Frig it! It's the WB/UPN/MyNetworkTV/PAX/5th & 6th Networks thread

[King Kamala]

You should start that thread. I would post in it as long as you don’t post about Brody (or anyone else) moaning.

Kamala nodding

You (being BUTT specifically and maybe only BUTT but I feel like @HarleyQuinn has some thoughts to add) asked for it.

Discuss all of the networks that attempted to try and capture the sucesss of FOX Network but just showed up a little past (or way past in MyNetworkTV's case) the era where network TV really mattered.

 

[Epic Springs]

RIP Mitch Mullany

 

[King Kamala]

Weird fact: Portland, Maine didn't get a WB affiliate until like 2002. Closer to its merger with UPN than its peak in relevancy. Even weirder is it replaced the local FOX affiliate so needless to say people flipped out at idea of seeing the waning years of Dawson's Creek and Buffy The Vampire Slayer instead of NFC Football and American Idol.

Foxnet - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I don't remember us not having a Fox affiliate for over a year and a half! I remember watching FOX shows on this weird feed though. I do remember we had to watch Super Bowl XXXVI a weird way though (I want to say FOX let our local CBS affiliate air their broadcast?) so I guess the timelines match up. This 2nd half of the post probably should have gone in the Vintage FOX thread huh.

 

[King Kamala]

My only frame of reference for PAX is the rare amusing MADtv sketch that made fun of it.
(Some idiot on the internet probably: Where was the outrage having Deborah Wilson wear white face to play Lorraine Bracco?)

I reluctantly admit PAX was a good idea that showed up at the wrong time. A TV network for churchy babies that don't like anything remotely edgy may have worked ten years earlier during the Reagan years or ten years later during the W years.

And really, I don't think there's a market for vaguely religious entertainment. Jesus Freaks would rather watch explicitly religious stuff or get mad at cable news.

 

[Epic Springs]

Every time I hear about the PAX network, I think of that Kevin Spacey movie where he's an alien.

Jesus Freaks don't mind watching gratuitous violence as long as the characters identify as Christians.

 

[tekcop]

I didn't have access to WB when I was younger, but it had a cool looking cartoon lineup and I was always a little jealous.

 

[King Kamala]

Is MyNetworkTV relevant enough to earn a spot in this thread? Probably not.

They did start with the novel idea of adapting telenovelas to English

MyNetworkTV telenovelas - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And when that failed, their Hail Mary to try and fix things was a Canadian sitcom starring FLAVOR FLAV

Flavor Flav's '00s career revival seems erm, somewhat problematic in 2022 eyes (although it seemed problematic at the time too!)

Edit- JEEESUS...I didn't even see the screencap for that video when I posted it.

 

[Valeyard]

I never cared because I never had access to them while I'd have been interested. Just seemed like glorified versions of that local channel you'd have pop up sometimes that just showed reruns.

I also would without hesitation call The Parent 'Hood one of the worst sitcoms ever, and possibly THE worst family sitcom.

 

[King Kamala]

I often wonder how the hell Robert Townsend's career ended up how it did. There were a few years where there was a debate whether him or Spike Lee would be the most prominent African-American director of his generation then less than a decade later, he's starring in awful, third rate The Cosby Show ripoff then he exclusively goes into directing direct to DVD trash. Did something happen to ruin his decision making process sometime during the production of Meteor Man?

Edit- I just remembered that Robert Townsend had one last theatrically released film during The Parent 'Hood's run, the legendary B*A*P*S. Maybe a bigger film buff here could correct me but that has to be the worst film to star several Academy Award winners and is probably the real reason he was permanently relegated to direct to DVD trash (and weirdly, later Bill Cosby stand up specials).

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I mainly watched Buffy, Angel, the original Roswell, and Birds of Prey on The WB. I never got into stuff like 7th Heaven, Dawson's Creek, Charmed, or Gilmore Girls though. I did hear that One Tree Hill was hyped up for a while but never bothered with that show either.

I always get MyNetworkTV and ION Television mixed up but the latter introduced me to Criminal Minds via re-runs.

 

[Epic Springs]

The Parent Hood was awesome wtf.

Tim Reid > Robert Townsend

 

[King Kamala]

Can’t believe thread went this long without mentioning Shasta McNasty

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

/thread

 

[King Kamala]

Somehow Homeboys in Outer Space was NOT the most racist UPN show.

Even in 1998, they probably should have known better to have a wacky sitcom about slavery.

 

[BUTT]

Lamest shit I'll ever admit to is that in 8th/9th grade I used to switch between the first hour of Nitro and 7th Heaven. I was horned up for Jessica Biel but I enjoyed when they veered into edgier territory like Lucy's cutter friend or when the kid shot Rev. Camden (he deserved it!). That Gear magazine photo shoot changed my life.

I intermittently watched Dawson's Creek during the first two seasons (I binge-watched the whole series a couple of years ago cuz I'm a manbaby) but I never saw one episode of Buffy or Angel and I gave up on Charmed about fifteen minutes into the pilot. Did you know they still air that show in the early mornings on TNT in that horrible "blow up the SD picture to make it fullscreen" format?

 

[strummer]

TNT has been airing Charmed reruns in the morning since the mid 2000s!

 

[BUTT]

Yeah I remember being a senior in high school and it being on as background noise since my dad always had that channel on. But I was up early one day a few weeks ago, my TV still tuned to TNT since AEW is pretty much the only thing I watch live anymore, and I was like "they're still doing this?" It's kind of heartening to see that they haven't moved on from their past. It's like if USA was still airing Boston Common and Men Behaving Badly in the morning.

 

[Valeyard]

Somehow Homeboys in Outer Space was NOT the most racist UPN show.

Even in 1998, they probably should have known better to have a wacky sitcom about slavery.

Do you just start these threads for the problematic deep dive gimmick or is it a happy accident?

 

[King Kamala]

Yes

Ain't nothing problematic about the unaired UPN cartoon series adaptation of The Blues Brothers with Jim Belushi and Peter Aykroyd as Jake & Elwood.

 

[BruiserBrody]

When I was a dumb 7 or 8 year old in 1990-91 I thought we were picking up "cable" on our rabbit ears when on Sunday mornings I could find a fuzzy reception of the AWA TV show from Wausau or Milwaukee. I have no idea what station was actually running it, but I have distinct memories of watching Nick Bockwinkel vs Rick Martel on a "Mat Classic" where Martel was pinned with his foot on the ropes, so the ref restarted the match, then Bock was pinned with his foot on the ropes, but the ref blew it and Martel retained as Bock protested.
--
More on topic: I dug Paranormal Borderline:

IIRC the same UPN or whatever channel also showed Sightings at 9 on Fridays. So I had X Files on Fox at 8 (IIRC) and then Sightings to fill my little heart with terror before I had to run upstairs in the dark in the middle of the wooded area my house was at. Shit... I can still remember a Sightings segment where someone looked out their bedroom window and a Grey Alien was staring back at them.
Same story was repeated Saturday's when Tales from the Crypt was shown in edited syndication from like 11-midnight here.

I really do not like Paranormal TV shows at all now. True crime and war documentaries are so much more visceral for an older me I guess.

 

[King Kamala]

Ah I had forgotten the YouTube before YouTube series like this and RealTV

Also amazed Brody didn't bring up Unhappily Ever After but we probably talked about it enough in the FOX thread.

 

[King Kamala]

Late Night Talk Show Host thread crosspost

Why oh why did anyone think any of this was a good idea?

Of course, The Magic Hour was the start of the wave of awkward, failed Arsenio replacements that continued with The Kenan Ivory Wayans Show and Vibe (originally hosted by Chris Spencer then Sinbad, which prompted a great quote from IIRC Chris Rock; "The problem with Sinbad is Sinbad thinks a talk show means he can talk all the time.")

This nine month period is probably dumbly why we haven't gotten a black late night network host since. Speaking of Chris Rock, I wonder why the networks didn't try to get him to do a talk show especially considering he did a pretty damn good on HBO? I'm guessing he was happy with the limited schedule and being the biggest stand up at the time.

 

[strummer]

I think KIW's show was before Magic. Iirc my Fox affiliate aired that show at 1:30 am or something. Followed by Terry Bradshaw's failed talk show that we talked about here or in another thread

 

[King Kamala]

The Magic Hour premiered in June of ‘98 and Vibe and KIW’s show both premiered on the same night in August of ‘98

 

[strummer]

The Fox affiliate here still airs reruns of "Comics Unleashed" with Byron Allen despite the show not airing first run episodes since 2014 ( when for some reason show the returned after stopping production in 2007).

 

[King Kamala]

Byron Allen is single handedly keeping syndicated television alive. He had a fascinating interview with Marc Maron 2-3 years back about his career and all of his businesses.

Did you know he produced a sitcom with Bill Bellamy, Vivica A. Fox, Jon Lovitz, and Tim Meadows (and Gary Busey) 10 years ago? Prepubescent Kamala would have been marking out for a cast like that. Twentysomething Kamala was just glad too see them all working.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I think KIW's show was before Magic. Iirc my Fox affiliate aired that show at 1:30 am or something. Followed by Terry Bradshaw's failed talk show that we talked about here or in another thread

They aired Home Team, a show geared towards housewives, at like 3 AM? Yikes. From what I recall of it, it wouldn't fit a middle of the night demo in the least, Maybe they replayed it? Or did Bradshaw have another show?

 

[King Kamala]

Got into include some TV38 content for @HarleyQuinn, featuring a very young (but still somehow middle aged) looking Sean McDonough storming off the set.

 

[King Kamala]

@BUTT 's post about Andrew Dice Clay's attempts at sitcom stardom reminded me that he had a UPN show.

I thought Andrew Dice Clay talking about the Foo Fighters was weird but then we get Davy Jones talking about Rage Against the Machine. 1997!

 

[Epic Springs]

I much preferred Dice's Showtime comedy series a few years back where Natasha Leggiero played his wife.