Cartoon Network Studios
Only two new shows made their debuts at the end of the year, but several more rang in the new year, some successful, other less so. 1956 saw a game show transition from radio to television, becoming a huge success in the process. 1966 saw the debut of another game show that had a multiple season run and several attempts at reboots. 1996 debuted a drama series starring a talk show host. The end of 2005 saw the launch of a new animated series that went on to great success, while the start of 2006 gave us a dating reality show that became a cottage industry for spin-offs. 2016 had a multi-season rap competition series, and a series for foodies that also ran for several seasons, while the scripted shows that year barely survived.
1955-1956
The Raymond R. Morgan Company
- January 3 – Queen for a Day (NBC/ABC/Syndication, Nine seasons, 1 Special)
Queen for a Day originated as a radio program which debuted on April 30, 1945 from New York City, relocating to Los Angeles a few months later. The radio program ended in 1957, a year after making the transition to television. The show was so popular, NBC increased the air time from 30 to 45 minutes in order to sell more advertising at a then-premium $4,000 per minute. Jack Bailey hosted until the show ended in 1964. Dick Curtis hosted the 1969-1970 Syndicated version, and Mo’Nique hosted the Lifetime special in 2004. While popular with home viewers, the show was not popular with critics, who felt the show exploited hardships for profit. The first televised episode of the series was actually a rebroadcast of an earlier radio episode. Regular episodes were broadcast live across the country at 4:30 PM EST/1:30 PM PST. The show moved to ABC in 1960. The 1969 Syndicated revival failed when viewers learned the show was rigged, and the ‘winners’ were paid actresses chosen prior to the start of taping. In 1951, a fictional film adaptation of the show was released which was a behind-the-scenes look at the show but at the same time a spoof of the show’s premise. Jack Bailey starred as the host, and Darren McGavin, Phyllis Avery and Leonard Nimoy were among the cast. A stage musical was produced in 2012, Queen for a Day: The Musical, with Alan Thicke as Jack Bailey.
1965-1966
- January 3 – Eye Guess (NBC, Three seasons, last broadcast on September 26, 1969)
Eye Guess was the first game show produced by Bob Stewart Productions. Don Pardo was the announced for the first season, with Jack Clark taking over for the rest of the series. Bill Cullen was the host. The theme song was Al Hirt’s ‘Sugar Lips’. A revival pilot was shot in 1979 with the show retitled Punch Lines, also hosted by Bill Cullen. This version featured eight comedic performers holding ‘punch lines’ to complete statement, with two celebrity-contestant teams. Celebrities in the pilot include Joyce Bulifant, Fred Grandy and Edie McClurg. The show did not sell in the US, but it did sell in the UK two years later, with a successful three-year run. Lennie Bennett was the host. Another revival was attempted in 1988 titled Eye Q, with Henry Polic II hosting. Four editions of the home game were issued during the original run of the show.
1975-1976
- No new series premiered this week in 1975-1976.
1985-1986
- No new series premiered this week in 1985-1986.
1995-1996
- January 3 – Matt Waters (CBS, One season, 6 episodes)
Matt Waters starred talk show host Montel Williams as a retired naval officer who becomes a high school science teacher at Bayview High School, the school he had attended 25 years earlier.
2005-2006
51 Minds Entertainment
- December 27 – Ben 10 (Cartoon Network, Four seasons, 49 episodes)
- January 1 – In Justice (ABC, One season, 13 episodes)
- January 1 – Flavor of Love (VH1, Three seasons, 39 episodes)
- January 2 – It’s a Big Big World (PBS Kids, Two seasons, 47 episodes)
Ben 10 premiered on Cartoon Network as part of ‘Sneak Peek Week’, with the series itself premiering on January 13, 2006. The show earned two Emmy Award nominations, winning one for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation. The series was followed by three continuations, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse, as well as a series reboot in 2016. Tara Strong voiced Ben Tennyson. The concept for the show was in the works for three years before being picked up by Cartoon Network. During pre-production, the show had several titles including Force 10, Ben to the Tenth and Ben10.
In Justice was created by Michelle and Robert King, who would go on to create The Good Wife for CBS after the show was cancelled. The cast included Jason O’Mara, Kyle MacLachlan, Marisol Nichols and Constance Zimmer.
Flavor of Love was born out of the relationship that formed between Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen on The Surreal Life, which continued — and then failed — on Strange Love. The show ended after three seasons when Flav did not marry or date any of the winners of the seasons, instead choosing to marry the mother of his seventh child. One of the show’s contestants, Tiffany Pollard (known by the nickname New York), was the runner-up on Seasons 1 and 2, and was so popular that she got her own dating show, I Love New York, and parlayed that into two more shows, New York Goes to Hollywood and New York Goes to Work. Flavor of Love also spun off Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School and I Love Money.
It’s a Big Big World was taped at Wainscott Studios in New York, using the Shadowmation process to bring the puppets to life by combining live-action animatronic characters with computer generated animation in real time, high definition virtual environments powered by video game engines.
2015-2016
Fuzzy Door Productions
- December 31 – Shock Trauma: Edge of Life (Discovery Life, One season, 6 episodes)
- January 1 – The Rap Game (Lifetime, Five seasons, 55 episodes)
- January 3 – Bordertown (Fox, One season, 13 episodes)
- January 3 – Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life (Fox, One season, 13 episodes)
- January 3 – Giada Entertains (Food Network, Five seasons, 52 episodes)
Shock Trauma: Edge of Life was a reality series set in Baltimore’s University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
Hank Azaria, Alex Borstein, Judah Friedlander, Missi Pyle and Carlos Alazraqui were among the voice cast of adult animated series Bordertown.
Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life was originally announced with the title The Guide to Surviving Life. The series debuted first online on December 21, 2015. FOX cancelled the series on May 12, 2016, with three episodes unaired. Two remaining episodes were burned off on June 12, with the last airing June 26. Jack Cutmore-Scott starred, with Justin Bartha in the main cast, and Victoria Justice recurring. Guest stars included Paula Abdul, Corey Reynolds, Alan Ruck and Jane Kaczmarek.