TV by the Decade :: June 23•29

White Rabbit Productions

Three decades spread across the last seventy years produced new series this week. 1954 had another short-lived series for a short-lived network, while 1994 gave is two short-lived game shows, one short-lived primetime soap spin-off, and a reality series that ran for three seasons with barely enough episodes for one season. 2014 was a more successful year this week with the launch of two reality series that are still on the air today and several scripted dramas and comedies that saw success over multiple seasons. Two of the 2014 shows even saw some love from the Emmy Awards. Scroll down to see the list of shows that premiered this week, and let us know if any of your favorites are celebrating!

1954

• June 25 – The Stranger (Dumont, One season, 34 episodes)

The Stranger‘s sponsor Geritol wanted wider exposure for the series, which was carried on only 23 of Dumont’s 32 network affiliates. A proposal to buy time on CBS and NBC affiliates and providing them with kinescopes of the episodes was rejected by Dumont executives, which resulted in the show’s cancellation. The show’s micro-budget (it was aired live with filmed inserts for outdoor scenes), along with those of other Dumont series, was a contributing factor in driving viewers away from the network. Only two 1954 episodes are known to survive at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

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

Spelling Entertainment

• June 24 – Encounters (FOX, Three seasons, 18 episodes)
• June 27 – Free 4 All (USA Network, One season, last broadcast on November 11, 1994)
• June 27 – Quicksilver (USA Network, One season, last broadcast on December 23, 1994)
• June 29 – Models Inc. (FOX, One season, 29 episodes)

Encounters featured host John Marshall and a team of reporters covering stories of paranormal phenomena. FOX used the show as a Summer series or to fill in for cancelled shows. Steven Williams from The X-Files replaced Marshall for the last three episodes. The series was preceded by a special titled ‘UFO Conspiracy’ that aired on February 22, 1994.

Free 4 All was a game show aired weekdays, hosted by Mark L. Walberg. The show was cancelled after 19 weeks on the air. Quicksilver, hosted by Ron Maestri, was paired with Free 4 All and lasted just a few more weeks than its companion. The podiums on the show were later used in the failed pilot for the game show Grill Me in 1996.

Models Inc. was a spin-off of Melrose Place, and starred Linda Gray (Dallas) as Hillary Michaels, the mother of Heather Locklear’s character on Melrose. The cast included Cameron Daddo, Brian Gaskill, Carrie-Anne Moss and Garcelle Beauvais. Robert Beltran, William Katt and John Haymes Newton were among the recurring cast members, and Emma Samms became a credited ‘Special Guest Star’ beginning with Episode 20. As a spin-off of Melrose Place, the series exists in the Beverly Hills 90210 universe. The show was originally intended to center on Jo Reynolds, the character played by Daphne Zuniga on Melrose, with two models moving into the complex before being carried over to the new series. 90210 and Melrose creator Darren Star was not involved, saying it was one too many spin-offs for him. Producer Aaron Spelling countered that no one thought of Melrose as a spin-off anymore. Farrah Fawcett was considered for the role of Hillary before Gray was cast. Gray appeared on the last few episodes of the second season of Melrose to set up the spin-off. After five months, ratings were not what anyone expected and changes were made to boost viewership including dropping the implausible storylines for more romance and modeling, Gaskill was written off and Samms was introduced, with the network promoting her as the ‘Heather Locklear of Models Inc.‘ The last episode ended with a cliffhanger, but European broadcasts had an alternate ending featuring the death of Samms’ character and Hillary shutting down the modeling agency. When the series was rebroadcast on the E! network, the new ending was included.

2004

• No new series premiered this week in 2004.

2014

Michael Jacobs Productions

• June 23 – CeeLo Green’s The Good Life (TBS, One season, 6 episodes)
• June 24 – Tyrant (FX, Three seasons, 32 episodes)
• June 24 – Botched (E!, Eight seasons, 141 episodes to date)
• June 24 – Motor City Masters (TruTV, One season, 10 episodes)
• June 25 – Mystery Girls (ABC Family, One season, 10 episodes)
• June 25 – Young & Hungry (ABC Family, Five seasons, 71 episodes)
• June 25 – Taxi Brooklyn (NBC, One season, 12 episodes)
• June 26 – Masters of Illusion (The CW, Thirteen seasons, 165 episodes to date, 1 special)
• June 27 – Girl Meets World (Disney Channel, Three seasons, 72 episodes)
• June 28 – Buying Naked (TLC, One season, 8 episodes, 2 specials)
• June 29 – The Leftovers (HBO, Three seasons, 28 episodes)
• June 29 – Reckless (CBS, One season, 13 episodes)

CeeLo Green’s The Good Life was cancelled following tweets by Green in which he expressed controversial views about what constitutes rape.

Tyrant was filmed throughout many cities in Israel, but because of violence between Hamas and Israel, FX moved its production from Israel to Istanbul, Turkey in 2014. The third season also filmed in Budapest.

Mystery Girls reunited 90210 cast members Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth. The series was created by Spelling.

Guest stars on Young & Hungry included Ashley Tisdale (also a show producer), Kylie Minogue, Jerry O’Connell, Heather Dubrow, Carl Reiner and Betty White. Celebrity chefs Michael Voltaggio, Rachael Ray, Giada de Laurentiis, and Alex Guarnaschelli also appeared as themselves. The show is inspired by San Francisco food blogger Gabi Moskowitz. The eighth episode of Season 4 served as a backdoor pilot for a spin-off series to be titled Young & Sofia, which was to carry over Aimee Carrero’s Sofia with Tisdale co-starring, but the show was not picked up.

Taxi Brooklyn was based on the film Taxi by Luc Besson. It starred Chyler Leigh and Jacky Ido, and was a French-American co-production.

Masters of Illusion first aired for one season on Pax TV from 2000-2001. MyNetworkTV aired a second season in 2009, and four special episodes aired in Syndication in 2012. The series was revived by The CW in 2014.

Girl Meets World is follow-up series to Boy Meets World, with Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel reprising their original roles of Cory and Topanga, while the series is centered around their daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard). All of the original series cast members were invited to appear on the new series. Lee Norris, Rider Strong, Will Friedle, William Daniels, Trina McGee, Blake Clark, Anthony Tyler Quinn and Matthew Lawrence all reprised their original roles in various seasons and capacities. Reginald VelJohnson guested as a police officer, which was a nod to his Family Matters role of Carl Winslow. After Disney announced the show’s cancellation, due to the aging of the cast and not fitting the target audience, fans launched a campaign to get Netflix to pick up the series, but after four months of looking for a new home the show’s end was confirmed on May 3, 2017. The series was nominated three times by the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Children’s Program category in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The series premiere of Buying Naked was preceded by two test episodes that aired back-to-back on November 20, 2013.

The Leftovers was based on Tom Perrotta’s 2011 novel of the same name. Perrotta also acted as a writer and executive producer, joined by Lost‘s Damon Lindelof to help develop the series with both serving as showrunners. The series was the first acquired by HBO from an outside studio rather than an in-house production. The first season covers the entirety of the novel, with the following seasons consisting of original material. The first season was set in Mapleton, New York with the second shifting to a small Texas town. Production relocated accordingly. The third season’s setting and production took place in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Only eight of the fourteen main cast members returned for Season 2, while the entire Season 2 cast returned for Season 3 with the exception of Ann Dowd, although not every cast member appeared in every episode. Despite the show’s critical acclaim, it only received a single Emmy nomination, in 2017, for Dowd in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.