TV by the Decade :: Mar 31•Apr 6

Judgemental Films

This week across the decades, several memorable series made their debuts. 1954 had a reboot of a 1951 sitcom, 1984 gave us the first reality series focused on the lives of the wealthy, 1994 had a drama with a devoted fan base that was just too expensive to survive, 2004 saw the arrival of an animated series that people want revived today, and 2014 had a popular comedy series set in the tech world, and a dramatic series set in the world of spies. And two different decades gave us comedies about twin sisters! Scroll down to see what shows premiered this week and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating anniversaries.

1954

• April 2 – Meet Corliss Archer (Syndication, One season, 39 episodes)

Meet Corliss Archer originated as a short-lived CBS Summer television series that aired between July 13 and August 10, 1951, an adaptation of the radio series of the same name, and based on a series of short stories by F. Hugh Herbert. The Syndicated version replaced Lugene Sanders with Ann Baker as Corliss Archer, while Robert Ellis and Ken Christy reprised their original roles as Dexter Franklin and Bill Franklin, respectively.

1964

• No new series premiered this week in 1964.

1974

• No new series premiered this week in 1974.

1984

• March 31 – Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (Syndication, Ten seasons, last broadcast September 2, 1995)
• April 4 – Double Trouble (NBC, Two seasons, 23 episodes)

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous was hosted by Robin Leach, who was joined by Shari Belafonte in 1994 with the show retitled Lifestyles with Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte. After she left the show a year later, it was simply titled Lifestyles. The opening theme was ‘Come With Me Now’ by Bill Conti, from the 1978 movie Five Days from Home. The closing theme was ‘Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams’ by Dionne Warwick. Re-edited episodes, some with new footage, aired on ABC’s daytime schedule from April 7 to June 13, 1986 and from June 30 to September 5, 1986. It was replaced by the spin-off series Fame, Fortune and Romance which aired until May 1987. The series received one Emmy nomination for Outstanding Informational Special in 1984.

Double Trouble starred identical twins Jean and Liz Sagal, younger sisters of Katey Sagal. The series debuted as a mid-season replacement but failed to attract strong enough ratings to be included on NBC’s fall schedule. It was retooled, changing the setting from Des Moines, Iowa to New York City, replacing Donnelly Rhodes as the girls’ father with Barbara Barrie as their aunt, and brought back in December 1984 where it aired 15 episodes. The series performed better during its second run, moving up in the Nielsen ratings from 71 to 43 for the season, but it wasn’t enough for NBC to continue with the show.

1994

de Passe Entertainment

• March 31 – Traps (CBS, One season, 6 episodes, 1 unaired)
• April 1 – Sister, Sister (ABC, Two seasons, 31 episodes / The WB, Four seasons, 88 episodes)
• April 3 – Christy (CBS, Two seasons, 21 episodes, 3 TV movies)
• April 5 – South Central (FOX, One season, 10 episodes)

Traps was created by Stephen J. Cannell and starred George C. Scott, Dan Cortese, Bill Nunn, Piper Laurie and Lindsay Crouse.

Sister, Sister was another series about twin sisters, starring Tia and Tamera Mowry. The series originated as part of ABC’s TGIF line-up but when moved to Tuesday for its second season, ratings dropped and the show was cancelled. The WB picked it up as a replacement for the sitcom Muscle. A revival was considered in 2018, but was not pursued due to a lack of interest and copyright issues. The series was nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one for Lighting Direction for a Comedy Series.

Christy was based on the 1967 novel Christy by Catherine Marshall. When the series was cancelled, the final episode ended on a cliffhanger with the TV movies, which aired on the PAX network, serving to resolve the story’s love triangle according to the end of the novel. The show had a devoted fan base but cost about $1.2 million an episode to produce, and only generated about $900,000 per episode in revenue, mainly because it did not attract young, urban viewers who were highly sought after by advertisers. Tyne Daly won an Emmy for her work on the series.

South Central aired on FOX on Tuesdays following Roc. Due to a decline in rating for the evening, the network cancelled all of the shows that aired that night, plus The Sinbad Show and In Living Color on Thursdays, all of which featured predominantly Black casts, prompting a call for a boycott of the network for its perceived institutional racism. The network maintained the cancellations were based on ratings and were not racially motivated. Jennifer Lopez and Shar Jackson were among the show’s guest stars.

2004

• April 2 – The Big House (ABC, One season, 6 episodes)
• April 3 – Danny Phantom (Nickelodeon, Three seasons, 53 episodes)

The Big House was a sitcom that had a story that was the mirror-opposite of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, with Kevin Hart playing himself, moving to Philadelphia to live with his aunt, uncle and cousins after his father was arrested an imprisoned for embezzlement.

Danny Phantom premiered right after the 2004 Kids’ Choice Awards. The series received five Annie Awards nominations during its run.

2014

AMC Studios

• March 31 – Friends with Better Lives (CBS, One season, 13 episodes, 5 unaired)
• March 31 – House of Food (MTV, One season, 12 episodes)
• March 31 – This Is Hot 97 (VH1, One season, 8 episodes)
• April 1 – Off the Bat from the MLB Fan Cave (MTV2, One season, 30 episodes)
• April 2 – TripTank (Comedy Central, Two seasons, 28 episodes)
• April 6 – Silicon Valley (HBO, Six seasons, 63 episodes)
• April 6 – Turn: Washington’s Spies (AMC, Four seasons, 40 episodes)
• April 6 – Unusually Thicke (Pop, Two seasons, 28 episodes)

TripTank was an animated sketch comedy series featuring voice work from Carlos Alazraquii, Wayne Brady, Bob Odenkirk, Curtis Armstrong, Nat Faxon, Tom Kenny, Larry David, Zach Galifianakis, Kumail Nanjiani, John DiMaggio and Niecy Nash.

Silicon Valley received five consecutive Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series. It received 37 nominations in total, winning just two in 2015 for Editing and Art Direction. It also received two consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Comedy Series. Christopher Evan Welch, who played billionaire Peter Gregory, completed the first five episodes of the series before dying of lung cancer, and production decided to not recast the role or reshoot his scenes, citing his performance as ‘irreplaceable’. The character was not killed off until the Season 2 premiere.

Turn: Washington’s Spies was originally titled just Turn, and was based on Alexander Rose’s 2007 book Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring.

Unusually Thicke was a reality-sitcom hybrid which presented a fictionalized look at the family life of Alan Thicke, with his wife and teenage son as regular cast members. Adult sons Brennan and Robin make occasional appearances. Guest cast members included Bob Saget, David Hasselhoff, Wayne Gretzky, John Stamos, Joanna Kerns, Jeremy Miller and Tracey Gold. Alan Thicke died of a heart attack just two months after the second season finale, and the Pop network aired both seasons between December 19 and 23 in tribute. The production company left the door open to produce more episodes with Thicke’s family, but no further production has occurred.