TV by the Decade :: June 12•18

USA Network

Several news series made their debuts this week, most of them at a time when Summer reruns were the norm on network television, and long before TV viewers had cable and streaming options. Networks used to air new series in the Summer to avoid reruns of a popular in-season series, and some were given tryouts in the Summer for potential pickup as a mid-season replacement or for a Summer return the following year. Once cable came along, new programming was needed all year. So we have a wide range of everything from replacements to regular series … and a replacement that became a regular series. Read on to see if any of your favorite shows premiered this week.

1952

June 16- My Little Margie

Roland Reed TV Productions

• Cast: Gale Storm, Charles Farrell, Clarence Kolb, Don Hayden, Gertrude Hoffman, Willie Best, Hillary Brooke, Zasu Pitts
• Notable Guests: Florence Bates, Fritz Feld, Alvy Moore, Tristram Coffin, Byron Foulger, Robert Easton, Olan Soule, Fess Parker, Patricia Hitchcock, Chief Thundercloud, Ed Fury, Gloria Talbott, Keye Luke
• Synopsis: Margie lives with her father Vern, and her crazy schemes get him into trouble especially with his boss Mr. Honeywell, frequently involving Charlie and Mrs. Odetts in her plans.
• Network: CBS/NBC
• Broadcast History: Four seasons, 126 episodes, last broadcast on August 24, 1955
• Trivia: The series debuted on CBS as a Summer replacement for I Love Lucy. Original episodes of the series aired on CBS Radio concurrently with the TV series, with the same leads, from December 1962 to August 1955. Only 23 radio broadcasts are known to exist after CBS destroyed thousands of recordings from the period, and those are edited versions that aired on the Armed Forces Radio Service. The AFRS versions included the 1920s song ‘Margie’ at the end of the episode to make up the time that would have had commercials in the CBS versions. The show’s opening originally featured photos of Margie and her father coming to life and talking about their difficulties living with each other but that ended within a year and a new opening was created. The show’s theme song, ‘Bows and Strings in Teasing’, was written by Alexander Laszlo for the film The French Key. Laszlo wrote a new arrangement for the series with added bars of music and it became the ‘My Little Margie Theme’.

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

June 15 – Doctor Dean

• Host: Dr. Dean Edell
• Synopsis: Daily health-focused series
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: Unknown

June 15 – Grapevine

• Cast: Steven Eckholdt, Lynn Clark, Jonathan Penner
• Notable Guests: Patrick Warburton, Mariska Hargitay, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Terry Farrell, Brett Cullen, Brenda Strong, Dean Cain, Yancy Butler
• Synopsis: Susan, David, and Thumper talk about the relationship troubles a couple they all know are having. Each week a new couple is introduced along with several supporting characters.
• Network: CBS
• Broadcast History: One season, 6 episodes, last broadcast on July 27, 1992
• Trivia: The series was basically an update of Love, American Style. The series was shot on location in Miami, Florida. Local residents were used as extras, and for many this was their only screen credit. The series was popular with critics and younger audiences, but CBS at the time drew the oldest audience of any network and opted to cancel the show. It was rumored the FOX Network was interested in acquiring the series, and creator David Frankel stated that they asked him to creat the same show but with a different title. CBS revived the series in February 2000 with a different cast, but it lasted just five episodes. The show’s interview style influenced Sex and the City.

2002

June 16 – The Dead Zone

• Cast: Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de Boer, Chris Bruno, John L. Adams, David Ogden Stiers, Bill Mondy, Spencer Achtymichuk, Sean Patrick Flanery, Kristen Dalton
• Notable Guests: Frank Whaley, Martin Donovan, Don S. Davis, Alvin Sanders, Dedee Pfeiffer, Karin Konoval, Maxim Roy, Kevin Durand, Adam Beach, Ally Sheedy, Stephen Tobolowsky, Donnelly Rhodes, Greg Grunberg, Richard Lewis, Ben Foster, Edward Asner, Christopher Heyerdahl, Christopher Masterson, Callum Keith Rennie, Lochlyn Munro, Tracey Gold, Michael Cudlitz, Genevieve Padalecki, Tom Skerritt, Mark Hildreth, Alicia Coppola, Gerald McRaney, Ione Skye, Judge Reinhold, Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Picardo, Scott Hylands, Jane Lynch, Robert Culp, Aleks Paunovic, Grace Park, Chelah Horsdal, Bruce Harwood
• Synopsis: Small-town teacher Johnny Smith is involved in a car accident that leaves him comatose for approximately six years. After regaining consciousness, Johnny begins having visions of the past and future triggered by touching items or people; doctors attribute the visions to activity in a previously unused ‘dead zone’ of his brain that is attempting to compensate for the impaired function of the portions injured in the accident.
• Network: USA Network
• Broadcast History: Six seasons, 80 episodes, last broadcast on September 16, 2007
• Trivia: Known as Stephen King’s The Dead Zone in the US. Originally commissioned for UPN, which dropped the show and was then acquired by USA Network. Filmed in Vancouver for the first five seasons. Production moved to Montreal for Season 6. A 7th season renewal was expected but financial concerns and fear of low ratings caused the show to be cancelled on a major cliffhanger that has never been resolved. Syfy was rumored to be interested in picking up the show but plans never came to fruition. Anthony Michael Hall is the only actor to appear in every episode. Tom Skerritt and Ken Pogue also appear in the 1983 feature film as different characters.

June 17 – Dog Eat Dog

• Host: Brooke Burns
• Synopsis: Contestants compete against each other in physical competitions, trivia, and other assorted games for a prize of $25,000.
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 26 episodes, last broadcast on August 26, 2003
• Trivia: Based on the UK version of the show by the same name. In the show’s first episode, a contestant named Daren Goka had to be hospitalized after falling unconscious during a challenge where he had to hold his breath underwater. The contestant sued NBC, claiming that the mechanism failed and caused him brain damage.

June 18 – Houston Medical

• Narrator: Jeff Colt
• Synopsis: The lives of staffers and patients at Memorial Hermann–Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas are followed over the course of a year.
• Network: ABC
• Broadcast History: One season, 6 episodes, last broadcast n July 23, 2002

2012

June 15 – Gravity Falls

Disney Television Animation

• Cast: Jason Ritter, Alex Hirsch, Kristen Schaal, Linda Cardellini, Devan Key, Kevin Michael Richardson, Matt Chapman
• Notable Guests: John DiMaggio, Jennifer Coolidge, Dee Bradley Baker, T.J. Miller, Will Forte, Grey Griffin, Stephen Root, J.K. Simmons, Brian Bloom, Nick Offerman, Nathan Fillion, Tara Strong, Alfred Molina, April Winchell, Jillian Bell, Diedrich Bader, Jorma Taccone, Larry King, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz, Lance Bass, Coolio, Mark Hamill, John Oliver, Jonathan Banks, Patton Oswalt, Paul Scheer, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jon Stewart, Mckenna Grace, Peter Serafinowicz, ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Daryl Sabara, John O’Hurley, Kyle MacLachlan
• Synopsis: Twin siblings Dipper and Mabel Pines spend the summer at their great-uncle’s tourist trap in the enigmatic Gravity Falls, Oregon.
• Network: Disney Channel/Disney XD
• Broadcast History: Two seasons, 40 episodes, last broadcast on February 15, 2016
• Trivia: The series was not cancelled, it just reached its natural conclusion, according to creator Alex Hirsch. Hirsch has stated he remains open to continuing the series with additional episodes or specials. The series won two Emmy Awards. The show is assumed to take place in a parallel universe to Rick and Morty. In one episode, Stan’s coffee mug, notepad and pen fly through a portal, and the items are seen on Rick and Morty falling through a portal. The episodes contained clues and cryptograms for the viewers to decode, sometimes hidden within the episode or plainly at the end credits. Some characters have four fingers and some have five. The Mystery Shack is based on the Oregon Vortex, a tourist trap that Alex Hirsch encountered while visiting Oregon during his college years. Film director David Lynch was asked to voice Bill, but declined. Hirsch voices the character with what he calls a ‘bad impression’ of Lynch. Hirsch appears in the background of several episodes. He is the man in a red flannel jacket and red-ish brown hair. Dipper is the only character to appear in every episode of the series.