By Sylvia Gurinsky
The doldrums of summer...but not always on television. Here are a few classic shows that made their debut during the summer months:
*The Ed Sullivan Show (as Toast of the Town), June 20, 1948: Until he retired in 1972, Ed Sullivan's program, on CBS, was the place for entertainers to be.
*Candid Camera, August 10, 1948. Alan Funt's invention of the reality show was a hit first on CBS, then in syndication.
*CBS Evening News (as CBS-TV News), August 15, 1948: It would take 14 years before Walter Cronkite and an extension from 15 minutes to a half-hour would begin to immortalize this nightly newscast.
*Guiding Light, June 30, 1952: Made its move from radio to become CBS' longest running soap opera. This one really should be revived online.
*The Lawrence Welk Show, July 2, 1955: Started on ABC, then moved to syndication in 1971, this was the longest running musical variety show in television history.
*The Newlywed Game, June 11, 1966: Chuck Eubanks was the main host for this game show, which had some truth and consequences for married couples.
*One Life To Live, July 15, 1968: One of the successful dynamic duo of ABC soaps for Agnes Nixon, and has one more life to life online.
*Hee Haw, June 15, 1969: It began on CBS and would also find its niche in syndication as the most successful country music-comedy variety show ever.
*The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, August 1, 1971: Until Cher and Sonny Bono divorced, this was a big hit for CBS.
*20/20, June 6, 1978: It would take a few hiccups before Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters would come in and make this ABC newsmagazine a standard.
*The Facts of Life, August 24, 1979: This spinoff of "Diff'rent Strokes" was one of the few hits for NBC during the Fred Silverman era (which seems like a golden era compared to what NBC is going through now).
*Hart to Hart, August 25, 1979: Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers sizzled and viewers smiled with this "Thin Man" style romance-drama on ABC.
*Highway to Heaven, August 19, 1984: The NBC drama immortalized Michael Landon (who played an angel) with his third successful TV series (to go with "Bonanza" and "Little House on the Prairie").
*PrimeTime (as PrimeTime Live), August 3, 1989: The ABC News program is sleazy and undistinguished (and a waste of John Quiñones' reporting talents) now. But when Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer began it, they took us places live American television had never been before - including the Kremlin.
*Northern Exposure, July 12, 1990: This offbeat drama, set in Alaska, shined for CBS.
*Melrose Place, July 8, 1992: One of the early hits for Fox was this soap opera.
*7th Heaven, August 26, 1996: One of the greatest successes for the WB network was this family drama.
*The View, August 11, 1997: The ABC yakfest still has viewers taking aspirin to this day (And they'll buy even more, with the news of Jenny McCarthy's arrival on the show.).
*Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, August 16, 1999: A major hit and a star-making vehicle for Regis Philbin before ABC burned it out by over-airing it.
So Happy Viewing as you look for the next summer hit! See you next week!
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