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Spring is in the air and the TV landscape saw many new series blooming and thriving, including game shows, reality shows and scripted series. Not all of the new shows that premiered during the week of March 22 were successful, but there are plenty of memorable shows that remain favorites to this day. How many of this week’s shows did you watch or remember?
1950
- March 23 — Game show Beat the Clock premieres on CBS. The show features contestants trying to complete challenges to win prizes while faced with a time limit. The show has been revived several times over the years, most recently on Universal Kids (February 6, 2018). This original version ran on CBS for eight years and was hosted by Bud Collyer, ‘America’s number one clockwatcher’. Substitute hosts included Bill Hart, John Reed King, Frank Wayne (the stunt creator), Bob Kennedy and Win Elliott. Sonny Fox became Collyer’s permanent fill-in from 1957-1960. Contestants were chosen from the audience and were usually married couples, or pairs who were engaged, dating or a familial relationship. The time for stunts ranged between 30 and 55 seconds, which was said to be the limit, but some stunts were given a full 60 seconds. Couples on the daytime version continued playing as long as they kept beating the clock. On the primetime version, the first stunt was worth $100. If the couple failed, they’d get a prize worth less than $100. The second stunt was worth $200. If they failed they got a prize worth more than $100. If the couple beat the $200 clock, the wife (or female partner) would play the Jackpot Clock which featured the words of a famous quote or saying scrambled on a magnetic board which had to be unscrambled in 20 seconds or less. If they were successful, they would win the jackpot. If not, they would receive a consolation prize worth more than $200. Occasionally, a bell would sound between normal stunts signaling the Bonus Stunt for the Bonus Prize that started at $100. If the stunt was not beaten, it would be attempted again the following week with another $100 added to the Bonus. This did not affect regular game play. In August 1954, the Bonus Prize started at $500 with $100 added each time it was not completed. In response to newer big money game shows, CBS convinced Mark Goodson to increase the starting bonus to $10,000 for the newly renamed Super Bonus Stunt and went up $1000 every time it wasn’t completed. The Super Bonus Stunt was attempted by every couple who completed the $200 clock. The attempt to draw more viewers with the Super Bonus Stunt was unsuccessful and was eventually discontinued, replaced by the Big Cash Bonus Stunt on September 22, 1956, which was basically the original Bonus Stunt with the jackpot starting at $5000 and increasing by $1000 every week if it was not won. If the couple was successful, they left with the top prize. If not, they continued on with the regular game. On the daytime version, the Bonus Stunt prize was a cash value that started at $100 and the choice of a new car or boat. The largest cash bonus won was $20,100 during the show’s run on ABC. The show was revived in syndication five days a week from 1969-1974. Jack Narz hosted the first three seasons, and Gene Wood took over for the rest of the run. CBS brought the show back to its daytime schedule as All-New Beat the Clock on September 19, 1979 with Monty Hall as the host. Jack Narz was the announcer and series producer. On November 5, 1979 the show switched to an all-celebrity format but the show only lasted until February 1, 1980. A new version of the show ran on the PAX network from September 2, 2002 to September 4, 2003. In this version, three couples competed but there were no returning champions. The Universal Kids version featured kids and parents competing and aired from February 6, 2018 to July 8, 2019.
1960
- No new series premiered this week in 1960.
1970
- No new series premiered this week in 1970.
1980
- March 22 — Sitcom Me and Maxx premieres on NBC. The story revolved around a young girl, Maxx (Melissa Michaelsen), who moved in with her father Norman (Joe Spano), who had created a life for himself as a swinging bachelor. The cast also included Jenny Sullivan, Denny Evans and Jim Weston. The series ran for just 10 episodes, with the last broadcast on July 25, 1980.
- March 22 — Variety show The Tim Conway Show premieres on CBS. This was the second series with the same name after Conway’s 1970 sitcom. Aside from his role on McHale’s Navy and guest appearances on The Carol Burnett Show, Conway had little success in his three previous series attempts. The new show was produced by Joe Hamilton, Burnett’s husband, and closely followed the format of Burnett’s show with Burnett, Vicki Lawrence and Harvey Korman making guest appearances. Burnett’s orchestra, The Peter Matz Orchestra, was also carried over. The show premiered in an hour-long format to disappointing ratings and was pulled from the schedule after the May 17 episode. When the show returned on September 20, 1980 it had been cut to 30 minutes. Regulars Eric Boardman and Jack Riley had left the show before its return, and in early 1981 regulars Bert Berdis and Dick Orkin were dropped from the cast. Korman was brought on as a new regular but he did not help save the show. The last original episode aired on March 7, 1981. Despite its failure, this was the longest-running of Conway’s starring projects. He did return to television in 1983 in the sitcom Ace Crawford, Private Eye but that show lasted just a month.
- March 24 — Sitcom Flo premieres on CBS. The Alice spin-off featured Polly Holliday reprising her role as the sassy waitress Florence Jean Castleberry who returns to her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas to become the proprietor of an old roadhouse she renames ‘Flo’s Yellow Rose’. A a new businesswoman, Flo had to grapple with chauvinistic bartender Earl (Geoffrey Lewis), and greedy banker Farley (Jim B. Baker), as well as her mother Velma (Sudie Bond) and straight-laced sister Fran (Lucy Lee Flippin). The rest of the Yellow Rose staff consisted of Flo’s best friend Miriam (Joyce Bulifant), a waitress and bookkeeper, and piano player Les (Stephen Keep). Randy the mechanic (Leo Burmester) and Chester (Mickey Jones) were regular customers. Alice regular Vic Tayback made one guest appearance as Mel Sharples, but once Flo began, Holliday never appeared on Alice except in flashbacks on the series finale. The first season, airing on Mondays, was a ratings success for CBS, but due to multiple schedule changes during the second season, ratings tumbled and the show was cancelled after 29 episodes. The final episode was broadcast on June 30, 1981.
- March 24 — Late night news program Nightline premieres on ABC. The series started as a nightly report on the Iran Hostage Crisis and was called The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage: Day ‘xxx’ with the xxx representing the number of days the crisis continued. Frank Reynolds was the anchor of the 20-minute program. Shortly after the program was created, Reynolds stopped hosting and was replaced by Ted Koppel. It wasn’t until a few days later that a producer had the idea to add the number of days to the title. The program was renamed Nightline in 1980, and in 1981 the show had become an integral part of ABC’s programming and Koppel was a national figure. The program, now a full 30 minutes, originally aired Monday-Thursday with the sketch comedy series Fridays airing on … Friday. The show courted controversy when Koppel read the names of American servicemen killed in the Iraq War since it began in March 2003. Conservative believed Koppel was making a political statement and the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owned many ABC affiliates, felt the network was undermining the war effort. In protest, Sinclair ordered its affiliate to not air the program that night. Koppel repeated the format on May 28, 2004 reading the names of servicemen killed in the war in Afghanistan, and on May 30, 2005, the names of all killed in Iraq and Afghanistan between the 2004 episode and that night’s broadcast. The Sinclair stations aired both episodes. On November 22, 2005 Koppel retired from the show after 25 years. Over the years, the show has faced threats of cancellation and a time shift to 12:35 after ABC hired Jimmy Kimmel for a new late night talk show to compete with Jay Leno on NBC and David Letterman on CBS. Koppel has been succeeded as anchor by the team of Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran. Bashir left in August 2010 and was replaced by Bill Weir. In October 2013, Dan Harris was named co-anchor, replacing Weir. McFadden left in August 2014, replaced by Juju Chang. Dan Abrams joined the show in 2013 but left the show on December 18, 2014 replaced by Byron Pitts on December 19. As the county now deals with the coronavirus epidemic which has forced the late night talk shows to suspend production, ABC has moved Nightline back to its 11:35 PM timeslot while repeats of Jimmy Kimmel Live air at 12:05 AM.
- March 24 — Sitcom The Stockard Channing Show premieres on CBS. Channing starred as Susan Goodenow, a recent divercee whose ditzy neighbor Earline gets her a job working as a consumer reporter for local TV show ‘The Big Rip-Off’. Headlining the show was tightly-wound journalist Brad Gabriel (Ron Silver) who was convinced everything was toxic and bad. Gus Clyde (Max Showalter), a flamboyant former Broadway entertainer, was the station owner. Burnout hippie Alf (Bruce Baum) was a security guard, hired after the health food store he owned was targeted by the program. Mr. Kramer (Jack Somack) was Susan’s landlord. Plots often revolved around Susan’s attempts to expose corporations that were swindling consumers which afforded Channing the opportunity to don various disguises. While the show was comfortably placed on the CBS schedule on Monday nights with WKRP in Cincinnatti, M*A*S*H and Flo, it only lasted 13 episodes, with the last broadcast on July 12, 1980.
1990
- March 27 — Legal drama Equal Justice premieres on ABC. The series focused on the lives of the district attorney’s office in Pittsburgh, PA. The cast included George DiCenzo, Cotter Smith, Kathleen Lloyd, Jane Kaczmarek, Sarah Jessica Parker, Barry Miller, Joe Morton, James Wilder, Jon Tenney, and Debrah Farentino. The show received critical acclaim, earning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for the 1990 episode ‘Promises to Keep’ and again for the 1991 episode ‘In Confidence’, but that was not enough to help the ratings. The show produced 27 episodes over two seasons with the last broadcast on July 3, 1991.
2000
- March 23 — Sitcom Daddio premieres on NBC. The show focused on former restaurant supply salesman Chris Woods (Michael Chiklis) who decides to become a stay-at-home dad to his and his wife Linda’s (Anita Barone) four children to accommodate Linda’s demanding career as a lawyer. Chris also has to deal with Linda’s annoying but well-meaning friends Holly (Suzy Nakamura) and Barb (Amy Wilson), who constantly interfere with his parenting. Chris also has to defend his new role to his friends Rob (Kevin Crowley) and former Marine Bobick (Steve Ryan). The first season consisted of just five episodes but was renewed for a second season of 13-episodes. However, only four of the Season 2 episodes aired before the show was pulled from the schedule after the October 23, 2000 episode, leaving nine episodes unaired.
- March 24 — Reality series Making the Band premieres on ABC. The first iteration of the series ran for three seasons and centered on the musical group O-Town. The first season aired on ABC and was the last new series, and the only non-sitcom, to air during the original TGIF block, which ended its run at the end of the show’s first season in 2000. The show then moved to MTV where the second and third seasons aired. O-Town’s involvement in multiple seasons marked the first time the main cast of a reality show returned for additional seasons. The first season focused on Lou Pearlman embarking on a nationwide talent search, cutting 25 young men to eight finalists who competed for five spots in Pearlman’s new boy band. The second and third season continued to track the development of O-Town as a pop group, following tours and performances and other events in the band’s history, including the ongoing struggle to be seen as legitimate artists. 43 episodes were produced over the three season. Making the Band 2 aired for three seasons starting on October 19, 2002 and finishing on April 29, 2004 and focused on the group Da Band which was formed by P. Diddy. Making the Band 3 also aired for three seasons from March 3, 2005 to August 10,2006 and focused on P. Diddy’s group Danity Kane,formed after the failure of Da Band. Making the Band 4 aired three seasons from June 18, 2007 to April 23, 2009 and featured musical acts Day26 and Donnie Klang. On July 15, 2019 it was announced the series was revived and will premiere in 2020. That revival may be on hold as the four-city casting call was announced on February 20, 2020 just before the coronavirus pandemic became more widespread in the United States.
2010
- March 24 — Reality series Fly Girls premieres on The CW. Not a reality show about the In Living Color dancers, this series follows the personal lives of five flight attendants working for Virgin America as they fly to a range of locations including Las Vegas, South Beach and New York City. The show also includes their down time at their ‘crash pad’ in Los Angeles. The cast included Farrah Williams, a flight attendant for the airline since its inaugural flight, and Rachel Moore, an Australian flight attendant who also appeared on The Bachelor Australia in 2015. The series lasted for a single eight-episode season, with the last episode airing on May 5, 2010.
- March 24 — Docuseries Is It Possible? premieres on Discovery Channel. The three-episode series features people, animals, technology and other real things that are so unusual and surprising that they seem impossible. The first episode included a contortionist, a blind man who uses echolocation, microscopic art, a lyrebird, and a man who roller skated on a roller coaster. The third and final episode was broadcast on April 7, 2010.
- March 27 — Sitcom Victorious premieres on Nickelodeon. Created by Dan Schneider, the series revolves around aspiring singer Tori Vega (Victoria Justice), a teenager who attends the Hollywood Arts High School, after taking her older sister’s place in a showcase while getting into screwball situations on a daily basis. On her first day of school she meets Andre Harris (Leon Thomas III), Robbie Shapiro (Matt Bennett), Jade West (Elizabeth Gillies), Cat Valentine (Ariana Grande) and Beck Oliver (Avan Jogia). The show follows Tori and her friends as she finds a place within the school, completing projects that usually involve musical and theatrical performances and overcoming unusual and absurd challenges. Three seasons of the show were produced, but when the decision to end the series was made, Nickelodeon split the third season to make a fourth. In all, 57 episodes were produced and the series ended on February 2, 2013. The announcement of a spin-off series, Sam & Cat, angered fans who assumed that was the reason Victorious was ending, but Schneider insisted that was not the case.
Did you or do you watch any of these show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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