MacGruder and Loud

Malcom MacGruder

Jenny Loud

Lynch

Bobby (5 episodes, 1985)

This show was a folly that cost ABC dearly. The network created the series as their answer to CBS's cop-buddy hit Cagney & Lacey (1981) with the twist that it was a secret affair between a policeman and his policewoman partner. ABC spent millions and heavily hyped the show for three months with non-stop ads on television and in print and made its premiere an event by having it follow Super Bowl XIX. The premiere got a huge audience despite dreadful early reviews but the ratings didn't hold and the following week it dropped to #34 in the ratings and continued to plummet until ABC pulled the show after only three months.