Hello. I am Tommie and I’m always curious about failures and shows that went south (sometimes literally). Fox’s 1992-93 season is particular for many reasons, but among those is that they were trying to massively expand – going from four nights to seven. Good luck, Chuck!
Either way, here’s one of the shows Fox tried on their schedule to expand.
The Heights (1992)
Concept: So, with the launch of Melrose Place Fox had the post-college experience nailed. So what happens when you don’t want to go to college post-High School but also want to make your dreams come true? You start a band, of course! With the Summer of Deception going on at the 90210 address, these dramas were in theory flying high!
Launch: Well, with Beverly Hills 90210 moving to Wednesdays (along with Melrose Place) to help Fox launch the night, there was an open slot on Thursdays post-The Simpsons and newbie Martin.
And away we go: The Heights did absolutely mediocre. There were no bright spots here – usually dropped about half of Martin’s audience. At the end of the season you can argue it did better than other dramas like Key West and Class of ‘96, but that’s hardly great when they were just bombing out of the gate without decent lead-ins.
As for the show… The Heights was a bit of a jumbled mess. It was about a group who wanted to make it big, but at the same time it wasn’t really as light-hearted as you’d expect from that description. On the contrary, it dealt with heavy topics such as teenage runaways. But… is that what you want from an Aaron Spelling show? I’d expect people to want to relax and put their feet up; hell if they did that, it would’ve been a logical companion to two comedies. But as it was, it was just too heavy and when they started adjusting the show it was a bit too late.
Ratings… so how did it compare to the Fox dramas airing? Let’s take a look.
EPISODE | THE HEIGHTS | BH90210 | MELROSE |
#1 | 6.7 / 12 | 9.5 (REPEAT) | N/A |
#2 | 6.1 / 12 | 8.9/16 | 8.7/16 |
#3 | 5.6 / 10 | 11.4/19 | 7.9/13 |
#4 | 4.4 / 7 | 10.1/17 | 7.3/12 |
#5 | 5.4/9 | 10.8/18 | N/A |
#6 | 5.2/8 | 8/13 (REPEAT) | 6.2/9 |
#7 | 5.7/9 | 10.8/17 | 8.3/12 |
#8 | 5.8/9 | 9.5/15 (REPEAT) | 7.4/11 |
#9 | 6.9 | 12.9 | 8.8 |
#10 | 5.7 | 12.9 | 8.3 |
#11 | 5.9/9 | 11/17 | 6.6/10 |
#12 | 4.2/8 | 9.9/16 | 6.3/10 |
A lot can be said about retention, but let’s just say that The Heights wasn’t a great retainer of its Martin lead-in (11.1 avg); but I doubt Fox thought it would be. Beverly Hills 90210 was never a great retainer when it was on Thursdays, but ultimately started to build its own audience that made it viable to move to Wednesdays.
What doomed The Heights is that it wasn’t competitive towards to Fox’s other dramas. Yes, Melrose Place had the up with following glowing-hot Beverly Hills 90210, but at one point the disparity in the ratings become too much. For comparison, Beverly Hills 90210 ended up at ranking at a tied 60th for the 1992-93 season with a 10.1 average and Fox's highest rated drama for the season. While Melrose Place's 7.0 average and dismal 109th tie isn't impressive, it had a late-season resurgence which isn't as visible in the seasonal average. Meanwhile, The Heights ended up even lower at 127th place with a 5.6 average. Fox went low on The Heights, but Aaron Spelling did give them that 13th episode to tie things up for Europe.
Where to watch? YouTube Playlist
It should be noted that The Heights effectively works as a 13 episode mini series as the show closes out on a non-cliffhanger note.
As for the hit… in an unexpected turn of events, the show bombed in the ratings but at the same time produced a hit song that hit number one on the Billboard Charts. Go figure – here’s “How Do You Talk to an Angel”: