Fragical Productions
Summer has officially started and networks in general are not in the business of producing new material just yet. The lone network series premiering this week was pulled from its original Fall position. The rest all aired on cable networks which took advantage of the regular broadcast networks’ rerun season. Most of the new shows had multiple season runs which may have garnered small cult followings, but the general TV viewer would be hard-pressed to actually remember any of this week’s new shows.
1950
- No new series premiered this week in 1950.
1960
- No new series premiered this week in 1960.
1970
- No new series premiered this week in 1970.
1980
- June 26 — Sitcom Nobody’s Perfect premieres on ABC. The show’s focus is British Detective Inspector Roger Hart (Ron Moody) who is transferred from Scotland Yard to a police precinct in San Francisco. His constant bumbling causes problems with his new fellow officers, including his new partner Detective Jennifer Dempsey (Cassie Yates) and superior Lieutenant Vince de Gennaro (Micheal Durrell). But Hart does have skills that help solve crimes and catch criminals. The series was to be part of ABC’s Fall 1979 lineup under the title Hart in San Francisco but was pulled several weeks before the premiere, postponed until the Summer of 1980. The show also aired in the UK as Hart of the Yard because of another show with the title Nobody’s Perfect which, ironically, starred an American living in London. Only eight episodes were produced and broadcast with the last airing on August 28, 1980.
1990
- No new series premiered this week in 1990.
2000
- June 26 — Drama series Resurrection Blvd. premieres on Showtime. The series centers on the Santiago family in East Los Angeles, with three generations of boxers. While battling to become boxing champions, the family struggles with the difficulties of life and breaking away from family tradition. Father Roberto Santiago (Tony Plana) is ill and struggles as he watches his family cope with the hardships they must face. The cast also included Michael DeLorenzo, Nicholas Gonzalez, Ruth Livier, Mauricio Mendoza, Marisol Nichols, Elizabeth Peña, Daniel Zacapa and Brian Austin Green. The series ran for three seasons, producing 53 episodes, with the final episode broadcast on September 18, 2002.
2010
- June 21 — Reality series Inedible to Incredible premieres on TLC. Chef John Besh travels the country to help people improve their horrible homemade meals. The series ran for a single season of six episodes with the last broadcast on July 12, 2000.
- June 22 — Crime comedy-drama Memphis Beat premieres on TNT. Jason Lee stars as Detective Dwight Hendricks, who is assigned to the General Assignment Division of the Memphis PD. Dwight loves his mother, the blues, the city and Elvis, calling himself ‘the keeper of Memphis’. His devotion to Memphis is offset by his relaxed approach to his job which frustrates by-the-book Lt. Tanya Rice (Alfre Woodard), his new boss. The series’ creation had input from George Clooney, who acted as executive producer with his partner Grant Heslov. The series was filmed in Laplace and New Orleans, LA standing in for Memphis with only key locations filmed in the title city due to better tax incentives in Louisiana. When Hendricks sang, the vocals for Lee were provided by Mark Arnell. The cast also included Sam Hennings, DJ Qualls, Celia Weston, Leonard Earl Howze and Abraham Benrubi. 20 episodes were produced over the show’s two seasons, with the finale broadcast on August 16, 2011.
- June 27 — Adult animated series Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole premieres on adult swim. In the stop-motion animated series, Dr. Frankenstein has mastered immortality and has also created an infinite number of wormholes or ‘Frankenholes’ between the show’s setting Somewhere in Eastern Europe — which is teeming with monsters and supernatural forces — and every time period from the past and future, allowing historical figures and celebrities seeking the doctor’s services to find him. While many classic monsters appear in the series, creator Dino Stamatopoulos kept the main focus on Frankenstein and his family saying, ‘regular human beings are the monsters.’ In addition to Victor Frankenstein (voiced by Jeff B. David), other characters from the classic novel appeared including Professor Polidori (Scott Adsit), based on Dr. Pretorius from The Bride of Frankenstein, and Elizabeth Frankenstein (Britta Phillips). Other characters included Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Creature, Igor, Blanket Jackson, Heinrich & Gustav Frankenstein, Stewart Lawrence (a werewolf), vampire hunter Joe Yunger, The Mummy, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, local vampire Mohandas K. Gandhi, the Frankensteins’ servant Mother Teresa, Death, and a vampire trio that parody Nosferatu, Count von Count from Sesame Street and Count Chocula.
The series aired for two seasons, producing 20 episodes, with the last broadcast on March 25, 2012. Every episode but the second episode of Season 1, ‘Mother To Be-Sa’, is available for digital purchase. The episode was never aired due to the assumption that the introduction of the Mother Teresa character and her inability to say no which causes her to become the Frankensteins’ servant was too controversial. Stamatopoulos stated the episode was put on permanent hold because the script just wasn’t there yet and advised people to ‘Put it out of your brain’, suggesting it would never be released to the public. However, Stamatopoulos did post the episode on his now-deleted Facebook account, and copies can be found online.
Did you or do you watch any of these shows? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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