ABC

Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends

Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends is an hour-long daytime talk/variety show that ran on ABC from June 10, 1996 to May 30, 1997. The series was produced by Viacom Productions.

Wide World of Sports

ABC's Wide World of Sports is a sports anthology series on American television that ran from 1961 to 1998 and was hosted by Jim McKay. The title continued to be used for general sports programs until 2006. As the title suggests, it aired on the American Broadcasting Company, primarily on Saturdays.

The Big Moment

The Big Moment is an American television game show that aired on ABC in 1999 and was hosted by Whose Line Is It Anyway? alumnus Brad Sherwood. John Cramer served as announcer. The show was based on a Japanese show of the same concept, Happy Family Planning. The show's premise centered on one member of a family who was given one week to practice a certain task before the episode's taping. A video camera was provided to record the rehearsal process at home. At the end of the week, the contestant came to the studio to perform the task. The contestant was given only one attempt; if successful, he/she won a pre-selected prize package worth $25,000. If unsuccessful, he/she received a $2,000 consolation prize. Two contestants appeared each episode. Some of the stunts presented: ⁕Memorizing pi to the 100th decimal ⁕Playing Beethoven's Für Elise on a piano, without missing a note ⁕Answering ten questions on the film Ghost ⁕Riding around three cones on a unicycle and returning to a starting line ⁕Pulling a tablecloth out from a fully set table without any items hitting the floor or glasses being knocked over

Howard K. Smith: News and Comment

Howard K. Smith: News and Comment was a half-hour ABC news and documentary program hosted by commentator Howard K. Smith, which aired from February 14, 1962, to June 16, 1963. It was broadcast at the 10:30 Eastern time slot on Sundays opposite CBS's long-running quiz show, What's My Line?, hosted by John Charles Daly, himself the first ever ABC News anchorman. In 1961, Smith left CBS News because of a dispute about a documentary that he produced on police violence against civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama. He then joined ABC, where his contract stipulated that neither the network nor sponsors could interfere with the content of his program. While at CBS, Smith hosted the documentary program Behind the News with Howard K. Smith for twenty-one weeks from January 11 to September 20, 1959. Selected episodes focused on communism in Cuba, the status of Berlin, the Cold War, Charles de Gaulle, Nikita Khrushchev, unemployment in depressed areas, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Smith's News and Comment began early in 1962. On November 11, five days after mid-term elections were held on November 6, Smith broadcast a program entitled "The Political Obituary of Richard M. Nixon", which proved highly controversial as well as premature. He included an interview with Nixon nemesis Alger Hiss, the Cold War convicted perjurer from Massachusetts, as well as remarks from Nixon loyalist Murray Chotiner. Some said that Smith's program in the long-run benefited Nixon's six-year political comeback because there was a backlash of sympathy caused by Hiss's appearance.

Talent Varieties

Talent Varieties is a country music talent show on American network television and radio in 1955 that featured performers hoping to achieve fame in the entertainment business. The weekly ABC-TV program was a live half-hour summer replacement series hosted by Slim Wilson. Wilson introduced the amateur and professional talent, including music and comedy acts; and his Tall Timber Trio, composed of Speedy Haworth, Bob White and Bryan "Doc" Martin provided accompaniment. Auditions were handled by Bill Ring. The Westport Kids appeared July 12, and Buck Griffin appeared August 2. The show aired on Tuesday nights from June 28–November 1. Its original time slot was 7:30–8 p.m. Eastern Time, replacing Cavalcade of America, but moved to 10–10:30 p.m. in September to briefly replace Break the Bank. ABC Radio simulcast the program under the name Talent Round-Up from 7:30 p.m., as well as carrying an additional half-hour until 8:30. The program originated from the Jewell Theatre in Springfield, Missouri, home to ABC's Ozark Jubilee; and was produced and directed by the Jubilee's Bryan Bisney, who took over from Ring in September.

Murder Can Hurt You

Murder Can Hurt You is a 1980 ABC television movie that parodies detective and police TV shows of the 1960s and '70s, much like the way Murder by Death made fun of literary detectives. The plot involves a mysterious "Man in White" who's out to kill famous detectives in bizarre ways, and the heroes are obvious parodies of Kojak, Baretta, Starsky and Hutch, Ironside, Police Woman, Columbo, and McCloud.

Our World

Our World is an American television news series that ran for 26 episodes, from September 25, 1986 to May 28, 1987. The show was anchored by Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf. Each episode of the series examined, through the use of archival film and television footage, one short period in American history. Our World aired on ABC. Our World grew out of an earlier ABC News special called 45/85, whose producer, Avram Westin, would go on to produce Our World. Each episode was produced on a budget of $350,000, less than half of the budget of a typical hour of prime time programming at the time. Our World premiered to indifferent critical response but as the series progressed critics became effusive with their praise. Despite being critically well received and profitable for the network, Our World performed poorly in the Nielsen ratings, as its first half-hour was programmed against the extremely popular The Cosby Show. ABC canceled the show after one season. Ellerbee tried to move the series to PBS but was unsuccessful.

FYI

FYI was an information series seen on the ABC network in the early 1980s. Hosted by Hal Linden, the program features answers to questions that many viewers ask, from common questions such as, "What's the leading cause of burns in children?", to questions not many ask, but may be interesting to know, like "Can a child dance his/her way to better grades?", just to name a couple. With each show lasting sixty seconds, FYI was seen three times a day on weekdays, following ABC's popular soaps All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital, using a formula not unlike ABC's Saturday morning mini-programs, such as Time for Timer, The Bod Squad and Schoolhouse Rock. Two books based on the television series have been published, both by M. Evans and Company: FYI: Unexpected Answers to Everyday Questions and More FYI: Further Tips for Healthful Living.

Bowling Headliners

Bowling Headliners was television's first regularly scheduled bowling show. Bowling Headliners aired on ABC from 1948-1949 and the DuMont Television Network from November 13, 1949 to April 9, 1950. The series aired from Rego Park Lanes in Queens, New York. The original commentators were Jimmy Powers and Al Cirillo. When the show moved to DuMont, Joe Hasel took over as host. The show was featured on the cover of the October 29, 1949 TV Guide when the magazine was still a local publication from New York City.

Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?

Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? is an animated musical television special written by Dr. Seuss, directed by Gerard Baldwin, produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, completed in 1979 and first aired on CBS on May 2, 1980. This was one of the final cartoons done at DePatie-Freleng as the studio would be sold to The Coca-Cola Company and become Sunbow Productions in 1981. The songs are by Joe Raposo.

The Mini-Munsters

The Mini-Munsters was an animated one-hour telefilm that was aired as part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie in 1973, and was based on the characters from The Munsters.

MDA Show of Strength

The MDA Show of Strength is an annual televised benefit concert that is held each Labor Day Weekend in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The program is the successor to the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, an annual telethon that ran until 2010. The history of MDA's telethon dates back to the 1950s, when the Jerry Lewis Thanksgiving Party for MDA raised funds for the organization's New York City area operations. The telethon has been held annually on Labor Day weekend since 1966, and has raised $2.45 billion for MDA from its inception through 2009. The telethon was founded by actor and comedian Jerry Lewis, who hosted the broadcast from its 1966 inception until 2010. For its first 44 years from 1966 to 2010, the telethon aired up to 21½ hours, starting on the Sunday evening preceding Labor Day and continuing until late Monday afternoon on the holiday itself. MDA called its network of participating stations the "Love Network". The show originated from Las Vegas for 28 of the years it was broadcast. In 2011, it was seen exclusively on the Sunday evening before Labor Day for six hours; This edition, syndicated to approximately 160 television stations throughout the United States on September 4, 2011, was also the first edition without Jerry Lewis as host. Nigel Lythgoe, Jann Carl, Alison Sweeney and Nancy O'Dell, all who were originally tapped to co-host the telethon with Lewis, shared hosting duties for the 2011 edition.

The Tycoon

The Tycoon is a 32-episode American situation comedy television series broadcast by ABC. It starred Walter Brennan as the fictitious businessman Walter Andrews, similar to his birth name of Walter Andrew Brennan. As chairman of the board of the Thunder Corporation that he founded but no longer actively runs, Brennan plays an eccentric and cantankerous millionaire with a common touch who helps promising persons in need. The series aired with new episodes at 9 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday from September 15, 1964, until April 27, 1965. It continued in reruns until September 7, 1965. The program did not develop sufficient audience, presumably because viewers may have preferred the versatile Brennan as the bucolic Grandpa Amos McCoy in his 1957-1963 ABC and CBS sitcom The Real McCoys. Oddly, The Tycoon has ther same name as an episode of The Real McCoys also called "The Tycoon," which aired four years earlier on August 23, 1960. After The Tycoon floundered, Brennan returned to ABC two years later in a more homespun role, a western The Guns of Will Sonnett with costar Dack Rambo. Jerome Cowan and Van Williams costarred with Brennan in The Tycoon. Cowan played Herbert Wilson, a by-the-book "bean counter" who decried Brennan’s questionable expenditure of company resources. Williams starred as young executive Pat Burns. George Lindsey, later with The Andy Griffith Show, appeared in a few episodes of The Tycoon as Tom Keane. Van Williams had earlier appeared as Ken Madison in two ABC detective series Bourbon Street Beat with Richard Long and Andrew Duggan and in Surfside 6 with Troy Donahue and Lee Patterson. Later, Williams starred on ABC's The Green Hornet.

Football Wives

Football Wives is a television pilot developed for U.S. television network ABC, which would have aired in the fall 2007 season had it been picked up for a series order. The show is based on the successful British television series Footballers' Wives, and follows the dramatic private lives of the players from the fictional NFL team the Orlando Stingrays. The pilot was written by Marco Pennette and directed by Bryan Singer. Though ABC did not pick up Football Wives when the network announced its 2007-2008 line-up on May 15, 2007, a June 28, 2007 article in the The Hollywood Reporter reported that production company ABC Studios had extended its options on the show's cast, and suggested the possibility that the network might have still been interested in the series. The Reporter also speculated that Football Wives had a chance for pickup by another network, with NBC and FOX reportedly interested. Football Wives was one of at least six pilots turned down by ABC, and reportedly "tested very well with women and only so so for the men."

Voicemail

Voicemail was an online television show that can be seen through the ABC.com Full Episode Player. Each short webisode features Mike, played by Ezra Godden, with his voicemail messages played in the background. As each message plays they help explain Mike's actions. In the episode entitled "Supplies", for example, Mike is seen making a giant ball out of masking tape while a series of voicemails from his boss asking him where the tape is going.

Primetime: The Outsiders

Penny to a Million

Penny to a Million was a primetime American television game show that aired on ABC from May 4 to October 19, 1955 on Wednesday nights, for alternate sponsors Brown & Williamson's Raleigh cigarettes, and W.A. Sheaffer Pen Company. The pilot was hosted by Bud Collyer, but he was replaced by Bill Goodwin when it became a series.

Saga of Western Man

Saga of Western Man is a historically themed anthology series television series that aired on ABC Television from 1963 to 1969. Each episode focused on a particular year, person, or incident that producer John H. Secondari felt significantly influenced the progress of Western civilization.

Pyramid

Pyramid is an American television game show that has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973, and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series. The game featured two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. Players attempt to guess a series of words or phrases based on descriptions given to them by their teammates. The title refers to the show's pyramid-shaped gameboard, featuring six categories arranged in a triangular fashion. The various Pyramid series won a total of nine Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!, which has won thirteen. Dick Clark is the host most commonly associated with the show, having hosted every incarnation from 1973–88, save for a 1974–79 syndicated version, The $25,000 Pyramid, hosted by Bill Cullen. John Davidson hosted a 1991-92 version of The $100,000 Pyramid, and another version, simply titled Pyramid, ran from 2002–04 with Donny Osmond as host. A new version titled The Pyramid premiered September 3, 2012 on GSN. This version was hosted by Mike Richards. The show only lasted one season before being cancelled.

The Wendy Barrie Show

The Wendy Barrie Show is an American talk show hosted by Wendy Barrie which aired from November 10, 1948 to September 27, 1950.