Bicycle Path Productions
With most regular season series ended by this point in May, networks didn’t really begin offering original summer fare until the late 90s-early 2000s when cable began to explode with new networks popping up left and right with a need for year-round programming. It was rare before that time for new series to premiere on the major networks before September but there are a couple of exceptions to that rule this week. Let’s take a look and see if you remember any of these shows.
1950
- May 29 — Late night variety series Broadway Open House premieres on NBC, one of the pioneering creations of NBC president Pat Weaver who is also responsible for Today and The Tonight Show (although original Tonight hosts Steve Allen and Jack Paar dispute that claim). Broadway Open House aired weeknights at 11 PM and was to be hosted by Don Hornsby who had been brought into the business by Bob Hope. A week before he was to begin hosting, Hornsby suddenly contracted polio and died on the day the show was scheduled to premiere, May 22. NBC was forced to postpone the premiere while Weaver sought a new host. Jerry Lester, who was hosting Cavalcade of Stars on the Du Mont network, accepted the offer and the show went on the air just a week later than planned. Lester hosted Tuesday, Thursday and Friday while Morey Amsterdam hosted Monday and Wednesday. Amsterdam exited the show after a short time leaving Lester to host full time, performing sketches with the cast of sidekicks including Barbara Nichols, running through nightclub routines and introducing the show’s vocal group, the Mello Larks. The show had the occasional guest, including Lenny Bruce and Charlie Parker, and audience participation bits but coming up with new material on a daily basis was taxing. To alleviate the situation, Jennie Lewis was hired, given the name Dagmar, and was told to ‘sit there and act dumb.’ She would sit on a stool with the sign ‘Girl Singer’ around her neck, did breathing exercises, and read poems and performed plays while Lester made jokes about her ‘hidden talents’. Dagmar’s arrival created a sensation, giving Lewis a pay boost from $75 to $1250 a week. But with Dagmar getting all the attention, Lester quit his own show in 1951, leaving Dagmar to host. On July 16, 1951 she was featured on the cover of Life magazine and the show ended one month later. Sadly. only a handful of episodes remain in existence from Lester’s run and are archived at the Paley Center for Media.
1960
- No new series premiered this week in 1960.
1970
- No new series premiered this week in 1970.
1980
- May 26 — Sitcom Phyl and Mikhy premieres on CBS. Murphy Cross and Rick Lohman star as two track runners at opposite ends of the Cold War, but eventually meet and marry. Mikhy defects to American and moves in with Phyl’s father Max, navigating the American landscape while avoiding Russian agent Vladimir Gimenko (Michael Pataki). Only six episodes aired before the show was cancelled and it seems the only surviving elements publicly available are the opening and closing credits.
1990
- No new series premiered this week in 1990.
2000
- No new series premiered this week in 2000.
2010
- May 27 — Sitcom 100 Questions premieres on NBC. Originally titled 100 Questions for Charlotte Payne, the series was about a young woman navigating life with friends in New York City. Each episode began with Charlotte being asked a question at a dating service which then sequed into the episode’s storyline. The cast included Sophie Winkleman, David Walton, Christopher Moynihan, Collette Wolfe, Smith Cho and Michael Benjamin Washington. NBC originally planned to debut the series in March after the completion of the Winter Olympics but pushed the premiere back to May 27, reducing the episode order from 13 to six. The sixth episode aired on July 1 and NBC officially cancelled the series on July 8.
- May 27 — Reality series Mall Cops: Mall of America premieres on TLC. Originally a one-hour special event airing on October 15, 2009, the ratings led TLC to commission a 12-part series of 30-minute episodes that premiered May 27, 2010. The series features the 100-plus member security team of the Mall of America, the largest mall in the country. The Mall Cops help lost kids, track shoplifters, arrest disorderly guests and respond to medical calls. The mall has more than 500 stores, a theme park, an aquarium and a school. The series did not continue past the first season, with the last episode broadcast on July 8, 2010.
- May 27 — Reality series Police Women of Memphis premieres on TLC, the third of the network’s Police Women franchise which follows four female members of the Memphis Police Department: Officer Aubrey Olson, Officer Arica Logan, Officer Joy Jefferson, Officer Virginia Awkward. This series ran for a single season of 12 episodes with the last broadcast on August 5, 2010.
- May 27 — Comedy series Svetlana premieres on HDNet. The series focused on Svetlana Maximovskaya (Iris Bahr), a woman of indeterminate age who arrived in Minnesota from the Soviet Union as a mail-order bride. Leaving her husband, she moves to Los Angeles and opens a brothel in a suburban home, calling it the ‘St. Petersburg House of Discreet Pleasure’. The cast included Alex Veadov, Angela Gots, Irina Voronina and Katia Hayes. The show ran for two season, producing 24 episode with the last broadcast on July 13, 2011.
Did you or do you watch this show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
Share this post
