Thursdays at 10

For nearly 30 years, from 1981 to 2009, NBC defined quality television programming in the 10:00 p.m. time slot.  Hill Street Blues debuted in 1981 and changed the production of television drama. Story lines became story arcs, lasting several episodes.  Moving cameras...

My Favorite Things

Greg Brady getting selected to be the next “Johnny Bravo” because he “fit the suit” on The Brady Bunch. Jimmy McNulty on The Wire. Any Seinfeld episode involving Frank Constanza or David Puddy. Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. The theme...

The Peacock Becomes a Phoenix

In the 1980s, NBC’s peacock rose like a phoenix after startling programming disasters, including Pink Lady and Jeff, Supertrain, and the departure of the original Not Ready for Prime Time cast of Saturday Night Live.  Under programming guru Brandon Tartikoff and...

The Year the Indians Won the Pennant

Major League thrilled movie audiences in 1989 with its classic underdog theme.  Focusing on a fictional version of the Cleveland Indians, Major League starred Charlie Sheen as rookie pitching sensation Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, Tom Berenger as veteran...

“L.A. Law” Retrospective (Part 1 of 8)

Media historians will likely document the 1980s as the Decade of the Peacock.  As television approached its 40th anniversary since Milton Berle launched the medium into mass status in 1948 with Texaco Star Theatre, NBC’s avian emblem emerged like a phoenix,...