17 Midseason Replacements That Hit the Jackpot

The campiest of all TV hit the small screen on January 12,1966 replacing The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet which moved to Saturdays. Starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin, the series ran for only three seasons but became an instant cult classic.

Many famous entertainers appeared on the show including Cesar Romero as The Joker, Eartha Kitt as Catwoman, and Burgess Meredith as the Penguin. Milton Burle and Vincent Price also made villainous appearances.

Did you know Mickey Rooney turned down the role of Archie Bunker? Carroll O'Connor was cast, and the the show debuted in January of 1971 replacing To Rome with Love. The series broke many television taboos at the time and even came with a disclaimer on its very first episode.

Empire was originally supposed to appear on the Fall schedule at Fox, but instead got moved to a midseason premiere. We got our first taste of the Lyon family on January 7, 2015. Unlike other midseason pilots, the ratings for the show actually rose. But that was then, and this is now. It's still too early to tell if Empire is going to be a long-lasting hit even if it's currently in its third season.

Monday nights were never the same for supernatural loving fans after Buffy premiered on March 10, 1997. The show replaced Savannah and went on to become one of TV's biggest and most beloved cult classics.

Who knew "Caskett" would be thing when Castle made its debut on March 9, 2009? Viewers fell in love with the fesity detective and goofy writer who eventually paired up both professionally and romantically. The show lasted for eight seasons, though some fans think the show really ended with season seven.

Happy Days debuted on January 15, 1974 replacing Temperatures Rising. The show was originally going to be set in the 1920s and be called Cool, but those ideas never panned out. Happy Days aired for aired for 11 seasons, spawning many spin-offs including Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy.

The Bionic Woman premiered on January 14, 1976 replacing the sitcoms When Things Were Rotten and That's My Mama. A spin-off from The Six MIllion Dollar Man, the show aired for three seasons. Lindsay Wagner, who played the main character, Jamie Sommers, became the first actress on a science fiction-based TV series to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

This cop sitcom known for its intelligent writing and catchy theme song premiered on January 23, 1975. It was adapted from an unsold television pilot which aired as part of an anthology series on the same network the year before. Although not a ratings hit, the show aired for seven seasons.

Seth MacFarlane introduced us to the dysfunctional Griffin family on January 31, 1999. MacFarlane drew inspiration for the show from The Simpsons, All in the Family, and Saturday morning cartoons including Rubik, the Amazing Cube as well as Fonz and the Happy Days Gang. The show has aired for 15 seasons despite being cancelled twice. Famous regulars on the show include Batman's Adam West as Mayor Adam West and the late Carrie Fisher as Angela, Peter's boss.

This dramatastic spin-off of both Adam-12 and Dragnet premiered on January 15, 1972 replacing two short-lived shows, The Good Life and Partners. Emergency! existed in the same universe as the shows from which it originated and there were actually two crossover episodes with Adam-12.

Emergency! also got an extra-special kind spin-off of itself...as a cartoon which aired from 1973 - 1976. Oh, and John Travolta earned his first TV credit on the series.

Who would've guessed that a chat with a doctor about how hard it is to shave your legs in the shower would be the spark Shonda Rhimes needed to create one of the best-loved medical dramas in TV history? Talk about inspiration hitting anywhere! Grey's Anatomy premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC taking the place of Boston Legal which moved to another night.

Love and marriage...love and marriage...Okay, technically Married...with Children didn't replace anything, as it was FOX's first primetime show, premiering at midseason on April 5, 1987. It lasted for 10 seasons and is the longest running live-action show in FOX history. The show was originally pitched with Sam Kinison and Roseanne Barr in mind. Thankfully, they were focusing on their movie careers. We love them, but can you imagine?

The Simpsons first graced our television screens as shorts on the Tracey Ullmann Show in 1987, but didn't premiere as its own show until December 17, 1989, replacing Totally Hidden Video. The Simpsons are now on their 28th season, the longest running sitcom in American television history.

A remake of a British show of the same name, The Office premiered on March 24, 2005, replacing Committed. Although it did poorly in the ratings after is six episode first season, ratings grew after Steve Carrell's film, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, was released that summer. The show went on to become a hit for the next nine seasons.

The two-hour pilot aired as an ABC Sunday Night Movie on March 3, 1985. The show was one of the first successful dramedies on television, and was a hit with TV audiences and critics alike. Ratings were stable for the show until Maddie and David gave in to their romantic tensions and had sex in the middle of Season 3. The ratings plummeted, and the "Moonlighting Curse" was born. The show went on for two more seasons before finally cancelled.

To be fair, though, probably the real reason the show declined was because the two stars of the show, Cybill Shepard and Bruce Willis, had other things going on in their lives (Shepard gave birth to twins, and Willis had success with a little movie called Die Hard) which meant many scenes were taped without the two of them together.

Premiering on March 14, 2014, The 100 follows a group of teens as they navigate a post-apocalyptic world. It It broke four-year viewing records for the network time slot in its debut season and continues to be a success as it moves into its fourth season.

The Wonder Years, inspired by A Christmas Story, premiered on January, 31, 1988 taking over the spot left vacant when Growing Pains moved to a different night. The dramedy earned many accolades during its six seasons, including winning an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series after only six episodes.