Home | Performing Arts/Television

Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978
Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops
Wesley Hyatt

ISBN 978-0-7864-1420-8
52 photos, appendix, bibliography, index
328pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2003

Description
Do you remember the 1959 game show where ABC cancelled a tape featuring a female impersonator (Across the Board)? Ever heard of Snip, the 1976 sitcom starring David Brenner that NBC canned just before it debuted? Almost everyone who has worked on a successful television series has also been on one that flopped. Even during the first thirty years of broadcasting, when NBC, CBS, and ABC were the only networks and not quite so quick to cancel unsuccessful programs, hundreds of shows lasted less than one year.

This work tells the stories of those ill-fated series that were cancelled within one year after their premieres. The entries are arranged chronologically from the 1948-1949 through the 1977-1978 seasons, and provide brief descriptions of the shows along with such facts as the type of program each series was; its times, dates, and network; its competition on other networks; and the names of the cast, producer, director and writer. The book also includes information from more than 100 interviews with actors, writers, directors, and producers who worked on the short-lived television series.

About the Author
Wesley Hyatt has written extensively about television history. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Other Book(s) by Wesley Hyatt Available from McFarland:

A Critical History of Television’s The Red Skelton Show, 1951-1971

Emmy Award Winning Nighttime Television Shows, 1948-2004

Kicking Off the Week



Table of Contents & Excerpts

Related Books
Performing Arts/Television