National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
It was a very slow week across the decades for new TV series debuts. Schools are out and families are beginning their vacations so there was little interest among the networks — including cable — to waste any new programming this week. Of the three shows that debuted this week in two decades, two of them were daytime series (talk and game shows) and one was a sitcom that had higher aspirations than a Summer burn off. Take a look at the list below and tell us is you remember any of these shows 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
- No new series debuted this week in 1983.
1993
- June 14 – John and Leeza from Hollywood (NBC, Two seasons, 61 episodes)
- June 14 – Caesar’s Challenge (NBC, One season, 155 episodes)
Caesar’s Challenge was a game show that originated from the Circus Maximus Theatre inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ahmad Rashad was the host, with assistance from a Roman gladiator played by Dan Doherty for most of the show’s run. Chad Brown and Zach Ruby inhabited the role in early episodes before Doherty joined the show. The show was a co-production of Stephen J. Cannell Productions, the only game show produced by the company better known for its scripted series like The Greatest American Hero. The series was developed for Syndication under the title Illusions but only one station picked it up. The series replaced Scattergories but was cancelled after 31 weeks due to tough competition from The Young and the Restless on CBS and Loving on ABC (and because it aired in the noon hour, several NBC affiliates moved the show to a different time or did not air it at all). It was NBC’s last daytime game show, and the last new daytime game show to air on any of the Big Three networks to date (only the CBS revival of Let’s Make a Deal in 2009 has debuted since the cancellation of Caesar’s Challenge).
2003
- June 15 – Charlie Lawrence (CBS, One season, 7 episodes, 5 unaired)
Charlie Lawrence debuted with a 0.9 rating, attracting about 3.5 million viewers, low even by Summer viewing standards so CBS pulled the series after the second episode. There’s not a lot of information about the show, but it appears to have been produced as a mid-season replacement but was held for the Summer, perhaps because the network had no faith in it.
2013
- No new series debuted this week in 2013.
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