Columbia Pictures Television
With the major networks firmly in ‘new Fall season’ mode waiting to see what sticks and what needs to be quickly replaced, only four new series made their debuts this week, with only one on a major broadcast network, as well as a TV movie reunion, of sorts, based on a classic, magical 1960s sitcom. Of note, 1955’s new series could be considered the granddaddy to a contemporary crime fighting docuseries, a 1985 talk show turned over the hosting duties to a famous artist, and 1995 produced two animated series based on other properties, but one of them was met with fan disappointment. Scroll down to see all of the shows that premiered this week, and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.
1955
- October 20 – Wanted (CBS, One season, 20 episodes)
Wanted was a documentary series that sought to locate fugitives from justice, with real cases taken from the FBI case files. Informants, police officers, witnesses and other people portrayed themselves as phases of the pursuit of the criminal were re-enacted. Episodes took about four weeks to produce for broadcast. In three cases, police apprehended the subject of an episode before it reached the air so losses were covered by Lloyd’s of London. Most episodes were filmed, but Walter McGraw narrated some of them live. 20 episodes were produced, but only about half were aired by CBS.
1965
- No new series premiered this week in 1965.
1975
- No new series premiered this week in 1975.
1985
- October 20 – Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes (MTV, One season, 5 episodes)
- October 20 – I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later (NBC, TV movie)
Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes was one of MTV’s earliest series. Andy Warhol was the host, interviewing up-and-coming talent like Courtney Love. Other guests included Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, Nick Rhodes, Ric Ocasek, The Ramones, Grace Jones, Yoko Ono, Judd Nelson, John C. McGinley and William S. Burroughs.
I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later was the first of two TV movies based on the classic 1960s TV sitcom. Barbara Eden and Bill Daily reprised their roles of Jeannie and Roger Healy, respectively, and Hayden Rorke made his final film appearance reprising his role of Dr. Bellows. M*A*S*H star Wayne Rogers replaced Larry Hagman as Tony Nelson because Hagman was unavailable due to his role on Dallas at the time. Bewitched series director William Asher helmed the movie. Ratings for the movie were so high that NBC reran it on Easter Sunday, 1986. The beach rescue scene in the movie was filmed at Zuma Beach in Malibu, where the original TV pilot was filmed in 1964.
CINAR Corporation
1995
- October 21 – Street Fighter: The Animated Series (USA Network, Two seasons, 26 episodes)
- October 22 – The Little Lulu Show (HBO/HBO Family, Three seasons, 52 episodes)
Street Fighter: The Animated Series was based on the Capcom video game Street Fighter II, also borrowing elements from the live-action Street Fighter movie, and the first two Street Fighter Alpha games. It also features elements from other Capcom games, such as Saturday Night Slam Masters and Final Fight. Fans and critics called it the worst addition to the Street Fighter series.
The Little Lulu Show is based on Marjorie Henderson Buell’s comic book character Little Lulu. The series moved from HBO to HBO Family for its third and final season.
2005
- No new series premiered this week in 2005.
2015
- No new series premiered this week in 2015.