Yesterday, FOX announced that its two-hour 25th anniversary special (aptly titled “FOX’s 25th Anniversary Special”) will be broadcast on Sunday, April 22nd from 8-10PM. Previously, it was scheduled to air on April 1st. According to a press release, the special “will celebrate the shows and the stars of FOX’s 25-year history, from its earliest days as a bold, brazen upstart to its current standing as the No. 1 network among Adults 18-49.” And according to the FOX website, “FOX’s biggest stars from both past and present will make live appearances to celebrate the network that began on April 5, 1987.” It will be interesting to see whether the special will actually spend a significant amount of time on the network’s “earliest days” and programs long forgotten like Boys Will Be Boys, Karen’s Song, Beyond Tomorrow, The Reporters and Women in Prison. Will Whoops! even warrant a mention?
While FOX did indeed debut its first prime time lineup on Sunday, April 5th, 1987 (Married with Children and The Tracey Ullman Show were each broadcast three times during the network’s inaugural three-hour broadcast: Married with Children was seen at 7PM, 8PM and 9PM and The Tracy Ullman Show at 7:30PM, 8:30PM and 9:30PM), its very first offering as a network was The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, which premiered on Thursday, October 9th, 1986. The 25th anniversary of that program would have been last year. Obviously, FOX is not interested in reminding people about its failed foray into late night.
Or its many years of Saturday Morning programming…