The Real Reason These '90s Sitcoms Were Canceled

The 1990s brought a tidal wave of sitcoms crashing onto the shores of TV. Some were amazing, others were terrible, but all of them eventually came to an end. Keep watching to discover the most interesting stories of 90s sitcom cancellation.

NewsRadio was one of the most acclaimed sitcoms of the decade, but all of its positive critical notice came in spite of, or perhaps because of, battles with its network. Creator Paul Simms fought with NBC over everything from scheduling to plotlines. By his telling, NBC wanted more established stars. Dave Foley, Andy Dick, and Joe Rogan were all well-known in the world of comedy, but they weren't exactly household names throughout America.

In 1997, Simms, who was almost certain that his show was getting canceled, gave a profanity-laced interview to Rolling Stone. He admonished NBC for not giving NewsRadio a slot on Thursday night's Must See TV lineup, and he called out executives by name. Afterwards, the show was briefly canceled before being brought back, which led to everyone awkwardly walking back what they said and playing nice.

The dynamic of the show changed significantly in season five following the death of Phil Hartman. He was something of a big brother to the rest of cast, and addressing his death resulted in an uncomfortable tonal shift. Hartman's old SNL castmate Jon Lovitz was added to the NewsRadio cast, but he never quite clicked. It also didn't help that Preston Beckman, NBC's head of scheduling at the time, despised the show. During NewsRadio's run, it changed time slots 11 times. Amidst all this turmoil, it was canceled after the fifth season.

Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin's dramedy about the behind-the-scenes of a SportsCenter-type show, was never a ratings success, but it almost didn't matter. It was critically acclaimed, it won awards, and the viewers who did watch it were a passionate bunch. When fans got a sense that Sports Night wasn't long for this world, they set up websites petitioning to save it.

When ABC axed the show, several other networks, including USA, HBO, and Showtime, expressed interest in picking it up. Negotiations with Showtime went furthest, with Sorkin claiming that they offered him about $37 million for two more seasons. That much money on a network where ratings weren't critically important was an almost perfect scenario, but alas, Sorkin had no choice but to turn it down. That was because during Sports Night's second season, he created a little show called The West Wing for NBC. He did almost all of the writing for both shows, splitting his days between the two of them. Also around this time, his wife was pregnant and he realized he couldn't give his all to Sports Night anymore. Showtime didn't want to enter into a heavy commitment without Sorkin going all-in, so negotiations ended. Keep watching the video to see the real reason these '90s sitcoms were canceled.

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NewsRadio | 0:00
Sports Night | 1:30
Home Improvement | 2:33
Blossom | 3:22
Dinosaurs | 4:16
Ellen | 5:29
Grace Under Fire | 6:37
Salute Your Shorts | 7:34
The Nanny | 8:18
Veronica's Closet | 9:13
Suddenly Susan | 10:14

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