Rare American series that aired in England (1 Viewer)

[Neil Brock]

There were quite a few rare and obscure U.S. programs that did run in the UK in the 80s, 90s and even 00s. I'm sure some I don't even know about but I'm aware of the following:

Dan August, Saints and Sinners, Target: The Corrupters, The Smith Family, Dundee and the Culhane, The Debbie Reynolds Show, Pruitts of Southhampton, Mrs. G Goes to College, Peter Loves Mary, The June Allyson Show, The David Niven Show, Dante, Hey Jeannie, Ensign O'Toole. Probably some others which maybe our British friends can add to the list.

 

[Ron1973]

Neil, would you add Bilko to the list? I've never saw it in syndication ever but yet I have friends across the way who are clamoring for the BBC to add it back to their lineup.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Neil, would you add Bilko to the list? I've never saw it in syndication ever but yet I have friends across the way who are clamoring for the BBC to add it back to their lineup.

I think he's getting at shows that hardly anyone noticed in the U.S. but were picked up and run by the BBC.

 

[Ron1973]

I think he's getting at shows that hardly anyone noticed in the U.S. but were picked up and run by the BBC.

I figured that was it. I should have phrased it "do you think Bilko should be added?" Instead, I made it sound like it SHOULD be on the list! Sorry, I'm studying for a test tomorrow in one of my college classes and my mind isn't sound right now! Lol!!!

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I'm pretty sure I remember seeing "Bilko" (the Phil Silvers Show) on an out-of-town UHF station on a Saturday afternoon in the late '70s or early '80s, unless it was a 'movie length' one... (I don't know if they ever edited Silvers show into movies like they did with drama series like U.N.C.L.E., etc. I just threw that in as a possibility)

 

[Tom.W]

Actually, it was a station called "Bravo" in the UK that aired many, if not all of these shows in the early, mid 90's. I picked up Saints and Sinners, 87th Precinct and a few episodes of Target: The Corrupters and The David Niven Show from that station. Ironic that someone or some people in the UK had a better knowledge or appreciation of classic American tv than most programmers in the states.

There were some stations here showing rare shows, eg, in the late 80's/ early 90's, e.g, KTZZ in Seattle (anybody remember Charley and Ty?) aired the Warner Brothers PI and westerns. A station in St. Cloud, Minnesota nicknamed TV Heaven showed things like Life of Riley and The Detectives. Ch 60 in Chicago (later ch 50) and eventually the programming executives moved to a different station which became Me-TV - aired shows like Ben Casey, Our Miss Brooks, The Millionaire, and My Little Margie. Sadly, the economics seem impossible for an independent station to do that anymore.

 

[stuartfanning]

The OP said he wanted obscure US shows of the 80's onwards listed. Bilko can hardly be regarded as that. Also a lot of the shows the OP listed were pre-80's, as was Bilko anyway! Bilko was aired on BBC but a bigger proportion of US shows were shown on commercial networks like ITV! I wonder whether the OP meant to say the 50's and 60's?

 

[Silverking]

There were quite a few rare and obscure U.S. programs that did run in the UK in the 80s, 90s and even 00s. I'm sure some I don't even know about but I'm aware of the following: Dan August, Saints and Sinners, Target: The Corrupters, The Smith Family, Dundee and the Culhane, The Debbie Reynolds Show, Pruitts of Southhampton, Mrs. G Goes to College, Peter Loves Mary, The June Allyson Show, The David Niven Show, Dante, Hey Jeannie, Ensign O'Toole. Probably some others which maybe our British friends can add to the list.

The Bill Dana Show, Johnny Staccacto, Lloyd Bridges Show, Duffys Tavern, Death Valley Days, Mr Lucky, Four Star Theatre, Rin-Tin-Tin, Iron Horse, Yancey Derringer, Honey West, Richard Diamond, some black & white Dragnet, Topper all aired on UK TV in this period, mostly on satellite stations.

 

[Neil Brock]

Bilko is hardly rare. Didn't it run for quite a while during the early days of TV Land. And its certainly been in syndication for ever. What I probably should have said was unsyndicated shows.

 

[Jack P]

I can remember Sergeant Bilko as a rerun staple on WPIX-New York in the late 70s. TV Land also had it for a couple years and then said goodbye to it one night with one of those "Vertivision" marathons.

 

[Gary16]

Bilko is still running on MeTV.

 

[DeWilson]

The Bill Dana Show, Johnny Staccacto, Lloyd Bridges Show, Duffys Tavern, Death Valley Days, Mr Lucky, Four Star Theatre, Rin-Tin-Tin, Iron Horse, Yancey Derringer, Honey West, Richard Diamond, some black & white Dragnet, Topper all aired on UK TV in this period, mostly on satellite stations.

Didn't Bravo UK also air THE EVIL TOUCH?

 

[paste]

For some reason, The Red Hand Gang, a short lived 1977 NBC Saturday morning series, was a bigger hit in the UK than in the US. It aired on a regular basis in the UK through the early 80s. They even got most of the cast to do a UK commercial for chewing gum and the UK got a DVD release about year before the US did.

I know some of the Filmation's 70s Saturday morning shows like Isis, Ark II, Jason of Star Command, and Space Academy, which got little to no syndication in the US after their Saturday morning runs, were aired in the UK in the 90s on their version of the Sci Fi Channel.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I know some of the Filmation's 70s Saturday morning shows like Isis, Ark II, Jason of Star Command, and Space Academy, which got little to no syndication in the US after their Saturday morning runs, were aired in the UK in the 90s on their version of the Sci Fi Channel.

Part of the reason the live-action Filmation shows got offered to foreign broadcasters, though, was that Hallmark wasn't paying the Writer's Guild of America royalties that they were supposed to and being foreign broadcasts, they presumably thought they'd never get caught.

The WGA took them to court, and of course, Hallmark dared them to prove that any foreign syndication took place. I gave evidence to writer Russell Bates (including printed TV listings and VHS copies of off-air broadcasts). As Russell tells it, when they popped the first tape in the VCR, Hallmark's lawyers' jaws hit the floor. WGA won easily, and shortly after, Hallmark sold off the Filmation library, much to our benefit, as they never had any intention of US syndication or home video.

 

[Neil Brock]

Part of the reason the live-action Filmation shows got offered to foreign broadcasters, though, was that Hallmark wasn't paying the Writer's Guild of America royalties that they were supposed to and being foreign broadcasts, they presumably thought they'd never get caught.

The WGA took them to court, and of course, Hallmark dared them to prove that any foreign syndication took place. I gave evidence to writer Russell Bates (including printed TV listings and VHS copies of off-air broadcasts). As Russell tells it, when they popped the first tape in the VCR, Hallmark's lawyers' jaws hit the floor. WGA won easily, and shortly after, Hallmark sold off the Filmation library, much to our benefit, as they never had any intention of US syndication or home video.

Great story. I love it when the big studios rip off people and try to hide behind shady accounting practices. James Garner got Universal over The Rockford Files as well. He had a percentage of profits and after hundreds of millions in syndication sales, they claimed the show still hadn't turned a profit.

 

[DeWilson]

Part of the reason the live-action Filmation shows got offered to foreign broadcasters, though, was that Hallmark wasn't paying the Writer's Guild of America royalties that they were supposed to and being foreign broadcasts, they presumably thought they'd never get caught.

The WGA took them to court, and of course, Hallmark dared them to prove that any foreign syndication took place. I gave evidence to writer Russell Bates (including printed TV listings and VHS copies of off-air broadcasts). As Russell tells it, when they popped the first tape in the VCR, Hallmark's lawyers' jaws hit the floor. WGA won easily, and shortly after, Hallmark sold off the Filmation library, much to our benefit, as they never had any intention of US syndication or home video.

Never heard about that!

 

[PatrickGoodluck]

Didn't Bravo UK also air THE EVIL TOUCH?

Yes, although I'm not sure if they did a complete run. This was essentially an Australian show but had an American producer in Mende Brown and consisted of American actors playing lead roles. TV Land also rebroadcasted a handful of episodes at one time. The show hasn't aired in Australia since the early 80's. An underrated show imho.

 

[TonyD]

I dont understand the gist of the topic. Is this simply a request for a list of shows that were U.S. shows that aired abroad or a wish list of those shows for home video or something else?

 

[PatrickGoodluck]

I dont understand the gist of the topic. Is this simply a request for a list of shows that were U.S. shows that aired abroad or a wish list of those shows for home video or something else?

My understanding is that it is a request for a more complete list of unsyndicated or rare U.S. TV shows that have been re-broadcast in England but not in the U.S.

 

[cherisland]

There were quite a few rare and obscure U.S. programs that did run in the UK in the 80s, 90s and even 00s. I'm sure some I don't even know about but I'm aware of the following:

Dan August, Saints and Sinners, Target: The Corrupters, The Smith Family, Dundee and the Culhane, The Debbie Reynolds Show, Pruitts of Southhampton, Mrs. G Goes to College, Peter Loves Mary, The June Allyson Show, The David Niven Show, Dante, Hey Jeannie, Ensign O'Toole. Probably some others which maybe our British friends can add to the list.

I am fascinated that you list "Pruitt's of Southampton" as airing in the UK. I had heard that it aired their in the 80's a few years back but never had confirmation from anyone until your posting. This is one show I would love to see released onto DVD as it is extremely obscure. I have only managed to view 3 of the 30 episodes and would love to see the entire series . I wish some station, somewhere - anywhere, would air this in syndication again or better yet, be released onto DVD.