Celebrating one of the most beloved and durable television genres and reflecting on the changing face of America through an exploration of the contestants, hosts, visionary creators and industry scandals that encapsulate iconic game shows.
The Slap Maxwell Story is a situation comedy broadcast in the United States by ABC as part of its 1987-88 lineup.
It stars Dabney Coleman as "Slap" Maxwell, an egocentric sportswriter for a newspaper called The Ledger, somewhere in the American Southwest. The Ledger was a very old-fashioned newspaper -- Slap still composed his column, "Slap Shots," on a typewriter -- and Slap was a very old-fashioned guy. Despite the newly litigious environment of journalism, Slap insisted on filling his column with rumor and innuendo, drawing lawsuits and Slap's frequent termination, to be followed by a groveling apology and his rehiring.
He had an on-again, off-again relationship with girlfriend Judy, one of the paper's secretaries, due primarily to his off-putting personality. Annie was Slap's ex-wife, who nonetheless retained a soft spot for him.
A recurring event throughout the series' run is that at some point in each episode, someone would hit Slap, with a nun even doing the honors in one episode.
The show was created by
Shadow Chasers is a 1985 American mystery television series created by Brian Grazer and Kenneth Johnson. Thirteen episodes were produced, nine of which were shown on the ABC television network, the remaining four on the Armed Forces Network. It debuted on November 14, 1985, and was produced by Warner Bros. Television.
Shadow Chasers features strait-laced British anthropologist Jonathan MacKensie, who is blackmailed by his department head, Dr. Julianna Moorhouse of the fictional Georgetown Institute Paranormal Research Unit, into investigating a supposed "haunting" involving a teenage boy in return for a research grant. He paired up with flamboyant tabloid reporter Edgar "Benny" Benedek in an attempt to short-cut the time involved, and over Moorhouse's objections.
This seven-hour British-Italian adaptation of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1834 epic, set against the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and previously filmed in 1935, and in 1960 was a vehicle for muscleman Steve Reeves, was trashed by the critics as the campiest of sword and sandal sagas to emerge in years. This despite its reported $19-million price tag, the nobility of its cast that includes Laurence Olivier, Siobhan McKenna and Anthony Quayle, and its rather unspectacular special effects. The central figures are Nicholas Clay as Glaucus, the noble Athenian; Olivia Hussey as the high-born Ione, his love, who is seduced by the Egyptian, Arbaces (Franco Nero), a religious fanatic; Duncan Regehr as Lydon, the champion gladiator; and Linda Purl as the blind slave Nydia, who is torn between Glaucus and Lydon.
When Things Were Rotten is an American situation comedy television series created in 1975 by Mel Brooks and aired for half a season by ABC.
A parody of the Robin Hood legend, the series starred Richard Gautier as Robin Hood. Also in the regular cast were Dick Van Patten as Friar Tuck, Bernie Kopell as Alan-a-Dale, Henry Polic II as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Ron Rifkin as Prince John, Misty Rowe as Maid Marian, and David Sabin as Little John. Richard Dimitri played a dual role as identical twin brothers; Renaldo was one of the Merry Men, while Bertram was the Sheriff's right-hand man.
Having navigated the awkward and sometimes traumatic world of high school, Rebecca Freely returns to her alma mater as a guidance counselor, free of the insecurities and orthodontia of her school days. Amidst student behavioral problems and the persistent romantic advances of the male nurse, Gary, Rebecca is certain of one thing - she is interested in the hot auto-shop-turned-Spanish-teacher, Tim. However, much as in high school days of unexpected teenage angst, Lisa, a former cheerleader and nemesis of Rebecca's, returns as the new English teacher determined to make Rebecca relive her unpopular past, setting sights on Tim as well.
Fan-favorites, arch-rivals, villains and the sexiest participants from the hugely successful "Bachelor" franchise reunite under one roof for a second chance at love.
The American version of reality television show. Nine seemingly uncontrollable teens (ages 14-17) are sent to the Oregon wilderness school SageWalk, where counselors 'attempt to rebuild [the teens'] lives into something positive,' in this seven-part reality series.
The Aunty Jack Show was a Logie Award–winning Australian television comedy series that ran from 1972 to 1973. Produced by and broadcast on ABC-TV, the series attained an instant cult status that persists to the present day.
The lead character, Aunty Jack was a unique comic creation — an obese, moustachioed, gravel-voiced transvestite, part trucker and part pantomime dame — who habitually solved any problem by knocking people unconscious or threatening to 'rip their bloody arms off'. Visually, she was unmistakable, dressed in a huge, tent-like blue velvet dress, football socks, workboots, and a golden boxing glove on her right hand. She rode everywhere on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and referred to everyone as "me little lovelies" — when she was not uttering her familiar threat: "I'll rip yer bloody arms off!", a phrase which immediately passed into the vernacular. The character was devised and played by the multi-talented Grahame Bond and was partly inspired by his overbearing Uncle Jack,
Crime drama based on the UK TV series about Gerry "Fitz" Fitzgerald, a brilliant but troubled criminal psychologist working alongside the Los Angeles police department.
Hypernauts is a proof of concept show produced by Foundation Imaging and Netter Digital Entertainment. To further prove that the computer-generated imagery and visual effects created in Babylon 5 were easily applied to other venues, the Hypernauts were born. ABC purchased thirteen episodes of the show from DIC Entertainment, six of which ran on Saturday mornings for a single season in 1996 at 10:00 AM. ABC decided not to pick up the series for a second season, and did not air the seven remaining episodes. The show was created and produced by Ron Thornton and Douglas Netter, its executive story editor was Christy Marx who also wrote four episodes. Marx had previously written for both Babylon 5 and Captain Power. Another series writer was Katherine Lawrence who was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award due to her script for Ice Bound.
CityKids was a television series that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1993 to 1994, primarily targeted to a teenage audience. The show consisted primarily of live action performances, interspersed with Muppet segments, courtesy of Jim Henson Productions. The Muppets included original characters designed specifically for the show, serving as a Greek chorus and commenting on the situations of the human characters, but not actually interacting with them.
The show's theme song was composed by Malik Yoba &and Raliegh J. Neal II. The duo also composed other songs for the series and served as musical creative supervisors.
Repeat After Me is an American hidden camera comedy television series. Host Wendi McLendon-Covey instructs celebrities to interact with people via a remote ear piece.
Lady Blue is a crime drama starring Jamie Rose as a Chicago female homicide detective Katy Mahoney. The show was produced by MGM/UA Television and aired on ABC-TV from September 26, 1985 to January 25, 1986 for 13 episodes. It was cancelled after one season after low ratings in its Thursday night slot, but also because it was considered too violent for its time. The show later aired on Saturday nights but the show failed there as well.
It ranked 72nd out of 82 programs that season, and averaged a 10.7 household rating.
It was said that Katy Mahoney was the female version of Harry Callahan aka Dirty Harry, prompting television critics to refer to Mahoney's character as "Dirty Harriet".
Davy Crockett is a five-part serial which aired on ABC in one-hour episodes on the Disneyland series. The series stars Fess Parker as real-life frontiersman Davy Crockett and Buddy Ebsen as his friend, George Russel.
The first three episodes of the serial were edited together as the 1955 theatrical film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, and rebroadcast in color in the 1960s when the Disney program went to NBC. This series and film are known for the catchy theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett". It was filmed in color at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the Mountain Farm Museum adjacent to the visitor center at Oconaluftee near Qualla Reservation's entrance and Janss Conejo Ranch, California.
The final two episodes were edited together as the 1956 theatrical film Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. It was filmed in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois.
Cro is an American animated television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop and Film Roman. It debuted on September 18, 1993 as part of the Saturday morning line-up for fall 1993 on ABC. Cro did not do well with the viewers. The show had an educational theme in accordance with FCC-mandated educational/instructional requirements, introducing basic concepts of physics, mechanical engineering, and technology. The premise of using woolly mammoths as a teaching tool for the principles of technology was inspired by David Macaulay's The Way Things Work; Macaulay is credited as writer on the show. The last new episode aired on October 22, 1994. The show was released on video in a total of nine volumes.
Free Spirit is an American fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC during the 1989–1990 television season. The series stars Corinne Bohrer as a witch who moves in with a recently divorced father to help care for his three children. Originally produced by ELP Communications, Free Spirit aired from September 22, 1989, to January 14, 1990.
Joel, his cynical best friend, Nick, and easy-going little brother, Jamie, are contemporary cavemen who live in the suburban south and simply want to be treated like ordinary thirty-something guys. Despite their attempts at assimilation, Nick doesn't believe mainstream society will ever completely accept them, Jamie seems to take it all in stride and Joel straddles the middle, torn between his friends, his more traditional values and his loving fiancée.