TV by the Decade :: August 25•31

a.k.a. Productions

As the Summer TV season comes to a close, a few of the major networks began to roll out some of their new series ahead of the traditional ‘Premiere Week’ in order to give viewers a chance to sample them before the onslaught of new programming. The tactic really didn’t help any of the series with a 1954 comedy ending after one season (due to some bizarre circumstances), three 1994 dramas failing to make a mark (although one has developed a loyal cult following), a 2004 adult animated series failing spectacularly, and a 2014 UK drama ending after a handful of episodes. Only one of this week’s new shows had a two season run but none went beyond that. Scroll down the list to see what shows did premiere this week, and tell us if you remember any of them!

1954

August 27 – Time Will Tell (DuMont, One season, 9 episodes)
August 28 – The Mickey Rooney Show (NBC, One season, 36 episodes)

Time Will Tell was an early TV game show hosted by Ernie Kovacs which aired Friday nights at 10:30 PM. The show replaced another game show also hosted by Kovacs, Gamble on Love. After the show ended, DuMont turned the timeslot over to its local affiliates. No episodes of either show are known to exist.

The Mickey Rooney Show was also aired with the title Hey, Mulligan. The series was co-created by Blake Edwards. The series was scheduled against The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS. Sponsors were Green Giant and Pillsbury. Pillsbury pressed NBC to give the show a better time slot, but it ended after Rooney insulted the company’s president and the Pillsbury family at a corporate anniversary celebration.

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

Wilbur Force Productions

August 25 – Heaven Help Us (Syndication, One season, 13 episodes)
August 25 – My So Called Life (ABC, One season, 19 episodes)
August 26 – M.A.N.T.I.S. (FOX, One season, 22 episodes, 2 unaired)
August 29 – Masters of the Maze (The Family Channel, Two seasons, 80 episodes)
August 29 – Maximum Drive (The Family Channel, One season, 65 episodes)

Heaven Help Us was part of a syndicated package of shows called the Spelling Premiere Network. The series starred John Schneider, Melinda Clarke and Ricardo Montalban. Notable guests included Terence Knox, Marina Sirtis, Tom Bosley, Nicole Eggert, Soleil Moon Fry and Efram Zimbalist Jr.

My So Called Life helped launch the careers of Claire Danes, who won a Golden Globe Award for her performance, Jared Leto and Wilson Cruz. Danes’ character Angela was named after the neice of a script coordinator on Thirtysomething, whom co-creator Winnie Holzman had spoken to about her life as a teen-aged girl. Before Danes, Alicia Silverstone auditioned for the role and was able to work longer hours as an emancipated minor, but producers felt she wasn’t the right fit for the show. Danes was 15 when cast and had to attend school while filming, so the screen time for the parental characters was increased. Wilson Cruz’s character Rickie was partly inspired by the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning. Cruz drew on his personal experiences for the part such as a period of homelessness when he came out to his father. Jared Leto was only to appear in the pilot, but his chemistry with Danes impressed the producers and he was upgraded to regular cast status. The series was to have debuted at the start of the 1993-1994 TV season, but ABC could not find the right time slot so the show was delayed. It was eventually scheduled against Mad About You and Friends on NBC, and Martin, Living Single and New York Undercover on FOX, which contributed to its low ratings. The pilot episode finally aired in August 1994, a year and a half after it was filmed. With the show’s rapid shooting schedule and uncertainty of its future, producers did not have time to map out a full season story arc, with stories unfolding episode to episode. An online fan campaign attempted to save the show from cancellation, the first such event in the history of the internet at that point. ABC was prepared to bring the show back but Danes and her parents did not want to continue due to the strenuous shooting schedule requiring her to balance work with school. Danes has countered that it wasn’t just her decision that ended the series and most agree that low ratings and little publicity from the network were contributing factors, but the network used Danes as the scapegoat. In addition to the Golden Globe, the series earned four Emmy nominations, and won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series.

The two-hour pilot for M.A.N.T.I.S. was produced by Sam Raimi. The pilot featured prominent roles for its Black cast which included Carl Lumbley, Gina Torres, Bobby Hosea, Steve James and Wendy Raquel Robinson. The series recast nearly all the characters, with Galyn Görg being the only other person of color besides Lumbley as a regular on the show. The show was retooled midway through its run dropping Lorena Gale, another Black actor, as the housekeeper for Lumbley’s character, with more fantasy elements including time travel and parallel universes added to the story. Lumbley’s and Görg’s characters were killed off in the series finale. It took three years to film the pilot due to Lumbley’s involvement with the Disney Channel film Nightjohn.

The first season of children’s game show Masters of the Maze was hosted by JD Roth, with the second hosted by Mario Lopez. The series received two consecutive Emmy nominations for Multiple Camera Editing.

Joe Fowler hosted children’s competition series Maximum Drive, with co-hosts Brian Vermeire and Mercedes Colon.

2004

DreamWorks Animation

August 30 – The Jane Pauley Show (Syndication, One season, last broadcast in May 2005)
August 31 – Curious Buddies (Nick Jr., One season, 9 episodes)
August 31 – Father of the Pride (NBC, One season, 15 episodes, 1 unfinished, 2 unaired)

Curious Buddies was created to compete with Baby Einstein, using a pop song soundtrack instead of classical music.

Father of the Pride was a CGI-animated series focusing on a family of white lions, the patriarch of which stars in the Siegfried & Roy show in Las Vegas. The series’ production and broadcast was delayed and nearly cancelled because of the real-life on-stage injury of Roy Horn in October 2003, but after Horn improved he and Siegfried urged NBC to continue with the show. It took 200 animators and two years to make the show. Each episode cost about $2-$2.5 million to produce, at the time one of the most expensive half-hour comedies ever. Main voice cast included John Goodman, Cheryl Hines, Danielle Harris, Daryl Sabara, Carl Reiner and Orlando Jones. Supporting roles were voiced by John O’Hurley, Wendie Malick, Don Stark, Andy Richter, Garry Marshall, Dom DeLuise, Rocky Carroll, John DiMaggio, Dana Gould, Lisa Kudrow, Jane Lynch, Julia Sweeney, David Spade, Danny DeVito, Pauly Shore, Tress MacNeille, Kathryn Joosten, Eddie Murphy (as Donkey from Shrek) and Kelsey Grammer as himself.