Gaumont International Television
It’s another week where our first three decades have no new series premiering, but that is simply because the channel options were limited. With the advent of cable television, and then streaming, in the later decades there is a constant need for content to fill the schedules. That is perfectly demonstrated in 1983 with the launch of the Disney Channel and its first original programs. While 1993 and 2003 both had short-lived series (and a mini-series) on the major broadcast networks, 2013 was all cable and streaming with 14 new series making their debuts including a long-running home renovation series that ended, probably, only because the stars of the series ended their marriage. 2013’s new series were also pretty successful with nine of them having runs from two to ten seasons. Did you watch any of the series that premiered this week across the decades? Tell us in the comments section below.
1953
- No new series debuted this week in 1953.
1963
- No new series debuted this week in 1963.
1973
- No new series debuted this week in 1973.
1983
Left Coast Television
- April 18 – Good Morning, Mickey! (The Disney Channel, 80 episodes)
- April 18 – Welcome to Pooh Corner (The Disney Channel, 120 episodes)
Good Morning, Mickey! was one of Disney Channel’s first original programs, premiering when the network launched on April 18, 1983. It was the first program to air during the channel’s original 16-hour day beginning at 7:00 AM. It was later moved to 7:30 AM, making it the second program of the day. It last aired on November 28, 1992. Welcome to Pooh Corner‘s animatronic costumes were created by Alchemy II, Inc., headed by Ken Forsse who later created Teddy Ruxpin. The series also launched with the Disney Channel, airing at 8:30 AM, making it the third program of the day. Reruns aired until May 30, 1997. This was the only Winnie the Pooh production in which the narrator was seen. Songs for the series were written by the Sherman Brothers, longtime Disney tunesmiths.
1993
- April 16 – Dudley (CBS, One season, 6 episodes, 1 unaired)
- April 18 – The Fire Next Time (CBS, 2-episode mini-series)
Dudley marked the episodic TV debut of Dudley Moore. While the series was cancelled before its final episode aired, it still earned Emmy nominations for Graphic Design & Title Sequence, and Lighting Direction for a comedy series. The Fire Next Time tackled the issue of global warming as a series of fires begin to break out, forcing a family to find a way to survive the natural disasters devastating the Earth.
2003
Nash Entertainment
- April 21 – Mr. Personality (FOX, One season, 5 episodes)
Mr. Personality was a dating series hosted by Monica Lewinsky in which a woman chose a suitor based only on his personality as all of the bachelors wore latex masks, with the winner finally revealing his face. The contestants were not made aware of the masks until they arrived for filming. Despite premiering to more than 12 million viewers, viewership declined each week and due to poor ratings the two-hour finale was editing down to one hour.
2013
Pie Town Productions
- April 16 – Who Gets the Last Laugh? (TBS, One season, 9 episodes)
- April 16 – Flip or Flop (HGTV, Ten seasons, 155 episodes)
- April 17 – Off Pitch (VH1, One season, 8 episodes)
- April 18 – Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell (Adult Swim, Four seasons, 42 episodes)
- April 19 – Hemlock Grove (Netflix, Three seasons, 33 episodes)
- April 19 – Blade Brothers (Discovery Channel, 2 episodes)
- April 20 – Raising Whitley (OWN, Four seasons, 34 episodes)
- April 21 – Dog and Beth: On the Hunt (CMT, Three seasons, 47 episodes)
- April 21 – Guntucky (CMT, Two seasons, 19 episodes, 5 possibly unaired)
- April 21 – I’m Married to a… (VH1, One season, 10 episodes)
- April 21 – What Would Ryan Lochte Do? (E!, One season, 8 episodes)
- April 21 – Ice Cold Gold (Animal Planet, Three seasons, 28 episodes)
- April 22 – Rectify (Sundance Channel, Four seasons, 30 episodes)
- April 22 – Brain Games (National Geographic, Nine seasons, 87 episodes to date)
After Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell ended in 2019, the show’s creator announced in 2020 that a special extended finale episode was in the works along with internet exclusive shorts. The special was eventually scrapped, but the shorts titled Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: The Cartoon were released on Adult Swim’s YouTube channel on October 21, 2022.
Hemlock Grove was a horror series produced by Eli Roth, based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Brian McGreevy. The show was among the first three series on Netflix to score Emmy nominations in 2013 (Main Title Theme, Visual Effects) along with House of Cards and Arrested Development. The series was to have been filmed in Pittsburgh but Gaumont International Television, which was financing the project, misunderstood how the Pennsylvania Film Tax Credit worked and moved production to Toronto.
The pilot for I’m Married to a… was broadcast on VH1 on October 17, 2012. Rectify was the first original series for from SundanceTV, but was originally developed in 2008 for AMC with Walton Goggins set to star. Sundance picked up the series in 2011 with Aden Young in the lead role. Young and co-star Abigail Spencer received Critics’ Choice Awards nominations for their work (2015 and 2013, respectively). At the 2016 ceremony, the series, Young and Clayne Crawford were all nominated.
Brain Games began as a special three-episode event in 2011, and was picked up to series in 2013. Neil Patrick Harris was the unseen narrator for the first season, with Jason Silva taking over with the remainder of the series. He also acted as host during Seasons 2-7. Keegan-Michael Key hosted Season 8, and Chuck Nice hosted Season 9. Production on the ninth season was delayed due to the COVID pandemic, and was available on both Nat Geo and Disney Plus. The network had announced a two-hour live event for the Fall of 2018, but no live event has yet been broadcast.
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