The Carsey-Werner Company
Happy New Year! There were many new series making their debuts this week, but not until the latter years. 1956-1976 had no new series, but 1976 did have a special celebrating a classic comic strip. 1986 had three new series and all of them failed, including a game show scheduled in the worst possible time slot. 1996 also had three new shows, but only one of them went on to have a multiple season and multiple Emmy-winning run. 2006 had five new shows, with one running for three seasons on cable, and another so controversial many network affiliates refused to air it. 2016 had the bulk of the new show, with a reality series having the most longevity at six seasons, while a music superstar returned to series television for three seasons, and a soon-to-be movie star headed a fantasy series across two networks. Scroll down to see all of the shows and specials that premiered this week and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.
1956
- No new shows premiered this week in 1956.
1966
- No new shows premiered this week in 1966.
1976
- January 9 – Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown (CBS, documentary)
The documentary Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown celebrated 25 years of the Peanuts comic strip.
1986
- January 5 – Blacke’s Magic (NBC, One season, 13 episodes)
- January 6 – Bruce Forsyth’s Hot Streak (ABC, One season, 65 episodes)
- January 10 – He’s the Mayor (ABC, One season, 13 episodes, 3 unaired)
Though a Top 40 hit, Blacke’s Magic was the highest rated new show of the season to not be renewed as it failed to hold on to a significant portion of the audience from lead-in Highway to Heaven, or draw viewers away from Dynasty. Its ratings were on par with those for St. Elsewhere, which followed it and was renewed. Hal Linden and Harry Morgan starred. The show earned one Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series.
Bruce Forsyth’s Hot Streak was a game show hosted by British TV personality Bruce Forsyth, the only time he hosted a series outside of his home country. Gene Wood and Marc Summers alternated as announcers each week. The show’s original 1983 pilot was titled Party Line, and was hosted by Gene Rayburn. Rayburn had committed to host Break the Bank by the time the show was picked up by ABC. Forsyth hosted a new pilot in 1984 with Rod Roddy as the announcer. ABC aired the show daily at 11:00 AM against The Price is Right on CBS and Wheel of Fortune on NBC, which contributed to its short run of 13 weeks. It was the last series produced for American television by Reg Grundy Productions until 1993.
1996
- January 6 – Campus Cops (USA Network, One season, 13 episodes)
- January 9 – 3rd Rock from the Sun (NBC, Six seasons, 139 episodes)
- January 9 – Champs (ABC, One season, 12 episodes, 3 unaired)
3rd Rock from the Sun was created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, who also wrote The Coneheads feature film three years earlier. James Earl Jones provided a voice over introduction during the first season. Ben Vaughn composed the show’s 1950s-style instrumental theme song, which was replaced in Season 5 with a big band version of the theme. The original theme returned for the final season, except for two episodes in which a jazz version of the theme was used. For a Christmas episodes, jingle bells were added to the music. During its run, the series earned 31 Emmy nominations, and in 1997 it won the most Emmys for a primetime series, five out of eight nominations. John Lithgow won three Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy, with nominations every season. Kristen Johnson was nominated three times for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning twice. They were the only two actors of the core five cast to earn nominations. It won eight Emmys total. It also received a total of six Golden Globe nominations, winning Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 1996, with Lithgow winning one for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series also in 1996.
2006
The Flody Co.
- January 5 – Dallas SWAT (A&E, Three seasons, 32 episodes)
- January 5 – Four Kings (NBC, One season, 13 episodes, 6 unaired)
- January 6 – The Book of Daniel (NBC, One season, 8 episodes, 3 unaired)
- January 7 – Weekends with Maury and Connie (MSNBC, One season, last broadcast on June 17, 2006)
- January 8 – Campus Ladies (Oxygen, Two seasons, 20 episodes)
Reality series Dallas SWAT expanded to Detroit and Kansas City in the second season.
When NBC pulled Four Kings after its airing on March 16, 2006, two of the show’s stars signed on to other projects which did not bode well for a renewal. NBC confirmed the cancellation on May 15. NBC stated the unaired episodes would be broadcast but they never were, only airing in the UK and Australia.
The Book of Daniel was originally set to air in the Fall of 2005 but was delayed until 2006. The show was about Christians and Christian faith, but some Christians found it to be controversial, and the network had difficulties selling advertising even with significant discounts. Eight NBC affiliates refused to air the show due to viewer complaints, most of them in the nation’s ‘Bible Belt’. After a Little Rock affiliate pulled the show, another station in the region picked it up but received a number of threats and had to hire extra security.
Weekends with Maury and Connie marked the first time Connie Chung had hosted a television program since 2003, and was the first time she’d worked with husband Maury Povich on a national news program.
Campus Ladies starred Christen Sussin and Carrie Aizley. Jonah Hill was a regular during Season 1. Guests included Jane Kaczmarek, Will Forte, Anthony Anderson, Maya Rudolph, Dan Castellaneta, Paul Reubens, Fred Willard, Jason Alexander, Mo’Nique, Sean Hayes and Janeane Garofalo. The show’s cancellation was confirmed by cast member Amir Talai’s on a MySpace fan page.
2016
Millar Gough Ink
- January 4 – Diesel Brothers (Discovery Channel, Six seasons, 49 episodes)
- January 4 – Bachelor Live (ABC, One season, 5 episodes)
- January 5 – Pitch Slapped (Lifetime, One season, 8 episodes)
- January 5 – 10 Things (truTV, One season, 11 episodes)
- January 5 – The Shannara Chronicles (MTV/Spike, Two seasons, 20 episodes)
- January 5 – Killing Fields (Discovery Channel, Two seasons, 14 episodes)
- January 5 – Zoe Ever After (BET, One season, 8 episodes)
- January 6 – Skin Tight (TLC, Three seasons, 34 episodes)
- January 6 – Criminals at Work (BET, One season, 12 episodes)
- January 7 – Angel from Hell (CBS, One season, 13 episodes)
- January 7 – My Diet Is Better Than Yours (ABC, One season, 8 episodes)
- January 7 – Shades of Blue (NBC, Three seasons, 36 episodes)
- January 8 – Ex Isle (WE tv, One season, 10 episodes)
- January 9 – My Sweet Audrina (Lifetime, TV movie)
- January 10 – Live to Tell (History, One season, 12 episodes)
Despite the physical resemblance, the Diesel Brothers are not actually brothers. Friends David ‘Heavy D’ Sparks and David ‘Diesel Dave’ Kiley owned a fix-it shop for all types of vehicles, their YouTube videos earned them an offer to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and then Discovery Channel contacted them about a series.
The Shannara Chronicles is an adaptation of The Sword of Shannara trilogy of novels. After MTV renewed the series for a second season, it was announced the show would relocate to sister network Spike. Following the cancellation, the show was shopped to other outlets, but after finding no takers it was considered officially concluded. Austin Butler was one of the series leads. Vanessa Morgan joined the second season. Manu Bennett and John Rhys-Davies were also in the cast.
Zoe Ever After marked the first starring role for Brandy Norwood on a TV series since Moesha ended in 2001.
CBS cancelled Angel from Hell after five episodes, leaving eight unaired until they were burned off during the Summer of 2016 beginning July 2. Jane Lynch, Maggie Lawson, Kyle Bornheimer and Kevin Pollak starred. The group One Million Moms protested the show, saying it disrespected Christianity, and suggested sponsors pull advertising from the show.
Shades of Blue starred Jennifer Lopez, Ray Liotta and Drea de Matteo. My Sweet Audrina was based on the only stand-alone novel by V.C. Andrews published during the author’s lifetime.