50 years ago on TV...

50 Years ago on September 8, 1975, CBS premiered the second MTM spin-off in two years, when 'Phyllis' aired starring Cloris Leachman. A year earlier, CBS spun-off costar Valerie Harper from TMTMS into 'Rhoda', the most successful 'new show' of the 1974-75 season. Leachman, an Oscar winning actress, was left on the show playing 'second banana' to star MTM, and was making noise about 'leaving' the show after that season and possibly starring in her own show on another network. CBS panicked, not wanting to lose Leachman, and gave in to her request to star in her own sitcom by spinning her off into her own series. Her show was best with problems from the beginning, when one of the costars on the show was shot to death shortly after filming the third episode. In the first season, the show tried different characters to gel with Leachman, but nothing worked. Ratings were solid, thanks to being sandwiched between the second season of 'Rhoda' and the fourth season of 'All in the Family'. A complete overhaul in season 2 didn't help and ratings fell. The show was canceled at the end of the second season, and aired its last episode just days before Leachman would make her final appearance on TV as 'Phyllis' when she guested on the final episode of TMTMS.