The Avengers - A 50th Anniversary Celebration

[MRotten]

To Linda's defense, I'd say--again--that I don't share Brian Clemens' views on her. If she was selected, that's because SHE was perfect for the part (some rumors, that I won't refer to, and I don't want to believe that rubbish anyway, pretended Linda had obtained the job thanks to her relation with Bryce ). Those rumors were just the words expressed by anti-tara groups (Shame some as.... exist).

Linda had to stay in the Avengers and it's certainly NOT her fault if the series didn't continue for its 7th season. ABC should have found another time slot (10pm like the first episodes broadcast in the US) to let the show survive.

That's all I have to say.

Absolutely. ABC in America killed the show, putting it on at the inappropriate kiddie hour of 7:30 PM. As the 7-8 PM hour was considered 'family hour', I'm surprised, on reflection, that ABC got away with placing it there, with its violent content. The country was wild about Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in, which started at 8 PM on NBC. There was no way the show could survive in competition with the No. 1 rated show at the time. Everyone watched Laugh-in. It was almost as if ABC wanted the show to fail. In any case, it was a very bad decision and the ratings plummetted. I think it would have failed even if Diana Rigg had still been on the show.

Linda was a first-rate Avengers girl, no matter what Clemens has said.

[JohnSteedFr]

And also, I'm sure many people couldn't watch the show at 7.30pm, it was too early. Notably for people who came back from work...
It must be a very good explanation to those ratings which decreased abruptly.

[Dan]

To Linda's defense, I'd say--again--that I don't share Brian Clemens' views on her. If she was selected, that's because SHE was perfect for the part (some rumors, that I won't refer to, and I don't want to believe that rubbish anyway, pretended Linda had obtained the job thanks to her relation with Bryce ). Those rumors were just the words expressed by anti-tara groups (Shame some as.... exist).

Linda had to stay in the Avengers and it's certainly NOT her fault if the series didn't continue for its 7th season. ABC should have found another time slot (10pm like the first episodes broadcast in the US) to let the show survive.

That's all I have to say.

Absolutely. ABC in America killed the show, putting it on at the inappropriate kiddie hour of 7:30 PM. As the 7-8 PM hour was considered 'family hour', I'm surprised, on reflection, that ABC got away with placing it there, with its violent content. The country was wild about Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in, which started at 8 PM on NBC. There was no way the show could survive in competition with the No. 1 rated show at the time. Everyone watched Laugh-in. It was almost as if ABC wanted the show to fail. In any case, it was a very bad decision and the ratings plummetted. I think it would have failed even if Diana Rigg had still been on the show.

Linda was a first-rate Avengers girl, no matter what Clemens has said.

The ironic thing here is how bad Laugh-In was. Talk about a show that didn't age well. Watching it now (and even allowing for the fact that it was topical humor) you wonder what people saw in it.

[frank]

Laugh in was a creature of its time and it struck a cultural pulse and was escapist enough.

I personally don't want to take anything away from it in order to defend the Avengers. It was a hit show then and appealed to people at the time. Many shows are like that. The Avengers even back then was a niche show. From my understanding it was never a top ten show or a ratings giant.

When it comes to programming, the rationale is not always so cut and dry. ABC at the time was a distant 3rd as a network. That reason alone probably explains why they took a chance airing the show at all.

I don't believe they were trying to deliberately kill the show since they were paying for it. You have to ask how well the show did not only in its previous timeslot but how it compared to other shows that were on ABC at the time.

A show like the Avengers may have been deemed what's called "alternative programming". You certainly wouldn't be putting it up against another spy show at the time like Mission Impossible

truth of the matter is a show like the Avengers, like Star Trek, likely gained more prominence after the show got cancelled

[Frankymole]

Linda was a first-rate Avengers girl, no matter what Clemens has said.

Well of course she was. If she was not good enough, they'd have paid her off and got someone else, and used the few episodes she'd made, even if it was only as many as Venus Smith... You don't endanger the further sales of a big expensive series for the sake of the salary of one actress.

[MLP*]

Linda was a first-rate Avengers girl, no matter what Clemens has said.

Well of coure she was. If she was not good enough, they'd have paid her off and got someone else, and used the few episodes she'd made, even if it was only as many as Venus Smith... You don't endanger the further sales of a big expensive series for the sake of the salary of one actress.

Yeah. Clemens has always sounded so lukewarm about Tara/Linda.
Given that they scrapped all the episodes she shot and started again, I don't know why he didn't do another "Elizabeth Shepherd" and just recast if he wasn't happy with the actress they'd chosen in his absence.

[dissolute]

The Avengers even back then was a niche show. From my understanding it was never a top ten show or a ratings giant.

Hmmm, I don't know about the American experience, but it was THE top show in the UK & Australia. Why do you think so many actors wanted to appear on it?

It was SO popular in Australian that a prominent politician once wrote to The Sydney Morning Herald, complaining about the show being broadcast in the same time slot as his party political broadcast on the other channels. He accused the station of being in league with the government and seeking to ensure he was not heard by the general public, all of whom would have been watching "The Avengers".

[MRotten]

The Avengers was a mainstream hit in the USA. There even was an episode of the spy comedy Get Smart which had an episode with two characters which spoofed Mrs. Peel and Steed.

The Avengers had previously been considered an adult show, airing at 10 PM, where it should have stayed. 7:30 was way too early in the evening to be showing such a sophisticated program. I remember cartoons were on at 7 PM, as, again, it was the family hour.

[Timeless A-Peel]

My impression has always been that ABC put the Avengers in the Laugh-In slot precisely because it did so well in the ratings, and they saw it as the only show they had that stood a chance of competing against it. I don't think they were trying to kill it off at all--they were hoping it would win the ratings war.

[JohnSteedFr]

Linda was a first-rate Avengers girl, no matter what Clemens has said.

Well of coure she was. If she was not good enough, they'd have paid her off and got someone else, and used the few episodes she'd made, even if it was only as many as Venus Smith... You don't endanger the further sales of a big expensive series for the sake of the salary of one actress.

Yeah. Clemens has always sounded so lukewarm about Tara/Linda.
Given that they scrapped all the episodes she shot and started again, I don't know why he didn't do another "Elizabeth Shepherd" and just recast if he wasn't happy with the actress they'd chosen in his absence.

And if you listened to Jennifer Croxton's commentary on the DVDs by Optimum, she was the only one, even the first person, to declare that the episodes under the direction of John Bryce were wonderful.
I've always thought those missing stories had been reshot because it didn't reflect what Brian Clemens had in mind.
They might have been excellent (from what I heard and read about INVITATION TO A KILLING thanks to the radio episodes and the storyline written on Avengers Declassified, I came to adore it and think that the plot is superior to the script of HAVE GUNS WILL HAGGLE).