HBO
It’s officially summer and broadcast and cable networks usually struggle trying to lure and keep eyeballs glued to their TV screens with vacations in full swing. Only a handful of shows debuted in two of the decades ending in 9 and not many of them are remembered today. But let’s jog the old noggin and see if you remember any of this week’s shows.
1959
- No new series premiered this week in 1959.
1969
- No new series premiered this week in 1969.
1979
- No new series premiered this week in 1979.
1989
- June 23 — Friday night wrestling show WCW Power Hour premieres on TBS and airs at the unusual time of 10:20 PM, but moved to Saturday mornings in 1990 and adopted a more traditional time slot. The program generally featured three matches with Jim Ross and Jim Cornette the original hosts. The show ended on March 5, 1994 with its 300th episode.
1999
- No new series premiered this week in 1999.
2009
- June 23 — Bite Me with Dr. Mike debuts on the Travel Channel. The series featured Dr. Mike Leahy, a virologist who showcased the world’s most dangerous, and often tiny, creatures that may surprise travelers. Dr. Mike would allow the creatures to bite, sting or feed on his body, sometimes with serious results for the doctor. The series ran for one season with eight episodes, finishing up on August 11.
- June 23 — Reality series NYC Prep premieres on Bravo. The series followed six Manhattan teens as the attend weekend parties, fashion shows, charity events, dinner parties and go on shopping sprees. The series, however, did not feature the teens in school as filming was not allowed on school grounds and no school names were ever used as the institutions wished to distance themselves from the show. The series drew many comparisons to The CW drama Gossip Girl. The students featured on the show were Camille Isobel Hughes, Jessica ‘Jessie’ Leavitt, Kelli Brooke Tomashoff, Sebastian Oppenheim (who has been known to dress as Hitler and use black tape to create swastikas on car windows), Taylor DiGiovanni and Peter Cary ‘PC’ Peterson. The series ended after a single season of nine episodes on August 11.
- June 24 — Limited action drama series The Philathropist debuts on NBC. The series starred James Purefoy as Teddy Rist, a billionaire playboy haunted by the death of his only child. Everything changes when he rescues a young boy during a hurricane in Nigeria, and Rist uses his fortune to change the lives of others. The series was filmed primarily in South Africa and was loosely based on the life of Bobby Sager, founder of the Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow. While the show’s opening ratings were strong, it declined with subsequent episodes and despite a fan campaign on Facebook, ‘Save The Philanthropist through Charity’, the show ended after its eighth episode on August 12. The series also starred Jesse L. Martin, Neve Campbell and Krista Allen.
- June 28 — Dramedy Hung premieres on HBO. Thomas Jane starred as Ray Drecker, a struggling suburban Detroit high school basketball and baseball coach who resorts to male prostitution to make ends meet. He is also the father of twins who move in with their remarried mother after a fire damages their childhood home that Ray still owns. With no insurance to cover the damage, Ray uses his above average, 9-inch penis as a way to make money while he still attempts to maintain a normal life. With his friend Tanya, they start a business, ‘Happiness Consultants’. Drama increased in Season 2 when Lenore, a life coach Tanya brought in to help with the early stages of the business, begins to take over, seeing Tanya as an obstacle as she attempts to take Ray into new business areas. Season 3 found Ray and Tanya competing against Lenore and her younger gigolo Jason, played by Stephen Amell. The show also starred Jane Adams, Anne Heche, Charlie Saxton, Eddie Jemison, Gregg Henry and Lennie James. Recurring cast members included Natalie Zea, Kathryn Hahn, Merrin Dungey, Matt Walsh, Ana Ortiz and Rozanne Hart. The series was nominated for Best Actor in a Series: Musical or Comedy for each of its three season for Thomas Jane. Jane Adams was nominated as Best Supporting Actress in the first season. The series ran for three seasons and produced 30 episodes, ending on December 4, 2011.
Did you watch any of these show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
Share this post
