TV by the Decade :: December 11•17

20th Century Fox Television

As we edge closer to Christmas, the selection of new shows on broadcast networks gets smaller and smaller. But there were still three decades over the past 70 years that did see new series premiere, and most of them were in the reality category … or in one case claimed to be reality but wasn’t.

1952 had two new shows premiere, both on the DuMont network. The Big Idea was a sort of precursor to Shark Tank as it served as an intermediary between inventors and investors and manufacturers. Some of the products featured on the show include an inflatable swimsuit for women, a lighted dart board, a self-standing golf club, a refrigerated lunch box, and a lunch box with a hot plate. The show was scheduled on Monday nights at 9:00 PM which put it in direct competition with I Love Lucy, so by May 1953 it was moved to 10:30PM. As with most DuMont shows, no episodes are known to exist. DuMont’s second new series, Wisdom of the Ages, was a panel show hosted by Jack Barry (The Joker’s Wild) that combined elements of Juvenile Jury and Life Begins at Eighty, with a panel made up of younger and older members. Unusual for a DuMont series, a single episode is known to survive at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

2002 had four new series. One was a children’s show on HBO Family, and two were reality shows on E! and VH1. ABC introduced a new reality series titled Extreme Makeover, but this is the original version which was spun off into the more well-known and popular ‘Home Edition’. The original was more notorious for featuring individuals going through physical transformations which led to criticism that the show reinforced unachievable body image goals for the average person. The series faced a lawsuit when participant Deleese McGee’s makeover was cancelled the night before it was to be performed because her estimated recovery time did not fit the production’s schedule. Prior to the cancellation of the procedure, her family was interviewed and was told to give negative comments about her appearance to contrast with the positive ones they would give after the procedure. Deleese was filmed listening to the comments to get a shocked reaction for the cameras, but after the procedure was cancelled her sister felt so much guilt for making the comments that she intentionally overdosed and died. Deleese sued for the damages and emotional distress her family suffered and the case was settled out of court. The lawsuit is credited as a factor in the show’s cancellation.

2012 had two new reality shows and a scripted network sitcom, but one of the reality shows may not have been as real as it was portrayed. Although Discovery’s Amish Mafia was promoted as a documentary reality show, the authenticity of the series has been refuted by scholars, local newspapers, and law enforcement, with the ‘secret organization’ within the Amish community entirely fictional and created for entertainment purposes. The series has also been criticized for defaming the Amish. OWN’s 6 Little McGhees aired for three seasons, and then found a new home and a new title, Growing Up McGhee, on the UP network. NBC’s political sitcom 1600 Penn should have been a success with Josh Gad as a co-creator, and a cast that included Jenna Elfman and Bill Pullman but it had a short run and it all but forgotten today.

Do you remember any of these shows? Tell us in the comments section below!

1952

December 15 – The Big Idea (DuMont, One season, last broadcast on October 22, 1953)
December 16 – Wisdom of the Ages (DuMont, One season, last broadcast on June 30, 1953)