Nick at Nite Thread

[minor muppetz]

For years I have seen a commercial for a special called The Nick at Nite Do it Yourself Sitcom Search (actually, the promo was for a rebroadcast, as it had quotes from critics), hadn't actually found the special online, I wondered if maybe it had an article on Lost Media Wiki (as far as I can tell, Lost Media Wiki does not have any pages regarding Nick at Nite, though it does have many for Nickelodeon programming).

But then I found this article, which mentions that the winning sitcom pilot was called Tattertown, and used to air annually during the Christmas season.

A Look Back at Nick at Nite : The Retro Network

I wonder if that was correct. Seeing it mentioned there, I guess I thought it was a special showing multiple "sitcoms" made by viewers (and I guess I expected them to be short enough that they could fit multiple sitcom pilots in a half hour or two). It did not occur to me that Nick at Nite might have had people watching and deciding themselves on the best sitcom, and only showing the winner.

But reading about Christmas in Tattertown elsewhere (and I vaguely recall hearing about it recently, maybe as part of the Nick Knacks series), I see that it was an animated pilot made by Ralph Baski. Somehow, that doesn't sound right. I would have thought the entries were all made by regular people as opposed to professionals in the business (though I guess entering would be a foot in the door), when Ralph Baski is a professional in the animation business and was known. But I also would have thought the sitcoms submitted would all be live action (especially if the people sending them were average viewers with no television experience).

And I have looked up Christmas in Tattertown with no information on it being part of the sitcom search. The article I linked is the only place I have found to say that the Do-It-Yourself Sitcom Search led to Christmas in Tattertown.

It might be hard to find answers, I can barely find anything online about the Do-It-Yourself Sitcom Search. Looks like this came right when Nickelodeon was starting to become popular.

And if I may suggest things for Lost Media Wiki that don't seem to be online, I'd like to see more of the String-A-Thon (only a few segments are online) and the Picture Perfect marathon (a late-night marathon where reruns were presented inside a picture frame). There's also a number of marathons that I have been unable to find promos or special segments for (like the Happy Days "Chachinated or De-Chachinated" marathon, and The Odd Couple on Ice).

 

[JaclynF]

I was an 80s kid and regularly watched Nick at Nite. I do remember the "Sitcom Search" event, so I wanted to share my recollections, although I don't have any of it on tape.

From what I remembered, there were 5 "finalists" who had their lives turned into a sitcom. Whether it was each contestant recording themselves, or whether Nick at Nite did the recording, I don't know. I do remember that the winning "sitcom" was called "A Perfect Mess." I think it had something to do with a frazzled mom/housewife trying to keep things clean at home before an important event. But that's all I remember. I think they showed clips from all 5 finalists, and I seem to remember that one of the other finalists had a gag where someone drank a jar of ****, thinking it was beer or lemonade or whatever.

They actually did the Sitcom Search again the following year. I remember that winning sitcom was called "Everyone Loves a Clown" or something similar. And I remember not liking that one as much, since the idea of having one character be a clown was a bit weird and not in line with the idea of people having their regular lives turned into a sitcom.

Sorry, that's all I remember!

 

[minor muppetz]

Is it just me, or has Nick at Nite had a lot more memorable marathons than other channels?

I know other cable channels have had marathons, but am remembering much fewer of them. Cartoon Network had its annual Juen Bugs marathons, The Big Game marathon on Super Bowl Sundays, and two 50 Greatest Cartoons marathons, I think there was also a period where a character got their own marathon once a week. Oh yeah, and the Mil-Looney-Um marathon of 1999.

Can't really remember what marathons The Disney Channel had. Though I know there was a weekly Triple Feature Friday, where they showed three movies or specials with a similar theme (or part of the same franchise).

Even with regular old Nickelodeon and TV Land, I can't remember a lot of marathons. Nickelodeon did do the Muppet Mania marathon of 1993, there was a period in '93 when they had two-hour marathons of shows called Nick Mania (in the time slot previously occupied by Special Delivery and soon to be replaced by Muppet Matinee on Saturdays and Weinerville on Sundays), plus Thanksgiving marathons and a marathon for the channels 20th anniversary in 1999 (and I'm sure there were many Rugrats and Spongebob Squarepants marathons).

I'm pretty sure I have mentioned many of the Nick at Nite marathons in this thread already. And those tend to live rent-free in my head. Many of them do have hosting segments, many have great gimmicks, many marathons are mentioned in the books Nick at Nite Classic TV Companion and TV Land To-Go (though in the TV Land book most of them are under a list of publicity stunts that might have gone too far). And there are many marathons I remember (or read about in those books) that I can't find on YouTube (not promos, not hosting segments) or can't find much of.

But the channel has had a ton of marathons I can name off-hand. Marathons that introduced many shows to the channel, a goodbye marathon for Mister Ed (and I think a few others got that treatment but I can't remember what), a Brady Bunch marathon that included all spin-offs and sequel series (three years before The Brady Bunch was a regular part of the channel), a 10th anniversary marathon, a first episodes marathon, a last episodes marathon, annual Summer weekly Block Party Summer, Casey Kasem's annual Classic TV Countdowns, marathons where viewers voted for something, The Odd Couple on Ice, and more.