TV by the Decade :: January 24•30

Syfy

We’re finishing up the month of January with just a handful of new series launching, and most of them are animated. There’s also a variety show, and unscripted competition series — the longest running show of the group this week — and a lone scripted series that lasted a single season. Let’s take a look at the series premieres for this week through the decades and see which ones you remember!

1951

• No new shows premiered this week in 1951.

1961

January 27 – Sing Along with Mitch

• Cast: Mitch Miller, Leslie Uggams, Bill Ventura, Bob McGrath, Stanley Carlson, Keith Booth, Jack Brown, The James Starbuck Dancers
• Guest Cast: Sandy Stewart, Dick Hyman, The Quinto Sisters, Milton Berle, George Burns, Shirley Temple, Barbara McNair, Jerry Vale, Wally Cox, Sebastian Cabot, Joe E. Ross, Johnny Carson
• Synopsis: A community sing-along program in which viewers were shown the lyrics to a song at the bottom of the TV screen, often with a bouncing ball to help keep time.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: Four seasons, 109 episodes, last broadcast on May 4, 1964
• Trivia: The series began as a one-off special as part of NBC’s Startime series on May 24, 1960. The bouncing ball concept was taken from movie shorts Screen Songs and Song Cartunes. Cast member Bob McGrath went on to become a founding ‘human’ member of the cast of Sesame Street, and was the show’s longest-serving cast member until his forced retirement in 2016. Celebrity guests not known as singers were often hidden in the show’s final closing number dressed as the other cast members. Hidden stars included Johnny Carson, Jerry Lewis, George Burns, Shirley Temple and Milton Berle. The series was cancelled in 1964 due to the show’s older skewing audience which did not gain favor with advertisers. Miller hosted a 1981 reunion special on NBC with many of the original cast members in attendance.

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 26 – Butt-Ugly Martians

• Cast: Ogie Banks, S. Scott Bullock, Jess Harnell, Rob Paulsen, Charlie Schlatter, Kath Soucie, Robert Stack, Scott Ward
• Synopsis: The series begins when the Butt-Ugly Martians (B.U.M.) are forced to invade planets for the evil Emperor Bog, but when they are sent to Earth they become addicted to American culture. Deciding not to hurt Earth, they simply pretend to be occupying the planet for Bog.
• Network: Nickelodeon
• Broadcast History: One season, 26 episodes, last broadcast on February 21, 2003
• Trivia: Three videogames were based on the series: Butt Ugly Martians: Zoom or Doom for PlayStation 2, Butt-Ugly Martians: B.K.M. Battles for Game Boy Advance, and Butt-Ugly Martians: Martian Boot Camp for PC. Hasbro also produced a line of toys.

January 27 – The Zeta Project

• Cast: Diedrich Bader, Julie Nathanson, Daniel Nicodème, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Rosenbaum, Lauren Tom
• Guest Cast: Grey Griffin, Stuart Pankin, Michael Dorn, Brandon T. Jackson, Kevin Michael Richarson, Clancy Brown, Khrystyne Haje, Tara Strong, Chad Lowe, Joey Lawrence, Richard Libertini, John Rhys-Davis, Kevin Conroy, Stacy Keach, Nicholas Guest, Andrew Lawrence, Dabney Coleman, Dave Coulier, Jeffrey Jones, Hamilton Camp, Conchata Ferrell, Miguel Sandoval, Keith Szarabajka, Frank Welker, Hal Linden, Peter Onorati, Earl Boen, Ethan Embry, Thomas F. Wilson, Gabrielle Carteris, Lukas Haas, Kate Jackson, Michael McKean, Laraine Newman, Pepe Serna, Phil LaMarr, David Faustino, Charles Rocket, Charles Kimbrough, Wil Wheaton, George Segal, Michael T. Weiss, Richard Moll, Steven Weber, Lisa Edlestein, Chris Hardwick, Tom Kenny, Tress MacNeille, Sam McMurray, Cree Summer, Melanie Chartoff, William Schallert, Mae Whitman
• Synopsis: The Zeta Project follows the exploits of Zeta and Ro as they attempt to prove that he is genuinely non-violent, whereas the NSA agents pursuing him believe that the terrorists he was investigating before going rogue have reprogrammed him for some unknown purpose. To prove his innocence, Zeta and Ro search for his creator, the elusive Dr. Selig.
• Network: Kids’ WB
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 26 episodes, last broadcast on August 17, 2002
• Trivia: The series is a spin-off of Batman Beyond and is set in the DC Animated Universe.

2011

January 24 – Bubble Guppies

• Cast: Brianna Gentilella, Tino Insana, Jacob Bertrand, Frank Welker, Teddy Walsh, Jelani Imani, Reyna Shaskan, Eamon Pirruccello, Angelina Wahler, Zachary Gordon, Selena Gonzalez, Bailey Gambertoglio, Christopher Borger
• Guest Cast: Skai Jackson, Grey Griffin, Kristen Bell, Wendie Malick, Nathan Lane, Beau Bridges, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Wanda Sykes, Billie Hayes, Edward Hibbert, Jeffrey Tambor, Charo, Ozzy Osbourne, RuPaul, Chloe Grace Moretz, Keke Palmer, Tara Strong, George Takei, Carol Kane, Tracy Morgan, Alice Cooper, Cyndi Lauper, Amy Sedaris
• Synopsis: The series is a combination of the sketch comedy, edutainment and musical genres, and revolves around the underwater adventures of a group of merperson preschoolers named Molly, Gil, Goby, Deema, Oona, Nonny, and Zooli.
• Network: Nickelodeon
• Broadcast History: Five seasons, 93 episodes to date
• Trivia: The show went into production in 2009. The series went on hiatus after the fourth season ended on October 21, 2016 but was revived for a fifth on June 4, 2019. The series was renewed for a sixth season on February 19, 2020.

January 26 – Face Off

• Host: McKenzie Westmore
• Judges: Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill, Patrick Tatopoulos, Neville Page, Lois Burwell
• Synopsis: Reality television game show program in which a group of prosthetic makeup artists compete against each other to create prostheses such as those found in science fiction and horror films
• Network: Syfy
• Broadcast History: Thirteen seasons, 150 episodes, last broadcast on August 7, 2018
• Trivia: An August 2017 spin-off series, Face Off: Game Face, pitted four all-stars per episode from previous seasons against each other for a chance to win $10,000. The Season 2 finale is Syfy’s most watched unscripted broadcast ever. Neville Page joined the judges panel in Season 3 while Patrick Tatopoulos guested in three episodes including the live season finale. Joe Castro walked off the Season 3 premiere after receiving negative critiques from the judges. Season 6 gave the judges a chance to save a contestant who would have otherwise been eliminated. Season 7 brought Lois Burwell on as a fourth judge. Season 8 grouped 15 new contestants with five previous winners. If all five members of a group were eliminated, so was the coach. Season 3 winner Laura Tyler’s team member Daria Edin won the season, making Laura a two-time winner. The judges’ save used in Seasons 6 & 7 was brought back for Season 10. Season 11 featured an all-star cast of returning artists working in teams of two until the eighth episode. Season 12 split the 12 artists into two competing FX shops. Season 13 was also an all-star season. A petition to save the show was launched on May 3, 2018 and was signed by William Shatner.

January 28 – Working Class

• Cast: Melissa Peterman, Steve Kazee, Lachlan Buchanan, Courtney Merritt, Cameron Castaneda, Patrick Fabian, Edward Asner
• Guest Cast: Lesley Ann Warren, Evan Farmer, Bellamy Young, Max Ehrich, David Faustino, Kathy Kinney, Reba McEntire, Martin Mull, John Schneider, Ryan Stiles
• Synopsis: The series follows Carli Mitchell (Melissa Peterman), a single mom from a rough and tumble background, trying to give her three kids a better life by moving them to an upscale suburb. She quickly finds that making the transition to ‘the good life’ is harder than she thought.
• Network: CMT
• Broadcast History: One season, 12 episodes, last broadcast on April 1, 2011
• Trivia: This was the first scripted series for CMT.