Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 is the first successful American television soap opera. Sponsored by Unilever's blue detergent, Surf, the program began as a one hour comedy-drama on June 17, 1950, and ran in prime time on the NBC network until October 12, 1950.
On April 2, 1951, the series was moved to a fifteen-minute daytime slot, where it was retitled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, and developed into a soap opera format. Hawkins Falls ran until July 1, 1955, making it NBC's longest running soap opera until The Doctors exceeded it in 1967.
The town of Hawkins Falls was patterned after the real-life town of Woodstock, Illinois.
Leeza is an NBC and syndicated daytime television talk show. It premiered on June 14, 1993 as John & Leeza from Hollywood, hosted by John Tesh and Leeza Gibbons. Tesh left the show after seven months, and on January 17, 1994, the program was retitled Leeza, and Gibbons became the sole host remaining in that capacity throughout the remainder of its run.
The show ran on NBC between 1993 and 1999, showing on other stations in markets where the local NBC affiliate pre-empted it in favor of other programming, and then aired as a syndicated program from 1999-2000. It was taped at Paramount Studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California, and was produced by Gibbons' production company and Paramount Television.
Gibbons was also a hands-on executive producer in addition to host of the show, involved in every aspect from selecting show topics to finding guests. Each week, Gibbons worked with her team to track stories and to bring the audience new, in-depth and real perspective on the issues of the time.
Recurring topi
Chain Letter is an American game show produced by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions that aired on NBC during the summer and early-fall of 1966. Comedian Jan Murray hosted this game show, while Wendell Niles did the announcing.
The Dennis Day Show is an American comedy/variety show that aired from 1953 to 1954 on NBC. The series stars singer and radio and television personality Dennis Day, whose career otherwise was rooted as a supporting cast member of the long-running The Jack Benny Program on CBS and later NBC.
Games People Play is an NBC television show that ran from 1980 to 1981, hosted by Bryant Gumbel and Mike Adamle. The format centers on unusual sports competitions, including a belly flop contest and a taxicab demolition derby. Sylvester Stallone discovered Mr. T, whom he subsequently cast as Clubber Lang, when Mr. T won a "World's Toughest Bouncer" competition on the show.
The title of the show is a play on the title of Games People Play, a popular psychology book from the 1960s about mind games and interactions within relationships.
The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports is an American network radio program and later television program that included broadcasts of a variety of sports, although it is primarily remembered by many for its focus on boxing.
Blank Check is an American game show that aired on NBC from January 6 to July 4, 1975. It was promoted as "television's first ESP game". Art James was host, with Johnny Jacobs as announcer.
Created by Jack Barry, this short-lived game was the first one produced by Barry on NBC since the quiz show scandals of the 1950s, and the first of three games Barry produced at NBC.
Area 57 is the name of a pilot produced for the 2007/2008 season for NBC. It centers on an Area 51-esque military base and the alien it houses. The pilot was not picked up.
Storybook Squares is a short-lived Saturday morning version of Hollywood Squares for children. The primary difference, apart from having children as contestants, was that it featured celebrities in costume as well-known fictional characters and some as historical figures.
As with the adult version, Peter Marshall was host and Kenny Williams was announcer; Williams read the characters' names off a scroll as "The Guardian of the Gate", a role similar to his "Town Crier" on Video Village.
The series originally ran on NBC from January 4 to April 19, 1969, with repeats airing until August 30.
Say When!! is an American game show emceed by Art James which aired on NBC television from January 2, 1961 to March 26, 1965. The show was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production and James' only game show for them. Wayne Howell was the announcer, and Ruth Halsey was a model. Carmen Mastren was the show's musical director, with the main theme and prize cues played live on two electric guitars.
The series aired live in black and white from NBC Studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York.
Wordplay is an American game show which ran on NBC from December 29, 1986 to September 4, 1987. It was hosted by Tom Kennedy and announced by Charlie O'Donnell. The show was produced by Scotti Bros.-Syd Vinnedge Television in association with Fiedler-Berlin Productions and Rick Ambrose Productions.
The show is notable for replacing the long-running soap opera Search For Tomorrow on the NBC schedule.
With with a Bewitched-type premise and an homage to TV sitcom classics, Something Wicked examines the condition of modern adult womanhood and how even with witchcraft, balancing everything is impossible.
Family Secrets was a daytime game show, running on NBC from March 22 to June 11, 1993. Bob Eubanks hosted, and Orlando-area disc jockey Dean Miuccio announced. The show was taped at the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida in front of a live studio audience consisting of theme park guests.
Judge for Yourself, at first subtitled The Fred Allen Show, is a Mark Goodson and Bill Todman nontraditional court show/quiz show, with comedian Fred Allen as the emcee. It aired on NBC from August 18, 1953 to May 11, 1954. Dennis James was the series announcer but took over as host in January 1954.
Each week three performers – singers, dancers, musicians, or comedians – were judged by two panels, one of professional entertainers and the other from the studio audience. If one of the amateur judges rated the acts 1, 2, or 3 in the same order as the celebrities, that individual would win a $1,000 prize. Two instrumental jazz groups that appeared on Judge for Yourself had considerable success thereafter, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and the Marian McPartland Trio.
The original intent of the series was to allow Allen to interact with guests, much as Groucho Marx did on his own NBC series, You Bet Your Life. The complicated format first employed, however, was revamped in the middle of the season. On the episod
The Dinah Shore Show is an American variety show which was broadcast by NBC from November 1951 to January 1956, sponsored by General Motors' Chevrolet division. For most of the program's run, it aired from 7:30 to 7:45 Eastern Time on Tuesday and Thursday nights, rounding out the time slot which featured the network's regular evening newscast, which, like all such programs of the era, was then only 15 minutes in length.
Fame is a television series that ran on NBC in the summer of 2003. The show was essentially NBC's attempt to duplicate the success of mega-hit American Idol, right down to their selection of judges. Former pop star Carnie Wilson was similar in her judgements to American Idol's Paula Abdul, Johnny Wright, the veteran music producer, was the show's analogue of Randy Jackson, and JoJo Wright was, like Simon Cowell, the judge who says things to stir people up. The show retained the original Fame theme music, as well as producer Debbie Allen. Former boy band member Joey Fatone was the official host of the show, but Allen also made frequent appearances.
The show was based on the Italian show Saranno Famosi, where young talented dancers, singers and actors attended a school to became real superstars. The main goal of the show was to make all the challengers able to dance, sing and act and so to be complete. It still airs in Italy.
Colgate Theatre is a 30-minute dramatic television anthology series telecast on NBC during 1949 and 1958 for a total of 50 episodes. The first edition, a live anthology, was telecast on Sunday nights at 8:30pm through the summer of 1950. The second series [Tuesdays, 9:30pm] consisted of filmed pilot episodes of unsold series, and was a last-minute replacement for the game series Dotto, which was ended during August 1958, due to accusations that it was rigged. It served as a filler for the sponsor until The George Burns Show premiered on October 14, 1958.
Documentary series exploring the vast landscapes, remote wilderness and mysterious creatures that inhabit North America, Central America and South America, covering the largest rainforests, tallest trees, oldest living beings and the most extreme elemental forces of the continent.