Evergreen television shows are ideal for
reruns.
Seinfeld, for example, has been one of the most successful sitcoms in off-network syndication for over two decades, as its
observational comedy did not rely on pop culture references that could become dated.
Garry Marshall often set his shows in the near-past, such examples including
Happy Days and its spinoff
Laverne & Shirley, on the suggestion of one of his producers,
Thomas L. Miller, who noted that shows that are somewhat old or
retro to begin with and become popular hits do not lose their popularity or freshness as years pass. Both shows went on to have a long afterlife in syndication; ''
That '70s Show, a Carsey-Werner sitcom, followed a similar concept and lasted several years in reruns. In contrast, Murphy Brown, a show of similar longevity and popularity from the same era as Seinfeld'', was a syndication failure in part because of its frequent reliance upon current events of the 1990s. A show's evergreen status can also be grounds for
cancellation once it has built up a backlog of episodes which can be continually re-run. After
The Jerry Springer Show was cancelled in 2018, television analyst Bill Carroll remarked, "Realistically, I don't think the audience is able to look at the show and say, 'that's one from this year, or two years ago or four years ago.' It has become so homogenous".
Byron Allen regularly relies on keeping his shows evergreen to allow him to reduce the number of episodes he has to produce. ==References==