Short-Lived Television Series, 1948–1978

Do you remember the 1959 game show where ABC cancelled a tape featuring a female impersonator (Across the Board)? Ever heard of Snip, the 1976 sitcom starring David Brenner that NBC canned just before it debuted? Almost everyone who has worked on a successful television series has also been on one that flopped. Even during the first thirty years of broadcasting, when NBC, CBS, and ABC were the only networks and not quite so quick to cancel unsuccessful programs, hundreds of shows lasted less than one year.
This work tells the stories of those ill-fated series that were cancelled within one year after their premieres. The entries are arranged chronologically from the 1948-1949 through the 1977-1978 seasons, and provide brief descriptions of the shows along with such facts as the type of program each series was; its times, dates, and network; its competition on other networks; and the names of the cast, producer, director and writer. The book also includes information from more than 100 interviews with actors, writers, directors, and producers who worked on the short-lived television series.

Wesley Hyatt, a senior writer with MMI Public Relations, has also served as a television historian and consultant for several media sources. He is the author of several McFarland titles and lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Wesley Hyatt
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 328
Bibliographic Info: 52 photos, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2003
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1420-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0515-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments     vii

Preface     1

The Seasons     5

Appendix     277

Bibliography     279

Index     281

“one of the very best volumes about television…this wonderful book, filled with terrific anecdotes, is a treasure of almost lost information. This is a keeper”—Classic Images; “I never knew television’s flops could be so enjoyable…not to watch again…to read about…you might understand why shows with names like Funny Boners and Ozmoe flopped, but when Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Sid Caesar, Bing Crosby and Sammy Davis Jr., all had shows that fail, you want to find out why”—Big Reel; “thorough index…finding information about these early, short-lived television programs is difficult…useful”—Booklist.