Corday Productions
As the networks head into the high profile November Sweeps, many new series made their premieres in the hopes of blostering the networks’ ad revenues. 1955’s most successful series was actually a segment in a popular children’s show. 1965 has one of the week’s two longest-running series that are still on the air, this one a popular soap opera. 1975 has the second longest-running series, a morning news program. The 1985 series was a ratings-grabbing stunt for ABC, exactly what the sweeps are about. 1995’s one network series barely lasted a season, while two cable channels saw more success with a sketch show and an animated children’s series. 2005 was all about kids, both young and into the teenage years. 2015 gave Netflix two modestly successful series, while HBO had a stinker of a movie, and TNT had a short-lived political series with Sharon Stone as the Vice President. 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
Walt Disney Productions
- November 2 – The Patti Page Show (Syndication, One season, 78 episodes)
- November 4 – Spin and Marty (ABC, Three seasons, 78 episodes)
- November 5 – Dr. Hudson’s Secret Journal (Syndication, Two seasons, 78 episodes)
The Patti Page Show aired in a 15-minute time slot. Star Page lip-synced pop songs, with the Page Five Singers (three men and two women) offering support. After the show ended, the episodes were edited into 31 half-hour episodes. It was the first US show ever to air on Australian television.
Spin and Marty aired as part of The Mickey Mouse Club. The show was made up of three series: The Adventures of Spin and Marty, The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty (1956), and The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (1957). Episodes were 11 minutes long. David Stollery and Tim Considine starred. Mouseketeers Annette Funicello and Kevin Corcoran joined the second series, and Darlene Gillespie appeared in the third. Harry Carey Jr. and J. Pat O’Malley were regulars for all three series. The first season’s $600,000 budget is more than $5 million in 2025. Corcoran and Considine were honored as Disney Legends in 2006.
Dr. Hudson’s Secret Journal was based on the 1939 novel of the same name, which was a sequel to Magnificent Obsession. John Howard starred as Dr. Hudson.
1965
- November 8 – Days of Our Lives (NBC/Peacock, Sixty seasons, more than 15,000 episodes to date)
Days of Our Lives was created by Ted and Betty Corday (son Ken Corday took over the show in 1968), and behind-the-scenes talent included Another World, As the World Turns and Guiding Light creator Irna Phillips as a story editor, and William J. Bell as a writer (Bell left in 1975 to focus on The Young and the Restless, which he created in 1973). NBC moved the show to Peacock in 2022, making it the only Big Three broadcast network to not air a daily soap opera. Frances Reid, as Horton family matriarch Alice, was with the show from its premiere until her death in 2007. Suzanne Rogers is now the longest-serving cast member since debuting in August 1973 as Maggie Horton. Susan Seaforth Hayes — the second longest-running performer on the show — is the only actor to appear in every decade since it premiered after her debut in December 1968 in a recasting of the character Julie Olson. The series episodes expanded from 30 minutes to 60 minutes on April 21, 1975. The show was recently renewed through 2028. Comedy series SCTV parodied the show as ‘The Days of the Week’. Some cast members, including Kristian Alfonso, Roark Critchlow, Matthew Ashford, Kyle Lowder and Alison Sweeney, made crossover appearances on Friends. Critics initially praised the show for its non-reliance on nostalgia, and by the 1970s it was called the most daring daytime drama with storylines revolving around artificial insemination and interracial romance. Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes are the only daytime actors to appear on the cover of Time magazine (January 12, 1976). The pair met on the show in 1970 and married in 1974. The show moved into supernatural territory in the 1990s, which critics hated but it had the desired effect of making it the most-watched daytime drama at the time. The show won the Daytime Emmy for Best Drama in 1973 and 2013. Actors Macdonald Carey, Susan Flannery, Eileen Davidson, Suzanne Rogers, Leann Hunley, Tamara Braun, Billy Warlock, and Darin Brooks have also won Emmys for their work.
1975
- November 3 – Good Morning America (ABC, 45 seasons to date)
Good Morning America won the first three Daytime Emmy Awards presented for Outstanding Morning Program beginning in 2007. The show launched in 1975 as AM America, hosted by Bill Beutel and Stephanie Edwards, with Peter Jennings reading the news, but the show could not match NBC’s Today in the ratings. A Chicago affiliate pre-empted the show for its own morning show, The Morning Exchange, which only presented news and weather at the top and bottom of the hour, while the rest of the time had a more easy-going and lighter feel with a set that resembled a living room rather than a news studio. Boston’s Good Morning! also had a similar format, and after ABC revamped AM America to Good Morning America in 1975 the network was accused of stealing the title Good Morning!, which prompted the Boston show to change its title to Good Day! and then EyeOpener. An episode of The Morning Exchange was used as a pilot for Good Morning America, with hosts David Hartman and Nancy Dussault. Sandy Hill replaced Dussault in April 1977. Hill left the show in 1980 after run-ins with Hartman who, she claimed, ‘had a problem with a strong woman’. Both Dussault and Hill were scripted as less-than-equal hosts to Hartman. Joan Lunden was Hill’s replacement, and her popularity afforded her more equal footing with Hartman. The pair had the longest partnership with 3,189 episodes, until Hartman retired on February 20, 1987. Charles Gibson was paired with Lunden beginning February23, 1987 and ratings skyrocketed, making them the most popular news duo of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Lunden left the show after 17 years and was replaced with Lisa McRee, and ratings remained steady. Gibson left a year later in 1998, replaced with Kevin Newman, causing viewers to switch to Today, giving its ratings a huge boost. On January 18, 1999, ABC teamed Diane Sawyer with Gibson, who was reluctant to return, but the new partnership saw a dramatic rise in ratings. Robin Roberts was promoted from news reader to co-host with Gibson and Sawyer on May 23, 2005. The show celebrated its 30th anniversary on November 3, 2005 with Hartman, Lunden and original meteorologist Spencer Christian making appearances. Hartman signed the show off that day with his trademark close, ‘From all of is, make it a great day.’ That day, GMA became the first morning news program to begin broadcasting in high definition. Gibson ended his tenure on the show for a second time, after 19 years total, on June 28, 2006. Chris Cuomo became the news anchor in August 2006, while Sam Champion joined as the meteorologist. Longtime film critic Joel Siegel died on June 29, 2007 of complications from colorectal cancer, and the July 9 episode was dedicated to him with appearances from Hartman, Hill, Lunden, Gibson and others to share their memories. Gibson returned to the anchor desk with Roberts on June 29, 2009 following the death of Michael Jackson, while Sawyer was away. Sawyer replaced Gibson as the anchor of ABC World News in 2009, with George Stephanopoulus replacing her to bring the show back to its traditional male-female host format. Juju Chang replaced Cuomo as newsreader. Chang departed in 2011, replaced by Josh Elliott. After the Matt Lauer scandal at Today, GMA‘s ratings began to increase in 2012. Katie Couric, who hosted Today from 1991 to 2006, filled in for Roberts on April 1, 2012, marking her return to morning news after six years. Champion left the show on December 4, 2013, replaced with Ginger Zee. Michael Strahan joined the show on April 15, 2014. Lifestyle correspondent Lara Spencer was promoted to co-anchor with Roberts and Stephanopoulus on April 18, 2014. In 2018, Spencer cut back on her schedule from five to three days a week, and Roberts announced she would not anchor Friday episodes except for Christmas or New Years and for special Breaking News stories. Roberts celebrated her 20th anniversary with the show in April 2022.
1985
Wolper Productions
- November 3 – North and South (ABC, TV miniseries, 6 episodes)
North and South remains the seventh highest-rated miniseries in television history, and was followed by North and South: Book II in 1986, and Heaven and Hell: North and South Book III in 1994. Book II was similarly successful, while Book III was poorly received by audiences and critics. Philip Casnoff, Lesley-Anne Down, Genie Francis, Terry Garber and Wendy Kilbourne are the only actors to appear in all three series. Patrick Swayze, Kirstie Alley, Jim Metzler and David Carradine starred in the first two. Jonathan Frakes had a recurring role in the first series, and was a regular for Books II and III. Guest stars across all three series included Johnny Cash, Morgan Fairchild, Robert Guillaume, Hal Holbrook, Gene Kelly, Robert Mitchim, Jean Simmons, David Ogden Stiers, Inga Swenson, Elizabeth Taylor, Lloyd Bridges, Olivia de Havilland, Linda Evans, Nancy Marchand, Wayne Newton, James Stewart and Peter O’Toole. Forest Whitaker had an ‘Also starring’ credit for the first two series. Carradine and Down received Golden Globe nominations for their work in 1986. The first series also scored ten Primetime Emmy nominations, all in technical categories, winning one for Costuming for a Miniseries or a Special.
1995
- November 3 – Mr. Show with Bob and David (HBO, Four seasons, 30 episodes)
- November 4 – The Adventures of Hyperman (CBS, One season, 13 episodes)
- November 6 – Little Bear (Nick Jr., Five seasons, 65 episodes)
Bob Odenkirk and David Cross introduced episodes of Mr. Show with Bob and David as semi-fictionalized versions of themselves, before joining the cast for on-stage and pre-taped sketches. The ensemble cast included Sarah Silverman, Paul F. Tompkins, Jack Black, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Brian Posehn, Scott Adsit and Jay Johnston. The show earned four Emmy nominations during its run.
The Adventures of Hyperman was based on a video game of the same name. Frank Welker was the only voice actor to appear in both the game and the series. Notable series voice actors include Max Casella, Maurice LaMarche, Mayim Bialik and Tamera Mowry.
Little Bear originally premiered on Canada’s CBC Television network on October 7, 1995.
2005
Rebel Base Productions
- November 4 – South of Nowhere (Noggin, Three seasons, 40 episodes)
- November 6 – The Boondocks (Adult Swim, Four seasons, 55 episodes)
- November 6 – Minoriteam (Adult Swim, One season, 19 episodes, 1 pilot)
- November 7 – Charlie and Lola (CBeebies, Three seasons, 78 episodes, 2 specials)
South of Nowhere aired as part of Noggin’s teen block, The N. The show was the first teen drama on The N to feature a bisexual supporting character whose friendship with a lead character, Spencer, made her question her own sexuality. The subject lead to controversy before the series even premiered.
The Boondocks was developed from the comic strip as a pilot for the FOX network, but producer Reginald Hudlin found it difficult to make the series acceptable for network television. Hudlin left the project after the FOX deal fell through. Adult Swim president Mike Lazzo stumbled across the pilot and declared it ‘too networky’, but ordered a 15-episode first season and told the comic strip creator Aaron McGruder to ‘just tell stories’. Though Hudlin was no longer with the show, he was contractually obligated to receive an executive producer credit for the first two seasons. The series had a loose continuity with the comic strip, but a conscious effort was made in Season 4 to synchronize them. The series was produced in a widescreen ratio from the beginning, but cropped to 4:3 even though Adult Swim rarely cropped widescreen material. Beginning with Season 3, the show was produced and broadcast in 16:9 high definition. McGruder was not involved with the show’s fourth season, with the network stating a ‘mutually agreeable production schedule could not be determined.’ A reboot was announced in 2019, set to premiere in 2022 on HBO Max, but the project was shelved in February 2022.
Charlie and Lola won the BAFTA for Best Pre-school Animated Series in 2007 and 2008.
2015
- November 2 – The Leisure Class (HBO, TV movie)
- November 6 – Master of None (Netflix, Three seasons, 25 episodes)
- November 6 – Care Bears & Cousins (Netflix, Two seasons, 12 episodes)
- November 8 – Agent X (TNT, One season, 10 episodes)
The Leisure Class was directed by the winner of Project Greenlight‘s fourth season, Jason Mann. Mann wrote the screenplay with Season 1 winner Pete Jones. The film received a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Mann was originally to direct the broad comedy Not Another Pretty Woman, but shared a script for a full-length version of a short film he’d written and it was decided he would direct that instead.
Aziz Ansari starred in the first two seasons of Master of None, while Lena Waithe starred in Season 3, subtitled Moments in Love. Ansari said it was difficult to come up with a title for the show, and he and co-creator Alan Yang did not agree on one until the entire first season had been produced. The series received three Golden Globe nominations, with Ansari winning for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2018. The show also received seven Primetime Emmy Awards nominations and five Creative Arts Emmy Awards nominations winning for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 2016 and 2017, and Outstanding Editing for a Single-Camera Comedy Series in 2017.
Care Bears & Cousins is a continuation of Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot. The show will be removed from Netflix on its tenth anniversary, November 6, 2025.
Agent X starred Sharon Stone as US Vice President Natalie Maccabee. The cast also included Jamey Sheridan, John Shea, Mike Colter, Gerald McRaney and James Earl Jones.