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The failed new syndication offerings of 1994

According to an early 1995 Yakima Herald-Republic microfilm listing, Davidson TPIR never aired in this market. Not very sure about Seattle, and I know it aired at 3:05AM on KOIN-6 in Portland.
 
crainbebo said:
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.
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Not surprised that Marilu Henner did not last long. Was subjected to her act one day in the doctor's waiting
room. That woman was 46 going on 16. No one wants to see a giggly, flighty, immature middle-aged woman hosting a talk show loaded with salacious content.

And as far as cheap kids shows in syndication, was this not also the year that Brazilian soft-core porn star
Xuxa was unleashed upon our children? What I mainly remember about that one was that her command of English
was so incredibly poor that after a few episodes they had to add a character (guy in a panda suit!) to translate
for her.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
And as far as cheap kids shows in syndication, was this not also the year that Brazilian soft-core porn star
Xuxa was unleashed upon our children? What I mainly remember about that one was that her command of English
was so incredibly poor that after a few episodes they had to add a character (guy in a panda suit!) to translate
for her.
Click to expand...

ironically it was syndicated by Pat Robertson owned MTM and later aired on Pat Robertson owned Family Channel
 
FreddyE1977 said:
Wow! That blows me away! Did Pat have any idea what she did for a living south of the border?
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he probably didn't care as long as the CBN Partners sent in $, he didn't require anyone to actually continue to air "family" programming when he the Family Channel to Rupert Murdoch, just the $700 Club
 
FreddyE1977 said:
And as far as cheap kids shows in syndication, was this not also the year that Brazilian soft-core porn star
Xuxa was unleashed upon our children? What I mainly remember about that one was that her command of English
was so incredibly poor that after a few episodes they had to add a character (guy in a panda suit!) to translate
for her.
Click to expand...

Looking at old listings, local FOX affiliate WGKI (in its quasi-superstation days; it replaced WKBD on cable in the Yoop to make sure Lions games were on local TV and remained there until the very cheap WMQF came on) cleared this show at 6am or something like that
 
I was going through the Central Mississippi TV (Oct. 22-28, 1994) and saw some listings I suspect might have been new ones for the '94 season. Most of the other shows were from the New Orleans or Mobile market in the same TV guide.
Here they are:

Gordon Elliott (WJTV 12 CBS)
Susan Powter
Ricki Lake
Rolanda (WLBT 3 NBC) 1:35 a.m. (strange hour?)
Leeza
Judge for Yourself
VR Troopers
Transformers Gen. 2
Gargoyles (WDBD 40 FOX)
Suzanne Somers
Court TV
Jones & Jury (WAPT 16 ABC)
THe NEWZ (WDBD 40 F)X)
Last Call (WDBD 40 FOX)

I hope some were not from 1993 original release.
 
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I don't think I ever saw a Doug Davidson TPIR episode, but I remember hearing about it, and that it was an attempt to "young up" the franchise, which was over 20 years old at the time (not counting the 60s version). Handsome young host, younger models, prizes that would appeal to younger demos. With all of Bob Barker's comments in the first clip posted above about how "young" his (Barker's) audience was, he certainly got that aspect.



Mario500 said:
What make you think Bob Barker was ever a "cantankerous, obnoxious jerk"?
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mississippi fan said:
I would bet Dian, Holly and Janice would have different opinions on Barker.
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Oh yes--and it was only less than a year earlier (early June 1994--shortly before OJ) that the sexual harrassment allegations Dian had against Barker came to light:

http://articles.philly.com/1994-06-02/news/25834031_1_dian-parkinson-bob-barker-hanky-panky

David Letterman had a field day with the Bob Barker scandals in his jokes and Top Ten lists during most of summer 1994 as he approached his one-year CBS anniversary.

For example: "Top Ten Bob Barker Pickup Lines" (June 7, 1994): http://www.jokebug.com/joke/top_ten_jokes/27_4_9223/top_ten_bob_barker_pickup_lines.html
 
Piggybacking on an earlier, related post: Maury Povich was planning to leave his talk show in the fall of '98 to host a new, syndicated newsmagazine program with his wife, Connie Chung. IIRC, there was very little interest from stations with few commitments, including one from WFSB in Hartford.

After the proposed show collapsed, Povich stayed in daytime and moved syndicators from Paramount to what was then called Studios USA. Chung, then a free agent, eventually joined ABC News.
 
I watched University Hospital when it was on FOX17 on Mondays at 10PM if I was sick from school I would watch it otherwise I had to be to bed at 10PM. I caught most of the show in summer of 95 I think I watched Heaven Help US on weekends on FOX47 at either 3 or 4PM. Don't think I ever remember the new price is right or the other shows that were on in 94.

Extra started in the Fall of 93 7PM on WOTV4 I think I remember that Extra for a couple of years stopped being entertainment show and kinda went murder mystery for a couple of seasons I think fall of 98 before Liza Givens took over Extra in 2000 went back to entertainment.
 
I watched "Trauma Center" on WLOS late at night, usually after WLOS's late night movie; I can't remember what station carried "Heaven Help Us." WLOS also had the Davidson TPIR and Dawson Feud too. "Trauma Center" ran against "Star Search," so i'd watch "Trauma Center" then switch over to "Star Search" at the half hour mark.
 
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johnnya2k6 said:
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?
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It wasn't just OJ; the time slots for some of the shows were bad. For example "Trauma Center" aired on WLOS here in Asheville at 2am, opposite "Star Search" (and before that, "Soul Train") on WSPA. Even worse, "University Hospital", "Heaven Help Us", and "Robin's Hoods" never cleared here. Had WLOS dropped their simulcast on WMYA in 94, rather than 95, who knows where those shows would have ended up.
 
Who can forget "Blade Warriors" ("American Gladiators" on in-line skates)? Its failure led to the bankruptcy of its distributor (Select Media, which had a flop the year before with the weekly magazine/video show "Music Scoupe"). Another flop from that season was the Gerry Anderson-produced "Space Precinct."
 
ShawnHill1 said:
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.

Elaborate on Dick’s and Chuck’s shows someone please!

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."
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Elaborate on Dick Clark’s show and I don’t think Chuck was supposed to host a game show in 1981. I remember he was supposed to host a late afternoon talk show that never made it past the pilot stage called Hittin’ Home
 
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