 This is the SF Productions Podcast Network. That wonderful TV year, 1990. From the Pub Culture Bunker, I'm Mindy. And I'm Mark. You can check out our audio podcast, How I Got My Wife to Read Comics on iTunes, or on our website, SFPodcastNetwork.com. Now I've collected TV Guide Fall Preview issues over the years and thought it would be fun to talk about which shows made it, which didn't, and which ones we actually watched. Now I do have to give credit to Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast for the idea. This was the year that TV Guide went Fall Preview crazy, with no less than four total issues covering it. The first issue was the traditional listing of each new episode followed by three special issues. We'll get to those in a moment, but let's start with the new shows. Now on Saturday, back when the networks actually scheduled new stuff, The Family Man, CBS. Gregory Harrison, coming off his co-starring role on Trapper John M.D. and a run on Falcon Crest, returns as a hot, winnowed firefighter with four kids to raise. Happy Days Al Molinero plays his father-in-law, who moves in to help out. Whackiness ensues. This came from the Miller Boyet stable, the godfathers of TGIF, and was paired with the Hogan family, which had just switched networks. One of the kids is played by Scott Wenger, who would go on to voice the voice of Aladdin. It lasted for one season, with half of the episodes burned off the next summer. Parenthood on NBC, not to be confused with the 2010 NBC series, or the similarly named 1995 WB series. Based on the hit film and produced by the same people, this version starred David Arquette and Ed Begley Jr., leading a large cast all about the travails of an extended family. This was one of Arquette's first roles. The cast also included a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Thora Burt. Also, one of the writers was a young Joss Whedon. Despite the stellar reviews, this dramedy lasted all of twelve episodes. Working it out, NBC, divorces Jane Curtin and Stephen Collins meet at a singles cooking glass and things heat up. Curtin was coming off a similar concept on Kate and Ally, while Collins had just completed a flop called Tattingers. He's got two kids in college while she has a nine-year-old daughter. Can they work it out? Well, they didn't get much of a chance, with only thirteen episodes, two unaired. He would go on to Seventh Heaven, and she would go on to Third Rock from the Sun. Hey, Wire, on Fox. Oh, those wacky programs of the early Fox network. This was a sketch comedy show, although the TV Guide entry makes it sound like a hidden camera show, starring, well, basically no one. Of the six cast members, four do not appear to have Wikipedia entries, and the other two consist of an original MTV VJ, Alan Hunter, and the co-creator of Cold Sketch Show, almost live, John Keaster. It was supposedly on for two seasons, but they must have been short ones. It was on from September 1990 to January 1991. Earth Force, CBS. When a TV millionaire is dying, the obvious choice is for him to bankroll an elite unit of eco-fighters to save the world. Buck Rogers himself, Gil Gerard, stars, along with a team of scientists slash models. The show was shot in Australia, so I'm assuming CBS got some sort of tax deal? The reviews were not kind. Absolute stinker, painfully banal, pretentious. Did I mention that it premiered against the Emmy Awards? That's how little confidence the network had on the show, and they were right. Seven episodes, three of which only aired internationally. American Chronicles on Fox. David Lynch, running high off successes like A Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, decided to do a documentary series in the same style. So there's plenty of weird camera angles, sex, and violence. Richard Dreyfus narrated the series, which lasted 13 episodes, one of which didn't air. American Dreamer, NBC. Robert Yerck returns to TV not long after his long run on Spencer for hire. Now he's a journalist used to a globetrotting life. His wife dies, so he is forced to give that up to spend time with his kids in a small town, Kenosha, Wisconsin, writing human interest stories. There's a waitress slash love interest, Margaret Welch, his big city boss, Jeffrey Tambor, and his wacky secretary, Carol Kane. One of his kids is played by a young Johnny Galecki in his first TV role. The show was from Gary David Goldberg, Family Ties, and ran for 17 episodes, some of which were burned off in the summer. And we move on to Sunday. With Whole High on NBC, a musical teen drama set at a California high school, preparing about a month before its more infamous twin, Coprock, which we'll discuss in a moment. In this case, most of the music is in the form of a rapping Greek chorus, explaining or expanding on plot points. There's a large cast, most of whom went on to very little. Nancy Bailey played a hot teacher and went on to Baywatch. Trey Parker played a rapper and went on to co-create South Park. Whole High lasted all of nine episodes. True Colors, Fox, a sitcom about an interracial marriage forming a blended family, so essentially a biracial Brady Munch. Frankie Faizon and Stephanie Faracy star. Faizon would go on to the wire and the Hannibal Lecter franchise while Faracy had a long history of lead roles on failed shows. Clevon Little replaced Faizon in the second season and the venerable Nancy Walker played the mother-in-law. This was her final role and she would actually pass before the final episode aired. A year later, Little died of cancer. Fox got two seasons out of the show, which was only possible because Fox had very little outside of The Simpsons at the time. And speaking of very little outside of The Simpsons, Parker Lewis can't lose on Fox, a Ferris Bueller knockoff airing before the official TV version, which we'll get to. The whole show is about the lead, Cory Niemek, trying to maintain his coolness in high school while talking directly to the camera. Melanie Chardoff played the school principal and Parker's nemesis. Somehow this show made it to three seasons. It's also one of the first shows to organize fandom via the internet of the time via a distributed email list. Life Stories, NBC, an early version of the medical documentary format that went on to generate entire cable networks. They would follow a specific person's struggle with the disease. One of the episodes created controversy involving a gay man with AIDS. The episode was postponed on the schedule and critics charged it was done to avoid disturbing advertisers. The show ran for ten episodes, one of which didn't air until the following summer. America's Funniest People on ABC. It was a companion series to America's Funniest Home Videos, which, believe it or not, is still on the air today. People would send in tapes doing comedy bits, other talents or stunts, and co-hosts David Couillet, Full House, and Arlene Sorkin, the voice of Harley Quinn, would comment on them. Sorkin was later replaced by Tony Kitian. There was a weekly $10,000 prize based on audience reaction. The show ran for four seasons. Get a Life, Fox! Letterman writer slash performer Chris Elliott gets his own show, where he plays a 30-year-old paper boy still living with his parents, Bob Elliott, Chris's father, and half of the comedy team of Bob and Ray, and classic TV star Eleanor Donahue. It was surrealistic black comedy, with Chris's idiotic character being killed in multiple episodes only to come back the next week. The parents were almost always stressed in pajamas. Chris's best friend, Sam Robards, is a family man with a dead-end insurance job, who is envious of Chris's man-child lifestyle. Chris moves out of his parents' home in the second season, and lives with a cranky ex-cop, Brian Doyle Murray. The show has become a cult favorite over the years. This is probably the first one that I remember us watching. And you really wanted to like it. I did really want to like it. Because it's like it's Chris Elliott from Letterman. Enough said. Good grief on Fox, a sitcom that tried to put the fun in funeral. Joel Brooks runs a standard funeral home in Ohio when his sister Wendy Shaw allows her new husband, Howie Mandel, to shake things up a bit. Whackiness ensues. Happy Days Tom Poston played a funeral assistant. The show was in such poor taste that it ran all of six episodes with seven more never aired. Against the law, Fox, Michael O'Keeffe stars as a lawyer who will do anything to win his case fighting for the little guy. He quits a prestigious Boston law firm and sets up his own shingle. The show barely lasted a season. We move on to Monday with Uncle Buck on CBS. It was, of course, based on the hit film starring John Candy. Buck is played by comedian Kevin Meany in the sitcom. He's an irresponsible slob, so of course he is given guardianship of his two nieces and a nephew after their parents are killed in a car accident. The kid's grandmother, TV legend Audrey Meadows, is not happy about the whole thing, so why didn't she get guardianship? Like most TV shows based on films, it didn't fare well, running 16 episodes with six more unaired. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air NBC, a huge NBC hit of the early 90s and the first major appearance of Will Smith outside of music videos. As stated in the opening theme rap, after there's some trouble in the neighborhood, Will's mother sends him from West Philadelphia to the West Coast, where he lives with his wealthy uncle and aunt James Avery and Janet Hubert Whitten, later Daphne Maxwell Reid. Will had to deal with a new swanky lifestyle, along with stuck-up cousins including Preppy Carlton, Alfonso Ribeiro, as well as a snooty butler Joseph Marcel. The concept was partly based on the real-life story of music manager Benny Medina, who pitched the idea to Quincy Jones, who pitched it to NBC. The show ran for six seasons and was in the top 30 ratings for the first four. NBC used Fresh Prince to prop up other series, doing crossovers with Blossoms, Out on Night, and In the House. The series became well-known for stunt casting, bringing in stars including Dick Clark, Jay Leno, Wayne Newton, and William Shatner, often playing themselves. The show ended with a mansion sold to classic TV couple The Jeffersons, Sherman Hemsley, and Isabel Sanford, along with Marla Gibbs, guest star. Ferris Bueller, NBC. Now we've made it to the official TV sequel to the film, after Parker Lewis Can't Lose had already aired. Charlie Schlatter stepped into Matthew Broderick's role with Brandon Douglas and Amy Dolenz, covering the Cameron and Sloan roles. Ferris' older sister is played by none other than Jennifer Aniston, pre-friends, and pre-nose job. Ironically, the real Bueller didn't do as well as the knockoff, running all of 13 episodes. The Trials of Rosie O'Neill on CBS. Sharon Glass returns to TV after her long co-starring role on Cagney and Lacy. Now she's a neurotic public defense attorney who checks in with an unseen therapist each episode. That's the voice of Barney Rosenwig, who is a producer of both shows and Sharon Glass' husband. Ron Rifkin played her boss. Ed Asner is an ex-cop who worked for her, and David Roche is her ex-husband. The show generated some controversy when Rosie joked about getting breast augmentation surgery, asking if she should get her tits done. The show came out of the MTM studio and ran for two seasons. Moving on to Tuesday. Law and Order, NBC. Yep, here's where Dick Wolf's empire that launched a thousand careers kicked off, and the show that has become background noise for Mindy. We're not going to go into the show in detail, as that would be an entire podcast. Every band on the planet knows it. Every actor ever visiting New York has been on it, if only as a corpse. The scene-change stinger, was referred to by star Richard Belzer as the Dick Wolf cash register sound. The cast format remained the same pretty much throughout. Two cops, one Order and Grof, the other Hunky, and two public attorneys, one Order, the other a leggy woman. I will note one nugget of info. The font used in the title, Fritz Quadrata, is the same used on the sign of One Police Plaza in New York. The show ran for 20 seasons with 456 episodes, finally canceled in 2010. It would take one of its sequels, Law and Order SVU, to surpass it in seniority, which just happened this year. It only got into the top 10 readings for one of those seasons, but was reliable enough to keep around. It generated, so far, five additional series. Law and Order Special Victims Unit, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Law and Order Trial by Jury, Law and Order Los Angeles, and Law and Order True Crime, as well as UK, French, and Russian versions. A Law and Order episode is currently running, and I'm confident this is the case, on at least one of five networks. Sundance TV, TNT, WETV, WG in America, and Bounce TV. But interestingly enough, it is not streaming. Well, if you're missing your opportunity, unless he's going to have his own streaming service just for the Law and Order franchise. Well, he could stick Chicago on there, too. Yeah, exactly. Mark, that's too much TV. Yes? I think we have to break this down into two episodes. Ah, good idea. So, you can check out the second part of this episode two weeks from today, or whatever. Whenever you're watching. And you can check out our audio podcast where I got my wife's three comics on iTunes, or on our website, sfpodcastnetwork.com. From the Pop Culture Bunker, I'm Mindy. And I'm Mark. Thanks for watching.