Tandem Productions
Only a handful of new series made their debuts this week, but they include a classic daytime soap opera, a live variety show with an infamous blooper, a classic Norman Lear sitcom, a detective show that faced its own off-screen drama, a reality series, a news program and an animated series. Scoll down the list to learn more about these shows and tell us if your favorites are celebrating this week!
1954
- February 1 – The Secret Storm (CBS, Twenty seasons, 5,195 episodes)
- February 2 – The Jo Stafford Show (CBS, One season, 22 episodes)
The Secret Storm was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas Search for Tomorrow and Love of Life. Gloria Monty, of General Hospital fame, was a longtime director of the series. The series originated live as a 15-minute program from New York City and then later was taped for broadcast (the show expanded to 30-minutes in 1962). The show switched from black-and-white to color on September 11, 1967. The character of Amy, played by Jada Rowland for the duration of the program with just a few breaks (Beverly Lunsford, June Carter and Lynne Adams also played the character), was allowed to age in real time. The soap brought real love to some cast members: Stephanie Braxton and Dan Hamilton net on the show and were later married, and Diana Muldaur married co-star James Vickery. Valerie Hill ended up playing the wife of her real-life husband Alexander Scourby. The show is infamous for 60-year-old Joan Crawford stepping in for four episodes to replace her ailing 24-year-old daughter Christina, which was depicted in the movie Mommie Dearest. Sadly, none of these full episodes are known to exist but clips have been seen on YouTube. Other well-known actors who appeared include Troy Donahue, Margaret Hamilton and Frances Sternhagen. Cast members who went on to bigger careers include James Broderick, John Colicos, Jennifer Darling, Cliff DeYoung, Barnard Hughes, Don Galloway, Audrey Landers, Ken Kercheval, Terry Kiser, Diane Ladd, Laurence Luckinbill, Kim Milford, Donna Mills, Robert Morse, Gary Sandy, and Roy Scheider. Due to constant time shifting, competition from other networks and a decline in ad revenue, CBS cancelled the show in 1974 and replaced it with the cheaper-to-produce game show Tattletales. The series’ final episode aired one week after the show’s 20th anniversary.
The Jo Stafford Show was a live 15-minute primetime musical variety program. During one episode, a cast member tripped and his button caught on Stafford’s costume, her skirt falling with the actor while Stafford tried holding on to it while singing ‘Let Me Go, Lover’. When CBS cancelled the show — the sponsor contemplated a move to NBC — Stafford left Columbia Records, which was owned by CBS, and returned to Capitol Records. She received an Emmy nomination for Best Female Singer in 1955.
1964
- No new series premiered this week in 1964.
1974
- February 1 – Good Times (CBS, Six seasons, 133 episodes)
Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which was a spin-off of All in the Family. 26-year-old Jimmie Walker played 17-year-old J.J. Evans when the series began. Walker was just eight years younger than John Amos, who played his father James. The character of James was originally named Henry, a New York City firefighter, when he appeared on Maude. Good Times can be seen as existing in an alternate universe from Maude with the name change as well as relocating the family from New York to Chicago, changing their status from middle-class to poverty-stricken as James worked various odd jobs. Maude was never mentioned, but it was mentioned that Florida was once a maid, but in Chicago. Notable guest stars on the show include Mary Alice, Debbie Allen, Taurean Blacque, Sorrell Booke, Roscoe Lee Browne, T.K. Carter, Rosalind Cash, William Christopher, Gary Coleman, Conchata Ferrell, Kim Fields, Alice Ghostley, Ron Glass, Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Guillaume, Philip Baker Hall, Shirley Hemphill, Gordon Jump, Jay Leno, Debbi Morgan, Charlotte Rae, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bubba Smith, Philip Michael Thomas, and Carl Weathers. Good Times was co-created by actor Mike Evans, who played Lionel Jefferson on The Jeffersons. When Ralph Carter was cast as Michael Evans, he was appearing on Broadway in the musical Raisin, and producers were reluctant to accept Tandem Productions’ buyout offer. While his contract was negotiated, a young Larry Fishburne (later billed as Laurence) filled the role during early rehearsals. Early episodes of the series include the credit ‘Ralph Carter appears courtesy of the Broadway musical Raisin.’
The series was meant to focus on James and Florida Evans, but Walker’s J.J. became the immediate hit with audiences. As J.J. and his catchphrase ‘Dy-no-mite!’ became more prominent, Amos and Esther Rolle grew frustrated with the direction of the show, with Rolle being very vocal about her hatred for the character and his buffoonish behavior. Amos was also upset, at one point stating the writers would rather have J.J. put on a chicken hat and say ‘Dy-no-mite!’ rather than write some meaningful dialogue. Amos was less public with his dissatisfaction, but he was fired after the third season because of disagreements with Norman Lear. The character was killed off rather than be recast. Rolle was fed up by the end of Season 4 and left the show, and at the start of Season 5 it was revealed the character and her new husband had moved to Arizona. This made former supporting actress Ja’Net DuBois, as neighbor Willona, the new lead, checking in on the Evans children as they now lived alone. Janet Jackson joined the cast in Season 5 as Penny, an abused girl abandoned by her mother, Willona eventually adopting her. Johnny Brown, as building superintendent Nathan Bookman, a previously recurring character, was also upped to a series regular. With Rolle’s absence, though, ratings began to decline and CBS needed to take drastic measures to save the show. Producers approached Rolle to make a guest appearance, but she was hesitant. They agreed to a number of her demands, including a salary increase and higher quality scripts, and she agreed to return full time. She also wanted J.J. to become a more responsible character, a better role model for African-American youths, and she wanted the character of Carl Dixon (Florida’s new husband) written out because she didn’t believe Florida would have moved on so quickly after James’ death or leave her children. In an uncut version of the second Season 6 episode, Willona brings up Carl to Florida and she indicates Carl has died from cancer. Carl is only mentioned one more time when Florida tells Michael about a book they’d bought for him. Ben Powers also joined the cast as Keith Anderson, who marries Florida’s daughter Thelma. Despite the return of Rolle and the changes made, ratings continued to fall and the show was cancelled, and in the series finale each character gets a happy ending — J.J. gets a job with a comic book company, Michael goes to college, Keith returns to football and he and Thelma move to a luxury apartment in the Gold Coast district, Thelma announces she’s pregnant, and Keith offers to let Florida move in with them to help with the baby, an offer Florida accepts. Willona becomes the head buyer of the boutique she works for, and she and Penny move to a new apartment which happens to in the same building as Keith, Thelma and Florida, becoming their downstairs neighbor. The series was never Emmy-nominated, but Jimmie Walker received a Golden Globe nomination in 1974 and 1975 for Supporting Actor, while Rolle was Golden Globe nominated in 1975 as Best Actress in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy. The cast was awarded the Impact Award in 2006 by the TV Land Awards.
1984
- January 28 – Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer (CBS, Three seasons, 48 episodes, 3 TV movies)
While Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer is set firmly in the 1980s, it also incorporated elements of classic film noir detective movies like The Maltese Falcon. Stacy Keach’s Mike Hammer was a stark contract to other charming detectives of the day like Thomas Magnum and Remington Steele, unapologetically masculine and with little regard for political correctness. Mickey Spillane, the character’s creator, insisted Keach carry a Colt Model 1911A1 .45 ACP semi-automatic pistol because that was the weapon Hammer carried in all of the novels. Unlike most detective shows of the era, Hammer usually killed the bad guys by the time the end credits rolled. Dom DeLuise and Burt Reynolds had uncredited cameos on the show. Notable guests included Barbara Bain, George Benson, Joyce Brothers, Delta Burke, Jeff Conaway, Lou Ferrigno, Herbie Hancock, James Hong, Ernie Hudson, Michael Ironside, Ray Liotta, Esther Rolle, Isabel Sanford, Bubba Smith, Jan Smithers, Sharon Stone, Janine Turner, Shannon Tweed and Dick Van Patten. Production of the show was interrupted in December 1984 when Stacy Keach was sentenced to nine months prison time for drug smuggling at London’s Heathrow Airport after a random search. Three episodes of the second season had been filmed but Keach was unable to record his voice-overs so CBS hired impressionist Rich Little to imitate Keach’s voice. Eight episodes remained to be filmed, and CBS paid the cast for half of the episodes. Keach was sentenced to nine months in Reading Prison but was released after six months with time off for good behavior. He returned to the US and began work on reviving the series, retitled The New Mike Hammer. Some recurring characters were dropped and elements of the previous series criticized as sexist were softened to appeal to an audience beyond male viewers. The new series lasted just one season.
1994
- No new series premiered this week in 1994.
2004
Edmonds Entertainment
- January 28 – College Hill (BET, Six seasons, 94 episodes)
College Hill originally followed the lives of students at historically black colleges. A 2022 revival of the series was produced for BET+, retitled College Hill: Celebrity Edition.
2014
- February 2 – Inside Politics (CNN, 31 seasons to date)
- February 3 – Wallykazam! (Nickelodeon, Two seasons, 52 episodes)
Inside Politics originally aired on CNN between 1984 and 2005, and was revived in 2014. The hosts for the first version of the show included Catherine Crier, Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff. Jon King, Abby Phillip, Dana Bash and Manu Raju have hosted the revival.
Tony Bennett provided the singing voice for the character Bobgoblin on the animated Wallykazam! Jim Gaffigan, Ben Schwartz, John O’HUrley and ‘Weird Al’ Yankovich voiced recurring characters.
Share this post
