TV by the Decade :: January 5•11

Lionsgate Television

Welcome to 2020! And with the passage to a new year, TV By The Decade is also moving into new years as we remember the shows that premiered in 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010. The new year brought some new series premieres, many of them seeing multiple season runs. Let’s take a look and see which ones you remember.

1950

• No new series premiered this week in 1950.

1960

• No new series premiered this week in 1960.

1970

• January 5 — Soap opera All My Children premieres on ABC. Agnes Nixon’s daytime drama was set in the fictional town of Pine Valley, Pennsylvania which was modeled on the real Philadelphia suburb of Rosemont (although audiences originally thought the series was set in New York and the actual location was not revealed until the 1980s). Pine Valley was also situated near Llanview, the setting for One Life to Live, also created by Nixon. The title was a reference to the bonds of humanity. Nixon strove to create a show that was topical and illustrative of social issues. The series originally focused on several families and characters including Phoebe Tyler (Ruth Warrick), Mona Kane (Frances Heflin) and her daughter Erica (Susan Lucci), the stable Martin family including Tara (Karen Lynn Gorney), Phil Brent (Richard Hatch) and Amy Tyler (Rosemary Prinz). With the focus on young love, ABC hoped to draw a younger than normal viewers for the soaps, and while the ratings were not strong initially — the show was 17th out of 19 soaps in its first year — ratings grew steadily year by year. The show was unique in that it tackled the Vietnam War (leading Mary Fickett to an Emmy win for her protest speech, the first given to a soap opera performer), and in 1972 Erica Kane became the first television character to undergo a legal abortion, preceding the Roe v Wade decision by nearly a year, and when she developed a potentially fatal infection, the ABC switchboards lit up with calls from doctors and nurses to offer medical advice on how to treat the issue. As the show’s popularity grew and technology allowed home recordings, All My Children was the most widely recorded show in the US, and in the mid-70s was attracting an audience that was 30% male, a departure from the norm. The show was the Number 2 soap through the 80s and 90s but, as with most daytime dramas, rating began to decline in the 2000s and by 2010 had become one of the least watched soaps on the air. ABC cancelled the show on April 14, 2011 after 41 years and the rights were sold to Prospect Park which planned to continue the show (and One Life to Live) on the internet, but Prospect Park had to suspend production due to funding issues and unsuccessful negotiations with the actors’ and crews’ unions, but those issues were cleared up on January 7, 2013 and production began anew on February 18 with the first episode released on April 29, 2013 by The Online Network through Hulu and iTunes. The new production faced many obstacles behind-the-scenes and on November 11, 2013, several cast members reported Prospect Park had shut down production and cancelled the series again. ABC regained rights to the show in December 2016. During its run, All My CHildren featured crossover events including one in 2000 that encompassed all of the ABC daytime lineup, which included One Life to Live, Port Charles and General Hospital. There was also a comedic crossover with the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland in which Wendie Malick appeared on AMC credited as her Cleveland character Victoria Chase alongside Chase’s nemesis Susan Lucci, who then appeared on Hot in Cleveland as herself. All My Children won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 1992, 1994 and 1998 with multiple acting awards for David Canary (Lead Actor, ’86, ’88, ’89, ’93, 2001). Dorothy Lyman received a Lead Actress Emmy in 1983, with Michael E. Knight, Josh Duhamel and Vincent Irizarry winning Supporting Actor Emmys, Lyman, Kathleen Noone, and Debbi Morgan among the Supporting Actress winners, and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Younger Actress win in 1995. Between 1978 and 1998, Susan Lucci was the most nominated actor — 18 times — without a win. That losing streak was finally broken in 1999, and she was nominated two more times in 2001 and 2002. All told, the show received 360 nominations during its run which ended with 10,755 episodes.

1980

• January 8 — Sitcom One in a Million premieres on ABC. The show focused on Shirley Simmons, a snarky taxi cab driver who inherits control of the multimillion-dollar conglomerate Grayson Enterprises after the death of founder Jonathan Grayson, one of her regular fares, and declares war on the ‘pompous stuffed shirts’. The series was created as a vehicle for Shirley Hemphill, who was a breakout supporting actor on ABC’s hit sitcom What’s Happening!!, and featured many familiar character actors including Richard Paul, Carl Ballantine, Mel Stewart and Kenne Curtis. The cast also included Dorothy Fielding, Ann Weldon, Ralph Wilcox and Billy Wallace. The show, which aired Saturdays at 8:00 PM, was not a success and cancelled after its initial 13-episode run concluded on April 5, 1980.

1990

• No new series premiered this week in 1990.

2000

• January 9 — Sitcom Malcolm in the Middle premieres on FOX. The show revolved around a dysfunctional working-class family headed by Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois (Jane Kaczmarek). Oldest son Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson) started off in a military school but eventually married and settled into a steady job. Middle son Reese (Justin Berfield) is a dimwitted bully who tortures his younger brother Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) at home but defends him at school. Malcolm is considered to be at a genius level and is forced to take classes for ‘gifted children’, who are mocked by the other students for their intelligence. Youngest brother Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) is smart and musically talented but bitter about his ‘ruined childhood’. A fifth son, Jamie, was added as a baby at the end of the show’s fourth season. The single-camera comedy differed from other shows as Malcolm routinely broke the fourth wall by talking directly to the camera, and the show’s sound design relied on elaborate post-production, fast-cut editing, sound effects and musical inserts. The production also relied on extensive location shooting and unusual camera compositions (overhead, tracking, hand-held, crane shots) that would have been impossible in a studio situation, and was shot on film instead of video. There was no laugh track. The family’s last name was shown to be Wilkerson in the pilot episode as seen on Francis’ name tag, but it was decided afterwards that the family’s last name would not be mentioned to avoid any specific ethnic labels. In the last episode, Francis drops his work ID badge which shows his name as ‘Francis Nolastname’. Also in the final episode, Malcolm’s principal announces Malcolm as a speaker, but the last name is drowned out by microphone feedback. However, he can clearly be seen mouthing ‘Nolastname’. A FOX spokesman said the family’s last name should officially be considered a mystery. Other cast members included Craig Lamar Traylor, David Anthony Higgins, Eric Nenninger, Daniel von Bargen, Cloris Leachman, Meagan Fay, Merrin Dungey, Cameron Monaghan, Hayden Panettiere and Julie Hagerty. During its run, the show received a Peabody Award, seven Emmy Awards (Kaczmarek and Leachman were nominated every year they appeared on the show, with Leachman winning in 2002 and 2006), one Grammy Award and seven Golden Globe nominations. The show ran for seven seasons and produced 151 episodes, with the finale airing on May 14, 2006.

2010

• January 5 — Reality series Howe & Howe Tech premieres on Discovery Channel, documenting the day-to-day activities of identical twin brothers Mike and Geoff Howe who operate a small business out of Waterboro, Maine, specializing in the fabrication and design of armored and military-grade vehicles including the Badger, the world’s smallest armored assault vehicle. The show ran for two seasons, producing 12 episodes, ending on February 2, 2011.
• December 29 — Reality series Private Chefs of Beverly Hills premieres on Food Network. The series followed six private chefs who are hired to prepare food for lavish parties and eccentic clientele in the Los Angeles area. A private chef firm not associated with the show sued the network to stop the second season premiere, claiming the idea was stolen from them. The second season premiere aired on October 12, 2010. In all, 14 episodes were aired over two seasons.
• January 5 — Reality series Wild Recon premieres on Animal Planet. The show, hosted by Donald Schultz, featured many deadly animals including the death adder, saltwater crocodile and lion. Schultz would travel to many locations, jumping out of a helicopter to find the animal he was looking for to extract venom and other attributes to catalog information on lesser-known species and research antidotes and medicinal uses. Locations included Australia, Sri Lanka, Belize, South Africa, Tanzania, Costa Rica and Swaziland. In 2013, Schultz was charged with a misdemeanor for shipping pet lizards across state lines in 2010. He claimed he did not know a permit was needed and received community service and a $6000 fine. He said he would use the experience to educate people about the need for conservation. The show ran for a single season of 10 episodes, and produced one special episode as well in which Schultz lived in a clear box of snakes for ten days, starting with 50 snakes and five more added each day. attempting to show that humans and snakes can live together whether the snakes are venomous or not. In the fifth episode, Schultz was bitten by a tree snake in Australia which caused his arm to swell but he carried on and was able to get a DNA sample from a platypus.
• January 6 — Documentary Apocalypse Man premieres on History. The show starred U.S. Marine and martial artist Rudy Reyes who demonstrated various techniques for surviving post-apocalyptic scenarios. Reyes demonstrated how to syphon fuel from a hospital generator, create a grappling hook, make fire with a battery and steel wool, and the proper technique for breaking down a door. The show was a one-off program featured as part of History’s ‘Apocalypse Week’.
• January 8 — Stand-up comedy series John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show premieres on Comedy Central. Hosted by Oliver, the show featured new material by established and up-and-coming comedians with each episode featuring four performers and Oliver opening the show with a short set of his own. Featured performers included Nick Kroll, Maria bamford, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Brian Posehn, Hannibal Buress, Pete Holmes, Janeane Garofalo, Amy Schumer, Marc Maron, Chris Hardwick, Kristen Schaal, Paul F. Thompkins, Anthony Jeselnik, David Koechner, Kumail Nanjiani, Jen Kirkman, Al Madrigal, Wyatt Cenac, Michael Che,Iliza Shlesinger, Michael Ian Black, Dana Gould, Colin Jost, Thomas Lennon, Ali Wong and W. Kamau Bell. The series ran for four seasons, producing 26 episodes, ending on September 13, 2013.
• January 11 — Sitcom Blue Mountain State premieres on Spike. The series was set in the fictional Blue Mountain State university and focused on the football team, the ‘Mountain Goats’. The show featured certain aspects of college life including sex, binge drinking, drugs, wild parties and hazing. The cast included Darin Brooks, Alan Ritchson, Page Kennedy, Sam Jones III, Chris Romano, Ed Marinaro, Frankie Shaw and Denise Richards. The show was produced in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Montreal, Quebec and ran for three seasons, producing 39 episodes, ending on November 30, 2011. The show gained a cult following after it began streaming on Netflix, and on April 15, 2014 a Kickstarter campaign was launched to raise $1.5 million to produce a feature film. When the campaign ended on May 15, 2014, $1,911,827 was raised from 23,999 backers. The feature titled Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland, featuring the original cast, received a limited theatrical release on February 2, 2016. The film originally received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA and certain scenes were edited to receive an R-rating. The film began streaming on Netflix on March 1, 2016.
• January 11 — Docuseries Fantasia for Real premieres on VH1. The series followed American Idol Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino and her family as Fantasia struggles to regain control of her career and personal life. Two seasons were produced with a total of 20 episodes, the last airing on November 28, 2010.

 
Did you or do you watch any of these show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!