TV by the Decade :: April 4•10

Comedy Central

The first three decades of our TV history timeline didn’t yield a single new series during this particular week, but things began to pick up in 1981 where we got a spin-off of one of the most popular sitcoms on the air at the time … which failed miserably. 1991 saw the premiere of a late night drama that had a three season run, 2001 saw the launch of a political comedy that spoofed traditional sitcoms, and 2011 gave us a long running sitcom that may soon see a revival. Take a look at this week’s list to see if any of your favorites debuted this week.

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

April 9 – Checking In

• Cast: Marla Gibbs, Larry Linville, Liz Torres, Patrick Collins, Robert Costanzo, Jordan Gibbs
• Guest Cast: John Anderson, Ruth Brown, Michael DeLano, Charles Fleischer, Alice Nunn, Carol Swarbrick Carol Swarbrick, Margaret Wheeler
• Synopsis: A spin-off of The Jeffersons starring Marla Gibbs as Florence, who has accepted a job to become the executive housekeeper at the St. Frederick Hotel in New York City.
• Network: CBS
• Broadcast History: One season, 4 episodes, last broadcast on April 30, 1991
• Trivia: Michael J. Fox had auditioned for a role but was rejected. This was the first All in the Family spin-off that was a failure. Gibbs returned to The Jeffersons with the explanation that the hotel had burned down.

April 9 – Park Place

• Cast: Don Calfa, David Clennon, Alice Drummond, Cal Gibson, Harold Gould, Mary Elaine Monti, Lionel Mark Smith, James Widdoes
• Guest Cast: Vince Flaherty, Basil Hoffman, John Dullaghan, Bruce Kirby, Stephen Pearlman, John Randolph, Florence Stanley, Kenneth Tigar
• Synopsis: A legal-aid clinic in Manhattan full of young lawyers and their sage directors, the clinic took cases based on a ‘take a number’ method.
• Network: CBS
• Broadcast History: One season, 4 episodes, last broadcast on April 30, 1991

1991

April 5 – Dark Justice

• Cast: Dick O’Neill, Clayton Prince, Janet Gunn, Bruce Abbott, Ramy Zada, Carrie-Anne Moss, Viviane Vives, Kit Kincannon
• Guest Cast: Shane Black, Lauren Tewes, William Katt, Kent McCord, Claudia Christian, Denise Crosby. Gregory Itzin, Philip Baker Hall, Jerry Hardin, Richard Lynch, J. Eddie Peck, Malachi Throne, John Vernon, Priscilla Barnes, John Beck, Maurice Benard, Sandahl Bergman, Joseph Campanella, David James Elliott, Erin Gray, David Groh, Eva LaRue, Lee Meriwether, John O’Hurley, Daniel Roebuck, Brenda Strong, Edward Albert, Toni Basil, Nicolas Coster, Erik Estrada, Peter Haskell, Tim Russ, James Sloyan, Don Swayze, Sal Viscuso
• Synopsis: American crime drama television series about a judge who becomes a vigilante by night so that he can bring high-level offenders who use technicalities to ‘escape’ the legal system to what he calls ‘dark justice’.
• Network: CBS
• Broadcast History: Three seasons, 66 episodes, last broadcast on September 28, 1993
• Trivia: The series was part of CBS’ late night ‘Crimetime After Primetime’ block of original dramas that were eventually replaced by The Late Show with David Letterman. The first season was filmed in Barcelona. The series had to move to Los Angeles before the second season due to budget constraints caused by the 1992 Summer Olympics. Due to the location change, Ramy Zada was unavailable to continue in the role of Judge Marshall and was replaced by Bruce Abbott.

2001

April 4 – That’s My Bush!

• Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Carrie Quinn Dolin, Kurt Fuller, Marcia Wallace, Kristen Miller, John D’Aquino
• Guest Cast: Valerie Mahaffey, Michael Chieffo, Shelley Berman, Eugene Roche
• Synopsis: The series centers on the fictitious personal life of President George W. Bush. Episodes dealt (with deliberate heavy handedness) with the topics of abortion, gun control, the war on drugs, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the death penalty. Every episode ended with George saying ‘One of these days, Laura, I’m gonna punch you in the face!’
• Network: Comedy Central
• Broadcast History: One season, 8 episodes, last broadcast on May 23, 2001
• Trivia: The series was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The series was originally conceived as Everybody Loves Al!, as Parker and Stone were sure Al Gore would win the 2000 election. Production had to be delayed as the results were in limbo, then reconceived as a family sitcom with the Bush family. Comedy Central forbade the use of the Bush’s twin daughters, so the twins were turned into the character Princess. Despite the political overtones, the series was really a lampoon of American sitcoms. Parker and Stone watched a lot of Fawlty Towers to prepare for the series. The show featured the first use of the word ‘Lemmiwinks’ which was used again in the South Park episode ‘The Death Camp of Tolerance’. As the series cost about $1 million per episode, Parker and Stone knew it would be cancelled but Comedy Central did consider it a creative success. There was talk of a feature film spin-off titled George W. Bush and the Secret of the Glass Tiger but it was scrapped after the 9/11 attacks. The show’s three-act structure influenced South Park which until 2001 had followed a four-act structure. Parker and Stone felt three acts served the story better. Timothy Bottoms went on to play George W. Bush two more times, comedically in Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, and dramatically in DC 9/11: Time of Crisis.

2011

April 4 – The Problem Solverz

• Cast: John DiMaggio, Ben Jones, Kyle Kaplan
• Guest Cast: George Takei, Mark Hamill, Chris Parnell, Jaleel White, Pamela Adlon, Amy Sedaris, James Avery, Bronson Pinchot, Kevin Michael Richardson, Paul Scheer
• Synopsis: The series follows the eponymous detectives Alfe (Ben Jones), Roba (also Jones), and Horace (Kyle Kaplan). The trio take up solving, and sometimes creating, the numerous problems that plague their town, Farboro.
• Network: Cartoon Network / Netflix
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 26 episodes, last broadcast on March 20, 2013
• Trivia: The series’ style was inspired by the limited-animation style of Roger Ramjet and The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. The show was pitched as Neon Knome to Adult Swim but was said to be too ‘mindblowingly cute’ for the network and was re-tooled as a children’s show for Cartoon Network.

April 6 – Breaking In

• Cast: Bret Harrison, Alphonso McAuley, Christian Slater, Jennifer Irwin, Megan Mullally, Odette Annable, Erin Richards, Lance Krall
• Guest Cast: Michael Rosenbaum, Ali Wong, Alyssa Milano, Samm Levine, Sean Patrick Flanery, Mike Tyson, Tony Hawk, Martin Starr, Ted McGinley, Ray Park, Roddy Piper, Luenelle, Zack Pearlman, James Gunn, Dawnn Lewis, Peter Mayhew, Heather Sossamon, Fred Willard
• Synopsis: The series is focused on the eclectic staff of Contra Security, run by the eccentric and enigmatic Oz, as they test security systems by ‘breaking in before the bad guys’.
• Network: FOX
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 20 episodes, last aired on August 22, 2012
• Trivia: FOX originally cancelled the series after the first season but reversed the decision and ordered a second. The series was developed under the title Titan Team, then retitled Security before settling on Breaking In. Michael Rosenbaum was only to make a cameo in the pilot but producers liked him so much he was offered a regular role. Rosenbaum and Odette Annable were dropped as regulars for Season 2 but made guest appearances. Megan Mullally and Erin Richards were new additions to the Season 2 cast.

April 6 – Workaholics

• Cast: Blake Anderson, Adam Devine, Anders Holm, Maribeth Monroe, Jillian Bell, Erik Griffin, Waymond Lee, Kyle Newacheck, Billy Stevenson
• Guest Cast: Alex Borstein, William Atherton, Jack Black, Alan Ritchson, Andy Dick, Rizwan Manji, Nina Dobrev, Paul Dooley, Cary Elwes, Craig Kilborn, Laura Kightlinger, Katee Sackhoff, Sally Kellerman, Tyler Posey, Curtis Armstrong, Amy Yasbeck, Stephen Root, Chuck Liddell, Jason Mantzoukas, Thomas F. Wilson, Chris Parnell, Rebel Wilson, Tim Heidecker, Fortune Feimster, Lorenzo Lamas, Ben Stiller, Rob Corddry, Whitney Cummings, Liam Hemsworth, Flula Borg, Dennis Quaid, Jack Quaid, Mel Rodriguez, Eric Pierpoint, Rumer Willis, Lisa Loeb, Daniel Stern, Kyle Bornheimer, Tom Arnold, Alessandra Torresani, Dane Cook, Clark Duke, Rob Huebel, Brittany Snow, Topher Grace, Zack Pearlman, Dolph Lundgren, Mark McGrath, Michael Urie, Pauly Shore, Paul Scheer, Clint Howard, Marc Summers, Matthew Lawrence, Valerie Mahaffey, Jerry O’Connell, Tucker Smallwood, Rance Howard, Leslie Jones, Kevin Hart, Jeff Fahey, Mitchell Hurwitz, Ray Wise, The Black Keys, Robert Englund, Tom Green, Jordan Peele
• Synopsis: A single-camera comedy featuring three friends who work together as telemarketers from 9 to 5, and live together from 5 to 9.
• Network: Comedy Central
• Broadcast History: Seven seasons, 86 episodes, last broadcast on March 15, 2017
• Trivia: Comedy Central exec Walter Newman ordered the series after seeing a series of videos Anderson, DeVine, Holm and Newacheck had posted to YouTube. A TV movie was announced on February 24, 2021 that will premiere on Paramount Plus. During the first season, to save money, Anderson and DeVine lived in the house where their characters lived, certain the show would be cancelled. They said giant rats lived in the house with them. Adam is usually seen wearing sock when his legs are shown to hide the scarring from a childhood accident. About a third of the show was said to have been improvised. There were references on the show to DeVine’s work concurrently on Modern Family. As the show’s popularity grew, they were able to attract guest stars like Ben Stiller and Jack Black.

April 7 – Gigolos

• Cast: Nick Hawk, Brace Land, Vin Armani, Ash Armand, Bradley Lords, Steven Gantt, Garren James, Jimmy Clabots
• Guest Cast: Hyapatia Lee, Scotty Bowers, Derek Russo, George Wallace
• Synopsis: Reality television series that shows an uncensored look at the life of Las Vegas gigolos.
• Network: Showtime
• Broadcast History: Six seasons, 54 episodes, last broadcast on May 5, 2016
• Trivia: Questions were raised about the legality of the activities portrayed and amazement that women would consent to being filmed purchasing sexual services. There have been questions raised about the show’s authenticity, with at least one woman stating that the show is faked, the sex is simulated, and she was cast through a website. The men are believed to really be part-time gigolos, but none of them actually live in Las Vegas, spending their time at other jobs or modeling. Some of the female ‘clients’ depicted are believed to be adult film actresses playing a role. The series was created by actor Richard Grieco.