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TV Shows have to adapt over time to changes for a variety of factors. Sometimes changes work, other times they don't and other times the changes are downright bizarre. Which are some strangest changes made to TV shows over the years? Here are some examples:
Kevin Can Wait - This Kevin James sitcom struggled from the outset to reach the lofty heights of The King Of Queens, but in the first season at least it was a reasonable enough sitcom about Kevin, a recently retired police officer, his wife Donna and their three young adult/teenage children. However, from the start of the second season the wife Donna did not return, and it was said that she had died. It isn't without precedent for a major character from a sitcom to die off screen; this was done in the 1980s with Valerie Hogan in 'The Hogan Family' when Valerie Harper left the show and when John Ritter died prematurely in 2003, his 8 Simple Rules character Paul Hennessy died with him. Their deaths were explained and dealt with in the show. But in Kevin Can Wait, the only references to the wife's death were in the first episode of series 2 where Kevin mentions he misses her, and another episode later where Kevin is attending a support group for widowed spouses for all the wrong reasons, as he likes the refreshments. Never once is it said how she died, most of the time it is like she didn't exist and the show was cancelled at the end of series 2, despite the addition of James' former KOQ costar Leah Remini to the cast.
'Til Death - Brad Garrett teamed up with Joely Fisher in this sitcom that commenced in 2007 and ran until 2010. They played a cynical veteran married couple Eddie and Joy, who live next to a young naïve newlywed couple Jeff and Steph, played by Eddie Kay-Thomas and Kat Foster. The main premise of the show was the differences between the couples, and it worked well as a four temperament ensemble - sanguine (Steph), melancholic (Jeff), phlegmatic (Eddie) and choleric (Joy). However, from Series 3 Jeff and Steph left the show, and simply vanished. Their characters were not given a departure scene nor explanation, they were simply gone and never mentioned again. This is Chuck Cunningham Syndrome, named after the oldest brother from Happy Days who vanished from that show and it has happened in quite a few shows. But usually this happens with a character from a larger ensemble cast, it is much rarer for two main characters in a show with a small cast to suffer this fate.
The Brittas Empire - The Brittas Empire was a popular UK sitcom about an obnoxious and officious leisure center manager Gordon Brittas that ran initially from 1990-1994. Initially it ended with many characters leaving the leisure center and having successful lives and careers. It wasn't the strongest ending for a show, but it was an ending that tied everything up. Then a year later, it was decided to resurrect the show, retconning most (but not all) of the original ending. The revived show lasted two years but wasn't a success, and this time when it ended for good they finished it with the absolute worst ending of all - the dreaded it was all a dream.
Laverne & Shirley - This popular sitcom that spun off from Happy Days was initially set in Milwaukee like its parent show, however for the last three seasons it moved to Los Angeles. While believable that Laverne and Shirley might move to California after losing their jobs to automation at the brewery, it was much less believable that ALL of the other characters would give up their jobs and lives to move to LA as well, and live exactly as they did back in Wisconsin.
Kevin Can Wait - This Kevin James sitcom struggled from the outset to reach the lofty heights of The King Of Queens, but in the first season at least it was a reasonable enough sitcom about Kevin, a recently retired police officer, his wife Donna and their three young adult/teenage children. However, from the start of the second season the wife Donna did not return, and it was said that she had died. It isn't without precedent for a major character from a sitcom to die off screen; this was done in the 1980s with Valerie Hogan in 'The Hogan Family' when Valerie Harper left the show and when John Ritter died prematurely in 2003, his 8 Simple Rules character Paul Hennessy died with him. Their deaths were explained and dealt with in the show. But in Kevin Can Wait, the only references to the wife's death were in the first episode of series 2 where Kevin mentions he misses her, and another episode later where Kevin is attending a support group for widowed spouses for all the wrong reasons, as he likes the refreshments. Never once is it said how she died, most of the time it is like she didn't exist and the show was cancelled at the end of series 2, despite the addition of James' former KOQ costar Leah Remini to the cast.
'Til Death - Brad Garrett teamed up with Joely Fisher in this sitcom that commenced in 2007 and ran until 2010. They played a cynical veteran married couple Eddie and Joy, who live next to a young naïve newlywed couple Jeff and Steph, played by Eddie Kay-Thomas and Kat Foster. The main premise of the show was the differences between the couples, and it worked well as a four temperament ensemble - sanguine (Steph), melancholic (Jeff), phlegmatic (Eddie) and choleric (Joy). However, from Series 3 Jeff and Steph left the show, and simply vanished. Their characters were not given a departure scene nor explanation, they were simply gone and never mentioned again. This is Chuck Cunningham Syndrome, named after the oldest brother from Happy Days who vanished from that show and it has happened in quite a few shows. But usually this happens with a character from a larger ensemble cast, it is much rarer for two main characters in a show with a small cast to suffer this fate.
The Brittas Empire - The Brittas Empire was a popular UK sitcom about an obnoxious and officious leisure center manager Gordon Brittas that ran initially from 1990-1994. Initially it ended with many characters leaving the leisure center and having successful lives and careers. It wasn't the strongest ending for a show, but it was an ending that tied everything up. Then a year later, it was decided to resurrect the show, retconning most (but not all) of the original ending. The revived show lasted two years but wasn't a success, and this time when it ended for good they finished it with the absolute worst ending of all - the dreaded it was all a dream.
Laverne & Shirley - This popular sitcom that spun off from Happy Days was initially set in Milwaukee like its parent show, however for the last three seasons it moved to Los Angeles. While believable that Laverne and Shirley might move to California after losing their jobs to automation at the brewery, it was much less believable that ALL of the other characters would give up their jobs and lives to move to LA as well, and live exactly as they did back in Wisconsin.