It seems to me that in the course of television history, there've been more sitcoms produced than any other genre, and that includes reality television. However, because of this glut, a lot of shows that critics and/or viewers think should succeed, fail instead.
One such case is 13 Queens Boulevard, which mustered 8 episodes out of 9 produced between March & July 1979. The show came from the same studio that had provided ABC previously with Carter Country & What's Happening!. Let's consider the factors:
1. ABC placed the show on Tuesdays, where they already had a strong 2-hour block, bookended by Happy Days & Soap. They experimented with expanding the block to a full 3 hours to mark time until another Aaron Spelling crime drama, in this case, Hart To Hart, would be ready to launch. Unfortunately, ABC pulled the plug on Boulevard after the first month or so, then brought it back in the summer to burn off the remaining episodes, only to pull it again before that last episode could air.
2. There would be the black cloud of failure hanging over the show's lone male star, Jerry Van Dyke, returning to series TV for the first time in 12 years (Accidental Family), and still trying to move out of his brother Dick's shadow. It'd be another 8 years before Van Dyke would land another series, this time in a supporting role on Coach.
3. As noted, Boulevard aired at 10 pm (ET), when it could've bumped the controversial Soap into that position. However, because Soap was too well entrenched, well......!
Gilmore Box provides the open:
For Louise Williams, this was her 2nd go-round in primetime, coming 2 years after Busting Loose. She'd get one more crack, 4 years later, with Baby Makes Five. Hmmmm. I wonder if that "Creme de la Creme" blouse would look good on a certain cartoon character........!
No rating. Never saw the show.
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