My Favorite Martian
My Favorite Martian came about during the peak interest of life on other planets during the 1960’s space travel boom. The show ran for three seasons and featured Ray Walston, Billy Bixby, Alan Hewitt, and Pamela Britton.
My Favorite Martian
Bourbon Street Beat
Bourbon Street Beat was a show that first aired in 1959 that was about a private detective service. Starring Richard Long, Andrew Duggan, Arlene Howell, and Van Williams, the show lasted for 39 episodes before it was canceled.
Bourbon Street Beat
Tales of Tomorrow
Tales of Tomorrow served as an inspiration for shows like Twilight Zone and American Horror Story. The 1951 show featured Lon Chaney Jr. and Thomas Mitchell lasted for 85 episodes and retold stories like Frankenstein and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as many more. The show featured plenty of guest stars but only lasted for two seasons total.
Tales Of Tomorrow
Shotgun Slade
Shotgun Slade is a 1959 Western TV show that came at a time when that genre was at its peak popularity. What made this show interesting was the fact that it was a Western but also a mystery and featured a modern jazz soundtrack. The show lasted for two seasons and helped launch Scott Brady’s career.
Shotgun Slade
Flying High
While male-led shows dominated TV in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, in 1978 Flying High was released, which was a dramedy about three flight attendants. CBS was hopeful that the show would become a huge hit, but it was overshadowed by Charlie’s Angels and received poor ratings, so it was cancelled after just 18 episodes.
Flying High
The Hathaways
The Hathaways saw CBS take a huge chance since the show involved working with children and also animals despite the fact that it was not allowed. The comedy featured Peggy Cass and Jack Weston and featured dressed up chimpanzees. The show did not do very well and didn’t last beyond its first season.
The Hathaways
Peck’s Bad Girl
Peck’s Bad Girl was a 1959 parody series, which suffered from the fact that the show was too early for its time. Back then, parodies weren’t well accepted and a sitcom comedy didn’t stand much of a chance since that genre was the dominant one at the time. The show was pulled off the air nearly right after it was broadcast.
Peck’s Bad Girl
Broadside
Broadside was a 1965 show featuring Edward Andrews, Sheila James, Kathleen Nolan, Joan Staley, and Dick Sargent, who you probably remember from Bewitched. This musical TV show was about the women of the Navy during WWII. Though the show had high ratings, it was cancelled after one season, which surprised many.
Broadside
Convoy
Premiering in 1965, Convoy was a war show featuring John Gavin as Commander Dan Talbot and his crew aboard a cargo ship that helped supply troops with supplies and rations during WWII. The show had low ratings from the start and was cancelled after just one season.
Convoy
Holmes & Yo-Yo
Holmes & Yo-Yo attempted to recreate the magic of TV dynamic duos a la Starsky & Hutch and Cagney & Lacey. However, this show didn’t live up to the expectations. Yo-Yo was an android that helped detective Holmes solve crimes. Although it’s not a bad premise, it just didn’t do well and was seen as a huge failure. It was not renewed after its first season.
Holmes & Yo Yo
The Brothers Brannagan
The Brothers Brannagan was a show about brothers Mike and Bob that investigate crimes using their detective skills. The show did not have much of an original premise, and so it didn’t thrill audiences. Despite appearances from actors like Ann McCrea, Christopher Dark, and Sterling Holloway, the show was cancelled after just one season.
The Brothers Brannagan
Coronado 9
Coronado 9 starred Rod Cameron, which is why producers hoped that this show would do a lot better than it did. The show was about private investigator Dan Adams who solved cases using skills he accrued while in the Navy. The show lasted for just 39 episodes before it was cancelled.
Coronado 9
Diver Dan
Diver Dan was a 1960 children’s TV show that was created by John Ferlaine that was released by ITC Entertainment initially and was later syndicated by NBC. The show was about Diver Dan discovering the underwater world. It lasted for 104 short episodes and featured puppet fish and special effects shot through an aquarium.
Diver Dan
Dog and Cat
Dog and Cat was a 1977 show that featured Kim Basinger, Lou Antonio, and Matt Clark. While Basinger was already a prominent model of the day, this was one of her first forays into acting. Unfortunately, this show was not the one to make it happen, as it lasted just six episodes. It tried to replicate the success of Charlie’s Angels, but totally failed.
Dog And Cat
Johnny Midnight
Johnny Midnight was a 1960 TV show that added to the already long list of private detective shows. Edmond O’Brien played NYC detective Johnny Midnight and also starred Arthur Batanides, Barney Phillips, and Yuki Shimoda. However, the show could not continue the success of some of its more popular contemporaries and was off the air after its first season.
Johnny Midnight
Sea Hunt
This 1958 show was another underwater show which saw popularity. The show starred Llyod Bridges as Mike Nelson, a former Navy frogman that is now an independent scuba diver. Filming locations included Grand Bahama Island, Paradise Cove, Santa Catalina Island, Cypress Gardens, and Silver Springs. The show was popular but wasn’t renewed after its fourth season.
Sea Hunt
David Cassidy: Man Undercover
David Cassidy: Man Undercover is a show from 1978 when Cassidy was at the peak of his popularity following his appearance in hit show The Partridge Family. After that show ended, he joined Man Undercover but even he was not able to save it. The show was promptly cancelled after ten seasons.
David Cassidy Man Undercover
It’s a Man’s World
It’s A Man’s World was a 1962 show about four guys living together on a houseboat played by Glenn Corbett, Michael Burns, Ted Bussell, and Randy Boone. Even though the show was well liked and was praised for being ahead of its time, it was cancelled mid-season. Corbett then went on to star in Route 66.
It’s A Man’s World
Me and the Chimp
Me and the Chimp was a 1972 show about a standard American family living with Buttons, a former space chimp that has returned to life on Earth. Buttons caused a lot of chaos in the house, but it didn’t manage to hold the audience’s attention. The show was canceled after one season.
Me And The Chimp
Supertrain
Supertrain was a 1979 show about a train that featured luxury swimming pools, equipped gyms, retail malls, and a nightclub. However, the cost to produce the show was absolutely astronomical, and then the show spent even more money on marketing. Unfortunately, the show was so expensive and didn’t make up for it and so it was cancelled after failing to make a return on the investment.
Supertrain
Another Day
Another Day was a 1978 show featuring David Groh, Joan Hackett, Hope Summers, Linda Lindgren, and Al Eisenmann. Thought the show was picked up for a full season, it was cancelled during the month that it was aired and after just four episodes.
Another Day
Doc Elliott
1974’s Doc Elliott starred James Franciscus in the title role of a doctor who moved from a big city to a small town in rural Colorado. While medical shows would go on to become massively popular, this one didn’t quite make it. It was canceled after 14 episodes due to terrible ratings.
Doc Elliott
Gemini Man
Gemini Man starred Ben Murphy as secret agent and bad boy Sam Casey. The show was based on a short story by H.G. Wells and was actually the third TV adaptation of the story. Eleven episodes were produced but only 5 made it on air as the show was so poorly received. Needless to say, it was not renewed for a second season.
Gemini Man
The Blue Angels
The Blue Angels starred Dennis Cross, Don Gordon, Morgan Jones, Warner Jones, and Michael Galloway. Cross played Commander Arthur Riachrds and showed the US Navy in a dramatic lens. The show was liked by those who enjoyed the genre but was generally not very well known. The first season consisted of 39 episodes but the show was not renewed after that.
The Blue Angels
Death Valley Days
Death Valley Days was a 1952 series that ran for 18 seasons and a total of 452 episodes, coming to an end in 1970. The show had an incredible run and was filmed in Los Angeles. Each episode featured a story about the Old West that mostly took place in Death Valley. Many prominent actors appeared on the show, including Ronald Reagan.
Death Valley Days
The Everglades
The Everglades was a 1961 show that was a crime-nature adventure hybrid that had a very small budget to work with. The show starred Ron Hayes as a police offer that traveled across the Everglades by airboat in order to put an end to local crime. The show lasted just one season.
The Everglades
The Jim Backus Show
The Jim Backus Show was previously called Hot Off the Wire and starred Jim Backus as Mike O’Toole, the owner of a wire service that was struggling to stay in business. The show featured many guest stars including the likes of George Ives, Alan Carney, Milton Frome, Olan Soule, and more. However, the show lasted only one season.
The Jim Backus Show
The Virginian
The Virginian was a very popular Western TV show that first aired in 1961 and lasted for nine seasons. The last season of the show was renamed to The Men from Shiloh, and it starred Lee J. Cobb, Doug McClure, and James Drury. Based on Owen Wister’s novel of the same name, the show was filmed in different locations across California.
The Virginian
The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel was a 1966 show that had a half a million dollar production cost for its 30 episode run. It was one of the first science fiction shows broadcast in color. The show did not have another season, but it managed to win an Emmy Award for Individual Achievements in Cinematography, which went to L.B. Abbott.
The Time Tunnel
Ripcord
Rpicord was a 1961 show starring Larry Pennell, Ken Curtis, Shug Fisher, Paul Comi, and Allison Hayes. It was about a skydiving firm. Pennell played Theo McKeever. The show was a moderate success and ran for two seasons before being taken off the air.
Ripcord
My Mother the Car
My Mother the Car was a 1965 satire sitcom show that perhaps was a bit too far fetched for audiences at the time. Starring Jerry van Dyke, brother of Dick van Dyke, who hears a radio broadcast featuring his deceased mother’s voice calling his name, leading him to believe that she has been reincarnated in the car. The show was not renewed after its first season.
My Mother The Car
Mister Ed
Mister Ed was a 1961 show that also had an out-there premise: it followed Mister Ed, a talking horse voiced by Allan Lane. The show was based on a series of books by Walter Brooks. The show lasted for six seasons.
Mister Ed
Gibbsville
1976’s Gibbsville took place in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1940’s and followed newspaper reporters Gig Young and John Savage. The show had 13 episodes total but only seven of them were aired. There was also a movie adaptation in the works that never came to fruition.
Gibbsville
Mr. T. and Tina
Mr. T and Tina was a 1976 spinoff of Welcome Back Kotter. The show starred Pat Morita and was one of the first shows to show an Asian-American cast. After airing in September 1976, the show lasted for 5 episodes before being cancelled in October 1976.
Mr. T. And Tina
All That Glitters
All That Glitters starred Barbara Baxley, Lois Nettleton, Jessica Walter, and Eileen Brennan. The show was seemingly ahead of its time because it was socially progressive, and thus it was not widely accepted. It featured all the women and the breadwinners of their homes with the men serving as stay at home dads. The show lasted just one season.
All That Glitters
Hee Haw Honeys
Hee Haw Honeys starred Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, who would go on to host The Today Show. The show was actually a spinoff of Hee Haw. The show depicted a family run truck stop where country stars would perform. The show was on air for one season.
Hee Haw Honeys
Co-Ed Fever
Co-Ed Fever was a sitcom that followed a frat house. The show had very low ratings after its pilot aired and so only 6 of its 11 episodes aired. The show meant to parody National Lampoon’s Animal House. Needless to say, the show did not get the green light for a second season.
Co Ed Fever
Hello, Larry
Hello, Larry starred Kim Richards, McLean Stevenson, Joanna Gleason, and Krista Errickson and were written by Dick Benfield and Perry Grant who also wrote hit shows The Andy Griffith Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and One Day at a Time. The show lasted for two seasons and 38 episodes total.
Hello, Larry
The Ropers
The Ropers was a 1979 spinoff of the hit TV show Three’s Company. The show followed The Ropers played by Norman Fell and Audra Linley who played Jack, Chrissy and Janet’s landlords on Three’s Company. The show had two seasons total.
The Ropers
Bearcats
Bearcats was a 1971 show produced by Filmways, Inc., that produced hit shows like The Beverly Hillbillies, The Addams Family, and Green Acres. The show starred Dennis Cole and Rod Taylor, and so the production company felt confident it had a hit on its hands. Unfortunately, the show lasted for just one season.
Bearcats
Chopper One
Chopper One was a 1974 drama show that was about two police officers that were in charge of search and criminal apprehensions helicopter operations. The show lasted for 13 episodes as the show was not able to keep its momentum. It was canceled after the first season.
Chopper One
Get Christie Love
Get Christie Love was a 1974 police procedural featuring Teresa Graves, Charles Cioffi, Andy Romano, and Jack Kelly. Graves played a police officer and was the second Black woman to play a lead role in a drama network show. Unfortunately, the show was not renewed for a second season.
Get Christie Love
Wagon Train
Wagon Train was a 1957 show about the early pioneers of the Rocky Mountains traveling in a wagon train. The show ran for 8 seasons up until 1962. It held the top spot in the Nielsen ratings, which helped it maintain its huge budget of $100,000 per episode.
Wagon Train
Land of the Giants
Land of the Giants was a sci-fi show created by Irwin Allen and was a moderate success seeing as it lasted for two seasons. However, fans of the show were given an extension of the show with novels. Actors who appeared onthe show include Kurt Kasznar and Gary Conway.
Land Of The Giants
Mack & Myer for Hire
Mack & Myer for Hire was a sitcom that aired from 1963 to 1964. The episodes were quite short, lasting about 12 minutes each. While the show lasted for one season, it consisted of over 100 episodes total. It was popular with children and the show was in syndication for quite a while.
Mack & Myer For Hire
Miami Undercover
This 1961 show was a short prequel to Miami Vice and CSI:Miami style crime shows. The show featured Lee Bowman and Rocky Graziano who were the ones in charge of fighting crime. The show was not renewed for a second season.
Miami Undercover
Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes, the TV show aired in 1974, and it was actually a remake of the French TV show La Planete des singes from 1963. The TV show was the first of the Planet of the Apes empire. However, it was not as successful as its later remakes and reboots and lasted for just one season.
Planet Of The Apes
The Saint
The Saint was a 1969 show that featured Roger Moore, Geoffrey Keen, Arnold Diamond, and Aubrey Morris. The show was about Simon Templar, a superhero that helped police officers solve crimes. The show ran for 6 seasons and 120 episodes.
The Saint
Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds was a popular British TV show that ran for two seasons. It featured Sylvia Anderson, David Holliday, and David Graham. The show was not able to replicate any success while being broadcast in America and it was cancelled after its second season.
Thunderbirds
The Ernie Kovacs Show
The Ernie Kovacs Show aired in 1953 and starred Ernie Kovacs, of course, and also Boris Karloff, Bill Wendell, Jolene Brand, and Edie Adams. The show was on during TV’s “Golden Age” and was extremely popular. The show had many formats including daytime, primetime, late night, talk show, and comedy.
The Ernie Kovacs Show
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In was a comic relief show that ran during the Vietnam War time period. Featuring Dick Martin and Dan Rowan, it lasted for 140 episodes and 6 seasons. Each episode lasted for about 45 minutes.
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In
Gigglesnort Hotel
Gigglesnort Hotel was a children’s TV show that ran from 1975 until 1978. It was hosted by Bill Jackson who also hosted children’s shows like The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show and Clown Alley. Jackson played a hotel clerk with puppet hotel guests.
Gigglesnort Hotel
The !!!! Beat
The !!!! Beat was a show featuring DJ Hoss Alenn with his backup house band that was led by Gatemouth Brown. The show aired in 1966 and was one of the very first shows that was recorded in color. The variety style show featured many famous guest stars like Etta James, Otis Reading, and Freddie King.
The !!!! Beat
Mystery Theater
Mystery Theater was a popular radio show that had 1399 episodes throughout its runs. The show’s total broadcast 2969 episodes over the 8 years that the show ran. Himan Brown narrated the show telling horror and mystery stories.
Mystery Theater
Mona McCluskey
Mona McCluskey was a 1965 show than lasted for one season that lasted for 26 episodes total. The sitcom was about Mona, an actress who tries to break into the entertainment world while maintaining her marriage with Mike, her husband who was not exactly supportive.
Mona McCluskey
Heaven for Betsy
Heaven For Betsy was a 1952 show that lasted for one season. It featured Cynthia Stone and Jack Lemmon who played a married couple, and interestingly enough they were also married in real life. The show was baed on The Frances Langford/Don Ameche Show sketch called “The Couple Next Door.”
Heaven For Betsy
The Starlost
The Starlost was a sci-fi TV show that first aired in 1973 that was notoriously expensive. That’s probably why it lasted for just one season. The show was about space colonists aboard the Earthship Ark spacecraft.
The Starlost
He & She
He & She was a 1967 show that starred real life married couple Paula Prentiss and Richard Benjamin playing a married couple who were trying to get along even though they were totally different. The show was not renewed for a second season.
He & She
Car 54, Where Are You?
Car 54, Where Are You? was a 1961 show that was about two police officers and their misadventures around New York City. Featuring Joe E. Ross, Fred Gwynne, and Al Lewis, the show was popular but lasted for just two seasons.
Car 54, Where Are You?
Salvage 1
Salvage 1 was a 1979 show featuring Andy Griffith, Trish Stewart, Joel Higgins, and Heather McAdam.Andy Griffith played Harry, a man that wanted to go to the moon in order to salvage items and bring them back to Earth to sell. The show lasted for two seasons.
Salvage 1