Nick at Nite Thread

[minor muppetz]

I thought about starting a thread about Nick at Nite and TV Land. Maybe I will start one some day...

Okay, I'll start now. The two channels used to be really great (and to be fair Nick at Nite still has good programming, though I don't watch the channel as much as I used to). When Nick at Nite began, it consisted primarily of classic TV shows from the 1950s and 1960s (and I think shows from the 1970s were in the original line-up). The early years of the station actually included a number of original programming, including National Geographic Explorers which would later move to TBS, Turkey TV, and Hi Honey I'm Home (which initially aired on ABC, with Nick at Nite reruning each episode a few nights after the premieres... And then ABC canceled the show before every episode could be broadcast, leaving Nick to broadcast the rest). I've also heard of a show I can't remember the title of, a Siskel and Ebert-style parody series which only lasted a short time but got great reviews, but can't ever be rebroadcast because the company didn't give the cast the required residuals. It can be rebroadcast as soon as residuals are paid, but the amount needed is too high for them to consider. Of course, throughout the 1990s the channel would be known only for airing older TV shows, but then in the past decade the channel actually has had some regular original programming (I was starting to watch Nick at Nite and TV Land a lot less during this era).

Sometimes I watch old Nick at Nite promos on YouTube, and once when watching a video of several late-1980s promos, I saw an ad for a special called "The Nick at Nite Do-It-Yourself Sitcom Special", where fans could record their own sitcoms and send them to the channel. The commercial was for a rebroadcast, noting that "real people liked it" and "real critics hated it". To think that Nick at Nite sort of invented reality programming and YouTube (how ironic considering the Viacom lawsuit). I think this was even before Jim Henson's "Handmade Videos" pilot. It would be interesting to see that special, but I haven't found it on YouTube (another special I'd like to see is "Those Nick at Nite Promos!", a special that aired during the week of Nick at Nite's 10th anniversary marathon. I only saw the ending of that special).

In 1995 or 1996, Nick at Nite put out a book, "The Nicka t Nite Classic TV Companion", featuring episode guides to every show on the channel at the time. I wish they'd released follow-ups or updated versions every few years (and wish that TV Land did sucha book). That was a great book, and in 2001 TV Land put out a book, "TV Land On the Go", which includes many TV-related lists, including some related to Nick at Nite and TV Land (such as "Publicity Stunts That Might Have Gone Too Far" and a section on the stations"Premiums"), and best of all, a big section on the top 100 greatest sitcom episodes. Aside from the TV Land name in the title it is a little hard to call that a "TV Land book", because it includes entries on many shows that had (at the time) never been broadcast on either channel, though the majortiy of shows represented had been (interestingly, the top 100 sitcom episodes list only included sitcoms, with narratives, no sketch comedy shows, not even ones with special linking plots... Makes me wonder if any Muppet Show episodes would have been included otherwise). One thing that's funny is that the books list of the top ten books about television includes this very book at number 1, in addition to including the Nick at Nite Classic TV Companion.

I don't think Nick at Nite does it anymore, but over the years its shows would have special information right before the start, showing episode numbers, titles, and facts about what was coming up. The "Classic TV Companion" seems to imply that the channel did this from the start, though I don't remember this when I first saw Nick at Nite (I first saw Nick at Nite, as well as Nickelodeon, in 1990 or 1991, and first got cable in 1992). In fact, even when these pre-show facts appeared, they didn't appear before every show. I recall them being shown before I Love Lucy, Taxi, Bewitched, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Wonder Years, and others, but I'm pretty sure they didn't appear before Newhart, Happy Days, or Laverne & Shirley.

 

[Drtooth]

Can I just say, I always HATED Nick at Nite because I always felt the Nick programming should go on past 8? Seriously... if they made Invader Zim a late night show (ala adult swim) it'd still be on today.

 

[bandit]

Nick st nite!! I loved it. Patty Duke! Hahaha. Talk about nostalgia.

 

[charlietheowl]

I found the Nick And Nite Classic TV Companion in my basement a couple years ago when cleaning out a bookshelf, and no one in my family could remember who bought it, but we all took our turns reading it.

I loved when they aired The Cosby Show, because I would watch an episode at nine and then go to bed at 9:30 and I felt so grown-up! I had to have been in sixth grade at the time.

 

[minor muppetz]

Can I just say, I always HATED Nick at Nite because I always felt the Nick programming should go on past 8? Seriously... if they made Invader Zim a late night show (ala adult swim) it'd still be on today.

Now that you mention it, it is a wonder more "childrens" channels haven't added "Adult Swim"-style late-night blocks. Though I've never been interested in Invader Zim (it began at a time when I wasn't too interested in new Nickelodeon progamming, though I still watched the channel a lot... And I think I did regularly watch new Cartoon Network programming at the time). Maybe Nick at Nite should have devoted an hour a night (maybe the 11PM time slot) to to original programming for older audiences. Most of the shows on Nick at Nite are appropriate for kids. And as I mentioned in the first post, Nick at Nite has had original television series over the years, even during the "Classic TV" years.

It's also interesting what shows were on both Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite. I think Lassie and Dennis the Menace were, but I can't remember for sure (I know that both shows WERE shown on regular Nick). Looney Tunes was shown on Nick at Nite until 1992 or 1993, even continuing a little while after Nickelodeon reformatted its Looney Tunes broadcasts in 1992 (changing the opening and closing, gaining broadcast rights to a great deal more 1948-1964 cartoons, dropping Bosko and Buddy, phasing out the black and white shorts, and showing the WB openings and closings before each cartoon). There was a brief time in 1998 when Rugrats and Peanuts specials were broadcast sundays on Nick at Nite, at the 10PM hour (which was when my bedtime began). It's a shame The Muppet Show and Bullwinkle were never on Nick at Nite (though those were the last shows shown before Nick at Nite began).

Nick at Nite wasn't always part of Nickelodeon. Until 1985, Nickelodeon shared its channel with A&E, switching at 8PM. Then the two became seperate 24-hour channels and thus Nick at Nite was born.

It's interesting, many Nick at Nite promos and station IDs can be found on YouTube, but it is hard to find any original programming there. I mentioned a few specials, and I admit I haven't searched for Turkey Television or Hi Honey I'm Home, but it's been hard to find wrap-aroudns for the Nick at Nite New Years Countdowns, and wrap-arounds for many other marathons seem scarce (I have found the wraparounds for The Brady Bunch marathon). One thing I've been trying to find is a short sitcom, I think it's called At the Poocherelli's, a minute-long show sponsored by Febreeze populated by dogs (the sponsorship thing is similar to how Bounty sponsored the Kermit's Party videos). I've also been looking for TV Land's 30-second sitcoms (The Gaveltons, The Spin and Cutter Show, and something else).

I've also noticed that for some reason while Nick at Nite frequently advertised Nickelodeon programming, Nickelodeon rarely advertised any Nick at Nite programming, besides TV Land (but I guess they could use all the free advertising for a seperate channel they can get). Though I think The Brady Bunch was frequently advertised during the regular Nickelodeon hours.

 

[bandit]

Ah! Now I can take a moment longer to comment. Darned work and the having to do it!

As a kid, I grew up with siblings who were over a decade older than I was. Because of that, I was familiar with what people considered 'oldies.' Even so, I remember being just a little confused by Nick at Nite. Oh, I loved it! I did but I still had the awareness that these were more adult programs than say....You Can't Do That on Television...Mr. Wizard or Out of Control. But it was still great. It wasn't till my tween and teen years that suddenly The Patty Duke Show was something I could appreciate. Cheezy funny. Like The Facts of Life. Haha
Now its a little jarring to see the programs they air now. Its like..."NO WAY!!! But....thats not SO old.......or...is it?...AM I?! When the **** did that happen?!"

 

[minor muppetz]

Now its a little jarring to see the programs they air now. Its like..."NO WAY!!! But....thats not SO old.......or...is it?...AM I?! When the **** did that happen?!"

I sort of felt that way when Newhart and The Wonder Years were added to teh channel, especially The Wonder Years (it wasn't THAT old back in 1997).

I made a mistake earlier... That TV Land book was called TV Land To Go, not On The Go.

 

[bandit]

Exactly! The Wonder Years and the Cosby Show. Im not even getting into Cheers and then Friends! Gah! Thats crazy.

 

[minor muppetz]

I wonder what the first show was to be given its own week-long marathon when it premiered. And I can't remember what the last was, but I think it was The Munsters, which premiered on the channel during the 10th anniversary week in 1995. It is interesting, because I don't recall seeing any promos for that show before the anniversary marathon (perhaps they didn't want to draw attention away from the anniversary?).

Another show which debuted around the time of that marathon was Welcome Back Kotter. I hadn't heard of the show until then, but was surprised when that show came on and it said that the show began on the channel "a few weeks ago". I don't remember seeing the show or any promos for it before then. And then a few years later when I got the "Classic TV Companion" book I was surprised to see that the show did premiere on the channel with a week-long marathon. But my guess is that the marathon premiered during the time I was on vacation that summer, which I think lasted two weeks or a week and a half... My family spent part of the vacation at Panama City Beach (and the hotel TV didn't have cable), and then we went to Walt Disney World, and it seems the only channels on that TV were The Disney Channel and special advertisements for the parks attractions (I'd like to think it had more channels, but I am surprised I didn't catch Nickelodeon at all that week, even with us visiting the park so much and watching so much of The Disney Channel, which we didn't have until it became a basic channel). Ironically, when we stayed overnight at a hotel on the way, I caught a rerun of The Munsters, weeks before it would premiere on the station (and a few years prior I had watched The Munsters Today, though I thought that show was just called The Munsters).

I noticed in the section of the Classic TV Companion it mentions a number of Dick Van Dyke marathons as part of "Very Very Nick at Nite". And I don't remember "Very Very Nick at Nite" at all (I know, I can search google or wikipedia).

So much I want to talk about on the subject of Nick at Nite, but I also want others to post about it as well.

 

[D'Snowth]

I hate both of these channels, because they no longer cater to what they were originally supposed to, which is classic television. Nick@Nite isn't so bad, at least they still stick to a specific type of programming, even if it is more modern, but TV Land makes their own sitcoms that no one likes, and they're... crap... and that's NOT the word I want to use to describe them, but this is a family forum. I mean Hot in Cleveland, Retired at 35, The Exes, Happily Divorced... who wants to watch this? They each deserve Chevy Chase's "Mediocre Sitcom" tirade, none of them are funny, they're just stupid and casts exclusively has-beens. Who wants to three middle aged ladies live with Betty White? Who wants to watch Kirstie Alley run an apartment where all of the male tenants happen to be her ex boyfriends? Who wants to watch Fran Drescher do a sitcom about her divorce from her gay husband?

Luckily, shows like Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Hogan's Heroes, Sanford and Son, The Andy Griffith Show, The Munsters, and several others that people actually want to watch are all on DVD, in superior quality, AND uncut!