First Night of Fox - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TVLIFE · 04-01-2003, 08:54 PM

I remember when I was 12 I watched the first night of FOX prime time April 5, 1987.

7:00 Married...With Children
7:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
8:00 Married...With Children
8:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
9:00 Married...With Children
9:30 The Tracy Ullman Show

Then in the next couple of weeks they added Duet, Mr. President, and 21 Jump Street.
I loved it. Did anyone else watch FOX this first night, or it's first season (Spring 1987)?

Brian Damage · 04-01-2003, 09:14 PM

I remember watching the first season. I liked it a lot, even the cruddy shows I liked.

James · 04-02-2003, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TVLIFE
I remember when I was 12 I watched the first night of FOX prime time April 5, 1987.

(snip)

I loved it. Did anyone else watch FOX this first night, or it's first season (Spring 1987)?

I surely didn't.

TVLIFE · 04-04-2003, 05:54 PM

Thanks for the little smiling face throwing up. That is really nice. You make it such a joy to read these messages!

All My Love!

AKA · 04-05-2003, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TVLIFE
I remember when I was 12 I watched the first night of FOX prime time April 5, 1987.

7:00 Married...With Children
7:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
8:00 Married...With Children
8:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
9:00 Married...With Children
9:30 The Tracy Ullman Show

Then in the next couple of weeks they added Duet, Mr. President, and 21 Jump Street.
I loved it. Did anyone else watch FOX this first night, or it's first season (Spring 1987)?

I remember this. They were a Sunday night only network for the rest of the season, and they added Saturdays to the next season. It took them about six years to become a seven-day-a-week network.

factsoflife · 04-11-2003, 08:14 AM

I remember watching "The Joan Rivers Late Night Show" then. It was the only Fox show i watched until "Beverly Hills, 90210", "Melrose Place" and "Party Of Five" came along.

kizatie11 · 04-11-2003, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by factsoflife
"Beverly Hills, 90210", "Melrose Place" and "Party Of Five"

Oh how I remember those shows :sigh:

TMC · 01-06-2015, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVLIFE

I remember when I was 12 I watched the first night of FOX prime time April 5, 1987.

7:00 Married...With Children
7:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
8:00 Married...With Children
8:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
9:00 Married...With Children
9:30 The Tracy Ullman Show

Then in the next couple of weeks they added Duet, Mr. President, and 21 Jump Street.
I loved it. Did anyone else watch FOX this first night, or it's first season (Spring 1987)?

http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.co...6/duet-tv.html

Quote:

It was extremely difficult it to set up a fourth broadcast TV network. When Fox came along with plans, it was assumed by everyone it would fail. But it was a good time for it: there had been an increase in independent TV stations* looking for programming. And Fox started small – originally with shows only on Sundays. But even that wouldn’t mean much if they didn’t have good programming. And Duet was one of the shows that they based their original Sunday schedule on.**

It was a romantic comedy where Ben Coleman (Matthew Laurence) was in love with Laura Kelly (Mary Page Keller). Their best friends were yuppies Richard (Chris Lemmon***) and Linda Phelps (Alison La Placa), and Laura had a younger sister Jane (Jodi Thelen) who was just a little bit ditzy.

The show was hardly groundbreaking, but survived by good writing. The plots were pretty standard, but there were plenty of funny line, and the worked like all good comedy – by being unexpected.

In addition, the cast was very appealing. The two breakout characters were Linda and Jane. Alison La Placa was wonderful – self centered, controlling, and very very funny. Jodi Thelen was even better, as the ditzy comic relief. As a matter of fact, the leads of the show took a back seat to the other characters as time went by.

In the second season, Linda became pregnant. The final episode had her giving birth. Then the show did something unusual: the third season took place three years later. The baby had grown and Ben and Laura had married – unusual for a romantic sitcom in that it was not shown. Toward the end, Linda took a job in a real estate agency.

The show was cancelled, but that job was the basis for a spinoff: Open House. Alison La Placa was the star, with Lemmon and Keller (her character now divorced) joining her. Added to the new cast was a up and coming comedian named Ellen DeGeneris.****

The show didn’t catch on, but La Placa did. Or tried to. She starred in three sitcoms in the next three years, and all failed. None of the other actors fared much better, though all have worked relatively regularly since.

But the show did what it needed to do: be an entertainment that was strong enough to keep Fox afloat.

factsoflife · 01-06-2015, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVLIFE

I remember when I was 12 I watched the first night of FOX prime time April 5, 1987.

7:00 Married...With Children
7:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
8:00 Married...With Children
8:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
9:00 Married...With Children
9:30 The Tracy Ullman Show

Then in the next couple of weeks they added Duet, Mr. President, and 21 Jump Street.
I loved it. Did anyone else watch FOX this first night, or it's first season (Spring 1987)?

But to be accurate, the actual first Broadcast of the Fox Network was October 9, 1986 and was "The Late Show starring Joan Rivers".

Mace Dolex · 01-06-2015, 07:00 PM

I was not living in the United States at the time but damn it looks like I missed some good moments.

I came back to the U.S. in November 1990 after a 4 year sabbatical and the hottest shows were The Simpsons, Married With Children, In Living Color.

TeeVeeCloset · 01-07-2015, 01:06 AM

I know I have the 2 hour premiere of "21 Jump Street" with original commercials and music (Steve Winwood's "The Finer Things") plus a nearly 5 minute affliate promo with all their first "stars" singing the praises of Fox including Johnny Depp! Also have a few episodes of "Flying Blind" one of many short lived early Fox sitcoms.

I have mixed feelings with FOX because it was the beginning of the end of the true independent local station, here in New York our beloved WNEW/Metromedia changed call letters to WNYW and shows like "The Flintstones" & "I Love Lucy" were soon gone.

mets82 · 01-07-2015, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVLIFE

I remember when I was 12 I watched the first night of FOX prime time April 5, 1987.

7:00 Married...With Children
7:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
8:00 Married...With Children
8:30 The Tracy Ullman Show
9:00 Married...With Children
9:30 The Tracy Ullman Show

Then in the next couple of weeks they added Duet, Mr. President, and 21 Jump Street.
I loved it. Did anyone else watch FOX this first night, or it's first season (Spring 1987)?

For me, I still watch some of the really old commericals for the FOX shows because I taped pro wrestling and it would air on Saturday mornings on my local FOX affiliate. There was also a show starring Matthew Perry right around FOX started.

Yay-2,000 posts!!!

04-01-2003, 08:54 PM	#1
TVLIFE Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 31, 2003 Location: Worcester, Ma Posts: 11	First Night of Fox I remember when I was 12 I watched the first night of FOX prime time April 5, 1987. 7:00 Married...With Children 7:30 The Tracy Ullman Show 8:00 Married...With Children 8:30 The Tracy Ullman Show 9:00 Married...With Children 9:30 The Tracy Ullman Show Then in the next couple of weeks they added Duet, Mr. President, and 21 Jump Street. I loved it. Did anyone else watch FOX this first night, or it's first season (Spring 1987)?

04-01-2003, 09:14 PM	#2
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,108	I remember watching the first season. I liked it a lot, even the cruddy shows I liked.
	__________________ The Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: John 3:3 *Money Doesn't Buy Happiness...But I'd Rather Cry in My Private Jet*

04-11-2003, 08:14 AM	#6
factsoflife Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 11, 2000 Posts: 8,744	I remember watching "The Joan Rivers Late Night Show" then. It was the only Fox show i watched until "Beverly Hills, 90210", "Melrose Place" and "Party Of Five" came along.
	__________________ "and to the fans. I was only supposed to be on every other Tuesday. But, thanks to you, I'm here, and I promise! I will try my best never to let you down. I am going back into that studio on Monday, and I'm going to play Erica Kane for all she's worth!"-- Susan Lucci, May 1999 Daytime Emmy Speech.

01-07-2015, 01:06 AM	#11
TeeVeeCloset Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 25, 2003 Posts: 1,873	I know I have the 2 hour premiere of "21 Jump Street" with original commercials and music (Steve Winwood's "The Finer Things") plus a nearly 5 minute affliate promo with all their first "stars" singing the praises of Fox including Johnny Depp! Also have a few episodes of "Flying Blind" one of many short lived early Fox sitcoms. I have mixed feelings with FOX because it was the beginning of the end of the true independent local station, here in New York our beloved WNEW/Metromedia changed call letters to WNYW and shows like "The Flintstones" & "I Love Lucy" were soon gone.
	__________________ Living near "Ozzie Nelson Drive".....

04-04-2003, 05:54 PM	#4
TVLIFE Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 31, 2003 Location: Worcester, Ma Posts: 11	Thanks for the little smiling face throwing up. That is really nice. You make it such a joy to read these messages! All My Love!

01-06-2015, 07:00 PM	#10
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,666	I was not living in the United States at the time but damn it looks like I missed some good moments. I came back to the U.S. in November 1990 after a 4 year sabbatical and the hottest shows were The Simpsons, Married With Children, In Living Color.