*toilet flush* *hooting from studio audience* It's The Vintage FOX Network Thread

[King Kamala]

Don't want to derail @BruiserBrody CBS thread any further. Discuss the bratty stepson of the US Television networks FOX!

Before it was a major network that stood alongside the big three, it had a lot of weird growing pains and aired a lot of trash! Discuss Fox in the '80s, '90s, and early '00s ITT.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Fox in the 90s is arguably a GOAT network. Prime Simpsons, Futurama, NFC games when it was the dominant conference and the Title game was the real super bowl, Animaniacs, Batman: TAS, Martin, 90210 and House of Buggin’ was funny at the time at least.

 

[geniusMoment]

X Files, In Living Color, Martin (damn gina).

 

[Dandy]

The Adventures of Beans Baxter back before some of you were alive.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I liked "Ask Harriet". I suppose few recall it.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1315034496752902144

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That NFL on Fox promo made me want to watch most of those games. NFL Network get an "On demand" feature!

 

[King Kamala]

That screenshot makes me wish I could still get 20 wings for $6.

Idk if any show has aged worse than In Living Color. Extremely talented cast. Probably stronger than any SNL cast but boy, the writing was MADtv level most of the time. And pretty much every sketch is cringingly problematic now.

Also no show fills me with more vitriolic hatred than MADtv. A good way to get me red in the faced angry is saying MADtv was just as good as SNL. TRASH! Although I don't hate the first season with Artie Lange and Phil LaMarr.

 

[Epic Springs]

MADtv had some funny skits and performers, it certainly wasn't all bad. When it missed though, it MISSED.

I remember being really excited when Triple H hosted MADtv and even stayed up on that Saturday to watch it. I remember a really bad skit about George W. and a Harry Potter parody.

 

[King Kamala]

It could've and should've been great. I've been begging for a strong competitor to SNL and mid '90s seemed like perfect time to strike. But MADtv was not it, fam. There were a lot of talented castmembers and writers on MADtv. One of the showrunners for SCTV was head writer for years but the filter that FOX put on it just irked me so bad. SO BAD!

Around the same time as MADtv, Roseanne tried to debut a sketch comedy show on FOX. Roseanne's Saturday Night Special. She did it cause she had such a horrible time when she hosted SNL in Season 20. She even took Laura Kightlinger with her from the Season 20 cast. Plus Kathy Griffin, Jennifer Cooledge, and Carl LaBove. Again, seemed like one of those things that may have worked a few years but by 1996, Roseanne was becoming so toxic that she had to go to FOX lol.

 

[Brocklock]

That screenshot makes me wish I could still get 20 wings for $6.

Idk if any show has aged worse than In Living Color. Extremely talented cast. Probably stronger than any SNL cast but boy, the writing was MADtv level most of the time. And pretty much every sketch is cringingly problematic now.

Also no show fills me with more vitriolic hatred than MADtv. A good way to get me red in the faced angry is saying MADtv was just as good as SNL. TRASH! Although I don't hate the first season with Artie Lange and Phil LaMarr.

Between that and the first Scary Movie, The Wayans Bros sure do have some opinions about the LGBTQ community.

And I'll be the one that says it, I kind of have a soft spot for Married With Children. The show is abhorrent and has some incredibly toxic opinions that influenced some evil people I assume. But, most of the cast (Not sure about David Faustino who wouldn't surprise me if he stumped for trump) seem to be pretty great and progressive people irl. Ed O'Neill particularly is very progressive.

The writing is horrible and the last 2 or 3 seasons is maybe worse than Mad TV. But, that cast is so good and committed to the cartoonish characters they play. Ed O'Neill is amazing and just his voice and facial expressions makes me laugh. Christina Applegate is also so good as is Katey Seagal and Ted McGinley. The entire cast really elevates the hacky material with their delivery.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I didn't think Married...With Children's greatness needed to be expressed. My strict Catholic mother banned me from watching it as a youth. (I think she frowned on Three's Company as well). I never fail to laugh watching Married... today. I even bought the 2020 toyline that came out.
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I was a Roseanne mark, so I definitely watched at least some of those Sat Night specials. Was "Low Rider" the theme?
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Can never go wrong with John Goodman, even while playing against type.

 

[geniusMoment]

Idk if any show has aged worse than In Living Color. Extremely talented cast. Probably stronger than any SNL cast but boy, the writing was MADtv level most of the time. And pretty much every sketch is cringingly problematic now.

What do you mean?

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1387804497364279305

FOX committing to animation while the other three networks either botched or completely did it away with it is a crucial aspect of why they were able to become a major network. None of the other networks would have taken a chance on The Simpsons. I feel like Batman: The Animated Series was an easy sell for anyone but all of the other networks would have made it a standard rote Saturday Morning cartoon.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I was all about that sleaze for a time period in the 90s. I know that Ricki Lake was one of my go-to's but I do not remember if it actually aired on FOX at the time or was merely syndicated.

FOX was a big exposure for me to a ton of shows from Ghostwriter to The X-Files to Goosebumps. I was also big into Sliders and The Invaders (because it had Scott Bakula and I was getting into Quantum Leap around that time).

I could literally draw a viewing map from Millenium to Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction to Dark Angel to Boston Public to House M.D. from roughly 1996 to like 2007.

 

[Epic Springs]

Boston Public legit is one of my favorite shows of all time (I even wrote an article about it on CXF if you can find it!).

 

[King Kamala]

I miss the days of FOX being distinctive from the big three networks. Been a bummer seeing it gradually becoming just another network over the past 20 years. It'll be a sad day whenever (if!?) the Animation Domination block on Sundays ends. That and the original hosts still left on NFL on Fox are only uniquely FOX things left.

House does feel like the last "only on FOX" series (even though it was oddly produced by NBC). I feel like some people might say Bob's Burgers but that started right on cusp of era where which network show aired on didn't really matter and I honestly forget it's a FOX show sometimes.

 

[tekcop]

I didn't have access to FOX as a kid. But I always knew of it as the cool channel.

 

[King Kamala]

Remember the surprisingly sleazy TV adaptation of Guinness Book of World Records that aired IIRC on Friday Nights? I remember an episode about America's fattest women and they talked about how her husband coerced her into doing some amateur softcore porn (complete with blurred footage).

Also according to Wikipedia, it was co-hosted by Cris Collinsworth, which I don't remember him being involved at all! Other co-host/guy who announced most of the sleazy late '90s FOX show is a regular guest host on The Young Turks too apparently!? OK! Me and @Brocklock are glad to add any members of the '90s FOX roster to the #Woke Family.

 

[Epic Springs]

You know what I'm shocked never became an annual thing at Fox? The Glutton Bowl. They aired the competition in 2002 but abandoned it after. Maybe the Nathan's Hotdog Eating contest stole its thunder?

Speaking of reality competitions, I remember staying home sick from school one day and I actually layed in bed watching the dumpster fire that was "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" the night it first aired. Even then when the groom and winner kissed, I was like "wtf, ya'll just met!".

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I really think the massive success of American Idol in 2002 and then So You Think You Can Dance in 2005 forced Fox's direction away from series by the end of the 2000s/early 2010s into what it's become now: primarily animation thanks to Sunday and reality competition shows.

If you look at Wikipedia, their dramas are literally 9-1-1, The Resident, Prodigal Son, and a 9-1-1 spinoff show. Otherwise, it's stuff that's "reality" based ala Hell's Kitchen or The Masked Singer amongst other stuff.

 

[King Kamala]

Speaking of reality competitions, I remember staying home sick from school one day and I actually layed in bed watching the dumpster fire that was "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" the night it first aired. Even then when the groom and winner kissed, I was like "wtf, ya'll just met!".

And somehow everyone got pissed at Darva Congar for divorcing Rick Rockwell almost immediately. I'm just waiting for the Netflix and Amazon Prime documentary retroactively portraying her as an unspoken feminist icon.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Having older parents, I was generally "forced" to watch more mature TV up to the early 90s. That said I saw a ton of America's Most Wanted and Cops on Sat nights as my parents weren't going anywhere unless we hit a local hillbilly supper club.

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Likely debuting when I was barely 7, this intro TERRIFIED me. Pretty sure I thought it was a docu-drama like my beloved Unsolved Mysteries.

 

[BUTT]

My first memory of Fox is of them airing Family Double Dare in prime time. And I could tell it was a big deal because Marc wore a tux and the set was a lot fancier than the Nick version.

This was actual network programming, but my local Fox station also aired syndicated DD and Finders Keepers for a brief period of time.

 

[strummer]

When I was a kid I couldn't believe it when I found out Married with Children had the same showrunners as Silver Spoons

 

[Valeyard]

That Alien Autopsy-era Fox was great. Weekends were all police chases and explosions, then American Idol fucked it all up.

 

[BUTT]

Boston Public legit is one of my favorite shows of all time (I even wrote an article about it on CXF if you can find it!).

I've been on record as a big fan of this show for a long time now. I wasn't an every week watcher but I did see most of the episodes in the first two seasons, especially after Nitro got cancelled. The n-word episode was one of the realest things I had seen in a TV drama up to that point. Later, my high school sociology teacher had us watch the episode in class.

This is as much of it as I can find online. Featuring a young Aldis Hodge!

I didn't see much of the third season and none of the final season, but years later I downloaded a torrent with all the episodes and watched it. And I have rarely seen a show more dead than season 4 Boston Public, after David E. Kelley had moved on from an active production role, and they moved it to the Friday night death slot, and they cut the budget and had to fire a bunch of cast members. Absolute "just waiting to be cancelled" energy. They didn't even show the last two episodes on Fox.

 

[strummer]

I liked "Ask Harriet". I suppose few recall it.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1315034496752902144

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That NFL on Fox promo made me want to watch most of those games. NFL Network get an "On demand" feature!

Lol, Anthony Tyler Quinn left Boy Meets World (Mr. Turner) to do this show.

 

[King Kamala]

Remember my brother hate watching this. Dylan Baker and Lizzy Caplan deserved better!

 

[BruiserBrody]

Lol, Anthony Tyler Quinn left Boy Meets World (Mr. Turner) to do this show.

Leading to a gag a bit later where Minkus was explained as being "down this other hallway" or something. "Oh and Mr. Turner class is there, too"(IIRC)

 

[King Kamala]

Catching up on podcasts and coincidentally, Katey Sagal on WTF popped up. She said that FOX Network wanted Sam Kinison and Roseanne Barr to play Al & Peg Bundy. Man, that would have been the most abrasive television series of all time. And I have no idea if Sam Kinison and Roseanne Barr would have gotten along but they had to have interacted with each other at the Comedy Store in the '80s, I guess.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1102796271486525440

Well now I'm going to have to bleach my eyeballs.

 

[AA484]

Remember the surprisingly sleazy TV adaptation of Guinness Book of World Records that aired IIRC on Friday Nights? I remember an episode about America's fattest women and they talked about how her husband coerced her into doing some amateur softcore porn (complete with blurred footage).

Also according to Wikipedia, it was co-hosted by Cris Collinsworth, which I don't remember him being involved at all! Other co-host/guy who announced most of the sleazy late '90s FOX show is a regular guest host on The Young Turks too apparently!? OK! Me and @Brocklock are glad to add any members of the '90s FOX roster to the #Woke Family.

A friend of mine used to watch that sleazy Guinness World Records show and pierced his forearm with a needle after he saw it on there. That show was a bad influence!