Lost TV Sanctuary: Welcome To New York (CBS 2000)

Christine Baranski, Sara Gilbert & Jim Gaffigan (playing himself) all in one show.  The rest of the cast (randomly including Eartha Kitt as a recurring guest) were great too, but somehow this didn’t work.

The show lasted 16 episodes and then disappeared as most one season shows do.  But this one is even more difficult to find thanks to Taylor Swift.  Anytime you search the title of this show, Taylor Swift’s song of the same name comes up.

I uploaded episodes 3 & 5 to the Internet Archive.  It wouldn't surprise me if the entire series turns up somewhere soon though.  It's too good to be left forgotten.

 

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: DAG (NBC 2000)

It’s an absolute mystery to me how this didn’t go at least 5 seasons.

It ended up only lasting 17 episodes.  Six of those are on YouTube, including the pilot.  I’ve uploaded some of the other episodes to the Internet Archive.

Here's episode 3 "Losing Judith"...

 

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: Going Places (ABC 1990)

An incredible cast, great producers & a TGIF slot couldn’t save this show.  The writing just wasn’t good - and the fake prank segments were easily the worst parts of the show (which was what it was based on for the first 12 episodes).

Alan Ruck says only one of the 19 episodes is good in this SlashFilm article.  I'd give it a few more than that, but not many.

Eight (of 19) episodes are on YouTube, including the first episode.  I’ve uploaded some other episodes to the Internet Archive.  The quality isn't great, but for now it's the best there is.

This one should have been episode 3...

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: Fast Times (CBS 1986)

This was another short-lived TV series that was a part of Universal’s Comedy Wheel syndication package (along with George Burns Comedy Week and Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills).

 

I’ve never seen the movie, but I loved the TV series - for the brief 7-episode run.

 

Two episodes are missing from YouTube, so I uploaded them to the Internet Archive.  Here’s the link to each episode…

Pilot - YouTube

The Engagement - YouTube

Secret Romance - YouTube

My Brother, The Car - YouTube

What Is Life - Internet Archive

My New Best Friend - Internet Archive

The Last Laugh - YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills (CBS 1986)

The pilot for this was “The Couch” episode of CBS’s George Burns Comedy Week.  This series aired six months later and only lasted six episodes.

These episodes are from the syndication run.  Universal had put together a bunch of their short-lived TV shows for superstations to air when a series needed to be replaced in some markets.  All the episodes in the package seemed to be unedited (George Burns Comedy Week was also part of it).

This was a good show and deserved a much longer run.  The pilot remains my favorite - but how could it not as that was a near perfect half-hour of TV.

 

I've uploaded two episodes to the Internet Archive.  Here's episode 1...

 

 

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

 

Lost TV Sanctuary: George Burns Comedy Week (CBS 1985)

Every episode of this is great in its own way - and just about every one would make a good series. 

One actually did (Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills), but the rest remain as part of a weird comedy anthology that was a little like an early Inside No. 9.

All 13 episodes are on YouTube…

Lost TV Sanctuary: Big Wave Dave’s (CBS 1993)

A Hawaii-based sitcom!  It had an awesome cast, was well written & was funny - yet it only lasted 6 episodes.

Four of the full episodes are on YouTube (episodes 1, 2, 5 & 6) but two are missing (3 & 4).  I’ve uploaded both of them to the Internet Archive.  Here’s the pilot episode from YouTube...

DISCLAIMER: I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes. If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: A Minute with Stan Hooper (FOX 2003)

The Christmas episode was my favorite holiday themed episode of any TV series.  Here’s the link to my Christmas episodes post.

The rest of the series was equally great.  But I’m almost relieved the show ended when it did after reading about possible future storylines.

 

The full series is on YouTube.  The quality is bad though, so hopefully some streamer picks up the 13 episodes...

 

Lost TV Sanctuary: Hi Honey, I'm Home! (ABC & Nick At Nite 1991)

When it comes to weird TV concepts, this is right up there with the weirdest.

It’s about a TV sitcom family whose show is cancelled.  They then get relocated to a suburban neighborhood in the real world to wait until the show is brought back.

 

It lasted 2 short seasons.  The first one aired on ABC & Nick At Nite - the second only on Nick At Nite.

 

The full series is on YouTube…

Lost TV Sanctuary: Day By Day (NBC 1988)

This, ABC’s Then Came You and NBC’s Easy Street are the most requested show trades I get.

Day By Day aired for 2 seasons on NBC.  It’s most remembered for the second season Brady Bunch episode (which is awesome and is the one below).

 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus co-starred on this as Eileen right before playing Elaine on Seinfeld.  Weird thing about that - Eileen and Elaine are pretty much the exact same character.

 

I know the full-length NBC episodes are out there in torrent-land and are in far better condition than what I have (which are the poorly edited syndicated episodes that Lifetime ran).  But at least it's something for a show that’s not easy to find.

 

Here’s some episodes from the Internet Archive.

 

Episode 1 (NBC):  YouTube 

And here’s the full version of the Brady Bunch episode from YouTube…

 

DISCLAIMER: I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes. If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: Christmas Episodes (from short-lived TV shows) - part 2

Here's five other Christmas episodes from short-lived TV shows (part 1 is here).

This one is more of a right-after-Christmas episode...

DISCLAIMER: I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes. If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: Christmas Episodes (from short-lived TV shows)

Most short-lived shows never make it to a Christmas episode.  But some of my favorites did get one.

My #1 is the Christmas episode of A Minute with Stan Hooper.  From start to finish, there's not a dead moment (comedy-wise) in “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie”.  Here it is from YouTube…

 

 Here’s some other Christmas episode favorites... 

 
Part 2 of Christmas Episodes from Short-Lived TV Shows is here.

Lost TV Sanctuary: The Pursuit of Happiness (ABC 1987)

I have some episodes of this on VHS, but never watched it until now.

What a great show this was!  And the way Magic Johnson is even on the show is so funny.  I'm sad it only lasted 10 episodes.

I'll be posting the 5 episodes I have on the Internet Archive.

Here's the first episode someone uploaded to YouTube...

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: Lost on Earth (USA 1997)

#10 on my list of Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

Alien puppets stranded on Earth.  Why wasn’t this a giant hit?!

The 6 episodes that aired are all on YouTube.  But the last 7, nowhere to be found and supposedly never aired (for USA Network to pull an original show that quick is kind of a shock).

I’d especially like to see the final episode “Going Home” as it sounds like it either wraps the series up (maybe they had an idea it wouldn’t last) or ends on a giant cliffhanger.

Here's the first half of episode 1...

Lost TV Sanctuary: Method & Red (FOX 2004)

#9 on my list of Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

This is a more recent TV show, but finding the unaired episodes of it is equally as difficult as finding an obscure show from the 70’s & 80’s.

Due to creative problems, the two stars were not happy with this series.  I wish they were given more creative control, because this could’ve been a really fun long running series.  One of the show’s problems was the generic laugh track, which didn’t fit the show at all.

A huge plus for the series - Anna Maria Horsford.  She played Method Man’s Mom and just about every word she uttered made me laugh (I was also a fan of her on Amen).

Four of the episodes never ended up airing.  The last one was about Method Man opening a theme park - I’m a big fan of amusement parks, so I was really looking forward to seeing that one.  Maybe someday.  For now, 9 episodes that did air are on YouTube…

Lost TV Sanctuary: Married People (ABC 1990)

#8 on my list of Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

My #1 favorite primetime TV producers are Robert Sternin & Prudence Fraser.  (For the record, Sid & Marty Krofft are my favorite Saturday morning TV producers - yeah, I like TV shows with extremely unique concepts).

Robert Sternin & Prudence Fraser have been the executive producers / creators of some of my favorite TV series including The Charmings, Live-In (CBS 1989), The Simple Life (CBS 1998 - a sitcom starring Judith Light) and this series.  In addition to a bunch of other TV credits, they were also executive producers of seasons 1 - 4 of The Nanny.

This series has not been easy to find.  I haven’t run across any full episodes online and all I have is one episode on VHS.  It was originally recorded on EP speed, so the quality is a little rough after all these years but it’s easily watchable.

It’s yet another series I hope to see the full run of someday.  But for now, here’s episode 17 (of 18) titled "Dance 10, Friends Zero"…

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: Alright Already (WB 1997)

#7 on my list of Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

This was like a female version of Seinfeld but without the massive success that Seinfeld had.  Which is too bad because it was an extremely funny show.

The entire cast of this show was perfect, the writing excellent and Carol Leifer has remained a favorite of mine ever since.

I had the chance to see one of the tapings for this.  I can’t remember exactly which episode, but it was one they were having a really hard time taping.  After about 4 hours, a bunch of the studio audience had to leave.  There was a few of us that remained but after a while, we all had to leave when the audience security left.  I would’ve loved to have stayed because I was still having a great time watching the taping.

There’s a bunch of clips from the show online, but very few of the full episodes.  Here’s episode 9 from YouTube…

Lost TV Sanctuary: Makin' It (ABC 1979)

#6 on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

Only 9 episodes of this show were produced, but just one is currently findable.

Right from the extremely long (but awesome) opening theme, you’ll know this is a disco-era sitcom.  Unfortunately it aired just as disco started dying.  But it had some huge talent behind it - the show was produced by the same company that did Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy and Angie (one of my all time favorite sitcoms).

I was disappointed in the Angie complete series DVD release because a few episodes were the syndication edits.  That tells me the masters weren’t available for whatever reason.  Let’s hope the masters for the other 8 episodes of this are preserved somewhere.

Poor quality copies of some episodes have turned up over the years, but the sixth episode is currently the only one I’ve found.  Here it is…

Lost TV Sanctuary: Rocky Road (TBS 1984)

#5 on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

TBS has always run some great original sitcoms (I’m still crushed about 2016’s People of Earth not getting a season 3).  Down To Earth and Safe At Home are two TBS sitcoms from the mid-80’s.  The third show that went along with those was Rocky Road.

The show lasted 3 seasons and had some pretty big cast changes between each season.  Georg Olden (who portrayed Robbie throughout the entire run) uploaded some season 2 and 3 episodes to YouTube about 10 years ago.  But nothing from season 1 - and I’d love to see some of those again.

Here’s one of the episodes Georg uploaded…

Lost TV Sanctuary: Easy Street (NBC 1986)

#4 on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

I don’t remember this show originally airing.  I first saw it when Lifetime aired reruns of it for a while.  That was one of the networks that would frequently run failed & short lived TV series.

Easy Street starred Loni Anderson as a widower who recently inherited her rich husband’s estate.  A stipulation in the will is her sister-in-law and husband can continue living in the mansion as well.  She then invited a long lost down-on-his-luck uncle and his best friend to live there as well.

I taped all 22 episodes of the show.  But Lifetime had the show chopped up in a really strange way with the commercial breaks happening in different spots.  This (plus editing out parts of the show to fit in more commercials) makes for a choppy experience trying to watch it.  It’s better than nothing, but I’d sure love to see the full unedited show.

I’ve uploaded a few episodes on to the Internet Archive.  The quality is just ok - it was recorded on EP speed and the tapes didn’t hold up all the great.  It’s watchable though.

Here’s the one full length episode that’s on YouTube.  Usually the show’s humor was light, but this is one of the times when things took a dark turn.  It’s episode 16 (The Mad Gardener)…

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: I Married Dora (ABC 1987)

#3 on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

You know a sitcom is going to be awesome when a disclaimer has to air before it saying that the entire premise of the show is illegal.  The disclaimer did not air before the episodes I uploaded though.

I Married Dora is best remembered for having one of the coolest endings to a series.  Here it is…

 

It’s also remembered for starring Juliette Lewis in her second major TV appearance (she first appeared a month earlier in the TV miniseries Home Fires).

I loved this show, but it only lasted 13 episodes.  Most shows that get cut off that soon never rerun.  But ABC aired all the episodes twice - and some even got a third airing.

Somehow though I still missed recording three of the episodes.  I’ve managed to find two of them, but still can’t find episode 2 (My Parents Are Coming!, My Parents Are Coming!).

I put a few episodes up on the Internet Archive (more coming soon) plus the series promo…

 

DISCLAIMER:  I only upload episodes of TV series that are completely unavailable in any format (not currently broadcast, streaming or available to purchase in any way) for archival purposes.  If the show suddenly becomes available, all files will be deleted.

Lost TV Sanctuary: The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfieffer (UPN 1998)

The 5 unaired episodes of this show are #2 on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

It was controversial and yes, it was as stupid as everyone says.  But so was everything on late 90’s UPN (think Shasta McNasty, another show I watched every week).

Chi McBride was hysterical in this.  His character of Desmond was the only smart & sane person around.  That’s almost all the jokes right there - but it stays funny.  And the rest of the cast - equally awesome.  Especially Christine Estabrook, who steals every scene she’s in as Mary Todd Lincoln.

After 4 episodes aired (out of order and not even starting with the first episode due to protests), the show was pulled.  That left 5 taped episodes unaired.  I saw the live taping of what I think was the last episode taped.  I’m not sure if it was “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” (unaired) or “Once Upon a Mistress” (the 4th episode aired).  But either way, I’d love to see those remaining 5 episodes including the original pilot.

I transferred the 4 aired episodes years ago, but saw someone else has already uploaded them to YouTube...

 

Lost TV Sanctuary: Woops! (FOX 1992)

Dr. Who’s missing episodes are obviously the biggest lost TV media.  But to me, the ultimate Holy Grail of Lost TV Media is the 3 unaired episodes of Woops!...

• Episode 9 - The Nuclear Family
• Episode 11 - The Littlest Pathologist
• Episode 13 - Daydreams Come and Me ‘Wan Go Home
  

Another similar show from around the same time from Witt / Thomas / Harris (Good & Evil) recently showed up complete with originally unaired episodes, so maybe that’ll happen with this Witt / Thomas show soon.

Once again, this proves that early FOX shows were just absolutely bonkers & awesome.  The scene in the Thanksgiving episode with the giant turkey coming towards their house has forever stuck in my head as one of the weirdest things on a regular network TV show.  And somehow things get even stranger after that.  I really wish this show had a chance to continue.  It was like Gilligan’s Island 2.0 or an early Walking Dead sitcom with random people replacing zombies.

I transferred the 10 aired episodes years ago, but saw someone else has already uploaded them to the Internet Archive.  So check them out there…

 

Lost TV Sanctuary: Good & Evil (ABC 1991)

This was Soap with different characters.  But unlike Soap, this show was hurt by both low ratings and protests.

The protests were the result of the character of George.  He was blind and continuously destroying everything in his path.  It was slapstick, but that didn’t go over well.

Only 6 episodes aired on ABC originally.  The remaining 5 episodes were nearly impossible to find - until recently.  A couple months ago, all 11 episodes popped up on YouTube.  Watch them quick before they disappear!

Lost TV Sanctuary: Brother's Keeper (ABC 1998)

This was on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media up until just recently when I saw the full series is already on the Internet Archive.  By a user named Desmond Pfieffer (another show high on my list to find).

Brother’s Keeper was part of ABC’s TGIF in the 1998 season (the lineup went Two of a Kind, Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch & Brother’s Keeper).

I wanted to write for this show, but it went away before I could try.  I did get to watch some of the tapings at least.

Bess Meyer (who played Dena on this show) also showed up on one of my other short-lived favorites Normal Life.

Here’s the link to the Internet Archive page...

Lost TV Sanctuary: The Charmings (ABC 1987)

This is my favorite TV series ever.  For years, it was #1 on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media (episodes or shows I’d most like to see but doubt will ever be available).  I did have all the episodes, but most were edited or the quality wasn't great.

Then, out of nowhere, they all showed up on YouTube in perfect condition about a year ago.  Who knows how long they’ll remain there though.

Here's the full playlist of all 21 episodes.  And this is episode 1...