Universal Television
The week of February 24 through the decades yielded very little in the way of hits or memorable programming, but there was one long-running hit sitcom among the group, and a late night show acquired a new host. Read on to see which shows did strike a chord with viewers, which may have a cult following, and which are best left forgotten.
1959
- No new series premiered this week in 1959.
1969
- No new series premiered this week in 1959.
1979
- February 26 — Sitcom Billy debuts on CBS, following the cancellation of the one-and-done Co-ed Fever. Billy starred Steve Guttenberg and was based on the British play (and movie) Billy Liar. Guttenberg played a mortician’s clerk who had a tendency to daydream, imagining himself a famous surgeon, a rock star, a football star, and a TV executive, among others. Billy’s mother thought he just had a vivid imagination, his father thought he was a compulsive liar and his grandmother thought he was insane. Each episode usually contained two of Billy’s flights of fancy which included guest stars Don Adams, Suzanne Somers, Larry Csonka, Merv Griffin and Lou Ferrigno. The series did fare slightly better than its time slot predecessor, lasting seven episodes and ending on April 28, 1979.
- February 26 — Joining Billy on CBS was Flatbush, a comedy that followed recent high school graduates in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, NY. Friends Presto, Socks, Figgy, Joey and Turtle called themselves ‘The Fungos’, roaming the neighborhood in search of fun and excitement. Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden was so offended by the ethnic stereotypes that he publicly demanded CBS remove the series from its schedule. CBS did so after three episodes aired, with three remaining unseen.
- February 27 — NBC tried to revive the classic movie serials of the past with its new series Cliffhangers. Each episode consisted of three different serials in three different genres: ‘Stop Susan Williams’, a take-off of The Perils of Pauline, with Susan Anton and Ray Walston; ‘The Secret Empire’, a Sci-fi Western inspired by the Gene Autry serial The Phantom Empire; and ‘The Curse of Dracula’ with Michael Nouri as the 600 year old vampire. The series was expensive to produce with three companies working simultaneously to produce each serial, but NBC hoped if the show was successful they could be spun-off into their own stand-alone series. Unfortunately the series was scheduled against the two most popular series on the air, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, and was cancelled after 10 episodes with one remaining unaired. ‘The Curse of Dracula’ was the only serial that had concluded its story by episode 10. Audiences did get to see the conclusion of ‘Stop Susan Williams’ when the episodes were edited into the TV movie The Girl Who Saved the World, but audiences overseas were the only ones to see the end of ‘The Secret Empire’. ‘The Curse of Dracula’ was also edited into a TV movie carrying the titles Dracula ’79 and World of Dracula.
1989
- February 28 — Long-running sitcom Coach premieres on ABC. Craig T. Nelson starred as Hayden Fox, coach of the fictional Minnesota State Screaming Eagles (for the first seven seasons, then the Orlando Breakers for the final two). Fox’s assistant coaches were played by Jerry Van Dyke and Bill Fagerbakke, with his girlfriend (then wife) Christine played by Shelley Fabares. The series included some family connection guest stars among its roster including Fabares aunt Nanette Fabray and husband Mike Farrell, Nelson’s son Noah, and Van Dyke’s brother Dick as an uncredited extra. Other notable guests during the series nine year run included Troy Aikman, Dick Butkus, Drew Carey, Tim Conway, Mike Ditka, Elinor Donahue, Georgia Engel, Frank Gifford, Kathie Lee Gifford, Beth Grant, Mary Hart, Lisa Kudrow, Lucy Liu, Dick Martin, Kathy Kinney, Tom Poston, Rob Schneider, Robin Strasser, Joe Theisman, Johnny Unitas, Bobby Vinton, Terrence Howard, James Pickens Jr., and Alan Young. The series ended with its 200th episode on May 14, 1997. NBC attempted to mount a limited series reboot for the 2016 TV season with Nelson, Van Dyke and Fagerbakke set to return. Fabares was not returning for health reasons and her character was set to be killed off. The new series would focus on Fox’s son who had taken a job coaching at a small college. NBC was not happy with the pilot after an initial 13-episode order and cancelled the series before it started.
- March 1 — Science fiction drama Hard Times on Planet Earth debuts on CBS. Martin Kove starred an an alien Elite Military Officer who served in an interplanetary war. After the war, he was prosecuted for a rebellion against the ruling Council and found guilty, but because of his past service he was given a chance to reform by spending time in human form on the planet Earth. Adopting the name Jesse, he was accompanied by a small floating robot to oversee his actions. Each episode finds Jesse helping people in need, but with most of his information coming from television, Jesse has a skewed view of the planet. The series was reviled by critics but did garner a small but loyal fan base. Scheduled against Unsolved Mysteries on NBC and Growing Pains on ABC, the series ranked 65th out of 81 programs for its premiere. Ratings never improved and the show was cancelled after 13 episodes, ending on June 21, 1989.
1999
- February 25 — Shocking Behavior: Caught on Tape debuts on the Fox network. There is not much information about this show, but it appears to have been a two-episode special, or it was a series that was cancelled after two episodes.
2009
- February 24 — Animal Planet documentary series Dark Days in Monkey City debuts. The series focused on the lives of wild toque macaques in Sri Lanka in the tradition of
but with the addition of special effects and transitional animations like comic book panels. The producers had storyboarded the series in advance and filmed macaques against a green screen to combine with CGI. The original script was eventually scrapped, and while some of the CGI footage was used, the producers eventually decided to film the macaques in their natural habitat following their real behaviors. The series lasted for one 13-episode season, ending on May 14, 2009. - March 2 — Docuseries Harlem Heights debuts on BET. The series followed eight trendy African-American 20-somethings navigating through relationships and their professional lives. The series aired with other BET reality shows College Hill and Baldwin Hills but was cancelled when the network decided to focus on scripted programming like The Game. Ten episodes were produced with the finale airing on April 20, 2009.
- March 2 — With Conan O’Brien set to replace Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon was selected to take over Late Night, the talk/comedy series that was originated by David Letterman. Fallon’s reign as host ended on February 7, 2014 after he was selected to replace Leno, who had returned to The Tonight Show after a lackluster performance by O’Brien, taking over The Tonight Show on February 17, 2014. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon earned two Emmy Award nominations in 2011 including Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series.
Do you remember any of these shows? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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