HBO
June is busting out all over, and this week through the decades we have a range of new shows premiering including variety, reality and scripted TV series. A few of this week’s new shows went on to long runs while others became footnotes in TV history. Let’s take a look at the new shows that premiered this week.
1959
- No new series premiered this week in 1959.
1969
- June 15 — Musical variety series Hee Haw premieres on CBS. The cornpone fueled variety series used the fictional ‘Kornfield Kounty’ as its backdrop, and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In as its inspiration, but straying far away from the political and topical humor of that show. Hosts Buck Owens and Roy Clark presided over the music and comedy which also featured the scantily clad ‘Hee Haw Honeys’. The series was meant as a summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and continued its run on CBS until the infamous ‘rural purge’ of 1971. Producers put together a syndication package for the series in 1971 which put the show in competition with other musical syndicated series The Lawrence Welk Show and Soul Train. Interest in variety series began to wane in the mid-80s, and Buck Owens departed the show in 1986 leaving Clark to continue to host solo. With ratings further on the decline, the series underwent a revamp in 1991 with a new city setting and more pop-oriented country music to draw in younger viewers, but the show ended in 1992, replaced by a clips package and a new title, Hee Haw Silver (in honor of the show’s 25th anniversary), that was also hosted by Clark. The Nashville Network aired reruns of the show from 1993-1996, then resurfaced with a brand new season from 1996-1997. RFD-TV began airing reruns in 2008 which continue to this day. Time-Life video also offers several volumes of DVDs featuring complete episodes of the show. Through the years, the show’s cast included such notables as Roy Acuff, Barbi Benton, Archie Campbell, Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Hager Twins, Gunilla Hutton, Grandpa Jones, George ‘Goober’ Lindsey, Irlene Mandrell, Minnie Pearl, Slim Pickens, Lulu Roman, Misty Rowe, Junior Samples, Gailard Sartain and Jonathan Winters. The show also produced a spin-off series, Hee Haw Honeys, with Kathie Lee Johnson (Gifford), Misty Rowe, Gailard Sartain, Lulu Roman, and Kenny Price. The show remains popular today and has been referenced at least four times on Family Guy. Over the course of 26 seasons, 655 episodes were produced.
1979
- No new series premiered this week in 1979.
1989
- June 10 — Horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt premieres on HBO. The series was based on the EC Comics series of the same name and much of the content of the TV series was adapted from the print material. Being on HBO, the series was allowed the freedom to include graphic violence, profanity, sexual activity and nudity … all of which was edited out when Fox carried reruns of the show from 1994-1995, as well as when reruns also ran on CBS late night (1997), Syfy, Chiller and Fearnet. Each stand-alone episode was bookended by an introduction and wrap-up by the Cryptkeeper, an articulated puppet voiced by John Kassir. With a pedigree of producers that included Richard Donner, David Giler, Walter Hill, Joel Silver and Robert Semeckis, the show was able to attract top-notch writers (William M. Gaines, A L Katz, Frank Darabont, Manny Coto, Steven E. de Souza, Harry Anderson, Bob Gale, Teller), directors (Russell Mulcahy, Stephen Hopkins, Howard Deutch, Kevin Yagher, Mary Lambert, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris Walas, Michael J. Fox, Todd Holland, Tobe Hooper, John Frankenheimer, William Friedkin, Tom Hanks, Peter Medak, Kyle MacLachlan, Mick Garris, Vincent Spano, Freddie Francis, Brian Helgeland, Bob Hoskins), and stars (Miguel Ferrer, Larry Drake, Bobcat Goldthwait, Lance Henriksen, William Sadler, Michael Ironside, Joe Pantoliano, Harry Anderson, Patricia Arquette, Kim Delaney, Demi Moore, Don Rickles, Richard Thomas, Beau Bridges, Kirk Douglas, Teri Garr, John Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Lovitz, Kyle MacLachlan, Andrew McCarthy, Malcolm McDowell, Tim Roth, Steven Weber, Timothy Dalton, Blythe Danner, Margot Kidder, Cathy Moriarty, Donald O’Connor, Joe Pesci, Christopher Reeve, Mimi Rogers, David Warner, Treat Williams, Clancy Brown, Tim Curry, Roger Daltrey, Ernie Hudson, Bill Paxton, Martin Sheen, Brooke Shields, Catherine O’Hara, Terry O’Quinn, Hank Azaria, James Frain, Eddie Izzard, Ewan McGregor, Emma Samms, Lea Thompson, Patricia Clarkson, Teri Hatcher, Carol Kane, Rick Rossovich, Katey Sagal, Grace Zabriskie, Bruce Boxleitner, Tony Goldwyn, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Polito, John Rhys-Davies, Kevin McCarthy, Dylan McDermott, Brad Pitt, Frances Sternhagen, Steve Buscemi, Joan Chen, Anthony Michael Hall, Lainie Kazan, Patsy Kensit, Priscilla Presley, John Stamos, Richard Lewis, Peter MacNicol, John Lithgow, Travis Tritt, Ciarán Hinds, Jane Horrocks, Bob Hoskins, Imelda Staunton, Audra Lindley, Colleen Camp, Jessica Harper, Iggy Pop, Kelly Preston, John Astin, Anita Morris, Vanity, George Wendt, Tia Carrere, Zach Galligan, Walter Gotell, Zelda Rubinstein, Yvonne De Carlo, Brad Dourif, Traci Lords, Robert Picardo, Benicio Del Toro, Wendie Malick, Isabella Rossellini, Susan Tyrrell, Brett Cullen, Sam Kinison, Dan Aykroyd, James Remar, Tom Hanks, Twiggy, Adam West … and more). Two feature films from Universal were spun-off from the series under the title Tales from the Crypt Presents, ‘Demon Knight’ and ‘Bordello of Blood’. A third film was planned but the script was rejected as not having enough humor. Quentin Taratino’s From Dusk till Dawn and Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners were considered to be released as TFTC films. The 2002 film Ritual was not produced as a TFTC film but is now considered an unofficial entry in the film series. A 1993 Saturday morning animated series Tales from the Cryptkeeper aired on ABC, a kids’ game show Secrets of the Cryptkeeper’s Haunted House aired on CBS from 1996-1997, Seeing Ear Theatre produced several ‘radio shows’ in 2000, the spin-off pilot Two-Fisted Tales aired on Fox in 1991 (the network passed and the three episodes were broadcast on HBO as TFTC episodes with Cryptkeeper segments tacked on), and HBO tried another sci-fi inspired spin-off
which had a short, unsuccessful run. The series scored seven Emmy nominations during its run. In 2016, TNT ordered a 10-episode reboot, minus the Cryptkeeper, but could not move on with the series due to legal rights issues (the same reason the series is not available on HBO’s On Demand platform). Over the course of seven seasons, 93 episodes were produced with the final episode airing on July 19, 1996.
1999
- June 9 — Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade premieres on TNT. The series is set five years after the events of the original series, and just shortly after the TV movie A Call to Arms. In the new series, the Drakh have released a nanovirus plague on Earth which will destroy all life within five years if it’s not stopped. The destroyer Excalibur is sent out to look for anything that could help find a cure. Like Babylon 5, the series was intended to have a five-year run, but conflicts arose between the show’s producers and the network and production was cancelled before the first episode aired. TNT found that the audience for Babylon 5 (which the network rescued for a fifth season after the show was cancelled in first run syndication after its fourth) was not watching other TNT shows and TNT’s main audience was not interested in the show or any related series. To make matters worse, TNT eventually did air the 13 produced episodes, but wildy out of order, making any attempt at story continuity impossible. The cast included Gary Cole, Daniel Dae Kim, David Allen Brooks, Peter Woodward, Marjean Holden, Carrie Dobro, and Tracy Scoggins, reprising her Captain Elizabeth Lochley character from Babylon 5. A complete series DVD was released five years after the show ended, but with the episodes presented in original broadcast order. It was also not presented in widescreen as Babylon 5 was. Show creator J. Michael Straczynski had his audio commentaray removed from subsequent pressings of the DVD after he learned some of his harsh criticism of TNT was removed and covered up with a different interview. TNT aired the final episode on September 1, 1999.
2009
- June 10 — Cooking competition Top Chef Masters premieres on Bravo. The spin-off of Top Chef featured world-class chefs competing against each other in weekly challenges. Chefs featured during the show’s five-season run include Rick Bayless, Hubert Keller, Marcus Samuelsson, Rick Moonen, Floyd Cardoz, Chris Cosentino, Douglas Keane, and Bryan Voltaggio. Judges included James Oseland, Gael Greene, Jay Rayner, Gail Simmons, Ruth Reichel, Krista Simmons, Francis Lam and Leslie Suter. The first two seasons were hosted by Kelly Choi, with Curtis Stone taking over for the remaining three. The last episode aired on September 25, 2013. 41 episodes were produced.
- June 11 — Reality series 16 and Pregnant premieres on the MTV. The series followed pregnant high schoolers dealing with the hardships of a teen pregnancy. Each episode featured a different girl and followed them from 4 1/2 to 8 months into their pregnancy until several months after the birth of the baby. The show gave birth to four spin-offs: Teen Mom, Teen Mom 2, Teen Mom 3 and Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant. The sereis ran for five seasons and produced 61 episodes, the last airing on July 1, 2014.
- June 13 — Game show 20Q premieres on GSN. Contestants are randomly selected from the front row of the audience. Three players play the main head-to-head game with the computer, Mr. Q, giving them a category with a choice of two questions. If the player answers correctly they retain control of the board. The player can choose to answer the second question choice or ask for a new question. The winner of the first round gets $5000 and a chance to play in the semi-final round against the winner of the second game. In the semi-final, the contestants play one at a time in the same category (one remains in an isolation booth during the game play). The player who guess the subject quickest based on the clues given wins more cash and goes to the end game. In the end game, the winner plays against the computer in a game of ’20 Questions’. At one popint, the computer will go into ‘sleep mode’ giving the player a chance to answer. If the player buzzes in with the correct answer before Mr. Q does, they win $20,000. If the computer answers and is wrong, the player gets one chance to guess the correct answer. If they are incorrect or the computer is correct, nothing additional is won. The pilot was produced with Joey Lawrence hosting, but was replaced for the series by Cat Deeley due to a conflict. Hal Sparks was the voice of Mr. Q. (In the pilot, the computer had a female voice and was named Debra-Q.) Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings was featured in the pilot as the ‘resident expert’ who picked the categories. The show ran for just nine episodes.
- June 15 — Live, interactive talk and variety series It’s On with Alexa Chung premieres on MTV. The series included TV and web content, live music performances, celebrity interviews, video and social network content targeting teens who had been turning off their televisions in favor of the internet. The first season was an hour-long format but the second, and final, season was reduced to 30 minutes. The show ended on December 17, 2009.
- June 15 — Sitcom Zeke and Luther debuts on Disney XD. The series focused on two best friends setting their sights on becoming the world’s greatest skateboarders. The series was set in the fictional town of Gilroy, CA which was also mentioned in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens. Both shows were from producer Matt Dearborn. The cast included Hutch Dano, Adam Hicks, Daniel Lee Curtis and Ryan Newman. The show ran for three seasons, producing 73 episodes, with the last — a one-hour finale — airing on April 2, 2012.
Do you watch any of these show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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