FOX
The official Fall season is over by this point in time, but November brings what is known as ‘Sweeps Month’ which is one of three months per year that networks pull out the big guns to draw viewers so they can determine how much ads are going to cost moving forward. November usually sees a lot of stunt programming — big guest stars, major events — and specials, but the networks hold some of their bigger shows for this time to set them apart from the September herd. Not all of those shows succeed, as we can see from this week’s premieres, but there are a couple here that went on to multi-season runs, one about a stuntman and the other about an agent saving the country day after day. Let’s take a look at the shows that made thsir debuts this week across the decades.
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
November 1 – Code Red
- Cast: Lorne Greene, Andrew Stevens, Julie Adams, Sam J. Jones, Martina Deignan, Adam Rich, Jack Lindine
- Notable Guests: Dennis Haysbert, Ina Balin, John Ratzenberger, Ray Walston, James Whitmore, Robert Alda, Burr DeBenning, Richard Moll, Markie Post
- Synopsis: The adventures of a Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief’s family and crew.
- Network: ABC
- Broadcast History: One season, 19 episodes, last broadcast on September 12, 1982
- Trivia: Hawaii Five-O star Jack Lord was offered the role of Batallion Fire Chief Joe Rorcheck, but he turned it down even after the offer to move production to Hawaii. Producer Irwin Allen’s sixth and final television series, and the first not produced for 20th Century Fox Television.
November 3 – Father Murphy
- Cast: Merlin Olsen, Katherine Cannon, Timothy Gibbs, Moses Gunn, Scott Mellini, Lisa Trusel, Kirk Brennan, Byron Thames
- Notable Guests: Burr DeBenning, Shannen Doherty, James Cromwell, Jerry Hardin, Donna Wilkes, Christina Applegate, Graham Jarvis, Mykelti Williamson, K Callan, Mary Beth Evans, Corey Feldman, Tracey Gold, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Kellie Martin, Christopher Stone
- Synopsis: John Michael Murphy teams up with prospector Moses Gage to shelter a group of orphans who are being threatened with internment in a workhouse. Murphy disguises himself as a priest and befriends a schoolmarm to help the children find a home.
- Network: NBC
- Broadcast History: Two seasons, 34 episodes, last broadcast on September 18, 1983
- Trivia: While the series was created by Little House on the Prairie star Michael Landon, and Merlin Olsen had appeared on the show as a different character, this is not a spin-off or connected to that series in any way.
Glen A. Larson Productions
November 4 – The Fall Guy
- Cast: Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, Heather Thomas, Markie Post, Jo Ann Pflug
- Notable Guests: Terry Kiser, Doug McClure, Robert Donner, Sid Haig, Dana Hill, Mary Crosby, David Carradine, David Hedison, Lou Ferrigno, Clu Gulager, Tim Rossovich, Nedra Volz, Randolph Mantooth, Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene, Burr DeBenning, Melody Anderson, Carol Wayne, Anne Lockhart, Mickey Gilley, Tab Hunter, Heather Locklear, Erin Gray, Roy Rogers, Delta Burke, Paul Williams, Cassandra Peterson, Marc Alaimo, Eddie Albert, Geoffrey Lewis, Lou Rawls, Val Bisoglio, Tony Curtis, Lindsay Wagner, Priscilla Presley, Britt Ekland, Cyd Charisse, Teri Austin, Eric Stoltz, Carol Lynley, Tracy Scoggins, Tracey E. Bregman, Farrah Fawcett, Jonathan Frakes, Robert Wagner, Michelle Phillips, Cleavon Little, John Carradine, Forest Whitaker, Linda Evans, Jamie Farr, Milton Berle, Gale Sondergaard, Richard Burton, Cathy Lee Crosby, Richard Anderson, David Doyle, Richard Kiel, Richard Moll, Keith Carradine, James Hong, Charlene Tilton, Christopher Stone, Robert Carradine, Don Diamont, Dionne Warwick, Hervé Villechaize, Jack Black, Lara Parker, Herbert Jefferson Jr., Howard Cosell, Tom Selleck, Joaquin Phoenix, Susan Lucci, Larry Storch, Don Adams, Tom Atkins, Buzz Aldrin, La Toya Jackson, Dennis Haysbert, Leslie Jordan, Hurd Hatfield
- Synopsis: The adventures of a film stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter when movie work is slow.
- Network: ABC
- Broadcast History: Five seasons, 113 episodes, last broadcast on May 2, 1986
- Trivia: Andre the Giant and Ted Lange appeared in uncredited roles. Farrah Fawcett made a cameo appearance on the first episode, against the advice of friends and her manager, to show to the public that she and Lee Majors, having just gone through a messy divorce, were separating on good terms.
November 5 – Jessica Novak
- Cast: Helen Shaver, David Spielberg, Andrew Rubin, Erik Kilpatrick, Nina Wilcox, Kip Gilman, Lara Parker
- Notable Guests: Louis Giambalvo, Ron Masak, Adam Arkin, Jenny O’Hara, Michael O’Hare, Eugene Roche
- Synopsis: The series focused on Jessica Novak, a news reporter for KLA-TV, who did human interest stories and exposes.
- Network: CBS
- Broadcast History: One season, 7 episodes (3 unaired), last broadcast on December 3, 1981
1991
- No new shows premiered this week in 1991.
2001
November 6 – 24
- Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Hope, Sarah Clarke, Nina Myers, Elisha Cuthbert, Dennis Haysbert, Carlos Bernard, Penny Johnson Jerald, Xander Berkeley, Eric Balfour, Sarah Wynter, Reiko Aylesworth, James Badge Dale, Mary Lynn Rajskub, D. B. Woodside, Kim Raver, Alberta Watson, Lana Parrilla, Roger Cross, William Devane, James Morrison, Gregory Itzin, Louis Lombardi, Jean Smart, Carlo Rota, Jayne Atkinson, Peter MacNicol, Marisol Nichols, Regina King, Bob Gunton, Cherry Jones, Colm Feore, Annie Wersching, Jeffrey Nordling, Rhys Coiro, Janeane Garofalo, Anil Kapoor, Mykelti Williamson, Katee Sackhoff, Chris Diamantopoulos, John Boyd, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Tate Donovan, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Giles Matthey, Michael Wincott, Jude Ciccolella, Glenn Morshower, Frank John Hughes, Paul Schulze, Marci Michelle, Zachary Quinto, Nazneen Contractor, Michelle Forbes, Geoff Pierson, Arnold Vosloo, Zeljko Ivanek, Yvonne Strahovski, Tate Donovan, Benjamin Bratt
- Notable Guests: Powers Boothe, Rena Sofer, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Julian Sands, Daniel Dae Kim, Richard Burgi, Peter Weller, Sean Astin, Stephen Spinella, James Frain, Clayne Crawford, James Cromwell, Reed Diamond, Chad Lowe, Alan Dale, Jürgen Prochnow, Aisha Tyler, Gina Torres, Kurtwood Smith, Tony Todd, Connie Britton, Ray Wise, Jennifer Westfeldt, Mark Sheppard, Kate Mara, Sara Gilbert, Andrea Thompson, Will Patton, Dennis Hopper, Tobin Bell, Michael Madsen, Misha Collins, Doug Savant, Kal Penn, Paul Wesley, Tonya Pinkins, Leighton Meester, Lukas Haas, Stephen Root, Nick Offerman, Kevin Dillon, Michael Shanks, Stana Katic, Rami Malek, Michael Cudlitz, Kevin Alejandro, John Noble, John Rubinstein, C. Thomas Howell, Mare Winningham, Dean Norris, Pauley Perrette, Lou Diamond Phillips, JoBeth Williams, Stephen Fry, John Boyega, Philip Winchester
- Synopsis: Jack Bauer races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster in a 24-hour period.
- Network: FOX
- Broadcast History: Nine seasons, 204 episodes, last broadcast on July 14, 2014
- Trivia: The TV movie 24: Redemption aired between Seasons 6 and 7. Season 8 ended on May 24, 2010. The show was revived for a ninth season, titled 24: Live Another Day, which debuted on May 5, 2014. The series won numerous awards during its run including Best Drama Series at the 2004 Golden Globes, and Outstanding Drama Series at the 2006 Emmy Awards. A spin-off series, 24: Legacy, aired for one season beginning February 5, 2017. If watched without commercials, each season runs about 17 hours. The CTU set in the pilot was filmed in a FOX Sports office and recreated in a studio after the series was picked up. All cast members were required to have their hair trimmed every five days. The actors and actresses were not told in advance as to what would happen from episode to episode, so none of them would know whether or not they would be written out of the series. A feature film titled Die Hard 24/7 was to be made after what was intended to be the eighth and final season which would have joined the 24 and Die Hard universes. The studio instead made A Good Day to Die Hard.
2011
- No new shows premiered this week in 2011.
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