Article Database
Alphabetical * Date Published * Television Programs
If you're only interested in articles on a specific program, this page is for you.
Originally Published October 24th, 2004
This was Jerry Van Dyke's first television series post-
My Mother the Car. Despite being more mainstream it only lasted a few months. Sadly, the series tried too hard to combine comedy with drama, often at the expensive of both. But while the humor was usually low-key, occasional glimpses of realistic writing elevates Accidental Family above most other obscure sitcoms.
Originally Published June 11th, 2003
This sitcom aired for a single twenty-six episode season during the 1964-1965 season. Paul Ford starred as Sam Bailey, a widowed curmudgeon who a charter boat service around the affluent community of Balboa. His everyman attitude flew in the face of the primarily aristocratic population and he had frequent clashes with his neighbors.
Originally Published July 16th, 2003
Two versions of Chic Young's classic comic strip have aired on television. The first, broadcast in black & white in 1957 starred Arthur Lake (who had starred in a series of films based on the strip) and Pamela Britton. The second, this one in glorious color, was aired in 1968 and starred Patricia Harty and Will Hutchins. The first lasted an entire season, the other half a season.
Originally Published January 1st, 2004
This subdued sitcom, like countless other sitcoms broadcast in the 1960s, ran for a total of twenty-six episodes. Set at summer camp for boys, this series focused more on the adults than the kiddies. Opposite
The Wild, Wild West on CBS, Camp Runamuck never stood a chance. Although beloved by some younger viewers, the humor was stilted and the storylines benign. Still, there are some who enjoyed the series and would love to see it again.
Originally Published February 15th, 2005
During the 1979 midseason NBC premiered an unusual hour-long series consisting of a trio of of twenty-minute serials. Each serial, broadcast in "chapters," ended in a cliffhanger that was resolved in the following week's episode. NBC had high hopes for the series, which was heavily promoted by the network.
Stop Susan Willams starred Susan Anton as an investigative photographer on the trail of her brother's killers.
Originally Published February 15th, 2005
During the 1979 midseason NBC premiered an unusual hour-long series consisting of a trio of of twenty-minute serials. Each serial, broadcast in "chapters," ended in a cliffhanger that was resolved in the following week's episode. NBC had high hopes for the series, which was heavily promoted by the network.
The Secret Empire is best remembered for switching between black & white (or sepia tone, really) and color; it dealt with an advanced alien society living below the desert.
Originally Published February 15th, 2005
During the 1979 midseason NBC premiered an unusual hour-long series consisting of a trio of of twenty-minute serials. Each serial, broadcast in "chapters," ended in a cliffhanger that was resolved in the following week's episode. NBC had high hopes for the series, which was heavily promoted by the network. Michael Nouri starred in
The Curse of Dracula, a dark, gothic tale about the dark prince and the college students attempting kill him.
Originally Published January 1st, 2004
A television spin-off of the classic film starring Matthew Broderick. Starring Charlie Schaltter as Ferris, Ami Dolenz as Sloan Peterson, and a pre-
Friends Jennifer Aniston as Jeannie Bueller, the series lasted only a dozen episodes in 1990 on NBC before it was cancelled. A thirteenth episode was aired a year later.
Originally Published August 26th, 2004
Although it's probably the most recent program on our website, Freedom is nevertheless an interesting study in short-lived television. First, the original (and unaired) pilot episode was actually promoted by UPN before the series actually began. And second, although only a total of twelve episodes were produced, the series has a cult following internationally.
Originally Published October 14th, 2003
Stefanie Powers starred in this spin-off of the classic Robert Vaughn & David McCallum series. Only one season was produced and aired on NBC before the series was cancelled due to low ratings. Leo G. Carroll appeared on both shows simultaneously as U.N.C.L.E. head Alexander Waverly. Unlike
The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the spin-off was too campy for its own good.
Originally Published October 14th, 2003
Only a year after the end of
Gilligan's Island, Bob Denver starred in this low-key, two-season sitcom as Rufus Butterworth, a taxi driver. Herb Edelman also starred as Bert Gramus, who owned a diner called Bert's Place. During the second season Bert gave up the taxi and joined Bert in running the diner. The series was never syndicated after its initial run.
Originally Published August 28th, 2006
After five years playing the always-flustered Tony Nelson on
I Dream of Jeannie and eight years before his lengthy turn as the conniving J.R. Ewing on
Dallas, Larry Hagman somehow found the time to star in this short-lived sitcoms. He appeared alongside Donna Mills (who would later co-star in
Knots Landing, a spin-off of
Dallas) as a married couple who decide to chase the good life.
Originally Published May 8th, 2004
In March of 1993 ABC premiered this new sitcom, starring Matthew Perry as twentysomething Matt Bailey, a small time reporter who still lives with his mother. When his older sister and her children move in Matt's easy-going life is changed considerably. Sounds like a real winner, right? Only a dozen episodes were aired, which gave Matthew Perry the chance to move on to NBC's Friends.
Originally Published October 10th, 2007
Based on the classic Johann David Wyss novel, Swiss Family Robinson was Irwin Allen's second-to-last television series (Code Red in 1981 was his last). Unlike the successful science-fiction shows he produced in the 1960s (Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), Swiss Family Robinson was poorly recieved by viewers and barely lasted a season. Mostly forgotten today, it is occasionally mentioned in relation to Helen Hunt, as one of her early television roles.
Originally Published May 8th, 2004
The themesong to this show is infinitely more memorable the show itself. Originally, the show followed the adventures of two modern-day astronauts thrown back into the stone age. When the ratings were almost as pre-historic as the setting the show was retooled and a family of cavemen were brought to the present. The ratings didn't improve and the show was cancelled after a single season.
Originally Published September 3rd, 2007
This syndicated, half-hour drama starred Ella Raines as a recently discharged Army nurse who traveled the country filling in at hospitals wherever and whenever she was needed. But Janet Dean wasn't just a nurse; she was a problem solver with a kind soul, trying to do more than heal her patients' physical ills. The series ran for a single season from 1954-1955 and was probably the first television show to have a nurse as the main character.
Originally Published May 8th, 2004
Dan Haggerty's famous role of Grizzly Adams originated on the big screen in 1974, followed by this mid-season replacement on NBC in 1977. After the series was cancelled in 1978, a pair of follow-up made-for-tv movies were produced.
Originally Published March 21st, 2004
Although it ranked in the top twenty-five for the 1959-1960 season this series was nevertheless cancelled after only one season. John Vivyian and Ross Martin starred a pair of wheelers and dealers who ran a gambling establishment aboard a ship anchored in international water -- at least until the sponsors got worried and forced the network to stop referencing gambling.
Originally Published June 11th, 2003
In 1969 ABC tried something new, two forty-five minute shows airing back-to-back from 7:30PM to 9:00PM.
The New People was one of those shows. Cancelled after only seventeen episodes, the series has seen something of a resurgance in popularity recently due to ABC's current hit series
Lost, which has a similiar premise. Broadcast from September 1969 to January 1970 the series followed a group of college students as they fought to survive after being stranded on an island.
Originally Published February 1st, 2004
This quality drama unfortunately only produced thirteen episodes in the early 1990s. Broadcast on Sunday evenings by FOX, the series was a continuation of the 1983 film which, in turn, was based on the 1967 novel by S.E. Hinton. The show followed the trials and tribulations of three brothers stuck living on their own in a tough world.
Originally Published October 14th, 2003
Nick Adams, who died under unusual circumstances in 1968, starred in this Western that aired for an amazing 76 episodes between 1959 and 1961. He played the one and only character in the series, the wandering Johnny Yuma, who moved from town to town, episode after episode, meeting interesting people and helping out folks in need. Johnny Cash sang the themesong, "The Ballad of Johnny Yuma."
Originally Published October 10th, 2004
Premiering in the fall of 1974 on CBS, this dramatic series was set in the 1950s and followed a pair of high school students as they tried to deal with life and love. Only nine episodes were broadcast before the series was cancelled due to low ratings -- surprisingly several episodes were lated edited into late-night cable telefilms. Gary Frank and Glynnis O'Connor starred.
Originally Published December 14th, 2004
Teen heartthrob Tab Hunter was given a starring role in this 1960 sitcom. He played Paul Morgan, creator of a popular comic strip not-so-loosely based on his own life. As a womanizing bachelor, Paul travelled all over the world chasing skirts and having flings, and then turned his own experiences into stories for the comic strip.
Originally Published June 17th, 2004
This series had its beginnings in an episode of
The Brady Bunch aired in 1974. When the show premiered in 1986 it starred Elliot Gould as the patriarch of a multi-racial family with two adopted children and two biological children. After only a handful of broadcasts the series was pulled and retooled. When it returned, Gould was gone and the series had a new title: "Together We Stand."
Originally Published August 20th, 2003
This 1960s comedy has achieved a modicum of noteriety for its premise. A poor American working for a talent agency meets a beautiful British actress and, after posing as a female model for his brother, travels to England and is forced to pretend to be a woman. Cross-dressing at its best? Perhaps not. But the themesong is memorable and the sheer inanity of the series keep it alive almost forty years after it came and went.
Originally Published March 21st, 2004
As the Revolutionary War raged on around them, a group of young people in the colonies did their best to help bring about independence while maintaining a publically neutral facade. The series was part of a wave of relevant, youth-oriented programs that the networks premiered in the fall of 1970. Only fifteen episodes were broadcast.
Last Updated November 5th, 2007
