When a television series gets canceled, there’s always the chance that show might get revived on another channel, especially if a fanbase is truly clamoring for that show to return. Interestingly, the latest show that is set to return to the schedule did not have as much of a cult following, at least that I’m aware of. Regardless, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers is expected to return to the schedule in 2014, thanks to a bid from Lifetime.
It may seem like a little bit of a shock that the female-skewing cable network might want to air the hidden-camera series, but Lifetime should know what it is doing by picking up the defunct network program. That’s because Lifetime has been airing repeats of Off Their Rockers for quite some time. Assumedly, the reruns of the program are doing quite well, prompting Lifetime to resurrect the series, which was canceled by NBC back in July.
Resurrecting a show can run the gamut from Arrested Development-level success to America’s Most Wanted, another program that was rebuilt by Lifetime after getting canceled, only to ultimately get the boot a second time. While bringing back America’s Most Wanted may not have been the best idea the network has ever had, Off Their Rockers actually seems like it could thrive on the cable channel.
When NBC dropped Off Their Rockers, it wasn’t a huge shock, thanks to the network chopping other comedic programming that was doing relatively well, like Go On and Whitney. While Off Their Rockers had dropped in the ratings during its second season, it was also shuffled around on NBC’s schedule quite a bit and didn’t ever air regularly. Still, it was managing to average 5.3 million total viewers, which would be substantial numbers to a network like Lifetime, and hopefully the cable station will be able to retain some of the show’s NBC audience when new episodes air.
According to THR, Lifetime has signed on for 20 new episodes of Off Their Rockers in Season 3. No premiere date has been set, yet, but the show is expected to return in 2014. The format seems as if it should be nearly the same, which means audiences should get a few scripted segments coupled with hidden camera gags. Betty White is still expected to host the series, so it should be pretty much the same thing as it was on NBC. Now it’ll be up to audiences to decide whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Expect more of the following in the months to come…
