TV by the Decade :: September 5•11

CBS

The first full week of September isn’t quite what’s become Premiere Week in the industry for the new Fall programs, but the networks did roll out a few new primetime series to get a jump on the competition. Among them were a Wild West sitcom, a sitcom that took place inside the title character’s noggin, a prequel to a classic Western series, and the launch of a new globetrotting reality competition series. Networks seem to roll out their kids’ shows earlier than the other series, and this week saw the debuts of six new animated series across two decades, with only one of them still fondly remembered today. And a new tabloid talk show made its debut thirty years ago, lowering the standard of daytime television a few notches. Did any of your favorite shows premiere this week? Let’s take a look!

1951

September 6 – Crawford Mystery Theatre

• Cast: Warren Hull (host), Bob Sheppard (announcer), John Howard, Anne Gwynne, Walter Sande
• Guest Cast: Eva Gabor, Broderick Crawford, John Dall, Albert Dekker, Hurd Hatfield, Charlton Heston
• Synopsis: Murder mystery series.
• Network: DuMont
• Broadcast History: One season, 26 episodes, last broadcast on September 27, 1951
• Trivia: The show was a revival of NBC’s Public Prosecutor (1947-1948), which was the first filmed series pre-dating I Love Lucy by four years. The DuMont broadcast was padded out to 30 minutes with the addition of a celebrity panel attempting to guess the identity of the guilty party. The DuMont series was hosted by Warren Hull. Three episodes are known to survive (Public Prosecutor has over 20 surviving episodes).

September 8 – Lesson in Safety

• Trivia: Information about this show is lost to history.

1961

• No new series debuted in 1961.

1971

September 11 – Help!… It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!

• Voice Cast: Daws Butler, William Callaway, Paul Winchell, John Stephenson, Joe E. Ross
• Additional Voices: Don Messick, Vic Perrin, Hal Smith, Janet Waldo, Lennie Weinrib
• Synopsis: The series follows the Hair Bear Bunch, a group of three bear cousins who live at the local Wonderland Zoo run by zoo director Mr. Peevly and zookeeper Lionel Botch.
• Network: CBS
• Broadcast History: One season, 16 episodes, last broadcast on January 6, 1972
• Trivia: Joe Flynn was intended to play Mr. Peevly, but was rejected after an audition in which it was said he didn’t sound enough like Joe Flynn.

September 11 – The Jackson 5ive

• Voice Cast: Joel Cooper, Donald Fullilove, Mike Martinez, Edmund Sylvers, Craig Grandy, Paul Frees
• Guest Voice Cast: Jackson 5, Diana Ross
• Synopsis: The animated musical adventures of the Jackson brothers.
• Network: ABC
• Broadcast History:Two seasons. 23 episodes, last broadcast on October 14, 1972
• Trivia: The adult influence in the group depicted on the series was meant to be Barry Gordy.

September 11 – The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show

• Cast: Sally Struthers, Carl Esser, Gay Hartweg, Mitzi McCall, Don Messick, Jay North, Alan Reed, Jean Vander Pyl, Lennie Weinrib, Mel Blanc
• Synopsis: The series follows teen-aged Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm as they face problems with growing up in the town of Bedrock.
• Network: CBS
• Broadcast History: One season, 16 episodes, last broadcast on January 1, 1972
• Trivia: The series was revamped for the 1972-73 season as The Flintstones Comedy Hour, which gave more time to the adult characters and featured new and previously air segments.

September 11 – The Funky Phantom

• Cast: Julie Bennett, Daws Butler, Tommy Cook, Jerry Dexter, Micky Dolenz, Kristina Holland, Casey Kasem, Jim MacGeorge, Allan Melvin, Don Messick, Barney Phillips, Mike Road, Hal Smith, John Stephenson, George Tyler, Janet Waldo
• Synopsis: Three teenagers and the ghost of a patriot from the American Revolution set across the country to uphold justice and fight discrimination.
• Network: ABC
• Broadcast History: One season, 17 episodes, last broadcast on January 1, 1972
• Trivia: Daws Butler’s voice for Mudsy the phantom was identical to the voice he did for Snagglepuss. This was Hanna-Barbera’s first production to be animated overseas (Australia). The original broadcast contained a laugh track, but the syndicated episodes shown on Cartoon Network and Boomerang do not.

1981

September 10 – Best of the West

• Cast: Joel Higgins, Carlene Watkins, Meeno Peluce, Valri Bromfield, Tom Ewell, Leonard Frey, Tracey Walter
• Guest Cast: Christopher Lloyd, Susan Ruttan, Pat Ast, Andy Griffith, John Randolph, Dixie Carter, Joe Regalbuto, Dick Durock, Betty White, Jonathan Banks, Al Lewis, Richard Moll, Slim Pickens, Barbara Babcock, Chuck Connors
• Synopsis: The Wild West misadventures of a mild-mannered store owner turned town Marshal.
• Network: ABC
• Broadcast History: One season, 22 episodes, last broadcast on August 23, 1982
• Trivia: ABC had delayed making a decision on renewing the show, and instead of waiting Joel Higgins took the lead in Silver Spoons on NBC. ABC then said the show was going to be renewed but cancelled it because of the star’s departure.

1991

September 7 – Little Shop

• Voice Cast: David Huband, Jana Lexxa, Jennie Kwan, Michael Rawl, Terry McGee
• Additional Voices: Tara Strong, Danny Wells, Ron Rubin
• Synopsis: A nerdy junior high student who works in a floral shop cares for a prehistoric talking Venus Fly Trap which has supernatural abilities.
• Network: FOX Kids
• Broadcast History: One season, 13 episodes, last broadcast November 30, 1991
• Trivia: Based on the 1960 Roger Corman film The Little Shop of Horrors, with the horror elements toned down for the kids. Corman served as a Creative Consultant. Several episodes feature a character in dark sunglasses that resembles Jack Nicholson, who had a memorable role in the original film.

September 8 – Darkwing Duck

• Voice Cast: Jim Cummings, Terence McGovern, Christine Cavanaugh
• Guest Voice Cast: Dan Castellaneta, Frank Welker, Danny Mann, Tino Insana, Dana Hill, Rob Paulsen, Kath Soucie, Kenneth Mars, Hamilton Camp, Marcia Wallace, Tress MacNeille, Tim Curry, Mitzi McCall, Teresa Ganzel, Eddie Deezen, Ruth Buzzi, Jennifer Darling, Marty Ingels, Billie Hayes, Lorenzo Music, Rene Auberjonois, Valri Bromfield, Jack Burns, David Doyle, Dorian Harewppd, Patti Deutsch, Ron Palillo, Roddy McDowall, Jeff Doucette, Tony Jay, Jean Kasem, Elizabeth Daily, Jerry Houser, Zelda Rubenstein, Stuart Pankin, Pamela Adlon, Allyce Beasley, Miriam Flynn, Jonathan Harris, Phil Hartman, Robert Ito, Chuck McCann, Edie McClurg, Brenda Vaccaro, Andrea Martin, April Winchell
• Synopsis: Darkwing Duck tells the adventures of the titular superhero, aided by his sidekick and pilot Launchpad McQuack.
• Network: The Disney Channel / ABC
• Broadcast History: Three seasons, 91 episodes, last broadcast on December 5, 1992
• Trivia: This was the first Disney Afternoon series to feature action over adventure. It was also the first produced as a genre parody. The series was a last minute replacement for a reboot of The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show when Disney realized they did not own the rights to that property, just the home video rights. Unlike other Disney animated series, this featured completely original characters, and even characters re-used from Duck Tales had no other counterparts. Only one episode, ‘In Like Blunt’, featured existing characters: the Beagle Boys, Flintheart Glomgold and Magica De Spell. At least two episodes of the series had been banned after their initial broadcast — ‘Hot Spells’ (S03E08) aired once on ABC, and the plot involved Darkwing’s soul being sold to the Devil; ‘Aduckyphobia’ (S01E23) parodied Spider-Man, which Disney did not yet own.

September 8 – Herman’s Head

• Cast: William Ragsdale, Hank Azaria, Jane Sibbett, Yeardley Smith, Molly Hagan, Ken Hudson Campbell, Rick Lawless, Peter Mackenzie, Jason Bernard
• Guest Cast: Edward Winter, Jennifer Aniston, Earl Boen, Megan Mullally, Victoria Rowell, Deborah Adair, Marcia Cross, Elinor Donahue, Miriam Flynn, Debbi Morgan, Alaina Reed Hall, Liz Sheridan, Lane Davies, Bobcat Goldthwait, Dakin Matthews, Maureen McCormick, Leslie Nielsen, Dawn Wells, Bob Denver, Gilbert Gottfried, Michelle Phillips, Davy Jones, Kevin Michael Rochardson, Brenda Strong, Morey Amsterdam, Patrick Ewing, Laurieann Gibson, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Rena Sofer, Lynne Marie Stewart, Kathleen Freeman, Christine Cavanaugh, Robert Clotworthy, Rose Marie, Art Metrano, David Gautreaux, Nicole Sullivan, Orlando Jones, Yasmine Bleeth, Peter Dobson, Michael Feinstein, Lita Ford, Leland Orser
• Synopsis: The four aspects of a man’s personality help him get through different situations in life.
• Network: FOX
• Broadcast History: Three seasons, 72 episodes, last broadcast on April 21, 1994
• Trivia: The show’s working title was It’s All in Your Head. Inside Herman’s Head was another possibility. During the November 17, 1991 broadcast, the very first commercial for condoms aired on television in the US.

September 9 – The Adventures of Mark & Brian

• Cast: Mark Thompson, Brian Phelps
• Synopsis: Two Los Angeles disc jockeys adapt their radio antics and hijinx to a network television program.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: One season, 13 episodes, last broadcast on May 31, 1992

September 9 – Maury

• Host: Maury Povich
• Synopsis: A syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.
• Network: Syndication
• Broadcast History: Thirty seasons, 3,600-plus episodes, still in production
• Trivia: The series premiered in 1991 as The Maury Povich Show. For the first 18 seasons, the show was taped in New York City, then relocated to Stamford, Connecticut with Season 19. The show shares the same studio with The Steve Wilkos Show (and Jerry Springer until it ended in 2018). It takes about 3 hours to change from one set to the other.

2001

September 5 – The Amazing Race

• Host: Phil Keoghan
• Synopsis: Multiple teams race around the globe for $1,000,000 to ‘amazing’ locations.
• Network: CBS
• Broadcast History: Thirty-two seasons, 373 episodes, still in production (currently on a COVID-imposed hiatus which halted filming of Season 33)
• Trivia: The series has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program ten out of fifteen times since the category was implemented in 2003. When casting for the show’s first season, it was only known then as the ‘CBS Summer Global Adventure Series’. Host Phil Keoghan was detained in Ukraine during the tenth season and a local American ambassador who was a fan of the show helped free him. Teams used to mingle at the Pit Stops during the first few seasons, but they are now kept apart to keep them unaware of the arrival order and elimination. Keoghan had been on a shortlist of possible hosts for Survivor. Season 18 was the first to be filmed in HD. Teams travel with a two-person crew and must be able to purchase four plane tickets when traveling from one location to the next. If they can’t, they must find another flight (teams are always shown purchasing two tickets, but four are purchased off camera). Crews rotate between teams at Pit Stops to avoid favoritism that may develop, and to avoid the appearance of collusion. Eliminated contestants are sent to a resort dubbed ‘Sequesterville’ and then taken to the final destination to be present at the Finish Line. The last few eliminated teams are used as decoys to run the final leg to prevent possible spoilers about the race’s outcome. As of Season 32, 92 different countries have been visited, with China being the most visited with 21 Pit Stops in ten different cities. When the show was facing cancellation after Season 4, fan Sarah Jessica Parker called CBS head Les Moonves personally to ask him to save the show.

September 8 – How I’m Livin’

• Guest Cast: Usher, Evander Holyfield, Wyclef Jean, Lil Jon, Pitbull, Steve Harvey, Rickey Smiley
• Synopsis: The show profiled a couple of big names in the entertainment industry and followed them on their activities for a day.
• Network: BET
• Broadcast History: Unknown
• Trivia: The show was supposed to be a rival to MTV’s Cribs.

September 8 – The Ripping Friends

• Cast: Mike MacDonald, Michael Kerr, Merwin Mondesir Mark Dailey, Kevin Michael Richardson
• Guest Cast: John Kricfalusi, Michael Cera, Eric bauza
• Synopsis: The show centred on a group of four superhuman brothers who attempt to fight crime from their base, RIPCOT (the Really Impressive Prototype City Of (Next) Tuesday):
• Network: FOX Kids
• Broadcast History: One season, 13 episodes, last broadcast on January 26, 2002
• Trivia: John Kricfalusi and Jim Smith created the show before creating Powdered Toast Man for The Ren & Stimpy Show. The series was due to premiere in September 2000 then May 2001 but production delays bumped the premiere to September 2001. Due to delays and cost overruns, the show was cancelled after 13 episodes.

September 9 – Ponderosa

• Cast: Drew Powell, Matt Carmody, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Jared Daperis, Gareth Yuen, Sara Gleeson, Nicki Wendt, Bruce Dickinson, Fernando Carrillo
• Guest Cast: Brad Dourif
• Synopsis: Territory of Nevada, year 1849: ten years before the original Bonanza starts, the Cartwright family moves onto some scrub land. In this new land Ben Cartwright, a new widower, tries to raise his three young sons – at their late teens Adam and Hoss, and a pre-teen Joseph, commonly known as Little Joe.
• Network: PAX
• Broadcast History: One season, 20 episodes, last broadcast on May 12, 2002
• Trivia: The series was filmed in Australia to reduce costs.

September 10 – Sponk!

• Cast: Allie Berdebes, Tim Dorsch, Julia Kay, Vanessa Lengies, Scott Irby-Rainnar, Miles Thompson, Louie Torrellas, Lori Wells
• Synopsis: The premise of Sponk! was improvisational comedy, similar to the show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
• Network: Noggin
• Broadcast History: One season, 26 episodes, last broadcast on March 4, 2002

2011

• No new series debuted in 2011.