TV by the Decade :: September 22•28

Paramount Television

The new season continues to roll out with some memorable and not-so memorable shows. This particular week saw many shows that went on to long runs and have become classics, still regarded fondly today. It’s a lenghty list but scroll through the decades to see if any of your favorite TV shows premiered this week.

1959

• September 22 — Sitcom The Dennis O’Keefe Show debuts on CBS. The series starred O’Keefe as Hal Towne, a widower trying to balance his career with raising his 9-year-old son in a New York CIty apartment with the help of a tough but lovable housekeeper affectionately known as Sarge. The series also starred Hope Emerson, Ricky Kelman, Eloise Hardt and Eddie Ryder. The series aired against the second half hour of Laramie on NBC and the alternating Westerns Sugarfoot and Bronco on ABC. The series last a single season with 32 episodes, ending on June 14, 1960.
• September 27 — Talent/variety show Dick Clark’s World of Talent debuts on ABC. Clark hosted the series with permanent judge Jack E. Leonard and two celebrity guest judges who would watch amateur, semi-pro and professional singers, musicians, dancers and comedians and offer them advice. Guest judges included Johnny Carson, Betty Hutton, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Tab Hunter, Edie Adams and Eva Gabor. The series ran just 13 episodes, ending on December 20, 1959.
• September 28 — Military comedy-drama Hennesey, also knowns as The June Allyson Show, debuts on CBS. Jackie Cooper starred as U.S. Navy physician Lt. Charles W. ‘Chick’ Hennessey, with Abby Dalton as Navy nurse Lt. Martha Hale. They are assigned to a hospital at the U.S. Naval Station in San Diego. The cast also included Roscoe Karns, James Komack, Arte Johnson, Frank Gorshin and Norman Alden. The series was based on Cooper’s own experiences as a World War II Navy veteran. He also produced the series and directed several episodes. For the series finale, Chick and Martha married. Guest stars included Bobby Darin, Ron Howard, Charles Bronson, Don Rickles, Les Brown and His Band of Renown, Soupy Sales, Raymond Bailey, Ken Berry, Bill Bixby, Jack Carter, Jack Cassidy, Yvonne Craig, Robert Culp, Sammy Davis Jr., Donna Douglas, James Franciscus, Marty Ingels, Ruta Lee, Doug mcClure, Jaye P. Morgan, Stafford Repp, Mickey Rooney, William Schallert, Larry Storch and Grace Lee Whitney. The pilot for Mrs. G Goes to College starring Gertrude Berg was aired as part of the series with Berg playing Chick’s Aunt Sarah. The series ran for three seasons, producing 95 episodes and ending on September 17, 1962.

1969

• September 22 — Primetime soap Harold Robbins’ The Survivors premieres on ABC. The short-lived series is most notable now for featuring Hollywood star Lana Turner in a regular role on a TV series. Other big names in the cast included Jan-Michael Vincent, Ralph Bellamy, Diana Muldaur, George Hamilton, Louis Hayward, Kevin McCarthy, Clu Gulager and Natalie Schafer. The star power could not keep the show from being a ratings disaster, losing badly to Mayberry R.F.D. and The Doris Day Show on CBS and The NBC Monday Night Movie. The series lasted just 15 episodes, ending on January 12, 1970, but ANC reran the series that summer. In 1971, Universal Television edited two episodes of the series together to produce a TV movie, The Last of the Powerseekers.
• September 22 — Music variety series The Music Scene premieres on ABC. Performers on the show included James Brown, Three Dog Night, Tom Jones, Janis Joplin, Bobby Sherman, The Miracles, Sly & the Family Stone, Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder, and Cass Elloit. The show’s many hosts included David Steinberg and Lily Tomlin. The show was unique in that it was designed to air in a 45-minute time slot. The amount of talent did not lead to large ratings and the show was cancelled after 17 episodes as advertisers were more interested in an older demographic with disposable income rather than teenagers with less money to spend. The final episode aired on January 12, 1970.
• September 22 — Drama series The New People debuts on ABC. The series focused on a group of college students stranded on a remote island after a plane crash. The island was planned to be used for above ground nuclear tests which never took place, leaving all of the buildings intact (and for some reason, there were also food and supplies untouched). The pilot episode was written by Rod Serling under the name ‘John Phillips’ and the series was created by Larry Gordon and Aaron Spelling. The program followed The Music Scene and was also designed for a 45-minute time slot. After the premiere of Lost, producer Damon Lindelof joked if he’d heard of the show, he would have made Charlie’s band name New People. The series ran for 17 episodes, ending on January 12, 1970.
• September 23 — Medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D. premieres on ABC. The series starred Robert Young as the title character known for his gentle bedside manner, first name basis with patients and making house calls. James Brolin co-starred as younger doctor Steve Kiley, and Elena Verdugo played loving nurse and office manager Consuelo Lopez. The show was a hit for the way it dealt with common and uncommon medical issues but was not without controversy. A 1973 episode, ‘The Other Martin Long,’ had Welby advising a middle-aged man to resist his homosexual urges which led to picketing at ABC’s New York City headquarters by the Gay Activists Alliance. The following year, ‘The Outrage’ featured a story in which a male student was sexually assaulted by his male teacher, equating homosexuality with pedophilia. Seven sponsors refused to buy advertising on the episode and 17 network affiliates refused to air the episode, the first known instance of affiliates refusing to air a network show due to protests. The show ended on July 29, 1976 with 169 episodes under its belt. In 1984, the reunion movie The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. aired, followed by another in 1988, Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair.
• September 23 — Comedy series The Governor & J.J. debuts on CBS. Dan Dailey starred as Governor William Drinkwater, from an unnamed Midwestern state, whose daughter Jennifer Jo (Julie Sommars) acted as First Lady in place of her deceased mother. J.J. also had a job as an assistant curator at the zoo, was opinionated and could debate political issues as well as anyone, gaining support from the Governor’s secretary Maggie McLeod (Neva Patterson), press secretary George Callison (James T. Callahan) and the housekeeper Sara Andrews (Nora Marlowe). The series won three Golden Globe Awards in 1970 for Best Comedy Series, Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical TV series and Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical TV series. The series was cancelled midseason during its second year, ending after 39 episodes on December 30, 1970.
• September 24 — Medical drama Medical Center debuts on CBS. The show focused on the lives of doctors at an unnamed hospital in Los Angeles, and the patients showcased each week. The stories often featured tension between the older Dr. Lochner (James Daly) and the younger Dr. Gannon (Chad Everett). Helping the doctors was efficient nurse Eve Wilcox (Audrey Totter), who was initially a bit role but was upgraded to a regular in 1972. Wilcox filled the position held by two other nurses, Nurse Chambers (Jayne Meadows), and Nurse Murphy (Jane Dulo). The show began with a TV movie pilot which guest starred Kim Stanley, Maurice Evans, Kevin McCarthy and Shelley Fabares. The show ended a few months before Marcus Welby, M.D. on March 15, 1976 after 171, and at the time the two shows were tied as TV’s longest running medical dramas.
• September 25 — Variety show The Jim Nabors Hour debuts on CBS. Like many variety series of the era, the show featured comedy sketches and musical performances that allowed Nabors to show off his baritone singing voice. Two of Nabors’ former Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. co-stars, Ronnie Schell and Frank Sutton, appeared as regulars along with karen Morrow. The series was consistently in the Top 30 programs and performed strongly in its time slot, but fell victim to Fred Silverman’s infamous ‘rural purge’, ending after two seasons and 51 episodes on March 11, 1971.
• September 26 — Sitcom The Brady Bunch debuts on ABC. It’s the story of a lovely lady who was raising three lovely girls, and the story of a man named Brady who was living with three boys of his own, then one day the lady met the fellow and they knew it was a much more than a hunch, and that’s how they became The Brady Bunch. The first season of the show focused on the awkward adjustments of the newly blended family living together, often helped along by wise housekeeper Alice, and as everyone adjusted it began to focus more on typical sitcom issues like sibling rivalry, puppy love, self-image and responsibility. The show was absent of any political commentary, particularly in regards to the Vietnam War, which was being waged at the height of the series. The regular cast included Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, Susan Olsen, Barry Williams, Christopher Knight and Mike Lookinland. In the middle of the show’s fifth season, producers notoriously added Cousin Oliver (Robbie Rist) into the mix as the youngest of the children grew older. Producers later admitted his addition threw off the balance of the show, and the term ‘Cousin Oliver’ is now used any time a younger cast member is added to a show to save it from cancellation.
• September 28 — Variety series The Leslie Uggams Show debuts on CBS. Uggams was only the second African-American to host a variety series (Nat King Cole had his own show in 1956), and her program was intended to showcase her talents and those of other Black performers. Only one regular cast member, Dennis Allen, was White. Others included Johnny Brown, Lillian Hayman, Lincoln Kirkpatrick, and Allison Mills. The orchestra was led by Nelson Riddle. Guests included Dick Van Dyke, Sly and the Family Stone, Don Knotts, Kaye Ballard, Raymond Burr, The Turtles, Jim Nabors, Jackie Vernon, Bob Denver, Robert Guillaume, Johnny Mathis, Ken Berry, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Goldsboro, Mitch Miller, Ruth Buzzi, Mike Connors, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations. The third episode of the season featured Bob Crane and several other cast members from Hogan’s Heroes, which had just launched its sixth season two days earlier. The show replaced The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour which had been cancelled due to its controversial political content, but had to face off against NBC’s Bonanza and ABC’s Sunday night movies. The show was cancelled after 10 episodes, with the last airing on December 14, 1969.
• September 28 — Sitcom To Rome with Love premieres on CBS. John Forsythe played college professor Michael Endicott who accepts an instructor position at the American Overseas School of Rome after the death of his wife. The culture shock of he and his children reacting to their new environment set up much of the show’s humor. His sister Harriet (Kay Medford, who never caught on with the viewing audience) followed them to Rome to persuade them to come home and after she departed, Endicott’s father-in-law Andy Pruitt came for a brief visit but ended up staying. Walter Brennan was cast as Pruitt to give Forsythe a strong co-star. Vito Scotti was also a series regular. In the second season, Buffy and Jody from Family Affair made a guest appearance on one episode, and Uncle Charley and Robbie and Katie Douglas from My Three Sons guested in another episode. The show did not fare well in its first season, Sunday, 7:30 PM time slot but CBS gave it a second chance, moving the show to Tuesdays at 9:30 where it fared even worse. To make room for All in the Family, the show was moved again to Wednesdays at 8:30 but that didn’t help either, with CBS cancelling the series after two seasons and 48 episodes, the last new episode being broadcast on February 24, 1971.

1979

• September 22 — Secret agent series A Man Called Sloane premieres on NBC. Robert Conrad starred as Thomas R. Sloane III, a freelance spy who takes on occasional assignments for UNIT, a secret American intelligence organization run by The Director (Dan O’Herlihy). KARTEL was UNIT’s nemesis. Sloane had assist from Torque (Ji-Tu Cumbuka) who had a mechanical hand with interchangeable parts. The series, a Quinn Martin production, was a mish-mash of various spy series from the past including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible and The Wild Wild West. It was one of the most expensive series produced this season and, failing to draw a sizable audience, was cancelled after 12 episodes, the last broadcast on December 22, 1979. On March 15, 1981, NBC aired the TV movie Death Ray 2000 which was actually the original pilot for the series, with Robert Logan as Sloane. Torque was the villain. Logan was to star in the series but NBC head Fred Silverman didn’t like him and wanted Conrad for the part.
• September 22 — Animated series Casper and the Angels premieres on NBC. The Saturday morning cartoon finds Casper the Friendly Ghost as a ‘guardian ghost’ to two female Space Police officers named Mini and Maxi who patrol Space City on flying motorcycles in the year 2179. There was also the rambunctious Hairy Scarey, a thousand year old ghost with a red nose and big bow tie who enjoyed scaring troublemakers, and who accepted that Casper was a kind and gentle ghost. This was Hanna-Barbera’s second attempt to cash in on the popularity of Charlie’s Angels and CHiPs. Twenty-six 15-minute segments were aired as 13 half hour episodes, along with two specials, Casper’s Halloween Special and Casper’s First Christmas. The voice cast included Julie McWhirter as Casper, John Stephenson, Diana McCannon, Laurel Page, Hal Smith, Paul Winchell, Rick Dees, Bob Hastings, Ronnie Schell and Frank Welker. The last original episode aired on December 15, 1979.
• September 22 — Animated series Spider-Woman debuts on ABC. The series was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, the company’s final series before being incorporated into Marvel Productions. While based on the comic book, the series featured major differences in its premise and supporting cast. Another similar series airing at the same time, Web Woman, prompted Marvel to create the Spider-Woman character to secure a copyright. The title character was voiced by Joan Van Ark, whose new series Knots Landing was set to launch on December 27. The 16th and final episode of Spider-Woman aired on January 5, 1980.
• September 22 — Animated series The Super Globetrotters debuts on NBC. The show featured the Harlem Globetrotters as undercover superheroes who would transform from their regular forms by entering magic portable lockers, with each having their own super power as well as the power to fly. They received their missions from a basketball-styled talking satellite called the Crime Globe. The voice cast included Scatman Crothers, Stu Gilliam and Frank Welker. The series ended on December 15, 1979 after 13 episodes.
• September 23 — Sitcom Archie Bunker’s Place premieres on CBS, a spin-off/continuation of All in the Family. The new series is set primarily in Archie’s old hangout which he purchased during the eighth season of All in the Family. Archie took on a Jewish partner, Murray Klein (Martin Balsam), and the two added a restaurant on to the bar. The bar was a place for Archie to share his political views with Murray’s counter points. When Murray remarried and moved away, Archie took on a new partner, Gary Rabinowitz (Barry Gordon), who had much more liberal views than Archie. Jean Stapleton continued to make appearances as Edith, guesting five time during the first season’s 14 episodes, but decided to leave the series in 1979 with the character referred to for most of the season. The Season 2 premiere addressed her departure by explaining Edith had died of a stroke. Danielle Brisebois, who joined the final season of All in the Family as Stephanie, the abandoned daughter of Edith’s step-cousin, was a regular on the new series. Celeste Holm joined the series in 1981 as Stephanie’s wealthy grandmother. Anne Meara played the new cook at the bar, Veronica Rooney. Sally Struthers made several guest appearances as Gloria before spinning off on her own series. Several of Archie’s friends from the original series also appeared here including Barney Hefner (Allan Melvin), Hank Pivnik (Danny Dayton), Edgar Van Ranseleer (Bill Quinn) and Harry Snowden (Jason Wingreen). Unlike the original series, Archie Bunker’s Place was not filmed before a live studio audience, but on a closed set with the best takes being edited together and then shown to the audience attending a taping of One Day at a Time to provide a laugh track. The opening and closing themes were rescored versions of the All in the Family themes done in a Dixieland style arrangement. Frustrated by the show’s cancellation without proper closure, Carroll O’Connor vowed to never work with CBS again, however his NBC series In the Heat of the Night moved to CBS for its final two seasons, and the network also aired four TV movies. While the original series was based on the Britcom Till Death Do Us Part, the spin-off inspired that show’s creator to produce a sequel to the original British series, In Sickness and In Health, adapting several US episodes and running for seven seasons. Archie Bunker’s Place aired for four seasons, producing 97 episodes, ending on April 4, 1983.
• September 23 — Sitcom The Associates debuts on ABC. The series focused on a group of novice lawyers who worked at a Wall Street law firm and was the first starring vehicle for Martin Short. The cast included Joe Regalbuto, Tim Thomerson, Alley Mills, Shelley Smith and Wilfred Hyde-White. One of the series creators was John Jay Osborn Jr., author of The Paper Chase, and the seventh episode featured John Houseman reprising his role as Professor Kingsfield. 13 episodes were produced, but only eight were aired. ABC put the series on hiatus after the fifth episode on October 28, 1979. The series returned on March 27, 1980 when four more episodes aired, leaving four unaired.
• September 23 — Medical drama Trapper John, M.D. debuts on CBS, a spin-off of M*A*S*H with Pernell Roberts taking over the role played by Wayne Rogers on the original series. Now he’s a loveable surgeon working with an aspiring young professional, Dr. George Alonzo Gates (Gregory Harrison), usually referred to by the nickname Gonzo, who also served in a MASH unit in Vietnam. Other cast members included Charles Siebert, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christopher Norris, Mary McCarty, Madge Sinclair, Simon Scott and Timothy Busfield. Scott suffered from Alzheimers and made his final appearance during the show’s sixth season before retiring. Norris left the series at the end of Season 6, replaced by Lorna Luft for the seventh season. Beau Gravitte was added as a recurring character in the seventh season’s third episode. Gregory Harrison elected to leave the series mid-way through the 7th season, with Gonzo written out of the show after suffering a stroke. He was replaced by Kip Gilman as Dr. Jacob Christmas. After Harrison’s last episode, the series was off the air for three weeks, then returned on a different night before being pre-empted three times in the next four weeks. The series fell out of the Top 30 and was cancelled, with the final four episodes being burned off in the summer of 1986. In all, 151 were produced with the last being aired on September 4, 1986.
• September 25 — Teen drama California Fever debuts on CBS. The show focused on a group of Los Angeles teens living in an exotic life of disco, the beach, romance and music. The show was originally to have been titled We’re Cruising. The cast included Jimmy McNichol, Marc McClure, Michele Tobin and Lorenzo Lamas. The series lasted for just 10 episodes, the last airing on December 11, 1979.

1989

• September 16 — Sitcom Homeroom premieres on ABC. Stand-up comedian Darryl Sivad stars as advertising copywriter Darryl Harper who decided to quit his job to teach underprivileged kids at P.S. 391, and inner city school in New York City. Penny Johnson played his wife Virginia, who supported the decision, and Bill Cobbs played Virginia’s father Phil, who did not. Billy Dee Williams also appeared on the show. ABC scheduled it on Sundays opposite CBS’ Murder, She Wrote and NBC’s My Two Dads, resulting in the show struggling in the ratings. The producers and cast urged fans to write the network in support, but the efforts failed and the show was cancelled after the December 17, 1989 episode aired. 13 episodes were produced but three never aired. Desperate Housewies creator Marc Cherry wrote every episode (with Roger S.H. Schulman and David Cohen contributing to Episode 2).
• September 22 — Action drama Baywatch debuts on NBC. The series revolved around a team of lifeguards and their relationships, with stories often related to the dangers of the beach and other pertinent activities, from earthquakes to shark attacks to serial killers. David Hasselhoff, Michael Newman, Gregory Alan Williams, Gregory J. Barnett, Billy Warlock, Erika Eleniak, Monte Markham, Brandon Call, Peter Phelps, Holly Gagnier, Shawn Weatherly and Parker Stevenson were among the first season regulars. NBC cancelled the series after one season when it placed 73rd out of 103 shows, but the show’s studio GTG also went out of business due to the high production costs of the series. Hasselhoff and the show’s creators felt there was potential in the series and revived it for first-run syndication with The Hoff given an executive producer title. The show went on to become the most watched TV series in the world. In 1999, production costs were rising in California so the plan was to move the show to Australia with the title Baywatch Down Under, but residents of the new location feared damage to the fragile ecosystem and filming was permanently barred. The show instead filmed in Hawaii for two seasons as Baywatch: Hawaii. The series produced 242 episodes over its 11 seasons, with the final episode airing in syndication on May 14, 2001. The series also inspired a spin-off in 1995, Baywatch Nights, that ran for just two seasons. Three direct-to-video films were also produced. A feature-film comedy was released in 2017 with Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. Freemantle was said to be eying a reboot of the series in 2018.
• September 22 — Sitcom Family Matters premieres on ABC. The series originally focused on the Winslow family: police officer Carl, wife Harriette, son Eddie, and daughters Laura and Judy (who was written out in Season 4). Carl’s mother Estelle, aka Mother Winslow, was also a regular. Nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel was introduced midway through the first season, and his popularity led to the series to center increasingly on him, with actor Jaleel White also assuming other characters, including Urkel’s alter-ego Stefan Urquelle and female cousin Myrtle Urkel. The series ran for eight seasons on ABC, but tensions between producers Miller-Boyett Productions and the network’s new owner The Walt Disney Company, led to CBS offering a $40 million deal to acquire the show, and Step By Step, from ABC, along with a new Miller-Boyett series, Meego. CBS scheduled the three series on Fridays against ABC’s TGIF lineup. Family Matters was a modest success for CBS while Meego was a flop and cancelled after six weeks. Near the end of the ninth season, the cast and producers were informed the show would get a tenth and final season so scripts could be plotted out for a proper finale. But with the failure of Meego, CBS filled the 8 PM timeslot with the hour-long Kids Say the Darnedest Things, pushing Family Matters back an hour later to 9 PM, paired with Step By Step. Ratings fell dramatically and both shows were cancelled in the spring of 1989, with remaining episodes burned off during the summer and no tenth season to wrap things up. In all 215 episodes were produced over nine seasons on two networks with the last being aired on July 17, 1989.
• September 22 — Fantasy sitcom Free Spirit premieres on ABC. Corinne Bohrer starred as Winnie Goodwinn, a witch summoned by 10-year-old Gene (Edan Gross) as a wish, who is subsequently hired as a live-in housekeeper. Father Thomas (Franc Luz) doesn’t know Winnie is a witch, but his children do. The other kids were played by Alyson Hannigan and Paul Scherrer). Christopher Rich portrayed Thomas in the pilot, but since the show was intended as a vehicle for Bohrer and Gross, producers felt Rich was replaceable (Rich had previously starred in ABC’s 1987-88 fantasy sitcom The Charmings). The show produced 14 episodes, but only 13 aired. The series vanished from the airwaves on January 14, 1990.
• September 22 — Detective series Snoops debuts on CBS. The comedic drama starred Tim Reid and his wife Daphne Maxwell Reid as a criminologist and his wife who often found themselves embroiled in solving crimes (similar to Hart to Hart). Child actor Tasha Scott also starred as their daughter, with Tracy Camilla Johns and John Karlen in supporting roles. The series ran for 13 episodes, with CBS pulling the show from its schedule after the tenth on December 8, 1989. The final three episodes were burned off in the summer of 1990, with the last airing on July 6.
• September 24 — Crime drama Booker premieres on FOX, a spin-off of 21 Jump Street starring Richard Grieco reprising his Dennis Booker character, originally a recurring character on that show’s third season. Booker now works in the US office of a large Japanese company investigating suspicious insurance claims. Booker took over 21 Jump Street‘s Sunday at 7:00 PM time slot after that show was moved to Mondays, but was not the hit the network expected, eventually moving the show to 10:00 PM when FOX was still broadcasting on Sundays at that time, and then cancelling it at the end of the season. 22 episodes were aired with the finale broadcast on May 6, 1990. The supporting cast included Marcia Strassman and Lori Petty, with guest stars Thomas Haden Church, Peter DeLuise, Jason Priestley, Holly Robinson, Ben Vereen, Mariska Hargitay, Don S. Davis, Maura Tierney, Marcia Cross, Don Cheadle, Vanity, Tawny Kitaen, James Hong, Heavy D and Jay O. Sanders.
• September 26 — Sitcom Living Dolls debuts on ABC, a spin-off of Who’s the Boss? The show featured Leah Remini as Charlie Briscoe, a friend of Samantha’s (Alyssa Milano) from the original series. Sam is dabbling in modeling when Charlie comes to visit. Charlie does some test shots for a dog food ad and is found to be very photogenic. Charlie is befriended by the owner of a modeling agency for teen girls (and friend to ad exec Angela Bower) who becomes a mother figure to Charlie. The cast included Michael Learned, Debrah Tucker, Allison Elliott and David Moscow, and was the acting debut of Halle Berry. The series was universally panned and received an ‘F’ rating in People magazine’s 1989 Fall Preview issue — the only new series to score that low. ABC cancelled the series after 12 episode, the last airing on December 30, 1989.

1999

• September 22 — Sitcom Oh, Grow Up debuts on ABC, based on Alan Ball’s one-act play Bachelor Holiday. The series starred Stephen Dunham, David Alan Basche, John Ducey, Rena Sofer and Freddy Rodriguez, who would go on to join the cast of Ball’s Six Feet Under in 2001. 13 episodes were produced, with two remaining unaired. The last episode was broadcast on December 28, 1989.
• September 22 — Political drama The West Wing premieres on NBC. The series focused on President Jed Bartlett and his staff through legislative, political and personal issues. The series featured a large inter-connected set which allowed for shots to be created with little editing as characters walk through the hallways, leading to the series being known for its ‘walk and talk’ segments. Former Senate aide and current MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell was a writer on the show for seasons 1 and 2 and seasons 5-7. Many political insiders and former White House staffers also served as consultants. While the show was praised for its writing, it was also criticized for the ‘morally pure’ characters who never seemed to be soiled or disillusioned by the realities of the political world. The show also received criticism for its liberal administration, often dubbed ‘The Left Wing’. The series was still well-regarded and won a record 26 Emmy Awards, tied with until Game of Thrones eclipsed them with 35 wins (which will certainly increase with the 2019 awards yet to be handed out). The main cast over the course of the show’s run included Martin Sheen, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, Stockard Channing, Moira Kelly, Joshua Malina, Mary McCormack, Jimmy Smits, Alan Alda and Krittin Chenoweth. The show weathered salary disputes with Sheen’s $300,000 salary eclipsing the rest of the principle cast members’ $75,000 per episode. Lowe quit the show in the fourth season due to not getting a salary increase, and disparities in pay led to public contract disputes for Janney, Schiff, Spencer and Whitford, when the four were threatened with breach of contract by Warner Bros. The four banded together and got their salaries doubled, and two years later they demanded another increase after the studio signed a new licensing deal with NBC and Bravo. Spencer died of a heart attack in December 2005 about a year after his character suffered a near fatal heart attack on the show. Sheen gave a brief memorial message before the first new episode that aired after Spencer’s death. The loss of Spencer’s character was addressed in the episode ‘Election Day’, which aired on April 2, 2006. The series ran for seven seasons, producing 156 episodes. The series finale aired on May 14, 2006.
• September 23 — Sitcom Stark Raving Mad premieres on NBC. Tony Shalhoub starred as a horror novelist obsessed with practical jokes. Neil Patrick Harris played his editor who has a variety of phobias. Other cast members included Eddie McClintock, Dorie Barton and Heather Page Kent as Margaret Keller, a role originally intended for Jessica Cauffiel who appears in several early cast photos. Harriet Sansom Harris and Chris Sarandon had recurring roles. The series won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite New Comedy Series and the show ranked 15th among all programs. Surprisingly, NBC cancelled the series on April 15, 2000, after the 17th episode aired on March 16. Episode 18 aired on July 13, with four others remaining unaired.
• September 23 — Crime drama Third Watch premieres on NBC. The show featured an ensemble cast and focused on the lives of police officers of the NYPD, and the firefighters and paramedics of the FDNY, working within the same precinct during the 3PM-11PM shift, the ‘third watch’. Filmed in New York City and still on the air in 2001, the third season premiere episode ‘In Their Own Words’, which airded on October 15, featured interviews with real-life NYPD and FDNY members who responded to the 9/11 terror attacks. The following episode was titled ‘September Tenth’. The series’ cast included Michael Beach, Coby Bell, Bobby Cannavale, Eddie Cibrian, Molly Price, Kim Raver and Nia Long. The series ran for six seasons, producing 132 episodes, with the last airing on May 6, 2005.
• September 24 — Dramedy Cold Feet debuts on NBC. Based on the UK series of the same name, the series follows three Seattle couples in different stages of their relationships. The cast included David Sutcliffe, Jean Louisa Kelly, William Keane, Dina Spybey, Anthony Starke and Alicia Coppola. NBC commissioned 13 episodes and aired the series on Friday night at 10:00 PM, the time slot formerly occupied by Homicde: Life on the Street. Only eight episodes were produced, and of those, only four were aired with the last episode broadcast on October 29, 1999.
• September 24 — Sci-fi drama Now and Again debuts on CBS. The story revolved around a government engineering project attempting to create the perfect body for use in espionage, but not being able to perfect the brain. In order to get the project moving forward, they take the brain of overweight family man Michael Wiseman (John Goodman), who was killed by a train. The new Michael (Eric Close) is kept in an apartment, trained by government experts in the art of espionage. Michael is enjoying his new, ripped body but still longs to return to his wife and daughter, who are beginning to realize Michael’s death may not have been what it seemed. Despite being told he can have no contact with his family, Michael finds way to contact them while keeping his identity a secret. The cast also included Dennis haysbert, Margaret Colin and Heather Matarazzo. Unfortunately, CBS cancelled the series after its 22-episode first season, leaving fans of the show with a major unresolved cliffhanger. The season finale aired on May 5, 2000.
• September 24 — Animated series Mission Hill premieres on The WB. The show was set in the world of teens and 20-somethings with 24-year-old Andy French finding his sheltered teenage brother Kevin moving in with him and his roommates. The voice cast included Wallace Langham, Scott Menville, Brian Posehn and Vicki Lewis. 18 episodes were planned for the first season, but only 13 were produced. The WB put the show on hiatus after airing two episodes, returning to the schdule in the summer of 2000 when four additional episodes aired before being cancelled. The show developed a cult following when the 13 episodes aired on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block. The series was originally titled The Downtowners but was renamed due to the similarly titled Downtown series on MTV.
• September 24 — Sitcom Odd Man Out premieres on ABC as part of the TGIF lineup. The series starred Erik von Detten as Andrew Whitney, the only male in a household of females including his three sisters, an aunt (Jessica Capshaw) and his widowed mom (Markei Post). The show was promoted heavily to save the faltering TGIF block with teenage girls screaming ‘EVD!’, the initials of the show’s star. The title was never mentioned with promotion focused on ‘What is EVD? Find out Fridays this Fall.’ The plot did not work and the show was cancelled after 13 episodes, the last new sitcom to premiere as part of the original TGIF block, which also ended at the close of the season. During a TGIF revival in 2004, von Detten starred in another series, Complete Savages, in which he was a member of an all-male family. The final episode of Odd Man Out aired on January 7, 2000.
• September 25 — Dramedy Freaks and Geeks debuts on NBC. The series followed gifted high schooler Lindsay Weir who befriends a gang of slacker ‘freaks’, and her younger brother Sam as he and his geek friends navigate high school. The cast included Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daly, James Franco, Samm Levine, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Becky Ann Barker, Joe Flaherty and Busy Philipps. 18 episodes were produced but NBC cancelled the show after airing 12. A fan campaign led the network to air three more episodes in July 2000, and the rest of the episodes aired on the Fox Family Channel in the Fall. The series has appeared on numerous lists of the greatest television shows of all-time, and launched the careers of its then relatively unknown cast. MST3K‘s Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu were among the recurring cast, which included Ben Foster, Lizzy Caplan, Steve Higgins, Claudia Christian, Kevin Tighe, Sam McMurray, Amy Aquino and Ann Dowd. The series cancellation is said to be blamed on erratic scheduling and competition from ABC’s Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. The producers created a website for the series but NBC refused to share the URL because ‘they didn’t want people to know the internet existed; they were worried about losing viewers to it,’ explained series creator Judd Apatow. Problem also arose after NBC picked up the series and was then under new leadership which did not understand the show because new head Garth Ancier went to a private boarding school. The show’s writers wanted to accurately represent high school life while the network wanted something to make high school look cool. Judd Apatow has said that everything he’s done since then is revenge for the show’s cancellation. Apatow went on to produce Undeclared for FOX and wanted Freaks and Geeks actors included. The network only picked up Seth Rogen, who was already committed as a writer. Jason Segel did become a recurring character with Samm Levine and Busy Philipps appearing in guest roles. Martin Starr also guested in one episode but he was cut for broadcast. That show was also cancelled after one season.
• September 26 — Dramedy Jack & Jill premieres on The WB. The show focused on David Jillefsky (Ivan Sergei) and Jacqueline Barrett (Amanda Peet) who become romatically involved but face obstacles in their relationship with their friends. The cast also included Sarah Paulson, Jaime Pressley, Justin Kirk and Simon Rex. The first season’s 19 episodes averaged modest ratings, so the network gave the series a second season with an initial 13-episode order and aired as a mid-season show. The series ended on a cliffhanger as the pair prepared for their wedding on April 15, 2001. Peet and Paulson would later reunite for NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
• September 26 — Dramedy Snoops premieres on ABC. The show focused on an unconventional detective agency, Glenn Hall, Inc., headed by Glenn Hall (Gina Gershon). The cast included Paula Jai Parker, Danny Nucci, Paula Marshall and Jessalyn Gilsig. Guest stars included John Glover, Stephen Tobolowsky, Priscilla Barnes, Emmy Rossum, Denise Crosby and David E. Kelley as himself. Kelley created the series at the height of his fame, with The Practice and Ally McBeal drawing large audiences. The series initially garnered good ratings but fell quickly, and ABC cancelled the series after 10 of its 13 episodes aired, the last being broadcast on December 19, 1999. The character of Glenn Hall would later appear in an episode of the final season of The Practice. Kelley later cast Gilsig on Boston Public, with Rossum appearing in a multi-episode arc of The Practice. Kelley was able to rewrite the series’ final episode after the cancellation announcement to provide a proper finale … that never aired in the US. The final three episodes did air overseas.

2009

• September 16 — Soapy drama The Beautiful Life: TBL premieres on The CW. The series revolved around a group of male and female models sharing a residence in New York City. The cast included Mischa Barton, Elle Macpherson, Sara Paxton, Nico Tortorella and Corbin Bleu. Ashton Kutcher was an executive producer on the series. The CW ordered 13 episodes to start the season, but the show was cancelled after the second episode due to abysmal ratings, marking the first series of the 2009-2010 season to hold that (dis)honor. Production was reportedly taking place on the seventh episode when the cancellation occurred. The first five completed episodes were streamed on YouTube, with Kutcher suggesting the series may be able to find a home online and do things they couldn’t do on network television. Sadly, that concept was a little ahead of its time.
• September 22 — Legal drama The Good Wife debuts on CBS. The series focuses on Alicia Florek, wife of the Cook County State’s Attorney who returns to her law career following the events of a public sex and corruption scandal involving her husband. Series creators Michelle and Robert King got the idea for the series from observing prominent political scandals involving Bill Clinton and John Edwards, whose wives stood silently beside their husbands as they admitted their misconduct. The story for the series came in the weeks following the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal. The cast included Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Graham Phillips, Makenzie Vega, Josh Charles, Christine Baranski, Alan Cumming, Zach Grenier, Matthew Goode, Cush Jumbo, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, with a recurring cast including Chris Noth, Mary Beth Pell, Michael Boatman, Mike Colter, Titus Welliver, Dreama Walker, Gary Cole, Martha Plimpton, Carrie Preston, Dylan Baker, Mamie Gummer, Dallas Roberts, Michael J. Fox, Anika Noni Rose, Tim Guinee, Sarah Steele, America Ferrera, Michael Ealy, Jerry Adler, John Benjamin Hickey, Matthew Perry, Parker Posey, Anna Camp, Miriam Shor, Stockard Channing, Nathan Lane, Amanda Peet, Maura Tierney, T. R. Knight, Vanessa Williams, F. Murray Abraham and Lisa Edelman. The series was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards and won three, one for Pnajabi as Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2010) and two for Margulies as Lead Actress in a Drama Series (2011, 2014).During the show’s seven season run, 156 episodes were produced and broadcast, with the series finale airing on May 8, 2016. On February 19, 2017, CBS’s streaming service launched the spin-off series The Good Fight, which carried over characters played by Baranski, Jumbo, Steele, Boatman, Cole, with guest appearances by actors reprising their roles from the original series including Preston, Hickey and Perry.
• September 22 — Crime drama The Forgotten premieres on ABC. The series focused on a group of amateur detectives of the Forgotten Network who attempt to reconstruct pieces of unknown victims’ lives with what little evidence is available. Each episode is narrated by the ‘body’ who watches the team as they try to figure out who the victim was. The series starred Christian Slater, Heather Stephens, Michelle Borth, Anthony Carrigan, Bob Stephenson, Rochelle Aytes and Elisha Cuthbert. 13 episodes were initially ordered and in November of 2009, ABC ordered an additional five to bring the season total to 18. That total included the unaired pilot which featured different actors in key roles, including Rupert Penry-Jones in the role played by Slater on the series. ABC aired the 15th episode on March 9, 2010, the burned off the final two episodes on July 3. The series was not renewed.
• September 22 — Action series NCIS: Los Angeles premieres on CBS, the first spin-off of the successful NCIS. The series, a blend of military drama and police procedural, follows the Office of Special Projects (OSP), an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) that specializes in undercover assignments led by Special Agent G, Callen (Chris O’Donnell). Longest serving cast members include O’Donnell, Daniela Rush, LL Cool J, Linda Hunt, Barrett Foa, Eric Christian Olsen, Renée Felice Smith and Miguel Ferrer. Nia Long joined the cast in the ninth season after Ferrer’s death. Characters from the series have crossed over to other CBS shows including Hawaii Five-0, Scorpion and JAG. The series ranked in the Top 10 for the season during its first five years in the Tuesday, 9:00 PM time slot. Moving the series to Mondays at 10:00 PM saw a significant drop from Number 4 in Season 5 to Number 27 in Season 6. A move to Sunday at 8:00 PM saw the ratings rise bringing the series up to Number 11 for Season 8, and a shift to an hour later on Sundays saw ratings fall again dropping to Number 21 for Season 9 and 28 for Season 10. The series has been renewed for an 11th season which will premieres on Sunday, September 29.
• September 23 — Comedy series Cougar Town debuts on ABC. The series focused on Jules Cobb, a recently divorced woman in her 40s facing new challenges in life while dealing with her ex, her teenage son and her wine-drinking friends who make up her supportive but dysfunctional support unit. The title comes from the nickname for the fictional Florida town, Gulfhaven, whose high school mascot is a cougar. The main cast included Courteney Cox, Christa Miller, Busy Philipps, Dan Byrd, Josh Hopkins, Ian Gomez and Brian Van Holt. The series ran for three seasons on ABC, but after botching the third season premiere by pushing the show to mid-season, the series was facing cancellation. TBS purchased the rights to produce a fourth season, eventually taking it to a total of six seasons with 102 episodes. The series finale aired on March 31, 2015
• September 23 — Medical drama Mercy premieres on NBC. The series was an ensemble drama set at the fictional Mercy Hospital in Jersey City, NJ and focused on the lives of three nurses: a military vet just returned from Iraq, her friend who is involved in a relationship with a police officer, and a recent graduate thrown into the world of nursing and unprepared for what it entails. The series starred Taylor Schilling, Jaime Lee Kirchner, Michelle Trachtenberg, James Tupper, Diego Klattenhoff, Guillermo Diaz and James LeGros. The series ran for one season of 22 episodes, concluding on May 12, 2010.
• September 23 — Supernatural dramedy Eastwick premieres on ABC, based on the novel ‘The Witches of Eastwick’. The story follows three women who wish for something to change in their lives, inadvertantly conjuring up a new resident to the town of Eastwick, Darryl Van Horne, who informs them of their special ‘talents’ and encourages them to explore their unique abilities. The women, however, begin to worry about Van Horne’s ultimate intentions. Paul Gross starred as Van Horne (the role played by Jack Nicholson in the movie) with Jaime Ray Newman, Lindsay Price, and Rebecca Romijn as the three witches (played by Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon in the movie). The recurring cast included Darren Criss, Matt Dallas, Jason George, Jack Huston and Cybill Shepherd. Veronica Cartwright, who appeared in the movie also co-starred in the series but as a different character. Two other adaptations of the novel were produced in 1992 and 2002, but neither went past the pilot stage. The series produced 13 episodes, but only 11 aired, with the final episode broadcast on December 30, 2009. The series was one of 84 shows cancelled from the 2009-2010 season. After the cancellation, E! Online conducted a poll to see which show fans felt deserved a second chance and Eastwick topped the poll with 54.5% of the votes.
• September 23 — Comedy series Modern Family premieres on ABC. Inspired by the mocumentary style of The Office, the series focuses on three inter-related families: Jay Pritchett, his younger wife Gloria and her son Manny; Claire Dunphy (neé Pritchett), her husband Phil and their three children; and Jay Pritchett, his husband Cameron and their adopted daughter. The original intention was to have a documentary crew following the family, but the producers ultimately felt the component was unnecessary and prefer to think of it as a family show done documentary-style. The show was pitched to NBC, but the network passed because it already had similarly stylistic shows on the air, The Office and Parks & Recreation. CBS was not interested in a single-camera-style production, and FOX was not approached at all due to issues the producers had with the network on a previous series. With the pilot testing well, ABC committed to a 13 episode order for the first season, and picked up the back nine in October. The cast included Ed O’Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet. To date, the series has produced 232 episodes over ten seasons. The shortened 11th and final season will premiere September 25. It is ABC’s longest running comedy series.
• September 24 — Drama series FlashForward premieres on ABC. The series revovles around the lives of several people as a mysterious event causes almost everyone on the planet to lose consciousness for two minutes and seventeen seconds on October 6, 2009. During that blackout, people appear to have visions of their lives six months into the future. With production on the first season’s 22 episodes completed, ABC cancelled the series in May of 2010, leaving the show with no resolution as another flashforward event showed events 20 years in the future. The cast included Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Zachary Knighton, Peyton List, Dominic Monaghan, Courtney B. Vance and Sonya Walger.
• September 25 — Sitcom Brothers premieres on FOX. The show revolved around a pair of estranged brothers, played by Michael Strahan and Daryl ‘Chill’ Mitchell, who are pressured to get along by their parents (Carl Weathers & C.C.H. Pounder). The series ran for 13 episodes, concluding on December 27, 2009.
• September 27 — Animated sitcom The Cleveland Show premieres on FOX. The series, co-created by Seth MacFarlane, centered on the Browns and Tubbs, two dysfunctional families headed by Cleveland Brown and Donna Tubbs. The show’s comedy was similar to MacFarlane’s Family Guy with cutaway gags and lampooning American culture. The series aired for four seasons and produced 88 episodes. The characters have since made appearances on Family Guys. The voice cast included Mike Henry, Sanaa Lathan, Jason Sudeikis and Seth MacFarlane.
• September 27 — Animated series Popzilla premieres on MTV. The animated sketch comedy show was produced by SCTV alum Dave Thomas and focused on pop culture, celebrities and famous figures. Each episode consisted of about 30 sketches that ran less than a minute. The series was animated in Flash to provide a quick turnaround for current celebrity news. It ran just 12 episode and ended on October 16, 2009.
• September 27 — Stop motion animated series Titan Maximum premieres on Adult Swim. The series was a sci-fi parody centering on a group of teen heroes who pilot a giant robot in order to protect the galaxy from evil. The voice cast included Breckin Meyer, Rachael Leigh Cook, Dan Milano, Eden Espinosa and Seth Green. The series ran for just nine episodes, ending on November 22, 2009.
• September 28 — Medical drama Trauma debuts on NBC. The series focused on a group of paramedics from San Francisco, California. The cast included Derek Luke, Taylor Kinney, Jamey Sheridan and Cliff Curtis. NBC initially ordered 13 episodes, and a month after the premiere the network effectively cancelled the show but would broadcast all 13 episodes. In November 2009, the network reversed the decision and ordered three additional episodes, bringing the order to 16 which was then extended to 20 in January, 2010 after the demise of The Jay Leno Show. The tenth episode aired on November 30, 2009, and the show returned after the Winter Olympics on March 8, 2010. With the season finale scheduled for May 10, NBC cut the episode order by two episodes, now down to 18, with the season finale now set for April 26. NBC ultimately cancelled the series on May 14, 2010 after one season.

 
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