Back in the ’60s and ’70s, it was standard practice for the networks to replace many of their popular shows in June, July and August with short-run comedy and variety shows, such as This is Johnny Cash and The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. That changed, however, in the 80s, as HBO, Showtime, and other cable networks came into force. For years the broadcast nets conceded the summer to the cable channels networks gave up on the summer . . . until Regis came along in 1999 with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, followed by Survivor in 2000, then American Idol in 2002. Now the networks are back to creating original summer shows, such as Flashpoint and Swingtown on CBS, in the hopes that one of them will catch fire and become TV’s next big hit.
With that in mind, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some other summer series that either became big, big hits or have continued to live on as cult classics:
10. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (summer series in 1999, big hit in 2000)
9. Sonny & Cher (summer series in 1971, big hit throughout the early ’70s)
8. Northern Exposure (summer series in 1990, big hit throughout the ’90s)
7. The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (NBC summer series in 1987, major cable series for Lifetime throughout the early 1990s)
6. Coronet Blue (Fugitive-like summer series from 1967; still a cult classic)
5. Buffalo Bill (summer series in 1983; still a cult classic)
4. Fernwood 2-Night (summer replacement for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in 1977; still a cult classic)
3. (tie) Survivor and American Idol (summer series in 2000 and 2002, still big network hits)
2. The Prisoner (summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show in 1968; still a cult classic)
1. Seinfeld (the pilot originally aired in the summer of 1989)
Ed Robertson
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Tags: american idol, barth gimble, buffalo bill, cable networks, coronet blue, cult classics, dabney coleman, days and nights of molly dodd, fernwood tonight, flashpoint, frank converse, fred willard, geena davis, glen campbell, hbo, jackie gleason show, jerry hubbard, jerry reed, johhny cash, lifetime, martin mull, mary hartman, nbc, norman lear, northern exposure, original summer shows, regis philbin, seinfeld, short run comedy variety shows, showtime, sonny & cher, summer series, survivor, swingtown, the fugitive, the prisoner, tv's next big hit, who wants to be a millionaire
