1Land_1Keep t1_iuebf5e wrote on October 30, 2022 at 6:02 PM

Reply to comment by yankran in Why did Shelley Long leave CHEERS and would the show have lasted had she stayed? by GLSCinephile

MASH is like this too. The show with Trapper and Henry and the show after them are totally different. And then again when Frank left.

methodwriter85 t1_iug81gv wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:06 AM

I've found that any show that goes beyond a 5th/6th season tends to change in tone wildly, especially because that's usually when the core cast members start to leave.

LittleRudiger t1_iuggrgz wrote on October 31, 2022 at 3:18 AM

That and just like .. at that many years, you start to get into larger stylistic shifts in television.

E.R. comes to mind, eventually you run so long that you can see the shift from early-90's to 00's in tone, lighting, *feel*, and the original cast is so long gone that you sort of forget why the show was as big as it was in the first place.

methodwriter85 t1_iugyu1k wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:56 AM

The Facts of Life is a pretty good example. The show evolved from the late 70's and really changed by 1985-86 season when filming and color palettes were just completely different from what they were in 1979-80.