TV by the Decade :: February 21•27

Starz

While much of the nation is gripped by the dead of winter, the TV networks were offering up shows with a decidedly tropical feel with new series set in Acapulco, Hawaii and Miami. Two of those shows barely made it to the Spring Thaw. The rest of the week’s premieres covered animation, reality, comedy and historical fantasy. Did any of your favorites premiere this week across the decades? Let’s take a look!

1951

• No new shows premiered this week in 1951.

1961

February 27 – Acapulco

• Cast: Ralph Taeger, James Coburn, Telly Savalas
• Guest Cast: Whit Bissell, Alan Hale Jr., Allison Hayes, Marvin Kaplan, Laslie Parrish, Bobby Troup
• Synopsis: Patrick Malone and Gregg Miles are Korean War veterans who, tired of life in the United States, have taken up residence in Acapulco, Mexico, as beachcombers. They also help people in distress and often work for Mr. Carver, protecting him from enemies he made during his career as a criminal lawyer.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: One season, 8 episodes, last broadcast on April 24, 1961
• Trivia: This was Telly Savalas’ first regular TV series role. Taeger and Coburn were starring in Klondike, also from Ziv Television. When NBC cancelled the series after 17 episodes, the pair were recast in Acapulco, also from Ziv to fulfill its contract with NBC. The new series premiered just two weeks after the cancellation of Klondike in the same time slot. With the show’s resort city setting, celebrities like Julie London, Broderick Crawford and Gene Barry made surprise cameo appearances as themselves enjoying a visit to Acapulco. Episodes 5 and 6 were broadcast out of sequence.

1971

• No new shows premiered this week in 1971.

1981

February 25 – Aloha Paradise

• Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Bill Daily, Pat Klous, Mokihana, Stephen Shortridge, Charles Fleischer
• Guest Cast: Pat Crowley, Pat Morita, Louis Nye, Chris Barnes, Gene Barry, Ralph Bellamy, Ray Bolger, Red Buttons, Ruth Buzzi, Bert Convy, Leslie Easterbrook, Samantha Eggar, Nanette Fabray, Joan Fontaine, Penny Fuller, Grant Goodeve, Lorne Greene, James Gregory, Rosie Grier, Lisa Hartman, Van Johnson, Dean Jones, Louis Jourdan, Audrey Landers, Michael Lembeck, Larry Linville, Randolph Mantooth, Jared Martin, Jayne Meadows, Don Most, Jim Nabors, Harriet Nelson, Denise Nicholas, Leslie Nielsen, Christopher Norris, Joanna Pettet, Gene Rayburn, Misty Rowe, Dick Sargent, Dick Shawn, Laurette Spang, Connie Stevens, Larry Storch, Jessica Walter, Jonathan Winters, Dana Wynter
• Synopsis: The series follows the lives of the staff and guests at The Paradise Village resort, located on the coast of Kona, Hawaii. Each episode tells three or four stories about people either in love, out of love, or looking for love.
• Network: ABC
• Broadcast History: One season, 8 episodes, last broadcast on April 22, 1981
• Trivia: The series was produced by Douglas Cramer and Aaron Spelling, the team behind similar anthology series The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. The pilot was filmed on the Kona Coast of Hawaii, but the series was filmed on a replica beach at Universal Studios in Hollywood. The series was scheduled against NBC’s sitcoms Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, never able to gain a sizable viewership. Debbie Reynolds said the scripts were the worst ever and the network didn’t advertise that she was in the show.

1991

February 25 – The Pirates of Dark Water

• Cast: Jodi Benson, Hector Elizondo, George Newbern, Frank Welker, Tim Curry, Brock Peters, Peter Cullen, Dick Gautier, Allan Lurie, Les Tremayne, Darleen Carr, Jim Cummings, Andre Stojka, Rene Auberjonois, Michael Bell, Hamilton Camp, Paul Eiding
• Guest Cast: Kenneth Mars, Nan Martin, Dan O’Herlihy, Kenne Curtis, Stacy Keach Sr., Paul Lukather, Harlan Ellison, Ellen Geer, Tress MacNeille, Julie McWhiter, John Rhys-Davies, Pepe Serna, Paul Williams, Roddy McDowall, Earl Boen, Jessica Walter, Roscoe Lee Brown, Robert Foxworth, Dorian Harewood, Stanley Ralph Ross, Kate Mulgrew
• Synopsis:The alien world of Mer is being devoured by an evil substance known as Dark Water. Only Ren, a young prince, can stop it by finding the lost Thirteen Treasures of Rule. The evil pirate lord Bloth will stop at nothing to get the treasures for himself and provides many obstacles for Ren and his crew.
• Network: ABC/Syndication
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 21 episodes, last broadcast on May 23, 1993
• Trivia: The show premiered as a five-episode mini-series on FOX Kids titled Dark Water. Following some tweaks by Hanna-Barbera, the episodes were later rebroadcast as the first five episodes of the regular series. The most notable change was the voice of the character Niddler. Roddy McDowall was the voice in the mini-series, Frank Welker was the voice for the series. After ending its ABC run, the series moved to first-run syndication where only 8 episodes were aired, the series ending abruptly, five episodes short of a season due to production being behind schedule and episodes not being completed on time for the air dates. One of the few Saturday morning animated series that featured two characters dying.

2001

February 27 – The Andy Dick Show

• Cast: Andy Dick, Paul Henderson
• Guest Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Jason Biggs, Johnny Knoxville, Eric Roberts, André 3000, Da Brat, Jennifer Coolidge, Carmen Electra, Will Ferrell, Dave Foley, Edward Furlong, Tyrese Gibson, Kathy Griffin, Moby, Mandy Moore, Frankie Muniz, Bob Odenkirk, Stephen Root, Christian Slater, Ben Stiller, Maura Tierney, Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Tom Green, Dan Levy, Lias Loeb, Luke Wilson, Eric Winter
• Synopsis: Sketch comedy series written and directed by Andy Dick, who also appeared as different characters in several mockumentary sketches.
• Network: MTV
• Broadcast History: Three seasons, 21 episodes (+1 unaired pilot), last broadcast on May 18, 2002.
• Trivia: Dick’s most frequent character was Daphne Aguilera, who claimed to be the cousin of Christina. Daphne was booked to sing ‘Naughty Baby Did a No-No’ (a spoof of ‘Oops, I Did It Again’) at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, but cancelled the performance just as it started and attacked the real Christina Aguilera, who had been laughing at Daphne in the audience (it was all a pre-staged bit). After the show’s cancellation, Daphne made two appearances on MADtv. Dick also played actor Tom Green in several sketches which led to a Green guest appearance in which he played Andy Dick.

2011

February 22 – The Real Housewives of Miami

• Cast: Lea Black, Adriana de Moura, Alexia Echevarria, Marysol Patton, Larsa Pippen, Cristy Rice, Lisa Hochstein, Joanna Krupa, Ana Quincoces, Karent Sierra
• Synopsis: Seventh installment of Bravo’s ‘Real Housewives’ franchise focused on the personal and professional lives of several women living in Miami, Florida.
• Network: Bravo
• Broadcast History: Three seasons, 41 episodes, last broadcast on November 14, 2013
• Trivia: NBC’s Peacock streaming service has ordered a new season of the series. A companion web series, Havana Elsa, was available during the show’s second season, featuring Elsa Patton, mother of Marysol, who was launching her own coffee line. Nine episodes were produced.

February 23 – Shedding for the Wedding

• Cast: Sara Rue, Brian Worley, Nicky Holender, Jennifer Cohan, Ashley Koff
• Synopsis: A reality competition series that followed nine overweight couples as they attempted to lose weight and win a dream wedding.
• Network: The CW
• Broadcast History: One season, 8 episodes, last broadcast on April 13, 2011
• Trivia: The series premiere was the lowest rated network television premiere of the 2010-2011 season. Despite the cancellation, The CW re-ran the series in the Summer of 2011.

February 25 – Camelot

• Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower, Tamsin Egerton, Peter Mooney, Philip Winchester, Eva Green, Diarmaid Murtagh, Clive Standen, Claire Forlani, Jamie Downey, Chipo Chung, Sinéad Cusack, Lara Jean Chorostecki
• Guest Cast: Sean Pertwee, James Purefoy, Sebastian Spence
• Synopsis: When King Uther dies and Britain faces chaos, Merlin presents an unknown named Arthur as the new king by birthright, as the late king’s son, against the ambitious desires of his half-sister, Morgan.
• Network: Starz
• Broadcast History: One season, 10 episodes, last broadcast on June 10, 2011
• Trivia: The show’s pilot was broadcast as a preview episode on February 25, 2011 before the show’s official premiere on April 1. Despite strong ratings, the series was not renewed due to scheduling conflicts with main cast members including Fiennes, Campbell Bower and Green. An early version of the series was set up at Showtime in 2008, with the network producing in partnership with the BBC. Series head writer Chris Chibnall had previously developed a project focused on the Merlin character for the BBC, but it never moved forward. However, the BBC did eventually produce a Merlin series without Chibnall’s involvement. The cast filmed the series in Ireland at Ardmore Studios, while post-production and visual effects were handled in Canada. The series cost around $7 million per episode. Fiennes joked that he saw his Merlin as a cross between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Donald Rumsfeld. This was Eva Green’s first appearance in a TV series. Tamsin Egerton (Guinevere) had previous experience with the Arthurian legend, playing young Morgan in The Mists of Avalon.