I remember that one - it was sort of a “Twilight Zone” for 11-14 year olds, IIRC.
I think the qualification of lot of the shows people might mention could vary depending on location. For example, I grew up in New Zealand, where they used to screen the Adam West Batman on TV in the '80s and '90s. The only people I’ve run into in Australia who are familiar with it are, either Batman fans who went out of their way to track it down, or nerdy types who started looking into it after Mayor Adam West became a semi-regular feature of Family Guy.
I learned to programme a VCR so I could record Duckman, which was on at 2:30am in the morning. No-one I’ve spoken to here has ever heard of the show, although I know it was reasonably popular in the US.
And when I was about 13 or 14, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose was the coolest show on TV. Again, no-one I know here has ever heard of it.
“Time Tunnel” ran for a few years in the 1970’s-it was about a top secret (of course) Air Force project to send two guys back in time. The project’s aims were never clear-maybe they were supposed to correct history? At any rate, Whit Bissell played the AF general running things.
I recall one episode where the guys went back to the “Titanic”-they argued with the captain about looking for icebergs.
As far as I know, the time travellers never accomplished anything.
Hadn’t thought about that show in Years. I liked it to.
As a fan of the superhero theme I got some laughs from William Daniels as Carter Nash AKA Captain Nice.
He drank a vial of his secret formula to have powers for a limited time. One bit I remeber was him being locked in a vault and finding he only had 1/2 a vial of formula.
“This will give me all of my powers half the time, or half my powers all the time”
He drinks it, crashes into the door and falls on his ass
“Or none of my powers none of the time”
There was another in this same era called Mr Terrific. Comic bumbling heros who somehow managed to still do some good.
The Time Tunnel’s on Hulu, and it was sixties, not seventies.
Anybody remember Joey and Dad or All’s Fair? The only reason I remember the first is that it was sacrilege to move the dial off of CBS at our house and I remember the second because Bernadette Peters was hot back then.
I liked Best of the West. To this day, whenever I see Tracey Walter in a show, I say to my wife, “Well, at least Frog is still getting work.” I don’t think she remembers the show and usually just rolls her eyes.
Wow. Automan. Misfits of Science. These were the fleeting shows that strangled my inner, 12 year old geek.
I fondly remember “Get a Life”, featuring Chris Elliot as a likable loser and hapless adult paperboy. I find him ridiculously hilarious, and always keep my eye on him. Still mean to check out Eagleheart.
Also, MTV’s Liquid Television. I was mesmerized.
And The Gary Shandling Show. Perhaps one of the first “meta” sitcoms?
How about A Year at the Top, which didn’t even last a year?** A Year at the Top - Wikipedia. It starred Paul Schaffer and Greg Evigan as two musicians who sold their souls to the devil.
I have no idea why it sticks in my head. I was only 10 when it was on the air.
Don’t forget Lee Meriwether, (former Miss America, Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie, and Barnaby Jones’ daughter-in-law) and James Darren (popular singer and actor, who also played Vic Fontaine on DS9) who were also stars in the series.
It also seems to be directly influential on Quantum leap, as Dr. Newman (Darren) entered the Time Tunnel in order to prevent funding being cut off (a la Sam Beckett) and that Tony and Doug are unable to control their leaping around in time. Although you’re right, they never accomplished anything in their travels other than preventing Tony’s younger self from being killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
I remember Kelly Monteith and Shields & Yarnell. I also remember the summer series that was on before Monteith’s; I think it was called The Jacksons, and featured the Jackson 5, plus younger brother Randy (not the one on Idol) plus the three sisters. One recurring bit had one of the older brothers sing the first part of “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”, followed by a couple of bits where they show some man dumping his girlfriend (something like: “#42 - Give her the cake…Jake”).
IIRC, Open House was just a retooled version of Duets, with the star’s male counterpart long gone (I think it was set two years later, to allow for the aging of an infant character).
A DVD release was planned for earlier this year, but was pulled without explanation.
The gimmick of TV 101 was, they would use video cameras and replace the school newspaper with a closed-circuit TV show of some sort. (It was also Teri Polo’s first series, I think.)
The actual title was It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, and that was part of the gimmick; Garry’s apron said “It’s Garry Shandling’s Apron”, and the TV cameras had “It’s Garry Shandling’s Camera” on the side.
Here are a couple more:
WIOU, about a Chicago TV station; Rosie Perez got her start here playing a sports reporter.
Space: Above and Beyond, a short-lived Fox science fiction series about “Space Marines” trying to fight an alien race which captured a ship with the first passengers trying to colonize another planet. (“In space, no one can hear you scream, unless it is the war cry of the United States Space Marines!”)
I am going to respond to my own thread to add another one that I don’t think was mentioned. In the early 90s there was a syndicated version of The Untouchables. I don’t like cop shows all that much but I found it really entertaining and it had one of the greatest theme songs ever. Yet if you Google it, it has barely any presence on the Internet. I remember it took me a really long time to finally find that theme song.
Profit was a weird TV series which ran maybe one season and featured Adrian Pasdar as an ambitious businessman who slept in a crappy cardboard box at night, naked, because that’s how he was raised.
“Thea”, a sitcom about a single black mom–best remembered for giving Brandy her break. One season on ABC in 1993, rerun a lot on BET in the 90s.
I watched a ton of CBC programs in the late80s/early90s on our local cable system. (I’m probably the only American who saw “Front Page Challenge”). The shows I remember best were “Hanging In” (sitcom about a kid’s social worker) and “Four On The Floor” (frantic sketch show).
WWOR, also a cable fave, in the late 80s used to air a “Double Dare” style kid’s game show on the weekends. Anyone know what this was called?
