Paramount Television
The years ending with an 8 yielded no new programming, but the networks and cable outlets kicked things into gear with the new year. So now we move to the decades 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999 and 2009 to see what new shows premiered during those decades. Let’s take a look!
1959
- No new series premiered this week in 1958.
1969
- No new series premiered this week in 1958.
1979
- No new series premiered this week in 1968.
1989
- January 3 saw the first and original incarnation of The Arsenio Hall Show. Hall’s talk show was born out of his unexpected popularity hosting Fox’s The Late Show for thirteen weeks after Joan Rivers was fired. After that run he began work on the movie Coming to America and signed a contract with studio Paramount’s television division which distributed his talk show. Hall’s wasn’t the only talk show premiering in 1989 — Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak also launched a late night talk show but his lack of experience in the arena doomed the show to lousy ratings and cancellation within a year. Hall’s experience and popularity from The Late Show helped his new show run for five years, ending on May 27, 1994. Nineteen years later, the show was resurrected but lasted only one season.
1999
- January 1 — Cold Case Files premieres on the A&E Network, a legal show/documentary hosted by journalist Bill Kurtis. The series focused on unsolved murders and followed inverstigations using modern forensic techniques to try to bring the cases to a close. The series ran for 135 episodes, ending November 18, 2006. A&E revived the series with Blumhouse Television for a ten episode run starting February 27, 2017. Danny Glover narrated the first six episodes with Kurtis returning for the final four.
- January 4 — Ed, Edd n Eddy debuts on Cartoon Network, a Canadian-American co-production, the sixth of the network’s ‘Cartoon Cartoons.’ The series revolved around three pre-teen boys, The Eds, who invent schemes to make money from their peers to purchase their favorte candy: jawbreakers. They often failed, leaving them humiliated. The series was originally pitched to Nickelodeon, but the network demanded complete creative control so creator Danny Antonucci struck a deal with Cartoon Network. During the show’s run, several specials and shorts were produced with the regular episodes. After 70 full episodes (131 segments), the series ended on November 8, 2009 with a TV movie, Ed, Edd n Eddy’s Big Picture Show. Running nearly 11 years, Ed, Edd n Eddy is currently the longest running Cartoon Network original series.
2009
- January 3 – CBS rolls out game show Game Show in My Head hosted by Joe Rogan. The series featured contestants who had to perform ‘hilarious and embarrassing’ tasks in front of strangers via instructions provided by Rogan an earpiece, the results captured by a hidden camera. Each completed task was worth $5000 with the chance to double the winnings in a ‘no-holds-barred bonus round.’ CBS produced a pilot episode with Chris Kattan as host but scrapped that and hired Rogan for a new pilot and ordered an unspecified number of episodes. CBS eventually booked the series to run on Saturdays with back-to-back episodes, a show of little faith in the series. It ended on January 24, 2009 with eight episodes aired.
- January 3 saw the premiere of Underdog to Wonderdog on Animal Planet. The series featured the Doggie Wonder Team who took on tough shelter dog challenges, turning every dog into a Wonderdog, rehabilitating and training them, finally placing the dogs into a loving home designed to fit their specific needs including a custom-designed dog house. The series prodcued 21 episodes over two seasons.
- January 4 — Confessions of a Teen Idol premieres on VH1. The series, produced by former child stars Scott Baio and Jason Hervey, chronicled the careers of seven former teen idols — Christopher Atkins, David Chokachi, Billy Hufsey, Jeremy Jackson, Eric Nies, Jamie Walters and Adrian Zmed — and their attempts to get back into the limelight. The series was filmed in the same house used for The Real World Hollywood, and ran for one season, ending after eight episodes on February 22, 2009.
- January 4 — Superstars of Dance began its five episode run on NBC. The series featured dance routines from eight different countries, was hosted by Riverdance co-creator Michael Flatley and for Miss USA Susie Castillo, and was created by Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller (So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol). The competition featured professional dancers selected by their respective countries to compete, likening the series to a sporting event. Winners were decided by a panel of judges instead of viewers, assuming they would simply vote for the American team. The show was heavily promoted by NBC and debuted with about 10.5 million viewers against Desperate Housewives. That was not enough to keep the series alive for a second season, however, with the first season ending on January 26 after five episodes.
- January 5 — Reality series Daddy’s Girls premieres on MTV. The series followed Vanessa and Angela Simmons, the oldest daughters of Rev Run, along with friends and family as they start a new business and lives on Los Angeles. The series, a spin-off of Run’s House, produced 16 episodes over two seasons.
- January 5 — Documentary-reality series DietTribe debuts on Lifetime. The series chronicles the weight loss efforts of a group of five friends suffering from obesity under the guidance of personal trainer Jessie Pavelka and psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser over the course of 120 days. The series produced two seasons, concluding on November 20, 2009.
- January 5 — Competition series True Beauty debuts on ABC, from executive producers Tyra Banks and Ashton Kutcher. Contestants believe they are competing to see who is the most beautiful but the twist is the judges are actually looking for inner beauty. The winner receives $100,000 and a spot on People Magazine’s ‘100 Most Beautiful People’ issue. First season judges were Vanessa Minnillo, Nolé Marin and Cheryl Tiegs. Minnillo returned for the second season with Carson Kressley and Beth Stern. The series ended on July 19, 2010.
Do you remember this show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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