Airwolf, similarly, only lasted three seasons on CBS, then had one more season on USA with a whole new cast and a lower budget. Really, the only reason season 4 got made was to meet the quota for rerun syndication in hopes of making up the expense of the show in the long run. That's the same reason poorly rated shows like Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda were dragged out to five seasons with progressively worse writing. No show ever makes a profit in first run; the aim is to reach a high enough episode count to make the show profitable in future syndicated reruns or home video sales. So sometimes, especially in syndication or cable, a show that would be cancelled based on ratings alone is kept on life support until it crosses that finish line.
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