TV by the Decade :: Sept 25•Oct 1

Filmways

The last week of the new Fall Season launch, and the first day of October, gave us many, many classic new shows over the past 70 years, and some decades had several that went on to long runs and are still popular today. 1952 saw seven new shows including an early reality-game show mash-up that took unsuspecting subjects and surprised them with folks from their lives they may not have seen in years. 1962 had a classic sitcom that launched the ‘rural’ genre on CBS, and gave Lucille Ball her second hit comedy. That year also introduced two new talk show hosts, both of whom had multiple decade runs and thousands of hours of television. 1982 gave us Siskel & Ebert, a talking car, a ‘new wave’ sitcom, a fake private investigator and a bar where everyone knows your name. 1992 gave us Ben Stiller. 2002 had long-running and short-lived CBS crime dramas, while 2012 put Mindy Kaling in the spotlight, gave us a modern day Holmes & Watson, and a sitcom about the aliens next door. Scroll down to check out this week’s TV premiere anniversaries and share your favorite memories with us in the comments section.

1952

• September 25 – Four Star Playhouse (CBS, Four seasons, 129 episodes)
• September 30 – Heaven for Betsy (CBS, One season, last broadcast on December 23, 1952)
• September 30 – Short Short Dramas (NBC, One season, 78 episodes)
• September 30 – Two for the Money (NBC/CBS, Five seasons, last broadcast in 1957)
• October 1 – Cavalcade of America (NBC/ABC, Five seasons, 133 episodes)
• October 1 – This Is Your Life (NBC, Nine seasons, last broadcast in 1961)
• October 1 – Trash or Treasure (DuMont, One season, last broadcast on September 27, 1953)

1962

Desilu Productions

• September 25 – Empire (NBC, One season, 32 episodes)
• September 26 – The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, Nine seasons, 274 episodes)
• September 27 – The Nurses (CBS, Three seasons, 98 episodes)
• September 28 – I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster (ABC, One season, 32 episodes)
• September 29 – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (ABC, One season, 25 episodes)
• September 29 – The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show (ABC, One season, 12 episodes)
• September 30 – GE True (CBS, One season, 33 episodes)
• October 1 – Discovery (ABC, last broadcast in September 1971)
• October 1 – The Lucy Show (CBS, Six seasons, 156 episodes)
• October 1 – The Merv Griffin Show (NBC/Syndication/CBS, 22 seasons, 4,855 episodes)
• October 1 – Stoney Burke (NBC, One season, 32 episodes)
• October 1 – The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC, 29 seasons, 6,714 episodes)

1972

• September 28 – Assignment Vienna (ABC, One season, 8 episodes)

1982

Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions

• September 25 – Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour (ABC, One season, 27 episodes)
• September 25 – The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show (ABC, Two seasons)
• September 25 – The Puppy’s Further Adventures (ABC, Two seasons, 21 episodes)
• September 25 – The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour (ABC, One season, 13 episodes, 52 segments)
• September 25 – Silver Spoons (NBC/Syndication, Five seasons, 116 episodes)
• September 26 – At the Movies (PBS, Eight seasons)
• September 26 – Gloria (CBS, One season, 21 episodes)
• September 26 – Knight Rider (NBC, Four seasons, 90 episodes)
• September 26 – Matt Houston (ABC, Three seasons, 69 episodes)
• September 26 – Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (ABC, Four seasons, 77 episodes)
• September 27 – Square Pegs (CBS, One season, 20 episodes)
• September 30 – Cheers (NBC, Eleven seasons, 275 episodes)
• September 30 – Star of the Family (ABC, One season, 10 episodes)
• October 1 – Remington Steele (NBC, Five seasons, 94 episodes)

1992

• September 26 – Dog City (FOX Kids, Three seasons, 31 episodes)
• September 27 – The Apollo Comedy Hour (Syndication, Three seasons, 78 episodes)
• September 27 – The Ben Stiller Show (FOX, One season, 13 episodes)
• September 27 – Woops! (FOX, One season, 13 episodes, 3 unaired)
• September 28 – The Richard Bey Show (WOR/Syndication, last broadcast on December 27, 1996)
• September 28 – Stunt Dawgs (Syndication, One season, 40 episodes)
• September 30 – Laurie Hill (ABC, One season, 10 episodes, 5 unaired)

2002

• September 25 – MDs (ABC, One season, 11 episodes, 3 unaired)
• September 26 – Good Morning, Miami (NBC, Two seasons, 39 episodes, 9 unaired)
• September 26 – Without a Trace (CBS, Seven seasons, 160 episodes)
• September 27 – Hack (CBS, Two seasons, 40 episodes)
• September 27 – Robbery Homicide Division (CBS, One season, 13 episodes, 3 unaired)
• September 27 – That Was Then (ABC, One season, 4 episodes, 2 unaired)
• September 28 – Biker Build-Off (Discovery Channel, 33 episodes, last broadcast in 2007)
• September 29 – American Dreams (NBC, Three seasons, 61 episodes)
• September 29 – Boomtown (NBC, Two seasons, 24 episodes)
• September 30 – Still Standing (CBS, Four seasons, 88 episodes)
• September 30 – Taboo (National Geographic, 118 episodes, last broadcast on December 5, 2014)
• October 1 – Less than Perfect (ABC, Four seasons, 81 episodes)
• October 1 – Operation Junkyard (Discovery Kids, last broadcast on February 15, 2003)

2012

ABC Studios

• September 25 – Ben and Kate (FOX, One season, 16 episodes, 3 unaired)
• September 25 – Brickleberry (Comedy Central, Three seasons, 36 episodes)
• September 25 – The Mindy Project (FOX/Hulu, Six seasons, 177 episodes)
• September 25 – Vegas (CBS, One season, 21 episodes)
• September 26 – Animal Practice (NBC, One season, 9 episodes, 3 unaired)
• September 26 – The Neighbors (ABC, Two seasons, 44 episodes)
• September 27 – Elementary (CBS, Seven seasons, 154 episodes)
• September 27 – Last Resort (ABC, One season, 13 episodes)
• September 27 – Oh Sit! (The CW, Two seasons, 20 episodes)
• September 28 – Deadly Affairs (Investigation Discovery, Three seasons, 36 episodes)
• September 28 – Made in Jersey (CBS, One season, 8 episodes)
• September 28 – Man Fire Food (Cooking Channel, Six seasons, 88 episodes)
• September 28 – Paranormal Paparazzi (Travel Channel, One season, 8 episodes)
• September 28 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, Five seasons, 124 episodes)
• September 30 – 666 Park Avenue (ABC, One season, 13 episodes)
• October 1 – Marie (Hallmark Channel, One season, 150 episodes)