Week of May 22: Being Upfront About Upfronts

This week, the television networks had the upfronts - the unveiling of their fall schedule. Critics and viewers have looked over the schedules and decided what new shows might get a look-see next fall.

Here are some blasts from the past:

Dick Kleiner, 1963:
"The Fugitive is another different idea. David Janssen stars as a fugitive from justice - innocent, of course - and for 13 weeks, Barry Morse will try to capture him while he in turn tries to capture the genuinely guilty parties."

"The Fugitive" went way past 13 weeks - more like four seasons, with the last episode one of the highest rated programs in television history. It also spawned a hit movie starring Harrison Ford.

Dick Kleiner, same column:
"A spinoff from The Beverly Hillbillies called Petticoat Junction. Yuch."

Viewers didn't complain. Petticoat Junction was a hit for CBS through the end of the 1960s.

Ronald Boyd, St. Petersburg Times, 1981 (article about Fred Silverman):
"Then there's Hill Street Blues. Silverman's pet, it has the potential of making TV history."

It certainly did, with standards for television excellence and honors. It eventually became one of the keys to NBC's 1980s turnaround. Silverman got back on top, too, producing series like "Matlock."


Steve Sonsky, Miami Herald, 1989:

"ABC would seem to have the most to offer next fall; one other new show may be worth mentioning: If it opts for true feelings over saccharine melodrama, the new Sunday 7 p.m. entry, Life Goes On, starring Patti LuPone in the story of a working- class family of five inspired by the indomitability of their Down's syndrome middle child, could be a ground-breaker."

The show ran until 1993, and Chris Burke became an inspiration to those with Down's syndrome and their families. Burke would later have a recurring role on CBS' "Touched By An Angel."


Sonsky, 1984

"For better or worse, Miami is either going to influence, or be a footnote to, a little piece of television history. For better or worse, there has never been a show on television quite like Miami Vice. It is a show that is certain to be talked about. It is a show that contains flashes of brilliance with its cinematic and scoring innovation, but that, at times, can be disturbing in its brutality in the name of realism."

Miami Vice would run on NBC until 1989; the show that Brandon Tartikoff conceived of with the expression "MTV Cops" would also contribute to NBC's rebirth - as well as Miami's.

Janis Froelich, St. Petersburg Times, 1988:

ABC's Roseanne will be a hit, scheduled Tuesdays from 8:30 to 9 p.m. I didn't like it very much, but I can spot mass appeal when I see it.

I didn't like it very much, either, but many viewers did; it ran until 1997.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Upfront Viewing!