TV by the Decade :: January 17•23

Syfy

The month of January is winding down and there are no new TV series premieres during the first five decades. 2001 only has one new docuseries, but 2011 packs in eleven premieres across broadcast and cable networks. And ten years later, very few of them are remembered today (one is still on the air), so let’s take a look and see if you remember any of this week’s TV series premieres!

1951

• No new shows premiered this week in 1951.

1961

• No new shows premiered this week in 1961.

1971

• No new shows premiered this week in 1971.

1981

• No new shows premiered this week in 1981.

1991

• No new shows premiered this week in 1991.

2001

January 22 – History vs. Hollywood

• Narrator: Burt Reynolds
• Synopsis: Experts are interviewed on the historical accuracy of a film that is based on a historical event.
• Network: History Channel
• Broadcast History: Episodes aired through December 15, 2004
• Trivia: Though made for television, the series was shot on 35mm film.

2011

January 17 – Aircrash Confidential

• Narrator: Steven Mackintosh
• Synopsis: The program investigates air-disasters from around the world.
• Network: Discovery Channel
• Broadcast History: Three seasons, 18 episodes, last broadcast on August 20, 2019
• Trivia: The series went on hiatus after the second season in 2012, and returned with a third season in 2018.

January 17 – Being Human

• Cast: Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington, Kristen Hager
• Guest Cast: Mark Pellegrino, Amy Aquino, Xander Berkeley, Dichen Lachman, Terry Kinney, Jesse Rath, Jay Baruchel
• Synopsis: Three twenty-somethings share a house and try to live a normal life despite being a ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire.
• Network: Syfy
• Broadcast History: Four seasons, 52 episodes, last broadcast on April 7, 2014
• Trivia: The series aired on the Space channel in Canada. Based on and followed the same premise as the BBC series of the same name. The vampire Aidan is named after actor Aidan Turner who played vampire Mitchell on the BBC series. The show’s writers maintained a policy of not watching past the first season of the BBC series so as not to copy any story elements to allow the US version to have its own trajectory. The series premiere was Syfy’s most successful winter launch at the time, and during the second season the audience was 52% female, a first for Syfy.

January 17 – Harry’s Law

• Cast: Kathy Bates, Nate Corddry, Christopher McDonald, Karen Olivo, Mark Valley, Irene Keng, Brittany Snow, Aml Ameen, Dana Sorman, Johnny Ray Gill
• Guest Cast: Jean Smart, Camryn Manheim, Amy Aquino, Tracie Thoms, Alfred Molina, Edward Herrmann, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dan Lauria, John Rubenstein, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Nancy Grace, Kevin Dunn, Jason Alexander, Max Gail, Alan Rosenberg, Jay Harrington, Ann Cusack, Scott Grimes, Gregg Henry, Justina Machado, Charles Robinson, Marley Shelton, James Avery, Jessalyn Gilsig, Peter Onorati, Tony Plana, Guillermo Diaz, James Lesure, Margo Martindale, Sarah Steele, Erica Durance, Sterling K. Brown, Teddy Sears, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Nora Dunn, Jai Rodriguez, Steven Culp, Steve Valentine, Spencer Garrett, Robert Picardo, Annie Wersching, Finn Wittrock, Irma P. Hall, Katherine Helmond, Richard Kind, Jon Bernthal, Fyvush Finkel, Kathryn Joosten, Bill Smitrovich, George Wendt, John Billingsley
• Synopsis: The series revolves around Harriet Korn, a recently fired patent lawyer, and her group of associates as they come together to form a unique law firm in a rundown shoe store in Cincinnati.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 34 episodes, last broadcast on May 27, 2012
• Trivia: This was the first David E. Kelley series not co-produced with 20th Century Fox Television (he co-produced with Warner Bros. Television). To make the show more realistic, the city of Cincinnati was explored more thoroughly and an actual business, Arnold’s Bar and Grill, was incorporated into the story. Upon the show’s cancellation, fans launched a ‘Save Harry’s Law‘ campaign on Facebook to bring it back. The series was nominated for two Emmys in 2011 — Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Bates) and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Paul McCrane) — and two in 2012: Lead Actress again, and Supporting Actress (Jean Smart).

January 17 – Heavy

• Synopsis: The series chronicles the weight loss efforts of people suffering from severe obesity.
• Network: A&E
• Broadcast History: One season, 12 episodes, last broadcast on April 4, 2011

January 17 – Skins

• Cast: Danny Flaherty, Ron Mustafa, James Newman, Jesse Carere, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Rachel Thevenard, Camille Cresencia-Mills, Britne Oldford, Eleanor Zichy
• Recurring Cast: Blaine Morris, Anastasia Phillips, David Reale, Katie Henney
• Synopsis: The series follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Baltimore, Maryland, through their final two years of high school.
• Network: MTV
• Broadcast History: One season, 10 episodes, last broadcast on March 21, 2011
• Trivia: A remake of a UK series of the same name. As with the UK series, the US version featured amateur actors, six of the nine main cast members. The series drew controversy for its strong sexual content, including accusations of child pornography as most of the cast was under 18. Several major sponsors pulled out of the show which may have led to MTV’s decision not to renew the series for a second season. The first and third episodes are near shot-for-shot remakes of the UK series, but other episodes deviate from the UK show’s storyline. James Newman was urged to audition by his brother but missed the initial audition. Attending a later audition, he won the role of Tom. Ron Mustafaa auditioned because his mother was a fan of Dev Patel, who starred on the UK series, and wanted her son to be the next Slumdog. The show was originally to be filmed in Baltimore, but production was moved to Toronto.

January 17 – Supah Ninjas

• Cast: Ryan Potter, Carlos Knight, Gracie Dzienny, George Takei, Matthew Yang King, Randall Park
• Guest Cast: Mark Lindsay Chapman, Barry Livingston, Brandon Soo Hoo, Matthew Gumley, Mike Moh, Victory Van Tuyl, Marissa Cuevas, Cory Kopa, Jordan Nichols, Cody Christian, Danielle Powell
• Synopsis: Three high school students – Mike Fukanaga, Owen Reynolds, and Amanda McKay – become ninjas with the help of Mike’s grandpa.
• Network: Nickelodeon
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 39 episodes, last broadcast on April 27, 2013
• Trivia: The first season was filmed in Los Angeles, and the second was filmed in Pittsburgh.

January 19 – Restaurant: Impossible

• Host: Robert Irvine
• Synopsis: The premise of the series is that within two days and on a budget of $10,000, Irvine renovates a failing American restaurant with the goal of helping to restore it to profitability and prominence.
• Network: Food Network
• Broadcast History: 18 seasons, 191 episodes to date
• Trivia: The show has moved to new streaming service Discovery+ with all-new episodes.

January 19 – Retired at 35

• Cast: George Segal, Johnathan McClain, Jessica Walter, Josh McDermitt, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Marissa Jaret Winokur, George Wyner, Peter Bonerz, Christine Ebersole, John Ross Bowie, Danneel Ackles
• Guest Cast: Estelle Harris, Mimi Kennedy, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Shelley Long, John O’Hurley, Christina Pickles, Jay Thomas, Ashley Williams, Fred Willard, Robin Givens, Melissa Peterman, Amy Hill, Meagan Fay, Ronnie Schell, Jere Burns
• Synopsis: Successful New Yorker David visits his parents in Florida and decides to quit his job and take time to reconnect with his parents and re-evaluate his life, living the dream of retirement. David then learns his parents in the middle of a divorce.
• Network: TV Land
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 20 episodes, last broadcast on August 29, 2012
• Trivia: TV Land’s second original series after Hot in Cleveland, and the first original to be cancelled. Casey Wilson played the role of Amy Robbins in the pilot prior to joining the cast of Happy Endings on ABC. Marisa Jaret Winokur played the role in Season 2.

January 20 – Fairly Legal

• Cast: Sarah Shahi, Michael Trucco, Virginia Williams, Baron Vaughn, Ryan Johnson
• Guest Cast: Esai Morales, Gerald McRaney, Richard Dean Anderson, Ethan Embry, Peter MacNicol, Dean Norris, Chris Vance, Eddie McClintock, Meat Loaf, Clyde Kusatsu, Betsy Brandt, Agnes Bruckner, Mark Moses, Ken Howard, Michael Hogan, Khary Peyton, Tahmoh Penikett, Connor Trineer, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman
• Synopsis: A woman, who quit being an attorney at her father’s law firm to become a mediator, copes after her father’s death.
• Network: USA Network
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 23 episodes, last broadcast on June 15, 2012
• Trivia: The show’s working title was Facing Kate. The first season received a 12-episode order, but was cut to ten due to scheduling issues. The second season did produce 13 episodes.

January 20 – Perfect Couples

• Cast: Kyle Bornheimer, Christine Woods, David Walton, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Hayes MacArthur, Olivia Munn, Nicolette Robinson
• Guest Cast: Kether Donohue, Jeff Witzke, Jen Kirkman
• Synopsis: Three couples have different ideas of what makes the perfect relationship.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: One season, 13 episodes (2 unaired), last broadcast on April 7, 2011
• Trivia: A sneak preview episode aired on December 20, 2010 prior to the series’ official launch in January 2011. NBC pulled the series after the April 7 episode, replacing it with The Paul Reiser Show on April 14. That show was cancelled 11 days later after just two airings. Perfect Couples was officially cancelled on May 13. The final two episodes of the series were available on Hulu. Kyle Howard had been cast as Dave but was replaced with Kyle Bornheimer as Howard was committed to TBS series My Boys, and TBS had not yet made a decision on the fate of that show. TBS cancelled My Boys less than three months after Howard was replaced.

January 23 – Mongo Wrestling Alliance

• Cast: Tommy Blacha, Byron Minns, Jason Nash, Will Sasso, Harry Dean Stanton, Pamela Adlon, Billy West, Eric Kaplan, Georgette Perna
• Guest Cast:
• Synopsis: Back-stabbing smoking ring sluts, villainous mutants and pile-drivers from the top of great big ladders — It’s all in a days work for young Rusty Kleberkuh who is determined to restore his family’s name in the treacherous and deviant world of professional wrestling.
• Network: Adult Swim
• Broadcast History: One season, 10 episodes, last broadcast on April 10, 2011
• Trivia: The series combined Flash and CGI animation.