The Ropers

The listlessness of the first 40 seconds of The Ropers’ credit sequence rarely dissipated over the show’s ensuing 29 minutes. Turning the concept of Three’s Company (the sitcom iceberg from which The Ropers calved) on its head, the show had Jeffrey Tambor’s Jeffrey P. Brookes III serve as the straight-man foil to Norman Fell’s Mr. Roper. See how they did that, flipping the script? It lasted little more than a year. Then it was canceled.
A Man Called Hawk

God, you really have to love the ’80s (and the early ’90s, which was basically still the ’80s). An ABC spin-off of Spenser for Hire, the Robert Urich series based on the Robert B. Parker character, A Man Called Hawk, lasted little more than six months. It’s hard to imagine why. Look at this show! Hawk (Avery Brooks, later of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame) is a badass. He has one name. He wears nothing but black. He wears sunglasses at night. Also, his name is Hawk. Incredibly, all those things may also explain why the show didn’t last. It was grim and violent, though not without an occasional xylophone interlude (watch the opening sequence again). Then it was canceled.

























