In honor of the network’s founding on July 1, 1985, Nick at Nite devoted a week to airing an episode from most of the series which it had aired / was airing. Strangely, they never aired an intro for some shows; they just showed the episodes without an opening. They did not show Hi Honey, I’m Home as part of the anniversary.
The schedule is below, and the promo cards can be found here:
Mon, Jun 26:
• 8:00 – 8:30 Mr. Ed (Ed The Stowaway)
• 8:30 – 9:00 Lassie (Trapped)
• 9:00 – 9:30 My 3 Sons (The Liberty Bell)
• 9:30 – 10:00 Make Room for Daddy (Danny Meets Andy Griffith)
• 10:00 – 10:30 Donna Reed (Just A Housewife)
• 10:30 – 11:00 Ann Sothern (The Lucy Show)
• 11:00 – 12:00 Route 66 (Lizard’s Leg and Owlet’s Wing)
Tue, Jun 27:
• 8:00 – 8:30 Monkees (Migacjeo)
• 8:30 – 9:00 Lancelot Link (The Mysterious Motorcycle Menace)
• 9:00 – 9:30 Car 54, Where Are You? (I Hate Captain Black)
• 9:30 – 10:00 Smothers Brothers (It Don’t Mean a Dang if it Ain’t Got That Twang)
• 10:00 – 10:30 Laugh In (Episode 15)
• 10:30 – 11:00 SCTV (Dr. Tongue’s 3-D House of Stewardesses)
• 11:00 – 12:00 I Spy (It’s All Done With Mirrors)
Wed, Jun 28:
• 8:00 – 8:30 10 Years of Better Living Through Television
• 8:30 – 9:00 Get Smart (The Groovy Guru)
• 9:00 – 9:30 Patty Duke
• 9:30 – 10:00 Dobie Gillis
• 10:00 – 10:30 Saturday Night Live
• 10:30 – 11:00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents
• 11:00 – 11:30 Superman
• 11:30 – 12:00 Fernwood 2 Night
Thu, Jun 29:
Thu, Jun 29:
• 8:00 – 8:30 Partridge Family
• 8:30 – 9:00 Bewitched
• 9:00 – 9:30 Dick Van Dyke
• 9:30 – 10:00 Lucy Show
• 10:00 – 10:30 Mary Tyler Moore
• 10:30 – 11:00 Dragnet
• 11:00 – 12:00 White Shadow
Fri, Jun 30:
• 8:00 – 8:30 I Dream of Jeannie
• 8:30 – 9:00 Welcome Back, Kotter
• 9:00 – 9:30 I Love Lucy
• 9:30 – 10:00 Bob Newhart
• 10:00 – 10:30 Taxi
• 10:30 – 11:00 Mork & Mindy
• 11:00 – 11:30 F Troop
• 11:30 – 12:00 Munsters
In addition to this week, there was a rotation of 11 one minute ads, all of which can be found here
1987 Jun 08: String-A-Thon. Nothing is known about this other than this ad!
1987 Aug 24: Nick at Nite Golf Open. Hosted by Greg Gumbel and Keith Olbermann, and sponsored by Doritos. I believe I have a golf ball and trophy from the event, which can be seen on the Merchandise page. Some footage can be found here:
1988 Nov: The Back of Patty Duke’s Head. Amazingly, I have found footage of this, although I’m not sure if this is a complete compilation:
1989 Aug 09: How to Be Swell. A list of known shorts is as follows:
- Avoiding Unwanted Relatives!
- Weenies: Born of Capitalism!
- Life Has Meaning!
- Soda: Beverage of Friendship!
- Good Clean Day!
- Privilege of Glands!
- A Mirror!
- The Door!
- Can Be Liked!
- When Bacon Catches Fire!
- Are You Prepared For Dating?
- Behind Those Pins!
- Fear of Cheese!
- Joy of Conversation!
1990 Aug 09: Milkman. A known total of five one minute sketches, all here:
1990 Nov: Dead Give-A-Way. Boy, was this an odd one! Hosted by Wink Martindale, viewers were invited to guess how many bodies would appear during a weeklong marathon of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The winner was originally to receive…a cemetery plot! This was considered a little too macabre, so instead the prize was a cruise based out of L.A. with some classic TV personalities. Apparently the winning total was 148 – I have watched every episode of the series, and I have no idea how they arrived at a number that high!
1991 July 17: Ninety Nine 99’s. Ninety nine women dressed up in mod fashion in Times Square – if you were there, or know anyone who was, we’d love to hear about it!
1993 Dec 31: 5th Annual Classic TV Countdown. Hosted by Casey Kasem (as had the previous four), this was notable for introducing the two actors who played Chris Partridge (and whom had never before met). Very clever! Some footage can be found here:
1994 Jun 06: Jeannie vs Samantha. A contest where viewers could call in and cast a ballot for who had greater powers – a set of original ballots is in the Merchandise section! The winner was Samantha (by a nose?)
1994 Nov 02: Taxi Appreciation Week. A series of ads where Nick at Nite would do nice things for cab drivers in New York City, in honor of the launch of Taxi. Footage coming soon!