Five upstanding citizens of Wildside County, California, constituted the “Wildside Chamber of Commerce”—a secret law-enforcement group—in this action series set in the Old West. Brodie was a rancher and the “fastest gun in the West;” Sutton, his son; Bannister, the debonair black explosives expert; Varges, the knife-wielding gunsmith; and Prometheus a gentle giant who was also a veterinarian and expert with the lariat. Their assignments generally came from the Governor, and adversaries ranged from local gangs to wandering ex-Confederate platoons and renegade British cavalry units left over from the Crimean War.
WILL, THE (Reality)
FIRST TELECAST: January 8, 2005
LAST TELECAST: January 8, 2005
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jan 2005 , CBS Sat 8:00-9:30
The object of this reality show was to have the ten potential heirs of 73-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona, land developer Bill Long compete to determine who would inherit his Kansas ranch. Each week they participated in a series of elimination challenges, until the final survivor inherited the ranch. The winner of each week's challenge was designated the Protected Heir and, at the Inheritance Chain elimination ceremony, chose which of the other potential heirs he or she wished to protect. That person then designated a second heir to protect, that person designated another and so on. The last person in the “chain” was elimi-nated from the will.
In the first episode, which was expanded to 90 minutes, there were two competitions, an endurance challenge and an obstacle course challenge. The two people eliminated were Bill's longtime friend, Mickey, and his ex-girlfriend, Kristin. That was all that CBS viewers ever saw. The Will was so bad that it was pulled from the schedule after a single very low-rated episode had aired so the audience never found out who won. The full series aired in New Zealand, however, where it was revealed that the winner in the final episode was Bill's buxom, greedy conniving fourth wife Penny, the chief villain of the series.
WILL & GRACE (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: September 21, 1998
LAST TELECAST: May 18, 2006
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1998-Nov 1998 , NBC Mon 9:30-10:00
Dec 1998–Mar 1999 , NBC Tue 9:30-10:00
Apr 1999-May 1999 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
May 1999-Jul 1999 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
Jun 1999-Sep 1999 , NBC Tue 9:30-10:00
Aug 1999-Jul 2000 , NBC Thu 9:00-9:30
May 2000 , NBC Tue 8:30-9:00
Jul 2000-Aug 2003 , NBC Thu 9:00-9:30
Aug 2000-Sep 2000 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
Jan 2002 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
Aug 2002-Sep 2002 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
Aug 2003-Sep 2003 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
Sep 2003-Jan 2004 , NBC Thu 9:00-9:30
Feb 2004-Apr 2004 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
Apr 2004-JuI 2004 , NBC Thu 9:00-9:30
Jul 2004-Sep 2004 , NBC Thu 8:00-8:30
Sep 2004—Dec 2004 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
Dec 2004-Jan 2005 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
Feb 2005-Jun 2005 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
Mar 2005-May 2005 , NBC Tue 8:00-8:30
Jul 2005 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
Jul 2005-Dec 2005 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
Jan 2006-May 2006 , NBC Thu 8:00-8:30
CAST:
| Will Truman | Eric McCormack |
| Grace Adler | Debra Messing |
| Jack McFarland | Sean Hayes |
| Karen Walker | Megan Mullally |
| Rosario Salazar McFarland (1999—2006) | Shelley Morrison |
| “Harlin Polk (1998-1999) | Gary Grubbs |
| *Dr. Leo Markus (2002-2006). | Harry Connick, Jr. |
*Occasional
The yuppie roommates in this comedy were an unusual pair for television: he was a handsome, gay attorney, she a heterosexual interior designer who had just dumped her fiancé at the altar. Best friends for years, they decided to share a Manhattan apartment without the sexual sparks that usually arc all over shows like this, despite a mutual love for French films, poker nights with the guys, and the home version of The $10,000 Pyramid. Like brother and sister, they supported each other as each played the field. Will's sexual orientation was subdued, but not that of his flamboyant friend Jack, who was constantly taking abuse (and loving it) for his wildly exaggerated mannerisms. Karen was Grace's fluttery business assistant, a slumming socialite who liked to work because it kept her “down to earth” (when late for work she would write Grace a check). Jack's pet parrot was named Guapo.
During the following seasons Will, Grace and Jack each had numerous boyfriends. Hers, who tended to be a little more long term, included Josh (Corey Parker), Ben Doucette (Gregory Hines) and Nathan (Woody Harrelson). Despite his sexual orientation Jack married Karen's El Salvadoran housekeeper Rosario in 1999 to keep her from being deported, but they later divorced. Then in 2001 Jack learned that he was the biological father of teenager Elliot (Michael Angarano), via a sperm bank donation, and he had to deal with the boy's feisty mother Bonnie (Rosie O'Donnell) while learning to be a father. In 2002 Will heard his “biological clock” ticking and convinced Grace to be impregnated with his sperm so that he could be a father, too, but on her way to the fertility clinic she was swept off her feet by dashing Dr. Leo Markus. They fell in love and in the fall of 2002 were married.
Eventually Leo's philandering ways led to a divorce, and all four principals resumed dating, including Karen, when she learned that her rich but imprisoned husband Stan was dead (he later turned up alive, and they divorced). Stan, incidentally, was referred to frequently throughout the series' run, but never seen—except for his feet in one episode, and his hand in another. Jack spent a year in nursing school, then in 2004 took a job at gay cable channel OutTV, where the following year he got his own talk show, “Jack Talk.”
At the end of the last season the lifelong friends went their separate ways. Grace learned that she was pregnant by Leo and they remarried, leading to a split with Will who moved in with boyfriend Vince D'Angelo (Bobby Cannavale) and adopted a baby, Ben. Karen lost her fortune, but Jack suddenly inherited one when his diminutive boyfriend Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) was swept off the balcony of his ritzy apartment by a gust of wind. An epilogue revealed the future: Grace and Leo's baby Lila grew up and married Will and Vince's son, Ben. Karen and the now-rich Jack lived in Jack's ornate mansion, sipping champagne and singing “Unforgettable.” After years of not speaking to each other, Will and Grace patched up their differences and met, with Karen and Jack, in the bar where they were seen in the first episode.
Numerous celebrities made guest appearences on the popular show, either as themselves or as eccentric characters. Among them were Cher (whom Jack mistook for a drag queen), Gene Wilder (as Will's boss Mr. Stein), Beau Bridges, Blythe Danner, Ellen DeGeneres, Elton John, Glenn Close, Katie Couric, Kevin Bacon, Matt Damon, Piper Laurie, Sandra Bernhard and Tom Poston.
Will & Grace was one of the few series in TV history in which all the principals won Emmy awards; others were The Golden Girls and All in the Family.
WILLY (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: September 18, 1954
LAST TELECAST: July 7, 1955
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1954—Mar 1955 , CBS Sat 10:30-11:00
Apr 1955-Jul 1955 , CBS Thu 10:30-11:00
CAST:
| Willa Dodger | June Havoc |
| Franklin Sanders | Danny Richards, Jr. |
| Emily Dodger | Mary Treen |
| Papa Dodger | Lloyd Corrigan |
| Charlie Bush | Whitfield Connor |
| Perry Bannister (1955) | Hal Peary |
| Harvey Evelyn (1955) | Sterling Holloway |
Following her graduation from law school, Willa Dodger opened a legal practice in her hometown of Renfrew, New Hampshire. There were not many exciting cases in that little hamlet so, in mid-season, Willa got an offer to work as legal counsel to a vaudeville organization run by Perry Bannister. She left her family and her boyfriend, Charlie Bush, and relocated to the big city. Her adventures, whether in rural New England or cosmopolitan New York, were on the lighter side and rarely involved her in serious legal cases.
WILLYS THEATRE PRESENTING BEN HECHT'S
TALES OF THE CITY (Dramatic Anthology)
FIRST TELECAST: June 25, 1953
LAST TELECAST: September 17, 1953
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jun 1953-Sep 1953 , CBS Thu 8:30-9:00
NARRATOR:
Ben Hecht
Author Ben Hecht, whose most famous and award-winning work was the play The Front Page , was the narrator of this anthology series composed of adaptations of his stories. He was never seen onscreen, only heard with his introductions and closing remarks. The live dramas aired on alternate weeks with Four Star Playhouse.
WILTON NORTH REPORT, THE (Comedy/Newsmagazine)
FIRST TELECAST: December 11, 1987
LAST TELECAST: January 8, 1988
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Dec 1987-Jan 1988 , FOX Mon-Fri 11:00-12:00 midnight
REGULARS:
Phil Cowan
Paul Robins
Nancy Collins
Greg Jackson
Wayne Satz
Paul Krassner
Jack LaLanne
This example of guerilla television was an odd mixture of serious news features and thoroughly ridiculous stories and comic bits, all in the guise of a nightly newsmagazine. It was produced by the former producer of Late Night with David Letterman , and was apparently an attempt to see what would happen if someone like Letterman took over 60 Minutes. Hosted by the young comedy team of Phil Cowan and Paul Robins, Wilton North covered in documentary fashion such burning subjects as a woman claiming to be an extraterrestrial who had lived on 37 planets, the funniest inmate in Chino prison, a man who collected things that glowed in the dark, a visit to an alligator farm, lady wrestlers, and a woman who was convinced the devil was living in her toaster. On the more serious side were interviews with a professional matchmaker in New York, the woman president of Motown productions, the daughter of presidential candidate Gary Hart, and FBI informant Jimmie “The Weazel” Fratiano. Although there were many contributors to Wilton North , the most frequently seen were tongue-in-cheek investigative reporter Wayne Satz, satirical commentator Paul Krassner, health and science editor Jack LaLanne, and serious interviewers Nancy Collins and Greg Jackson. The title of the series referred to the location of the Hollywood building from which it was aired.
The Wilton North Report was fraught with problems. Its premiere was delayed for several weeks while producer Barry Sand tried to get the kinks out of the format. When it reached the air television critics crucified it as stupid, disjointed, and amateurish. What Fox executives had hoped would be an appealingly distinctive late-night viewing alternative drew small audiences and was yanked from the schedule less than a month after its first telecast.
WIN BEN STEIN'S MONEY (Quiz)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Comedy Central 30 minutes Produced: 1997–2003 Premiered: July 28, 1997
REGULARS:
Ben Stein
Jimmy Kimmel, cohost/announcer (1997-2001)
Nancy Pimental, cohost/announcer (2001-2002)
Sal Iacono, cohost/announcer (2002-2003)
In this unusual quiz show, former Nixon speech writer, author, and actor (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) Ben Stein bet his own paycheck that he could outsmart contestants in a series of difficult questions. The show began with a $5,000 “pot.” If Stein could beat the contestants, he could keep it all; the more they won, the less he got. What did he think of the concept? “It was not my idea and I don't like it,” he deadpanned. However, fortunately for him, Stein was a pretty brainy guy, and he usually managed to hang on to a portion, if not all, of the money. Adding to the levity was his rather dry, superior manner, and the contemptuous asides of his sidekick, Los Angeles radio announcer Jimmy Kimmel.
WIN, LOSE OR DRAW (Quiz/Panel)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Syndicated and network daytime
30 minutes
Produced: 1987-1990
Released: September 1987
HOST:
Bert Convy (1987-1989)
Robb Weller (1989-1990)
Movie star
Burt Reynolds invented this celebrity game for his friends' amusement in his own living room. The set, with its plush couches and plants, was even supposed to look like Burt's living room (“The john's down that way,” he volunteered on one show). The game was, essentially, charades with pictures. Two teams competed, three men vs. three women. One person from a team was given a name or phrase (like “Neil Diamond” or “A Heart-to-Heart Talk”), and then had to communicate it to his or her teammates by quickly drawing a series of pictures on a large board. If the team failed to guess the phrase, the other team got to guess it. A speed round consisted of guessing as many words as possible in 90 seconds.
Prizes were not large, but two out of the three members on each team were celebrities, so the appeal was largely in watching the stars in a fast-paced, party-like setting. (The prize money went to the one non-celebrity on the winning team.) Burt himself often appeared, as did his Hollywood friends, including Loni Anderson, Dom DeLuise, Betty White, and other famous faces. A daytime version of Win, Lose or Draw , hosted by Vicki Lawrence, aired on NBC from September 1987 to September 1989.
WIN WITH A WINNER (Quiz/Audience Participation)
FIRST TELECAST: June 24, 1958
LAST TELECAST: September 9, 1958
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jun 1958-Sep 1958 , NBC Tue 7:30-8:00
EMCEE:
Sandy Becker Win Elliot
POSTCARD GIRL:
Marilyn Toomey
Rita Hayes
This rather complicated summer quiz show encouraged home viewers to root for their favorite contestant and possibly share in the prizes. At the end of each show the next week's contestants were introduced, and viewers were invited to write in with their prediction of who would be the top money winner, as well as (during the first month at least) the order of finish. Those with the right choice were candidates for cash prizes, and anyone predicting the entire order of finish got a bonus prize.
The game itself generally resembled a horse race. The five (later four) contestants were each given the same question. A correct answer added the value of that question, usually $100 or $200, to their total, while a wrong answer subtracted the same amount from their previous winnings. In addition one contestant in each round had the opportunity to double his winnings—or losses. A running tally was kept of each contestant's total in the race, but only the top winner got to keep his money. The others got consolation prizes.
A “postcard girl” picked home-viewer predictions out of a large drum during the course of the show, and all of those predicting the top contestant would “win with the winner,” splitting the same amount of money that he had won.
Sandy Becker and Marilyn Toomey, the original host and postcard girl, were replaced by Win Elliot and Rita Hayes on July 22.
WIND ON WATER (Adventure)
FIRST TELECAST: October 17, 1998
LAST TELECAST: October 24, 1998
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Oct 1998 , NBC Sat 8:00-9:00
CAST:
| del Connolly | Bo Derek |
| Cole Connolly | William Gregory Lee |
| Kelly Connolly | Brian Gross |
| Gardner Poole | Lee Horsley |
| Val Poole | Shawn Christian |
| Kate Poole | Jacinda Barrett |
| Charlie Flanagan | Matt George |
| Kai | Matthew Stephen Liu |
| Tracy Poole | Heidi Hannsz |
One of the fastest casualties of the 1998-1999 season (canceled after two episodes), Wind on Water was supposed to be the saga of the Connolly clan as they fought to save their cattle ranch on the big island of Hawaii. Both the casting and the plot were fairly preposterous. Bo Derek starred as the sexy, widowed “matriarch” of the clan, often clad in a swimsuit (and looking as good as in her famous 1979 movie 10). Moody Cole and cocky, baby-faced Kelly were her two hunky sons, who aimed to raise money to save the ranch by competing in extreme sports competitions, leading to lots of striking footage amid crashing surf (surfboarding), towering mountains (snowboarding), and blue sky (skydiving). Gardner Poole was the evil developer (Is there any other kind?) who schemed to take over Ciel's land; he fairly oozed oily charm as he stopped by with his young trophy wife, Tracy, and ruthless son Val. His rebellious daughter Kate was another matter, hanging out with the handsome Connolly brothers, despite her father's disapproval. Charlie was a Connolly family friend, and Kai one of the boys' surfing buddies.
Although the show got a quick hook from NBC, eight episodes were filmed and ten scripts completed, so we know that the character of Tracy was eventually recast, and that Lee Horsley was written out of the show by having his white Mercedes go over a cliff, even if viewers didn't get to savor that delectable moment.
WINDFALL (Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: June 8, 2006
LAST TELECAST: August 31, 2006
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jun 2006-Aug 2006 , NBC Thu 10:00-11:00
CAST:
| Peter Schaefer | Luke Perry |
| Nina Schaefer | Lana Parrilla |
| Violet Schaefer | Emma Prescott |
| Cameron Walsh | Jason Gedrick |
| Beth Walsh | Sarah Wynter |
| Sean Mathers | D.J. Cotrona |
| Kimberly George | Malinda Williams |
| Damien Cutler (age 17) | Jon Foster |
| Frankie Townsend (16) | Alice Greczyn |
| Maggie Hernandez | Jaclyn DeSantis |
| Galina Kokorev | Larissa Drekonja |
| Sunny van Hattem | Nikki Deloach |
| Tally Reida | Peyton List |
This summer soap opera revolved around a group of friends who won $386 million in the lottery and the havoc that wrought in their lives. Twenty friends and acquaintances shared the winning ticket, but the stories focused on a few of them. Peter and Nina, who organized the lottery party, were a seemingly happy middle-class couple, but Nina still had feelings for ex-boyfriend Cameron, who was now married to suspicious Beth. Sean was an ex-con who tried to collect his winnings without revealing his shady past; Kimberly, a single mom from the trailer park whose greedy ex demanded half her winnings; Damien, an angry teen who ran off and married a Russian bride (Galina) in order to be free from his hated parents; Frankie, a troubled teen whose estranged parents fought over her winnings; and Maggie, a nurse who simply wanted a better life.
During the series' short run Peter broke up with Nina and took up with Sunny, an investor in his bicycle factory; Sean lost his money to runaway lawyer Zoe whose sister Tally helped him track it down, only to find Zoe dead; and Frankie was abducted by mysterious men in a dark van. Sudden riches can really be a pain.
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: October 2, 1961
LAST TELECAST: September 12, 1962
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Oct 1961—Feb 1962 , CBS Mon 8:30-9:00
Feb 1962-Sep 1962 , CBS Wed 8:00-8:30
CAST:
| Cameron Garrett Brooks | Robert Young |
| Chris Logan | Constance Moore |
| Lloyd Ramsey | Ford Rainey |
| Amy Logan | Brad Berwick |
| Wally Evans | James Davidson |
| Peggy Evans | Carol Byron |
| Miss Wycliffe | Coleen Gray |
| Harry McGUI | Warner Jones |
| Roddy Miller | Tim Matheson |
Writer Cameron Brooks returned to his hometown of Millsburg in search of material for stories. He moved into the Majestic Hotel and resumed an old friendship with Lloyd Ramsey, editor of the local newspaper. The people he knew, as well as those he met at the hotel, served as subjects for his stories. In the spring, when the Majestic was temporarily closed for renovations, Cameron took a room in the home of Wally and Peggy Evans.
Robert Young, the star of this series, had just completed a six-year run in the highly popular Father Knows Best (reruns of which were still being telecast in prime time). He was looking for a different type of series to display his talents, but Window on Main Street was not successful and so Young subsequently went into retirement—until 1969, when Marcus Welby came along.
WINDOW ON THE WORLD (Variety)
FIRST TELECAST: January 27, 1949
LAST TELECAST: April 14, 1949
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jan 1949-Apr 1949 DUM Thu 9:00-9:30
REGULAR:
Merle Kendrick Orchestra
Variety acts from different parts of the world were featured on this program, with film clips of their native lands setting the scene. Among the American performers appearing were Hollywood comedian Gil Lamb and actress-singer Irene Manning. There was no regular emcee.
WINDOWS (Dramatic Anthology)
FIRST TELECAST: July 8, 1955
LAST TELECAST: August 26, 1955
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jul 1955-Aug 1955 , CBS Fri 10:30-11:00 This live dramatic series, originating from New York, was the 1955 summer replacement for Person to Person. Each episode of the series opened on an ordinary window through which the camera moved to begin the unfolding of the story. All of the stories were designed to show real people confronting real problems, such as a woman alcoholic and her effect on her family, a boy's adulation for an ex-circus clown, and an illiterate woman's determined struggle to learn how to read.
WINDY CITY JAMBOREE (Country Music)
FIRST TELECAST: March 19, 1950
LAST TELECAST: June 18, 1950
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Mar 1950-Jun 1950 , DUM Sun 9:00-10:00
REGULARS:
Danny O'Neil Gloria Van
Julian Stockdale Orchestra Barn dance with variety acts, originating from Chicago.
WINGO (Quiz)
FIRST TELECAST: April 1, 1958
LAST TELECAST: May 6, 1958
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Apr 1958-May 1958 , CBS Tue 8:30-9:00
EMCEE:
Bob Kennedy
This short-lived entry in the big-money quiz-show sweepstakes pitted two contestants against each other in answering questions of general and varied knowledge. The winner of each round won $1,000, the opportunity to continue against a new challenger, and a shot at the “Wingo” portion of the show. This part of the game, which depended on pure luck, offered the ultimate jackpot of $250,000 to any contestant who succeeded in matching the letters spelling the show's title in an elaborate word game. Contestants who continued to compete risked a part of their winnings in the event that they were defeated by a subsequent challenger.
WINGS (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: April 19, 1990
LAST TELECAST: September 17, 1997
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Apr 1990-May 1990 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
Sep 1990 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
Sep 1990–Dec 1990 , NBC Fri 9:30-10:00
Jan 1991-Mar 1991 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
Jun 1991-Jan 1993 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
Aug 1992-Sep 1992 , NBC Wed 9:30-10:00
Feb 1993-Aug 1994 , NBC Thu 8:30-9:00
Jul 1994-Aug 1994 , NBC Tue 9:30-10:00
Sep 1994– Apr 1996 , NBC Tue 8:00-8:30
Apr 1996-Jun 1996 , NBC Tue 8:30-9:00
Jun 1996-Jul 1996 , NBC Tue 9:30-10:00
Aug 1996-Feb 1997 , NBC Wed 8:00-8:30
Mar 1997–Jul 1997 , NBC Wed 9:00-9:30
Jul 1997 , NBC Wed 9:00-10:00
Jul 1997-Aug 1997 , NBC Mon 9:30-10:00
Sep 1997 , NBC Wed 8:00-9:00
CAST:
| Joe Hackett | Timothy Daly |
| Brian Hackett | Steven Weber |
| Helen Chappel Hackett | Crystal Bernard |
| Roy Biggins | David Schramm |
| Faye Evelyn Cochran | Rebecca Schull |
| Lowell Mather (1990-1995) | Thomas Haden Church |
| Antonio Scarpacci (1991-1997). | Tony Shalhoub |
| Alex Lambert (1992-1994) | Farrah Forke |
| Casey Davenport (1994-1997) | Amy Yasbeck |
THEME:
Piano Sonata in A Major, Catalogue #D-959, from the Fourth Movement, “Rondo,” by Franz Schubert.
Arranged by Antony Cooke and entitled “Wings” This easygoing character comedy might have been called Cheers II. It was produced by the same people, structured somewhat like Cheers , set near Cheers' hometown of Boston, and scheduled immediately following Cheers on the NBC Thursday night lineup.
Instead of a bar, the location was the waiting room and lunch counter of a small airfield on the resort island of Nantucket, off the Massachusetts coast. The regular “gang” included brothers Joe and Brian Hackett, both pilots, who ran a one-plane commuter service called Sandpiper Air from the airport. They had little else in common. Joe was buttoned-down, organized, and serious (like Cheers' Rebecca), and Brian a hang-loose free spirit (rather like Sam Malone). Their mutual best friend since childhood was Helen, a once-chubby but now beautiful aspiring concert cellist who ran the lunch counter. These three lifelong friends were “the three musketeers.” By the end of the first season Helen and Joe were having a serious affair, while Brian played the field. Other denizens of Nantucket Airport were Roy, the heavyset, blustery owner of a rival air service; Faye, the perky, sixtyish ex-stewardess who ran the ticket counter; and Lowell, the eccentric maintenance man and cosmic philosopher. Not exactly Norm or Cliff (of Cheers) , but close. They all sat around, traded friendly jibes, and generally got involved in each other's lives. Sound familiar?
Joining the cast in later seasons were Antonio, the hopelessly romantic Italian cabbie; Alex, a brassy lady helicopter pilot; and Casey, Helen's divorced older sister from San Franciso whose “perfect marriage” didn't work out. Helen and Joe continued their on-again, off-again affair (interrupted by her brief marriage of convenience to Antonio!), and in the spring of 1995 they were married. With Helen and Joe married, the dating action shifted to Brian and Casey, whose romance became so hot and heavy they acci-dently burned Joe's house down in 1996. The following season Brian's house burned down, and the brothers were so strapped for cash they lost control of Sandpiper Air for a time.
The last original episode, on May 21, 1997, brought the series full circle. In the 1990 premiere the long-separated brothers had been brought together via a “treasure hunt” resulting from a trail of notes left by their deceased father. Now, eight years later, they found another of his notes, which after a long chase eventually led them to a $250,000 inheritance hidden in an airport locker. After some squabbling, they decided to use it to help Helen realize her dream to study the cello under the world's leading cellist, in Vienna.
WINNER TAKE ALL (Quiz/Audience Panicipation)
FIRST TELECAST: July 8, 1948
LAST TELECAST: October 3, 1950
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jul 1948-Aug 1948 , CBS Thu 9:30-10:00
Aug 1948-Jan 1949 , CBS Wed 8:30-9:00
Apr 1950-JuI 1950 , CBS Thu 9:45-10:30
Jul 1950-Oct 1950 , CBS Tue 9:00-9:30
EMCEE:
Bud Collyer
The format of Winner Take All was very simple. Two contestants competed with each other answering questions given them by the emcee. One of them had a bell and the other had a buzzer. The first one to announce his/her readiness to answer (by ringing or buzzing) was given an opportunity to answer the question. Each correct answer was worth a point and three points won the game. The winner won merchandise prizes and the right to meet new challengers until defeated. Winner Take All had been on CBS radio since the mid-1940s and the radio version, with a different emcee, was still being aired when the show moved to television in 1948. During the 15 months that it was not on the network, from January 1949 to April 1950, it continued as a local program in New York, returning to the network for its final six months as a nighttime series. It then became a daytime show, running first on CBS (with Barry Gray as emcee) and then on NBC (with Bill Cullen), until its final telecast in April 1952. The daytime version was much different from the evening Winner Take All. Regular members of the daytime cast performed sketches to challenge contestants' knowledge, and did song and dance numbers as well.
WINNETKA ROAD (Serial Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: March 12, 1994
LAST TELECAST: April 16, 1994
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Mar 1994-Apr 1994 , NBC Sat 10:00-11:00
CAST:
| Terry Mears | Paige Turco |
| Nicky (Nicholas) | Kellen Hathaway |
| Stan Oldman | Harley Venton |
| Jack Passion | Josh Brolin |
| Nicole Manning | Megan Ward |
| Glenn Barker | Ed Begley, Jr. |
| Jeannie Barker | Catherine Hicks |
| Patti | Jayne Frazer |
| Jason | Richard Gilliland |
| Kevin Page | Kurt Deutsch |
| George Grace | Meg Tilly |
| Sterling Grace | Sandy McPeak |
| Father Burke | Eddie Bracken |
| Mike | Richard Herd |
| Mayheth | Kristen Cloke |
Short-lived soap opera set in the Chicago suburb of Oak Bluff, Illinois, where tight jeans, bare chests, and easy sex seemed as much in evidence as on the beaches of Southern California. Several entanglements filled its short run: failed B-movie actress Terry's fight with her rich ex, Stan, over custody of their son, Nicky; hunky policeman Jack's vacillation between old flame Terry and new flame Nicole; Glenn's midlife crisis, which had him leaving estranged wife Jeannie for sexy young aerobics instructor Patti; and the triangle between bo-hemian artist George (a she), her rich but possessive husband, Sterling, and unemployed but boyish Kevin. Kindly Father Burke was a blind priest who looked after little Nicky while the rest of the cast pursued their worldly pleasures.
WINNING LINES (Quiz)
FIRST TELECAST: January 8, 2000
LAST TELECAST: February 18, 2000
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jan 2000—Feb 2000 , CBS Sat 8:00-8:30
Feb 2000 , CBS Fri 8:30-9:00
EMCEE:
Dick Clark
This quiz show started with 49 contestants on a big blue wall. Six simple questions were asked, each of which had a numerical answer (Q: “What is a baker's dozen plus one?” A: “Fourteen”). The first contestant to punch in the correct answer advanced to the next round. In round two the six survivors were each assigned a number, and then faced a sudden-death situation in which the numerical answers to the questions were the same as the numbers they had been assigned. The first person to answer each question either advanced (if it was their number), eliminated another contestant (if it was that contestant's number), or eliminated themselves (if it was the wrong answer).
The finalist went on to the Wonderwall where she was guaranteed a minimum of $2,500 and could win as much as $1,000,000. There were 49 numbered questions; the object was to shout out 20 question numbers and their corresponding numerical answers in three minutes. Three strikes (wrong answers) and the contestant was out, but he could use two 15-second pit stops, and could pass on two questions. The contestant could also bail out and keep his accumulated winnings to that point.
Viewers could also win. The second digit of each of the six first-round winners' assigned numbers were combined with the second digit from the last winning question from the Wonderwall to provide seven numbers. Home viewers whose phone numbers consisted of these seven numbers, in any order, could call an 800 number for a random chance to win $50,000. One of the coauthors of this book scored a match and called the number—but so, unfortunately, did far too many others. This complicated quiz show was based on the successful British series of the same name and was CBS' response to ABC's hugely successful Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Apparently it was too complicated to hold viewers, and was gone after six weeks. Nobody hit the jackpot, but one contestant walked away with $500,000.
WINSTON CHURCHILL—THE VALIANT YEARS
(Documentary)
FIRST TELECAST: November 27, 1960
LAST TELECAST: April 5, 1963
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Nov 1960-Jun 1961 , ABC Sun 10:30-11:00
Sep 1962–Dec 1962 , ABC Sun 6:30-7:00
Dec 1962-Apr 1963 , ABC Fri 7:30-8:00
NARRATOR:
Gary Merrill
Richard Burton
Churchill's role in the years leading into and during World War II was chronicled in this award-winning documentary series. The basis for each episode was the memoirs that Churchill the historian had kept to describe the activities of Churchill the statesman. Old film clips, letters, and contemporary backgrounds were woven together to paint a picture of Churchill's role at that critical period of world history. Gary Merrill was the narrator with Richard Burton reading from Churchill's memoirs. The series was rerun in its entirety during the 1962-1963 season.
WINTUITION (Quiz)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Game Show Network
30 minutes
Original episodes: 2002-2003
Premiered: December 2, 2002
EMCEE:
Marc Summers
Players competed for tuition money in this game, which was billed as “turning knowledge into college.” Three contestants answered general academic questions graded by difficulty, first at the elementary school level, and then middle school. In the third round the two highest-scoring contestants moved on to high-school-level questions, and in the fourth the finalist was faced with questions of college-level difficulty. The grand prize was $50,000 in tuition money, with other appropriate prizes (such as free Domino's pizza for a year) along the way.
WIRE, THE (Magazine)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Lifetime
30 minutes
Produced: 1997
Premiered: January 24, 1997
A women's lifestyles magazine, with features on makeup, travel, shopping, and everyday living. Many of the subjects were intensely practical, such as how to pack a suitcase and how to do the laundry. For those mystified by the male species, there was a women's explanation of football. A rotating stable of hip young reporters, including such characters as “The Nutrition Lady” and “The Laundry Lieutenant,” offered the helpful tips.
WIRE SERVICE (Newspaper Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: October 4, 1956
LAST TELECAST: September 13, 1959
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Oct 1956-Feb 1957 , ABC Thu 9:00-10:00
Feb 1957-Sep 1957 , ABC Mon 7:30-8:30
Feb 1959-Sep 1959 , ABC Sun 9:30-10:30
CAST:
| Dan Miller | Dane Clark |
| Dean Evans | George Brent |
| Katherine Wells | Mercedes McCambridge |
The three stars of this series each played a roving reporter for the Trans-Globe wire service. Each of them traveled all over the country and the world, tracking down stories involving crime and high adventure. The three reporters worked independently and ap-peared in separate stories, on a rotating basis.
In 1959 the Wire Service episodes starring Dane Clark were rerun under the title Deadline for Action.
WISDOM OF THE AGES (Discussion)
FIRST TELECAST: December 16, 1952
LAST TELECAST: June 30, 1953
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Dec 1952-Jun 1953 , DUM Tue 9:30-10:00
MODERATOR:
Jack Barry
PANELISTS:
Ronnie Mulluzzo (age 8)
Marcia Van Dyke (28)
Leo Cherne (40)
Mrs. H. V. Kaltenborn (64)
Thomas Clark (82)
Quizmaster Jack Barry had been highly successful with a panel show featuring youngsters (Juvenile Jury) and another with oldsters (Life Begins at Eighty) , so it was natural to try a show that spanned all age groups. As on the prototype programs, the format was simply for the panel to discuss, from the perspective of their various generations, the often humorous problems and questions submitted by viewers. The panel consisted of one member under 20, one 20-40, one 40-60, one 60-80, and one over 80. The panelists most frequently seen during the show's six-month run are listed above. Interestingly enough, though each age group had its own unique point of view, it was the two extremes—the 8-and the 82-year-old— who were most often in agreement.
WISEGUY (Police Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: September 16, 1987
LAST TELECAST: December 8, 1990
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1987 , CBS Wed 9:00-11:00
Sep 1987-Nov 1987 , CBS Thu 9:00-10:00
Jan 1988–Mar 1988 , CBS Mon 10:00-11:00
Jun 1988-Apr 1990 , CBS Wed 10:00-11:00
Jun 1990-JuI 1990 , CBS Thu 9:00-10:00
Nov 1990-Dec 1990 , CBS Sat 10:00-11:00
CAST:
| Vinnie Terranova (l987-1990) | Ken Wahl |
| Michael Santana (1990) | Steven Bauer |
| Frank McPike | Jonathan Banks |
| “Lifeguard” (Daniel Benjamin Burroughs) | Jim Byrnes |
| Fr. Peter Terranova (1987, 1989) | Gerald Anthony |
| Sonny Steelgrave (1987) | Ray Sharkey |
| Paul Patrice (1987) | Joe Dallesandro |
| Sid Pioyce (1987) | Dennis Lipscomb |
| Harry “The Hunchback” Schanstra (1987) | Eric Christmas |
| Roger LoCocco (1988) | William Russ |
| Susan Profitt (1988) | Joan Severance |
| Mel Profitt (1988) | Kevin Spacey |
| Herb Ketcher (1988) | David Spielberg |
| Carlotta Terranova Aiuppo (1987-1989) | Elsa Raven |
| Beckstead (1988-1990) | Ken Jenkins |
| Eli Sternberg (1988-1989) | Jerry Lewis |
| David Sternberg (1988-1989) | Ron Silver |
| Carole Sternberg (1988-1989) | Patricia Charbonneau |
| Pdck Pinzolo (l988-1989) | Stanley Tucci |
| Phil Bernstein (1988-1989) | Harry Goz |
| Bobby Travis (1989) | Glenn Frey |
| Isaac Twine (1989) | Paul Winfield |
| Amber Twine (1989) | Patti D'Arbanville |
| Winston Newquay (l989) | Tim Curry |
| Don Rudy Aiuppo (1988-1989) | George O. Petrie |
| Poochy Pompio (1988-1989) | Tony Romano |
| Grosset (1989) | John Snyder |
| Mark Volchek (1990) | Steve Ryan |
| Rogosheske (1990) | James Stacy |
| Lacey (1990) | Darlanne Fluegel |
| Amado Guzman (1990) | Maximillian Schell |
| Rafael Santana (1990) | Manolo Villaverde |
| Hillary Stein (1990) | Cecil Hoffmann |
| Dahlia Mendez (1990) | Martika |
Vinnie Terranova was an undercover agent for the Organized Crime Bureau who went from assignment to assignment infiltrating the most dangerous criminal organizations in America. Because of his brash attitude and street smarts, Vinnie made a perfect mob lieutenant. His boss at O.C.B. was cynical Frank McPike; “Lifeguard,” Vinnie's only link to McPike while he was on assignment, served as a sympathetic conduit, as well as providing Vinnie with the information necessary to maintain his cover. Maintaining that cover was literally a matter of life or death—Vinnie was always “on the edge”—and it meant that everybody Vinnie knew, with the single exception of his brother, Peter (a priest), really thought he had become a crook.
Once he had contributed to the downfall of a mobster Vinnie moved on and, as a result, there was periodic turnover in the supporting cast. His first assignment was to bring down Atlantic City mob boss Sonny Steelgrave (played by Ray Sharkey in a bravura performance). From there he went on to disrupt the international smuggling operation (contraband, munitions, drugs, etc.) of crazed Mel Profitt and his beautiful sister Susan. Mel was involved with a deposed Caribbean dictator who was planning a coup but, when the plan fell apart, he committed suicide. His emotionally unstable sister, Susan, wound up in a mental hospital and Vinnie found out that the coup had in fact been orchestrated as an unauthorized CIA operation by Herb Ketcher through undercover agent Roger LoCocco, who was also a “wiseguy”—posing as a hit man for the Profitts. When the whole tangled affair came out in Senate hearings LoCocco was assassinated (or was he?), Ketcher committed suicide, and Vinnie—disillusioned with the entire U.S. government—quit the O.C.B.
That fall Vinnie was working at a gas station in his old Brooklyn neighborhood while trying to forget the O.C.B. Unfortunately, exposure to the racists in the neighborhood, who were as bad as the criminals he had been fighting for the O.C.B., convinced him he could bring them down by going back to the Bureau. He then went undercover as a garment center security consultant to save Eli Sternberg's Elrose Fashions dress firm from the clutches of mobster Rick Pinzolo. Vinnie's next undercover job, as the owner of Dead Dog Records, gave him the chance to nail corrupt players in the big-money rock music business. It also resulted in a torrid love affair with Amber Twine, the wife of his music business partner, Isaac Twine.
Meanwhile, Vinnie's mother, Carlotta, had married Rudy Aiuppo, the most powerful organized crime boss in New York. An assassination attempt on Don Aiuppo, ironically, left Vinnie with his seat on The Commission, the governing body of New York's organized crime. While his stepfather recovered in the hospital, Vinnie worked to track down the people responsible for the hit as well as to provide information to the O.C.B. Pressure from politicians who believed Vinnie was a mobster forced him out of that position, but not before Don Aiuppo found out his stepson was a Fed. Vinnie's last major case for the O.C.B. took him to rural Lynchboro where, as Vince Kozak, he sought to bring down reclusive Mark Volchek, the demented man who ran the town. After witnessing the electrocution/suicide of Lynchboro's sheriff, Vinnie went into an emotional funk and disappeared, taking menial work and trying to get himself together. He was last seen in a wharfside church where a former foe, seeking revenge, tried to take him out, killing the priest and wounding McPike instead.
When Wiseguy returned to the air in late 1990 McPike was out of the hospital and Vinnie had disappeared again (series star Ken Wahl had left the show in a disagreement with the producers). Because McPike thought Vinnie might have been the target of a Salvadoran death squad, he forged an uneasy alliance with Michael Santana (the series' new star), a disbarred Cuban-American Federal prosecutor whom Vinnie had contacted shortly before his disappearance. Santana went undercover to expose the corruption of wealthy businessman Amado Guzman, the man for whom his father worked.
WISH YOU WERE HERE (Comedy/Adventure)
FIRST TELECAST: July 20, 1990
LAST TELECAST: August 24, 1990
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jul 1990-Aug 1990 , CBS Fri 9:30-10:00
CAST:
| Donny Cogswell | Lew Schneider |
An unusual comedy built around the latest American middle-class craze, the camcorder.
Donny Cogswell was too free a spirit to be tied down with a job on Wall Street. After a particularly bad day, he decided to pack it all in and recharge his batteries with a trip around Europe. With him was his trusty camcorder, which he used to record his experiences as he traveled. Rather than send letters back home to lovers, friends, and family, Donny sent videotapes.
Filmed on location, with local television and film stars (familiar in their homelands but not to American viewers) providing the supporting cast, Wish You Were Here traveled to Paris, Budapest, Barcelona, Morocco, and the French Riviera.
WITCHBLADE (Adventure)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
TNT
60 minutes
Original episodes: 2001-2002 (23 episodes)
Premiered: June 12, 2001
CAST:
| Det. Sara “Pez” Pezzini | Yancy Butler |
| Det. Jake McCartey | David Chokachi |
| Det. Danny Woo | Will Yun Lee |
| Kenneth Irons | Anthony Cistaro |
| Ian Nottingham | Eric “Kaos” Etebari |
| Gabriel Bowman | John Hensley |
| Vicky Po | Kathryn Winslow |
| *Conchobar | Kim De Lury |
| *Captain Bruno Dante | Nestor Serrano |
*Occasional
Tough, stubborn New York City detective Sara Pezzini was the unwilling recipient of a powerful and dangerous weapon in this action-packed series. During a shoot-out in a museum, an ancient gauntlet (a kind of armored medieval glove, worn in combat) flew through the air and affixed itself to her arm, making her virtually invincible. The Witchblade, it seemed, had a long history, empowering select female warriors through the ages, such as Joan of Arc. It could deflect bullets, serve as a powerful sword, allow her to fly through the air, and do other neat tricks, but it had a mind of its own and might fail her at critical moments. Control freak Sara didn't really want it, but she had no choice—she was this generation's “chosen one.” Danny was Sara's late partner, killed in a shoot-out with a mobster, who thanks to the Witchblade appeared to her as a ghost and served as her guardian angel. Her current partner was Jake, a boyish ex-surfer who wasn't quite sure what Sara was up to. On the dark side were Kenneth Irons, a mysterious billionaire who wanted the Witchblade but couldn't wield it and so became obsessed with Sara, and Ian, his dark, and very lethal henchman. Others seen included Internet art dealer Gabriel, Irish rock musician (and sometime ally) Conchobar, and corrupt cop Captain Dante.
Witchblade was first seen as a TV movie telecast on August 27, 2000. The series was canceled abruptly after only two seasons, despite good ratings. Speculation as to why centered on star Yancy Butler's well-publicized battles with alcohol, but TNT gave no real explanation. Based on a Top Cow comic book of the same name.
WITH MALICE (Police Drama)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Arts & Entertainment Network
60 minutes
Original episodes: 2004
Premiered: February 12, 2004
CAST:
| DI Vivien Friend | Samantha Spiro |
| DC Rosie MacManus | Lindsey Coulson |
| DS Barry Purvis | Richard Hope |
| DS Trevor Hands… | Michael McKell |
| Dr. John Cornell | Richard Huw |
| DCI Malcolm Savage | Steven Pacey |
| Dr. Fergus Gallagher | Vincenzo Pellegrino |
| DC Scott Granger | Joe Shaw |
| DC Patrick Lincoln | Andrew Somerville |
| DS Jim Daws. | Howard Ward |
Fast-paced British crime series seen briefly on A&E and centering on the investigators of the London Metropolitan Police Department's homicide squad as they used the latest forensic and psychological techniques to track down killers. Leading the investigations were intense, clinical Detective Inspector Vivien and more intuitive Constable Rosie. Twelve episodes were filmed but only eight (the first season) aired on A&E. The series was known in Britain and the rest of the world as M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team. Due to objections from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, however, this was changed in the U.S. to With Malice.
WITH THIS RING (Quiz/Audience Participation)
FIRST TELECAST: January 28, 1951
LAST TELECAST: March 18, 1951
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jan 1951-Mar 1951 , DUM Sun 9:30-10:00
HOST:
Bill Slater
Martin Gabel This gentle quiz show drew its contestants from lists of young couples who had recently applied for a marriage license. Two couples were chosen and presented with questions about marriage sent in by viewers. After they gave their ideas about how they would handle the situations posed, a pair of celebrity judges—both married and therefore experienced— evaluated the answers. The winning couple got a free honeymoon trip.
Martin Gabel succeeded Bill Slater as host on the last two telecasts. The program was originally known as Happily Ever After.
WITHOUT A TRACE (Police Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: September 26, 2002
LAST TELECAST: BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 2002-Sep 2006 , CBS Thu 10:00-11:00
Aug 2003-Sep 2003 , CBS Sun 8:00-9:00
Jul 2006– , CBS Sun 10:00-11:00
CAST:
*Occasional
New York City was the setting for this methodical drama about the work of the FBI's Missing Persons Squad. Each episode opened with a scene at the end of which someone had disappeared, and the rest of the hour was devoted to the efforts of the Missing Persons Squad to find him or her. The squad kept track of the clues on a big timeline board at headquarters that tracked when and where the missing person had been in the hours leading up to the disappearance. They interviewed family, friends, coworkers and anyone else who might be able to help, and used psychological profiling techniques, surveillance equipment and computer records. There were periodic flashbacks that reflected the latest information the team had obtained and constant on-screen reminders of how long it had been since the disappearance. Cases involved people who had been kidnapped, murdered, committed suicide or just wanted to get away.
Senior agent Jack Malone was the team leader, a serious, fatherly veteran who was well aware that the longer it took to find someone, the less likely it was that he or she would ever be found. The other members of the team were good-looking Samantha, driven Vivian, intense Danny and rookie Martin, who had to prove himself because his previous experience had been fighting white-collar crime.
At the end of the 2003-2004 season Jack ended his affair with Samantha and was planning to move to Chicago to be with his wife, Maria, who had gotten a job there, and their two daughters. He pushed for, and got, Vivian promoted into the job he was leaving. Then, on the night before the move, his wife told him she was filing for divorce. He stayed in New York and got his job back, initially upsetting Vivian, who re-turned to her old job. There was a subsequent custody fight, which he lost when Maria used evidence of his affair with Samantha against him. Meanwhile Samantha and Martin had begun a relationship that ended in the spring around the time Vivian underwent open-heart surgery.
In the fall 2005 season premiere Martin was shot in a confrontation with a mercenary and was still suffering residual pain when he returned to work after a six-week convalescence. The following week Elena, a former NYPD vice squad detective, joined the team. Martin developed an addiction to painkillers but, with Danny's encouragement, joined a drug abusers therapy group. The following spring Jack began a relationship with fellow agent Anne, the widow of a for-mer mentor who had been killed in the line of duty. In May she found out she was pregnant and that fall they bought a Manhattan loft apartment and moved in together but, after she miscarried a few weeks later, they broke up. Late in the fall Danny and Elena started dating and in March Elena's daughter, Sofie, was kidnapped by a hood hired by her father, Carlos, an undercover drug cop on the take who was suing Elena for sole custody. Fortunately, the team was able to get her back unharmed.
At the end of each episode viewers were shown the picture of a real missing person and asked to call their local FBI office if they had seen the person or had any relevant information about the case.
WITNESS, THE (Courtroom Anthology)
FIRST TELECAST: September 29, 1960
LAST TELECAST: January 26, 1961
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1960-Dec 1960 , CBS Thu 7:30-8:30
Dec 1960–Jan 1961 , CBS Thu 9:00-10:00
CAST:
Court Reporter Verne Collett
Court Clerk William Griffis
COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Charles Haydon
Paul McGrath
William Smithers
Frank Milan
In a format that was similar to a Congressional investigation, this series attempted to dramatize the exploits and lifestyles of gangsters and rogues from the past and present. Detailed research was done on all of the “witnesses” who were brought before the committee to explain and/or defend their activities. The first of these hearings starred Telly Savalas as Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Among the other figures whose lives were exposed on this show were Bugsy Siegel, Dutch Schultz, Al Capone, John Dillinger, James Walker (former New York City mayor), and Ma Barker. The committee members asking the questions were all real attorneys and members of the New York Bar Association.
WIZARD, THE (Adventure/Foreign Intrigue)
FIRST TELECAST: September 9, 1986
LAST TELECAST: July 7, 1987
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1986-Oct 1986 , CBS Tue 8:00-9:00
Nov 1986 , CBS Sat 8:00-9:00
Dec 1986-Feb 1987 , CBS Tue 8:00-9:00
Feb 1987-Apr 1987 , CBS Thu 8:00-9:00
Jun 1987-Jul 1987 , CBS Tue 8:00-9:00
CAST:
| Simon McKay | David Rappaport |
| Alex Jagger | Douglas Barr |
| Tillie Russell | Fran Ryan |
Although he made his living as an inventor of exotic and ingenious toys, diminutive Simon McKay (just four feet tall) spent much of his time helping people. He was a good samaritan who would track down people in need, design special devices to help the handicapped, and had, in the past, made contraptions for government agencies. It was this latter skill that had prompted the government to assign agent Alex Jagger to work with Simon. They were afraid that criminals or foreign powers who were aware of Simon's talents would kidnap him and force him to work for them. The two of them made quite a pair—impish, fun-loving Simon and serious, almost-humorless Alex. Together they traveled all over the world, at times on Simon's charitable missions and at others fighting the forces of evil. Tillie was the housekeeper who kept Simon's home in perfect order.
WIZARDS AND WARRIORS (Adventure)
FIRST TELECAST: February 26, 1983
LAST TELECAST: May 14, 1983
Feb 1983-May 1983 , CBS Sat 8:00-9:00
CAST:
| Prince Erik Greystone | Jeff Conaway |
| Marko | Walter Olkewicz |
| Prince Dirk Blackpool | Duncan Regehr |
| Princess Ariel | Julia Duffy |
| Wizard Vector | Clive Revill |
| King Baaldorf | Tom Hill |
| Wizard Tranquil | Ian Wolfe |
| Geoffrey Blackpool | Tim Dunigan |
| Justin Greystone | Jay Kerr |
| Queen Lattinia | Julie Payne |
| Bethel | Randi Brooks |
| Cassandra | Phyllis Katz |
| Oriental Guard | Lonnie Wun |
This period adventure with a sense of humor was set in the time of King Arthur's Court, when brave knights battled the forces of evil, with magic, sorcery, and sheer courage. The prize was the legendary Kingdom of Camarand, ruled by good King Baaldorf and Queen Lattinia. Their daughter, Princess Ariel, was betrothed to handsome Prince Erik Greystone, who, aided by his burly vassal Marko, was the principal defender of the realm. Evil Prince Dirk Blackpool was the archvillain, seeking to conquer Camarand through the black arts of Wizard Vector and sexy, decadent Witch Bethel. Prince Erik sometimes had the help of aged Wizard Tranquil, but often had to cope with no magical assistance at all. Justin was Erik's ne'er-do-well playboy brother, while Geoffrey was Blackpool's incompetent brother. Elaborate special effects such as ghosts, demons, powerful amulets, and fiery swords added visual impact to this shortlived fantasy.
WOLF (Detective Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: September 13, 1989
LAST TELECAST: January 25, 1991
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1989 , CBS Wed 9:00-11:00
Sep 1989-Novl989 , CBS Tue 9:00-10:00
Jun 1990 , CBS Thu 10:00-11:00
Jul 1990-Sep 1990 , CBS Wed 11:30-12:40 A.M.
Sep 1990 , CBS Tue 12:40-1:45 A.M.
Oct 1990-Dec 1991 , CBS Tue 1:10-2:15 A.M.
Jan 1991 , CBS Tue-Fri 1:10-2:15 A.M.
Jan 1991 , CBS Mon-Fri 12:00 midnight–1:10 .M.
CAST:
| Tony Wolf | Jack Scalia |
| Sal Wolf | Joseph Sirola |
| Dylan Elliott | Nicolas Surovy |
| Melissa Shaw Elliott | Judith Hoag |
| Connie Bacarri | Mimi Kuzyk |
| Angeline Bacarri | J. C. Brandy |
Tony Wolf was an ex-San Francisco cop who had been too good for his own good—at least that's what the crooks who had set him up two years ago in a drug bust had thought. Although he had been framed, his superiors never found out. Now he was back working as a private investigator for, among others, Dylan Elliott, the attorney who had been instrumental in getting him thrown off the force. Dylan had come to believe he might have been wrong and helped Tony clear his name. Tony lived on The Sea Wolf a family boat constantly in need of repair; had a crusty old father, Sal, with whom he was trying to reconcile; and spent much of his free time with Connie, his divorced high school sweetheart who worked at a small restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf. He also tried to help her deal with her tomboyish daughter, Angie.
One of the early casualties of the 1989-1990 season, Wolf was put on hiatus in November, returned briefly in June, and was banished to CBS' late-night lineup the following month. A number of first-run episodes aired there, along with reruns of those that had previously been seen in prime time.
WOLF LAKE (Supernatural Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: September 19, 2001
LAST TELECAST: June 26, 2002
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 2001-Oct 2001 , CBS Wed 10:00-11:00
Apr 2002-June 2002 , UPN Wed 9:00-10:00
CAST:
| John Kanin | Lou Diamond Phillips |
| Sheriff Matthew Donner | Tim Matheson |
| Sherman Blackstone | Graham Greene |
| Sophia Donner (age 16) | Mary Elizabeth Winstead |
| Luke Cates | Paul Wasilewski |
| Ruby Wilder Cates | Mia Kirshner |
| Vivian Cates | Sharon Lawrence |
| Tyler Creed | Scott Bairstow |
| Willard Cates (2001) | Bruce McGill |
| Presley | Fiona Scott |
| Miranda Devereaux | Kellie Waymire |
| Dep. Molly Bloom | Carmen Moore |
| Buddy Hooks | Christian Bocher |
Dark shadows and creepy music marked this shortlived melodrama. John Kanin was a moody young Seattle police officer whose girlfriend, Ruby, had disappeared after apparently being assaulted in her car. Receiving a tip about her whereabouts, he roared out of Seattle on his motorcycle and rode to the remote town of Wolf Lake to find her. What Kanin didn't know was that Ruby, her family and most of the residents of Wolf Lake were werewolves. Sheriff Donner, who befriended Kanin and eventually offered him a position with the Wolf Lake Police Department, was a “reformed” werewolf who quietly fought the town's scourge (“the beast within us”). The only other person in town who was willing to help was Sherman, the enigmatic Native American biology teacher who seemed to know everything about everybody.
Sheriff Donner's daughter, Sophia, who worked part-time at the local diner, had attracted the attention of Ruby's brother, Luke, which upset her father. Ruby and Luke's father was Willard Cates, a wealthy businessman, town boss and “high priest” of the werewolf pack—who was, however, dying. Vivian, his wife, had been having an affair with evil developer Tyler, who wanted to take Willard's place and control the pack. Ruby had originally fled Wolf Lake because her father had arranged her marriage to Tyler, whom she hated. Now she was being held captive in a cabin outside of town where Tyler was trying, unsuccessfully, to convince her to marry him.
In October Willard suffered a stroke. Then, while he was taking a “wolfen” run, he was caught in a trap and shot to death by a mystery man. After his death Ruby reluctantly married Tyler, which she hoped would protect Kanin from Tyler. When the pack gathered to choose a new leader (nominally the election was for presidency of Wolf Lake Brewery), the surprise winner, after a bloody, violent evening, was Willard's widow, Vivian.
Wolf Lake failed to attract much of an audience during its initial run on CBS and was pulled from the lineup after only five episodes. When it resurfaced on UPN the following spring, the CBS episodes were repeated, followed by four that had not previously been seen.
WOMAN TO REMEMBER, A (Romantic Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: May 2, 1949
LAST TELECAST: July 15, 1949
BROADCAST HISTORY:
May 1949-JuI 1949 , DUM Mon-Fri 7:30-7:45
CAST:
| Christine Baker | Patricia Wheel |
| Steve Hammond | John Raby |
| Charley Anderson | Frankie Thomas |
| Bessie Thatcher | Ruth McDevitt |
| Carol Winstead | Joan Catlin |
A Woman to Remember was an early attempt to bring soap opera—radio soap opera, at that—to early-evening television. The leading character, Christine Baker, was even depicted as a radio soap-opera queen, engaged to handsome Steve Hammond, but beset by scheming rivals, notably shrewish Carol Winstead. Charley Anderson, the young sound man on Christine's show, and Bessie, another actress, were allies.
A Woman to Remember was first seen as a daytime serial, beginning February 21, 1949.
WOMEN DOCS (Documentary)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Lifetime
60 minutes
Original episodes: 2001-2002 (23 episodes)
Premiered: August 11, 2001
NARRATOR:
Carolyn McCormick
Fast-paced documentary series focusing on women doctors in a different big-city hospital each week.
WOMEN IN PRISON (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: October 11, 1987
LAST TELECAST: April 2, 1988
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Oct 1987 , FOX Sun 8:30-9:00
Oct 1987-Apr 1988 , FOX Sat 8:30-9:00
CAST:
| Vicki Springer | Julia Campbell |
| Asst. Warden Clint Rafferty | Blake Clark |
| Dawn Murphy | C. C. H. Pounder |
| Eve Shipley | Peggy Cass |
| Bonnie Harper | Antoinette Byron |
| Pam | Wendie Jo Sperber |
| Meg Bando | Denny Dillon |
Twelve years after ABC failed with a comedy set in a men's prison (On the Rocks) , Fox Broadcasting gave women equal time. The setting for this bizarre comedy was Bass Women's Prison in Wisconsin, where the inmates in cellblock J never seemed to be locked in their cells. Among the incarcerated skirts were naive Vicki, a pampered suburban housewife who had been framed for shoplifting by her philandering husband; Dawn, a tough black who had murdered her husband; Bonnie, a sexy, gay English hooker; and Eve, an aging, forgetful bank robber who had lived there for decades. In the adjoining cell, with a computer terminal but no roommates, was Pam, a brilliant but sarcastic woman who was serving time for computer embezzlement. Meg was cellblock J's short, frumpy, sadistic guard, and Warden Rafferty the grumpy boss, for whom Vicki worked as a secretary.
None of this was meant to be taken the least bit seriously, it seems. The garish theme song thundered lines like “So misunderstood, now you're missing a life that was so good…. While other girls make dates, you make license plates…. you're in JAIL!!”
WOMEN OF THE HOUSE (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: January 4, 1995
LAST TELECAST: March 20, 1995
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jan 1995—Feb 1995 , CBS Wed 8:00-8:30
Mar 1995 , CBS Mon 8:30-9:00
CAST:
| Suzanne Sugarbaker | Delta Burke |
| Sissy Emerson | Teri Garr |
| Jim Sugarbaker | Jonathan Banks |
| Natalie Hollingsworth | Patricia Heaton |
| Jennifer Mahne | Valerie Mahaffey |
| Jennifer Mahne | Julie Hagerty |
| Desiree Sugarbaker | Brittany Parkyn |
THEME:
“Something to Talk About,” performed by Shirley
Elkhard
Following the death of 76-year-old Ray, her fifth husband, Suzanne Sugarbaker moved to Washington to fill out his term in the House of Representatives. With her were her young adopted daughter, Desiree, and her mentally retarded brother, Jim. Since nobody in Washington expected her to be around long—she was considered a political lightweight who would be gone after the next election—few people were interested in being on her staff, so she hired the three who were at her office when she arrived. They were chief of staff Natalie, former lover and chief aide to a congressman who was now in prison; press secretary Sissy, former Washington Post reporter whose drinking had gotten her fired; and naive receptionist Jennifer, whose football coach husband had run off with a Washington Redskins cheerleader and left her with no money and two sons to raise. Natalie had hopes of shaping Suzanne into her own highly efficient and politically savvy image but found the self-centered, out-spoken, and flamboyant Miss Sugarbaker difficult to mold. She did what she wanted to do, said what ever came to mind, and was oblivious to Washington protocol.
For star Delta Burke, this was a strange homecoming. She had been fired from Designing Women after feuding with series producers Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason. Now, four years later, she reprised the role and coproduced the series with her former employers. The Thomasons' original choice for the role of Jennifer was Julie Hagerty, who was in a play when production began. Valerie Mahaffey filled in for her until she was available and ended up back in the part when Hagerty quit after taping only two episodes.
Five months after its original run had ended, CBS aired a single episode of Women of the House. Three weeks later, on September 8, Lifetime Cable presented the four remaining originial episodes as a two-hour special.
WONDER WOMAN (Adventure)
FIRST TELECAST: December 18, 1976
LAST TELECAST: September 11, 1979
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Dec 1976-Jan 1977 , ABC Sat 8:00-9:00
May 1977-Jul 1977 , ABC Sat 8:00-9:00
Sep 1977—Feb 1979 , CBS Fri 8:00-9:00
Aug 1979-Sep 1979 , CBS Tue 8:00-9:00
CAST:
| Yeoman Diana Prince/” Wonder Woman” | Lynda Carter |
| Maj. Steve Trevor/Steve Trevor, Jr. | Lyle Waggoner |
| Gen. Blankenship (1976-1977). | Richard Eastham |
| Corp. Etta Candy (1976-1977) | Beatrice Colen |
| Joe Atkinson (1977) | Normann Burton |
| Eve (1977-1979) | Saundra Sharp |
| Voice ofl. R.A. (1977-1979) | Tom Kratochzil |
Wonder Woman , based on Charles Moulton's comicbook superheroine of the 1940s, developed gradually into a regular TV series. It was first seen as a TV movie in March 19 74 (with Cathy Lee Crosby in the title role), then in another try in November 1975 (with Lynda Carter), then in a series of specials called The New Original Wonder Woman beginning in March 1976. After popping up in various spots all over the ABC schedule, it had a short consecutive-weeks run in December 1976-January 1977. Finally, in the fall of 1977, it moved to CBS and became a regular weekly series.
The show was comic-strip, pure and simple, set in the 1940s. Wonder Woman came from a “lost” island where a band of Amazon women had fled ca. 200 B.C. to escape male domination by the ancient Greeks and Romans. On Paradise Island they found the magic substance Feminum, which when molded into a golden belt gave them superhuman strength and in golden bracelets could deflect bullets. It didn't help their love life much, though, so when Major Steve Trevor of the U.S. army crash-landed on the island during World War II, Wonder Woman fell in love and returned with him to the U.S. in the guise of his secretary. Major Trevor did not know of her powers, but when trouble threatened, Yeoman Prince could disappear for a while, and whirl herself into Wonder Woman! She then reappeared, clad in sexy tights and draped in a cape that looked something like the American flag.
Her opponents were mostly Nazi agents, plus a few aliens from outer space, all of whom were dispatched in slam-bang-biff-pow style. Once the Nazis even found and occupied Paradise Island in their quest for Feminum, and they had their own Wonder Woman in Fausta. Seen occasionally on Diana's side was her younger sister, Drusilla, the “Wonder Girl” (played by Debra Winger).
When the series moved to CBS in the fall of 1977 there were a number of changes made. The title was now The New Adventures of Wonder Woman and the period was contemporary, rather than World War II. The heroine returned to America to fight terrorists and subversive elements for the Inter-Agency Defense Command (IADC), where her boss was Joe Atkinson. Working closely with her was Steve Trevor, Jr., the son of the Major Trevor with whom she had been associated during World War II. Since she had not aged at all—residents of Paradise Island had life spans measured in centuries, not decades—and Steve, Jr., was a dead ringer for his father, the couple seemed virtually unchanged. Eve was Steve's secretary. By the end of 1977 Mr. Atkinson had been phased out of the show and Steve had been promoted to Diana Prince's boss, leaving her to go alone on missions. A primary source of information for all IADC agents was the Internal Retrieval Associative computer. This wonderful device, called IRA by the staff, could actually communicate by voice with the agents. Despite the fact that Diana was no longer wearing glasses to conceal her real identity, as she had done in the ABC version of Wonder Woman , only IRA knew who she really was.
Lynda Carter, who portrayed Wonder Woman, did fit the part. A former “Miss World—U.S.A.,” she was very athletic, tall (5'10,” not 6' as some publicity releases claimed), and extremely well-endowed.
WONDER YEARS, THE (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: March 15, 1988
LAST TELECAST: September 1, 1993
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Mar 1988-Apr 1988 , ABC Tues 8:30-9:00
Oct 1988—Feb 1989 , ABC Wed 9:00-9:30
Feb 1989-Aug 1990 , ABC Tue 8:30-9:00
Aug 1990-Aug 1991 , ABC Wed 8:00-8:30
Aug 1991-Feb 1992 , ABC Wed 8:30-9:00
Mar 1992-Sep 1993 , ABC Wed 8:00-8:30
CAST:
| Kevin Arnold (age 12) | Fred Savage |
| Kevin (as adult; voice only) | Daniel Stern |
| Wayne Arnold | Jason Hervey |
| Karen Arnold (1988-1992) | Olivia d'Abo |
| Norma Arnold | Alley Mills |
| Jack Arnold | Dan Lauria |
| Paul Pfeiffer | Josh Saviano |
| Winnie (Gwendolyn) Cooper | Danica McKellar |
| “Coach Cutlip | Robert Picardo |
| *Becky Slater | Crystal McKellar |
| “Mrs. Ritvo (1988-1989) | Linda Hoy |
| *Kirk McCray (1988-1989) | Michael Landes |
| “Carla Healy (1988-1990) | Krista Murphy |
| *Mr. DiPerna (1988-1991) | Raye Birk |
| “Mr. Cantwell (1988-1991) | Ben Stein |
| *Doug Porter (1989-1991) | Brandon Crane |
| “Randy Mitchell (1989-1993) | Michael Tricario |
| *Craig Hobson (1989-1990) | Sean Baca |
| Ricky Halsenback (1991-1993) | Scott Nemes |
| Jeff Billings (1992-1993) | Giovanni Ribisi |
| “Michael (1992) | David Schwimmer |
*Occasional
THEME:
“With a Little Help from My Friends,” sung by Joe
Cocker
A whimsical view of growing up in suburban America of the ‘60s, as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old. In 1968 Kevin was just entering Robert F. Kennedy Junior High School. Vietnam protests, Beatles music and America's space program were in the air, but Kevin's concerns were closer to home. His teenage brother, Wayne, existed only to torture and humiliate him, or so it seemed; his older sister Karen was in her own world of love beads and social protest.
Mom (Norma) and Dad (Jack) were a little distant—especially Dad, an intimidating presence who came home tired from work each day, and always seemed to get in an argument with someone. The family dog was Buster. Fitting in at school was an awesome challenge, shared with best friend Paul and hoped-for girlfriend Winnie. But Kevin, a rambunctious kid with an angelic face, would try.
A wide variety of teachers, dates, friends, and tormentors were seen from time to time, as stories explored Kevin's relationships with adults and peers— and especially with Paul and Winnie. Perhaps the most memorable were fearsome Coach Cutlip (played to the hilt by Robert Picardo, who was appearing simultaneously in a very different role on ABC's China Beach) and “steady date” Becky, the best alternative to beloved Winnie.
By the end of the series' run the time had advanced to the early 1970s. Dad gave up his bureaucratic job at Norcom and started his own furniture-making business; Wayne graduated from McKinley High and got his first job—at the same company his father had left. He lived downstairs in the family rec room. At the end of the 1991-1992 season Karen married Michael, in an outdoor “hippie” celebration that upset her family, and moved to Alaska.
The final episode in 1993 looked ahead nostalgically, as if skimming the remaining pages in the family album. Kevin finally broke with his domineering father but made up before Jack died, two years after the series ended. Wayne took over the family's business upon his father's death. Karen had a son, and best friend Paul went to Harvard and became a lawyer. And Winnie, the love of Kevin's life? She went to Paris to study art, leaving Kevin to marry another, with whom he had a son. But he would always remember …
The series was narrated by an unseen, adult Kevin; news clips and music from the period also contributed to the nostalgic flavor. One critic called it “A Leave It to Beaver with bite.” A special preview of the series was telecast on January 31, 1988, following the Super Bowl.
WONDERFALLS (Fantasy)
FIRST TELECAST: March 12, 2004
LAST TELECAST: April 1, 2004
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Mar 2004 , FOX Fri 9:00-10:00
Apr 2004 , FOX Thu 9:00-10:00
CAST:
| Jaye Tyler. | Caroline Dhavernas |
| Sharon Tyler | Katie Finneran |
| Eric Gotts | Tyron Leitso |
| Aaron Tyler | Lee Pace |
| Dr. Darrin Tyler | William Sadler |
| Karen Tyler | Diana Scarwid |
| Mahandra…. | Tracie Thoms |
| Alec | Neil Grayston |
This quirky fantasy centered on Jaye Tyler, a cranky, sarcastic 24-year-old graduate of Brown University, who was back home in Niagara Falls, New York, living in a rusty trailer and working at the Wonderfalls Gift Emporium selling cheesy souvenirs to tourists. Cynical Jaye was drifting through life with little concern for the future when everything suddenly changed. Inanimate objects—a wax lion, a stuffed chameleon, pink lawn flamingos, a brass monkey bookend or anything else in animal form—started talking to her (“See a penny, pick it up,” “Girl needs a boy”), giving her cryptic messages that led to people who needed help. Jaye, who reveled in being a disappointment to her overachieving family and a loner who didn't like people, found herself helping them and the assorted oddballs she encountered.
Karen, Jaye's mother, was a meddler who had written a series of best-selling travel guides; Darrin, her driven father, a prominent surgeon and amateur composer of novelty tunes; Aaron, her sardonic brother, a perpetual student with numerous master's degrees now working on a PhD in religious theory; and Sharon, her sister, a workaholic attorney with no social life and about to come out of the closet. Others seen regularly were Mahandra, Jaye's philosophical best friend and confidante; Eric, a bartender with a failing marriage to whom she was attracted; and Alec, the pushy assistant manager at the Gift Emporium.
Critics loved Wonderfalls but it attracted few viewers and was canceled after only four episodes had aired.
WONDERFUL JOHN ACTON, THE (Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: July 5, 1953
LAST TELECAST: September 22, 1953
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Julyl953-Aug 1953 , NBC Sun 10:00-10:30
Sep 1953 , NBC Tue 8:30-9:00
CAST:
John Acton Harry Holcombe
Uncle Terrence Ian Martin
Julia Acton Virginia Dwyer
Kevin Acton Ronnie Walken
Aunt Bessie Jane Rose
Peter Bodkin, Sr. Pat Harrington
Birdie Bodkin Mary Michael
Narrator Luis Van Rooten
Set in the Ohio River Valley town of Ludlow, Kentucky, The Wonderful John Acton was the story of an Irish family in 1919. John Acton was the county clerk and owned a combination candy and notions store, with his living quarters in the back. The stories were narrated by John's grandson, Kevin Acton, who reminisced about his childhood growing up in small-town America. Kevin revered his grandfather and had always considered him someone “wonderful.” As narrator, the adult Kevin was never seen in this live dramatic series.
WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY, THE , see Walt Disney
WONDERLAND (Medical Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: March 30, 2000
LAST TELECAST: April 6, 2000
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Mar 2000—Apr 2000 , ABC Thu 10:00-11:00
CAST:
| Dr. Robert Banger | Ted Levine |
| Dr. Neil Harrison | Martin Donovan |
| Dr. Lyla Garrity | Michelle Forbes |
| Dr. Abe Matthews | Billy Burke |
| Dr. Derrick Hatcher | Michael Jai White |
| Dr. Heather Miles | Joelle Carter |
| Julie McCray | Michelle Barker |
Co-composed and performed by Madonna
This dark, violent series combined psychiatry, criminology and medical drama at New York's Rivervue Psychiatric Hospital. Dr. Banger was the bearded chief of forensic psychiatry, responsible for some of the city's worst criminal crazies; in addition to his high-stress job, he was dealing with a bitter divorce in which he had to fight tooth and nail for joint custody of his two young sons. Dr. Harrison was the rather self-righteous husband of pregnant Dr. Garrity, who in the opening had to deal with the aftermath of her decision to release a patient who subsequently went on a shooting rampage, killing five people in Times Square. Dr. Matthews was a commitment-phobic womanizer (every medical show has one), and Dr. Hatcher a stressed-out single parent, who was responsible for training the hospital's young med students. Some patients were violent, others just yelled a lot or had “visions,” but the whole atmosphere was one of tremendous noise, distraction and depression. Critics were impressed, but viewers fled.
WOOPS! (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: September 27, 1992
LAST TELECAST: December 6, 1992
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1992-Dec 1992 , FOX Sun 10:30-11:00
CAST:
| Jack Connors | Fred Applegate |
| Curtis Thorpe | Lane Davies |
| Dr. Frederick Pioss | Cleavant Derricks |
| Alice McConnell | Meagan Fay |
| Suzanne Stillman | Marita Geraghty |
| Mark Braddock | Evan Handler |
In this bizarre postapocalyptic comedy, kids playing with an electronic toy at a small Midwestern parade accidentally set off a nuclear missile that triggered a nuclear holocaust that wiped out almost the entire world population in less than an hour. However, six people survived, just enough to stock this Fox comedy. Mark, the narrator, had survived because he was in his Volvo; he had driven through devastation until he ran out of gas and found a lone farmhouse where the other five had found each other. A former English teacher, he kept a journal of the group's progress and was chosen as the leader because he was the least opinionated. The other survivors were Alice, an idealistic feminist and somewhat spacey intellectual who had been in her bookstore basement, which had been built as a bomb shelter in the 1960s; Curtis, an arrogant, yuppie stock analyst who had been in the vault in his brokerage office; Jack, a perpetually cheery and optimistic homeless person with a penchant for joking around who had been living under the interstate; Frederick, a pessimistic black pathologist who had been in an underground morgue; and Suzanne, a sexy but dumb manicurist with no discernible opinions about anything. Occasional mutant insects (such as a gigantic grasshopper) intruded, but most of the action took place in the farmhouse as the six tried various nutty schemes to organize their new, “better world.”
WORD OF LIFE SONGTIME, THE , see Songtime
WORDS AND MUSIC (Music)
FIRST TELECAST: August 2, 1949
LAST TELECAST: September 8, 1949
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Aug 1949-Sep 1949 , NBC Tue/Thu 7:30-7:45
REGULARS:
Barbara Marshall
Jerry Jerome Trio
Live musical interlude featuring singer-pianist Barbara Marshall.
WORK OUT (Documentary)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Bravo 60 minutes
Original episodes: 2006-
Premiered:/July 19, 2006
REGULARS:
Jackie Warner
Rebecca Cardon
Jesse Brune
Brian Peeler
Erika Jacobson
Doug Blasdell
Andre Riley
Jennifer “Zen” Gray
Mimi Saraiva
Reality television found another larger-than-life character in Jackie Warner, the hard-driving, buff and proudly lesbian owner of the swank Sky Sport and Spa in Beverly Hills, California. The spa, with its gleaming state-of-the-art equipment and location in a penthouse with a spectacular view of the city, catered to the rich and famous (and no doubt cost patrons a well-tanned arm and a leg), but the real stars of the show were the fractious staff. It was, as the ads said, “3% body fat, 97% drama.” Besides tyrannical Jackie (“My place, my rules!”), the incredibly good-looking core team of trainers included flirty Rebecca, cute boy toy Jesse, rebellious Brian, reserved Erika, gay hunk Doug, ex-military Andre and cut-up Zen. Outside the gym the drama revolved around Jackie and her very jealous lover Mimi, who alternated between yelling, pouting and biting Jackie. Ah, the drama!
Trainer Doug, 44, died suddenly in January 2007 during production of the second season.
WORK WITH ME (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: September 29, 1999
LAST TELECAST: October 20, 1999
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1999-Oct 1999 , CBS Wed 8:30-9:00
CAST:
| Julie Better | Nancy Travis |
| Jordan Better | Kevin Pollak |
| Sebastian | Ethan Embry |
| Stacy. | Emily Rutherfurd |
Two married attorneys in their mid-30s living in Manhattan decided to work together in this short-lived sitcom. When Jordan failed to make partner after 10 years at a stuffy Wall Street law firm, he quit and went into partnership with his wife, Julie, who ran her own legal practice from a small office. He was convinced that it would be good for their relationship, since their heavy workloads had made it difficult to find time together, but their divergent styles created a big problem. Compulsive Jordan was a hyperactive planner, while impulsive Julie preferred to go with the flow (she to he: “How do you not give yourself a headache?”). Stacy and Sebastian, their young assistants who had been having a secret affair for months, were now forced to cope with the temptations of working in the same office. A. J., the rather hyper relaxation therapist with an office next door, showed up regularly to offer advice.
WORKING (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: October 8, 1997
LAST TELECAST: January 25, 1999
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Oct 1997-May 1998 , NBC Wed 9:30-10:00
Mayl998-Jun 1998 , NBC Wed 8:30-9:00
Jun 1998-JuI 1998 , NBC Wed 9:30-10:00
Jun 1998-Jul 1998 , NBC Sun 8:30-9:00
Sep 1998—Dec 1998 , NBC Tue 9:30-10:00
Jan 1999 , NBC Mon 9:30-10:00
CAST:
| Matt Peyser | Fred Savage |
| Tim Deale | Maurice Godin |
| Hal (l997-1998) | Sarah Knowlton |
| Val (1998—1999) | Rebecca McFarland |
| Abby Cosgrove | Arden Myrin |
| John Delaney | Steve Hytner |
| Jimmy Clarke (1997-1998) | Dana Gould |
| Evelyn Smalley | Yvette Freeman |
| Liz Tricolli (l998-1999) | Debi Mazar |
THEME:
“Working in the Coal Mine” (Lee Dorsey/Devo pop song), recorded by Mark Mothersbaugh
Matt was a young, eager office worker starting his first job in a huge, faceless corporation in this raucous, almost surrealistic burlesque on the modern corporate workplace. His new employer was Upton/Weber, a massive international conglomerate, although exactly what the company did remained a mystery. Its headquarters was a gleaming skyscraper, complete with circling vultures. Inside was a beehive of activity, although if you looked closely nobody was actually doing anything meaningful. Matt's boss was Tim Deale, a weasely corporate politician whose credo seemed to be make no commitments, don't work too hard, and never get caught. Others in his department were Hal, the sexy, Yale-educated, wildly overqualified secretary; Abby, the perky, eager-to-please social organizer; John, the sarcastic loner (who rebelled by wearing a loose tie); Jimmy, the young worker who ratted on everyone; and Evelyn, the brusque, demanding office manager (her scowling visage was seen on computer screen-savers in the background). The second season saw the arrival of Liz, a saucy, ambitious worker, and Hal's replacement by the nearly identical Val. Stories revolved around office projects and politics, the nonsensical decisions of management, and excursions outside the office. Elaborately produced mock commercials for Upton/Webber were seen between the acts, but they did little to clarify what the company did (“Upton/Webber … Making the products that make you buy more of our products, since 1892”).
WORKING GIRL (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: April 16, 1990
LAST TELECAST: July 30, 1990
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Apr 1990-May 1990 , NBC Mon 8:30-9:00
Jul 1990 , NBC Mon 8:30-9:00
CAST:
| Tess McGill | Sandra Bullock |
| Bryn Newhouse | Nana Visitor |
| Lana Peters | Judy Prescott |
| Everett Rutledge | George Newbern |
| Libby Wentworth | Edye Byrde |
| A. J. Trask | Tom O'Rourke |
| Sal Pascarella | Anthony Tyler Quinn |
| Joe McGill | David Schramm |
| Fran McGill | B. J. Ward |
Another hit movie that failed as a TV series was Working Girl. The 1988 film starred Melanie Griffith in the title role, with Sigourney Weaver as her insufferable boss, but the TV series had to settle for lesser-known talent. Tess, the spunky, independent secretary who suddenly becomes a junior executive after charming company owner A. J. Trask, was portrayed here by newcomer Sandra Bullock (Nancy McKeon of Facts of Life was originally supposed to play the role). Tess' first challenge was to survive working for her antagonistic, uptight immediate boss, Ms. Newhouse, also known as the “company witch.” Lana, a secretary, was Tess' best pal, more interested in doing her nails and rooting for Tess than in getting ahead herself; Everett was a fellow junior executive who was charming but too eager to please; and Libby was Tess' worldly wise, “permanent temporary” secretary, a moonlighting musician. Back home each night on Staten Island, Tess had to contend with her doting parents Joe and Fran, and with Sal, the blue-collar neighborhood Romeo who constantly pursued her.
WORKING IT OUT (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: August 22, 1990
LAST TELECAST: December 26, 1990
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Aug 1990 , NBC Wed 9:00-9:30
Sep 1990-Novl990 , NBC Sat 8:30-9:00
Nov 1990—Dec 1990 , NBC Wed 9:30-10:00
CAST:
| Sarah Marshall | Jane Curtin |
| David Stuart | Stephen Collins |
| Andy. | Mary Beth Hurt |
| Stan | David Garrison |
| Molly Marshall (age 9) | Kyndra Joy Casper |
| Sophie | Chevi Colton |
A romantic comedy about the mating dance between two divorced, single parents; conservative, uptight Sarah and easygoing professional photographer David. Each was quite content with the single life and not thinking of serious dating until they met one night at a Manhattan cooking class (the kind populated mostly by singles looking for mates). There, across the linguine, their eyes met, and a stop-and-go courtship began. Sarah's best friend Andy told her men were not interested in women with small children, and David's pal Stan advised him to avoid the same. But to no avail. Sarah's 9-year-old daughter Molly was regularly seen, but David's two older daughters were away at college and probably missed this short-lived series altogether.
WORKING STIFFS (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: September 15, 1979
LAST TELECAST: October 6, 1979
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1979—Oct 1979 , CBS Sat 8:00-8:30
| Ernie O'Rourke | Jim Belushi |
| Mike O'Rourke | Michael Keaton |
| Al Steckler | Val Bisoglio |
| Frank Falzone | Phil Rubinstein |
| Mitch Hannigan | Alan Arbus |
| Nikki Evashevsky | Lorna Patterson |
One of the first casualties of the 1979-1980 season, Working Stiffs was the story of two young brothers trying to get started in the business world. Ernie and Mike O'Rourke were ambitious, but incredibly clumsy janitors planning to work their way up from the bottom in the building-management field. The Chicago office building where they worked was owned by their uncle, Al Steckler, and Frank Falzone was their immediate superior, the building manager. Ernie and Mike lived in a small apartment over the Playland Cafe, where they spent much of their spare time with owner Mitch Hannigan and waitress Nikki Evashevsky. Dismal ratings cut the life of this slapstick comedy to less than a month.
WORLD CUP COMEDY (Comedy/Variety)
FIRST TELECAST: October 6, 2004
LAST TELECAST: September 3, 2005
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Oct 2004 , PAX Wed 8:00-9:00
Oct 2004-Dec 2004 , PAX Mon 9:00-10:00
Oct 2004-Jan 2005 , PAX Tue 8:00-9:00
May 2005-Jul 2005 , PAX Sun 6:00-7:00
Jul 2005-Sep 2005 , PAX Sat 10:00-11:00
REGULARS:
Dan O'Connor
Mary Gallagher
Stephen Kearin
Each week this variation of Whose Line Is It, Anyway? pitted two four-person teams of young improvisational comics against each other in an elimination tournament. There were six rounds in each episode with the studio audience voting and the winning team moving on to face another team the following week. At the end of the 13-week season, the winning team was presented with the World Cup of Comedy. As if doing improv was not difficult enough, the participants were also coping with a technical crew that tried to sabotage their performances—with shaky camera work, frightening sound effects and intentionally defective props. Series creator Dan O'Connor and Mary Gallagher served as commentators, with Stephen Kearin as the “sideline” reporter.
Executive produced by Kelsey Grammer.
WORLD IN YOUR HOME, THE (Documentary)
FIRST TELECAST: December 22, 1944
LAST TELECAST: January 9, 1948
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Dec 1944-Jan 1948 , NBC Fri 8:45-9:00 (approx.)
One of the very earliest regular network features on TV seems to have been this weekly educational film sponsored by RCA Victor. It ran for more than three years in the same time slot, from 1944 to 1948. Network records are sketchy that far back and it is not known exactly when The World in Your Home became a network show (it originated from New York), but New York, Philadelphia, and Schenectady were linked by NBC-TV in 1944 and it is quite possible that it was fed to all three stations from the beginning.
WORLD OF DISCOVERY (Documentary)
FIRST TELECAST: June 23, 1997
LAST TELECAST: July 28, 1997
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jun 1997-Jul 1997 , ABC Mon 8:00-9:00
HOST:
James Brolin
A weekly series of nature documentaries, most of them previously shown on the network as specials between 1993 and 1996. Among them were “Polar Bears, Arctic Terror,” “Blue Whale: Largest Animal on Earth,” and “Last Charge of the Rhinos.” Also known as ABC's World of Discovery.
WORLD OF MR. SWEENEY, THE (Situation
Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: June 30, 1954
LAST TELECAST: August 20, 1954
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jun 1954-Aug 1954 , NBC Tue-Fri 7:30-7:45
CAST:
| Cicero P. Sweeney | Charlie Ruggles |
| Kippy Franklin | Glenn Walken |
| Marge Franklin | Helen Wagner |
Following a season as one of the segments of The Kate Smith Evening Hour, The World of Mr. Sweeney struck out on its own during the summer of 1954. Cicero P. Sweeney was the owner of a small-town general store who, in addition to providing groceries to the townspeople, was a sounding board for their problems and provider of good advice. Each episode revolved around different members of the local community and Sweeney's solutions to their problems. The only regulars other than Sweeney himself were his grandson, Kippy, and Kippy's mother, Marge. The World of Mr. Sweeney was produced live from New York throughout its nighttime run. In October 1954 it moved to the NBC Monday-Friday daytime lineup, where it stayed until December 1955.
Despite its relatively short run, The World of Mr. Sweeney was once cited as holding the all-time record for the largest number of episodes of a comedy series ever presented on the NBC network—mostly because of its 14 months in daytime, where it ran five times a week. In all, 345 installments were presented.
WORLD OF TALENT , see Dick Clark's World of Talent
WORLD WAR I (Documentary)
FIRST TELECAST: September 22, 1964
LAST TELECAST: September 5, 1965
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1964-Dec 1964 , CBS Tue 8:00-8:30
Dec 1964-Sep 1965 , CBS Sun 6:30-7:00
NARRATOR:
Robert Ryan
This was a documentary series recalling the background causes, conduct, and aftermath of World War I. The emotional reactions of the leaders and peoples most directly involved, as well as the social, political, and economic fabric of the times, were analyzed in depth.
WORLD WIDE ‘60 (Documentary)
FIRST TELECAST: January 23, 1960
LAST TELECAST: August 27, 1960
Jan 1960-Aug 1960 , NBC Sat 9:30-10:30
HOST:
Frank McGee
NBC News correspondent Frank McGee served as host and narrator of this series of public-affairs documentaries. The subject matter ranged from alcoholism, to old age, to architecture, to missiles, to jazz, to the problems of refugees. The premiere telecast of this series covered the first year of Fidel Castro's regime in Cuba.
WORLD'S CRAZIEST VIDEOS (Audience Participation)
FIRST TELECAST: January 9, 2004
LAST TELECAST: November 5, 2004
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jan 2004-Feb 2004 , FOX Fri 8:30-9:00
Apr 2004 , FOX Fri 8:30-9:00
Oct 2004-Nov 2004 , FOX Fri 8:30-9:00
HOST:
Brian Unger
Yet another video clip show. This one consisted of funny mistakes and outtakes from TV shows and news broadcasts. Although the majority were from domestic shows, there were also a number of tapes from other countries around the world.
WORLD'S FUNNIEST!, THE (Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: September 21, 1997
LAST TELECAST: January 30, 2000
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Sep 1997-Aug 1998 , FOX Sun 7:00-8:00
Aug 1998-Oct 1998 , FOX Sun 7:00-7:30
Nov 1998-Jun 1999 , FOX Sun 7:00-8:00
Dec 1998-Jan 1999 , FOX Tue 8:30-9:00
Jun 1999–Oct 1999 , FOX Sun 7:00-7:30
Jun 1999-Aug 1999 , FOX Fri 8:00-9:00
Dec 1999-Jan 2000 , FOX Sun 7:00-7:30
HOST:
James Brown
During the 1996-1997 season Fox had aired a number of blooper and outtake specials, and the following fall decided to turn the specials into a weekly series. In addition to outtakes from films and TV series, material included commercials from around the world, filmed and taped pieces about ordinary people in funny situations, hidden camera pranks, and segments on animals and small children.
Viewers were encouraged to send in amusing and/or embarrassing videos. If the videos were used on the show, the sender received $200 (raised to $500 in 1998) and, if it was voted the most embarrassing on the show, they won $5,000.
WORLD'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS (Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: February 1, 1996
LAST TELECAST: June 20, 1996
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Feb 1996-Jun 1996 , ABC Thu 8:00-8:30
HOSTS:
Dave Coulier
Eva LaRue
Another home videos show, this one featuring candid tapes from around the world: e.g., a man crooning in his bathtub, complete with keyboard and dark glasses; a parrot having a martini. Some segments were taped at Disney World's Epcot Center in Florida. The show's theme song was called “The Whole World's Watching You.”
WORLD'S MOST AMAZING VIDEOS (Reality)
FIRST TELECAST: March 3, 1999
LAST TELECAST: January 14, 2001
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Mar 1999-Sep 1999 , NBC Wed 9:00-10:00
Jun 1999 , NBC Sun 7:00-8:00
Nov 1999–Jan 2000 , NBC Sat 10:00-11:00
Feb 2000 , NBC Sun 7:00-8:00
Jun 2000-Jul 2000 , NBC Sun 7:00-8:00
Dec 2000-Jan 2001 , NBC Sun 7:00-7:30
NARRATOR:
Stacy Keach
Another of TV's many “shockumentary” series, featuring graphic real-life footage of police chases, natural disasters, and people in distress. Among them: an escape artist who was buried alive, a pilot sucked into a jet engine, a race car crashing into a TV cameraman, a pregnant woman leaping from a burning building, an exploding rocket-fuel factory, and canoers caught in raging rapids.
WORLD'S WILDEST POLICE VIDEOS (Police Documentary)
FIRST TELECAST: April 2, 1998
LAST TELECAST: September 7, 2001
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Apr 1998–Oct 1999 , FOX Thu 8:00-9:00
Jan 2000-May 2000 , FOX Fri 8:00-9:00
Oct 2000-Sep 2001 , FOX Fri 8:00-9:00
HOST:
John Bunnell
Fox had aired a succession of extremely violent specials during the year before this series premiered. Among them were “Moment of Impact,” “Prisoners Out of Control,” “Cheating Death,” “World's Scariest Police Stings,” “World's Scariest Police Shootouts,” and four different “World's Scariest Police Chases.” Despite receiving a lambasting from critics for pandering to the blood lust of viewers, Fox turned the specials into a weekly series because of the high ratings they had received. Bunnell, a retired sheriff from Port-land, Oregon, excitedly hosted this collection of car chases, surveillance footage of robberies in progress, SWAT team action, and shootouts, many captured by dash-mounted squad car video cameras.
The series' title was shortened to Police Videos in May 2000.
WORST CASE SCENARIO (Documentary)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
TBS
60 minutes
Original episodes: 2002 (12 episodes)
Premiered: July 10, 2002
REGULARS:
Mike Rowe
Danielle Burgio (“Gear Girl”)
This ridiculous reality show opened at The Worst Case Institute, a large room filled with what appeared to be surplus scientific equipment, where host Mike Rowe solemnly informed viewers that they were about to learn how to get out of dangerous situations. What followed were reenactments containing a confusing jumble of practical tips (how to kick down a door in an emergency: aim for the area of the doorknob) and dubious advice (how to jump off a three-story building: look for a Dumpster with nothing sharp in it to land in), plus challenges between experts (two lost survivalists competed to see who could get out of the woods fastest). One frightened woman was challenged to overcome her fears and jump 40 feet off a cliff into the water below (tip: keep your feet together!). Well, maybe someday she'll be chased by a bear. Helping demonstrate were some remarkably sexy stuntwomen, and a “Gear Girl.” Based on the Worst Case Scenario book series.
WRANGLER (Western)
FIRST TELECAST: August 4, 1960
LAST TELECAST: September 15, 1960
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Aug 1960-Sep 1960 , NBC Thu 9:30-10:00
CAST:
| Pitcairn, the Wrangler | Jason Evers |
Wrangler was the 1960 summer replacement for The Ford Show Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. Pitcairn, the Wrangler, was an adventurer who traveled about the Old West working sometimes as a ranch hand, sometimes as a gunfighter, and sometimes as a good samaritan. This short-lived summer series was filled with rustlers, horse thieves, hostile Indians, and all the other low-brow characters so prevalent in superficial Western shoot-'em-ups.
WREN'S NEST (Situation Comedy)
FIRST TELECAST: January 13, 1949
LAST TELECAST: April 30, 1949
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Jan 1949-Apr 1949 , ABC Thu/Fri/Sat 7:15-7:30
CAST:
Sam Wren
Virginia Sale
One of the many “Mr. and Mrs.” comedies of early television was this thrice-weekly series about the home life of a suburban New York couple and their 12-year-old twins. The Wrens were also married in real life, and both had appeared in numerous Hollywood films. (Virginia's screen career lasted from the 1920s to the 1960s, and later at the age of 80, she completed a one-woman national tour doing her comedy-drama act in theaters, schools, and clubs.)
WRESTLING (Sports)
FIRST TELECAST: July 30, 1948
LAST TELECAST: BROADCAST HISTORY:
Monday
Sep 1949-Jan 1950 , DUM 9:30-11:00
Jan 1950-Feb 1952 , DUM 9:00-11:00
Feb 1952–Mar 1952 , DUM 9:30-11:00
Tuesday
Oct 1948–Jul 1949 , NBC 10:00-Conclusion
Jan 1950-Aug 1950 , CBS 10:00-Conclusion
Wednesday
Aug 1948-Sep 1950 , ABC 9:30-Conclusion
Sep 1950-Apr 1951 , ABC 10:00-Conclusion
Apr 1951-Sep 1951 , ABC 9:30-11:00
Jun 1952-Sep 1952 , ABC 10:00-11:15
Sep 1952-Oct 1953 , ABC 9:30-11:15
Oct 1953-Sep 1954 , ABC 10:00-midnight
Thursday
Oct 1948-Jan 1949 , DUM 9:00-Conclusion
Aug 1999-Sep 2005 , UPN Thu 8:00-10:00
Friday
Jul 1948–Dec 1948 , DUM 9:00-Conclusion
Sep 2005-Sep 2006 , UPN Fri 8:00-10:00
Sep 2006– , CW Fri 8:00-10:00
Saturday
Sep 1949-May 1951 , DUM 10:00-Conclusion
May 1951-Mar 1955 , DUM 9:30-Conclusion
Professional wrestling, the world of the “grunt and groaners,” was a regular and popular form of entertainment on early, live network television, particularly on ABC and DuMont. Names like Gorgeous George, Antonino “Argentina” Rocca, and The Mighty Atlas were household words among the owners of TV sets in the late 1940s and early 1950s, as well as among those who watched the matches at their local bars. The two longest-running wrestling shows originated from Chicago—Jack Brickhouse doing the play-by-play from Marigold Garden every Saturday night on DuMont for almost six years and Wayne Griffin announcing from Rainbow Arena for ABC for roughly the same length of time. DuMont's other long-running wrestling show originated from various arenas around the New York City area (Jerome Arena, Jamaica Arena, Sunnyside Gardens, and Columbia Park Arena) with Dennis James at the mike. Bill Johnston, Jr., did commentary for CBS' New York-based show (from the Bronx Winter Garden Arena and St. Nicholas Arena), and NBC's show was covered by Bob Stanton (from St. Nicholas Arena).
The most famous of these early wrestling announcers was probably DuMont's Dennis James, whose simplified explanations and infectious enthusiasm made the sport palatable even to little old ladies. His oft-repeated phrase “Okay, Mother” became so identified with him that it was later used for the title of one of his numerous daytime game shows. That a game show emcee like James could become wrestling's most famous commentator was perhaps symbolic of the fact that on TV, wrestling was more show business than sport.
In the 1980s, wrestling experienced tremendous growth in popularity, not on broadcast TV, but on cable. Coverage on the USA Network and Superstation WTBS took what had been regional wrestling federations for decades, the WWF and the NWA (later renamed WCW), and gave them national exposure. For wrestling aficionados, people like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, Sergeant Slaughter, the Road Warriors, Larry Zbyszko, and Jesse “the Body” Ventura became household names. But the biggest wrestling star of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, and the one given the most credit for its resurgence during that period, was Hulk Hogan. He was so popular that he starred in movies—albeit forgettable films such as No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando , and Mr. Nanny —and had his own TV series (Thunder in Paradise).
As wrestling moved closer to the millennium, it reached new levels of popularity. The promoters, most notably the WWF's Vince McMahon, publicly acknowledged that the matches were scripted and began referring to professional wrestling as “sports entertainment” rather than a sport. The amount of extracurricular activity—interviews, posturing, threatening each other, fighting in the locker rooms, the parking lots and anyplace other than the ring—expanded by the week. Beefy wrestlers bellowed at each other (“I'm gonna whup yo' ass!”) and high-volume ringside announcers shrieked (“Did you see that??”). Convoluted continuing story lines pitted faction against faction, wrestlers vs. their bosses, tough guys against the world, making pro wrestling look like an action-packed beefcake soap opera.
The WWF, trying to rebuild its audience after a rough period earlier in the ‘90s when it was hurt by a steroid scandal and then lost many of its stars to the better-funded WCW, became progressively raunchier. Foul language, rude hand gestures, overt sexuality, and out-of-the-ring fighting became staples as it evolved into a musclebound theater of the absurd. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin epitomized the new WWF—nasty, profane, and stopping at nothing to win. Other stars included the glowering, six-foot-ten-inch Undertaker, the masked Mankind, sexy Sable (yes, there were women in the new pro wrestling), and real-life owner Vince McMahon, who portrayed himself onscreen as, of all things, the incarnation of corporate greed! Meanwhile the WCW was not far behind, having renamed longtime good guy Hulk Hogan, a defector from the WWF, “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan and making him the head of the NWO (New World Order), a collection of wrestling bad boys who made life miserable for other factions in the WCW, including its new star, Bill Goldberg.
All this, coupled with major marketing and merchandising, made pro wrestling far and away the most popular programming on cable television in the late ‘90s, particularly among teens and young men, who loved the almost cartoon violence and flaunting of authority. Ratings for shows like the WWF's Monday Night Raw on USA and the WCW's Monday Nitro on TNT, which aired head-to-head, dwarfed the audiences for most other basic cable programs and routinely attracted more young male viewers than the broadcast networks—a first for cable television. Pay-Per-View pro wrestling events (each organization aired one every couple of months), highlighted by the WWF's Wrestlemania, which had been an annual event since 1985, were also top attractions.
Nor did the wrestling boom stop there. In a bit of irony that may have said something about the state of politics in America, former wrestler Jesse Ventura, who had retired from the “sport” in the 1980s, was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998.
In August 1999
WWF Smackdown premiered on UPN, the first regularly scheduled wrestling series on broadcast network television in more than four decades, and immediately became the most-watched series on UPN. Story lines were intertwined with those on the long-running USA Network WWF shows to motivate viwers to watch both the cable and broadcast series. That same month Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), previously seen in syndication, premiered on TNN. TNN toned down the level of violence—ECW matches had a reputation for being bloodier and more violent than those seen on the WWF or WCW—then dumped ECW in October 2000 when, after a protracted legal fight with the USA Network, it won the telecast rights to the WWF.
The following March TNT's declining WCW was sold to the WWF. On the last telecast of Monday Nitro Vince McMahon showed up to announce the purchase and then, within the ongoing WWF story line, his son Shane, who had been “feuding” with his dad, announced that he had purchased the WCW and would run it as a separate entity. Although all matches now aired on WWF shows, there were WWF wrestlers and WCW wrestlers, and the feud between the senior and junior McMahon continued to fester.
In May 2002, to settle a trademark dispute with the World Wildlife Fund, the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) changed its name to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), and the title of the UPN series was changed to WWE Smackdown.
With all the wrestlers available from the consolidation the WWE formed two distinctly separate groups of wrestlers with different story lines for Smackdown and Raw , its flagship cable show airing on Spike (formerly TNN). Each year the WWE conducted a draft lottery to redistribute the wrestlers and create new alliances, rivalries and feuds. Three years later Vince McMahon brought Raw back to its former longtime home, USA Network, where it remained a ratings powerhouse. In the fall of 2006, looking to further expand its franchise, the WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling on the Sci-Fi Channel.
A new competitor for the WWE surfaced with the arrival of Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling's TNA Impact! on Fox Sports Net (FSN) in May 2004. Taped at the Universal Studios Florida theme park, Impact! distinguished itself from other wrestling promotions by using a hexagonal ring and, because the grapplers fought on a soundstage rather than in an arena, the show had a decidedly different look. In addition to the traditional weight class and tag team matches, Impact! included theoretically more dangerous X Division (high-flying and high-risk) matches. Canceled by FSN after a year on the air, Impact! was picked up by Spike that fall to replace WWE Raw.
MTV got into the ring early in 2007 with Wrestling Society X , a weekly half-hour mix of wrestling, soap opera and musical performances, but low ratings prompted the network to pull it from the schedule less than two months after its premiere.
WRIGHT VERDICTS, THE (Legal Drama)
FIRST TELECAST: March 31, 1995
LAST TELECAST: June 11, 1995
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Mar 1995-Apr 1995 , CBS Fri 9:00-10:00
Jun 1995 , CBS Sun 8:00-9:00
CAST:
| Charles Wright | Tom Conti |
| Sandy Hamor | Margaret Colin |
| Lydia | Aida Turturro |
Onetime British barrister Charles Wright had spent the last 15 years building a reputation as one of the premiere criminal attorneys in the United States. Living in New York, he was unusual in that, unlike most lawyers, he worked both sides of the street, on occasion serving as special prosecutor although he was primarily a defense attorney. Sandy, a street-smart former N.Y.P.D. detective who liked to play the horses and shoot pool, was Wright's investigator, and Lydia was his highly efficient assistant. Although he sometimes seemed absentminded, Wright had a mind like a steel trap and a flamboyant courtroom style that featured histrionics designed to impress and sway the jury.
WUBBULOUS WORLD OF DR. SEUSS, THE
(Children's)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
Nickelodeon
30 minutes
Produced: 1996
Premiered: October 13, 1996
Stories by the beloved children's author were dramatized with Muppets in this short-lived Sunday night series, which was “hosted” by the Cat in the Hat.
WYATT EARP , see Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The