8 beloved television shows from the 1980s that were cancelled for the strangest reasons - did you watch any?

Mama's Family built on the success of a recurring skit from The Carol Burnett Show, telling the story of the Harper family with Thelma Harper as its lead. Vicki Lawrence donned a wig and starred as the quick-tempered matriarch but heavy interference from network executives and moderate ratings meant the show was soon cancelled after shuffling between time slots.

A year and a half later, following a studio merge, Mama's Family was revived and found success for four seasons before being cancelled once more as it had reached enough episodes for licensed re-runs to bring in the big bucks for the studio.

Given the enduring success of sitcom M*A*S*H, it might be surprising to hear that the subsequent spin-off AfterMASH has gone down in TV as something of a legendary failure. The show followed Potter, Klinger and Mulcahy's lives at a veterans hospital, but creator Larry Gelbart later admitted none of the characters had the makings of a leading man. 

While the show initially pulled in over 40 million viewers for its premiere, the network decided to challenge NBC hit The A-Team with a scheduling conflict... promptly losing half of their viewers.

The dream of every sitcom fan is that our favourite characters have their plot lines wrapped up neatly and tied with a bow. This sadly wasn't the case for the alien life form, ALF, from Melmac and his life with the Tanner family.

After four seasons, the show ended on a massive cliffhanger as Alf is captured by the government in the final episode. Changing regulations meant it was much more profitable for NBC to make their own shows, rather than paying another studio to keep the puppet in its starring role. Fortunately, he did get a happy ending with '90s TV movie Project: ALF.

A 1986 weekend marathon of The Monkees won the band a new generation of fans and had Columbia producing a reboot series to capitalise on the newfound success. 

With four new actors and a playlist of synth pop, there wasn't much to draw in fans of the original. The New Monkees prompted bags of hate mail and death threats, as well as opposition from the Monkees themselves. Unsurprisingly, only 13 episodes of the planned 22 were shot.

Wayne Rogers and Lynn Redgrave's sitcom House Calls came to a close soon after Lynn left the show and the reasons surrounding her exit are steeped in controversy. Lynn claimed that she was fired when the show refused to let her breastfeed in her dressing room. 

Her husband and manager John Clark stated there was more to it: they had opened contract renegotiations with a requested raise, transport, nanny and permission to breastfeed in her dressing room – the studio reportedly wouldn't even let the baby on set. There were even rumours Wayne wanted Lynn out so he could take on a starring role.

Police Squad! has one of the most bizarre cancellation stories in TV history. Airplane! was such a success that comedy trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker returned with a comedy series featuring their patented combination of wit and slapstick humour.

With such grounds for success, the show's sudden cancellation surely came as a shock. The reason? ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos reasoned "the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it". Fortunately, Police Squad! lead character Frank Drebin later found fame in the Naked Gun franchise.

Plenty of studios have put some serious cash behind successful series like Friends and Game of Thrones, whether that's paying their actors $1 million an episode or investing in CGI dragons. 

Automan's special effects might not seem like much now, but in the '80s the glow of Chuck Wagner's costume required some futuristic tech that quickly out-budgeted the money Automan brought in.

Dynasty still has a prime place in the soap opera history books, complete with its complicated romances and jaw-dropping shoulder pads. It makes sense, then, that they'd try for equal success with a spin-off.

The Colbys starred the likes of Charlton Heston and Barbara Stanwyck, with the studio splurging on luxurious sets and costumes. However, the soap is solid proof that sometimes it's best to stick to what you know as the second series ended with an alien abduction, after which The Colbys' cancellation was promptly announced.