Where did you find The John Larroquette Show, CK? I don't see that it's available for streaming, and I'd like to sample that first season.
I don't know if I ever watched more than an episode or two of it. The only thing I remember about the show was from a newspaper story about it that illustrated the show's (early) philosophy by pointing out a sign John had in his office, taken from an old amusement park attraction: "THIS IS A DARK RIDE." I don't remember the show much, but I've always kept that close.
ClarkKent_DC > Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)July 27, 2025 at 6:44pm
I found The John Larroquette Show on RewindTV, a cable oldies channel that seems to specialize in forgotten, short-run sitcoms from the 1980s, like Becker, Just Shoot Me, Dear John, and suchlike. Having completed the run of The John Larroquette Show through its abbreviated fourth season, RewindTV started over and is about halfway through Season 1.
Checking the Wikipedia entry for The John Larroquette Show, it mentions several episodes I must have watched but don't recognize from their descriptions. That's how thoroughly Season 3 failed to capture my attention.
Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for it, but we're streaming-only now, so no Rewind TV as far as I can tell. But I'm sure it'll turn up somewhere!
ClarkKent_DC > Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)July 29, 2025 at 10:27pm
There is the suspiciously similar Antenna TV, another cable oldies channel that seems to specialize in forgotten, short-run sitcoms from the 1980s, like Becker, Just Shoot Me, Dear John, and suchlike.
I wish some of these cable channels would also offer dramas from the '70s and '80s. Stuff like TV movies, or shows that don't fit today's mold of average cop shows. Like the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie line up (which expanded into Wednesdays), which included the likes of McCloud, McMillan and Wife, Banacek, The Snoop Sisters, Tenafly, etc. Except for Columbo, most of those, to my knowledge, aren't airing anywhere and probably haven't since their original broadcast, probably owing to their being 90 minutes long instead of an hour.
There are things like the H&I (Heroes & Icons) channel for adventure shows and average cop shows like Nash Bridges, but the others could mix up the lineup of forgotten sitcoms with other fare.
We had Antenna TV and Heroes & Icons when we had cable. I think Heroes & Icons shared a channel with Antenna or a similar channel for a while. Like, it was Antenna during the week, and Heroes & Icons on the weekends, or something like that.
A year or so ago, ME-TV (I think) showed McCloud, McMillan and Wife and Banachek on Saturdays. I remember this because I DVR-ed McMillan for my mother who loves Rock Hudson.
Last night, to wind down before bed, I streamed a few minutes of this compilation of old TV title sequences (from the 70s through...maybe 2017?) on our TV. Two hours later, it was 3am and Kathy and I had watched the whole thing. It was like crack -- we couldn't stop, and it kept us up all night.
You might want to take a look. SITCOMS THAT PRIMETIME FORGOT, compiled by Michael Darling. There may be some shows you remember, but there'll definitely be stars you recognize in roles you never knew they had.
ClarkKent_DC > Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)August 3, 2025 at 7:20pm
Thanks, Rob. As this is two hours long(!) it'll take me a while to get through it all. But I was surprised to see Scott Grimes -- I remember him from the later years of ER -- as a kid actor!
And I spotted George Clooney, sporting a thick mullet that would make the 1980s Superman jealous, during his "it took 10 years to become an overnight sensation" phase. It wasn't for the CBS sitcom E/R, set in a Chicago hospital, not to be confused with the NBC drama ER, set in a Chicago hospital. In ER (the drama), Clooney played a pediatrician; in E/R (the sitcom), he (and his mullet) played an ambulance driver.
The Gould E/R shows up later in the video. I didn't see Clooney there, but I did see Bruce A. Young, who played a police officer who was a regular supporting character on the show. Sometime in the early 90s I saw him play Othello against Campbell Scott as Iago. I think it was a touring company; I saw it on University of Pennsylvania's campus. They killed!
Here's an essay I was rather proud of writing, about Suits LA and how it honored veteran actor John Amos after his passing. It so happened that Amos guest-starred in the pilot episode, so the show followed up a few episodes later after he died.
Replies
Where did you find The John Larroquette Show, CK? I don't see that it's available for streaming, and I'd like to sample that first season.
I don't know if I ever watched more than an episode or two of it. The only thing I remember about the show was from a newspaper story about it that illustrated the show's (early) philosophy by pointing out a sign John had in his office, taken from an old amusement park attraction: "THIS IS A DARK RIDE." I don't remember the show much, but I've always kept that close.
I found The John Larroquette Show on RewindTV, a cable oldies channel that seems to specialize in forgotten, short-run sitcoms from the 1980s, like Becker, Just Shoot Me, Dear John, and suchlike. Having completed the run of The John Larroquette Show through its abbreviated fourth season, RewindTV started over and is about halfway through Season 1.
Checking the Wikipedia entry for The John Larroquette Show, it mentions several episodes I must have watched but don't recognize from their descriptions. That's how thoroughly Season 3 failed to capture my attention.
Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for it, but we're streaming-only now, so no Rewind TV as far as I can tell. But I'm sure it'll turn up somewhere!
There is the suspiciously similar Antenna TV, another cable oldies channel that seems to specialize in forgotten, short-run sitcoms from the 1980s, like Becker, Just Shoot Me, Dear John, and suchlike.
I wish some of these cable channels would also offer dramas from the '70s and '80s. Stuff like TV movies, or shows that don't fit today's mold of average cop shows. Like the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie line up (which expanded into Wednesdays), which included the likes of McCloud, McMillan and Wife, Banacek, The Snoop Sisters, Tenafly, etc. Except for Columbo, most of those, to my knowledge, aren't airing anywhere and probably haven't since their original broadcast, probably owing to their being 90 minutes long instead of an hour.
There are things like the H&I (Heroes & Icons) channel for adventure shows and average cop shows like Nash Bridges, but the others could mix up the lineup of forgotten sitcoms with other fare.
We had Antenna TV and Heroes & Icons when we had cable. I think Heroes & Icons shared a channel with Antenna or a similar channel for a while. Like, it was Antenna during the week, and Heroes & Icons on the weekends, or something like that.
A year or so ago, ME-TV (I think) showed McCloud, McMillan and Wife and Banachek on Saturdays. I remember this because I DVR-ed McMillan for my mother who loves Rock Hudson.
Last night, to wind down before bed, I streamed a few minutes of this compilation of old TV title sequences (from the 70s through...maybe 2017?) on our TV. Two hours later, it was 3am and Kathy and I had watched the whole thing. It was like crack -- we couldn't stop, and it kept us up all night.
You might want to take a look. SITCOMS THAT PRIMETIME FORGOT, compiled by Michael Darling. There may be some shows you remember, but there'll definitely be stars you recognize in roles you never knew they had.
Thanks, Rob. As this is two hours long(!) it'll take me a while to get through it all. But I was surprised to see Scott Grimes -- I remember him from the later years of ER -- as a kid actor!
And I spotted George Clooney, sporting a thick mullet that would make the 1980s Superman jealous, during his "it took 10 years to become an overnight sensation" phase. It wasn't for the CBS sitcom E/R, set in a Chicago hospital, not to be confused with the NBC drama ER, set in a Chicago hospital. In ER (the drama), Clooney played a pediatrician; in E/R (the sitcom), he (and his mullet) played an ambulance driver.
The Gould E/R shows up later in the video. I didn't see Clooney there, but I did see Bruce A. Young, who played a police officer who was a regular supporting character on the show. Sometime in the early 90s I saw him play Othello against Campbell Scott as Iago. I think it was a touring company; I saw it on University of Pennsylvania's campus. They killed!
Here's an essay I was rather proud of writing, about Suits LA and how it honored veteran actor John Amos after his passing. It so happened that Amos guest-starred in the pilot episode, so the show followed up a few episodes later after he died.
"‘Suits LA’ Honors John Amos, ‘America’s Father’"
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