Thursday, April 5, 2012

WE BEAT UPN! 25 years ago tonight, on Sunday, April 5, 1987, the Fox network aired its first primetime programs--an hour block of Married With Children and The Tracey Ullman Show, with 21 Jump Street following a week later.  It was another 6 years till Fox programmed every night of the week (starting in the fall of 1993), and despite hits like The Simpsons and 90210, Fox didn't really go legit until it got the rights to the NFC in 1994, and didn't become a dominant force until American Idol and Joe Millionaire dominated the 2002-2003 season.  Fox has given us a lot of programming--some memorably good, some memorably bad, and some memorably ridiculous--share your favorites in the comments.

ETA:  Vulture has a nice slideshow of 25 shows it's safe to say Fox won't be featuring on its upcoming 25th Anniversary special.

48 comments:

  1. Lou W6:40 PM

    Firefly.  Bastards.

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  2. But would any other network have given us even one season of Firefly (or two seasons of Dollhouse, four seasons of Fringe, and an abbreviated season of Wonderfalls)?

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  3. Alyssa7:18 PM

    I have a soft spot for the OC.  I think that and Firefly are the only two Fox shows I own on DVD.

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  4. Herman's Head. Duet. Bev Niner.  The Kimberly Mancini reveal.

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  5. Joseph J, Finn7:26 PM

    The great: X-Files, the great years

    The oddly forgotten: Parker Lewis Can't Lose

    The ridiculous: Woops!

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  6. No love for Arrested Development's 2 and a half seasons?

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  7. Joseph J, Finn7:57 PM

    Oh god yes on the Mancini Reveal.  (They teach that at Starfleet along with the Picard Maneuver, right?)

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  8. Watts8:11 PM

    I'm still not sure why I liked Duet so much, considering I was 12 when it came out.

    I was glued to my tv every week for "The Tracey Ullman Show" and I still remember this sketch: "City of Strangers." 
    http://www.youtube.com/v/e7f4Vv9ubKs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140

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  9. Watts8:13 PM

    Fox is also responsible for the beginning of my crush on Matthew Perry, courtesy of "Second Chance" aka "Boys Will Be Boys."

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  10. Watts8:15 PM

    Which is associated with this remarkable bit of trivia: 
    "<span>The pilot episode of this series opened with the graphics "St. Peter's Office -- July 29, 2011". A newly dead Moamar Gaddafi materializes in the judgment chair. The writers' prediction was off by only 83 days"</span>

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  11. Watts8:16 PM

    Abraham Benrubi could win an Oscar, a Tony, a Grammy, and and Emmy all in one year and I'd still shout "KUUUUUUBE!" every time I saw him.

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  12. kd bart8:18 PM

    Where have you gone Herman's Head?  A nation turns its' lonely eyes to you.

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  13. Watts8:19 PM

    Apparently, I have a lot to say about Fox.

    I watched BOTH the Wendie Jo Sperber shows mentioned in that slideshow.  I don't know why, but I totally loved her and would watch anything she did.

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  14. Meghan9:05 PM

    Me too!  I remember watching it as a kid. 

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  15. Becca9:05 PM

    You and me both, sister. No matter how much grey he gets in his hair. And when Parker Lewis was on Stargate for a while (billed as Corin, fancypants), I learned that he can, in fact, lose. Yeesh, he was wonky there. 

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  16. Meghan9:05 PM

    Temptation Island.

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  17. Samir Patel9:44 PM

    As far as favorite Fox shows go, it's a tossup between The Good Guys and 24.

    Bones is pretty good too.

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  18. Worst of Fox: The Chamber (WWTBAM + torture), Married By America, or The Littlest Groom?

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  19. Joseph J, Finn10:05 PM

    Still a standard bearer for televised sleaze.

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  20. I loved Herman's Head. Loved it and am not ashamed to admit it!

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  21. Joseph J, Finn10:06 PM

    I think I've moved to a mix of Kube, his desk guy on E/R and of course Anya's troll husband.

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  22. Booker! The Johnny Depp spin-off that Johnny Depp didn't want. I loved it. I watched it. And I'm now scared by what Richard Grieco looks like.

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  23. Joseph J, Finn10:12 PM

    Hey, just realized something else I want to compliment Fox on: My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, an absolutely wicked take on The Apprentice.  (I honestly think if Fox had been a little more clear on the fakeness of the show in the advertising it would have done better.)

    And of course we have to mention the greatest thing of 2003 for Fox (at least furing the MLB playoffs): 
    http://www.youtube.com/v/srrZ0h119HE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140

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  24. J. Bowman10:15 PM

    Remember, these are shows that sucked (at least ratings-wise) even for Fox. Firefly, I suppose, could have made the cut, but even then it was a critical darling. Herman's Head and Duet were bona fide hits by 1990 Fox standards. Arrested Development made it into a third season.
    Now, Brisco County Jr., I don't know what happened there. That show was awesome.

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  25. lisased10:24 PM

    Oh, I loved "Roar". I was the only person I knew who watched that. I caught up with "Kindred: The Embraced" during a weekend marathon -- another guilty pleasure.

    Before "American Idol", Fox took the chances it did because it didn't have much of a choice. And for that, I am grateful.

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  26. Adam C.10:38 PM

    And Hey, It's Randee Heller, pre-Ida Blankenship, in another 1980s mom role (cf. The Karate Kid)

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  27. Marsha12:04 AM

    You and me both, Jen. For some reason, that show is fixed near-perfectly in my memory - any time an actor from the show appears somewhere, I instantly recognize them from HH. Case in point: The guy who played "Intellect" is the video-chat dad on Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23.

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  28. Three words: Donna. Martin. Graduates. 

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  29. I also was a big fan of the first three seasons of Party of Five and the lone season of The Ben Stiller Show.

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  30. Becca1:41 AM

    Wasn't Fox where the first Jon Stewart talk show lived? Remember when he got canceled and he started tossing office supplies into the audience every night? Awesome. 

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  31. Fred App8:13 AM

    Wait a second. Thrity comments so far ... and NO mention of the Garry Shandling Show? Just for the theme song along, it's one of the best sitcoms ever.

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  32. Isaac on Herman's Head, 9-8-2007: "... <span>To fully understand the influence that </span>Herman's Head<span> has had on all of our lives, we should first think about what wouldn't exist without it. </span>Sex and the City<span>, certainly, is basically a remake. ..."</span>

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  33. It was a Showtime program that Fox re-ran.

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  34. Fred App8:35 AM

    Good point. I had forgotten that. Still, considering how few people had Showtime, Fox deserves credit for providing the only exposure of that show to ... well, virtually everyone.

    For me, it was that trio -- "Married with Children," "The Tracey Ullman Show," "Garry Shandling" -- that defined Fox at the time as the network that would air programs no one else would go near. The network you'd watch because it seemed subversive; the shows you'd watch so you could say, "Did they really just DO that?"

    Now, of course, Fox offers the same shtick as everyone else, and it's the cable channels that air the more daring shows.

    Also: "Alien Nation." Based on the movie. Both TV show and movie were sadly underrated, I think.

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  35. Joseph J, Finn8:49 AM

    Hell, I remember a night he was out there with the flu, and we're talking death flu, and still went forward with a bit of him supposedly crowdsurfing.  However, that was MTV (and in verifying my memory, does anyone at all remember the Jon Stewart & The State show <span> </span>You Wrote It, You Watch It<span>.?</span>

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  36. sea0tter128:56 AM

    I adored "Roar," and Heath Ledger was a big reason why.

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  37. Even now, Fox takes chances--at the time it was picked up, can you imagine any other network putting on Glee or the various animated shows?  Would even NBC in its dire straits still be airing Fringe?  (The pickup made sense--the sticking with it, less so.) Admittedly, more and more of their lineup is taken over with singing shows or the sort of procedurals that would be a happy fit on CBS (Bones, The Finder), but there's still an edge, and FX definitely still has that "outlaw" identity of the early days of Fox.

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  38. Dave S9:23 AM

    Alien Nation.

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  39. Heather k10:53 AM

    I was a tween when Fox started up and it rocked my world with one single show:

    Animaniacs.

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  40. Marsha1:17 PM

    There are not enough Like buttons in the world for this.

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  41. tortoiseshelly2:04 PM

    I liked Heath Ledger to distraction. Like, embarrassingly so.

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  42. AndreaJ2:59 PM

    My husband would be upset if I didn't mention COPS.

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  43. Sometimes I just say that at random. Especially at awkward moments. It gets either a laugh or a confused stare depending on average age of my companions.

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  44. There remains a special place in my heart for 21 Jump Street.

    I wasn't going to see the movie until I heard that Johnny Depp and Peter DeLouise make cameos.

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  45. Remember the episode when they had the baby? Or it transfered from the female alien into the guy? I'm still repulsed by that.

    And yet, I watched it every week.

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  46. Watts4:38 PM

    And I was glad I didn't know that - it was more delicious to be surprised by their appearance.

    But, really, FUNNY FUNNY movie - I laughed far more than Mark Kermode's "Six Laughs" minimum for good comedies.

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  47. Paul Tabachneck8:10 PM

    God, I loved Herman's Head. 

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  48. Paul Tabachneck8:16 PM

    I LOVED that movie.  The cameo was absolutely brilliant.

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