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The failed new syndication offerings of 1994

J

johnnya2k6

Starting in 1994, hundreds of stations throughout the country flipped from one network to another (Denver being the huge example).

But while all that was going on...1994 also saw a whole new crop of syndicated shows popping up on our screens; some of them are:

Susan Powter (Ms. "Stop The Insanity!" herself)
Last Call (absolutely no relation to Carson Daly's show; this one was a McLaughlin Group-ish show with Sue Ellicott and Tad Low)
Jon Stewart (moved from MTV to replace Arsenio Hall)
Mad Scientist Toon Club (Saban's crummy attempt at a "Bill Nye the Science Guy"/"Beakman's World")
The New Price is Right (y'all know who hosted that one)
Wild West Showdown (a Western-themed "American Gladiators"; both were by the same company)
Beach Clash
University Hospital, Heaven Help Us, and Robin's Hoods (all produced by Aaron Spelling)

Of course, those shows (and several others) would be gone by 1995, not because of mixed reviews, but of one man: O.J. Simpson!!!!! Coverage of his trial on most stations and CNN made sure none of the newbies would ever see a second season; even the launches of UPN and the WB also played a key role in the mass cancellations.

Were there any other failed entries that year I missed?
 
Wasn't The Shirley Show also on in 1994 in US syndication? Shirley Solomon, who had hosted the show since 1989 on CTV in Canada (it was cancelled in 1995).
Some low-budget cheap children's show was in syndication at the same time - Pigasso's Place. Designed for preschoolers, but didn't last long and had abysmal ratings.
Oh, another talk show: Marilu Henner. Didn't last long.
By January 1995, KOIN-6 in Portland would run the New Price is Right at 3:05am weeknights!
KSTW-11 Tacoma ran Susan Powter around 2:30AM in late 1994. They ran the aforementioned Marilu at 11AM in late 1994 and 5AM in 1995 after going to CBS...
 
Even Richard Dawson's comeback season on "Family Feud" was also affected in a lot of markets, including here in Los Angeles. I was a freshman in high school in '94-95, and if I remember correctly, KCBS ran "Feud" in the 2pm hour, or in the 9am hour (which by that point, CBS had already gave back the 10am ET/9am CT/PT slot back to their stations). Either way, I was in school, and the O.J. trial did cause preemptions which eventually played a part of "Feud's" cancellation by the spring of '95.

The "New Price is Right" was given a prime slot, weeknights at 7:30pm on KNBC, with "Extra" (which also debuted that TV season) serving as a lead-in. However, once the new nighttime Price was cancelled, KNBC got the rights to "A Current Affair" from KTTV (which bumped "ACA" to late nights when they acquired "The Simpsons" syndication rights that same season) as a replacement.

On a side note, just out of curiosity (and with nothing better to do), I browsed through some '80s issues of Broadcasting magazine, and came across some ads to shows that were shopped to stations, to only not make it past the pilot stage or cancelled fairly quickly. There were a couple in a 1981 issues where both Chuck Woolery (just before he left "Wheel of Fortune") and Dick Clark were attached hosts to daytime shows; Clark's was a daytime talk show (in the vein of Regis, Ellen, and a few others), and Woolery's show was game show that seemed kinda similar to "Dream House", the '80s game show hosted by Bob Eubanks. I also saw a 1986 issue that was promoting a new game show that Wink Martindale was scheduled to host for the '86-87 TV season (and by this point, he was already hosting his own creation, "Headline Chasers".) Of course, by fall 1987, he was hosting "High Rollers."
 
johnnya2k6 said:
Wild West Showdown (a Western-themed "American Gladiators"; both were by the same company)
Click to expand...

I remember this series. The safety helmet was dressed as a cowboy hat.

johnnya2k6 said:
University Hospital, Heaven Help Us, and Robin's Hoods (all produced by Aaron Spelling)
Click to expand...

“Robin’s Hoods” and “University Hospital” aired back-to-back in the Fort Myers tv market on CBS affiliate WINK-TV Saturday mornings.
 
ShawnHill1 said:
On a side note, just out of curiosity (and with nothing better to do), I browsed through some '80s issues of Broadcasting magazine, and came across some ads to shows that were shopped to stations, to only not make it past the pilot stage or cancelled fairly quickly. There were a couple in a 1981 issues where both Chuck Woolery (just before he left "Wheel of Fortune") and Dick Clark were attached hosts to daytime shows; Clark's was a daytime talk show (in the vein of Regis, Ellen, and a few others), and Woolery's show was game show that seemed kinda similar to "Dream House", the '80s game show hosted by Bob Eubanks.
Click to expand...
In the late '70s, while his "Soul Train" was still red-hot, Don Cornelius shot a pilot for "Don's Place", his attempt at a black Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin; Hank Aaron and Stevie Wonder were among the guests. Every single syndicator -- especially the then-biggies Viacom and Worldvision -- said "NO!"

The only remnant, though, is this theme music: http://youtu.be/iJhV6lSHvrA
 
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Those who don't know, it was Doug Davidson (who plays Paul on The Young and the Restless). Price is Right had been syndicated a couple times before, with the same or better success. Tom Kennedy's 1985-1986 version was also downgraded throughout the season on various stations, but the original 1972-1980 nighttime version (Dennis James, then Bob Barker) had modest success and was carried on a lot of stations (not just CBS stations) as a weekly show.

-crainbebo
 
Wasn't this also the year "The Maury Povich Show" became "Maury" and devolved from competing with Montel to competing with Jerry Springer?
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
Wasn't this also the year "The Maury Povich Show" became "Maury" and devolved from competing with Montel to competing with Jerry Springer?
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Maury changed syndicators in 1998, going from Paramount to what's now NBCUniversal Television Distribution, but it wasn't after the turn of the century that he started going down the Springer route. If you also remember Sally Jesse Raphael's final few years on the air (and coincidentally enough, her show was under the umbrella company as Springer and post-98 Maury), she started delving into some of the same topics that Maury and Jerry were getting into, but as not raunchy.
 
The "Maury Povich Show" had much better, less raunchy topics. Just one week of 1997 programs listed in TV Guide: sentencing of mothers for the murder of their children; unusual occurences; saving a child from life-threatening diseases; alternative medicine; and safe sex. Now it is incredibly predictable. Polygraph tests, "whose the daddy" and sometimes wild teens. I don't understand why NBCU wants to keep milking cash into these programs. They are never in the top 25 syndicated shows, are mostly viewed by 18-34, and have 6 Everest College/ICDC ads an hour.
Don't think I've seen an entire Wild West Showdown episode...could be interesting to watch, with the American Gladiators elements. Pretty hard to find however, they were usually aired in late evening hours on stations. KOMO-4 Seattle aired it at 11:35PM Saturday nights in 1994-95.
 
The Feb. 1, 1995 episode of TPIR included Bob's comments and conversations with Rod Roddy concerning Doug Davidson's TnPIR and the confusion it apparently caused some viewers--even some thinking that Bob and Co. retired:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwC1HmefH8M

Specific clips concerning Bob's conversation with Rod regarding the Davidson TPIR, including Rod proclaiming, "This is THE Price Is Right!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkLBxBw-9ec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfFtVth8Hys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaMmlWFrkb8 (Bob reminding viewers after a Showcase Showdown that the CBS TPIR will "go on and on" regardless of what happened to the Davidson version).
 
Tim from Springfield said:
The Feb. 1, 1995 episode of TPIR included Bob's comments and conversations with Rod Roddy concerning Doug Davidson's TnPIR and the confusion it apparently caused some viewers--even some thinking that Bob and Co. retired:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwC1HmefH8M

Specific clips concerning Bob's conversation with Rod regarding the Davidson TPIR, including Rod proclaiming, "This is THE Price Is Right!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkLBxBw-9ec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfFtVth8Hys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaMmlWFrkb8 (Bob reminding viewers after a Showcase Showdown that the CBS TPIR will "go on and on" regardless of what happened to the Davidson version).
Click to expand...

So Bob was already a cantankerous, obnoxious jerk at that point. :)

But that aside, 1994 didn't seem particularly different from most other years in syndication. Lots of shows miss, a few hit and the beat goes on.
 
Bob Eubanks said:
So Bob was already a cantankerous, obnoxious jerk at that point. :)

But that aside, 1994 didn't seem particularly different from most other years in syndication. Lots of shows miss, a few hit and the beat goes on.
Click to expand...

And he also apparently forgot (or didn't care) that his TPIR was actually NOT the original TPIR (and that Janice was NOT the "original model") as described in his banter with Rod in the clips I posted last night--Bill Cullen's version was The Original Price Is Right. :)
 
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^He may had been alluding to the fact the version he hosted had the same format first (and/or the fact the version he hosted was the original "New Price is Right" when it began in the year 1972).
 
Davidson TPIR aired weekends on KATN in Fairbanks at 6:30; dunno about Anchorage (probably weekends as well on sister station KYUR, but didn't look at enough 1994 listings from the Alaska Dispatch News -- formerly Anchorage Daily News -- for confirmation). Other markets large and small, including Philadelphia, opted to carry the show on weekends instead of weeknights as well.

It was the only syndicated, nighttime version of TPIR that has aired in Alaska; Dennis James/Bob Barker's and Tom Kennedy's versions were never in Anchorage or Fairbanks.
 
Very true re: Philadelphia. Two episodes would air at some random weekend afternoon time, based on when sports was on. And if sports precluded any one-hour block from airing, it would be shoved off to Monday/Tuesday at noon in place of M*A*S*H reruns. That was actually how it premiered in Philly.

Even when it aired on weekdays in some markets in daylight, it had deadly slots. Maybe Barker could have been a bigger man and actually promoted it as a companion show. You know, showed some class.
 
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