Sub-Basement

I ask you, what other webcomic is gonna namecheck Barney Miller two installments in a row?  We know what you like.

I’m endlessly fascinated by those formerly great shows, that get to a point where people don’t even realize they’re still on, where they pull a drastic reinvention (often out of necessity, for what is Sanford without a son?) in an attempt to stave off cancellation for one more day.  We all watched All In The Family, but who stuck around for Archie Bunker’s Place?

Often, a family sitcom will throw in a Cousin Oliver-type, as even the youngest ones, the former cute kids, are now squicking people out with their puberty and their off-camera drinking problems.  Characters will suddenly decide to open a store, or run for congress, or move to a farm.  But no one remembers Shirley moving away and Laverne hanging out with Roger Rabbit, until years later when you catch one of these late-period episodes in reruns, stirring a dim recollection that you had written off as a fever dream.

That’s the kind of stuff TV Squared shows.  They can’t afford The Golden Girls, but you can watch The Golden Palace 27 times next week.