June 25, 2018

IT’S ONE-DAY MONDAY ON BETA MAX TV – 3 SHOWS WITH A VERY SHORT SEASON!!!

Some TV shows are so loved and so watched that they go on and on and on. Gunsmoke, Lassie, Death Valley Days – all had runs of 18 years or longer. Other shows – not so much.

And today on Beta Max TV​, we’re bringing you 3 shows that had much, much shorter runs than that. Namely, one episode.

The Shadow was a widely successful radio serial, but the attempt to transfer it to television was not so lucky. Here we have the pilot: THE SHADOW – THE CASE OF THE COTTON KIMONO. The Shadow had the ability to “cloud men’s minds”. This show’s future was so cloudy, it only aired for one episode in 1955.

Space shows were all the rage in the 1950s. DESTINATION SPACE had all the basic elements – spinning space station, cool rockets, danger, sort-of science. It even had the star power of John Agar. Unfortunately, the one thing it didn’t have was good writing. DESTINATION SPACE was grounded after one episode in 1959.

And finally, what horror fan doesn’t like Frankenstein movies? So…why not turn it into a weekly television series! TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN came alive in 1958. The first episode – THE FACE IN THE TOMBSTONE MIRROR – told the story of Dr. Frankenstein feeling bad about all the trouble he caused.
The solution? Re-animate the monster, but with a “good” brain this time. The side effect? How can you make a weekly series with the main character a grotesque, violent monster? TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN was de-animated after one show.

Three shows. Total length of all three seasons combined: 3 days! It’s One-Day Monday on Beta Max TV!!!