A. Smith & Co. Productions
With TV viewship dropping off for the Summer season, the earlier part of the past 70 years produced no new series this week, mainly due to the Memorial Day holiday in the US. The last three decades did give us some new shows, but few of them were memorable. 1995 had two networks burning off sitcoms that were apparently meant for mid-season, due to their short episode orders, while a cable network struck gold with a long-running animated series. 2005 was the most successful of the three decades with a three-season children’s animated series, and a network reality cooking competition that is still hot today. 2015, however, is littered with five single season reality shows, one kids sitcom, and a retro drama that managed to eke out a second season. Scroll down to see the shows that premiered this week and let us know if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.
1955
- No new series premiered this week in 1955.
1965
- No new series premiered this week in 1965.
1975
- No new series premiered this week in 1975.
1985
- No new series premiered this week in 1985.
1995
- May 27 – Bringing up Jack (ABC, One season, 6 episodes, 1 unaired)
- May 28 – Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (Comedy Central, Six seasons, 81 episodes)
- May 28 – My Wildest Dreams (FOX, One season, 5 episodes)
The cast for sitcom Bringing up Jack included Jack Gallagher, Harley Jane Kozak, Kathryn Zaremba, Jeff Garlin and Matthew Lawrence. The pilot was directed by Robby Benson.
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist was created with ‘Squigglevision’, a cheaper alternative to traditional animation which allowed the show to be produced for cable television inexpensively. Much of the show’s dialogue was ‘retroscripted’, in which an outline was developed but the dialogue was mostly improvised. The series won a Peabody Award in 1998.
Sitcom My Wildest Dreams starred Lisa Ann Walter and John Posey.
2005
Cartoon Network Studios
- May 26 – Kept (VH1, One season, 10 episodes)
- May 30 – Hell’s Kitchen (FOX, Twenty-three seasons, 362 episodes to date)
- May 30 – The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (Cartoon Network, Three seasons, 40 episodes)
Kept was a celebrity dating series starring Jerry Hall in search of a ‘kept man’. In the finale, Hall selected Seth Frye, who later claimed he received his $100,000 prize but after filming ended he never saw Hall, the penthouse or the Lamborghini again. Posters for the show’s premiere in the UK, featuring Hall holding a leash, surrounded by young, semi-dressed men, were banned in the London Underground as the image violated the policy of adverts featuring people as sex objects. The posters were, however, displayed in other locations such as railway stations.
Hell’s Kitchen was adapted from the British series of the same name, created by and starring Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay’s signature explosive anger toward contestants is heavily dramatized for the television audience. The show has been nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards. The restaurant set for the first two seasons was built in the former KCOP TV station in Hollywood, which had previously been home to game shows Tic Tac Dough and The Joker’s Wild. The dining room area was the former news studio, and living quarters for the contestants were built behind the restaurant. For Season 3, the set was moved to 20th Century Studios in Los Angeles. For Seasons 4-18, the venue was located in Culver City. Seasons 19 and 20 were filmed at Caesars Entertainment Studios in Las Vegas. Seasons 21 and 22 were filmed back-to-back in Burbank in a former IKEA building. Seasons 23 and 24 are filmed at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The show has drawn criticism for its creative editing to portray a contestant as doing poorly to justify their elimination, which became obvious when one episode featured shots of Amanda ‘Tek’ Moore in the background three episodes after her elimination.
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee was created by The Real World: San Francisco star Judd Winick. Winick was inspired by both The Simpsons and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Lara Jane Miller voiced Juniper Lee, and other voice actors included Amy Hill, Kath Soucie, Carlos Alazraqui, Tara Strong, Phil LaMarr and Dee Bradley Baker. The series was nominated for and won one Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (Frederick Gardner for ‘Adventures in Babysitting’) in 2006.
2015
Tomorrow Studios
- May 26 – The Island (NBC, One season, 6 episodes)
- May 26 – I Can Do That (NBC, One season, 6 episodes)
- May 27 – Bullseye (FOX, One season, 8 episodes)
- May 27 – The Briefcase (CBS, One season, 6 episodes)
- May 28 – Aquarius (NBC, Two seasons, 26 episodes)
- May 28 – 3AM (Showtime, One season, 7 episodes)
- May 30 – 100 Things to Do Before High School (Nickelodeon, One season, 25 episodes)
Bear Grylls hosted reality series The Island. The premise was simply to see if a modern American man could survive on an island for one month without the luxuries or basics of everyday life. There were no prizes, eliminations or winners. The men filmed themselves, and were only given limited tools, a basic medical kit and a satellite phone for emergencies.
I Can Do That, hosted by Marlon Wayans, featured six entertainers attempting to perform acts of notable entertainers in various fields — singing, dancing, acrobatics, magic, etc. — with help from the original performers. The public voted on who did best each week and the celebrity with the most points at the end wins a trophy and the title ‘The Greatest Entertainer’. Nicole Scherzinger won the first season. The other contestants were Cheryl Burke, Ciara, Jeff Dye, Joe Jonas and Alan Ritchson. The series was renewed for a second season, but thus far no further episodes have been broadcast.
Actor Kellan Lutz and comedian Godfrey hosted game show Bullseye.
Each episode of The Briefcase featured two families enduring their own hardships who were given a briefcase with $101,000 inside. Over the course of 72 hours the families would learn more about the other, unaware that they also have a briefcase, and decided to give some or all of the money to the other family, or keep it for themselves. Critical reaction was largely negative, with some comparing the premise to The Hunger Games. All of the families gave away some of the money. The first two families both gave the other $100,000, while the last two families only gave $10,000 and $15,000. The show was adapted for Australian television and also received harsh criticism.
David Duchovny starred as LAPD Detective Sam Hodiak in the 1967-set, historical fiction series Aquarius, investigating the rise of Charles Manson and the Manson Family. NBC published a blog to provide historical context for the events portrayed in the series. Each episode’s title was named after an iconic song from the era, with Season 2’s titles drawn from The Beatles’ White Album, which Manson was obsessed with. The series was rated TV-14, but a more explicit version was released on DVD. The series was envisioned to run for six seasons, but was cancelled after two. Four short-form webisodes, The Summer of Love, were produced as a prequel to Season 1 depicting Manson gathering his first followers. NBC released the entire first season On Demand before the television premiere.
3AM is a docuseries about the late-night life of New York City, created by Law & Order guru Dick Wolf, although former NY Daily News assigment editor Marie McGovern claimed the series was her idea. Each episode takes place over a single evening.
100 Things to Do Before High School began with an hour-long pilot episode that was broadcast on November 11, 2014.