Anyhow, Bochco was busy with “L.A. Law” when HSB ended in
1987. Franz, meanwhile, was given a spin-off: “Beverly Hills Buntz.” It was
short-lived, but did it deserve to be? NO – Buntz in his own series is so much
more interesting than Andy Sipowicz.
For the 1987-88 season, NBC programming chief Brandon
Tartikoff called “Buntz” a “designated hitter.” That meant it would air in a
rotation with two other shows: “Mama’s Boy” and “The Bronx Zoo.” In the end, it
was a big mess and all three shows died because the scheduling was so erratic.
Scheduling notes for all three programs follow.
“Mama’s Boy” was a half-hour sitcom starring Bruce Weitz –
Det. Belker on HSB – as a swinging single sportswriter who takes in his widowed
Mother, played by Nancy Walker (aka Rhoda’s Mom). It was shot on tape and created
by the team behind “The Golden Girls” (on which Walker had guested several
times as Sophia’s sister). If this sounds strange, remember that Belker was
constantly on-the-phone with his Mother during HSB.
“The Bronx Zoo” was an hour drama. It had actually debuted at mid-season in the
spring of 1987 and starred Ed Asner as a high school principal. After “St.
Elsewhere” had finished its season in March, 1987, “The Bronx Zoo” took over
the Wednesday night slot until summer. It was from the creative team behind
“Family Ties.” Interesting connection: its lead-in was “The Tortellis,” which
starred Dan Hedaya, who landed on “Mama’s Boy.”
“Mama’s” debuted in September, following an episode of “The
Golden Girls.” It aired again in October. “Buntz” debuted November 5. On
Thanksgiving, the third episode (really the pilot) of “Mama’s” aired. That
should have been a sign: the next episode wouldn’t air until April, 1988,
followed by another in June and then August. The seventh episode never aired.
“Buntz” got its second airing the Sunday after Thanksgiving,
ranking third in the time slot opposite the film “The Long Journey Home” on
CBS. Another interesting connection: the film starred Meredith Baxter of
“Family Ties.”
“The Bronx Zoo” finally returned on December 9, followed by
the next “designated hit” on Christmas Eve with episode three of “Beverly Hills
Buntz.” With 1988 looming, it was probably apparent that the experiment was a
flop, and the three shows were going to be burned off. Except for one “Bronx”
and one “Buntz” in late January, the shows wouldn’t return until midseason
(March, 1988). I’ve never seen “The Bronx Zoo,” but “Buntz” was just hitting
its stride. In fact, the last episode to air (“Carl” on April 22) was one of
its best.
It seems that with better scheduling, the show might have
worked. And certainly the big promotional push for the pilot was a mistake,
because it was not very good. In this Nov. 2 review by David Bianculli, from NPR’s “Fresh Air,” he says frequent HSB
director Gabrielle Beaumont helmed the pilot. The as-aired pilot was directed
by Hal Ashby – a big name in film who had fallen on hard times. Getting him attached
was a coup, but the pilot simply feels disjointed. Judge for yourself: some
kind soul has posted all 13 episodes of “Buntz” online (links in schedule
notes). Another review from the New York Times is here, with a 1992 follow-up article that has a brief mention here.
*MAMA 1 "Bachelor of the Year" September 19, 1987: aired after Golden Girls; #4 for the week
*MAMA 2 "Molly's Night Out" October 31, 1987: now in the 8pm Saturday lead-off position -- in place of "Facts of Life" -- it trounced the other networks and even edged the show that followed ("227"). But with a 13.4, it was much lower than the 9pm "Golden Girls" rating of 18.9
*BUNTZ #1 "Pilot" November 5, 1987: borrowing the 9:30p Thursday slot from "Night Court," it posted similar numbers (20.4 rating), which was still a big drop from "Cheers" and its 26.0. Probably a curse to have so many eyeballs seeing what was a very weak pilot. Blink-and-you'll-miss-him, but Charles Levin is in the background when Buntz meets with Joe Pantoliano's character. Levin played Mick Belker's snitch, Eddie Gregg, and Pantoliano played Sonny Orsini (also a snitch) on HSB.
*MAMA 3 "Pilot" November 26, 1987: following a new "Cheers" episode (19.5 rating) on Thanksgiving night was great, but the show dropped off to a 15.9 -- still better than the movies on CBS ("Norman Rockwell's Breaking Home Ties," 9.7) and ABC ("Gandhi," 7.6).
*BUNTZ #2 "Fit to Be Tied" November 29, 1987: on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the show ranked third in its time slot opposite the film “The Long Journey Home” on CBS and a glitzy Vegas special on ABC.
*BRONX 9 It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City December 9, 1987: the show returns after nine months, getting killed by The Grammys on CBS.
*BUNTZ #3 "Sid and Randy" December 24, 1987: on Christmas Eve, NBC programmed reruns of its powerhouse Thursday lineup -- except "Buntz." Still, it's 10.0 rating bettered the ancient movies on the other networks. ABC ran 1981's "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" (8.4), while CBS countered with the 1971 pilot for "The Waltons" titled "The Homecoming" (7.4).
*BRONX 10 "The Long Grey Line" January 20, 1988: A 9.2 rating on a Wednesday night -- up against stiff competition, and new episodes, of lots of established hits. ABC's "Dynasty" finished first in the 10p time slot (16.3) followed by CBS' "The Equalizer" (13.9).
*BUNTZ #4 "Duck! L'Orange!" January 27, 1988: a week after trying out "Bronx" on a Wednesday, "Buntz" did slightly better at 9:30p, but still finished behind new episodes on CBS ("Magnum," 14.2) and ABC ("Slap Maxwell," 11). It also dropped from a "Cheers" rerun at 9p (13.7).
*BRONX 11 "Truancy Blues" March 24, 1988: another chance on NBC's powerhouse Thursday lineup, but the 9:30p show ("The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd") posted a big drop from an all-new Cosby/Different World/Cheers: 25.1 down to a 17.2. And then "Bronx" got a 13.5 to beat ABC's "Buck James" (10.5) but came in second to an all-new "Knots Landing" (no number available, but the show got a 15.8 on the season).
*BUNTZ #5 "Umbrella in the Water" March 25, 1988: so much for rotating, as "Buntz" airs a night -- instead of a week -- after its most recent DH sibling. No CBS info, but they were likely airing "Dallas" (16.8 for the season), which had been on Fridays forever, or a movie. On ABC, "Family Man" posted an 11.8 against "Buntz" at 10.3. But the worse news is that "Buntz" was between two shows which did much better: new "Night Court" (12.4) and a rerun "Miami Vice" (12.6). People were actively turning their sets off for a half hour!
*BRONX 12 Behind Closed Doors March 30, 1988: now on Wednesday, a 10.8 against ABC's new Kate Mulgrew drama, "HeartBeat," and CBS' "The Equalizer," which both managed a 14.0 rating.
*BUNTZ #6 "Brief Encounter" April 1, 1988: while it beat ABC's "Family Man" (11.5 to 9.6), the rating for "Buntz" again showed a big drop-off between "Night Court" (13.1) and "Miami Vice" (14.3). And all of them were trounced by "Dallas" (16.2). The numbers seem generally up, perhaps since it was Good Friday.
*BRONX 13 Career Day April 6, 1988: another loss to the same competition: "The Equalizer" hit 14.1, "HeartBeat" at 12.3 and "Bronx" down to 9.4.
*BUNTZ #7 "El Norte by Norte West" April 8, 1988: same story as the previous two Fridays. "Dallas" wins the slot (16.2), "Night Court" and "Miami Vice" have higher numbers (10.7 each) than "Buntz" (9), which tied "Family Man."
*MAMA 4 "Mickey's Song" April 9, 1988: Mickey is back after six months! The fan club rejoices! As with episode two, the show won its timeslot leading NBC's Saturday night lineup. But the rating (11.4) was still soft compared to "Golden Girls" (19.1). This was also the lowest-rated "Mama's Boy" episode yet.
*BRONX 14 Ties That Bind April 13, 1988: it's a familiar pattern with "The Equalizer" (13.5) and "HeartBeat" (12.3) beating "Bronx" (9.5).
*BUNTZ #8 "Buntz of the Desert" April 15, 1988:
BRONX 15 The Gospel Truth April 20, 1988: a move up to 9pm didn't help the show. a "Hooperman" (12.2) rerun and a new "Just In Time" (10.7) on ABC came in about par with a rerun "Jake and the Fatman" (11.1) on CBS. But "Bronx" only notched a 9.4 in its new slot. After more than two months, "St. Elsewhere" returned to its 10pm slot and promptly got a 10.2 rating.
*BUNTZ #9 "Carl" April 22, 1988: the best of the three DH's was the first to be benched. The final episode to actually air was clearly held over, since it's a Christmas episode?! Clearly meant to air sooner. Came in third (8 rating) behind ABC's "Family Man" (9.2) and CBS' movie "Shakedown on the Sunset Strip (15). The remaining five episodes are linked below. With a looming writer's strike, one would think these unaired shows could have made great new programming, but they were never run on NBC.
*BRONX 16 If All the World's a Stage, Where's My Dressing
Room? June 1, 1988: with May sweeps over and the season safely in the books, "Bronx" was burned off in June. "The Equalizer" (12.4) and ABC's then-new midseason "China Beach" (10.5) both did better numbers than "Bronx" (8.3).
*BRONX 17 When I Paint My Masterpiece June 8, 1988: a double-length rerun of "The Equalizer" (12.3) got a head start on the last new "China Beach" until fall (11.1) pushing "Bronx" to a lowly 7.8.
*BRONX 18 Crossroads June 15, 1988:
*BRONX 19 On the Land, on the Sea and in the Halls June 22,
1988: on ABC, "Spenser: For Hire" had been canceled, but that didn't stop fans from watching summer reruns and giving this rerun a 10.2, with "The Equalizer" again winning the time slot (11.6). "Bronx" only managed a 7.3.
*BRONX 20 A Day in the Life June 29, 1988: the nexus of our experiment! At 9pm, "Mama's Boy" returned after more than two months to notch a low of 7.0 against "Hooperman" (11.2) and "The Equalizer" (10.7). After "Mama," a few more viewers tuned in for "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" (7.5) and then "Bronx" got up to an 8.1.
*MAMA 5 "Remembrance of Things Past" June 29, 1988: see above.
*MAMA 6 "Hamlet" August 6, 1988: another long hiatus, but "Mama" got its best rating since episode three, with a 13.3. Why? Another lead-in from "Golden Girls (16.2). The lead-out of "Hunter," though, got a 14.4. So people were once again (in theory) purposely tuning out! In the doldrums of summer, I guess people would watch anything: Fox's "Saturday Night at the Late Show" only managed a 2.1, while a rerun of Pat Morita's canceled "Ohara" got a 6.3. No info for CBS is available.
UNAIRED:
MAMA 7 "Scared Straight"
BUNTZ #10 "Ad Astra Per Peoria"
BUNTZ #11 "A Falcone in the Hand"
BUNTZ #12 "Cannon-Aid"
BUNTZ #13 "Terry and the Pirates"
BRONX 21 Unnatural Selection
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