TV by the Decade :: July 30•Aug 5

College Hill Pictures

Only three decades this week saw any new series premiere, with 2003 having one of the most well-known, a teen drama in the mold of Beverly Hills 90210 set in a different part of California with a cast who went on to even bigger and better things like Gotham, Shazam, Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy. 1993 produced a noir drama for a prominent cable network, and 2013 was filled with reality series with one animated series and two scripted series — one from Australia and one from the UK — that had brief but memorable runs. Read on to learn more and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating this week!

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

• August 1 – Fallen Angels (Showtime, Two seasons, 15 episodes)

Fallen Angels aired for two seasons, one in 1993 and one in 1995. No new episodes were broadcast in 1994. In Europe the series is known as Perfect Crimes.

2003

• July 30 – Peacemakers (USA Network, One season, 9 episodes)
• July 30 – Race to the Altar (NBC, One season, 7 episodes)
• August 1 – My Life as a Teenage Robot (Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, Three seasons, 40 episodes)
• August 5 – The O.C. (FOX, Four seasons, 92 episodes)

The pilot for My Life as a Teenage Robot was titled ‘My Neighbor is a Teenage Robot’ and was aired as part of the Oh Yeah! Cartoons animation showcase on Nickelodeon. The series moved to Nicktoons for the third season in 2008 after Nickelodeon cancelled the series in 2005. The series won a Primetime Emmy in 2004 for Seonna Hong in the category Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation. It was also nominated for ten Annie Awards.

Chad Michael Murray was offered the role of Ryan Atwood on The O.C., but turned it down for the lead on One Tree Hill. Ben McKenzie got the part. Tate Donovan’s Jimmy Cooper was ranked eighth in Entertainment Weekly‘s list of ‘TV’s Worst Dads’. The role of Kaitlin Cooper was originally played by Shailene Woodley, 11-years-old at the time, in a recurring capacity during Season 1. The character was sent to boarding school and returned in a recurring capacity in Season 3 and then as a regular in Season 4, played by Willa Holland. Woodley was actually re-auditioned for the character’s return but had not matured enough and was recast, a decision with which Woodley agreed. Doug Liman directed the pilot after McG, one of the show’s producers, had to back out due to his commitment with Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. The Cohen family home was an actual Malibu location for the first episode, with a prop pool house built then removed after filming, but the rest of the series used a set recreated on a soundstage. The pool on the set was only four feet deep so the cast had to act on their knees while in the pool. The pilot was shot on 35mm film with the rest of the series shot on 16mm film and post-produced digitally to reduce costs. When the show’s cancellation was announced, a petition to save it garnered 740,000 signatures. The CW did consider picking up a fifth season but decided against it.

2013

Pigeon Fancier Productions

• July 30 – The Profit (CNBC, Eight seasons, 72 episodes)
• July 30 – Capture (The CW, One season, 10 episodes)
• July 31 – Best Daym Takeout (Travel Channel, One season, 6 episodes)
• July 31 – Shark Hunters (NBCSN, Two seasons, 13 episodes)
• August 1 – Hatfields & McCoys: White Lighting (History, One season, 14 episodes)
• August 1 – Please Like Me (Pivot, Four seasons, 32 episodes)
• August 1 – TakePart Live (Pivot, cancelled on December 9, 2014)
• August 2 – Saint Hoods (Discovery Channel, One season, 7 episodes)
• August 3 – In the Flesh (BBC America, Two seasons, 9 episodes)
• August 3 – Rabbids Invasion (France3/Nickelodeon/Netflix, Four seasons, 104 episodes)
• August 4 – RIDE-iculous (Travel Channel, One season, 13 episodes)
• August 5 – The Shed (Food Network, One season, 6 episodes)

On Hatfields & McCoys: White Lighting, descendants of the two feuding families attempt to resolve their decades long conflict.

Please Like Me originally premiered on Australia’s ABC2 network on February 28, 2013. The Pivot network imported the series to the US and became involved with the show’s development beginning with the second season. The series was originally meant to air on ABC1 but many believed the move to ABC2 was because the show was ‘too gay’. ABC1 did run the series six months after it aired on ABC2.

In the Flesh debuted on BBC Three on March 17, 2013 before being broadcast in the US on BBC America. The series was cancelled due to budget cuts at the BBC. The series won the BAFTA for Best Mini-Series and Best Writer – Drama for series creator Dominic Mitchell in 2014.

Rabbids Invasion aired the first and part of the second season on Nickelodeon in the US, with the rest of the second and all of the third on Nicktoons. The fourth season did not air in the US until 2019 on Netflix.