Disney Channel
The last few days and March and the first few days of April through the decades churned out quite a few new shows including soap operas, sitcoms and medical dramas. Only two of the shows on this week’s list ran for more than two seasons while most lasted a year or less. Some are memorable, some are quite forgettable, and one was ahead of its time. Let’s take a look and see if you watched or 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
- March 30 — Soap opera Somerset premieres on NBC, a spin-off of another NBC serial, Another World. The original focus of the series was Missy Palmer Matthews (Carol Roux), Lahoma Vane Lucas (Ann Wedgeworth) and Sam Lucas (Jordan Charney), popular characters first seen on the parent soap who moved to the fictional town of Somerset in the Detroit suburbs of Michigan. The stories followed their progress in starting new friendships and romantic entanglements. Other families of importance we the Davis family, the Buchanans, the Grants and the Delaneys, who ran Somerset’s major employer, Delaney Brands. Within six months, Missy was gone and new characters, including the Kurtz family, were introduced. Several new female characters were also added to act as love interests for Dr. Stan Kurtz and Peter Delaney. Writer Henry Slesar took over in 1971 and the show eventually turned from the traditional soap storytelling to tales of the Mafia and other types of crime, not unlike Slesar’s The Edge of Night. After Slesar’s departure, new writers tried to blend the traditional storytelling with Slesar’s particular brand, slowly removing nearly all of the original characters. The show launched against ABC’s popular Dark Shadows, but that show’s unpopular Leviathan storyline gave Somerset a ratings advantage, but a revival of ABC game show Password in the time slot cut into Somerset‘s ratings. Ratings did improve during the Slesar period but after the conclusion of a successful murder storyline in 1971, ratings began to decline. By 1974, ABC and CBS had a very successful run of game shows The $10,000 Pyramid and Tattletales in the 4:00 PM time slot, and local affiliates also began to use the time to broadcast talk shows, sitcom reruns and old movies which further eroded the show’s ratings, especially as NBC affiliates were also permitted to use the time slot for their own local broadcasts. The final nail in the coffin came when ABC acquired The Edge of Night from CBS and placed it against Somerset. Ratings improved slightly during its last year but it wasn’t enough and the show ended on New Year’s Eve 1976 after 1,710 episodes. The time slot was taken over by new soap Lovers and Friends which was later retooled as For Richer, For Poorer but both shows had worse ratings than Somerset. The March 30 date was the last time three American soap operas premiered on the same day. Notable cast members on Somerset included Nicolas Coster, Gary Sandy, Bibi Besch, Joel Crothers, Ted Danson, Barry Jenner, Audrey Landers, Michael Nouri, Jameson Parker, Sigourney Weaver and JoBeth Williams.
- March 30 — Soap opera A World Apart premieres on ABC. The initial stories were written by Katherine Phillips, the adopted daughter of Irna Phillips, who created Guiding Light, As the World Turns and Another World, and concerned a soap opera writer, Betty Kahlman, who adopted two children (an obvious reference to Irna Phillips). Betty’s sounding board was friend and fellow soap writer Meg Johns. Early stories focused on Betty’s marriage to Russell Barry and the generational conflicts between a newly married middle-aged couple and their confused children. There was also a show within a show element but writer Phillips was replaced by Richard Holland and Suzanne Holland who scaled back the fictional soap elements and had Betty and Russell settle into a tranquil marriage. Other storylines focused on the Sims family with Dr. Ed Sims and his extremely conservative wife struggling with rebellious daughter Becky. The series aired opposite CBS’ popular Search for Tomorrow and NBC’s The Who, What or Where Game and was cancelled after a little more than a year. The show ended after 325 episodes on June 25, 1971 with Patrice Kahlman making peace with giving her newborn son up for adoption. This may be the only episode of the series to still exist. Notable cast members included Susan Sarandon, Nicolas Surovy, Susan Sullivan, Dorothy Lyman, David Birney, James Noble and Clifton Davis.
- March 30 — Soap opera The Best of Everything premieres on ABC. The show was based on the 1958 Rona Jaffe novel of the same name and the 1959 movie. The series focused on four young secretaries, Linda, April, Kim and Barbara, and their lives inside an intense publishing firm. They were tormented by the ruthless head editor Violet Jordan. Though short lived, the soap had many storylines including Kim being brutally attacked by a mysterious villain named Squirrel, and Barbara’s depression over her marriage ending. The series was created, written and executive produced by James Lipton, who would go on to host Inside the Actor’s Studio. Lipton also wrote the show’s theme song which was sung by Connie Eaton, who performed the song on an episode near the end of the show’s run. The show aired at 12:00 noon opposite the game show Jeopardy! on NBC which was as the height of its popularity. It also faced a hurdle in the time slot as network affiliates usually ran local newcasts at that time. The series ended on September 25, 1970 after 126 episodes. The show’s cast included Geraldine Fitzgerald, Gale Sondergaard, Patty McCormack, and Susan Sullivan.
1980
- No new series premiered this week in 1980.
1990
- March 30 — Sitcom Bagdad Cafe premieres on CBS. Based on the 1987 film of the same name, the series starred Whoopi Goldberg and Jean Stapleton as Brenda and Jasmine, respectively, although in this version Jasmine was not German. The series faced a ratings challenge as CBS slotted it against ABC’s popular Family Matters. But that wasn’t the only challenges. Insiders claim production on the series ended abruptly after a dispute between Goldberg and the co-executive producer, Thad Mumford. Executive producer Kenneth Kaufman was told Goldberg called CBS president Jeff Sagansky in November to say she was quitting the show. With no time to recast, CBS ended the series after the seventh episode of the second season aired on November 23. The last two produced episodes were pulled from the schedule and were finally aired back-to-back on July 27, 1991. A total of 15 episodes were produced. The cast also included James Gammon, Monica Calhoun, Scott Lawrence and Cleavon Little.
- March 30 — Sitcom Sugar and Spice premieres on CBS. The series focused on middle-aged sisters Loretta and Vickilyn (Loretta Devine and Vickilyn Reynolds) with very different personalities. Vickilyn was the quiet conservative while Loretta was an outgoing aspiring actress with an eye for good-looking men. Vickilyn ran a business out of her garage and Loretta was a hostess at a cafe. Living with the sisters was teenage niece Toby (LaVerne Anderson), the only child of their late sister. Her own good intentions were sometimes derailed by bad advice from her friend Ginger (Dana Hill). Bonnie (Stephanie Hodge), Vickilyn’s assistant, was married to trucker Cliff (Gerrit Graham). CBS opted to air the episodes out of order, starting with Episode 102. The pilot, Episode 101, aired as the fifth episode. The show lasted just seven episodes and the last broadcast was on May 25, 1990. Guest stars included Leslie Jordan, Dorian Harewood and Nicholas Pryor.
- March 31 — Comedy anthology Carol & Company premieres on NBC. Carol Burnett headlined a repertory company of actors who appeared in a different half-hour playlet each week with no on-going characters or plots. The show was revolutionary for its time and not easily accepted by viewers, but would not be out of place in today’s TV landscape with shows like American Horror Story and Miracle Workers featuring the same actors in new stories each season. In addition to Burnett the cast included Peter Krause, Anita Barone, Meagen Fay, Richard Kind, Terry Kiser and Jeremy Piven. Guest stars included Swoosie Kurtz, Alex Rocco, Robert Guillaume, Howie Mandel, Carrie Hamilton (Burnett’s daughter), Robert Urich, Glenda Jackson, Betty White, Bernadette Peters, Nell Carter, Tim Conway, Neil Patrick Harris, Hal Linden, Christopher Reeve and Burt Reynolds. The series debuted as a mid-season replacement with nine episodes, and was renewed for a full second season (24 episodes). The 33rd and final episoded aired on Nay 4, 1991. Kurtz won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 1990, and Ret Turner & Bob Mackie won the Emmy in 1991 for Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program. Burnett was nominated for the 1990 Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series in 1990. After the show’s cancellation, Burnett returned to her long-time home network CBS with a revival of her former variety series with two Carol & Company cast members, Fay and Kind. That series lasted just nine episodes.
2000
- March 31 — Adventure series Call of the Wild premieres on Animal Planet. Based on the classic Jack London novel, the series was set in Forty Mile in Yukon, Canada during the 1890s Gold Rush. Dog Buck is auctioned off as a sled dog to The Swede, outbidding young Miles. Buck is placed on a team to lead The Swede through the Yukon delivering mail. Buck makes an enemy of lead dog Spitz, but after severe weather, wolf attacks and a fight with Spitz, new lead Buck is able to guide The Swede to safety. Grateful however he may be to Buck, The Swede must sell him in order to buy a new sled team. Meanwhile, Miles longs to prove himself as a guide and offers himself to some prospectors but backs out after their erratic behavior. When a fatigued Buck is bought at an auction by brother and sister Hal and Mercedes who want to use him on a team to travel from the Yukon to Alaska, Miles is encouraged by his mother to offer to guide them. The series ran for a single season of 13 episodes, ending on June 26, 2000.
2010
- April 2 — Medical drama Miami Medical (originally titled Miami Trauma) premieres on CBS. The series followed the professional and private lives of a team of trauma surgeons in Miami. The cast included Jeremy Northam, Lana Parilla, Mike Vogel, Elisabeth Harnois and Omar Gooding. On May 18, 2010, CBS cancelled the series after one season. 13 episodes were produced and broadcast with the last airing on July 2.
- April 2 — Sports anthology series ESPN Sports Saturday premieres on ABC. The two-hour program aired Saturdays at 4:00 PM. Hannah Storm was the original host followed by various ESPN SportsCenter anchors. The show was designed to fill time between mid-January and late August when ABC did not air any afternoon sports programming. ABC began simulcasting the ESPN series 30 for 30, officially ending the anthology series. Only six episodes were produced.
- April 4 — Sitcom Good Luck Charlie premieres on Disney Channel. The show, designed to appeal to entire families, focused on the Duncan family as they adjust to the births of their fourth and fifth children. Charlotte ‘Charlie’ and Toby. In each episode, Teddy Duncan (Bridgit Mendler) adds to a video diary that contains advice for Charlie about their family and life as a teenager. Teddy wants to show Charlie what she might go through as she gets older. Each video ends with Teddy, or another family member — sometimes Charlie — saying, ‘Good luck, Charlie.’ The show included adult-centric scenes and went through several titles (Oops, Love, Teddy) before settling on Good Luck Charlie. In addition to Mendler, the cast included Eric Allan Kramer, Mia Talerico, Bradley Steven Perry, Leigh-Allyn Baker, and Jason Dolley. In June 2013, Disney Channel announced the show’s fourth season would be its last. The series ran for four seasons and produced 97 episode plus one TV movie, Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!, also known as Good Luck Charlie: The Road Trip Movie, that aired in 2011 between the second and third seasons. A fourth season episode, ‘Down a Tree’ (Episode 19), featured a married gay couple, the first Disney Channel series to do so. LGBT rights organization GLAAD, Miley Cyrus and Evan Rachel Wood expressed their support of Disney for the inclusion of the characters. Of course, One Million Moms protested and asked Disney not to air the episode but a Disney Channel spokesperson stated the episode was “developed to be relevant to kids and families around the world and to reflect themes of diversity and inclusiveness.” The episode aired as planned on January 26, 2014. The final episode of the series was broadcast on February 16, 2014 with a one-hour finale.
Did you or do you watch any of these show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
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