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Just because a show gets canceled doesn’t necessarily mean the story is over. That’s never been more true as the upcoming fall lineup features two high-profile saves for two canceled shows that fans rallied around. After getting canceled by Fox after five seasons, Brooklyn Nine-Nine will return for more as part of NBC’s lineup. And after saying “bye-bye” to B99, Fox said “hello!” to a show that ABC canceled last year: Last Man Standing.
Both of those developments were a headline-worthy, for sure, but shows jumping networks ain’t new–far from it! Networks have been snatching discarded shows from each other since the dawn of TV. Get Smart jumped from NBC to CBS in the ’60s, Taxi drove from ABC to NBC in the ’80s, and The Naked Truth left ABC for NBC in the ’90s (everyone is as familiar with Tea Leoni’s sitcom career as I am, right?).
But just because Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Last Man Standing have new leases on life doesn’t mean it’s all smooth sailing from here. When a show jumps networks, things can get real weird. At best a show stays the same, at worst a show loses its stars, most of its budget, and nearly all of its viewers. To get a better idea of what lies ahead next season for these resurrected shows, here are the tales of ten shows that also braved a network transition.
'Family Matters' (1989-1998)
Networks: ABC (Seasons 1-8, 193 episodes); CBS (Season 9, 22 episodes)
Why The Switch?: CBS just really, really wanted Family Matters. The network picked a fight with ABC when it offered Miller-Boyett Productions $40 million to move Family Matters and fellow TGIF sitcom Step By Step to CBS. It was kind of a bizarre move considering Family Matters had already aired almost 200 episodes and had shed around half of its viewers during its 8 season run.
Changes: Aside from now being part of a different Friday night family-friendly sitcom block (CBS’ Block Party as opposed to ABC’s TGIF), the most noticeable change was the departure of Jo Marie Payton as Harriette Winslow halfway through the final season–which is crazy because Family Matters started as a Harriette spinoff from Perfect Strangers!
Outcome: Not great. The Block Party lineup (Family Matters, Meego, Step By Step, and The Gregory Hines Show) was not worth the $40 million. Family Matters‘ ratings dropped by another couple million and the show was placed on hiatus, with the remainder of Season 9 burned off in the summer.
'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' (1996-2003)
Networks: ABC (Seasons 1-4, 88 episodes); The WB (Seasons 5-7, 66 episodes)
Why The Switch?: The end of the ’90s signaled the end of TGIF, as ABC wanted to age-up their programming. Both Boy Meets World and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the last shows standing of the TGIF era, aired their series finales back-to-back–except the WB (no stranger to the supernatural) had already picked up Sabrina. There are also reports that ABC no longer wanted to pay for Sabrina’s $1.5 million/episode budget–so the show had to go with The WB, who could only afford to pay half that amount.
Changes: Four series regulars left (Nate Richert, Martin Mull, Jon Huertas, and China Shavers) and three new ones arrived (Soleil Moon Frye, Elisa Donovan, and Trevor Lissauer) as Sabrina transitioned from being about high school to being about college.
Outcome: Even with the reduced budget, new location, and new cast, Sabrina continued to cast a spell on its audience–albeit one a fourth of the size it had at its peak. Sabrina was finally canceled three seasons into its run on The WB, closing up shop after a very respectable 7 season run.
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1997-2003)
Networks: The WB (Seasons 1-5, 100 episodes); UPN (Seasons 6-7, 44 episodes)
Why The Switch?: After 5 seasons and 100 episodes, The WB thought Buffy had reached its peak and wasn’t worth the raises the cast and crew wanted for a new season. Negotiations fell apart and UPN came in to save the show, giving Buffy a two-season renewal right away.
Changes: The biggest change was behind the scenes, as longtime writer Marti Noxon stepped up as executive producer while Joss Whedon focused on running Angel and Firefly. On the cast front, Anthony Stewart Head left the show, only returning to play Giles on a recurring basis for the UPN seasons.
Outcome: The show’s UPN premiere earned the series its second-highest ratings ever (7.7 million viewers), but the ratings soon leveled out to be more or less what they were on The WB. Buffy ended partly because UPN only picked it up for two seasons, but mainly because star Sarah Michelle Gellar wanted to leave after Season 7.
'Friday Night Lights' (2006-2011)
Networks: NBC (Seasons 1-2, 37 episodes); The 101 Network (Seasons 3-5, 39 episodes)
Why The Switch?: While critics and NBC loved Friday Night Lights, the show really struggled to find an audience in its first season. The show tried to fix that by going more sensational in Season 2, with a truly terrible murder subplot that fans still rightfully groan about today. The WGA strike also hit during production on Season 2, abruptly cutting the season’s storyline off. In order to give the show a future, NBC struck a deal with DirecTV’s 101 Network to co-produce the show, with episodes airing first on 101 and a few months later on NBC.
Changes: Not all that much–at least not yet. Season 3 was a transition season before the show did a pretty hard reboot for Seasons 4 and 5, with Coach Taylor taking a new job at the rival high school.
Outcome: While Seasons 3-5 were half the length the show would have gotten on NBC, the switch enabled a critically-acclaimed show to reinvent itself and somehow become even better. Witness the arrival of future megastar Michael B. Jordan in Season 4–this outcome was a good one.
'Scrubs' (2001-2010)
Networks: NBC (Seasons 1-7, 150 episodes); ABC (Seasons 8-9, 32 episodes)
Why The Switch?: The WGA strike also affected Scrubs, truncating what was to be its final season (Season 7). When NBC dragged its feet about giving Scrubs more episodes, ABC swooped in and picked it up for an 8th season. When the show performed okay (it only lost a million viewers during the network switch, which isn’t that bad as far as network switches go), ABC picked it up for a 9th season.
Changes: The first ABC season was pretty much business as usual; the real changes took place when the show was picked up for a surprise Season 9. Only Donald Faison and John McGinley returned as series regulars as the show shifted to focus on med students.
Outcome: Ratings continued to fall in Season 9, with the show bottoming out at 2.72 million. Not even the addition of a young Dave Franco could draw interest in the revamped show! ABC canceled Scrubs after Season 9.
'Community' (2009-2015)
Networks: NBC (Seasons 1-5, 97 episodes); Yahoo! Screen (Season 6, 13 episodes)
Why The Switch?: Community’s relationship with NBC can only be described as difficult. Showrunner Dan Harmon was fired for Season 4 and rehired for Season 5, but then NBC didn’t give the show a Season 6. The then-fledgling (and now mostly defunct) Yahoo! Screen picked up Community for a shortened Season 6, partly fulfilling the “six seasons and a movie” prophecy.
Changes: Donald Glover and Chevy Chase had already left the show by the time the show made the switch, and then Yvette Nicole Brown joined them in the ex-Community cast members group. Paget Brewster and Keith David helped round out the cast in what ended up being its final season.
Outcome: The Yahoo! Screen season got Community to that magical 100 episodes number, and it gave fans the sixth season they petitioned for. But with the remaining original cast’s contracts all up after six seasons, the decision was made to end the show on its own terms for once.
'Longmire' (2012-2017)
Networks: A&E (Seasons 1-3, 33 episodes); Netflix (Season 4-6, 30 episodes)
Why The Switch?: One minute your network’s touting you as their most-watched original series ever, the next they’re canceling you because you appeal to a demographic that advertisers call “older.” Such was this crime drama’s fate! Luckily for Longmire, Netflix wanted to attract an older audience.
Changes: Not many! In fact, viewers who binge the entire series on Netflix might not even be aware of the show’s basic cable roots.
Outcome: Netflix doesn’t release ratings, so we don’t know how A&E’s most-watched show really fared in the streaming world. We can, however, look at Google Trends–and if you do, you’ll see that interest in the show has actually increased over time. The cache that comes with being a Netflix original seems to have only helped Longmire’s already positive rep.
'The Mindy Project' (2012-2017)
Networks: Fox (Seasons 1-3, 67 episodes); Hulu (Seasons 4-6, 50 episodes)
Why The Switch?: Fox canceled the series after three seasons, as viewership fell from an average of 3.71 million in Season 1 to 2.95 million in Season 3. Hulu, who at the time had yet to have a real hit original series, picked up Mindy just a few weeks later for a massive 26-episode fourth season.
Changes: Most of the show’s casting changes, like the departure of Adam Pally, occurred during the Fox run. Really the only thing to change about The Mindy Project was what it could and could not say. No longer constrained by network censors, the show got a little bit edgier.
Outcome: Since Hulu doesn’t release ratings, you gotta go by Google Trends. Search traffic around the show dropped off a lot during its Hulu run, which translated to a lack of buzz compared to the Fox seasons. However, Hulu gave the show a stable home for half its run and let it close out when it wanted, so it’s hard to see the switch as a bad thing.
'Supergirl' (2015-Present)
Networks: CBS (Season 1, 20 episodes); The CW (Seasons 2-Present, 45 episodes and counting)
Why The Switch?: To be honest, Supergirl was always an odd fit for CBS, a network known more for parent-approved procedurals than superhero series. The pairing was also odd because The CW, CBS’ little sister, was home to all of the other DC superhero shows. That’s why it made perfect sense for CBS to move Supergirl closer to all of her super friends when Season 2 was announced.
Changes: The move to The CW meant a move in production from Los Angeles to Vancouver–a move that, unfortunately, Season 1 scene-stealer Calista Flockhart didn’t want to make. Other changes followed, as the show was restructured to be similar to The Flash and Arrow, shows where the lead hero supported by a group of quirky, tech-savvy special agents.
Outcome: While the ratings are under a third of what they were in the show’s CBS days (down to 2.82 million from 9.81 million), that’s actually around what the other CW super shows pull in. The CW has continued faith in the show, though, as it’s already been given the go-ahead for Season 4.
'Nashville' (2012-2018)
Networks: ABC (Seasons 1-4, 86 episodes); CMT (Seasons 5-6, 38 episodes)
Why The Switch?: Yeah, ABC, why the switch? Right before canceling the show, ABC named new showrunners and talked optimistically about Nashville’s future even though ratings continued to slide in Season 4. Then ABC canceled the show outta nowhere–but producers didn’t flinch! They still opted to air a cliffhanger Season 4 finale, confident that they’d find a new home. They did, as–no shock here–CMT picked up the country music soap.
Changes: With a shift from network to basic cable, the show had to cut down its cast. Aubrey Peeples and Will Chase didn’t come back for Season 5. More importantly, series lead Connie Britton announced that she’d only be back for part of Season 5, a stretch of episodes that would let fans say goodbye to Rayna Jaymes.
Outcome: Kinda like with Connie Britton’s other show, Friday Night Lights, it’s hard to see the switch to a smaller network as a bad thing per se. It let the show run its course (it concludes this summer with its final batch of episodes) even if the ratings have dropped way, way off. Still, a million viewers a week made it CMT’s most-watched show ever!
