List of programs broadcast by UPN
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
The following is a list of programs broadcast by UPN. Some programs carried over into the merged CW Network in September 2006 following the closure of the network. Programs that are listed in bold currently air on The CW Television Network.
Contents
Sitcom/comedy
- Abby (2003) – The show had very poor ratings from the beginning, and it was soon cancelled. A total of ten episodes were filmed, but only nine were shown.
- All of Us (2003–2006, also on The CW) – All of Us debuted on UPN on September 16, 2003. The series aired on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. EST for its first two seasons. For the 2005–06 season, UPN moved the series to Mondays at 8:30 p.m. EST airing after One on One. All of Us was originally cancelled at the end of the 2005–06 television season; however, the series was resurrected and placed on The CW's fall 2006 lineup, airing on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. EST after Everybody Hates Chris. Due to lackluster ratings, the show moved back to its former Monday night time slot in early October 2006. During its single season on The CW, All of Us averaged around 2.74 million viewers per week. It was the fourth most watched sitcom (out of five, excluding the prime time encores of Reba) on The CW throughout the 2006–07 season. All of Us finished the season at #140 in the ratings, surpassing only The Game, America's Next Top Model (encore presentations), and the now cancelled Runaway.
- As If (2002) – As If is an American teen comedy-drama series that was put in place as a midseason replacement for Roswell and aired on Tuesdays on UPN after Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series had extraordinary low ratings from the beginning. Seven episodes were produced, but only two were aired before the series was cancelled.
- The Bad Girl's Guide (2005) – The series aired on UPN from May 24, 2005 to July 5, 2005.
- Breaker High (1997–1998)
- Clueless (1997–1999, also on ABC) – The series originally premiered on ABC on September 20, 1996 as a part of the TGIF lineup during its first season. The show then spent its last two seasons on UPN ending on May 25, 1999. After the series was canceled by ABC, the reruns of the episodes (on their Friday night TGIF line-up) proved to be ratings winners for ABC. However, it was too late for ABC to get the series back, and they prevented UPN from broadcasting the series until their contract ran out in late September. Clueless finished #46 in the ratings with 13.3 million viewers. Only Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (a show for which Elisa Donovan and David Lascher would eventually become regulars) had higher ratings for Friday. Reportedly, the star of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Melissa Joan Hart, was considered for the part of Cher on the Clueless TV series. The writing and style of the first season on ABC has been considered to be more relaxed, confident, and slow paced, while the UPN version of the show had a quicker, sassy, off-the-cuff, and celebrity-reference filled style (Some fans even feel that the UPN episodes were more in touch with the style of the movie). UPN cancelled the show after the third season (1998–1999) reportedly because of increasingly dwindling viewership. By the last season, they had about 30% of the viewers left who were still watching the show when it began on ABC in 1996.
- Cuts (2005–2006) – Cuts aired on the UPN network from February 14, 2005, to May 11, 2006, and is a spin-off of another UPN series, One on One. The show was canceled along with many other shows when the UPN and WB networks merged to form The CW.
- DiResta (1998–1999) – DiResta premiered on UPN on October 5, 1998, on its Monday schedule. It was cancelled after its March 1, 1999 airing.
- Eve (2003–2006) – It aired on the UPN network from September 15, 2003 to May 11, 2006, with 66 episodes produced spanning 3 seasons. On April 10, 2006, UPN announced that Eve would not be moving to The CW (upon UPN's merger with The WB, owned by Warner Bros. Television, which produced Eve) and was thus canceled along with All of Us (which was later renewed) and Half & Half.[1]
- Everybody Hates Chris (2005–2006, also on The CW) – In fall 2008, the The CW moved Everybody Hates Chris and The Game to the Friday night death slot. The fourth season of the series premiered Friday, October 3, 2008, at 8:00PM Eastern/7:00PM Central. On May 21, 2009, The CW announced that it had cancelled Everybody Hates Chris.[2] Prior to this, executive producer Chris Rock announced that the end of season 4 matched up with his own past—dropping out of high school to become a comedian—and that it was time to end the show.[3]
- Family Rules (1999) – canceled after 6 weeks
- Girlfriends (2000–2006, also on The CW) – The series debuted on UPN on September 11, 2000. After airing for several years on the network at 9/8C on Mondays, The CW moved Girlfriends to Sundays at 8/7C. On October 9, 2006, Girlfriends, along with The CW's other African American programs, moved back to Mondays. At this point, Girlfriends returned to its original time slot.[4] When Girlfriends returned in fall 2007 for its eighth season, it became the longest-running live-action sitcom on network television that was on air that year, as well as one of the highest-rated scripted shows on television among African American adults and women 18–34, including its spin-off The Game.[5] While UPN was still airing new episodes of Girlfriends, the network also began airing reruns five days per week. When the show moved to The CW network after UPN merged with The WB network, MyNetwork TV (which was created to take over UPN's former affiliate stations) picked up the rights to air reruns of Girlfriends, although they eventually discontinued this. WE tv, a network with primarily women's programming, later acquired exclusive rights to air the limited-release episodes on Sundays and exercised an option to not allow broadcast television networks re-broadcast rights to these reruns.
- Good News (1997–1998) – The series is a spin-off of the UPN series Sparks.[6][dubious ] The series was canceled in 1998, after 22 episodes.
- Grown Ups (1999–2000) – Grown Ups premiered on August 1, 1999 at 8:30 EST/7:30 CST. On August 30, 1999, the series moved to Mondays at 9 p.m EST/8 p.m. CST, following the Moesha spin-off The Parkers.[7] The series initially garnered good ratings,[8] but ratings soon dropped and UPN canceled the series (on a cliffhanger that was never resolved)[9] in May 2000.
- Guys Like Us (1998) – Guys Like Us aired on UPN from October 5, 1998 to January 18, 1999. Due to low ratings and poor reviews, UPN cancelled the show after its first season.
- Half & Half (2002–2006) – It was the second-most-watched show on UPN's Monday night line-up (next to Girlfriends) and fourth overall on the network. The show was on The CW's first draft line-up in March 2006, but due to several circumstances—including The CW's contractual obligation to pick up Reba, the uncancelling of All of Us, and the pick-up of the Girlfriends spin-off The Game—Half & Half was left off the final Fall 2006 schedule and ended production.
- Head Over Heels (1997–1998)
- Hitz (1997–1998) – Although UPN had initially ordered 13 episodes, by October the network had ordered nine more episodes for a total of 22.[10] However, by December the series was canceled before production on the last six episodes was complete.[11]
- Homeboys in Outer Space (1996–1997) – The series was panned by critics[12][13] and was canceled by UPN after one season.
- The Hughleys (2000–2002, also on ABC) – The show spent two seasons on ABC. In its first season, it followed Home Improvement,[14] but was canceled when ABC decided to revamp its TGIF lineup.[15] UPN picked up the show in the fall of 2000 and it aired in the Monday night lineup along Moesha, The Parkers and Girlfriends.[16] While The Parkers and Girlfriends had improved ratings, The Hughleys aired its series finale after its fourth season.
- In the House (1996–1999, also on NBC) – In the House premiered on April 10, 1995 on NBC. The series moved to UPN after its second season, where it remained for an additional three seasons until it was canceled on August 11, 1999. After the second season, the series was retooled, becoming more adult oriented. Jackie and Austin both moved back East while Tiffany stayed with Marion to finish high school. Joining the cast for the third season was former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro as Dr. Maxwell "Max" Stanton and In Living Color cast member Kim Wayans as Tonia Harris. Both Maxwell and Tonia helped Marion manage the Los Angeles sports clinic he owns.[17]
- Legacy (1998–1999)
- Love, Inc. (2005–2006) – In its first and only season, it was aired right after Everybody Hates Chris. It was one of the many sitcoms canceled due to the WB and UPN becoming the The CW network.
- Malcolm & Eddie (1996–2000) – This show was canceled after its fourth season, and aired its final episode on May 22, 2000.
- Moesha (1996–2001) – It was originally ordered as a pilot for the CBS network's 1995–1996 television season, who passed. It was then passed to UPN, who aired it as a mid-season replacement. It went on to become the biggest success for the nascent network and one of the greatest hits over the course of the network's entire run. Given her popularity for four seasons on Moesha, Countess Vaughn left the show in 1999 for her own show, The Parkers, which premiered on August 30, 1999 on UPN. It centered on the adventures of Kim attending community college with her mother, played by comedian Mo'Nique. Leaving Moesha, Yvette Wilson joined the cast of The Parkers as Andell, a childhood best friend of Nikki's in 2000.[18] Several Moesha cast members (including Brandy Norwood) made crossover appearances on The Parkers.[19] By the sixth season, ratings for Moesha had dropped and UPN opted not to renew the series for a seventh season. The series ended on an unresolved cliffhanger with Myles being kidnapped by a rival of Dorian, Moesha considering moving in with Hakeem, and an unknown positive pregnancy test being found in the trash at Moesha's dorm room. Entertainment Weekly reported that certain plots were to be resolved on The Parkers,[20] but the storylines were never resolved.
- The Mullets (2003) – It first aired on UPN in 2003, and was cancelled in 2004 due to poor reception.
- One on One (2001–2006) – The show was cancelled when The WB and UPN merged to form The CW.
- The Parkers (1999–2004) – The Parkers series finale aired on May 10, 2004 and drew in 3.6 million viewers.[21] In the finale, Professor Oglevee finally realizes his true feelings for Nikki just as she is about to marry another man (Mel Jackson). The episode was largely panned by fans of the series.[22]
- Pig Sty (1995) – Pig Sty premiered on UPN on January 23, 1995 during that network's first season. Only 13 episodes were made. Pig Sty ran on Monday nights, after Star Trek: Voyager and Platypus Man.
- Platypus Man (1995) – The show, paired with Pig Sty, followed Star Trek: Voyager on UPN's Monday schedule. Both Pig Sty and Platypus Man were canceled in July 1995.[23]
- Power Play (1999)
- The Random Years (2002) – A total of seven episodes were produced, leaving 3 unaired.
- Reunited (1998)
- Rock Me Baby (2003–2004) – The pilot episode of Rock Me Baby debuted on the UPN network on Monday September 15, 2003. The second episode, "Coupling", aired on September 23, 2003 and the following episodes followed exactly one week later. The last episode for the first series was "Singing for your Supper", which aired on May 25, 2004. After the first season, UPN decided to cancel production of Rock Me Baby.
- Second Time Around (2004–2005) – The series was canceled after one season.
- The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer (1998) – Before the series' premiere, several African American activist groups, including the Los Angeles area NAACP, protested against the premise of the series. On September 24, 1998, a protest against the series was held outside Paramount Studios. Five days later, UPN released a statement regarding the controversy and stated that the network planned on delaying the controversial pilot episode (which never aired) and would instead air an alternate episode in its place. The first episode of the series aired on October 5, 1998, ranking 116th out of 125 television programs for that week. Desmond Pfeiffer was removed from UPN's schedule on October 24 and, after airing one episode two days after being removed from UPN's lineup, was canceled.[24]
- Shasta McNasty (1999–2000) – A sneak preview of the series after UPN's highly rated WWF SmackDown! drew 4.52 million viewers.[25] However, when the series was moved to its scheduled 8 p.m. timeslot, ratings dropped.[26] Halfway through the first season, UPN shortened the show's title to Shasta, and the series was canceled after its first season.[27][28]
- Social Studies (1996–1997)
- Sparks (1996–1998) – Sparks aired on UPN from August 26, 1996 to March 2, 1998.
- Sweet Valley High (1994–1997) – After three seasons in syndication (mostly on Fox stations),[29] the show moved to UPN for its fourth season, where it was canceled due to low ratings.
Drama/sci-fi
- All Souls (2001) – The program was canceled in late August 2001 due to low ratings.
- The Beat (2000) – The Beat was produced by Viacom Productions and premiered on March 21, 2000 and ended after only six episodes a month later on April 25. Seven additional episodes were produced although they have never aired.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2001–2003, also on The WB) – Buffy the Vampire Slayer first aired on March 10, 1997, (as a mid season replacement for the show Savannah) on the WB network, and played a key role in the growth of the Warner Bros. television network in its early years.[30] After five seasons, it transferred to the United Paramount Network (UPN) for its final two seasons. While the seventh season was still being broadcast, Sarah Michelle Gellar told Entertainment Weekly she was not going to sign on for an eighth year; "When we started to have such a strong year this year, I thought: 'This is how I want to go out, on top, at our best."[31] Whedon and UPN gave some considerations to production of a spin-off series that would not require Gellar, including a rumored Faith series, but nothing came of those plans.[32] As previously mentioned, Buffy helped put The WB on the ratings map, but by the time the series landed at UPN in 2001, viewing figures had fallen. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a series high during the third season with 5.3 million viewers, this probably due to the fact that both Gellar and Hannigan had hit movies out during the season (Cruel Intentions and American Pie respectively) and a series low with 3.6 million during the seventh season. The show's series finale "Chosen" pulled in a season high of 4.9 million viewers on the UPN network. Buffy did not compete with shows on the big four networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox), but The WB was impressed with the young audience that the show was bringing in. Because of this, The WB ordered a full season of 22 episodes for the series' second season. After the episode "Surprise", which was watched by 8.2 million people, Buffy was moved from Monday at 9 pm to launch The WB's new night of programming on Tuesday. Due to its large success in that time slot, it remained on Tuesdays at 8 pm for the remainder of its original run. With its new timeslot on The WB, the show quickly climbed to the top of The WB ratings and became one of their highest-rated shows for the remainder of its time on the network. The show always placed in the top 3, usually only coming in behind 7th Heaven. Between seasons three and five, Buffy flip-flopped with Dawson's Creek and Charmed as the network's second highest-rated show. In the 2001–2002 season, the show had moved to UPN after a negotiation dispute with The WB. While it was still one of their highest rated shows on their network, The WB felt that the show had already peaked and was not worth giving a salary increase to the cast and crew. UPN on the other hand, had strong faith in the series and quickly grabbed it along with Roswell. UPN dedicated a two-hour premiere to the series to help re-launch it.
- The Burning Zone (1996–1997) – It ran for 19 episodes.
- Deadly Games (1995) – The series was produced by Viacom Productions (1995-aired episodes also had the logo of Paramount Television at the end).
- Freedom (2000) – There were 12 episodes filmed (actually 13, as the pilot eventually broadcast had been reshot with somewhat different casting) but only 7 were aired in the US. Some episodes were further aired internationally, and the full series is still occasionally broadcast in Brazil.[33]
- Haunted (2002) – The program was canceled in November 2002 due to low ratings. As a result, only seven of the completed episodes were aired. However, all eleven filmed episodes have subsequently been shown in international airings of the show.
- Jake 2.0 (2003) – The series was canceled on January 14, 2004 due to low ratings, leaving four episodes unaired in the United States.[34] In the United Kingdom, all the episodes aired on Sky1.
- Kevin Hill (2004–2005) – Although critically acclaimed, Kevin Hill failed to attract sufficient ratings to be renewed after its first season. The series was canceled during a re-organization of UPN programming that occurred in the spring of 2005 as the low-rated network shifted its demographic aim, and because of that, UPN did not renew it for a second season.
- Live Shot (1995) – Most notable in the show's run was an early use of an ongoing story arc centering on the murder of a Los Angeles socialite. As the show was canceled with little warning, the story arc was never resolved. Also, sports reporter Lou Waller came out of the closet in the last act of the last episode to air. Consequently, the fallout of this event was never shown.
- Legacy (1998–1999) – Although Legacy was critically acclaimed, it was soon cancelled because of low ratings. UPN scheduled the program on Friday, a night of lower viewership.
- Legend (1995) – Twelve episodes were aired, including the 2-hour pilot episode. Despite critical praise, this program aired during UPN's first year of existence and after a change in network management, along with lower than expected ratings, the show was canceled along with almost every other program aired on the UPN lineup.
- Level 9 (2000–2001) – Thirteen episodes were produced, ten of which were aired on UPN,[35] before the program was canceled in January 2001 due to low ratings. In August 2006, the Sci-Fi Channel acquired rerun rights to the series which was added to their schedule in June 2007. Sci-Fi aired the episodes never shown by UPN in February 2008.
- The Love Boat: The Next Wave (1998–1999)
- Marker (1995) – The show lasted for 13 episodes and was advertised with the tagline: "America's Coolest Hero."
- Mercy Point (1998–1999) – Mercy Point' ran from the fall of 1998 to the midsummer of 1999 on UPN.
- Nowhere Man (1995–1996) – Created by Lawrence Hertzog, the series aired Monday nights on UPN. Despite critical acclaim, including TV Guide's label of "The season's coolest hit,"[36] the show was cancelled after only one season.
- The Outer Limits (2005–2006)
- Platinum (2004)
- Roswell (2001–2002, also on The WB) – The series premiered on October 6, 1999 on The WB Television Network in the United States to generally favorable reviews.[37][38] Although it quickly gained an outspoken fanbase, the series ratings declined on and off which kept the show under constant threat of cancellation.[39] In response to the problems the series had with ratings during its first season, The WB ordered the relationship-driven standalone episodes of the early first season to be replaced with more science fiction themes and multi-episode plot arcs. Starting with the second season, which was ordered by the network after a fierce fan-driven campaign involving bottles of Tabasco sauce—a favorite condiment of the show's alien characters—being sent to the network's offices, veteran science fiction writer Ronald D. Moore was brought in to join Katims as an executive producer and showrunner and to further develop the science fiction elements of the show.[40] Not all fans responded favorably to the shift to more science fiction-driven storylines during the second season and the ratings continued to disappoint WB, causing the network to finally cancel the show on May 15, 2001, after the show's second season finale, a move widely anticipated due to the sagging ratings.[39][41] 20th Century Fox (the studio that produced the show) was able to persuade UPN to pick it up for a third season as a package deal when UPN outbid The WB for one of its popular flagship series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. During the 2001 – 2002 television season, Roswell, in its third season, aired directly after Buffy on Tuesday nights on UPN, though it was unable to hold on to the audience Buffy provided as a lead-in. This eventually resulted in the show's cancellation from UPN as well.[39] Roswell aired its final episode on May 14, 2002.
- Secret Agent Man (2000) – Only 12 episodes were broadcast before the series was cancelled.
- The Sentinel (1996–1999) – The Sentinel was canceled after 3 seasons by UPN, with the last episode being a big cliffhanger with Blair's life in the balance. An intense fan campaign convinced UPN to give the series a further half a season to end the series properly.
- Seven Days (1998–2001)
- Sex, Love & Secrets (2005) – The program was announced as Sex, Lies and Secrets when UPN released the Fall schedule, but the title was changed two months later to replace Lies with Love. Sex, Love & Secrets aired in the timeslot that belonged to Veronica Mars during the 2004–2005 television season; 9–10 p.m. on Tuesday nights. Unlike Veronica Mars, which had minor promotion and great reviews during its first season, Sex, Love & Secrets had neither advertising nor positive reviews behind it. As a result, when the show premiered on September 27, 2005, it garnered an embarrassing 1.2/2 rating. Next week the show improved slightly to a 1.5/2. At that point UPN pulled the show from production. UPN kept the show on for two more weeks, with it averaging a 1.3/2 in those two weeks. With six episodes left unaired, UPN took the show off its schedule entirely. The show ended up rated 155th out of 156 shows in the 2005–2006 television season, barely outranking its timeslot replacement before Veronica Mars was shifted back to Tuesday nights for the rest of the season, Get This Party Started. The unaired episodes eventually aired during a two-year syndication run over the HD-exclusive Universal HD cable channel.
- South Beach (2006) – The show was one of the lowest-rated on television. It ranked 152nd out of the 156 original series produced for network television in the 2005–2006 season. South Beach was canceled when it was announced that the new The WB/UPN hybrid network, The CW, would not renew the show for additional seasons. It was the final show produced by Paramount Television.
- Special Unit 2 (2001–2002) – Special Unit 2 aired on UPN for two seasons from April 2001 through February 2002.
- Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005) – Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001. The pilot episode, "Broken Bow", takes place in the year 2151, halfway between the 21st-century events shown in the movie Star Trek: First Contact and the original Star Trek television series. Low ratings prompted UPN to cancel Star Trek: Enterprise on February 2, 2005, but the network allowed the series to complete its fourth season. The final episode aired on May 13, 2005.
- Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001) – Voyager was produced to launch UPN, a television network planned by Paramount. This was the second time that Paramount had considered launching a network anchored by a Star Trek show: the studio planned to launch a network showcasing Star Trek: Phase II in 1977. Initial work on Voyager started in 1993, and seeds for the show's backstory, including the development of the Maquis, were placed in several Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes. Voyager was shot on the stages The Next Generation had used and the pilot, "Caretaker", was shot in September 1994. Around that time, Paramount was sold to Viacom, making Voyager the first Star Trek TV series to premiere after the sale concluded.
- The Strip (1999–2000) – The series was cancelled after nine episodes, with a tenth episode airing months later in July 2000.
- Swift Justice (1996) – Swift Justice aired on UPN from March 13, 1996 to July 31, 1996.
- The Twilight Zone (2002–2003) – Broadcast in an hour format with two half-hour stories, it was canceled after one season.
- The Watcher (1995) – The series aired Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m Eastern time during the network's inaugural season.
- Veronica Mars (2004–2006, also on The CW) – The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. The original pilot filmed was darker in tone than the one aired. Thomas intended to take the script to FX, HBO or Showtime, but gave UPN "credit" as they only wanted it a bit lighter to match their standards and practices. There was also a lengthy debate as to whether Veronica could be a rape victim; UPN eventually consented.[42] In the aired version of the pilot, Lilly Kane was found by the pool in the same spot where she was murdered. However, Thomas stated that Lilly's body was originally going to be found in the ocean, and he had a plan for events which led to Lilly's body being dumped. When Thomas pitched the idea to UPN, the network felt that it was "too dark and creepy" for Jake Kane to dispose of his daughter's body to protect his son, and the idea was changed.[43] In January 2007, Dawn Ostroff announced that while she was pleased with the gradual ratings improvement of Veronica Mars, the series would be put on hiatus after the February sweeps to air a new reality series, Pussycat Dolls Present. When the hiatus ended, the series returned for the last five episodes of the season with non-serialized plotlines.[44] At the 2007 CW Upfront, Ostroff announced that Veronica Mars was not part of the new primetime lineup and was "not coming back". Thomas created a trailer that took place four years after the third season finale, with the working title "Veronica in the FBI", and released it on the third season DVD.[45] When asked if the FBI concept could happen, Ostroff said that the series was probably completely gone "in any form". Ostroff also said that Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas might collaborate on another project for the CW network.[46] In June 2007, TV Guide writer Michael Ausiello confirmed that the cancellation of Veronica Mars was official.[47]
Cartoon
- Beavis and Butt-Head (1995–1997)
- Bureau of Alien Detectors (1996)
- Dilbert (1999–2000) – The first episode was broadcast on January 25, 1999, and was UPN's highest-rated comedy series premiere at that point in the network's history; it lasted two seasons on UPN and won a Primetime Emmy before its cancellation.[48]
- The Disney Afternoon (1996–1999) – The Disney Afternoon was last aired on August 29, 1997. Beginning September 1, Disney dropped the block's name and reduced it to 90 minutes. The unnamed 90-minute block ran until September 3, 1999, on random UPN affiliates (not all stations aired the unnamed block, other stations carried it depending on the market) when it was finally cancelled and a new block, Disney's One Too began airing on UPN.
- Disney's One Too (1999–2003) – In January 1998, UPN began talks with The Walt Disney Company to run a daily two-hour Disney kids block[49] but the talks with Disney were called off a week later do to a dispute over branding the block and deciding how much E/I programming Disney would provide, UPN then began talks with Nickelodeon[50] At which time UPN made a deal with Saban Entertainment to program the block on Sunday mornings.[50][51] In March 1998, UPN resumed talks with Disney[52] and in April, UPN made a deal with Disney to air Disney programming on Sunday mornings (8–10 a.m.) and weekday afternoons (3–5 p.m.).[53] The new lineup, a sister block to Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC, would be called Disney's One Too. Originally announced as "Whomptastic" (though changed due to it being a word used in the animated series Recess as a substitute for "sucks"), the block debuted on September 5, 1999.[54] The block's last airdate was August 29, 2003, leaving UPN as the only major broadcast television network without children's programming. UPN was not the first "big six" network to drop children's programming. NBC became the first network to drop children's programming entirely in 1992, when it was replaced by a live-action teen programming block called TNBC. However, the children's programming returned in 2002 on NBC, with the major six networks airing children's programming. The WB and UPN merged to form The CW in 2006, leaving The CW to air the Kids' WB block up until 2008, when it was replaced by The CW4Kids. This left MyNetworkTV (a new 2006-established network) to still not air children's programming. However, the Fox network (who also owns MyNetworkTV) dropped the 4KidsTV block entirely on December 27, 2008 and ABC dropped the ABC Kids block entirely in 2011, when it was replaced by a live-action teen programming block called Litton's Weekend Adventure, leaving News Corporation's two American networks and a Disney-owned network as the only networks to not air children's programming altogether.
- Game Over (2004) – Game Over was heavily hyped by UPN before its debut. Some were skeptical of Game Over due to UPN's track record with their cartoons, but the show generally received positive press upon its airing.[55] Despite this, only six episodes were made, which aired on a variety of different days – the fourth and fifth episodes were broadcast on April 2, 2004, and the sixth episode ("Monkey Dearest") was not aired.
- Gary & Mike (2001) – This mid-season replacement show was about best friends traveling across the United States on a road trip, accomplishing nothing of importance, and unwittingly destroying hopes, dreams, and personal property. Gary is a fairly normal, albeit high-strung, uptight, good hearted loser while Mike is the fun-loving, laid back, "best friend from hell" with a sex addiction. They meet hookers, mole people, and a scheming murderer, all while a vengeful father pursues Mike for bedding his daughter. Although the final episode included a "to be continued" message, the show was canceled after its first season.[56]
- Home Movies (1999) – Home Movies was produced by Soup2Nuts, and originally aired on United Paramount Network but was canceled after 5 episodes. The show was then picked up by Cartoon Network, and was the first program to be aired on the Sunday night block of the original Adult Swim animation showcase. As part of Adult Swim, it finished the first season and was picked up for three more. In its first season, Home Movies utilized Soup2Nuts’ Squigglevision animation but later abandoned that for the cheaper, more malleable Macromedia Flash animation. The switch was initiated for several reasons: scattered negative response to Squigglevision (from both critics and viewers), limitations in regard to movement (fluid motion is rare in Squigglevision), and the producers' view that Squigglevision was inherent to Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist and that Home Movies should develop its own unique style.[57] Another quality that Home Movies carried over from Dr. Katz was its initial use of “retroscripting”, a process in which an episode’s scripts are purposely left vague, and instead of exact dialogue, the plot of a particular scene is merely outlined—the rest of the dialogue is then created through improv by the actors. The use of retroscripting in Home Movies gives the show very casual, realistic dialogue with an often dry, sarcastic wit. Although retroscripting was only used officially in the first season (the entire first episode was improvised from start to finish), the dialogue in the following three seasons remained heavily improvised, with the written script serving mainly as a guide or something to fall back on for jokes if needed.
- The Incredible Hulk (1996–1999) – In the second season, the show's format, after UPN decided that Season 1 was too dark, was changed, and to give "female viewers a chance",[58] the network ordered that She-Hulk be made a regular co-star. As a result, the series was officially renamed The Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk. The second season also featured the Grey Hulk.
- Jumanji (1996–1999)
- The Mouse and the Monster (1996–1997)
- Space Strikers (1995–1996) – The first animated series to be made specifically for UPN
Game show/reality
- Man o Man (1995)
- America's Greatest Pets (1998)
- America's Next Top Model (2003–2006, also on The CW) – The first "cycle" premiered in May 2003 and was one of UPN's highest rated shows. The show's seventh cycle was the first of the shows among regular programming on UPN's successor network, The CW, and thus far is the network's highest rated series.[59] It was announced on January 24, 2006, that Top Model would be part of the new The CW network, a merger between UPN and The WB, when the next cycle started in September airing on Wednesdays. Prior to the announcement of merging with The CW, UPN had committed to renewing the series through its ninth cycle on January 20, 2006,[60] for which casting was conducted throughout mid-2006. ANTM is the only show left on the network that was originally from UPN, and will end after the conclusion of cycle 22.[61]
- Amish in the City (2004)
- The Player (2004)
- Britney & Kevin: Chaotic (2005) – In April 2005, it was revealed that Britney Spears had made a deal with television network UPN to release her own reality television series. The series would feature footage from the singer and her then husband, Kevin Federline, and would be aired in six episodes.[62] "From the day that Kevin and I met, there have been constant rumors and inaccurate speculation about our lives together," Spears said in a statement about the series. "I feel that last year, the tabloids ran my life, and I am really excited about showing my fans what really happened, rather than all the stories, which have been misconstrued by journalists in the past. As I mentioned before, I am now going to be expressing my personal life through art".[62] The series was initially titled Britney & Kevin: Can You Handle Our Truth?,[63] before being officially announced as Britney & Kevin: Chaotic, with "Can you handle our truth?" being its tagline.[64] The theme song of the series, "Chaotic", was written Michelle Bell, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, and Henrik Johnback, while produced by Bloodshy & Avant.[65] Britney & Kevin: Chaotic first aired on May 17, 2005. The first episode, titled "Can You Handle My Truth?", pulled in an audience of 3.5 million viewers,[63] and featured several discussed themes such as sex and love.[63] The following episodes featured home videos created by Spears and Federline, along with some added commentary, beginning with their courtship during the European leg of Spears' The Onyx Hotel Tour in Spring 2004, and ending with their marriage that September.[66] The singer revealed that the series helped the couple to know each other more, saying, "I didn't know [Kevin] that well, and when I got the camera out, it made me feel better. It's really weird because it was like all this tension at first. We were so nervous being together. I'm really shy, and when I had the camera in my hand, it made me feel more outspoken. I think it helped at first."[66] Only five episodes of Britney & Kevin: Chaotic were aired.[64] The last episode, titled "Veil of Secrecy", featured the world premiere of the music video for "Someday (I Will Understand)" (2005).[67]
- Chains of Love (2001)
- Get This Party Started (2006) – The program was scheduled in the lowest-rated timeslot of the 2005–06 television season in UPN's 8pm-9pm Tuesday slot, where Sex, Love & Secrets had failed before. Get This Party Started garnered low ratings and was canceled by the network after only two episodes. The show ended up last out of the 156 programs which aired on the six major American broadcast networks in the 2005–06 season.
- I Dare You: The Ultimate Challenge (2000)
- Iron Chef USA (2001)
- Manhunt (2001) – Manhunt was plagued with problems during its brief run. First, a deal collapsed with the World Wrestling Federation in which a number of their "superstars" were to be a part of the show's cast. Then, the bottom fell out when separate investigative reports by conspiracy theorist Peter Lance and game-show enthusiast Steve Beverly revealed that the show was being filmed at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California. Manhunt had claimed to be filmed on location in Hawaii. The program was pulled after six episodes.
- R U the Girl (2005) – The casting tour for the series began on February 5, 2005 in Los Angeles, with tour stops in New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Miami.[68] After the semifinalists were selected, they were each judged on their ability to sing by the remaining TLC members Tionne Watkins and Rozonda Thomas.[69] The program aired seven episodes, with the eighth episode being an overview of the series and original TLC's home videos. The finale episode was aired live and featured the final two contestants O'so Krispie and Mirrah.[70] O'so Krispie, a 20-year-old choreographer from Atlanta, was ultimately chosen as the winner and performed the single "I Bet" with Watkins and Thomas on the series finale.[71]
- The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott (2005)
- Under One Roof (2002) – UPN has been criticized for having canceled the show, not once, but twice. After the first two episodes, aired in March and April, fared poorly in the ratings, the show was cancelled, then brought back again in July as a summer replacement, only to be pulled from the air again after airing one more episode. Because of the cancellation, the winning family of the house was never publicly revealed, although it is known that the Skofields won.
Sports/other
- Television films produced for UPN – During the late 1990s, United Paramount Network produced a number of television movies branded "Blockbuster Shockwave Cinema," in conjunction with sponsor (and sister company) Blockbuster Video. Almost all were science fiction films. From UPN's inception until 2000, the network also offered a hosted movie series called the UPN Movie Trailer to their stations. The show featured mostly older Hollywood action and comedy films, often those made by Paramount Pictures. Movie Trailer was discontinued in 2000 to give stations that opted for them room for a second weekend run of Star Trek: Enterprise and America's Next Top Model (and later, Veronica Mars). There were also three Paramount-branded blocks on the company's owned-and-operated stations ("O&Os") only: Paramount Teleplex as the main brand for movies at any given timeslot, Paramount Prime Movie for primetime features, and the Paramount Late Movie on late nights.
- UPN Kids – UPN Kids was a short-lived weekday and Sunday morning children's programming block on UPN that launched on September 10, 1995. During the 1998–1999 season, the block was called The UPN Kids Action Zone. The block aired for 2 hours each day (7:00AM–9:00AM on weekdays and 9:00AM–11:00AM on Sundays). UPN Kids shut down on September 5, 1999 and was replaced with Disney's One Too. When UPN launched in 1995, it aired cartoons Space Strikers and Teknoman on weekends; the lineup was known as UPN Kids. In 1997, UPN went a different way with its children's program block by airing new episodes as well as reruns of the syndicated Sweet Valley High and a new series, Breaker High on weekdays and Sundays aiming the programs at teenagers. In January 1998, UPN began talks with The Walt Disney Company to run a daily two-hour Disney kids block[49] but the talks with Disney were called off a week later do to a dispute over branding the block and deciding how much E/I programming Disney would provide, UPN then began talks with Nickelodeon.[50] At which time UPN made a deal with Saban Entertainment to program the block on Sunday mornings[50] and air shows like The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Spider-Man and Big Bad Beetleborgs.[51][72] In March 1998, UPN resumed talks with Disney[52] and in April, UPN made a deal with Disney to air Disney programming on weekday and Sunday mornings.[53] The new lineup, a sister block to Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC, would be called Disney's One Too.[73]
- WWE SmackDown (1999–2006, also on The CW, MyNetworkTV and Syfy) – From its launch in 1999, SmackDown broadcast on Thursday nights, but on September 9, 2005, the show moved to Friday nights. The show originally debuted in the United States on the UPN television network on April 29, 1999, but after the merger of UPN and the WB, SmackDown began airing on The CW in 2006. The show remained on the CW network for two years until it was announced that it would move to MyNetworkTV in October 2008.[74][75] SmackDown moved to Syfy on October 1, 2010.[76][77] WWE's "lame duck" status with Viacom on Spike TV may have prompted its moving SmackDown! to the Friday night death slot for the Fall 2005 season. UPN received better ratings on Fridays than it did before with its movie night. In addition, UPN had been able to hold on to the ratings from Thursday nights, most notably with comedian Chris Rock's sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. In January 2006, prior to the announcement of the CW Network, it was announced that UPN had renewed SmackDown! for two more years.[78] Following the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, SmackDown! (renamed Friday Night SmackDown!) moved into Enterprise's former timeslot in the United States. WWE promoted this move with the tagline "TV that's changing Friday nights." Friday Night SmackDown! made its season premiere on September 9, 2005. The program still aired on Thursdays in Canada on the Score. In the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, their stations Sky Sports and Fox8 air SmackDown! on Fridays before the United States due to the time difference. This is the first time a major weekly WWE show airs internationally before it hits screens in the U.S. The events of Hurricane Katrina affected the first edition of Friday Night SmackDown! in the U.S. due to the special fund-raising concert that aired on UPN at the same time that the first edition would have gone out, resulting in only the second hour of the show being shown on UPN. The first hour was instead streamed from WWE's website. Other countries, including Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and the Philippines received the full two-hour show. WWOR-TV (My 9, New York, New York) also aired both hours of the show on tape delay on Saturday, due to a previous commitment to broadcast the New York Yankees on Friday nights. On September 22, 2006, Friday Night SmackDown! debuted on The CW Television Network, a joint venture between CBS Corporation (owner of UPN) and Warner Bros. Entertainment (a subsidiary of Time Warner, majority owner of The WB). For four weeks before the official premiere of Friday Night SmackDown! on the CW on September 22, 2006, Tribune Broadcasting television stations in six major markets (including WPIX in New York City and KTLA in Los Angeles) aired WWE's Friday Night SmackDown!.[79] (This formed part of the preparation for the impending removal of UPN in several markets due to the debut of MyNetworkTV on September 5, 2006.) Two other future affiliates of The CW, WCWJ in Jacksonville, Florida and WIWB in Green Bay, Wisconsin, also aired SmackDown! in early September. The transition to the CW caused an interruption in the broadcast of SmackDown! in the state of Utah beginning in June when KPNZ in Salt Lake City stopped airing all UPN programs early. As of 2009[update] KUCW broadcasts the show. In Hawaii, SmackDown! returned in late 2006, airing on a CW digital subchannel of Honolulu's FOX affiliate KHON-TV (Channel 2), which has received statewide carriage over Oceanic Time Warner Cable. Since the move to the CW Network, Friday Night SmackDown! has shown a major increase in ratings now averaging a 3.0 national rating. In addition, SmackDown! has become the second highest watched program on The CW. On April 20, 2007, SmackDown! celebrated its 400th episode.[80] Ratings success soon followed. On June 8, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! made CW history by making a three-way tie with CBS and ABC in the key ad demographic (adults, 18–49) by drawing a 1.5 rating each. On June 22, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! again made CW history by tying the network for first place in the key ad demographic (adults, 18–49) and being the second most-watched network program at 9 p.m. for the night. The CW had not performed as well at any time slot since America's Next Top Model in March 2007. The next week on June 29, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! helped The CW claim the top spot in the key demographic (adults, 18–49) for Friday. CBS got the overall lead but The CW got top spot for the Adults 18–49 by registering a 1.4 rating followed by CBS and NBC at 1.3, ABC at 1.2, and FOX at 0.9.[81][82] Then on Friday, July 13, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! made network history by placing first in the 18–49 demographic and becoming the most watched show at the 9 p.m. hour on network television. This is the first time anything has placed this well on The CW. SmackDown! became a hit show on Friday nights winning the demographics for young males, and ranking second on the demographics (18–49) for Friday nights.
- XFL – At the beginning of the season, NBC showed a feature game at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday nights, also taping a second game. The second game, in some weeks, would air in the visiting team's home market and be put on the air nationally if the feature game was a blowout (as was the case in week one) or encountered technical difficulties (as was the case in week two). Two games were shown each Sunday: one at 4 p.m. Eastern on TNN (now Spike TV) and another at 7 p.m. Eastern on UPN (which has since merged with The WB to form The CW). Despite initially agreeing to broadcast XFL games for two years and owning half of the league, NBC announced it would not broadcast a second XFL season, thus admitting failure in its attempt at airing replacement pro football. WWF Chairman Vince McMahon initially announced that the XFL would continue, as it still had UPN and TNN as broadcast outlets. In fact, expansion teams were being explored for cities such as Washington, D.C. and Detroit. However, in order to continue broadcasting XFL games, UPN demanded that WWF SmackDown! broadcasts be cut from two hours to one and a half hours. McMahon found these terms unacceptable and he announced the XFL's closure on May 10, 2001. "The situation is very bad," he was quoted as saying.
Shows that almost aired on UPN
- According to Simon Cowell's biography and Bill Carter's book Desperate Networks, UPN was offered American Idol before Fox and turned it down.
- As part of the contract for picking up Buffy the Vampire Slayer, UPN was obligated to pick up Angel if it was cancelled by The WB while UPN was still airing Buffy. However, Angel was axed by The WB the year after Buffy went off UPN. Despite a large fan campaign, UPN declined to pick up the show.
- Firefly was offered to UPN after being cancelled, but was declined.[83]
- Malcolm in the Middle was originally developed for UPN before being picked up by Fox.[84]
- Talkshow with Spike Feresten was reportedly to air on UPN; it debuted on Fox one day after UPN's closure.
- According to The TV IV, nine new scripts for the third season of The Critic were written for UPN.[85][86]
References
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- ↑ Ultimatedisney.com, Sweet Valley High dvd review
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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