TV Time Capsule

The ‘Rugrats’ Save Grandpa from the ‘Meany of Hanukkah’

“Eight Crazy Nights,” a celebration of Hanukkah-themed episodes, continues.

Night No. 3: December 4, 1996, when Nickelodeon showed the “Chanukah” episode of “Rugrats.”

The children’s animated series, which became one of cable television’s biggest hits when it debuted in 1991, chronicled the adventures of a group of babies and toddlers with overactive imaginations.

In “Chanukah,” the children – including Jewish cousins Tommy and Anjelica Pickles – lead a fight to save their Grandpa Boris from the dreaded “Meany of Hanukkah.”

The gang also imagine they are in ancient Egypt, where they assume the role of the “Macababies,” fighting to free their people.

“Chanukah” debuted at 8 p.m. and was seen in more than 3 million homes, making it the third highest-rated program on basic cable the week it aired; only two NFL football games on ESPN drew a bigger audience.

“Chanukah” also outdrew the WB’s lineup the night it debuted, and almost beat UPN’s “Star Trek: Voyager.”

See for yourself: “Chanukah” is part of the “Rugrats Holiday Celebration” DVD and can be downloaded from iTunes. “Eight Crazy Nights” will continue December 14.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Wednesday, December 4, 1996:

8: “Grace Under Fire” (ABC), “Story of Santa Claus” (CBS), “Billboard Music Awards” (Fox), “Wings” (NBC), “The Sentinel” (UPN), “Sister, Sister” (WB)

8:30: “Townies” (ABC), “NewsRadio”* (NBC), “Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher”  (WB)

9: “The Drew Carey Show” (ABC), “A Child is Missing” (CBS), “NewsRadio” (NBC), “Star Trek: Voyager” (UPN), “The Wayans Bros.” (WB)

9:30: “Ellen” (ABC), “The Jamie Foxx Show” (WB)

10: “PrimeTime Live” (ABC), “Dateline NBC”

 

The Record

For the week of December 1, 1996:

Top novel: “Silen Honor” by Danielle Steel

Top song: “No Diggity” by BlackStreet

Top movie: “101 Dalmations”

Top TV show: “Seinfeld” (NBC)

In the news: Hawaii moved closer to recognizing same-sex marriage

 

Captions: Scenes from the “Chanukah” episode of “Rugrats.”

‘George & Leo’ and All Their Old Friends

“Reunions & Revivals Week” continues.

On November 3, 1997, CBS’s “George & Leo” reunited stars Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch with actors from their previous sitcoms.

“George & Leo,” which lasted a single season, chronicled the travails of George (Newhart), a fussy bookstore owner whose son (Jason Bateman) married the daughter (Bess Meyer) of loud-mouthed ex-mobster Leo (Judd Hirsch).

“The Cameo Show’s” 19 guest stars included Bill Daily from “The Bob Newhart Show;” Julia Duffy and Peter Scolari from “Newhart;” Marilu Henner from “Taxi;” and Billie Bird from “Dear John.”

(TVSeriesFinale.com offers a fuller summary.)

The Boston Globe’s Matthew Gilbert called the episode an “absurdist kick” but others found it uneven. The Newark Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall noted that one of Bob’s old cohorts – “Newhart’s” Tom Poston – had to be loaned out for one of Hirsch’s scenes.

Viewers in 10.8 million homes watched “The Cameo Show,” making it the week’s 23rd most-watched broadcast.

See for yourself: “George & Leo” and “Dear John” aren’t available on DVD, but various seasons of “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Newhart” and “Taxi” are.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Monday, November 3, 1997:

8: “Primetime Live” (ABC), “Cosby” (CBS), “Melrose Place” (Fox), “Suddenly Susan” (NBC), “In the House” (UPN), “7th Heaven” (WB)

8:30: “Everybody Loves Raymond” (CBS), “Caroline in the City” (NBC), “Malcolm & Eddie” (UPN) 

9: “Monday Night Football” (ABC), “George & Leo” (CBS), “Ally McBeal” (Fox), “House of Frankenstein 1997” (NBC), “Good News” (UPN), “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (WB)

9:30: “Cybill” (CBS), “Sparks” (UPN)

10: “Brooklyn South” (CBS)

 

The Record

For the week of November 2, 1997:

Top novel: “Cold Mountain” by Charles Frazier

Top song: “Candle in the Wind 1997” by Elton John

Top movie: “I Know What You Did Last Summer”

Top TV show: “ER” (NBC)

In the news: What’s this Internet thing all about?

 

 

Captions: Peter Scolari, Bob Newhart and Julia Duffy in a photograph from “The Cameo Show” that appeared in TV Guide’s November 1, 1997, issue (top, photo by Ron Tom for Paramount Pictures); CBS’s advertisement for the episode, also from that edition of the magazine.

‘Treehouse of Horror IV’

“Treehouse of Horror Week,” a celebration of “The Simpsons’” Halloween episodes, continues.

The episode: “Treehouse of Horror IV”

Airdate: October 28, 1993

The trilogy: Homer sells his soul for a doughnut (“The Devil and Homer Simpson”), a gremlin on the side of the school bus menaces Bart (“Terror at 5½ Feet”) and the Simpsons become vampires (“Bart Simpson’s Dracula”).

The Kang and Kodos kameo: The aliens, watching Bart and the gremlin, laugh at him for being “frightened by a creature that does not exist.”

Great moment: The Simpsons re-enact the final scene of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” complete with Santa’s Little Helper dancing like Snoopy and Milhouse playing Schroeder’s piano.

Trivia: This is “probably the best” of the “Treehouse of Horror” specials, according to Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, authors of the “I Can’t Believe It’s a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide.”

The audience: 13.6 million households watched; the episode tied with CBS’s “Love & War” for 17th in the weekly ratings.

“Treehouse of Horror IV” is part of “The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season” DVD set and can be downloaded from iTunes and Amazon.com for $1.99.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Thursday, October 28, 1993:

8: “Missing Persons” (ABC), “In the Heat of the Night” (CBS), “The Simpsons” (Fox), “Mad About You” (NBC)

8:30: “Martin”* (Fox), “Wings” (NBC)

9: “Matlock” (ABC), “Eye to Eye with Connie Chung” (CBS), “In Living Color” (Fox), “Seinfeld” (NBC)

9:30: “Bakersfield P.D.” (Fox), “Frasier” (NBC)

10: “Primetime Live” (ABC), “Picket Fences” (CBS), “L.A. Law” (NBC)

* Repeat

 

The Record

For the week of October 24, 1993:

Top novel: “The Bridges of Madison County” by Robert James Waller

Top song: “Dreamlover” by Mariah Carey

Top movie: “Demolition Man”

Top TV show: “Home Improvement” (ABC)

In the news: Congress received President Clinton’s health care reform plan

 

  

 

Captions: Marge turns out to be the mother of all bloodsuckers in “Bart Simpson’s Dracula” (top); a clip from “The Devil and Homer Simpson” (middle, courtesy of Hulu); and Fox’s advertisement for “Treehouse of Horror IV,” from TV Guide’s October 23, 1993, issue (bottom).

‘Treehouse of Horror’

“Treehouse of Horror Week,” a celebration of “The Simpsons’” Halloween episodes, begins.

The episode: “Treehouse of Horror” 

Airdate: October 25, 1990

The trilogy: In the inaugural “Treehouse” trilogy, the Simpsons move to a haunted mansion (“Bad Dream House”), are abducted by aliens (“Hungry are the Damned”) and re-interpret a literary classic (“The Raven”).

The Kang and Kodos konnection: The slobbering space aliens – who are featured in each “Treehouse of Horror” episode – debut here, playing the Simpsons’ abductors in “Hungry are the Damned.”

Great moment: Marge warns viewers: “Tonight’s show – which I totally wash my hands of – is really scary. So if you have sensitive children, maybe you should tuck them into bed early tonight instead of writing us angry letters tomorrow.” Are you listening, Parents Television Council?

Trivia: The DVDVerdict.com editors describe “Treehouse of Horror” as “three brilliantly crafted tales” and “an animated masterpiece.”

The audience: 14.6 million households watched; the episode ranked 24th in the weekly ratings, tying with “Full House.”

“Treehouse of Horror” is part of “The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season” DVD set and can be downloaded from iTunes and Amazon.com for $1.99.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Thursday, October 25, 1990:

8: “Father Dowling Mysteries” (ABC), “Top Cops” (CBS), “The Simpsons” (Fox), “The Cosby Show” (NBC)

8:30: “The Flash” (CBS), “Babes” (Fox), “A Different World” (NBC)

9: “Gabriel’s Fire” (ABC), “Beverly Hills, 90210” (Fox), “Cheers” (NBC)

9:30: “Doctor, Doctor” (CBS), “Grand” (NBC)

10: “Primetime Live” (ABC), “Knots Landing” (CBS), “L.A. Law” (NBC)

 

The Record

For the week of October 21, 1990:

Top novel: “The Plains of Passage” by Jean M. Auel

Top song: “I Don’t Have the Heart” by James Ingram

Top movie: “Marked For Death”

Top TV show: “60 Minutes” (CBS)

In the news: The Senate fails to overturn President Bush’s veto of a civil rights bill

 

  

 

 

Captions: Homer lashes out at the little birdie menacing him in “The Raven” (top); a clip from “Bad Dream House” (middle, courtesy of Hulu); Fox’s advertisement for “Treehouse of Horror,” from TV Guide’s October 20, 1990, issue (bottom).

Ay Carumba! ‘The Simpsons’ Take On ‘The Cosby Show’

On October 11, 1990, “The Simpsons” and “The Cosby Show” went head-to-head with original episodes for the first time.

Seven weeks earlier, Fox – eager to establish a foothold on a new night – moved its red-hot “Simpsons” from Sundays to Thursdays at 8, “Cosby’s” longtime berth of NBC.

It was probably the brashest scheduling gambit since the 1979-80 season, when ABC moved “Mork & Mindy” opposite CBS’s “Archie Bunker’s Place;” “Mork’s” ratings nosedived, and ABC soon returned the show to its original night.

During the first few weeks of the 1990-91 season, new episodes of “Cosby” clobbered “The Simpsons,” which was still in reruns.

When both shows aired fresh episodes on October 11, Bill barely beat Bart.

“Cosby” was seen in 17.2 million homes; “The Simpsons” in 17.1 million, giving Fox the highest-ever ratings in its four-year history.

“The Simpsons” remained a runner-up in the time slot until the spring of 1992, when “Cosby’s” eight-season run ended.

In 1994, “The Simpsons” returned to Sundays, where it has aired ever since.

“Bart Gets an F,” “The Simpsons’” episode that aired October 11, 1990, is part of “The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season” DVD set; that evening’s “Cosby” installment, “Period of Adjustment,” is included in “The Cosby Show: Season 7.”

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Thursday, October 11, 1990:

8: “Columbo” (ABC), “Dark Avenger” (CBS), “The Simpsons” (Fox), “The Cosby Show” (NBC)

8:30: “Babes” (Fox), “A Different World” (NBC)

9: “Beverly Hills, 90210” (Fox), “Cheers” (NBC)

9:30: “Grand” (NBC)

10: “Primetime Live” (ABC), “Top Cops” (CBS), “Law & Order” (NBC)

 

The Record

For the week of October 7, 1990:

Top novel: “Four Past Midnight” by Stephen King

Top song: “Close to You” by Maxi Priest

Top movie: “Marked For Death”

Top TV show: “Cheers” (NBC)

In the news: Congress prepared stricter limits on car emissions

 

  

Captions: Bart Simpson and Bill Cosby on TV Guide’s September 22, 1990, cover (top, Cosby photograph by Elena Seibert); Fox’s advertisements for “The Simpsons” and NBC’s ads for “The Cosby Show,” from the magazine’s October 6, 1990, issue (bottom).

Class Begins in ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’

On October 4, 1990, Fox launched “Beverly Hills, 90210,” the high-school drama that ushered in an era of youth-oriented shows in prime time.

The series originally focused on Brandon and Brenda Walsh (Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty), 16-year-old fraternal twins from Minnesota who move with their parents to Southern California when the father gets a new job.

“Class of Beverly Hills,” the 90-minute pilot, introduced Brandon, Brenda and their privileged classmates at West Beverly Hills High, including spoiled Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) and cocky Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering), the son of a sitcom star.

Other cast members: Gabrielle Carteris as bookish Andrea Zuckerman, Brian Austin Green as nerdy David Silver and Luke Perry as brooding surfer Dylan McKay, who arrived in the second episode.

Darren Star created “Beverly Hills, 90210,” basing the show on his experiences growing up in Potomac, Maryland, a wealthy Washington, D.C., suburb. Aaron Spelling produced the series, casting daughter Tori as Donna Martin, another of Brandon and Brenda’s classmates.

Critics gave the pilot mostly tepid reviews.

The Washington Post’s Tom Shales called it “a black hole in the already vast and empty TV schedule,” while the Los Angeles Times’ Howard Rosenberg predicted it would leave viewers feeling like they’ve been “watching for 90 days.”

USA Today’s Matt Roush was kinder, calling the first episode “promising” and comparing its sensitive portrayal of teen life to a John Hughes movie.

Fox aired “Beverly Hills, 90210” on Thursdays until 1992, when it shifted to Wednesdays, which became its longtime home.

The show started slow – the first episode was seen in 6.7 million homes, tying with ABC’s “Cop Rock” for 79th among the week’s 92 prime-time broadcasts – but eventually it became a hit among younger viewers.

The series underwent changes large and small during its 10-season run: The characters graduated from high school, went to college and began careers; the plots grew soapier; Priestley, Doherty, Perry and Carteris departed, although Perry eventually returned; and Fox dropped the comma from the title.

“Beverly Hills, 90210” also spawned multiple spinoffs and imitators, including “90210,” a sequel show that the CW introduced in 2008.

“Class of Beverly Hills” can be streamed for free at CBS.com and downloaded for $1.99 at iTunes. The episode is also part of the “Beverly Hills, 90210: The Complete First Season” DVD set.

 

Also on TV

On October 4, 1990, Fox also aired a rerun of “The Simpsons;” ABC broadcast “Father Dowling Mysteries,” the James Earl Jones drama “Gabriel’s Fire” and “Primetime Live;” on CBS, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4 to 3, in the first game of baseball’s National League playoffs; and NBC offered “The Cosby Show,” “A Different World,” “Cheers,” the season premiere of “Grand” and “Law & Order.”

 

The Record

During the week of September 30, 1990, the number ones were Stephen King’s “Four Past Midnight” (novel), Nelsons’s “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection” (song) and “Pacific Heights” (movie). In Washington, President Bush urged lawmakers to approve a bipartisan budget plan to reduce the deficit by raising taxes.

 

  

Captions: “Beverly Hills 90210” cast members, from left, Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering and Jennie Garth in a photograph from TV Guide’s September 15, 1990, fall preview issue (top, photographer unknown); Fox’s advertisement for the series premiere from the September 29, 1990, edition (bottom).

The Long Arm of ‘Law & Order’

On September 13, 1990, “Law & Order” began its historic 20-season run on NBC.

“Prescription for Death,” the premiere episode, introduced the show’s original characters: New York City police detectives Max Greevey and Mike Logan (George Dzundza, Chris Noth) and prosecutors Ben Stone and Paul Robinette (Michael Moriarty, Richard Brooks).

It also established the now-familiar “Law & Order” format – the detectives arrest a suspect in the first half-hour, then the prosecutors take over the case in the second half – as well as the show’s signature “ripped-from-the-headlines” plots.

In “Prescription,” a young woman dies after visiting an emergency room with a seemingly routine sore throat. Greevey and Logan’s investigation implicates the hospital’s chief cardiologist, whom Stone convicts for negligence.

The story was apparently inspired by Libby Zion, a college freshman who, in 1984, visited a Manhattan ER with a fever and died hours later.

“Law & Order’s” first four episodes aired as part of NBC’s popular Thursday lineup, where the network hoped it would build a loyal following before shifting to its regular Tuesday slot.

The debut ranked 41st for the week. The show fared no better on Tuesdays, but NBC kept it around, moving it in 1992 to Wednesdays, which became its longtime home.

Critics loved “Law & Order” from the beginning: The New York Times’ John J. O’Connor described the debut as “tightly paced and well acted” and suggested that by dividing each story in half, the series could be marketed later as two separate half-hour dramas.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, A&E began showing nightly “Law & Order” reruns – intact – during the 1994-95 season.

The repeats seemed to drive viewers to the original episodes on NBC; by season’s end, the show finally cracked Nielsen’s annual top 30.

Despite constant cast changes, ratings continued climbing; soon NBC and producer Dick Wolf began introducing more shows under the “Law & Order” banner, including “Special Victims Unit,” which begins its 12th season next week – alongside the launch of “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”

“Law & Order” also spawned several imitators, triggering a boomlet in so-called police procedurals.

In May 2010, NBC cancelled the original series, tying it with “Gunsmoke” as prime-time’s longest-running drama.

“Prescription for Death” can be downloaded for $1.99 at iTunes and Amazon.com. The episode is also part of the “Law & Order: Year 1” DVD set.

 

Also on TV

On September 13, 1990, NBC also aired reruns of “The Cosby Show,” “A Different World,” “Cheers” and “Grand;” ABC broadcast repeats of “Father Dowling Mysteries” and the James Earl Jones drama “Gabriel’s Fire” and showed “Primetime Live;” CBS offered “48 Hours” and the season premiere of “Knots Landing;” and Fox’s lineup consisted of a rerun of “The Simpsons,” the premiere of “Babes” and the finale of “Glory Days,” a summer drama that starred Brad Pitt.

 

The Record

During the week of September 9, 1990, the number ones were Sidney Sheldon’s “Memories of Midnight” (novel), Jon Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory” (song) and “Ghost” (movie). In Washington, the Senate considered David Souter’s Supreme Court appointment.

 

Captions: “Law & Order” cast members, from left, Chris Noth, George Dzunda, Michael Moriarty and Richard Brooks in a photograph from TV Guide’s September 15, 1990, fall preview issue (top, photographer unknown); NBC’s advertisement for the series premiere from the magazine’s September 8, 1990, edition (bottom).

Wednesday, March 9, 1994

“Turning Point,” an ABC newsmagazine that marked a turning point in the career of future “ABC World News” anchor Diane Sawyer, debuted 16 years ago tonight.

The series, which featured Sawyer as one of several rotating hosts, was the first to debut after she signed a contract that reportedly required ABC to pay her $7 million a year and feature her on multiple programs. Soon, the network was showcasing Sawyer not only on “Turning Point” and “Primetime Live,” her longtime perch, but also on another newsmagazine, “Day One.”

As it turns out, “Turning Point” became one of the few blemishes on Sawyer’s otherwise flawless resume.

The series, which addressed a single topic each week, opened with Sawyer’s interview with Charles Manson and two members of his “family” – Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, who were convicted for their roles in the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.

Critics took ABC – and Sawyer to task – for sinking to tabloid journalism.

“Why doesn’t ABC just rehire Geraldo and get it over with?” asked USA Today’s Matt Roush.

“It’s a bit distressing … to see Sawyer treating Manson with the same polite respect she would pay a visiting dignitary or some hot young actor,” wrote the Washington Post’s Tom Shales. “She doesn’t seem to approach him with enough healthy skepticism. He’s just another celebrity on her dance card.”

Shales also shamed ABC’s publicity machine:

The worst thing about the show ... is not part of the program itself but rather the way ABC is advertising it: “So alive with the truth, it feels like a movie,” say ads in national magazines. Yes, folks, we’ve managed to take something real and make it seem fabulously fake! Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame, shame, shame. News programs should not try to “feel like a movie” or be peddled to the public that way, even if they do have a leading lady who makes movie-star millions for her work.

Viewers didn’t care.

The “Turning Point” premiere was seen in 17.1 million homes – the highest-rated premiere for a newsmagazine in TV history.

The number dipped by the end of the season, and ABC pulled “Turning Point” off the schedule, although it continued to air as a series of specials until 1997.

Sawyer went on to host “Good Morning America” for more than a decade before beginning her “World News” gig late last year.

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for March 9, 1994:

8:30 ABC THUNDER ALLEY (CC) – Comedy

Debut: Edward Asner plays Gils Jones, a retired race-car driver and garage owner whose daughter Bobbi (Diane Venora) and her children come to live with him. In the opener, Gil and Bobbi clash over how to discipline the kids. Leland: Jim Beaver. Claudine: Kelly Vint. Jenny: Lindsay Felton.

 

For the Record

Also on March 9, 1994:

Danielle Steele’s “Accident” is the week’s best seller and “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” is the top movie. Céline Dion’s “Power of Love” rules the charts. And President Clinton dismissed reports his health-care plan was dead.

Thursday, January 18, 1990

Twenty years ago tonight, NBC introduced “Grand,” an early example of the network’s tradition of rewarding mediocre sitcoms with plum Thursday-night time slots.

The series chronicled social class in Grand, Pennsylvania (“Grand, Pa.” in Associated Press style), a fictitious town dominated by Grand Piano Works, which was struggling to compete in a market overrun with Japanese electronic keyboards.

Pamela Reed starred as sensible Janice Pasetti, who lived in a trailer park with her “overweight” (by TV standards) teenage daughter Edda (Sara Rue).

Janice was the housekeeper for wealthy Harris Weldon (John Randolph), who owned Grand Piano Works and shared his mansion with underachiever son Norris (Joel Murray) and Desmond (John Neville), the family butler.

Other characters included Carol Anne Smithson (Bonnie Hunt), Harris’s niece, and her ambitious husband Tom (Michael McKean), an executive at the piano factory.

“Grand” was produced by Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, the team behind NBC’s “Cosby Show” and ABC’s “Roseanne,” TV’s top-rated shows at the time.

The new series received mostly lukewarm notices from critics, who couldn’t resist playing off its title.

“‘Grand’ isn’t,” began Howard Rosenberg’s review in the Los Angeles Times.

“Clearly not awful but definitely not grand,” wrote the Washington Post’s Tom Shales.

In USA Today, Matt Roush praised the show’s rousing theme song (“If you’re going to play it, play it grand!”) but declared “little else about ‘Grand’ sings.’”

Nevertheless, NBC scheduled “Grand” on Thursday nights at 9:30, between hits  “Cheers” and “L.A. Law.”

It’s a practice that dated to at least 1987, when NBC placed freshmen sitcom “A Different World” – which was genuinely awful in its first season – in between “Cosby” and “Cheers” on Thursday nights.

The network continued the tradition throughout the ’90s, scheduling one forgettable sitcom after another in choice Thursday time slots following “Must See TV” staples “Seinfeld” and “Friends.”

Viewers gave “Grand” a chance: The first episode was seen in 19.9 million homes, ranking fifth in the weekly ratings.

But by the middle of the show’s second season, “Grand” was losing about a quarter of “Cheers’” audience. The network dropped the series after its December 27, 1990, broadcast; the following week, its time slot was inherited by yet another forgettable sitcom – “Wings.”

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing January 18, 1990:

8 PM CBS 48 HOURS (CC); 60 min.

“Cold Shoulder” reports on “America’s growing indifference and, in some cases, hostility toward the homeless.” New York is the locale for the hour, which includes segments on the controversial destruction of makeshift shelters in a Manhattan park by police in December; the “forced” evacuation of homeless people from Penn Station because of “commuter complaints.”

10 PM ABC PRIMETIME LIVE (CC); 60 min.

Scheduled: In Moscow, Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer lead a tour of the Kremlin, the 65-acre administrative center of the USSR. Included: the palaces of the tsars; cathedrals; Lenin’s quarters; a former Stalin residence; working areas of the Supreme Soviet. Also: the history of the Kremlin. (Live)

Wednesday, January 11, 1995

Fifteen years ago tonight, the WB introduced its first three prime time series: two sitcoms, “The Wayans Bros.” and “Unhappily Ever After,” and “Muscle,” a serialized comedy.

It was an inauspicious beginning for the broadcaster, which competed with UPN – an upstart that debuted five days later – to become the nation’s fifth commercial television network.

The WB and UPN each aimed to replicate the success of Fox, which began broadcasting in 1986 and made its mark with lowbrow fare that appealed to younger viewers.

Critics didn’t like much of what aired on either of the new networks, but they were especially brutal when it came to savaging the WB.

“What was offensive on Fox has just gotten louder, cruder, uglier,” wrote USA Today’s Matt Roush in his review of the WB’s first night.

In the Los Angeles Times, Chris Willman suggested the new network “has serious designs to make Fox look like the Learning Channel.”

The WB was a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting, which owned TV and radio stations across the United States.

Initially, the network’s prime time offerings were limited to its Wednesday comedy block, which was joined in its second week by a third sitcom, “The Parent ’Hood.”

In the beginning, the WB and UPN were each seen on stations available in roughly 80 percent of the nation, although the WB also benefitted from airing on WGN, a Chicago “superstation” that many cable subscribers received.

To help distinguish itself from UPN, the WB dug into the Warner Bros.’ animation archives and revived an obscure character from the 1950s – Michigan J. Frog – to serve as its “spokesanphibian.”

“We’re trying to say, ‘We’re a bunch of young people putting a show on,’” WB chief exec Jamie Kellner told Newsweek. “And we’re probably just a little bit crazy.”

The WB struggled to find its niche until 1998, when it introduced “Dawson’s Creek,” an instant hit among teenage viewers that became the young network’s signature series.

Eventually, the WB expanded to six nights a week, dropping its frog mascot to focus almost exclusively on “Dawson’s”-style teen melodramas (see “Felicity,” “One Tree Hill,” et. al).

In 2006, the WB and UPN merged into a single network – the CW – which has largely continued the WB’s tradition of airing youthful soaps.

The WB name lives on at TheWB.com, which streams episodes from some of the network’s best-known series, as well as shows Warner Bros. produced for other networks.

 
From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing January 11, 1995:

10 PM ABC PRIMETIME LIVE (CC) – Donaldson/Sawyer 1:00

Scheduled: Chris Wallace is the correspondent for an investigative report on food-stamp schemes and ways in which some people, according to Wallace, are “making their money off the taxpayer.” Included are comments form law and Government officials.

11:35 ABC NIGHTLINE (CC) – Ted Koppel

11:35 CBS DAVID LETTERMAN (CC) 1:00

Scheduled: Actor Aidan Quinn

11:35 NBC JAY LENO (CC) 1:00

Scheduled: Actor-comedian Sinbad.