Comedy Partners
Out of the new shows that premiered this week between 1983 and 2013, two of them were actually mini-series. One was a true crime story that garnered acclaim and Emmy nominations, the other was a thinly-veiled allegory about fascism in America with Visitors from another world that was so popular it eventually became a weekly series. This week also so the debut of a long-running sports talk show, a popular sketch comedy series that was recently revived for a new season, a comedy starring a well-known comedian that had a multi-season run, and a short-lived series that starred an up-and-coming comedian that gained new life thanks to a popular stand-up special. Want to know more? Check out the list of shows celebrating anniversaries this week and tell us if any of your favorites are among the celebrants.
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
Kenneth Johnson Productions
- May 1 – V (NBC, Tw0-part mini-series)
The premise of V was based on Sinclair Lewis’ anti-facist novel It Can’t Happen Here, from which Kenneth Johnson wrote an adaptation titled Storm Warnings in 1982. NBC rejected the script as ‘too cerebral’ for the average TV viewer and rejected it. To make the script more appealing to the network, Johnson replaced the American fascists with man-eating aliens, although the ‘Visitors’ emblems, uniforms, weapons and groups like ‘Friends of the Visitors’ did not hide the fact that they were not-so-thinly veiled Nazis, persecuting scientists instead of Jews. To make the allegory even more clear, when a Jewish family hesitates to help their scientist neighbor, the grandfather tells them if they don’t then they had not learned anything from the past. The popularity of the mini-series spawned a follow-up almost exactly a year later, V: The Final Battle, a second mini-series that was meant to wrap up the story, but a weekly series followed that in October 1984 that picked up a year later. The series was rebooted by ABC in 2009. Production on the original mini-series had to be paused for two weeks after Dominique Dunne, who was playing Robin Maxwell, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. Blair Tefkin was hired to replace her, but the back of Dunne’s head can still be seen in some shots.
1993
- May 3 – Murder in the Heartland (ABC, Two-part mini-series)
Murder in the Heartland is ased on the 1957–58 murder spree carried out by 19-year-old Charles Starkweather throughout Nebraska and Wyoming. The first half of the miniseries covers the murders. The second half covers the trials of Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, his 14-year-old grooming victim. Tim Roth starred as Starweather. Brian Dennehy was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, and Ronald Victor Garcia was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie.
2003
- May 6 – Jim Rome Is Burning (ESPN, Nine seasons, 1,038 episodes)
Jim Rome Is Burning ended when Rome signed a new contact with CBS, CBS Sports Network and Showtime.
2013
3 Arts Entertainment
- April 30 – Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central, Four seasons, 39 episodes / Paramount Plus, One season, 5 episodes)
- April 30 – Crowd Rules (CNBC, One season, 8 episodes)
- May 1 – Family Tools (ABC, One season, 10 episodes)
- May 1 – The Big Brain Theory (Discovery Channel, One season, 8 episodes)
- May 2 – Karma’s A B*tch (Investigation Discovery, One season, 13 episodes)
- May 2 – The Show with Vinny (MTV, One season, 11 episodes)
- May 2 – Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous (MTV, One season, 12 episodes)
- May 3 – Maron (IFC, Four seasons, 49 episodes)
- May 5 – La Voz Kids (Telemundo, Four seasons, last broadcast on July 10, 2016)
- May 6 – Newlyweds: The First Year (Bravo, Three seasons, 28 episodes)
- May 6 – Pizza Cuz (Cooking Channel, One season, 6 episodes)
- May 6 – Take Me to Your Mother (Nick Jr., Two seasons, 29 episodes)
Inside Amy Schumer was nominated for 12 Emmy Awards, winning three including Outstanding Variety Sketch Series in 2015, and also received a Peabody Award. Schumer had stated after the fourth season that the show was going on hiatus while she focused on touring but later said she wasn’t doing the show anymore. However she was contractually obligated for one more season which led to the revival on Paramount Plus (initially referred to as specials but changed to a fifth season).
Family Tools was based on the UK series White Van Man. ABC initially ordered 13 episodes, but cut the order to 10 due to scheduling conflicts. The show was cancelled after two episodes aired, but ABC did continue to air the rest of the episodes.
MTV cancelled Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous three days before the final episode aired. The series starred Bo Burnham, and after the success of his Netflix special Inside, renewed interest in the series led to it being available to stream on the service.
La Voz Kids was a Spanish-language version of the American singing competition that was part of the worldwide The Voice Kids franchise.
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