MCA Television
The last week of July has a surprising number of new series premieres across all but two decades, from animation to reality to scripted to news programs. A few ran for multiple seasons, most didn’t make it past the first. Some are fondly remembered and most are easily forgotten and that’s why we’re here. Let’s take a look at the new shows that premiered this week across the decades and see which ones you remember!
1950
- August 1 — Animated series Crusader Rabbit premieres in syndication, the first animated series produced specifically for television. The main characters were Crusader Rabbit and his sidekick Ragland T. Tiger, or Rags. The episodes were produced as serials with each segment lasting four minutes. The concept was test marketed in 1948 and the first serial, ‘Crusader vs. the State of Texas’ aired on KNBH in Los Angeles (now KNBC). The program was syndicated from 1950-51 for 195 black and white episodes. The show was revived in 1956 with 13 new crusades, totalling 260 color episodes, but due to legal wrangling over ownership of the series, the new episodes were not seen until 1959. Jay Ward, who went on to create The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show was involved as a producer and business manager. The serials were initially sold as part of a proposed series, The Comic Strips of Television, to NBC which also included an early version of Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties. NBC did not air the program but many local affiliates did including those in Los Angeles and New York (where it aired through 1967). Due to the limited budget, the show’s animation appeared more as narrated storyboard with frequent edits and minor character movement. Lucille Bliss voiced Crusader in the first series with Ge Ge Pearson replacing her for the second. Vern Louden voiced Rags, Russ Coughlan was villain Dudley Nightshade and the narrator was Roy Whatley. The series had a long run in syndication with some local stations broadcasting it until the 1970s. There were 455 segments produced for 23 complete serials.
1960
- No new series premiered this week in 1960.
1970
- August 1 — NBC Nightly News debuts, replacing The Huntley-Brinkley Report upon Chet Huntley’s retirement. David Brinkley, John Chancellor and Frank McGee rotated anchor duties, with sometime two or rarely all three sharing the duties on a given night, with one anchor in New York and one in Washington D.C. Brinkley always appeared from D.C. and McGee from New York, with Chancellor commuting between the two cities depending on his partner for the evening. NBC saw the instability of this arrangement in the ratings as NBC began losing to CBS and discontinued the rotation. McGee took over Today from Hugh Downs and Chancellor became the sole anchor with Brinkley offering three-minute commentaries several times a week. On June 7, 1976, NBC again tried to pair Chancellor and Brinkley, both in New York, but Brinkley would return to D.C. and Chancellor remained the sole anchor again with Brinkley providing commentary until he joined ABC News in 1981. Chancellor was never able to break the grip Walter Cronkite had on the ratings, keeping NBC firmly in second place. Chancellor stepped down on April 2, 1982 and was replaced by Tom Brokaw until 2004. Brian Williams took over until he was suspended in 2015 for six months for having ’embellished’ an account that he’d been aboard a Chinook helicopter that was shot down by enemy fire in Iraq (he was on the helicopter that was following behind). After the suspension was lifted, Williams was reassigned to NBC’s cable news outlet MSNBC. Lester Holt was named the new anchor on June 18, 2015, taking over officially on June 22. The full title of the program is now NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.
1980
- No new series premiered this week in 1980.
1990
- July 27 — Sci-fi drama Swamp Thing premieres on USA Network. Based on the DC Comics character, the series was developed by Joseph Stefano (Psycho, The Outer Limits) and filmed at the new Universal Studios Florida facilities, allowing the series to be filmed cheaply and quickly. For the first 13 episodes, Second Unit footage was shot in actual Florida swamps but it became difficult to control the lighting and other environmental factors so a swamp was eventually built at the studio. Dick Durock, who played Swamp Thing in the two feature films, reprised the role for the TV series. Stefano left the series after the first 13 episodes and was replaced by Tom Greene for the rest of the season. Universal replaced Greene with Tom Blomquist and revamped the series, ordering 50 episodes and making it more of an anthology with guest stars encountering the mysteries of the swamp instead of taking elements from the comics. The series starred Mark Lindsay Chapman as Dr. Anton Arcane, Carrell Myers, Scott Garrison, Kari Wuhrer, Kevin Quigley and Anthony Galde. Recurring actors included Roscoe Lee Brown, Tyne Daly, Wolfman Jack, Debby Boone, Philip Michael Thomas, Andrew Stevens, Robert S. Woods, John Loprieno, Summer Phoenix, Adam Curry and wrestlers Terry Funk, Kevin Nash and Jorge Gonzales. Ray Wise, who played pre-Swamp Thing Alec Holland in the 1982 film, guested in the third episode as man who thinks he and Swamp Thing are both aliens. The series was USA’s top rated shows despite mixed-to-poor critical reception, and the series had a strong following in Europe. During the show’s run, an animated series based on the comics aired on FOX but was cancelled after five episodes. A total of 72 episodes were produced with the last broadcast on May 1, 1993.
- July 29 — Hidden camera series Tim Conway’s Funny America premieres on ABC. Looking for a series compatible with its hit America’s Funniest Home Videos, ABC gave the show a summer try-out that borrowed heavily from Candid Camera as Conway traveled the country in various disguises, playing practical jokes on unsuspecting subjects. Conway’s characters included an old man trying to cross a street, an eccentric pet-groomer, a member of the ‘fashion police’ in a motorcycle policeman’s uniform ticketing passersby for their attire, a clumsy chef in a Japanese restaurant, and an aerobic instructor (in the guise of Conway’s Dorf character). Unfortunately, this series followed in the pattern of Conway’s other solo serie outings and lasted for just seven episodes, with the last broadcast on September 2.
2000
- July 26 — Crime drama The Huntress premieres on USA Network. Inspired by the non-fiction book about bounty hunter Dottie Thorson, the series starred Annette O’Toole as Thorson who picks up where her husband Ralph left off after being killed by a car bomb. hunting down criminals operating above the law. The series also starred Jordana Spiro, Luis Antonio Ramos, James Remar and Michael Muhney, and ran over the summers of 2000 and 2001, producing 28 episodes. The final episode was broadcast on September 9, 2001. Thorson’s husband was the subject of the 1980 film The Hunter starring Steve McQueen.
- July 28 — Adult animated series Baby Blues premieres on The WB. Based on the comic strip of the same name, the series differed by having it take place when Zoe is still an infant, even though she was the older sister Hammie in the strip. The show also focused on Darryl and Wanda’s relationship and added characters created for the series including dysfunctional neighbors the Bittermans, babysitter Bizzy, and Darryls’ friend Kenny. The voice cast included Mike O’Malley, Julia Sweeney, E,G, Daily, Arabella Field, Joel Murray, Kath Soucie, Nicole Sullivan, Diedrich Bader and Phil LaMarr. To compete with FOX’s popular animated sitcoms, the series was more adult-oriented with some sexuality and mild-swearing. The strip’s creators Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott had limited involvement with the series but were not thrilled with the changes. The first eight of the 13 Season 1 episodes aired on The WB but the show was cancelled, leaving five unaired until they surfaced on Adult Swim in 2002. A second 13-episode season was produced but never aired. The last WB episode aired on August 24, 2000. The final five episodes aired on Adult Swim between January 20, 2002 and March 10, 2002.
2010
- July 26 — Reality series Fish Warrior premieres on National Geographic. The series was hosted by Jakub Vágner, a lifelong angler and world record-holding fisherman who embarked on extreme fishing expeditions to remote regions of the world. The series ran for two 3-episode seasons with the last airing on March 25, 2011.
- July 27 — Reality series Growing Up Twisted premieres on A&E. The series follows the everyday lives of Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider, his wife Suzette, and their four children Jesse, Shane, Cody and Cheyenne. The series lasted a single season of seven episodes, ending on August 27, 2010.
- July 27 — Reality series Plain Jane premieres on The CW. Each week, fashion expert Louise Roe takes one ‘Plain Jane’ and transforms her inside and out with confidence-building challenges and a head-to-toe makeover. The transformation culminates when she reveals her secret crush to the person of her dreams on a romantic date. The six-episode season aired on The CW until September 1, 2010 but was not picked up for a second season. The show’s producer, Sony Pictures Television, worked with MTV to produce a second season which aired on MTV UK from October 19, 2011 to December 7, 2011. In the US the Style Network aired the second season starting June 3, 2013. Three seasons were produced for a total of 24 episodes.
- July 29 — Reality series On the Road with Austin & Santino premieres on Lifetime. The series followed fashion designers and former Project Runway contestants Austin Scarlett and Santino Rice as they traveled to small towns around the country to make a custom dress for a woman who has an upcoming special occasion. At the end of each episode, Austin and Santino would introduce the recipient at the event which the dress was created for. The series ran for a single season of 14 episodes, concluding on November 4, 2010.
- August 1 — Dramatic series Rubicon premieres on AMC. The series focused on an intelligence analyst working for the American Policy Institute in New York City. He discovers he may be working with members of a secret society that manipulates world events on a grand scale. The series was influenced by conspiracy films of the 1970s like Three Days of the Condor and The Parallax View which featured an innocent character caught up in extraordinary events. Series creator Jason Horwitch left the show after creative differences with the network, leaving producer Henry Bromwell to shift the focus more on the employees of API, which was changed from a think tank to a private intelligence agency. The show’s title refers to Caesar’s 49 BC crossing of the Rubicon in northeast Italy, an act of war against the Roman Republic, which led to the end of an republic and the rise of an empire, something the Roman senators always feared. The series starred James Badge Dale, Jessica Collins, Lauren Hodges, Dallas Roberts, Christopher Evan Welch, Arliss Howard and Miranda Richardson. The supporting cast included Michael Cristofer, Roger Robinson, Peter Gerety, David Rasche, Annie Parisse and Natalie Gold. The series premiered on June 13 after the Season 3 finale of Breaking Bad and was seen by 2 million viewers, making it the most-watched debut of any AMC series to that point. The two-hour pilot was rebroadcast again on July 25 after the Season 4 premiere of Mad Men with a viewrship of 818,000. The series officially launched on August 1, but viewership steadily decreased over the season and AMC cancelled the series after its 13-episode run with the final episode airing on October 17, 2010.
Did you or do you watch any of these shows? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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