Television Obscurities - Exploring Forgotten TV from the 1920s to Today

I remember Earth 2. I didn't watch when it originally aired on NBC. In the late 90s/early 00s, SyFy used to air a lot of short lived sci-fi and horror TV shows.

I remember the name Baileys of Balboa, but the opening doesn't ring a bell.

R2, talk about bizarre coincidences-

Having given up on MSNBC I’ve been binging oldies but goodies. Keeps the mind off the orange mist hanging over us.

This week it’s been Gunsmoke.

Sometimes I’ll get curious about an episode and I’ll go to IMDB for more info.

This morning it was the season 11 episode The Avengers guest starring the incredible James Gregory. And Les Brown Jr.

Who the fuck is Les Brown Jr? Why the star of The Baileys of Balboa of course!

Apparently the president of CBS in 1964 wasn’t a big fan of Gilligan’s Island. He thought the show should have been about a charter boat. So he commanded his minions to create one.

Giving us The Baileys of Balboa!

It lasted 1 whole season. Gilligan made it 3.

TV didn't exist in the 1920s.

There's a sub on Reddit called Forgotten TV. It's pretty fun to browse through because they are tons of 1-3 season shows that I liked, but I forgot about after they were canned.

For your consideration! - Diver Dan

r4 Yes it did. Although very few people had it.

I hate how so many networks expecially dumont threw tapes in the ocean/garbage. Television history lost forever.

I would say "Hardcastle & McCormick" seemed to basically disappear from the TV landscape after its original network run.

Hot L Baltimore -- didn't even last a season.

I remember a weird cable show about mis-remembered kids' TV shows from an adult's perspective. I loved it because it encapsulated all the odd TV shows I thought I saw when I stayed up too late in the 1960s. Might have been a Lorne Michaels thing?

No Soap, Radio.

Dirt, the Courtney Cox tabloid show from the late 2000s.

Anyone remember Temptation, a late '60s, Art James-hosted, game show that aired for a few months?

I remember watching The New People. It aired on Monday nights. It was 45 minutes long, aired after a 45 minute-long music show, which I can't remember the name of. something like Music Scene. One of the hosts of that show was David Steinberg. I can't recall if Lily Tomlin was a host too, or just a guest, but the first time I ever saw her was on that show. I remember seeing 3 Dog Night on it. Both of these shows aired in the fall of 1969, and they only lasted half a season.

I also remember the Baileys of Balboa. I never watched it but I remember seeing Judy Carne's picture from it in one of the teen magazines I read in the 60's. First time I'd ever heard of her. Just one of the totally inconsequential things from long ago that I remember, when I suffer big time from CRS disease now!

Anyone remember the talking dinosaurs?

There was a really good show in the mid aughts, I think maybe ABC. A cop gets transported back to 1970s New York. It was sooo good. The opening scene is like him waking up in his Manhattan apartment to see the glorious old twin towers.

R13, it was called Dirt

R6, I think that was Ronald Reagan in the voiceover introducing "Diver Dan."

OP, do they have that one show about the man who’s married and has three kids? What was the name of that again?

[quote]There was a really good show in the mid aughts, I think maybe ABC. A cop gets transported back to 1970s New York. It was sooo good. The opening scene is like him waking up in his Manhattan apartment to see the glorious old twin towers.

It was called Life on Mars, starring Jason O'Mara. Aired in the 2008-2009 season on ABC.

I love watching old Ernie Kovacs episodes.

r18 That's literally the first word in the original post.

Greg the Bunny!

We’ll Get By, CBS, 1974-75. Starring Paul Sorvino, Mitzi Hoag, Jerry Houser, Devon Scott, and Willie Aames. I was in 5th grade, loved it (had a crush on Willie Aames), then the show just disappeared! I think the cast sang the titular theme song in the opening, which consisted of “home movies” of the cast under the credits.

I don't remember 'The New People,' but looking at that intro, it struck me like a decades-earlier version of 'Lost.'

Does anyone remember 'Make a Wish' from 1971, hosted by Tom Chapin?

Patty McCormack, Marsha Hunt and Wendell Corey starred in the 14 episode run of 'Peck's Bad Girl' in 1959 on CBS. At least one episode is on YouTube (starting at 2:45) with a bonus appearance by Vivian Vance (as Ethel Mertz) selling Sheaffer Pens. Don't know if it was from that episode.

Way Out, hosted by Roald Dahl

r16 That would be me.

I remember a show entitled "Learn To Draw"(mid 50's or thereabout, in glorious black and white) on learning same hosted by a rather Mephistophelean gentleman named John Gnagy. His kits and books could be purchased at toy and hobby stores(remember them?)