DreamWorks Animation
The Summer doldrums have really kicked in this week across the decades with only 1985, 2005 and 2015 producing new series, few of them successful. The most successful of the bunch were a 1985 CBS newsmagazine that isn’t 60 Minutes, and a 2015 animated series on Netflix. 2005 had a sitcom based on a popular movie franchise and two reality series that all lasted for one season, while ABC Family had a bad week with three series — two reality and one scripted — that didn’t make it past ten episodes. Scroll down to see all 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
- August 13 – West 57th (CBS, Four seasons, last broadcast on September 9, 1989)
Newsmagazine West 57th originally premiered as a Summer series, but became popular and was seen as a threat to 60 Minutes, also on CBS, by its producers to the point that Andy Rooney parodied the correspondents on a 60 Minutes episode. The original correspondents were Jane Wallace, Bob Sirott, Meredith Vieira and John Ferrugia. Steve Kroft, Selina Scott, Karen Burnes and Stephen Schiff were later contributors. After the show ended, Vieira and Kroft joined 60 Minutes.
1995
- No new series premiered this week in 1995.
2005
State Street Pictures
- August 14 – Barbershop (Showtime, One season, 10 episodes)
- August 14 – Delilah and Julius (Teletoon, Two seasons, 52 episodes)
- August 14 – My Kind of Town (ABC, One season, 4 episodes)
- August 16 – Tommy Lee Goes to College (NBC, One season, 6 episodes)
Barbershop is based upon the film series of the same name, picking up from the events of Barbershop 2: Back in Business. Minor changes were made to the characters, among them Isaac Rosenberg’s last name is changed to Brice and his dark hair is blond. Nigerian-born Dinka is renamed Yinka, as Yinka is an actual Nigerian name while Dinka is not. Yinka is also the opposite of Dinka, in the series well-educated and muscular. Reformed ex-con Ricky is replaced by hardened ex-con Romadal Dupree, and Isaac and Jimmy (instead of Yinka) have a crush on Terri. Omar Gooding played lead Calvin Palmer Jr., portrayed by Ice Cube in the movies.
Delilah and Julius was a Canadian animated series for viewers of all ages, which used Flash for its animation. The show’s original demographic was teenage girls.
My Kind of Town was a variety-game show hybrid that brought 200 people from a small town to New York City to compete for prizes and participate in games and gags. At the end of the episode, one person had to identify six people featured on the program to win a prize for the entire audience. English TV and radio presenter Johnny Vaughan was the host.
Episodes of Tommy Lee Goes to College aired on VH1 three days after their NBC premiere. The show followed drummer Tommy Lee attempting to fit into the college lifestyle, even forming his own fraternity house. While considered a ‘reality show’, many aspects were scripted, there were casting calls for parts on the show, and Tommy’s ‘dorm room’ was actually an off-campus site dressed to look like a dorm room. A disclaimer at the end of the show also revealed Tommy did not actually enroll at the University of Nebraska though he did attend classes, and certain situations were staged or edited for comedic effect. The university agreed to host the show as a marketing tool for recruiting and PR purposes. Tommy’s roommate Matt Ellis was a senior at the university, but did not attend a casting call. He was discovered working at a local bar. He graduated later in the semester.
2015
Wonderland Sound and Vision
- August 11 – Next Step Realty: NYC (ABC Family, One season, 10 episodes)
- August 11 – Startup U (ABC Family, One season, 10 episodes)
- August 12 – Kevin from Work (ABC Family, One season, 10 episodes)
- August 12 – Make Me A Millionaire Investor (CNBC, Two seasons, 14 episodes)
- August 14 – Dinotrux (Netflix, Eight seasons, 78 episodes)
Sitcom Kevin from Work starred Noah Reid, who would go on to play Patrick on Schitt’s Creek. Amy Sedaris had a recurring role, and Fred Willard made a cameo appearance. McG directed the first two episodes, and Broken Lizard’s Jay Chandrasekhar directed the last episode.
Docu-series Make Me A Millionaire Investor has been referred to as a ‘Mythbusters meets Shark Tank mash-up’. The series was hosted by George Zaidan and Deanne Bell on a mission ‘to find the best invention NEVER made.’ The show was an adaptation of a 2013 British series.
Dinotrux is based on the series of books of the same name by Chris Gall, featuring characters that are part animal, part mechanical. During the fifth season in 2017, the show’s title was changed to Dinotrux Supercharged for the remaining three seasons. Those seasons, however, were removed from Netflix in 2024 for legal reasons. DreamWorks Animation had options the rights to the books in 2009, a month before the first book was published.