They were cancelled because everyone who was watching The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres was old.
Advertisers want to cater to the 18-49 age bracket, because that's who they say buys stuff. Apparently people 50+ are far less likely to be swayed by commercial advertising.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. But that's the reasoning they used. I still wonder how The Waltons not only survived it, but ran for an entire decade.
This is also why Freakazoid was cancelled in 1997. It was pitched as being a hit with ages 2-10, but it became a smash among 18-34...and since that wasn't the demographic they wanted, then total viewers didn't matter--it got the axe.
At least we got that incredible final scene out of it.
I think in addition to this, they thought that a more city-centered setting might offer more modern and upbeat plot lines for such an age bracket, especially as it coincided with certain shifts in American society/culture towards modernity. (IE, the gradual birth and rise of the suburban environment, high ways and free ways, large shopping malls, etc etc.)
Plus, in general, American (and possibly European) culture were increasingly putting focus on coming up with "new" ideas and concepts, and dispensing with anything old fashioned. The "quaint" oddities of people's lives in rural life was just seen as outdated.
The target bracket for suburban set-shows though has always been especially tricky. Quite a few tried to aim for a whole family target audience. And it wasn't always easy to try to cover content that appealed to kids without it being too immature for adults. Or coming up with comedy bits for adults that were either too unfamiliar to kids or inappropriate for them in general.
Some shows managed to do this quite successfully, others just dug into their own strange niches, while many just fell flat and failed outright. 3rd Rock from the Sun has to be one of the most curious examples of a hit, simply because it managed to appeal to so many people at various levels without even trying. Obviously the over the top concept was one of it's main selling points which in turn led them to (re)examining a lot of aspects of human nature and behavior that might normally be taken for granted.
That's not the whole story.
They were cancelled because everyone who was watching The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres was old.
Advertisers want to cater to the 18-49 age bracket, because that's who they say buys stuff. Apparently people 50+ are far less likely to be swayed by commercial advertising.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. But that's the reasoning they used. I still wonder how The Waltons not only survived it, but ran for an entire decade.
This is also why Freakazoid was cancelled in 1997. It was pitched as being a hit with ages 2-10, but it became a smash among 18-34...and since that wasn't the demographic they wanted, then total viewers didn't matter--it got the axe.
At least we got that incredible final scene out of it.
I think in addition to this, they thought that a more city-centered setting might offer more modern and upbeat plot lines for such an age bracket, especially as it coincided with certain shifts in American society/culture towards modernity. (IE, the gradual birth and rise of the suburban environment, high ways and free ways, large shopping malls, etc etc.)
Plus, in general, American (and possibly European) culture were increasingly putting focus on coming up with "new" ideas and concepts, and dispensing with anything old fashioned. The "quaint" oddities of people's lives in rural life was just seen as outdated.
The target bracket for suburban set-shows though has always been especially tricky. Quite a few tried to aim for a whole family target audience. And it wasn't always easy to try to cover content that appealed to kids without it being too immature for adults. Or coming up with comedy bits for adults that were either too unfamiliar to kids or inappropriate for them in general.
Some shows managed to do this quite successfully, others just dug into their own strange niches, while many just fell flat and failed outright. 3rd Rock from the Sun has to be one of the most curious examples of a hit, simply because it managed to appeal to so many people at various levels without even trying. Obviously the over the top concept was one of it's main selling points which in turn led them to (re)examining a lot of aspects of human nature and behavior that might normally be taken for granted.
'3rd Rock From The Sun'
You went in for the science fiction and instead came away holding a potato. Even 'Alf' had more science fiction elements than that.
3rd Rock From The Sun had no right to be as good as it was.
Until that finale. That stupid, stupid finale.
Aye, that was a pretty weak finale sadly.