J
Joseph_Gallant
Guest
Of all the new shows that premiered in September of 1965, two of the most fondly-remembered premiered this day 40 years ago (September 15th, 1965). In fact, both premiered on the same network and the end of one of the shows and the start of the other were separated by only a half-hour.
They were "Lost In Space" and "Green Acres", both of which would be part of a strong CBS Wednesday-night schedule during the mid-to-late 1960's.
"Lost In Space" (airing Wednesdays 7:30-8:30 P.M. ET for it's entire run) actually started out to be different than the series that became an icon to baby-boomers: The original idea was a family and their assistant fighting for survival after crashing on an uncharted planet, more of a "'Swiss Family Robinson' in space" idea. By the time "LIS" became a series, two additional characters--a stowaway named Dr. Zachray Smith (played to perfection by Jonathan Harris) and a robot (Bob May, voice provided by Dick Tuefeld, who also doubled as narrator) had been added.
In my opinion, these moves made the show much stronger and a TV classic. Had "LIS" gone on the air with the original premise of the series' first pilot ("No Place To Hide", which is included in the DVD box set of the series' first season), "LIS" would not have lasted more than 26 weeks, maybe as few as 13 weeks.
Yes, "Lost In Space"'s intellectual level was childish when compared to "Star Trek". But it should also be noted that first, "LIS" premiered a year before "Trek", and secondly, the intellectual level of TV space adventure series prior to 1965 was, if anything, even more childish than that of "Lost In Space".
Although "Lost In Space" is today remembered as "TV's other space adventure show of the 1960's", were it not for the moderate success of "LIS" in the 1965/66 season, "Star Trek" might never have been picked up by NBC for it's 1966 Fall schedule.
Rural comedies were a hot fad throughout the 1960's. Given that the premise of "Beverly Hillbillies" (the number-one show of the era; in terms of average number of viewers each week, "Hillbillies" remains the most popular series in the history of American television) being some country folk moving to the city, it was perhaps inevitable that someone would create a sitcom about city folks moving to the country.
"Green Acres"' premise was that of a well-off New York couple (well-played by Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor) selling-off their Park Avenue condo and moving to a farm. Many of the early episodes dealt hilariously with their attempts to adapt to farm life.
No doubt many younger viewers (especially in the Central and Mountain time zones; I suspect most youngsters on the East Coast dbeen sent off to sleep by 9 P.M. EDT/EST) watched the show because of Arnold The Pig, who was quite popular. I have even heard that Arnold The Pig got more fan letters during the run of "Green Acres" than either Albert or Gabor.
"Green Acres" had the best time slot of any new series premiering in September of 1965: Wednesdays at 9 P.M. ET. This was right after "Hillbillies" and right before "The Dick VanDyke Show" (which would leave the air at the end of the season), two of the most popular shows of the time. Given it's time slot, "Green Acres" got a lot of "sampling" by viewers and finished it's first year ranked #11 by Nielsen for the entire season. In it's second year, "Gren Acres" did even better, finishing sixth for the 1966/67 season.
After four years on Wednesdays, "Green Acres" was moved to Saturdays at 9 P.M. ET (for 1969/70) and then to Tuesdays at 8 (for it's last season; 1970/71). If ratings along were to determine what shows CBS would renew for the 1971/72 season, "Green Acres" would easily have been renewed for a seventh season. But in 1971, new CBS programming chief Bob Wood wanted to get rid of the "rural" shows, despite their high overall ratings, because too many viewers of these shows were either under 18 or over 50. Thus, "Green Acres" got the axe.
Both shows have been constantly rerun since their network cancellations and continue to entertain new generations of fans.
They were "Lost In Space" and "Green Acres", both of which would be part of a strong CBS Wednesday-night schedule during the mid-to-late 1960's.
"Lost In Space" (airing Wednesdays 7:30-8:30 P.M. ET for it's entire run) actually started out to be different than the series that became an icon to baby-boomers: The original idea was a family and their assistant fighting for survival after crashing on an uncharted planet, more of a "'Swiss Family Robinson' in space" idea. By the time "LIS" became a series, two additional characters--a stowaway named Dr. Zachray Smith (played to perfection by Jonathan Harris) and a robot (Bob May, voice provided by Dick Tuefeld, who also doubled as narrator) had been added.
In my opinion, these moves made the show much stronger and a TV classic. Had "LIS" gone on the air with the original premise of the series' first pilot ("No Place To Hide", which is included in the DVD box set of the series' first season), "LIS" would not have lasted more than 26 weeks, maybe as few as 13 weeks.
Yes, "Lost In Space"'s intellectual level was childish when compared to "Star Trek". But it should also be noted that first, "LIS" premiered a year before "Trek", and secondly, the intellectual level of TV space adventure series prior to 1965 was, if anything, even more childish than that of "Lost In Space".
Although "Lost In Space" is today remembered as "TV's other space adventure show of the 1960's", were it not for the moderate success of "LIS" in the 1965/66 season, "Star Trek" might never have been picked up by NBC for it's 1966 Fall schedule.
Rural comedies were a hot fad throughout the 1960's. Given that the premise of "Beverly Hillbillies" (the number-one show of the era; in terms of average number of viewers each week, "Hillbillies" remains the most popular series in the history of American television) being some country folk moving to the city, it was perhaps inevitable that someone would create a sitcom about city folks moving to the country.
"Green Acres"' premise was that of a well-off New York couple (well-played by Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor) selling-off their Park Avenue condo and moving to a farm. Many of the early episodes dealt hilariously with their attempts to adapt to farm life.
No doubt many younger viewers (especially in the Central and Mountain time zones; I suspect most youngsters on the East Coast dbeen sent off to sleep by 9 P.M. EDT/EST) watched the show because of Arnold The Pig, who was quite popular. I have even heard that Arnold The Pig got more fan letters during the run of "Green Acres" than either Albert or Gabor.
"Green Acres" had the best time slot of any new series premiering in September of 1965: Wednesdays at 9 P.M. ET. This was right after "Hillbillies" and right before "The Dick VanDyke Show" (which would leave the air at the end of the season), two of the most popular shows of the time. Given it's time slot, "Green Acres" got a lot of "sampling" by viewers and finished it's first year ranked #11 by Nielsen for the entire season. In it's second year, "Gren Acres" did even better, finishing sixth for the 1966/67 season.
After four years on Wednesdays, "Green Acres" was moved to Saturdays at 9 P.M. ET (for 1969/70) and then to Tuesdays at 8 (for it's last season; 1970/71). If ratings along were to determine what shows CBS would renew for the 1971/72 season, "Green Acres" would easily have been renewed for a seventh season. But in 1971, new CBS programming chief Bob Wood wanted to get rid of the "rural" shows, despite their high overall ratings, because too many viewers of these shows were either under 18 or over 50. Thus, "Green Acres" got the axe.
Both shows have been constantly rerun since their network cancellations and continue to entertain new generations of fans.