TNT
As we head into the holiday season, the modern era of television finds most regular series heading into their ‘winter breaks’ to make room for holiday specials and to not burn off new episodes of shows when people are unlikely to be watching. And that means new series premieres are few and far between. But there are a handful, most from just ten years ago and none of them lasting more than a couple of seasons. Only one of the five shows to debut during this week ran more than two seasons. But there may be a favorite show here that you remember!
1959
- No new series premiered this week in 1959.
1969
- No new series premiered this week in 1969.
1979
- No new series premiered this week in 1979.
1989
- December 3 — Crime drama True Blue premieres on NBC. The show revolved around NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit and the handling of rescues, emergencies and SWAT team-required incidents. The cast included John Bolger, Ally Walker, Eddie Velez, Grant Show, Timothy Van Patten, Dick Latessa, Leo Burmester, Elya Baskin and Beau Starr. Twelve episodes were produced but only eleven aired with NBC pulling the plug on February 16, 1990.
1999
- No new series premiered this week in 1999.
2009
- December 2 — Competition series Launch My Line debuts on Bravo. Professionals in various fields including Choreography, DJ, CEO and fashion critic were paired with a professional designer to create their own line of clothing. The show was hosted by Dean and Dan Caten, founders of fashion label Dquared. Jewelry designer Kathy Rose was the winner. The show ran for a single season of eight episodes.
- December 3 — Reality series BBQ Pitmasters debuts on TLC. The first season followed a docu-series format featuring teams competing in BBQ contests across the country. A format change in Season 2 had four teams competing each week in BBQ challenges with the weekly winners facing off in the Season Finale episode. The show moved to Destination America beginning with its third season under the new title BBQ Pit Wars which reverted back to the first season’s docu-series format. In all, the series ran for seven seasons, producing 57 episodes, ending on July 16, 2015.
- December 6 — Reality series Holly’s World debuts on E!. The series, a spin-off of The Girls Next Door, featured former Playboy Playmate Holly Madison as she leaves Los Angeles for the bright lights of Las Vegas, securing the lead dancer role in Vegas show Peepshow and hangs with a new group of friends. Holly’s World was the second spin-off and producers hoped to match the success of the first, Kendra. A third season of the show was announced but new E! president Bonnie Hammer decided it was time to ‘get rid of the more Playboy trashy element’ from the network and both shows were cancelled even though Holly’s World was drawing an average of 1.5-2 million viewers with several episodes regularly beating Kendra in the ratings. 18 episodes were produced over the show’s two seasons.
- December 7 — Comedy-drama series Men of a Certain Age debuts on TNT. The series was centered around three men in their late 40s who have been friends since college who deal with issues in their everyday lives including divorce, gambling addiction, health and the attempt to relive past glories. The main cast included Ray Romano, Scott Bakula, Andre Braugher, LisaGay Hamilton, Richard Gant and Brian J. White. The show’s pilot had been written by Romano and Mike Royce who had previously worked together on Everybody Loves Raymond. Despite positive reviews (Season 2 holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews), the show lost nearly 2 million viewers after the sixth episode of the second season leading the network to cancel the series with 22 episodes under its belt. The final episode aired July 6, 2011.
Did you or do you watch any of these show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
Share this post
