TV by the Decade :: Feb 27•Mar 5

Paramount Television

Making the transition from February to March was tough on most of the new series that made their debuts this week across the decades. Six of this week’s new series lasted between six and thirteen episodes before they were canned, and of the eleven shows on the list only three of them made it past a first season, and only one had a longer run of four seasons, while the other two ended after their second (although one did extend its run two more years with made-for-TV movies). Of the failed series, one led to a trilogy of successful comedy films, and another provided a popular Marvel Cinematic Universe star with his first on-screen appearance. Did any of your favorite shows premiere this week? Let’s take a look!

1952

• No new series premiered this week in 1952.

1962

• No new series premiered this week in 1962.

1972

• No new series premiered this week in 1972.

1982

March 1 – Chicago Story

• Cast: Maud Adams, Vincent Baggetta, Molly Cheek, Dennis Franz, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Richard Lawson, Craig T. Nelson, Kristoffer Tabori, Cynthia Lea Clark
• Notable Guests: Nancy Kwan, Ally Sheedy, Joe Pantoliano, John Mahoney, Vernee Watson, Louis Giambalvo
• Synopsis: This is the story of three lawyers, a street cop, two detectives, and two doctors in the Windy city. And how an incident or person’s life is affected by one or more of these people.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: One season, 13 episodes (plus TV movie pilot), last broadcast on Junw 11, 1982
• Trivia: The pilot film was broadcast on March 15, 1981. The series was notable for its 90-minute episode format, but that was pared down to 60-minutes later in the run with the earlier episodes edited down to 60-minutes. Set in Chicago, this pre-dated NBC’s run of Chicago-set series by 30 years.

March 4 – Police Squad!

• Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Alan North, Rex Hamilton, Ed Williams, William Duell, Peter Lupus, Ronald ‘Tiny Ron’ Taylor
• Notable Guests: Florence Henderson, William Shatner, Lorne Greene, William Conrad, Robert Goulet, Georg Stanford Brown, Dick Clark, Joyce Brothers, Tommy Lasorda, Dick Miller, Kathryn Leigh Scott, K Callan
• Synopsis: Sight gags and non-sequiturs dominate this spoof of police dramas.
• Network: ABC
• Broadcast History: One season, 6 episodes, last broadcast on July 8, 1982
• Trivia: The series was the basis for the Naked Gun films. David Schwimmer & Tony Sirico made uncredited appearances. While a spoof of many police dramas, the series drew inspiration from M Squad and Felony Squad. The first episode was a near scene-for-scene remake of the M Squad Season 2 premiere episode ‘More Deadly’. The ‘Special Guest Star’ was usually killed off in the opening credits. The credited actor Rex Hamilton only appeared in the opening credits as ‘Abraham Lincoln’. Leslie Nielsen’s character name Drebin was picked randomly from the phone book. Nielsen was the second choice for the role after Robert Stack turned it down. Nielsen, Ed Williams and Ron Taylor were the only main cast to reprise their roles in the movies. Robert Goulet, who was killed off in Episode 3’s title sequence, played the villain in the second Naked Gun film. The title of the episode read by the announcer during the opening credits never matched the on-screen episode title. John Belushi had filmed a ‘Special Guest Star’ bit where he was tied to cement blocks underwater, but he died before the episode aired and the scene was replaced with one featuring Florence Henderson. When CBS and Comedy Central re-ran the series in 1991, producers wanted to include the Belushi footage but it could not be located and is presumed lost or destroyed. Robert Wuhl co-wrote the second and sixth episodes. Nielsen received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and the pilot episode was also nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. ABC cancelled the series after four episodes and pulled it from the schedule after the March 25 broadcast. The last two episodes aired July 1 and 8, 1982. ABC president Tony Thomopoulos blamed the cancellation on the fact that viewers had to actually pay attention to the show in order to get the jokes. TV Guide called it ‘the most stupid reason a network ever gave for ending a series.’ The producers, however, were secretly happy the show was cancelled because they feared they would run out of material for a full season. The joke at the end of the episodes of Drebin naming all of the crooks from previous episodes sent to Stateville Prison was ruined when ABC aired the episodes out of order.

1992

February 28 – Fish Police

• Voice Cast: John Ritter, Edward Asner, Georgia Brown, Tim Curry, Héctor Elizondo, Robert Guillaume, Buddy Hackett, Megan Mullally, Charlie Schlatter, Frank Welker, JoBeth Williams, Jonathan Winters
• Notable Guests: Phil Hartman, Henry Gibson, Teresa Ganzel, Ron Leibman, Jackie Joseph, Don Knotts, Kimmy Robertson, Paul Williams, Sally Struthers, William Schallert
• Synopsis: Beneath the ocean, a fish named Inspector Gil works for his police department under Chief Abalone. He solves the various crimes in his city while tangling with Biscotti Calamari.
• Network: CBS
• Broadcast History: One season, 6 episodes (3 unaired), last broadcast on March 13, 1992
• Trivia: Based on the comic book series of the same name created by Steve Moncuse.

Lucasfilm Ltd.

March 4 – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

• Cast: Sean Patrick Flanery, George Hall, Ronny Coutteure, Margaret Tyzack, Lloyd Owen, Corey Carrier, Ruth de Sosa
• Notable Guests: Jason Flemyng, Timothy Spall, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Freeman, Charles McKeown, Danny Webb, Harrison Ford, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Cyril Cusack, Anne Heche, Peter Firth, Robyn Lively, Christopher Lee, Elizabeth Hurley, Keith David, Vanessa Redgrave, Ian McDiarmid, Clark Gregg, Alec Mapa, Terry Jones, Jane Wyatt, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Joss Ackland, Lukas Haas, Josef Sommer, Liz Smith, Nicholas Turturro, Jeroen Krabbé, Sean Pertwee, Daniel Craig, Max von Sydow, Jane Krakowski, Denis O’Hare, Annabelle Gurwitch, Pip Torrens, James Nesbitt, Brenda Strong, Anthony Daniels
• Synopsis: The adventures of the archaeological treasure hunter in his youth as related by an elderly Indiana Jones.
• Network: ABC
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 28 episodes, last broadcast on July 24, 1993
• Trivia: The series was designed as an educational program for children and teenagers, spotlighting historical figures and important events. After the show’s cancellation, four TV movies were produced from 1994 to 1996. In 1999, the series was re-edited into 22 television films under the title The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. Linda Ronstadt appeared in an uncredited role. The idea for the series came from the scenes of young Indy’s (River Phoenix) life depicted in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Phoenix had been offered to continue the role but he didn’t want to return to television. Had the series been renewed for a third season, Indy would have met a younger version of Belloq from the first movie. Clint Eastwood turned down $10 million to make an appearance as the older brother of Indiana Jones. The series was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards and won six. The fourth Indiana Jones film references some events from the TV series.

2002

February 28 – Leap of Faith

• Cast: Sarah Paulson, Lisa Edelstein, Regina King, Ken Marino, Jill Clayburgh, Brad Rowe, Tim Meadows, Haysha Deitsch
• Notable Guests: Jerry Ferrara, Lupe Ontiveros
• Synopsis: A 30-something woman calls off her engagement and dives back into single life with the help of her friends.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: One season, 6 episodes, last broadcast on April 4, 2002
• Trivia: Despite drawing 16.5 million viewers for its six episodes, it was still enough of a drop from lead-in Friends for NBC to pull the plug. The time slot was filled with Friends reruns for the rest of the season which averaged 18.6 million viewers.

MGM Television

March 3 – Jeremiah

• Cast: Luke Perry, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Peter Stebbings, Ingrid Kavelaars, Byron Lawson, Sean Astin, Robert Wisden, Joanne Kelly
• Notable Guests: Kandyse McClure, John Pyper-Ferguson, Alessandro Juliani, Robert Foxworth, Tricia Helfer, Jason Priestley, Ryan Robbins, Jake Busey, Jason George, Michael Rooker, David McCallum, Cobie Smulders
• Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic future, a deadly virus has wiped out most of humanity. The only ones who survived, were those who hadn’t yet reached puberty.
• Network: Showtime
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 35 episodes, last broadcast on January 19, 2004
• Trivia: Loosely based on Belgian writer Hermann Huppen’s comic book series, Jeremiah, which began in 1979, although aside from the names of the two main protagonists and the post-apocalyptic setting, there are no similarities between the comic and the series. The series was cancelled because the management of Showtime decided they didn’t want to produce science fiction programming anymore. Had it continued, it would have done so without showrunner J. Michael Straczynski, who was quitting at the end of Season 2 after creative differences with MGM Television. As he did with Babylon 5, Straczynski had prepared Jeremiah for a five year run.

March 4 – Late World with Zach

• Cast: Zach Galifianakis
• Notable Guests: Bradley Cooper, Adam Goldberg, Fred Armisen, David Koechner
• Synopsis: A short-lived talk show that aired in the Spring of 2002 featuring topical humor, skits, celebrity guests, and musical performances.
• Network: VH1
• Broadcast History: One season, 36 episodes, last broadcast on May 2, 2002
• Trivia: Zach Galifianakis appeared without his now-trademark beard for most of the show’s run.

March 5 – As If

• Cast: Tracie Thoms, Robin Dunne, Adrienne Wilkinson, Emily Corrie, Chris Engen, Derek Hughes, Christopher Stapleton
• Synopsis: The lives of six friends living in Los Angeles, with episodes shot from their various perspectives, while tackling relevant modern topics.
• Network: UPN
• Broadcast History: One season, 7 episodes, last broadcast on March 22, 2002
• Trivia: Remake of the UK series of the same name. Cast member Emily Corrie also played Sooz on the UK series. Features Anthony Mackie’s first (uncredited) acting job as a bar patron on the seventh episode. Cancelled after the third episode aired.

March 5 – The Osbournes

• Cast: Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Jack Osbourne
• Notable Guests: Scott Foley, Jay Leno, Ted Levine, Conan O’Brien, Elijah Wood, Courtney Love, Eva Mendes, Mandy Moore, Christina Aguilera, Shannen Doherty, Dennis Rodman, Jason Mewes
• Synopsis: American reality television program featuring the domestic life of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family.
• Network: MTV
• Broadcast History: Four seasons, 52 episodes, last broadcast on March 21, 2005
• Trivia: The Osbournes have another daughter, Aimee, who refused to participate in the show and publicly criticized them for their antics on the show. Ozzy confirmed he was stoned during the entirety of the series’ filming and refuses to watch the episodes because of that. The Canadian broadcast of the series was uncensored but Ozzy preferred the bleeped American version which made the cursing more noticeable. The Osbournes won a 2002 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program. Busy Philipps, Justin Timberlake, Madeline Zima and The Village People appear uncredited.

2012

March 1 – Awake

• Cast: Jason Isaacs, Laura Allen, Steve Harris, Dylan Minnette, BD Wong, Michaela McManus, Wilmer Valderrama, Cherry Jones, Laura Innes
• Notable Guests: Mark Harelik, Kevin Weisman, William Russ, Christopher Cousins, Steve Lawrence
• Synopsis: After a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective lives two alternating parallel lives, one with his wife and one with his son. Is one of his ‘realities’ merely a dream?
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: One season, 13 episodes, last broadcast on May 24, 2012
• Trivia: An early working title for the series was REM. The pilot episode was streamed on Hulu two weeks before the premiere on NBC. Each of Michael’s ‘realities’ had a different color scheme to differentiate them. His wife’s scenes had a warmer, more red color scheme while his son’s consisted mainly of greens.

Warner Bros. Television

March 3 – Green Lantern: The Animated Series

• Main Voice Cast: Josh Keaton, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jason Spisak, Grey Griffin, Brian George, Tom Kenny
• Additional Voices: Jonathan Adams, Ian Abercrombie, Sarah Douglas, Phil Morris, Diedrich Bader, Clancy Brown, John DiMaggio, Rob Paulsen, Tara Strong, Kurtwood Smith, Dee Bradley Baker, Wayne Knight, Ron Perlman, Robert Englund
• Synopsis: The series focuses on the adventures of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, and his partner Kilowog.
• Network: Cartoon Network
• Broadcast History: One season, 26 episodes, last broadcast on March 16, 2013
• Trivia: The series aired as part of the network’s ‘DC Nation’ block. A one-hour sneak peek was aired on November 11, 2011. This was the first Green Lantern television series and the first CGI DC/WB series. The series was cancelled due to poor toy sales and the poor box office performance of the live-action theatrical film. The producers have confirmed that it was originally requested that the character Sinestro not be used, but that request was withdrawn in 2013 and the character did finally appear. The TV series The Rat Patrol was an influence on the show, a war story told with four characters instead of an entire army.