Due to the three month strike by the Writers Guild of America, 2008 was an interesting year for network television. The strike began on November 5th, 2007 when the 2007-2008 television season was only six weeks old. It wasn’t concluded until February 12th, 2008. Its aftereffects are still being felt. The networks saw many of their new and returning fall shows cut short by the strike but mid-season programming still rolled out on schedule, although new shows had only a limited number of episodes to offer.

Were the networks forced to keep low-rated mid-season replacements on their air longer than they would have due to the strike? That’s questionable. But the vast majority of scripted mid-season shows were allowed to finish out their runs. Only a handful were pulled with episodes remained unaired. The same cannot be said for new shows premiering in September of 2008 as the 2008-2009 television season got underway.

I’ve put together the following list of programs that debuted during 2008 that can legitimately be considered “new” obscurities in that they lasted, at best, for only thirteen episodes. One caveat: several of this shows have been or will be released on DVD despite having only six or seven episodes to offer. Excluded from the list are reality and game shows.

Mid-Season 2008

Cashmere Mafia (ABC) - 7 Episodes
Premiered Sunday, January 6th, 2008

Cashmere Mafia - Image Copyright ABC

Unlike NBC’s Lipstick Jungle, a similar drama, Cashmere Mafia wasn’t renewed for the 2008-2009 season. It was, however, released on DVD.

Welcome to the Captain (CBS) - 5 Episodes
Premiered Monday, February 4th, 2008

A sitcom set in a hotel that came and went in five weeks with barely any notice.

Quarterlife (NBC) - 1 Episode
Premiered Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

Originally an Internet series, Quarterlife joins the small list of shows cancelled after a single broadcast. That alone makes it somewhat noteworthy.

Unhitched (FOX) - 6 Episodes
Premiered Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

Six episodes of this sitcom aired in only five weeks; two were burned off on March 23rd.

New Amsterdam (FOX) - 8 Episodes
Premiered Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

This unusual drama — about a detective who happens to be four hundred years old and immortal — never caught on.

Canterbury’s Law (FOX) - 6 Episodes
Premiered Monday, March 10th, 2008

Canterbury’s Law - Image Copyright FOX

A law drama starring Julianna Margulies’s, Canterbury’s Law spent three weeks on Mondays and three weeks being burned off on Fridays. It will be released on DVD in February.

The Return of Jezebel James (FOX) - 3 Episodes (plus 3 Unaired)
Premiered Friday, March 14th, 2008

Banished to Fridays from the start, FOX cancelled this sitcom — from the creator of Gilmore Girls — after only two weeks and three episodes (two episodes were shown back-to-back on March 14th). An additional three episodes were later made available online.

Miss Guided (ABC) - 7 Episodes
Premiered Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

After a Tuesday try-out, this sitcom moved to Thursday where two episodes were burned off each night for three weeks.

Summer 2008

Swingtown (CBS) - 13 Episodes
Premiered Thursday, June 5th, 2008

My personal favorite of all the shows on this list, Swingtown courted some controversy before it premiered but was unable to sustain an audience. It was later released on DVD.

Fear Itself (NBC) - 8 Episodes (plus 5 Unaired)
Premiered Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Fear Itself - Image Copyright NBC

This horror anthology couldn’t scare up an audience (apologies for the pun) and after being placed on hiatus for the Summer Olympics never returned.

Fall 2008

Do Not Disturb (FOX) - 3 Episodes (plus 3 Unaired)
Premiered Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

Holds the distinction of being the first new show of the 2008-2009 season to be canned.

The Ex List (CBS) - 4 Episodes (plus 9 Unaired)
Premiered Friday, October 3rd, 2008

A major misstep on the part of CBS, this drama not only lost a large portion of its lead-in (Ghost Whisperer) it also hurt the ratings for the show that followed it (NUMB3RS).

Valentine (The CW) - 4 Episodes (plus 4 Unaired)
Premiered Sunday, October 5th, 2008

Easy Money (The CW) - 4 Episodes (plus 4 Unaired)
Premiered Sunday, October 5th, 2008

Both of these dramas were part of The CW’s ill-fated attempt to outsource its Sunday schedule.

My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) - 9 Episodes
Premiered Monday, October 13th, 2008

NBC had high hopes for this drama starring Christian Slater but it crashed and burned. At least the network aired all nine episodes.

Crusoe (NBC) - 13 Episodes
Premiered Friday, October 17th, 2008

This lavish take on Daniel Defoe’s classic tale is still on NBC’s schedule, albeit being burned off on Saturdays rather than Fridays. It returns on January 10th with the first of its four remaining episodes.

Here’s another installment in my new Q & A segment, in which I’ll dig into the depths of my e-mail archives and pull out choice questions from television fans for all to enjoy.

Great site! Do you remember a show called The Americans (circa 1961-19653)? The plot revolved around two brothers who were on opposite sides during the Civil War.

Thanks. JG

The Americans ran from January 13th, 1961 until September 11th, 1961 on NBC from 7:30-8:30PM. And it was about two brothers who fought on opposite sides during the Civil War. Darryl Hickman and Dick Davalos co-starred as Ben and Jeff Canfield. Ben fought for the Union while Jeff fought for the Confederacy. Episodes would alternate between the two brothers, presenting stories from their respective points of view.

In the mid 90s, during the time of Aeon Flux and Liquid Television, there was a sci-fi show about a guy who was on the run from some government-type organization who had either created him or operated on him or something, and he had something like a chip in his brain or some other genetically engineered quality that made the organization want to find him. The series consisted of him and a girl evading capture while trying to find out something, some secret or something, that if he didn’t find it on time it’d kill him/others? I remember (I hope you don’t mind spoilers) at the end of the last episode he does die; it was very startling, especially since it ruled out a second season. I’ve exhausted myself trying to find the name of this show but there’s no info to be found. If I didn’t know better I’d think I made it up myself!

Thanks. DonyanaLi

Don’t worry, you’re not making the show up. The show was called Dead At 21 and ran for 13 episodes starting in June of 1994 on MTV. Jack Noseworthy starred as Ed Bellamy, a young man with a chip in his brain, implanted when he was an infant in an attempt to increase his brainpower. As a side affect, however, the chip would cause his brain to more or less much blow up when he reached 21 (hence the name of the show). So, Ed and Maria (played by Lisa Dean Ryan) set out to find the inventor of the chip hoping he could help. Agent Winston (played by Whip Hubley) was a government agent attempting to hunt down Ed and Maria.

Once again, you’ve got a chance to help pick the next article I’ll write. Actually, you’ll be choosing the second article to be published in January (I hope) after The Strange Case of “Selena Mead”. I’ll keep the poll open until 11:59PM on Saturday, January 17th, 2009.

“90 Bristol Court” - An umbrella title for three seperate sitcoms (Karen, Harris Against the World and Tom, Dick and Mary), this ninety-minute series debuted on NBC in October of 1964. Broadcast from 7:30-9PM on Mondays, it suffered in the ratings and two of the three installments were soon cancelled. Only Karen finished out the season.

Nielsen “Black Weeks” - Until the mid-1970s, the A.C. Nielsen Company (now Nielsen Media Research), which provided the networks with the all-important ratings information, would not release national ratings information four weeks out of the year. During these so-called “black weeks,” the networks would fill their schedules with plenty of repeats and the occasional “prestige” program (documentaries, specials, adaptations of classic novels).

“Nancy” - This sitcom ran for all of 17 episodes during the 1970-1971 season. Renne Jarrett starred as Nancy Smith, the daughter of the President of the United States of America who, in the first episode, falls for Adam Hudson, a veterinarian. The two are forced to carry on their romance under the watchful eyes of Nancy’s ever-present guardian, Adam’s uncle, secret service agents and the news media. The series was created by Sidney Sheldon.

CBS aired this celebratory 40-second spot on Thursday, January 1st, 2009. It touches upon CBS milestones of years past and then quickly covers the network’s current programming slate which, it seems, makes CBS America’s most watched network. An earlier CBS spot was shown in late October.

With a brand new year upon us, I’d like to take a moment to list some vague but achievable goals for the next twelve months. Ideally, I’d like to publish two new articles as well as one new exhibit each month. That’s a whopping twenty-four articles and twelve exhibits. When I first started Television Obscurities (way back in 2003) I was churning out six articles a month. In all fairness, however, the articles offered today are much more comprehensive and far better written. Not to mention citations and Flash video. There’s no comparison.

I already know one of the articles I plan on writing for January: The Strange Case of Selena Mead. I’ll have a poll up this evening tomorrow with three or four choices for the second article and let the general public decide. I also know what the exhibit for this month will be (here’s a hint: it involves computers). In addition to the articles and the exhibit, I’ll continue to be putting up videos in the Video Vault, discussing missing or lost television in TV’s Lost & Found, pulling artifacts out of my collection and discussing all manner of other things. It’s going to be an exciting year.

This half-hour drama/interview series aired Saturdays on ABC. The first seventeen episodes (through February 23rd, 1952) aired from 12:00PM to 12:30PM ET; the series was then pushed back a half-hour, starting at 11:30PM ET with the March 1st episode. Adelaide Hawley hosted the series under the General Mills persona of Betty Crocker. The show was partially interview and partially drama, with guests also appearing in short dramas. Famous guests included Uta Hagen, Robert Cummings, June Lockhart, Veronica Lake, and Audrey Hepburn.

None of the four main television archives/museums (The Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Paley Center for Media and the Museum of Broadcasting) have episodes of Betty Crocker Star Matinee. But as always, that doesn’t mean the episodes don’t exist. Perhaps General Mills has them sitting in a vault somewhere.