One of the most glaring instances of network executive mismanagement ever happened to the show "Gidget" back in the 60's. Now, granted, it wasn't a great show. It only lasted one season, 32 episodes. It didn't do well against other opposing network shows (Beverly Hillbillies, The Virginian), so it was cancelled. The network, ABC, rebroadcast the episodes during the summer rerun season and the show did suprisingly well in the ratings. ABC could have reversed its decision to cancel the show, but opted to keep their original descision. The show then went on to syndication and did very well. The odd thing about the syndication is the general rule for the minimum number of episodes for a syndicated series is 100 episodes, roughly 4 complete seasons then and roughly 5 to 6 seasons now. The rationale is to prevent the audience from becoming bored by too many repeated episodes. "Gidget" seemed to break this rule and played for many, many years in syndication and probably found a broader audience than it did on the network.
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