TV by the Decade :: July 16•22

Ryan Murphy Productions

Several news series premired this week, mostly in the last two decades. But 1973 did have two game shows, one featuring a Canadian host making his US TV debut. 2003 had three series across the spectrum of animation, reality and drama and all running multiple seasons. 2013 had ten new series but only four of them had multiple season runs. Of them, one was a prank series, one was a Disney Channel sitcom, one was a Hallmark Channel drama, and one is a home renovation competition series that is still popular today. Check out the new shows celebrating anniversaries this week and tell us if your favorites are on the list!

1953

• No new series debuted this week in 1953.

1963

• No new series debuted this week in 1963.

1973

Chuck Barris Productions

• July 17 – The Wizard of Odds (NBC, One season, last broadcast on June 28, 1974)
• July 17 – The New Treasure Hunt (Syndication, Four seasons, 120 episodes)

The Wizard of Odds was the first American game show hosted by Alex Trebek, who moved on to High Rollers when the show was cancelled. It is believed that as per network practices of the time, all of the tapes of the show were wiped for reuse. One episode featuring actor Don DeFore does exist in the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Another episode listed as airing on March 19, 1974 was uploaded to YouTube in 2022. The show’s theme song was composed and performed by Alan Thicke.

Chuck Barris produced The New Treasure Hunt, and composed the theme, closing theme and ‘klunk’ music. Only women were selected as contestants because, as Barris claimed, there was concern a male contestant would become physical with the host or crew after the build-up to a ‘klunk’ prize. Host Geoff Edwards said the real reason was because the male contestants would show less emotion than the female contestants. One female contestant fainted when she was told she won a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III convertible. For the show’s fifth season, Barris wanted to be even more sadistic to amp up the emotions of the contestants by showing them an item like a luxury car but then revealing they only won a part of the car like a rear view mirror. Edwards refused to play along and was fired during the 4th season, but Barris quickly reversed the decision and Edwards returned, not missing any episodes. He did, however, leave the show at the end of Season 4 and Barris was unwilling to replace him so he ended the series.

1983

• No new series debuted this week in 1983.

1993

• No new series debuted this week in 1993.

2003

• July 19 – Teen Titans (Cartoon Network, Five seasons, 65 episodes, 1 TV movie)
• July 20 – The Restaurant (NBC, Two seasons, 12 episodes)
• July 22 – Nip/Tuck (FX, Six seasons, 100 episodes)

The first two seasons of Teen Titans also aired on Kids WB. Only four seasons were planned, but the show was so popular a fifth season was produced. The series was nominated for three Annie Awards during its run.

Nip/Tuck earned 45 awards nominations, winning one Golden Globe (Best Television Series – Drama) and one Emmy (Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special). At the time, the first season was the highest rated series on American basic cable. The fifth season premiered on October 30, 2007, but production was affected by a writers strike, delaying the second half of the season to January 6, 2009.

2013

Hot Snakes Media

• July 16 – Perfect Score (The CW, One season, 12 episodes)
• July 16 – Killer Contact (Syfy, One season, 6 episodes)
• July 17 – Wedding Island (TLC, One season, 6 episodes)
• July 17 – Deal with It (TBS, Three seasons, 28 episodes)
• July 19 – Miss U Much (VH1, One season, 8 episodes)
• July 19 – Liv and Maddie (Disney Channel, Four seasons, 80 episodes)
• July 20 – Cedar Cove (Hallmark Channel, Three seasons, 36 episodes)
• July 21 – Brother vs. Brother (HGTV, Eight seasons, 49 episodes to date)
• July 21 – Breaking Amish: LA (TLC, One season, 12 episodes)
• July 22 – Supermarket Superstar (Lifetime, One season, 10 episodes)

Killer Contact is also known as Notorious Hauntings.

Liv and Maddie was retitled Liv and Maddie: Cali Style for the fourth season. The show was known for star Dove Cameron playing twin sisters, and a documentary-style feature where characters speak directly to the viewers about various situations in the episode. The series was pitched as Bits and Pieces, a bleneded family-style comedy similar to The Brady Bunch and Step By Step. A pilot was filmed but Disney decided to change the concept to focus on a set of twins, retaining the cast and crew that had already been hired, and produce a new pilot.

Cedar Cove was based on author Debbie Macomber’s book series of the same name. The setting of Cedar Cove was based on Port Orchard, Washington, the summer resident of Macomber, but it was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia because Washington didn’t have the infrastructure to produce a TV series like Vancouver did.

Brother vs. Brother was the third HGTV series to star Drew and Jonathan Scott, and featured the brothers competing with teams to complete a home renovation. Beginning with the third season, the team concept was dropped and the brothers competed directly with each other, using their own money with the goal of increasing the value of the home they chose to renovate.

Breaking Amish: LA was the third season of the Breaking Amish franchise, featuring an all-new cast of Amish and Mennonite young adults preparing to start their new lives in the English world.