TV by the Decade :: May 22•28

NBC

Four new series made their debuts this week in two different decades but the interesting thing this week is that not all of them are really new, but variations on shows that preceded them. One is a talk show that already had a long history but got a new host, and two were basically revamped and retitled versions of the shows they replaced. Only one of the four could be considered original, and even that one ended up being revamped and renamed. Read on to see which shows are celebrating anniversaries this week.

1952

• No new series premiered this week in 1952.

1962

• No new series premiered this week in 1962.

1972

• No new series premiered this week in 1972.

1982

• No new series premiered this week in 1982.

1992

May 25 – The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

• Host: Jay Leno
• Band Leaders: Branford Marsalis (1992–95), Kevin Eubanks (1995–2009, 2010), Rickey Minor (2010–14)
• Announcers: Edd Hall (1992–2004), John Melendez (2004–09), Wally Wingert (2010–14)
• Synopsis: Late night talk show.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: Twenty-two seasons, 4610 episodes, last broadcast on February 6, 2014
• Trivia: Fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise. During his tenure as host, Jay Leno only used a guest host once: Katie Couric on May 12, 2003. Leno was replaced with Conan O’Brien after the May 29, 2009 episode, and began hosting a new primetime talk show on September 14, 2009. Ratings for O’Brien and Leno were not what NBC expected and the network attempted to condense Leno’s new show to 30 minutes and move it to 11:35 PM, bumping Tonight to 12:05 AM. O’Brien objected and he quit the show on January 22, 2010. Leno returned to host Tonight on March 1, 2010 and left the show for good on February 6, 2014, succeeded by Jimmy Fallon on February 17. Leno’s Tonight Show originated from Los Angeles where previous versions originated from New York City (the show returned to the Big Apple when Fallon took over). The show became the first nightly talk show to be broadcast in HD on April 26, 1999. Announcer Edd Hall was unceremoniously replaced in 2004 with John Melendez from The Howard Stern Show, without Stern’s knowledge, in what many believed was a blatant attempt to attract a younger audience. Melendez was replaced after the transition to the primetime series but remained on the writing staff. The day after previous host Johnny Carson’s death, Leno hosted a special tribute episode with guests who had worked with Carson on his Tonight Show including announcer Ed McMahon, Drew Carey, Don Rickles and Bob Newhart. Carson never appeared on Leno’s Tonight Show (he supported David Letterman to replace him), but he did appear on Letterman’s CBS show twice. An animated Homer Simpson provided a short monologue on the July 24, 2007 episode before Leno ‘kicked him out’. The stunt was a promotion for The Simpsons Movie. Billy Crystal was a guest on Leno’s first and final episode. Barack Obama was the first sitting president to appear on any iteration of The Tonight Show on March 19, 2009. Rosie O’Donnell was tapped to host the show on Fridays (following the tradition of Carson taking Friday’s off), but Leno vetoed the idea because he didn’t want to take a day off.

2002

May 24 – WWE Bottom Line

• Host: Jonathan Coachman (2002-2003), Marc Lloyd (2003-2005), Todd Grisham (2005-2007), Jack Korpela (2007-2009), Scott Stanford (2009-2012), Renee Young and Tom Phillips (2012-2013), Scott Stanford (2013-2014), Kyle Edwards (2014-2016), Cathy Kelley and Corey Graves (2016), Cathy Kelley (2016-2017), Scott Stanford (2017-Present)
• Synopsis: Recaps the events which takes place on WWE’s weekly flagship program, Raw.
• Network: Syndication
• Broadcast History: Still in production, 1023 episodes as of December 30, 2021.
• Trivia: Replaced WWF LiveWire. The series ended broadcast in the US in September 2005 but is still produced and broadcast in international markets.

May 25 – WWE Afterburn

• Hosts: Marc Lloyd (2002), Ivory (2002-2003), Rue DeBona (2003), Josh Mathews (2003-2009), Jack Korpela (2009-2011), Matt Striker (2011-2012), Tony Dawson (2012-2013), Scott Stanford (2013), Renee Young (2014-2015), Scott Stanford (2015-Present)
• Synopsis: Recaps events taking place on WWE’s weekly flagship program, SmackDown.
• Network: Syndication
• Broadcast History: Still in production, 1023 episodes as of December 30, 2021.
• Trivia: Replaced Jakked. The show was removed from Syndication in the US after 172 episodes in September 2005 but is still produced and broadcast in some international markets.

May 25 – WWE Confidential

• Host: Gene Okerlund
• Synopsis: The series offered an exclusive, ‘behind the scenes’ look into WWE and its talent, both in-ring and otherwise.
• Network:TNN/Spike TV
• Broadcast History: 83 episodes, last broadcast on April 24, 2004
• Trivia: The show aired Saturday nights following WWE Velocity. The show was replaced with The WWE Experience, a more traditional weekly summary show.

2012

• No new series premiered this week in 2012.