Marvel Animation
We’re still in May but coming out of ‘finale month’ and ‘Sweeps Month’. And you can tell the networks in 1993 were focused on ratings grabbing programming with a high-profile miniseries, two true-life drama films, and a primetime revival of a very popular Saturday morning series. 2003’s biggest show was on a now-defunct network, TechTV, while 2013’s biggest show was an animated series based on a huge superhero film. Take a look at the shows, movies and miniseries celebrating milestones this week and tell us if you remember any of them.
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
- No new series debuted this week in 1983.
1993
Peter Engel Productions
- May 22 – Saved by the Bell: The College Years (NBC, One season, 19 episodes)
- May 23 – Torch Song (ABC, TV Movie)
- May 24 – Equal Time (CNBC/MSNBC, last broadcast in December 2000)
- May 24 – Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story (NBC, TV Movie)
- May 26 – Without Warning: Terror in the Towers (NBC, TV Movie)
Saved by the Bell: The College Years was the third series in the franchise, and the first to air in primetime. It was followed by the TV movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas in October 1994.
Without Warning: Terror in the Towers was based on the real-life bombing of the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, and was broadcast exactly three months later.
2003
- May 22 – The O’Keefes (The WB, One season, 8 episodes, 3 unaired)
- May 26 – Unscrewed with Martin Sargent (TechTV, Two seasons, 216 episodes)
- May 28 – Fame (NBC, One season, 10 episodes)
The 2003 version of Fame was a reality competition series that was NBC’s attempt to copy American Idol. Debbie Allen served as a producer and courted controversy due to her personal relationships with many of the contestants. The show brought in a ‘spoiler’ midway through the season, professional dancer and choreographer Tyce Diorio, who was just credited as a dancer. The audience vote eliminated him in the episode after his debut. The winner, Harlemm Lee, was to appear in an off-Broadway show, Fame on 42nd Street, as part of his prize but he never did with producers citing a scheduling conflict. Lee’s album was barely promoted and flopped, and if it hadn’t been for the year-long hotel stay he won, Lee said he would have been homeless. Runner-up Shannon Bex joined the group Danity Kane in 2005.
2013
Storyvision Entertainment
- May 21 – Bad Girls All-Star Battle (Oxygen, Two seasons, 23 episodes)
- May 23 – Does Someone Have to Go? (Fox, One season, 6 episodes)
- May 23 – Save Me (NBC, One season, 13 episodes, 6 unairerd)
- May 23 – Showville (AMC, One season, 8 episodes)
- May 25 – Sanjay and Craig (Nickelodeon, Three seasons, 60 episodes)
- May 26 – Rock My RV (Travel Channel, One season, 16 episodes)
- May 26 – Avengers Assemble (Disney XD, Five seasons, 127 episodes)
Bad Girls All-Star Battle was a spin-off from Bad Girls Club and was Oxygen’s version of MTV’s The Challenge.
Does Someone Have to Go?, in which office workers were given control of the workplace to make changes, even if it meant firing someone, had working titles Someone’s Gotta Go and Toxic Office.
Avengers Assemble was meant to echo the tone of the live action 2012 Avengers movie, with a combination of 2D and CG animation. The series premiered with an hour-long special episode on May 26, with full first season premiering on July 7.
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