TV by the Decade :: May 26•June 1

AMC Studios

This last week of May/first day of June saw new series premiering between 1994 and 2014. 1994 had six new series but the more important fact of these new series is that they all served to launch a new cable network. 2014 had a Summer drama and a reality series that both lasted just two seasons. The bulk of the new shows arrived in 2014 with several reality shows — some more successful than others — and several scripted series that had multi-season runs with one being called the one of the best of the decade. Scroll down to see the shows that premiered this week and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating anniversaries.

1954

• No new series premiered this week in 1954.

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

• June 1 – Breakfast Time (FX)
• June 1 – Personal fX: The Collectibles Show (FX)
• June 1 – The Pet Department (FX)
• June 1 – Sound fX (FX)
• June 1 – Under Scrutiny with Jane Wallace (FX)
• June 1 – Backchat (FX)

Breakfast Time helped launch the new FX Network (then branded as fX). The morning show was inspired by the UK series The Big Breakfast, and was hosted by Tom Bergeron and Laurie Hibberd. Phil Keoghan was one of the show’s correspondents. As the network’s focus changed in 1996, the show was moved to the Fox Network and renamed Fox After Breakfast but it was cancelled less than a year after the transition.

Personal fX: The Collectibles Show was the last of the shows to remain on fX as all the others moved or were cancelled. The show ended on May 1, 1998. Sound fX was a music show with panelists that included Karyn Bryant and Orlando Jones. Backchat, hosted by Jeff Probst, was devoted to responding to viewer mail.

2004

Baby Owl Works Productions

• June 1 – Summerland (The WB, Two seasons, 26 episodes)
• June 1 – Wanna Come In? (MTV, Two seasons, 60 episodes)

Summerland was co-created by and starred Lori Loughlin. The cast included Merrin Dungey, Ryan Kwanten, Jesse McCartney, C. Thomas Howell and Zac Efron. Carmen Electra and Jay Harrington were among the recurring cast.

Wanna Come In? was a reality/dating/game show in which two ‘stud/dud’ teams would compete in a riff on Cyrano de Bergerac. The ‘dud’ would go on a date while the ‘stud’ would secretly coach him through a hidden microphone. The goal was to have the ‘dud’ score an invite into his date’s house, and whichever team succeeded would win. The challenges the ‘duds’ were put through made it nearly impossible for them to get that invite.

2014

P+M Image Nation

• May 27 – The Wil Wheaton Project (Syfy, One season, 12 episodes)
• May 27 – Little Women: LA (Lifetime, Eight seasons, 138 episodes)
• May 27 – The Night Shift (NBC, Four seasons, 45 episodes)
• May 29 – Undateable (NBC, Three seasons, 36 episodes)
• May 30 – Crossbones (NBC, One season, 9 episodes)
• May 30 – No Limits (Animal Planet, One season, 14 episodes)
• May 30 – Topless Prophet (Cinemax, One season, 10 episodes)
• May 31 – Awesome Magical Tales (Hub, One season, 26 episodes)
• May 31 – Sing Your Face Off (ABC, One season, 6 episodes)
• June 1 – Halt and Catch Fire (AMC, Four seasons, 40 episodes)
• June 1 – Last Seen Alive (Investigation Discovery, One season, 6 episodes)

The Wil Wheaton Project featured the Star Trek: The Next Generation star and his guests discussing the week’s most popular and trending topics across science fiction film, television and pop culture. Guests included Andy Serkis, Shawn Ashmore, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Felicia Day, SOnequa Martin-Green, Matt Walsh, Ian Ziering, Kevin Smith, Shane West, Seth Green, John Barrowman, Chris Hardwick, Jason Ritter, Adam Savage, Craig Ferguson, Jason Hawes, and Steve Gonsalves.

The Night Shift was first developed in 2011, but NBC opted not to move forward with a pilot. They revisited the project in 2012 when it was titled The Last Stand, and a pilot was ordered with the new title of After Hours. Four additional scripts were ordered and the title was changed again to The Night Shift. The cast included Eoin Macken, Ken Leung, Brendan Fehr, Freddy Rodriguez, Daniella Alonso and Scott Wolf. The recurring cast included Luke Macfarlane, Merle Dandridge, Adam Rodriguez, Jennifer Beals, AnnaLynn McCord and Mark Consuelos.

Undateable was based on the book Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won’t Be Dating or Having Sex by Ellen Rakieten and Anne Coyle. Aly Michalka was cast in the role of Maddie but she left the production in 2013 and was replaced with Briga Heelan in a guest role as a similar character named Nicki. Heelan was then cast on Ground Floor and was replaced by Megan Park in the Nicki role. Producers of the two shows were able to arrange the schedules so that Heelan could appear on both shows so she returned to the role of Nicki, replacing Park. The show aired a special one-hour live episode on May 5, 2015, and based on the reception NBC decided to broadcast all of the third season episodes live, with each episode featuring a musical guest. The show was performed live once for the East Coast and again for the West Coast, with both episodes being available online after the show aired. The November 13, 2015 episode was cancelled 30-minutes before airtime due to the Islamic attacks in Paris. The following week’s episode made references to the attacks.

Crossbones was a fictionalized account of the life of pirate Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach, played by John Malkovich, who is still alive in 1729 (in reality he died in 1718). The series is based on Colin Woodard’s book The Republic of Pirates. NBC cancelled the series after the seventh episode and removed the show from the line-up on July 24, 2014. The final two episodes did air on August 2. Hugh Laurie was initially in negotiations to play Blackbeard.

Awesome Magical Tales originated on the Seven Network in Australia, where it premiered on December 31, 2012. The show was originally known as Teenage Fairytale Dropouts. The series was inspired by the 2003 Mexican animated film, Magos y Gigantes.

Sing Your Face Off was based on the Spanish interactive reality series Your Face Sounds Familiar. Two episodes aired back-to-back over the course of three weeks. The celebrities participating in the show were Sebastian Bach, Landry Fields, Jon Lovitz, China Anne McClain and Lisa Rinna. McClain was crowned the winner.

Halt and Catch Fire marked the first jobs in the TV industry for creators Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers, who met while working for Disney. The pilot was written as a method to secure other writing jobs but were instead handed their own series order. The series was never a ratings hit, drawing over a million viewers for just the pilot episode. Reviews were mixed but grew more favorable with each season, and by the end it was considered one of the best shows of the 2010s. After meetings with HBO and Showtime, a meeting was scheduled with AMC execs, who already had a copy of the script and were interested because it took place in Dallas and there was no mention of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. A second meeting was scheduled and AMC optioned the script the next day. Producers of Breaking Bad were brought in to help refine the script. By March 2012, Cantwell had exhausted his savings and the network would not make a decision on the show until the Fall. He and Rogers pitched the series overview in October, and a pilot was ordered in November. David Harbour, Ryan Phillippe and Wes Bentley were considered for the role of Joe, but Lee Pace was cast. Dakota Johnson and Brie Larson auditioned for the role of Cameron, but after seeing Mackenzie Davis’ screen test, Cantwell and Rogers knew they had found the right actress. Scoot McNairy and Kerry Bishé played husband and wife Gordon and Donna Clark, which marked a reunion for the pair who had played a married couple in the feature film Argo a year earlier. David Wilson Barnes was cast as Dale Butler, credited in the main cast of the pilot but written out after two episodes when the story took a different direction. Davis and Bishé were receiving significantly lower salaries than their male co-stars, and as their screen time on the show increased they felt they were not being compensated accordingly. Prior to the fourth season, and before either could negotiate with the network, AMC gave them unsolicited raises. The series utilized three technical advisers from the computer industry. Due to the tight schedule, the actors were not able to have formal table reads of each episode’s script, so informal gatherings were held at Pace’s house on weekends to discuss the story and their characters. For Season 3, Pace, McNairy and Davis lived together in a rented house in Atlanta, and Toby Huss joined them for Season 4. The time helped foster a camaraderie among the cast. Scripts were written to tell the story fast instead of holding anything major back because of the uncertainty of renewal from season to season. The series was filmed in Atlanta and borrowed crew from AMC’s The Walking Dead during their off-season. While the story moved from Dallas to California during Season 3, production remained in Atlanta except for two scenes that were shot near the Golden Gate Bridge. The opening of Season 4 was editing to appear as a single shot that covers three years of story, requiring a two day shoot and hairstyle and wardrobe changes for the actors. The closing moments of the final episode was filmed at the Waffle House Museum. Within a week of wrapping production, the crew transitioned to the new AMC series Lodge 49.