyde (May 11, 2007)

I can't believe no one has mentioned "Bob", the third of the self-titled Bob Newhart shows.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> ... The fact that most of these re-tooled shows don't survive to season 3 ...


My guess is that is not a fact, that more retooled shows make it to a season three than do not.

The effort to retool may indicate an underlying unusual committment to make an unpopular show work, or the retooling may be to an adequately-performing show with concept or personnel issues, e.g. Mission Impossible, Mannix, Life of Riley, etc.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

lambertman said:


> Dragnet w/Ed O'Neill. I was one of the few that really liked it in S1. Then they changed it up and nobody liked S2.


One of the few Dick Wolfe failures, I'm still disappointed it's not on DVD, I'd buy it to rewatch.

If you liked it you might want to look for Big Apple, same time frame also with Ed O'Neil as a NYC cop, chock full of awesome supporting actors.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

awsnyde said:


> I can't believe no one has mentioned "Bob", the third of the self-titled Bob Newhart shows.


BTW the retooling of "Newhart" (I would call switching from tape to film a major change, certainly a huge change in look at that time) is an example of many successful ones.

Also BTW, there were four.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

I can think of a few retoolings, but I think they all took place in midseason:

_Tattinger's_ was an hour-long drama which was turned into the half-hour sitcom _Nick & Hillary_. This may be the only one where the change was made between seasons.

_The Powers of Matthew Star_ got rid of Matthew's girlfriend (played by Amy Steele, who I think left to do _For Love & Honor_) and became much more of a science fiction series.

A few other shows were retooled and changed their name, to no avail:
_Together We Stand_ became _Nothing is Easy_
_Spencer_ became _Under One Roof_


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## Balzer (Nov 12, 2006)

DouglasPHill said:


> Harry's Law, and Human Target are prime examples. I enjoyed both season one's of the shows and then someone decided to make changes and the shows died during season two.


Totally agree on Harry's Law. The first season was interesting and quirky, with the small law office in a shoe store..

The second season, they were conveniently moved upstairs from the shoe store, into a large law office... And it became just another run-of-the-mill law show. Nothing special. My SP was deleted shortly into season 2.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

That Don Guy said:


> _The Powers of Matthew Star_ got rid of Matthew's girlfriend (played by Amy Steele, who I think left to do _For Love & Honor_) and became much more of a science fiction series.


The odd thing was that he became a government agent.

The Single Guy got retooled for Season 2 but it was still considered a failure for losing too much of the Friends lead in even though it's numbers were respectable.

For some unfathomable reason, ABC decided that Mork and Mindy needed retooling between Seasons 1 and 2 and got rid of Mindy's father and grandmother and instead brought in Jay Thomas and Gina Hecht to play siblings running a deli.

This combined with moving the show opposite All in the Family caused the ratings to fall and Thomas and Hecht were gone by Season 3.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Then there was Seinfeld. It had such promise in the first season. Then, they revamped it, and it just limped along for another eight years until they finally gave up on it.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

"These Friends of Mine" became "Ellen" with pretty much the entire cast replaced except for Ellen for S02.


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## pteronaut (Dec 26, 2009)

My mind might be playing tricks on me, but Earth: Final Conflict appeared to change direction after the 1st season, and lost my attention from then on.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Then there was Seinfeld. It had such promise in the first season. Then, they revamped it, and it just limped along for another eight years until they finally gave up on it.


so much nothing!!!


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## ElJay (Apr 6, 2005)

Grey's Anatomy took on a very different feel after S1 and became dead to me...


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

pteronaut said:


> My mind might be playing tricks on me, but Earth: Final Conflict appeared to change direction after the 1st season, and lost my attention from then on.


Could you be thinking of Andromeda instead? I know after season 1, Kevin Sorbo started throwing his weight around, and I believe was part of the reason that Robert Hewitt Wolfe left the show. It stopped being an ensemble and started being the Kevin Sorbo show.


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## pteronaut (Dec 26, 2009)

It was Earth: Final Conflict, the lead character (William Boone, played by Kevin Kilner) was replaced in the second season, along with the tone of the show.


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## Win Joy Jr (Oct 1, 2001)

Agree on Space:1999...

How about Murder One? First season was one case. Second season the leads were gone, with a new lead attorney and 3 cases across the season. LOVED the first season. Second? Not much, except the final case...


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> "Breaking In," a Christian Slater series on FOX, was a relatively recent example.


Excellent example. They got rid of Odette Annable and brought in Megan Mulally as a woman who invested a bunch of money into the agency and then wanted to be involved and throw her weight around. I loved S1, I gave up on S2 after one episode.



pgogborn said:


> Boomtown.


Another excellent example. The suits made them ditch the thing that made the show great (the Rashomon-style non-linear storytelling), and then it became just another police/DA show.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Doggie Bear said:


> On the flip side, one of the few examples of a successful re-tool was "JAG," which started on NBC with Andrea Parker (later, Miss Parker on "The Pretender") as the co-star in the pilot, to be replaced by Tracey Needham in season 1. NBC did not renew "JAG," but then CBS swooped in to save it from cancellation. Season 2 debuted in the mid-season, but Needham was gone, with Catherine Bell joining the cast as Sarah MacKenzie, and with previous guest stars John Jackson and Patrick Labyorteaux getting promoted to regulars. Good moves, as it lasted nine more seasons!


...which spun off NCIS.. which spun off the new one.. (I know I haven't seen the new one, I'm not sure if I saw any at all beyond the pilot of the original.. Heck, I think JAG was one of the few shows I gave up on somewhere during its run, though I do remember following way beyond the network switch.)



pteronaut said:


> It was Earth: Final Conflict, the lead character (William Boone, played by Kevin Kilner) was replaced in the second season, along with the tone of the show.


(Though Kilner did show up sporadically after that..)

Beyond that, IIRC, they changed in other seasons too, fighting against another new alien species.


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

mattack said:


> [JAG]...which spun off NCIS.. which spun off the new one.. (I know I haven't seen the new one, I'm not sure if I saw any at all beyond the pilot of the original.. Heck, I think JAG was one of the few shows I gave up on somewhere during its run, though I do remember following way beyond the network switch.)


Yeah, I watched through season 5 or 6, or maybe 7, but stopped too. Not for any particular reason; I just drifted away from it.

I recognize that CBS's re-tooling made it a generally better show, but I have to confess that I like the first season even though the derring-do was mostly ridiculous.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

DevdogAZ said:


> Excellent example. They got rid of Odette Annable and brought in Megan Mulally as a woman who invested a bunch of money into the agency and then wanted to be involved and throw her weight around. I loved S1, I gave up on S2 after one episode.


To be fair, I don't think they got rid of Odette. The problem, IIRC, was that the series was on hiatus for so long, she got another job (over on House, I believe).


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

mattack said:


> (Though Kilner did show up sporadically after that..)
> 
> Beyond that, IIRC, they changed in other seasons too, fighting against another new alien species.


If by sporadically you mean two episodes in the 5th season, you'd be correct.

They also swapped out Lisa Howard for Jayne Heitmeyer in Season 3.
Melinda Deines for Richard Chevolleau in Season 4.

And dumped Robert Leshock (who replaced Kilner) in Season 5 for Jayne Heitmeyer fighting the new alien species the Atavus, which came from.... well the series never made that quite clear.

Only Von Flores made through the entire series run.


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## Church AV Guy (Jan 19, 2005)

Seaquest DSV was retooled between season one and two, and lost most of the season one audience. Then they did it again between season two and three, and lost the rest of the audience.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

"Watching Ellie", the Julia Louis-Dreyfus vehicle. In Season 1, it had the gimmick of being in real time, with no laugh track, and featuring her jazz singing. In Season 2 it was turned into a conventional, dull sitcom.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

wmcbrine said:


> "Watching Ellie", the Julia Louis-Dreyfus vehicle. In Season 1, it had the gimmick of being in real time, with no laugh track, and featuring her jazz singing. In Season 2 it was turned into a conventional, dull sitcom.


So basically, the same strategy as the Seinfeld revamp after Season 1.

With perhaps slightly different results.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

pgogborn said:


> Boomtown.


Oh, how I loved that show!!!!


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> So basically, the same strategy as the Seinfeld revamp after Season 1.
> 
> With perhaps slightly different results.


I figured you were joking about a Seinfeld revamp before, but now you've mentioned it twice. I know JLD wasn't in the pilot and was added for the first "season" of four episodes. What re-tooling was done after that?


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

wmcbrine said:


> "Watching Ellie", the Julia Louis-Dreyfus vehicle. In Season 1, it had the gimmick of being in real time, with no laugh track, and featuring her jazz singing. In Season 2 it was turned into a conventional, dull sitcom.


That reminds me that Sports Night added a laugh track (or live audience) between S1 and S2. Didn't help the ratings.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

DevdogAZ said:


> I figured you were joking about a Seinfeld revamp before, but now you've mentioned it twice. I know JLD wasn't in the pilot and was added for the first "season" of four episodes. What re-tooling was done after that?


Basically, they made it less of a "behind the scenes of a comedian's life" and more of a, well, I hate to use the word "traditional," but more of the elements of a traditional sit-com, only subverted.

My admittedly very old recollection is that it became a very different (and much better) show.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

DouglasPHill said:


> Harry's Law, and Human Target are prime examples. I enjoyed both season one's of the shows and then someone decided to make changes and the shows died during season two.


These are the two that came immediately to mind.

And while not a retooling, Heroes season 2 seemed like a totally different show from season 1.


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## David Platt (Dec 13, 2001)

DevdogAZ said:


> That reminds me that Sports Night added a laugh track (or live audience) between S1 and S2. Didn't help the ratings.


That's backwards. It had the laughtrack in S1 against the producers' objections, and they dropped it in S2.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Does Heroes count? Most precipitous decline in quality for any show that I can remember... not exactly a re-tooling so much as (allegedly) network meddling to force them to bring characters back.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

DevdogAZ said:


> That reminds me that Sports Night added a laugh track (or live audience) between S1 and S2. Didn't help the ratings.


Sports Night *started* with a laugh track, over Sorkin and Schlamme's objections (it was dictated to them as a requirement by the network). Sorkin and Schlamme gradually reduced the volume and frequency of the laughs; by mid-first season, they described the laugh as if it were crew on the set laughing appreciatively at the jokes. By the end of the season, it was completely gone.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

"Up All Night" was another example of retooling the show between S1 & S2 and ruined the original flow and appeal. When the studio execs wanted to change it even more by having it filmed before a live studio audience in S3, Christina Applegate bailed on the show and put them out of their misery.


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## doom1701 (May 15, 2001)

The two that I could think of have already been mentioned:

1. The Single Guy went from being a unique show with a semi-realistic view of living in New York (Silverman's character lived in a tiny little apartment, worked freelance, etc.) to a really pitiful Friends clone, complete with coffee shop (or was it a bagel shop?), unrealistically large NY apartment, and Silverman working an office job. I liked it more than Friends in season 1; season 2 lost me completely.

2. Earth:Final Conflict is an example of a show that just got retooled every season. The changes weren't really drastic, but when you compare Season 1 to Season 5, there isn't a single common theme other than the title. I feel that Season 1 showed more promise than anything else on TV at the time, but later seasons got considerably less smart.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

pteronaut said:


> It was Earth: Final Conflict, the lead character (William Boone, played by Kevin Kilner) was replaced in the second season, along with the tone of the show.


But it wasn't until they dug up, almost literally, those vampirey aliens with their scenery chewing ways that it really went downhill.

Only to re-appear in modified form on Stargate:Atlantis


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Basically, they made it less of a "behind the scenes of a comedian's life" and more of a, well, I hate to use the word "traditional," but more of the elements of a traditional sit-com, only subverted.
> 
> My admittedly very old recollection is that it became a very different (and much better) show.


Though Seinfeld is the exception that proves the rule retooling almost never works.



getreal said:


> "Up All Night" was another example of retooling the show between S1 & S2 and ruined the original flow and appeal. When the studio execs wanted to change it even more by having it filmed before a live studio audience in S3, Christina Applegate bailed on the show and put them out of their misery.


To be fair, the show was constantly being retooled.
The original pilot was radically different with the Maya Rudolph character having much less screen time and was _not_ a talk show host.
(I think she and Applegate had more conventional office jobs.)



unitron said:


> But it wasn't until they dug up, almost literally, those vampirey aliens with their scenery chewing ways that it really went downhill.
> 
> Only to re-appear in modified form on Stargate:Atlantis


As doom says, there where changes each season and the show gradually got less smart through Season 4.
(Boone to Liam. Liam loses his alien half. Lily to Renee.)

But yes, the Season 5 premier is where it completely jumped the shark.


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## NJChris (May 11, 2001)

kdmorse said:


> There's always "War of the Worlds". Although almost nobody watched the first season - even fewer watched the second...


 I watched it!  Should I be admitting that?


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Basically, they made it less of a "behind the scenes of a comedian's life" and more of a, well, I hate to use the word "traditional," but more of the elements of a traditional sit-com, only subverted.
> 
> My admittedly very old recollection is that it became a very different (and much better) show.





JYoung said:


> Though Seinfeld is the exception that proves the rule retooling almost never works.


I'm still going to dispute that Seinfeld was re-tooled after the first season. Unless you want to claim that the pilot episode ("The Seinfeld Chronicles") constitutes the first season, and that episode 2 (The Stakeout) constitutes a re-tooled version of the show. I'll agree with that, but re-tooling between the pilot and the second episode is extremely common and is not the subject of this thread.


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## dtle (Dec 12, 2001)

"Spin City" was re-tooled early on. Michael J. Fox's character has a girlfriend who was a journalist, which would have created a lot of conflict. She was later dropped and her scenes were deleted for syndication.

Later on, MJF dropped out and Charlie Sheen entered.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

dtle said:


> "Spin City" was re-tooled early on. Michael J. Fox's character has a girlfriend who was a journalist, which would have created a lot of conflict. She was later dropped and her scenes were deleted for syndication.


Carla Gugino. It's the first role I think of when I see her in something else.

Won't go on my anti-syndication rant (too much), but removing the scenes entirely for syndication is arguably worse than chopping out for more commercials. (Though how are those episodes even watchable without her scenes? I could imagine throwing away most of the first season entirely from syndication if they really wanted to get rid of her.)


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## ClutchBrake (Sep 5, 2001)

Leverage.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

ClutchBrake said:


> Leverage.


Remind me how it changed after S1, please? Genuinely can't remember.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

lambertman said:


> Remind me how it changed after S1, please? Genuinely can't remember.


The only two things I can think of:
- the show's first season was set in LA. Later seasons were in Boston, then in Portland.
- the show's first season had the team operating mostly in the open as "Leverage Consulting and Associates" in a mostly typical office setting. Later seasons had them operating more clandestinely out of Nate's bar in Boston, then his flat in Portland.

I wouldn't say either were a substantial "retooling" - more just a natural evolution of the storyline.


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## ClutchBrake (Sep 5, 2001)

LoadStar said:


> The only two things I can think of:
> - the show's first season was set in LA. Later seasons were in Boston, then in Portland.
> - the show's first season had the team operating mostly in the open as "Leverage Consulting and Associates" in a mostly typical office setting. Later seasons had them operating more clandestinely out of Nate's bar in Boston, then his flat in Portland.
> 
> I wouldn't say either were a substantial "retooling" - more just a natural evolution of the storyline.


To me it seemed like there was a HUGE budget cut after season 1. The writing and effects went way downhill.

Although I guess it doesn't really fit this thread as it went on some time after season 1 rather than dying. I just saw Leverage mentioned in the Librarians thread and it reminded me of a show I really enjoyed in S1 and hated afterwards.


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## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

I wonder if the car chases in season one Transporter were expensive


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## leeherman (Nov 5, 2007)

"The Torkelsons" became "Home Again".

Doubtful anyone but me remembers either!

LH


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## pendragn (Jan 21, 2001)

LoadStar said:


> The only two things I can think of:
> - the show's first season was set in LA. Later seasons were in Boston, then in Portland.
> - the show's first season had the team operating mostly in the open as "Leverage Consulting and Associates" in a mostly typical office setting. Later seasons had them operating more clandestinely out of Nate's bar in Boston, then his flat in Portland.
> 
> I wouldn't say either were a substantial "retooling" - more just a natural evolution of the storyline.


The pilot was in Chicago, too.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Here's another one that was more of a mid-first-season change: _Double Trouble_ (starring twins Jean and Liz Sagal - you're probably more familiar with their older sister Katey) had its first season set in, IIRC, Des Moines, and was a "family" comedy; in its second season, the twins moved to New York, and lived with their aunt.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

Facts of Life, but it didn't die after being re-tooled.


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## pendragn (Jan 21, 2001)

That Don Guy said:


> Here's another one that was more of a mid-first-season change: _Double Trouble_ (starring twins Jean and Liz Sagal - you're probably more familiar with their older sister Katey) had its first season set in, IIRC, Des Moines, and was a "family" comedy; in its second season, the twins moved to New York, and lived with their aunt.


As a kid growing up in Iowa I was very disappointed when they moved.


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## jamesl (Jul 12, 2012)

ClutchBrake said:


> Leverage.


 :down:

"Series's that were "re-tooled" after season one and then died."

Leverage hardly died


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## ADent (Jan 7, 2000)

Hello, Larry.

The Jeff Foxworthy Show. Between season one and two the show changed networks, states, all actors but two (the wife character also stayed, but the actress changed).

Valerie, Valerie's Family, The Hogans, and finally The Hogan Family gets an honorable mention for a lot of re-toolings. Lasted 6 seasons though.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

ADent said:


> ... Valerie, Valerie's Family, The Hogans, and finally The Hogan Family gets an honorable mention for a lot of re-toolings. Lasted 6 seasons though.


How did they explain Valerie's disappearance from that show? I forget.


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## pendragn (Jan 21, 2001)

getreal said:


> How did they explain Valerie's disappearance from that show? I forget.


She went looking for Chuck Cunningham. 

She died in a car accident.


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## Numb And Number2 (Jan 13, 2009)

getreal said:


> "Series's"? Really?   LOL!


He should of paid attention in school. LOL!


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

cherry ghost said:


> Facts of Life, but it didn't die after being re-tooled.


Facts of Life is one that definitely goes in the other direction. Was retooled and lasted a long time.

Another in that vein was A Different World. Lisa Bonet was the focus of season 1 and she had Marisa Tomei as a roommate. Both were gone in season two.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

ADent said:


> Valerie, Valerie's Family, The Hogans, and finally The Hogan Family gets an honorable mention for a lot of re-toolings. Lasted 6 seasons though.


I guess I should look this up, but I thought BEYOND the first to the second, it was just _renamings_.. i.e. getting rid of her, then they renamed it a couple of times, since having her in the title made no sense anymore..


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Anyone mention the 1970's Wonder Woman yet? although technically it doesn't count because it didn't shortly die, but first year was a 1940's period piece, S02 jumped to "present day"


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

It didn't die, but how about "Good Morning Miss Bliss"?


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## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

Ok, just watched the third ep of season 2 of Transporter, don't know where ep 2 is but this series tends to be shown out of order. My wife and I both agree, season 1 was much better. I know season 1 was from 2012 so this is all history, I can't see it surviving to a third season. (Guess I'll go check google and find out)


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

dianebrat said:


> Anyone mention the 1970's Wonder Woman yet? although technically it doesn't count because it didn't shortly die, but first year was a 1940's period piece, S02 jumped to "present day"


I was going to come back here to mention that but got sidetracked by the flu or something similar enough that it'll do 'til the real thing comes along.


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

Spoiler






JMikeD said:


> Re: _Transporter_ - Yeah, I'm disappointed that they killed off Dieter and that Carla is gone. It's lost a good deal of its appeal for me. Maybe Dieter's twin brother will show up. Frank needs someone to fix his cars.






Thanks for ruining that show for someone who's never seen it but might have been interested in watching it. How about some spoiler tags?


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

Seinfeld.

The addition of Elaine really spelled the worst for that show.

</sarcasm>


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

That Don Guy said:


> Here's another one that was more of a mid-first-season change: _Double Trouble_ (starring twins Jean and Liz Sagal - you're probably more familiar with their older sister Katey) had its first season set in, IIRC, Des Moines, and was a "family" comedy; in its second season, the twins moved to New York, and lived with their aunt.


And another that was retooled in its only season: _The Redd Foxx Show_ - it started out as Foxx playing a father (or at least a father figure) to a young girl, but it got retooled into Foxx dueling with his ex-wife along the lines of Fred Sanford and his sister-in-law "Aunt" Esther from _Sanford & Son_.

Here's one that was retooled between seasons 1 and 2: _Operation Petticoat_ - season 1 was based on the movie, with five Army nurses serving aboard a Navy submarine that was painted pink (I think it was Jamie Lee Curtis's first "significant" role - her parents were the stars of the original movie), but in season 2, the submarine became a hospital sub, the Army nurses were removed, and only three characters returned (including one of the Army nurses, who transferred to the Navy and ended up being one of the sub's three Navy nurses), including one played by Jim Varney before his "Ernest" (as in "Hey Vern!") days.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

That Don Guy said:


> Here's one that was retooled between seasons 1 and 2: _Operation Petticoat_ - season 1 was based on the movie, with five Army nurses serving aboard a Navy submarine that was painted pink (I think it was Jamie Lee Curtis's first "significant" role - her parents were the stars of the original movie), but in season 2, the submarine became a hospital sub, the Army nurses were removed, and only three characters returned (including one of the Army nurses, who transferred to the Navy and ended up being one of the sub's three Navy nurses), including one played by Jim Varney before his "Ernest" (as in "Hey Vern!") days.


Only her father was in the movie. Janet Leigh did not appear in it.

It was jarring when the commander switched from John Astin to Robert Hogan and Randolph Mantooth was the new XO.

Although that reminds me, about the same time, the Stephen J. Cannell/Donald Bellisario produced Baa Baa Black Sheep underwent some retooling between Seasons 1 & 2 and during Season 2.

The show was renamed Black Sheep Squadron for Season 2.
James Whitmore Jr. was dropped from the cast during the break and John Larroquette and Robert Ginty were dropped six or so episodes into Season 2.

In order to compete with Charlie's Angels, more emphasis and screen time were given to the Navy nurses on the show, referred to as "Pappy's Lambs" in the credits.

And finally, they brought in Jeb Adams to play a 17 year old fighter pilot but the ratings had tanked and the show was "13 and done" for Season 2.

Bellisario later used some of the actors on Magnum PI, most notably Larry (Rick) Manetti.


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## mrdbdigital (Feb 3, 2004)

_Revolution_


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## thewebgal (Aug 10, 2007)

mrdbdigital said:


> _Revolution_


I think revolution was unscripted and they just made it up each week!
I barely made it into Season 2 and then bailed ...


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

thewebgal said:


> I think revolution was unscripted and they just made it up each week!
> I barely made it into Season 2 and then bailed ...


I bailed on the silliness of Revolution after episode 4.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

Not sure if I missed it, but Rob Thomas retooled Veronica Mars in S3 to make it more accessible. Instead of an overriding season long mystery, there was going to be three mysteries over the whole season. IIRC, they even dropped the third mystery and just had a "mystery of the week" for the final third of the season.

If it hadn't been cancelled, S4 would have been Veronica in the FBI.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

TriBruin said:


> IIRC, they even dropped the third mystery and just had a "mystery of the week" for the final third of the season.


Not by choice; the episode order was somewhat unexpectedly shortened, and they no longer had enough episodes to do the third arc.



TriBruin said:


> If it hadn't been cancelled, S4 would have been Veronica in the FBI.


Rob has said that was just one of the ideas they pitched, one that got far enough to make it to a presentation package. None of the ideas for S4 were etched in stone enough to say that they would have been what S4 would have really become.

Although none of this really applies, since this is a thread about those shows retooled after S1.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> Although none of this really applies, since this is a thread about those shows retooled after S1.


Apparently reading the Title is required now?


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## Unbeliever (Feb 3, 2001)

"Dead Like Me" S2 had a way different character to it and dropped some of the mythos like "you look different than you did before" bit.

Got worse for the "Movie".

--Carlos V.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

TriBruin said:


> Apparently reading the [thread] Title is required now?


I've always pretty much assumed it's forbidden.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Wil said:


> I've always pretty much assumed it's forbidden.


I think it's kind of like actually reading the article before commenting at Slashdot--while not actually forbidden, it violates unwritten community standards.


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