MGM Television
Only three decades produced new series this week, with the bulk coming in 2014. 1954 had two short-lived series, one of which that did not help the already faltering DuMont network. Jump to 1994 for an irreverent take on a late night talk show starring a classic cartoon character that lasted for more than a decade, on and off. 2014 gave us eight new series, with one that is still active today even though it’s only produced five seasons. Scroll down the list to learn more and tell us if your favorites are celebrating anniversaries this week.
1954
- April 18 – The Martha Wright Show (ABC, One season, 25 episodes)
- April 20 – Love Story (DuMont, One season, 11 episodes)
The Martha Wright Show, also known as The Packard Showroom, was a 15-minute musical program. The series replaced The Jane Pickens Show, which returned from July to September 1954. Wright’s show returned in September 1954, replacing Pickens again, and ended in December 1954.
Love Story was a weekly anthology series that aired live. The series was hampered by a low budget and lesser known stars and has been cited as one of the reasons fewer and fewer people tuned in to the DuMont network, leading to its demise.
1964
- No new series premiered this week in 1964.
1974
- No new series premiered this week in 1974.
1984
- No new series premiered this week in 1984.
1994
Williams Street
- April 15 – Space Ghost Coast to Coast (Cartoon Network/Adult Swim/GameTap, Eleven seasons, 109 episodes)
Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a surreal talk show reboot of the original 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, ended its Cartoon Network on on December 17, 1999. The show was revived on May 7, 2001 and moved to Adult Swim on September 2, with new episodes broadcast until April 12, 2004. The final two seasons were released to online video game service GameTap between 2006 and 2008. The series spawned several spin-offs including The Brak Show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Perfect Hair Forever, and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and inspired or influenced other series such as Sealab 2021 and The Eric Andre Show. The series was originally animated by using clips from the original Space Ghost series, the crudely animated lips, awkward movement and continuity errors becoming a part of the joke.
2004
- No new series premiered this week in 2004.
2014
Beetlecod Productions
- April 12 – Love in the City (Oprah Winfrey Network, One season, 6 episodes)
- April 14 – Clarence (Cartoon Network, Three seasons, 130 episodes)
- April 14 – Bam’s Bad Ass Game Show (TBS, One season, 6 episodes)
- April 15 – Fargo (FX, Five seasons, 51 episodes to date)
- April 16 – Jobs That Don’t Suck (MTV2, One season, 8 episodes)
- April 19 – Tobacco Wars (CMT, Three-episode docuseries)
- April 20 – Salem (WGN America, Three seasons, 36 episodes)
- April 20 – Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Hallmark Channel, Two seasons, 23 episodes)
The pilot for Clarence, which was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy Award, aired after the 2014 Hall of Game Awards show on February 17, 2014. The show’s creator, Skyler Page, was fired from Cartoon Network in July 2014 following sexual assault allegations against a female co-worker. In June 2021, Page admitted the allegations were true and issued a public apology.
Fargo is an anthology series based on the 1996 Coen Brothers film of the same name, and take place within the same continuity. Each season, set in different years, is influenced by various Coen Brothers films and contain numerous references. Season 2 is set before the events of the film but the stories are connected. The series was preceded by a 1997 pilot based directly on the film, but had no involvement from the Coens. The first season of the series features the buried ransom money from the film in a subplot. Dialect coach Tony Alcantar has worked with actors on every season to help perfect the Minnesota accent. As in the film, each episode begins with the text alleging the story is true. It is not. The series has been nominated for nine Critics Choice Awards, 55 Emmy Awards (winning six), 14 Golden Globes (wining three), and earned a Peabody Award. Overall, the series has 264 awards nominations from various organizations, with 63 wins.
Salem was the first original scripted series on WGN America. The show’s original title was Malice, and was ordered to series without a pilot under the new title of Salem. The Massachusetts-set series was filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana. Lucy Lawless and Stuart Townsend joined the second season in recurring roles. Marilyn Manson had a recurring role in Season 3.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered was developed under the title Dead Letters. It is also known as Lost Letter Mysteries. The two-hour pilot movie was broadcast on October 12, 2013, and was the number-one television movie on its airdate and the number-two movie for that week. Following the first season, Hallmark moved the show to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel and transitioned it from an episodic series to a series of TV movies.
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