RCG Productions
Only three decades saw new series premieres this week with 2005 having the most notable series of the week. 1995 had an animated MTV series that developed a large cult following and was turned into a live action movie, to the chagrin of the fans, while among the 2015 series was a new animated vehicle for a popular group of musical rodents that had a multiple season run. But 2005 had some heavy hitters including an Emmy winning reality series, an Emmy winning scripted drama, a cheeky reality series about a man and his many girlfriends, and a series that has gone on to become the longest-running live-action comedy in television history, and is still going strong today. Scroll down to see all of the shows that premiered this week across the decades and tell us 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
Colossal Pictures
- August 7 – Squawk Box (CNBC, Currently airing)
- August 8 – Aeon Flux (MTV, One seasons, 10 episodes)
Squawk Box has been hosted by Mark Haines (1995-2005), Joe Kernan (1995-present), Carl Quintanilla (2005-2011), Becky Quick (2005-present) and Andrew Ross Sorking (2011-present).
Aeon Flux originated as a six-part serial on MTV’s Liquid Television series in 1991, followed by five shorts in 1992. The full 10-episode series launched in 1995. A live-action movie loosely based on the series starring Charlize Theron was released in 2005. No intelligible dialog save for two single words was heard until the series debuted.
2005
Picture This Television
- August 3 – Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo, Six seasons, 48 episodes)
- August 4 – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX/FXX, Seventeen seasons, 175 episodes to date)
- August 7 – American Princess (We TV, Two seasons, 14 episodes)
- August 7 – Carl² (Teletoon, Four seasons, 65 episodes)
- August 7 – The Girls Next Door (E!, Six seasons, 91 episodes)
- August 7 – Man, Moment, Machine (The History Channel, One season, 24 episodes)
- August 8 – Beautiful People (ABC Family, Two seasons, 16 episodes)
- August 8 – Weeds (Showtime, Eight seasons, 102 episodes)
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List was developed after Griffin’s comedy special The D-List aired on Bravo. Every season of the series received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality Program, winning for Seasons 2 and 3. The Season 5 premiere with nearly a million viewers was Bravo’s highest rated Monday night series broadcast at the time.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the longest-running live-action sitcom in TV history, surpassing the 14-season run of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. The show has been renewed through Season 18. Series creator Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton (who helped develop the show for FX), and actor Charlie Day first met while auditioning for the Disney film Tuck Everlasting. Day and Howerton got to know each other even better during a car ride home following an audition for That ’80s Show (Howerton was cast, but Day was not). The idea for the show grew out of a series of short home movies written and produced by Mac, Howerton and Day, along with Day’s Williamstown Theatre Festival friends Jimmi Simpson, Nate Mooney, David Hornsby and Logan Marshall-Green. The home movie It’s Always Sunny on TV was developed into a pilot of the same title and was shot with a digital camcorder in the actors’ own apartments. When FX ordered the show to series, the budget was $450,000 an episode, less than a third of a network standard, and it was shot using a Panasonic DVX100 MiniDV camera. The concept originally had four struggling actor friends but the network didn’t want a show about actors so Mac suggested setting it in his hometown of Philadelphia, with the title later changed to reflect the location. The part of Sweet Dee was going to be played by Jordan Reid, Mac’s girlfriend at the time, but the part was recast with Kaitlin Olson after Jordan and Mac broke up. After the first season was barely watched, FX wanted changes to be made to the cast, adding someone known to the public who could draw viewers in. Execs suggested Danny DeVito, which the creative team were reluctant to accept as they didn’t want any ‘names’ in the cast since they were all virtually unknown at the time. When they said no, FX said the show was cancelled, so they became open to adding DeVito after all. Many of the show’s interiors are shot in Hollywood with footage of Philadelphia landmarks included. The exterior of Paddy’s Pub is actually the Starkman Building in Downtown Los Angeles. Half of Season 15 takes place in Ireland, but due to COVID restrictions the cast had to stay in Los Angeles while a second unit crew filmed in Ireland, and northern California locations were digitally altered to resemble Irish landscapes. The series moved from the FX network to sister network FXX beginning with the ninth season. The series went on an extended hiatus in April 2017 so Olson could film her new series The Mick for FOX. While the series is available to stream on Hulu, several episodes are missing due to scenes involving blackface. The show has received three Primetime Emmy nominations for Stunt Coordination in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The show had a two-episode crossover with the Philadelphia-set Abbott Elementary.
American Princess was a reality competition series hosted by Catherine Oxenberg. The show, based on Pygmalion and My Fair Lady, featured 20 average American woman who are taken to London to master the fine art of British society.
Carl² was a Canadian animated series, with reruns airing on Cartoon Network in the US. Development on the series began in 2002 with a $450,000 per episode budget.
The success of The Girls Next Door led to spin-offs Kendra and Holly’s World. The pilot for the series was titled Hef’s World, and focused on how Hugh Hefner, his girlfriends and friends interacted with the Playboy Mansion staff. The network directed creator Kevin Burns to go back and interview the girlfriends to see what he could get, and that shifted the focus of the show from Hefner to the women’s perspective. The first five seasons featured Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson, but they were contractually obligated to appear on Season 6 even though their relationship with Hefner had ended, and new girlfriends Crystal Harris and twins Kristina and Karissa Shannon were featured.
Weeds was first pitched to HBO, which rejected the show before Showtime picked it up. Exterior scenes for the first two seasons were filmed in Stevenson Ranch in the Santa Clarita Valley. The name ‘Stevenson Ranch’ on the large fountain in the opening credits was digitally replaced with the fictional city name Agrestic, and in later episodes ‘Majestic’ and ‘Regrestic’. The series received ten Golden Globe nominations during its run, winning one in 2006 for Mary-Louise Parker (Best Actress in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy). It also earned 20 Emmy nominations, winning two: Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation (2009), Outstanding Cinematography for a Half-Hour Series (2010).
2015
Bagdasarian Productions
- August 3 – Ice & Coco (Syndication, One season, 15 episodes)
- August 3 – Significant Mother (The CW, One season, 9 episodes)
- August 3 – ALVINNN!!! And the Chipmunks (Nickelodeon, Five seasons, 130 episodes)
- August 4 – West Texas Investors Club (CNBC, Two seasons, 18 episodes)
- August 5 – A Wicked Offer (The CW, One season, 8 episodes)
- August 5 – Mr. Robinson (NBC, One season, 6 episodes)
- August 5 – Job or No Job (ABC Family, One season, 10 episodes)
- August 7 – Project Mc² (Netflix, Six seasons, 26 episodes)
Talk show Ice & Coco received a three-week test run, but the show was not picked up as a regular series.
Significant Mother was originally developed for the digital platform CW Seed. Josh Zuckerman, Nathaniel Buzolic and Krista Allen starred. Guest stars included Jonathan Silverman, Denise Richards, Linda Gray, Jerry O’Connell, and Silverman’s Weekend at Bernie’s co-star Terry Kiser.
ALVINNN!!! And the Chipmunks was a French-US animated co-production and premiered in France on March 30, 2015 before its US debut. The series was originally to be titled The Chipmunks and Chipettes. It marked the first appearance of the characters together since 1990.
Mr. Robinson had been in development for the 2013-2014 season. The pilot cast included Craig Robinson, Jean Smart, Larenz Tate, Amandla Stenberg and Amanda Lund. Only Robinson and Stenberg remained when the show was ordered to series. New cast additions included Ben Koldyke, Brandon T. Jackson, Spencer Grammer and Peri Gilpin.