Spelling-Goldberg Productions
Wow! Here we are at the end of one year of TV by the Decade, and with a handful of new series making their debuts during the week of August 25-31, there are two scripted series that had lengthy runs are are fondly remembered to this day. There are some other debuts as well that may or may not be as fondly remembered but it is an interesting group to close out the first year. Let’s take a look!
1959
- No new series premiered this week in 1959.
1969
- No new series premiered this week in 1969.
1979
- August 25 — Mystery series Hart to Hart debuts on ABC. Produced by Aaron Spelling and created by novelist Sidney Sheldon (who also created I Dream of Jeannie), the series starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a jet-setting couple of often (i.e. every week) found themselves working as amateur detectives to solve a crime in which they had somehow become involved. At their lavish Bel Air mansion, they are assisted by Max, their butler/cook/chauffer, and have a dog named Freeway. Critics have noted the series bears a strong resemblance to the classic The Thin Man movies of the 1940s, which was also adapted into a TV series in the 1950s. Spelling and partner Leonard Goldberg originally considered Gary Grant as the lead but he was 75 at the time and had retired from acting, with his last movie being released in 1966. Wagner was the only other actor considered. ABC wanted Wagner’s real-life wife Natalie Wood to play Jennifer, but she didn’t think that was a good idea (although she did make a guest appearance in the pilot). Suzanne Pleshette, Kate Jackson (who had recently left Charlie’s Angels) and Lindsay Wagner were also considered, but Wagner suggested Powers whom he had worked with when she guested on his previous series It Takes a Thief. For the role of Max, Wagner suggested former boxer SUgar Ray Robinson, but the network was unsure of the optics of a black man as a servant to a rich white couple. They went with Lionel Stander who had also guested on It Takes a Thief playing a character named Max. Nolan Miller, who would go on to fame for his work on Dynasty, was the costume designer. The house used for exterior filming belonged to actors Dick Powell and June Allyson. The series ran for five seasons, producing 110 episodes, ending on May 22, 1984. But the show’s enduring popularity lead to the production of eight TV movies beginning with Hart to Hart Returns on November 5, 1993. Five of the eight movies aired on NBC, with the last three airing on The Family Channel, ending with Till Death Do Us Hart on August 25, 1996. Lionel Stander appeared in the first five movies, but died of lung cancer after appearing in Secrets of the Hart which aired March 6, 1995. Both ABC and NBC attempted reboots of the series, both with the twist of a gay couple as the leads. Alan Cumming was slated to star in Mr. and Mr. Nash for ABC in 2002, but the project never went into production. NBC’s failed attempt was announced in 2015.
- August 28 — Drama series 240-Robert premieres on ABC. The series focused on a special unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, call sign 240-Robert, that utilized four wheel drive vehicles and a helicopter, with most of the assignments being sea/air/land search and rescue operations. The series based its stories on real life cases encountered by the LASD Emergency Services Detail, and also inspired by the experiences of Officer Charles Thibaudeau of the Hormosa Beach Police Department. The first season’s 13 episodes starred John Bennett Perry, Mark Harmon and Joanna Cassidy, but Harmon and Cassidy left the series after their contracts expired. The second season, which did not return until early 1981 due to an actors’ strike, brought in Stephen W. Burns and Pamela Hensley (Princess Ardala from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) but the series only lasted for three episodes and was cancelled due to low ratings, airing the final episode on March 21, 1981.
1989
- August 27 — Sitcom Open House premieres on FOX. The series was a spin-off of the FOX comedy Duet, which ran for three seasons and ended on August 20, 1989, and starred Alison LaPlaca as Linda Phillips, a former studio executive who transitioned into the world of real estate. Duet stars Mary Page Keller and Chris Lemmon continued their roles as Laura Kelly and Richard Phillips. Linda’s co-workers included her main rival Ted Nichols (Philip Charles MacKenzie), impressionist Scott Babylon (Danny Gans), sassy, man-hungry secretary Margo Van Meter (Ellen DeGeneres), and Roger McSwain (Nick Tate), manager of the agency. The series was introduced in the final episode of Duet. LaPlaca and MacKenzie had been dating for several years before working on the series together and we married two years after it was cancelled. The show produced one season of 24 episodes and ended on July 21, 1990.(
1999
- August 27 — Pro-wrestling series ECW on TNN, aka ECW Wrestling, debuts on The Nashville Network (TNN). Original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) matches were presented on Friday nights and was the only national TV program in ECW’s history. Paul Heyman, owner of ECW parent company HHG Corporation, signed a three-year deal with TNN in the hopes of expanding awareness of the company. Prior to the deal, ECW matches were only available in syndication. TNN gave the show a Friday time slot to build on the younger male viewership that Roller Jam had brought to the network, and it worked with ECW helping boost that demographic. But the relationship was rocky with TNN wanting to tone down the more violent and explicit content ECW was known for. Hayman, unsatisfied with the first TNN shoot, chose to air a compilation or promos and old matches to introduce viewers to the company but all involved said the network ‘crapped on’ the episode. TNN also placed a great deal of importance on ECW retaining its top draw Taz, but a deal fell through and Taz joined the WWF (now WWE) months after the show’s premiere. TNN also gave ECW a very small budget while asking for quality on par with what the WWF was producing, and Hayman and former ECW wrestlers allege the network gave the show very little promotion. The series ran for just over a year, producing 59 episodes. TNN, rebranding itself as The National Network, acquired WWF programming with RAW is WAR debuting on September 25, 2000. There were rumors that the two shows could co-exist, but ECW on TNN was cancelled two weeks later. Hayman alleged that TNN simply used ECW as a test run to see how wrestling would perform on the channel.
- August 30 — Sitcom The Parkers debuts on UPN. The spin-off of Moesha featured the mother-daughter team of Nikki (Mo’Nique) and Kim (Countess Vaughn) who both attend Santa Monica College. Kim is mortified that her mother is attending the same college but eventually accepts the situation. Nikki has to adjust to the fact that Kim is old enough to live on her own, and Kim realizes that Nikki has more going on in her life than just being a mom. The regular cast also included Mari Morrow, Jenna von Oy, Ken Lawson, Dorien Wilson and Yvette Wilson. Recurring cast members included Shannon Tweed, Kym Whitley, Kel Mitchell, Lark Voorhies, George Wallace, Nancy Wilson and Isabel Sanford. Guest stars included Yolanda Adams, Laila Ali, Tempestt Bledsoe, Shirley Caesar, Nick Cannon, Gary Coleman, Kim Coles, Warren G, Regina Hall, Steve Harvey, Magic Johnson, Gerald Levert, Lil’ Kim, Kenya Moore, Brandy Norwood, Shaquille O’Neal, and Sheryl Lee Ralph. The series ran for five seasons, producing 110 episodes and ended on May 10, 2004. The cast reunited for an episode of The Mo’Nique Show in 2009.
- August 30 — Animated series Sonic Underground makes its US debut as part of the syndicated BKN Kids II block. Produced by DIC Productions (then owned by Disney) and Les Studios Tex S.A.R.L., it is the third Sonic the Hedgehog series, and the last produced by DIC, which follows a plot separate from all other Sonic media. Characters included Sonia the Hedgehog and Manic the Hedgehog, sister and brother to Sonic, Dr. Robotnik, the evil dictator of Mobius (which was renamed Robotropolis under his reign), and Sleet and Dingo, Robotnik’s canine bounty hunters. The series first premiered in France on January 6, 1999, followed by the UK on May 2 on ITV (which cancelled the show after airing the first 18 episodes). The show debuted in the US on the Sci-Fi Channel the day after the UK cancellation, running for one season, ending on October 22, 1999. The show was to air weekdays at 7:00 AM, but Friday episodes were skipped due to other shows airing in that time slot, therefore only 32 of the 40 episodes were aired.
2009
- August 29 — Animated series Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5 premieres on Cartoon Network. The CGI series was produced by Mattel, Nelvana Limited and Nerd Corps Entertainment, and based on the Hot Wheels toy line. A two episode preview aired on August 24 prior to the official series launch. The series followed expert driver Vert Wheeler who discovers a dimension called a Battle Zone. There he meets a Sentient named Sage, and they assemble a racing team equipped with state-of-the-art weaponized vehicles to compete against the robotic Sark and the animal-like Vandals to determine the fate of Earth. The series ran for two seasons, producing 52 episodes and one TV movie.
Did you or do you watch any of these show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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