Kudos-AMC Studios
For television viewers, the Summer season has started and with schools in the US ending for the year and families heading out on vacation, TV networks in the pre-cable era basically took the season off, airing re-runs for the most part with only the occasional new program making its debut. This week, only three shows premiered in the last two decades when cable viewing was on the rise and needed a constant flow of new programming, and the networks began to see Summer as a time when they could premiere new, cost-effective reality shows or just burn off series that never made the Fall or Spring schedule. 2005 fits the bill here with a scripted drama that was probably intended to air earlier but the network had little hope it would succeed (and it didn’t even complete its run in the less competitive Summer season), while another network rolled out a fashion design competition that was perhaps too similar to a more popular fashion design competition series. 2015 gave a cable outlet an acclaimed sci-fi drama that had a multiple season run, and featured an impressive roster of actors during its three seasons. Scroll down to see the shows that premiered this week and tell us if you remember any of them.
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
- No new series premiered this week in 1995.
2005
- June 8 – The Inside (FOX, One season, 13 episodes, 6 unaired)
- June 9 – The Cut (CBS, One season, 13 episodes)
As the FOX network was notorious for airing series episodes out of order, it aired the fourth episode of The Inside as the second. The complete series was aired in the UK on ITV4. Kathryn Bigelow was to produce, and Peter Facinelli was attached to co-star with Rachel Nichols, whose 23-year-old character was to pose as a 16-year-old high school student to investigate a drug ring. When Tim Minear redeveloped the series to make Nichols’ character a young FBI agent working in the Violent Crimes Unit, Facinelli dropped out and was replaced with Kay Harrington. Katie Finneran and Peter Coyote were also among the cast.
The Cut was a fashion design competition hosted by Tommy Hilfiger, whose elimination phrase was ‘You’re out of style.’ CBS shifted the series’ time slot throughout the Summer, making it difficult for viewers to remain engaged.
2015
- June 14 – Humans (AMC, Three seasons, 24 episodes)
Humans was based on the Swedish science fiction drama Real Humans. Notable cast members included Gemma Chan, William Hurt (Season 1), Sonya Cassidy (Season 2), Carrie-Anne Moss (Season 2), Letitia Wright (Season 2), Cosmo Jarvis (Season 2), Richard Gadd (Season 3) and Phil Dunster (Season 3). The series was originally a co-production of Channel 4 and Xbox Entertainment Studios, but when Microsoft closed its Xbox studio, AMC joined as a partner with Channel 4. Gemma Chan and fellow robot actors attended a ‘synth school’ to help rid them of any human physical gestures to be convincing in their roles. Chan stated it was a relief to go home and slouch after a day on set. The series earned four BAFTA nominations in 2016, winning for Television Craft: Digital Creativity.