SisterLee Productions
As the Summer winds down and the new Fall season is about to begin, there was very little new to offer this week across the decades, although three decades did produce some new series of note. This week in 1993 was a bad one for any show on CBS, but FOX struck gold with a sitcom that was not only popular but may have served as an inspiration for another even more popular sitcom. 2003 gave us an animated series based on a cult classic 1953 animated short, and 2013 produced a cooking competition series that’s still on the air today. Check out this week’s list of TV premieres and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating!
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 20 – The Building (CBS, One season, 6 episodes, 1 unaired)
- August 22 – Living Single (FOX, Five seasons, 118 episodes)
- August 25 – The Trouble with Larry (CBS, One season, 6 episodes, 3 unaired)
- August 25 – Tall Hopes (CBS, One season, 6 episodes, 3 unaired)
- August 26 – Angel Falls (CBS, One season, 6 episodes)
The Building starred Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake and Andy Dick, and featured guest stars George Clooney, David Letterman, George Wendt, Richard Kind, Donald O’Connor and Jim Belushi. Low ratings led to the cancellation after five episodes, leaving a sixth unaired.
Living Single is viewed as one of the most influential shows of the 90s and is seen as a precursor to Friends. The series came about because both Queen Latifah and Kim Coles had development deals with FOX, and the series was announced for both of them under the title My Girls. The title was changed three weeks before the show debuted. The series had two crossover episodes with The Crew and Half & Half. The series received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lighting Direction for a Comedy Series in 1995 and 1996.
The Trouble with Larry starred Bronson Pinchot and premiered three weeks after Perfect Strangers ended. CBS gave the series an early August launch which was to take it into the Fall season, but bad reviews and terrible ratings doomed it before the season officially started. Tall Hopes suffered the same fate. Angel Falls, starring Twin Peaks alum Peggy Lipton and Grace Zabriskie, did air all six of its produced episodes.
2003
Warner Bros. Animation
- August 23 – Duck Dodgers (Cartoon Network, Three seasons, 39 episodes)
- August 26 – Playmakers (ESPN, One season, 11 episodes)
Duck Dodgers was based on the 1953 animated short Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century. The show’s theme song was performed by Tom Jones in a style similar to his performance of the Thunderball theme song. Daffy Duck even played a caricature of Jones in a second season episode in which he performed ‘It’s Not Unusual’ but with Jones’ voice. The series was Emmy nominated twice for Outstanding Sound Editing, and won the award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for Joe Alasky, the voice of Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian.
2013
Rock Shrimp Productions
- August 21 – Modern Dads (A&E, One season, 9 episodes)
- August 24 – Beat Bobby Flay (Food Network, Thirty-three seasons, 423 episodes to date)
- August 26 – Olbermann (ESPN2, 434 episodes, last brooadcast on July 24, 2015)
Olbermann, a sports talk show hosted by Keith Olbermann, originally aired in a 60-minute format at 11:00 PM, but was moved to 5:00 PM in September 2014 and cut to 30 minutes.
Share this post
