Cross Hoge Productions
With the new Fall Season underway, there are fewer shows premiering this week with four decades sitting out, their schedules too full to add anything new. 1953 brought a film actor to television, although his most famous film from 1939 still hadn’t become the classic it’s known as today. 2003 was filled with reality TV and two of the three new shows had multi-season runs. 2013 had three scripted series and two reality shows. The scripted shows included a remake of a British series, a spin-off of a still popular fantasy series, and an original series aimed at children and young teens. Read on to learn more and tell us if you remember any of this week’s celebrating series.
1953
- October 8 – Where’s Raymond? (ABC, Two seasons, 58 episodes)
- October 11 – The Man Behind the Badge (CBS/Syndication, Two seasons, 90 episodes)
Where’s Raymond? starred Ray Bolger (Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz), and the title was inspired by his Broadway hit Where’s Charley? It was retitled The Ray Bolger Show for the second and final season. The series was cancelled by its sponsor, Lehn & Fink, due to poor ratings against the competition on CBS, NBC and DuMont.
The Man Behind the Badge aired live on CBS during its first season. When the series moved to Syndication for the second season, the episodes were filmed at the same time and on the same sets as NBC’s Treasury Men in Action. Guest stars included Charles Bronson, Carolyn Jones, Paul Newman, Leslie Nielsen, Anthony Perkins, Denver Pyle, Jason Robards, Lee Van Cleef and Jack Warden.
1963
- No new series premiered this week in 1963.
1973
- No new series premiered this week in 1973.
1983
- No new series premiered this week in 1983.
1993
- No new series premiered this week in 1993.
2003
- October 12 – Shootout (AMC, Five seasons, 192 episodes)
- October 13 – King of the Jungle (Animal Planet, One season, last broadcast on July 27, 2004)
- October 13 – Room Raiders (MTV, Eight seasons, last broadcast on May 13, 2009)
Shootout, also known as Sunday Morning Shootout, was a film industry talk show. It was retitled Hollywood Shootout for Syndication.
Room Raiders was originally marketed as Dorm Raiders for the premiere episode, but the title was changed for the rest of the series. Each season had a specific title: Room Raiders II, Room Raiders: Miami, Room Raiders: Hotlanta, Room Raiders: California, Room Raiders: Texas, Room Raiders: Arizona, and Room Raiders 2.0.
2013
Berlanti/Plec
- October 9 – The Tomorrow People (The CW, One season, 22 episodes)
- October 9 – Big Tips Texas (MTV, One season, 14 episodes)
- October 10 – Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC, One season, 13 episodes)
- October 11 – Up Late with Alec Baldwin (MSNBC, One season, 5 episodes)
- October 14 – The Thundermans (Nickelodeon, Four seasons, 98 episodes)
The Tomorrow People was a US remake of the 1973-1979 UK series of the same name. The series creators included Greg Berlanti (The CW’s Arrowverse shows, Riverdale) and Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries).
Big Tips Texas focused on employees at the Texas ‘breastaurant’ Redneck Heaven.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland was a spin-off of the popular fantasy drama Once Upon a Time and was based on Lewis Carroll’s ‘Wonderland’ novels, taking place in the same universe as the flagship series which allowed for occasional crossovers. After the series was cancelled, cast member Michael Socha (Will Scarlet/Knave of Hearts) joined OUAT as a series regular in the fourth season. John Lithgow provided the voice of the White Rabbit (which was originally cast with Paul Reubens), Keith David was the voice of the Cheshire Cat, Whoopi Goldberg voiced Mrs. Rabbit, and Iggy Pop was the voice of the Caterpillar (replacing Roger Daltry, who voiced the character on OUAT). Kristin Bauer van Straten guested as the voice of Maleficent. Sebastian Stan was originally cast as the Mad Hatter, but had to withdraw due to his commitment to Marvel. The role was to be recast but after fan backlash, it was decided to move forward without the character. The show was conceived with just a single season storyline, but if it performed well enough producers were prepared to continue the adventure.
Up Late with Alec Baldwin was a late night talk show which Baldwin planned to do for a year, and then decide whether to continue or not. However, after a profane outburst at a photographer, MSNBC fired Baldwin and cancelled the show after five episodes.
Nickelodeon announced a follow-up film for The Thundermans, which ended in 2018, in March 2023. The Thundermans Returns will feature the original series cast and is set to stream on Paramount Plus in 2024.
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