When TV Went Retro: Nick at Nite's classic reruns
What happens when a cable TV channel that specializes in showing 25-year-old sitcoms turns 40 years old itself?
At the risk of creating a hole in time and space and causing the entire “Do You Feel Old Yet?” world to collapse on itself, that’s our topic for today: Nick at Nite, a programming bloc aimed at nostalgic viewers, was launched by the Nickelodeon network on July 1, 1985 — 40 years ago Tuesday.
What Does A Channel Aimed at Kids Do Late At Night?
Nick at Nite's logo in 1985
That was the question Nickelodeon faced in the mid-1980s.
In 1984, A&E Networks — a cable TV venture jointly owned by Hearst Communications, NBC and ABC — began launching a number of channels to take advantage of its satellite feeds. Nickelodeon was one of those channels, but it faced a built-in problem: The network didn’t want to show its kiddie-show programming long after most children’s bedtimes.
The solution presented itself when the network was gifted more than 200 episodes of “The Donna Reed Show.” Why not assemble a bloc of sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s and 1960s? Not only would such programming be cheap to buy — much of it had been rerun into the ground via syndication — but, much like late-night oldies radio shows, it might appeal to an aging generation of baby boomers.
In addition to (mostly) black-and-white sitcoms and the drama series “Route 66,” Nick at Nite also included an original sketch comedy show, “Turkey Television,” and older movies such as the original 1937 version of “A Star is Born.”
Nick at Nite launched on July 1, 1985 and began broadcasting every night at 8 p.m. The programs were, at first, arranged in five-hour blocs and would then repeat at 1 a.m. At 6 a.m., Nick at Nite would sign off and turn the channel back over to Nickelodeon every morning at 6 a.m.
Over the years, Nick at Nite retired some of its shows and would launch other acquisitions. The channel would often do with a marathon — an all night, back-to-back introduction to the new series. In the 1990s and then the 2000s, it began showing TV series from the 1980s and then the 1990s.
In 1991, the network debuted its own new sitcom based on classic TV sitcom tropes. “Hi Honey, I’m Home” followed a typical 1950s TV family coping with modern-day life. Episodes were shown on ABC on Friday nights and then brought back home to Nick at Nite on Saturdays. It lasted only 13 episodes.
In 1996, A&E Networks launched a new sister network along the same lines of Nick at Nite: TV Land.
The popularity of Nick at Nite had grown so much by 2004 that the Nielsen company began listing Nick at Nite separately from Nickelodeon, despite the two still sharing a channel.
Present day Nick at Nite logo
Nick at Nite's First 10 Sitcoms
While Nick at Nite also presented sketch comedy shows, dramatic series and vintage movies, many viewers — and TV critics — enjoyed it for its programming of old comedy TV series. Screen Rant compiled this list of the first 10 sitcoms that joined the lineup on Nick at Nite.
Screen Gems
Dennis the Menace
Original run: CBS 1959-61
Nick at Nite: July 1985 through March 1990
Screen Gems
The Donna Reed Show
Original run: ABC 1958-66
Nick at Nite: July 1985 through June 1995
Gregg-Don, Inc.
My Three Sons
Original run: ABC 1960-65, CBS 1965-72
Nick at Nite: November 1985 through June 2000
Filmways
Original run: Syndication 1961, CBS 1961-66
Nick at Nite: March 1986 through June 1997
Four Star-Knave
The Smothers Brothers Show
Original run: CBS 1965
Nick at Nite: May 1986 through March 1989
Screen Gems
The Monkees
Original run: NBC 1966-68
Nick at Nite: October 1986 through September 1988
Anso Productions
The Ann Sothern Show
Original run: CBS 1958-61
Nick at Nite: January 1987 through June 1995
Paramount Television
Eupolis Productions
Car 54, Where Are You?
Original run: NBC 1961-63
Nick at Nite: July 1987 through March 1990
T&L Productions
Make Room for Daddy
Original Run: ABC 1953-1957, 1957-1964 CBS
Nick at Nite: February 1988 through January 1991
Way Too Much Fun For Ordinary TV
In addition to its various programming marathons — and the stars it would bring in to promote those marathons and other special events — Nick at Nite became known for its imaginative marketing campaigns.
It came up with quirky “bumpers” — 10-second bits used to identify the channel before and after commercial breaks — that used various tropes from older animated TV series. Some of these clips identified Nick at Nite as originating from “TV Land” — this was before TV Land became a separate network.
In another, Dick Van Dyke — whose 1960s sitcom had joined the lineup — was presented as “Chairman of Nick at Nite.” In yet another, the network distributed “Smell-O-Vision” scratch-and-sniff cards stamped with a particular date and time that would tie in with moments in various shows: A pot roast or perfume on “The Donna Reed Show” or horse manure on “Green Acres.”
By the 1990s, marketing efforts had expanded to include T-shirts, refrigerator magnets, wristwatches, board games and other items that could be found at mall stores like Spencer’s Gifts.
One memorable example was a Nick at Nite travel kit that included a “Get Smart Shower Cap of Silence” and “Alfred Hitchcock Spine-Tingling Soap.” It also sold a working house phone based on secret agent Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone seen on “Get Smart.”