FOX Turns 25

[Mario500]

^My copy of local TV listings from 1962 has "The Flinstones" scheduled for 7:30 PM (prime time) by the local ABC affiliate (WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Florida). During the same year, CBS was presenting "The Bugs Bunny Show" in prime time on a weekly basis.

Do you know if these shows were national or perhaps run by the affiliate independently?

I entered the navy in the summer of '62 so didn't watch TV for the ensuing four years but I was a big fan of Bugs Bunny and would have watched that show if it had been shown on channel 7 in S.F. during that time.  The Flintstones I remember only from Saturday morning shows.

'The Flintstones'(1960-1966) was the longest running prime-time network cartoon until 'The Simpsons'.
ABC aired 'Bugs Bunny' in prime time from 1960-62; it moved to CBS Saturday mornings later that year.(I live in SF, but don't know for certain if KGO cleared Bugs; I would assume that, being an O & O, they did.)
ABC also had 'The Jetsons', 'Jonny Quest',  and 'Top Cat', on the air between '61 and '63. 'McKeever and the Colonel' was a short-lived NBC show in '62-'63, and even 'Mr. Magoo' had a prime time run somewhere in that timeframe.
And not forgetting Rocky and Bullwinkle(under various titles) ran from the late 50s through early-mid-60s in prime time, before moving to Saturday mornings.

Once again this week one of my favorite sites (Cartoon Resource) fails me by having false information such as CBS broadcasting "The Bugs Bunny Show" in prime time while another site (The Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Page) states the program was broadcast by ABC at 7:30 PM (Eastern) on a weekly basis. The other site that failed me this past week was the Internet Movie Database stating the CBS news program "Morning" lasted from 1979 until 1987 rather than from 1979 until 1982.

The sites with the errors need to be corrected as soon as possible, as folks such as myself who write for a living strive for providing readers accurate information.

 

[cowboybud]

Flintstones? Jetsons? Wait Till Your Father Gets Home? Any number of Charlie Brown and Dr. Seuss specials?

I don't recall The Flintstones or The Jetsons being shown during prime time on network TV.

Neither do I, but I wouldn't have been born for several more years. ;D Both shows originally aired in prime time on ABC.

 

[azumanga]

- invented the practice of local stations branding with the network name. (Fox 4, NBC 5, CBS 11.. etc)

While I cannot disagree with this point I also don't understand what it brings to the table. I'm not going out on a limb by suggesting that the vast majority of TV viewers know the network affiliations of their OTA stations without being reminded. After all, the majority of us select shows to watch by show name and channel and not by network.

If you want to get Canadian TV into this, I believe the CBC was the first to use network names with the local channel in some areas -- such as "CBC 9" for CBRT in Calgary" and "CBC 5" for CBLT in Toronto.

 

[KML0224]

@ TVCOOL: FOX aired two editions of WWE Saturday Night's Main Event as one-hour prime-time specials in February and October of 1992. They also aired an 1 hour edited special in the fall of 1995, highlighting a couple of the matches from WWE WrestleMania XI (which I was at in Hartford). Of course, there was also WWE Smackdown!, but that show aired on UPN and then MY. I'm fairly certain that I once read that FOX almost had that show.

 

[onairb]

^My copy of local TV listings from 1962 has "The Flinstones" scheduled for 7:30 PM (prime time) by the local ABC affiliate (WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Florida). During the same year, CBS was presenting "The Bugs Bunny Show" in prime time on a weekly basis.

Do you know if these shows were national or perhaps run by the affiliate independently?

I entered the navy in the summer of '62 so didn't watch TV for the ensuing four years but I was a big fan of Bugs Bunny and would have watched that show if it had been shown on channel 7 in S.F. during that time. The Flintstones I remember only from Saturday morning shows.

'The Flintstones'(1960-1966) was the longest running prime-time network cartoon until 'The Simpsons'.
ABC aired 'Bugs Bunny' in prime time from 1960-62; it moved to CBS Saturday mornings later that year.(I live in SF, but don't know for certain if KGO cleared Bugs; I would assume that, being an O & O, they did.)
ABC also had 'The Jetsons', 'Jonny Quest', and 'Top Cat', on the air between '61 and '63. 'McKeever and the Colonel' was a short-lived NBC show in '62-'63, and even 'Mr. Magoo' had a prime time run somewhere in that timeframe.
And not forgetting Rocky and Bullwinkle(under various titles) ran from the late 50s through early-mid-60s in prime time, before moving to Saturday mornings.

Once again this week one of my favorite sites (Cartoon Resource) fails me by having false information such as CBS broadcasting "The Bugs Bunny Show" in prime time while another site (The Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Page) states the program was broadcast by ABC at 7:30 PM (Eastern) on a weekly basis. The other site that failed me this past week was the Internet Movie Database stating the CBS news program "Morning" lasted from 1979 until 1987 rather than from 1979 until 1982.

The sites with the errors need to be corrected as soon as possible, as folks such as myself who write for a living strive for providing readers accurate information.

According to the Brooks and Marsh 'Complete to Directory to Prime Time...' CBS did, in fact air 'The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Show' VERY briefly in prime time, but not until the summer of 1976, and even then, only for a month. At any rate, it wasn't on CBS in 1960.

 

[Hal Erickson]

Does anyone remember how the Fox publicity people insisted it wasn't REALLY a network during its first year or so on the air, but a collection of independents who were voluntarily carrying the Fox lineup?

 

[FreddyE1977]

There's a great book about the start of the Fox Network called "Outfoxed" by Alex Ben Block. It was long ago out of print, but if you can find it, it's a great read.

I second the motion. It's a fascinating book if you can get your hands on a copy.
(found mine in a dollar store bin sometime in the late 90's)

 

[cowboybud]

Does anyone remember how the Fox publicity people insisted it wasn't REALLY a network during its first year or so on the air, but a collection of independents who were voluntarily carrying the Fox lineup?

I remember (before they bid on the NFL and other sports properties) that they weren't considered a "network" because they broadcast less than 15 hours a week. They weren't broadcasting seven nights a week until the early 90s IIRC.

 

[arnoldevns]

Fox has revolutionized network and sports television in many ways. Here's a little list just off the top of my head:

We can look at network TV as "before Fox" and "after Fox" and depending upon which timeline you use you can come up with very different analysis:

- broke the big 3 prime time monopoly.

Debatable. Fox officially began in October 1986 when there were already many cable channels competing for prime time viewing with the three major networks. It would be many years before Fox was able to turn network-type numbers competing in prime time OTA.

No, it's not. When Fox came along the broadcast networks still commanded a large majority of the prime time viewing audience. It took Fox just a few months to have a show beat at least one of the networks in a time slot. ("Warewolf" debut) It was only a couple of years before "Married...with Children" was regularly winning its timeslot. Several others had tried to get enough stations together for a 4th network (long after DuMont disappeared) but were not able to be competitive with the big 3 networks.

- The "edgy" programming they started ("Married with Children", "The Simpsons" etc) with is now fairly common fare on most broadcast networks.

This hits square on my main complaint on Fox programming. You can say "edgy". I say they "lowered the bar". Fox went after the teen and 20-something viewer who liked their humor written on restroom walls. They have become experts at presenting the same type of raunchy humor which has, because of competition, bled over into the more established network's programming. I equate Fox's programming to that of Playboy which established the market for soft porn in printed media. We no longer have significant drama which used to be a staple of network TV. Instead, we are served bottom-feeding pollution that represents the basest levels of intellectual development in the history of the medium.

- brought cartoons back to prime time

"Cartoons" never existed in prime time on network affiliates so there was nothing to "bring back". Cartoons have traditionally been created as youth-oriented comedy. What passes for "cartoons" in prime time these days is adult-oriented animation. To say it is intended as comedy depends upon your sense of humor but there is no way any thinking person would compare classic cartoons to the junk portrayed on "Family Man" for instance.

I'm not sure you know much about the history of prime time network television in this country. The Flintstones, The Jetsons and others were all on the major networks in prime time in the 1960s. They were designed to appeal to a broad audience, not just kids and not just adults. And by the way.. the show is "Family Guy" not "Family Man." If you're going to be critical of a show, at least get the name of it right.

- "The Simpsons" pushed "The Cosby Show" off the top of the ratings charts

Is this an accomplishment or an eventual reality? Never one of my personal favorites "Cosby" was nevertheless one of the most popular programs in TV history. But as all popular programs do it eventually changed in character and in writing and was ready for replacement when "The Simpsons" came along. This is much more natural evolution than anything Fox intended (other than their pursuit of a specific age demo which was covered before).

Let's put it this way, no one had been able to counter-program The Cosby Show successfully until Fox did it. That's an accomplishment, whether you agree or not.

And by the way, let me add that Fox is also the only network to successfully counter-program the Super Bowl. The "In Living Color" halftime show that was sponsored by Doritos got about 20 million viewers in 1992 and made Super Bowl XXVI one of the lowest rated in decades.

- practically invented reality TV

You must be young if you don't remember early TV and the plethora of what we now call "reality" shows (although most are merely non-scripted and/or games and would not have been called "reality" in the old days). Fox did have at least one true reality offering - "COPS" but it did not create the genre.

- "America's Most Wanted" helped capture hundreds of criminals

True but the show was patterned after a similar series both in Germany and in the U.K. and was not original with Fox. It's popularity grew after John Walsh was selected to host taking advantage of his experience as a parent of a murdered child in Florida several years earlier.

- "American Idol" has changed the music industry by finding several stars from total unknowns.

Again, your youth is showing. Since the very early days of TV there have been numerous talent shows showcasing performers of all genre's. "American Idol" was simply the most recent and flashiest (and slowest) and was made popular by allowing viewers to cast votes (instead of a studio audience as in older shows). Given the current very poor state of popular music it is difficult to imagine that Idol has made a major contribution to the music industry other than to save it from complete destruction. Singing is not a rare talent. Singing and having weird hair and tattoos seem to be the current menu for success in the younger demos.

My youth is showing? I'm 42 and it's apparent you don't know much about the history of U.S. prime time television.
There have been "talent" shows before like "The Gong Show" and "Star Search" but neither were on prime time network television in their original runs. (yes, CBS brought a version of Star Search back after Idol became a hit, but that is not really what we're talking about)
It's hard to compare those shows to Idol. Idol was on prime time network TV, those shows were not. Idol has been the most watched show in the country for years, those shows were not. Idol is a singing competition, those shows are not. Idol has had a huge impact on the music industry, creating a number of major recording artists. (11 of them have sold at least a million albums, 2 of those have sold more than 10 million albums)

And by the way.. you say singing is not a rare talent? Really. Have you ever seen the auditions on Idol? If you did, you would see that singing is a rare talent.. and a lot more people think they can do it than actually can.

- greatly expanded number of local stations doing news

I'm unsure what you are crediting Fox for doing here as 20-25 years ago most stations had news offerings of some sort. Fox does not have an OTA news show on the level of the three majors. In addition, judging from my local Phoenix Fox station, whatever airs during their morning show is essentially identical to that offered at noon, dinnertime and bedtime. I would not call that an expansion of news capability. Not that the three majors do it any better, mind you.

Let me make it clear to you then: when Fox came along most markets had 3 stations doing news. Now, most markets have at least 4 stations doing news. (and many markets have more than that)
Without Fox, that would not be the case.

- invented the practice of local stations branding with the network name. (Fox 4, NBC 5, CBS 11.. etc)

While I cannot disagree with this point I also don't understand what it brings to the table. I'm not going out on a limb by suggesting that the vast majority of TV viewers know the network affiliations of their OTA stations without being reminded. After all, the majority of us select shows to watch by show name and channel and not by network.

- invented the full time score bug for NFL games that's now common on all sports broadcasts

I'm not positive but I am pretty sure the bug was first used by ESPN2. And here I am talking about the scrolling scores displayed at the bottom of the screen and not the "flashing" bug which was in use during MLB games going back to the 60's (and perhaps earlier).

I'm not talking about the scrolling score at the bottom of the screen. I'm talking about the fact you can turn on almost any game now and see the score of that game on the screen the whole time the game is on. The "flash" scores you mentioned were the old way of doing it. Fox changed that. It wasn't an ESPN creation.

I'll just say: Happy Birthday Fox! Very glad they're here.

Not surprisingly we disagree here. I can truly say I would not miss Fox one iota should they go dark tomorrow. Some things you didn't cover but I have noticed is the decrease in quality of NASCAR races - the never-ending commercials (required by the extravagant broadcast rights), the endless pre-race babbling that adds nothing to the program and the "crank it up" nightclub-like antics during the broadcast. One reason I no longer watch the NFL are the Fox broadcasts and for many of the same reasons.

In summary, I see Fox leading the charge to mediocrity in TV broadcasting instead of the other way around. And that is probably related to my age as I can clearly remember the standards and programming of a more intelligent era before the bottom-feeding Fox came along programming to the lowest common denominator.

 

[Nate Wesley]

Of course, there was also WWE Smackdown!, but that show aired on UPN and then MY. I'm fairly certain that I once read that FOX almost had that show.

A few years ago, there were some rumors that Fox was genuinely interested in having Smackdown at its same Friday timeslot, but only if it were a live show similar to Raw. Nothing ever came of it, obviously.

 

[KyDXIn]

'The Flintstones'(1960-1966) was the longest running prime-time network cartoon until 'The Simpsons'.

"The Flintstones" indeed aired in primetime and was sponsored by Winston cigarettes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvt8skgm2l8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=bdHSIquSHMw&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhS-koD9c88

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Flintstones? Jetsons? Wait Till Your Father Gets Home? Any number of Charlie Brown and Dr. Seuss specials?

I don't recall The Flintstones or The Jetsons being shown during prime time on network TV.

Neither do I, but I wouldn't have been born for several more years. ;D Both shows originally aired in prime time on ABC.

Flintstones & Jetsons were indeed broadcast on prime-time. Yes, I am old enough to remember :.

 

[desertv]

As was "Top Cat" on NBC

 

[Ultimajock]

...Top Cat was run on ABC in first-run prime time during the 1961-62 season; I believe it was rerun on Saturday mornings by NBC in later years...

 

[Ultimajock]

'McKeever and the Colonel' was a short-lived NBC show in '62-'63

...McKeever & The Colonel was a live-action sitcom; the animated series referenced earlier was Calvin & The Colonel, which was essentially a retread of the Amos Brown and George "Kingfish" Stevens characters from Amos 'n' Andy as a gullible bear and a scheming fox, with the creators of Amos 'n' Andy, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, voicing the lead characters. Calvin & The Colonel was run in first-run prime time on ABC during the 1961-62 season (The Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall, with the title characters essentially as disc jockeys, had left CBS Radio the previous November, just a handful of days after John F. Kennedy was elected President); its beginning time slot was 8:30/7:30 Central on Tuesdays, with Bugs Bunny starting one hour earlier; Top Cat was seen at 8:30/7:30 Central on Wednesdays, and The Flintstones had the same time slot on Fridays...

 

[Hal Erickson]

After the spate of prime-time animated series between 1960 and 1964 (bracketed by FLINTSTONES and JONNY QUEST), there wasn't anything on the networks until 1970's WHERE'S HUDDLES, also H-B. An argument could be made for the hybrid shows NEW ADVENTURES OF HUCK FINN (persuasively) and OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD (less so). Sporadic efforts were made in the 1980s to re-introduce animation to the nighttime hours, but nothing stuck until SIMPSONS in 1990, because young-and-hungry Fox was willing to give offbeat ideas a fighting chance (even the dreadful White House comedy MR. PRESIDENT got a full season's run).

 

[arnoldevns]

By the way.. Fox says they'll re-air the pilot episode of "Married...With Children" at 7/6c on April 22nd. At 7:30/6:30c they'll re-air the 500th episode of The Simpsons. After that will be the 2 hour 25th anniversary special.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

By the way.. Fox says they'll re-air the pilot episode of "Married...With Children" at 7/6c on April 22nd. At 7:30/6:30c they'll re-air the 500th episode of The Simpsons. After that will be the 2 hour 25th anniversary special.

Will they re-air Dark Angel, Titus, Undeclared, Action, That ’80s Show, Wonderfalls, Fastlane, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Skin, Girls Club, Cracking Up, The Pitts, Firefly, Get Real, Freakylinks, Wanda at Large, Costello, The Lone Gunmen, A Minute With Stan Hooper, Normal Ohio, Pasadena, Harsh Realm, Keen Eddie, The $treet, American Embassy, Cedric the Entertainer, The Tick, Louie or Greg the Bunny? ;D

 

[RobertAnthony]

FOX certainly has come a long way since then: from the NFL package to the FOX News Channel, they're a force to be reckoned with in 2012.

I don't watch the NFL so no comment there and the Fox New Channel is cable so the comparison with other OTA networks seems a bit stretched in that regard but Fox has earned widespread derision for its NASCAR broadcasts what with the Looney Tunes-type cartoons, sound effects and yee-haw announcers. 'American Idol' seems like a stretched-out version of a typical Hollywood awards show or perhaps 'The Gong Show' with better lighting.

As far as their scripted offerings I guess you could consider them quantity if certainly not quality competitors with shows like 'The Simpsons' and '24' (the only Fox drama watched in my house but criticized endlessly for unrealistic and repetitive story lines). '24' was proof that a 1940's "spy vs spy" fistfight extravaganza serial would work with today's uneducated masses and both viewers in my house were done with it long before it mercifully came to conclusion. I haven't watched 'Bones" enough to know but it seemed like worthwhile drama. The remainder of Fox programming seems like junk IMHO.

Financially, Fox may be a competitor but I think their "success" has more to do with the lowering of the bar across the industry than anything of quality Fox brings to the table.

I would concur for the most part. A station like WNEW under Metromedia was in a war with WPIX while WOR was outside looking in and a year away from becoming WWOR. Metromedia blinked selling out to Fox and Murdoch. At first the changes were just in imaging and call letters to WNYW in New York and Fox in its first year was still letting its affiliates still be indies for the most part. When the 90's began, the network was taking over to the mess as you now see it today.

 

[DToTheJ]

@NoMadCowAtBK: Don't forget "Ryan Caufield: Year One" (cancelled after half a season... so much for year two).