On the Television

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On the Television was the cable network Nick at Nite’s first attempt at original late-night programming. The sketch comedy show, can be described as a saterical television critic show in the style of Siskel and Ebert. It starred Tim Conway Jr. and George McGrath as Ponce Porter and Nat Caulfield respectively. The show began as an April Fool’s Day Special for Nick-at-Nite. The special was created and written by George McGrath.

The shows were typically broad satires on people and other television shows as well as just being humorous and odd. Some of the shows that were reviewed were:

“The Richard Cabinetmaker Story” - Satire of the Karen Carpenter TV Movie), *“The Valerie Harper Only Show,” - A sitcom starring Harper in a lighthouse refusing visits from guest stars
“A Recent Occurrence,” - satire of A Current Affair
“Carmela!” - an Italian variety show , which featured the original song “My Belly Button."

The special received a “Cheers” in the TV Guide “Cheers and Jeers” column, and 13 episodes were ordered . The host characters were replaced with Kevin Rush and Dan Clark, played by George McGrath and Tim Conway Jr. However, a segmemt where Nat Caulfield's character talking to people outside Universal Studios about a variety of TV-related-topics which orgininated on the pilot was kept. Each episode contained a variety of TV targets. Most included original music as well as sketch comedy.

The series began airing in the fall of 1990, and ran twice a week, Fridays and Saturdays at 11 p .m. Forty episodes were produced through 1991. Both McGrath and Conway appeared in sketches as well as being the hosts. The rotating supporting cast was called “The Otherwise Unemployed Actors.” A number of actors and actresses made their television debuts on the series including Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin, Chip Esten, Mindy Sterling and Julia Sweeney. Some well known actors appeared regularly as guest stars like Rose Marie, Avery Schreiber, Elvira, Phil Hartman, Brian Bonsall, Eve Plumb, and Christopher Knight.

When the series ended, the production company declared bankruptcy. Nick-At-Nite’s parent company, Viacom, was forced to pay with the residuals. Supposedly this is why the series has never gone into syndication. Apparently the cost involved with repaying the writers, actors, and others involved the re-airing of the series cost-prohibitive. The series retains a small but loyal cult following from those who saw the original airings.

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