Sony Pictures Television
As Summer draws to a close and the new Fall season approaches, we’re starting to see a few more new series roll out. Interestingly, for the week of August 18-24, it was the earlier decades that gave us the most notable shows. Even the shows from ten years ago are less well-remembered than shows from 1979 and 1989. Let’s take a look and see which shows you remember.
1959
- No new series premiered this week in 1959.
1969
- No new series premiered this week in 1969.
1979
- August 24 — Sitcom The Facts of Life debuts on NBC. The series was a spin-off of NBC’s popular Diff’rent Strokes and gave that show’s housekeeper character Mrs. Garrett a show of her own. NBC gave the show a four-episode preview before launching officially on March 12, 1980. In the new series she becomes the housemother (and dietician beginning with Season 2) at the fictional Eastland School in Peekskill, NY, caring for seven girls including Blair (Lisa Welchel), Tootie (Kim Fields), Natalie (Mindy Cohn) and Molly (Molly Ringwald). It seems hard to believe but Nancy McKeon’s Jo did not join the series until the Season 2 premiere, ‘The New Girl’. The pilot for the series aired as the first season finale of Diff’rent Strokes with Kimberly Drummond asking Mrs. Garrett to help sew costumes for a student play at her school, the East Lake School for Girls. After the pilot, the school’s name was changed to Eastland and Kimberly was never featured as a crossover guest. Beginning with the second season, the producers felt there were too many characters so Molly, Cindy, Sue Ann and Nancy were written out and Jo was introduced. During its run, the series tackled many issues that came with a moral theme, and courted controversy with a Season 9 episode in which one of the girls loses her virginity. The character of Blair was written but actress Lisa Welchel objected because of her personal Christian faith and aksed to be written out of that episode. The writers obliged and rewrote the episode for Natalie. NBC aired a parental advisory before the episode aired. NBC moved the series to the lead spot for its still powerful Saturday night lineup, the network’s second highest rated night of programming, and it continued to win its time slot, NBC planned to renew the show for a tenth season but both Nancy McKeon and Mindy Cohn had opted to leave at the end of Season 9, which concluded on May 7, 1988 after 209 episodes. During the show’s run, NBC produced two TV movies: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982) and The Facts of Life Down Under (1987). Both movies were edited into four half hour episodes for syndication packages. ABC aired The Facts of Life Reunion on November 18, 2001 which reunited the girls and Mrs. Garrett (who only appeared as a guest during Season 8 and was absent altogether from Season 9 with Cloris Leachman taking over as Mrs. Garrett’s sister in Season 8) for the Thanksgiving holiday. Nancy McKeon did not appear in the special, her character’s absence explained as being on assignment as a police officer. Several attempts at spin-off were made with ‘backdoor pilots’ airing as regular episodes but none of them ever went beyond the pilot. Some characters from Diff’rent Strokes did make guesst appearances during the first two seasons, and other recurring characters included Geri Tyler, Blair’s cousin who was cerebral palsy, played by Geri Jewell. Lauren Tom, Jami Gertz, Alex Rocco, Nicholas Coster, Marj Dusay, Chip Fields, Robert Hooks, Larry Wilmore and Roger Perry also had recurring roles. Guest stars included Helen Hunt, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jermaine Jackson, Eve Plumb, Jean Smart, John Astin, Bobby Rydell, Fabian, Dick Van Patten, Penelope Ann Miller, Doug Savant, Dennis Haysbert, Lois Nettleton, Richard Moll, David Spade, Richard Grieco, Juliette Lewis, Seth Green, Charo, Mayim Bialik, El DeBarge, Joyce Bulifant, Stacey Q and Anne Jackson. Mackenzie Astin recurred on Season 6 and became a regular from Season 7, and George Clooney appeared as a regular in Season 7, with a recurring role in Season 8 before departing the show. The series became a cultural icon and still plays in syndication today.(
1989
- August 20 — Sitcom Saved by the Bell debuts on NBC. The Saturday morning series was a retooling of the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss which was originally produced for NBC. The network decided not to move forward with the show but head honcho Brandon Tartikoff struck a deal with Disney to air the 13 episode first season. If the show did well, Disney would order an additional seven episodes. The pilot was recast with only Haley Mills remaining as the title character but the series under-performed and was cancelled. Tartikoff believed in elements of the show and asked creator Peter Engel to try again, this time for a Saturday morning show to draw back the 10-12 year old audience who had stopped watching cartoons. Engel at first balked, not wanting to do a ‘children’s show’ but his wife convinced him to do it. The original show’s location was moved from Indianapolis to ‘The Palisades’, a fictional part of Los Angeles, and set in the equally fictional Bayside High and the eatery The Max. The majority of the Miss Bliss cast was replaced and Tartikoff gave the show a seven-episode commitment with the title changed to Saved by the Bell. The first episode aired in primetime on August 20, 1989. The original cast included Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack, the hardest role to cast), Dustin Diamond (Screech), Lark Voorhies (Lisa, a role originally written as a ‘rich Jewish princess’) and Dennis Haskins (Principal Belding). The four were carried over to the new show with the addition of Mario Lopez (Slater, a role originally conceived as Italian-American but was again difficult to cast), Tiffany-Amber Thiessen (Kelly) and Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie). Berkely had been considered for the role of Karen due to her acting experience but was taller than the character’s love interest Zack. Not wanting to lose Berkeley, they offered her the role of Jessie which she gladly accepted. Magician Ed Alonzo rounded out the cast as Max, the owner of the cafe, but he only lasted through the first season. The series got an unexpected order for eleven additional episodes to be filmed in 1992 after the graduation episode, but Thiessen and Berkeley had already opted to leave the show, leaving Lisa as the only girl on the show. Producers created the character of Tori Scott and cast Leanna Creel, and relied on recurring characters such as Ginger, Ox and Big Pete instead of developing a second character. During the show’s fourth season, NBC greenlit a primetime TV movie, Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style, which took Zack, Slater, Screech, Kelly, Jessie and Lisa to Hawaii to vacation with Kelly’s grandfather Harry (Dean Jones). Mr. Belding also happened to be there and the group was caught up in a plan to save Harry’s resort from a greedy developer. Most of the movie was filmed in Santa Monica due to budget constraints. The success of the movie paved the way for the primetime spin-off Saved by the Bell: The College Years). Saved by the Bell concluded its run on May 22, 1993 after 86 episodes, with Saved by the Bell: The College Years premiering in primetime on the same day. It lasted just 19 episodes. A new show with a new cast, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, premiered on September 11, 1993, a new Saturday morning series that ran for seven seasons. The series also spawned 21 novelizations based on the show, as well as a short-lived comic book series in 1992. A new comic series from ROAR Comics premiered in 2014.(
1999
- August 19 — Dramedy The Lot debuts on the AMC network. The series focuses on the fictional Sylver Screen Pictures movie studio during the 1930s. The series was not met with popular or critical acclaim during its two seasons. Each season had a different plotline with Season 1 focused on the rise and fall of young starlet June Parker (Linda Cardellini). Cardellini decided to leave the show abruptly to star in Freaks and Geeks, bring the first season to an end after four episodes. The second 13-episode season revolved around a new main character. The cast als included Jonathan Frakes (Roland White), Holland Taylor (Letitia DeVine) and Rue McClanahan (Priscilla Tremaine). Tremaine and DeVine were based on gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, while White was based on Howard Hughes. The series ended on April 22, 2001 after 17 episodes.
2009
- August 19 — Live-action reality series Dude, What Would Happen premiered on Cartoon Network as part of its CN Real block. The show was hosted by three teenagers — C.J. Manigo, Jackson Rogow and Ali Sepasyar — who wondered what would happen should some wild event were to occur and then attempted to create the event and consult with experts when needed. The show was only one of two of the CN Real series to receive orders for multiple episodes, running four seasons and ending on September 21, 2011 after 37 episodes.
- August 20 — Reality docuseries Models of the Runway premieres on Lifetime, a companion to the popular competition series Project Runway. The series followed the experiences of the models and their social interactions as they live together during the production of Project Runway. At the end of each episode, which takes place after the elimination, the remaining designers get to choose their model for the next week, leading to an emotional end as the one remaining model is also eliminated and leaves the models’ living quarters. The series ran for two seasons, ending on April 22, 2010 after 28 episodes.
- August 23 — Cooking show What Would Brian Boitano Make premieres on Food Network. The show featured ice skating star Boitano, a self-taught cook, preapring his favorite meals and entertaining his friends. The show was filmed at Boitano’s home and he planned the recipes himself. The show’s name was based on the song ‘What Would Brian Boitano Do?’ which was featured in the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. A shortened version of the song was used as the show’s theme. In all, 14 episodes were produced over two seasons.
- August 24 — Live-action, musical, pre-school series The Fresh Beat Band premieres on Nickelodeon. The show stars the ‘Fresh Beats’, four best friends in a band who go to music school and graduate together as musicians who are determined to follow their dreams. Each episode began with a song that foreshadowed a problem the band will have to solve. After solving the problem, the band performs another song with the problem and solution incorporated into the lyrics. The cast included Jon Beavers, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Thomas Hobson, Shayna Rose and Tara Perry. Mandy Moore and Sean Cheesman are among the names who created choreography for the show. The series ran for three seasons and produced 60 episodes plus one stand-alone special. Prior to the show’s premiere, the band was promoted as The JumpArounds, but was changed in July 2009 before the series premiered.
Did you or do you watch any of these show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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