TV by the Decade :: November 8•14

D.L. Taffner Productions

The second week of November only offered four new series across three decades, and three of them had multiple season runs. 1980 saw the premiere of a long-running sitcom on both network TV and in first-run syndication; and 2010 gave us a late night talk show still going strong today, and a reality series focused on some people’s ‘junk’ … which turns out to be other people’s treasure. Let’s take a look to see if you remember these hits, and the one flop, that debuted across the decades. And be sure to click on a red link to help support Hotchka!

1950

• No new shows premiered this week in 1950.

1960

• No new shows premiered this week in 1960.

1970

• No new shows premiered this week in 1970.

1980

November 11 – Too Close for Comfort

• Cast: Ted Knight, Nancy Dussault, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Lydia Cornell, Jim J. Bullock
• Additional Cast: Hamilton Camp (1981), Deena Freeman 1981-1982), Audrey Meadows (1982-1983), William and Michael Cannon (1983-1984), Joshua Goodwin (1985-1986), Pat Carroll (1986), Lisa Antille (1986)
• Guest Cast: Selma Diamond, Jordan Suffin, Elyse Knight, Graham Jarvis, Ernie Wise, Jim Davis, Warren Berlinger, Beverly Sanders, Lou Jacobi, Julie Adams, Bill Dana, Jack Riley, Dick Gautier, Ernie Hudson, Randall Carver, Chris Lemmon, Earl Boen, Barbara Cason, Robert Mandan, Ronnie Schell, Frank Welker, Peter Marc Jacobson, Jackie Joseph, Lainie Kazan, Jonathan Prince, Dick Van Patten, Doug McClure, Jaye P. Morgan, Gerald S. O’Loughlin, Pat Paulsen, Priscilla Pointer, Ellen Geer, Elaine Joyce, Leah Ayres, Marty Brill, Peter Haskell, Robert Pastorelli, Peter Mark Richman
• Synopsis: Henry and Muriel Rush are owners of a two-family house in San Francisco, California. Henry is a conservative cartoonist who authors a comic strip called Cosmic Cow with a hand-puppet version of ‘Cosmic Cow.’ Muriel is a freelance photographer. They have two grown children, Jackie and Sara. Additional characters include Sara’s friend, Monroe Ficus, and Henry’s boss, Arthur Wainwright, who was head of Wainwright Publishing. The character of Monroe was originally intended to be used for only a single episode but producers added the character to the series.
• Network: ABC (1980–1983), Syndication (1984–1987)
• Broadcast History: Six seasons, 129 episodes, last broadcast on February 7, 1987
• Trivia: After ABC moved the show to Thursday for its third season, ratings were disastrous and the show was cancelled. TV station owner Metromedia, looking to expand its portfolio or original programming, picked up the series for all-new episodes to air in syndication across the country. For the sixth season, Van Valkenburgh, Cornell and Audrey Meadows exited the series, which was then renamed The Ted Knight Show, with Knight, Dussault, and Bullock remaining, with the addition of Pat Carroll and Lisa Antille. 22 episodes were produced and 12 had aired by mid-July 1986. The show was set to resume production for a seventh season, but Ted Knight died from colon cancer on August 26 and the show ended. The last 10 episodes produced began airing in September 1986.

1990

• No new shows premiered this week in 1990.

2000

November 14 – DAG

• Cast: David Alan Grier, Delta Burke, David Rasche, Stephen Dunham, Mel Jackson, Emmy Laybourne, Lauren Tom, Paul F. Tompkins, Lea Moreno Young
• Guest Cast: Larry Miller, Robin Givens, Dwayne Johnson, Holland Taylor, Paget Brewster, Lil’ Kim, Charles Robinson, Stephen Root, Evan Farmer, John Salley, Lane Smith, Sean Gunn
• Synopsis: After making a mistake during a failed assassination attempt on the President (David Rasche), Agent Daggett is reassigned to protect the First Lady. Agent Daggett encounters problems with the First Lady who treats him like a servant instead of her body guard. He also has problems with an egotistical fellow agent, Edward Pillows (Stephen Dunham), the First Lady’s secretary Ginger Chin (Lauren Tom), and the First couple’s beautiful young daughter Camilla (Lea Moreno Young).
• Network: NBC
• Broadcast History: One season, 17 episodes (1 unaired), last broadcast on May 29, 2001
• Trivia: The show’s title was its star’s initials. Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter and Chris Rock had uncredited cameos.

2010

November 8 – Conan

• Cast: Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, The Basic Cable Band
• Synopsis: Describing itself as a traditional late-night talk show, Conan draws its comedy from recent news stories, political figures and prominent celebrities, as well as aspects of the show itself.
• Network: TBS
• Broadcast History to date: 10 seasons, 1,435 episodes
• Trivia: The show ran for 60 minutes for its first eight seasons, then was reformatted to 30 minutes beginning January 22, 2019. The series has been renewed through 2022. Initially, each episode carried a title in the style of an old-fashioned murder mystery radio show, TV sitcom or other jokes. The titles were dropped in 2014. The original opening title design was inspired by graphic designer Saul Bass, known for his own title designs for films including Psycho and Vertigo. The show has been syndicated in countries around the world including Australia, Israel, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Portugal, as well as Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

November 9 – Auction Hunters

• Cast: Allen Haff, Clinton Jones
• Synopsis: The show follows Allen Haff, and Clinton Jones (aka ‘Ton’), who have experience in a variety of fields including guns and mystery safes, as they participate in storage unit auctions throughout Southern California and occasionally other locations around the United States. Each episode leads viewers through the pair’s activities of bidding on and winning abandoned storage units, appraising the items found within, and selling the most lucrative and interesting pieces to experts or collectors.
• Network: Spike
• Broadcast History: Five seasons, 107 episodes, last broadcast on May 8, 2015
• Trivia: The series was the longest-running non-scripted series on Spike at the time of its cancellation. Recurring cast member Robin “Big Sis” Matte died on May 12, 2014 from Stage 4 ovarian cancer at the age of 37. A memorial was presented at the end of the fifth season premiere.