Less Than Total Recall: What's The Name Of This Series I Vaguely Remember?

[Rinaldo]

With David's permission, I am starting this topic, which I sort of thought would have existed before now.

 

It's for questions (and, hopefully, answers) about TV series (or, I suppose, one-off events) seen at some point in the past, but with title now forgotten. Online databases can be good if one knows names of actors or producers, but not so much if only story or setting elements are remembered. So here's the place to ask about that sort of thing. (I'll be the first, immediately below.) 

I recall an hourlong network drama series, it might have been in the late 1980s or the 1990s, set in a private school (seems like high school) next to a beach (probably California). There were issues of class, with a poor-but-smart boy getting to go there, and he had issues with his family, and his showdown with the rich kids at the end of the pilot was a beach volleyball game between him and a rich kid. It probably ran for only a few weeks. Does anybody recognize this and recall its name?

[GreekGeek]

Sounds a bit like Malibu Shores, #28 on this list: http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/the-33-best-forgotten-teen-shows-of-the-90s#.uqvY0mRXY

[Rinaldo]

It does, doesn't it? It's the best fit I've been given so far, and I thank you for it, yet, weirdly, I'm not sure that's it. Several episodes are on YouTube, and I took a quick look. The poor-kid looks different from what I remember. That might be unreliable memory, likewise my recollection that it aired on a weeknight, and in the fall rather than midseason. But I can't find any climactic volleyball face-off in the pilot, and that bit I'm certain of. I'll keep looking at those episodes, though. It's just possible I saw a later episode. Anyway, thanks so much for the help.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Rinaldo

[GreekGeek]

Glad to help; sorry it may have been the wrong series.

 

Here's one I've never found the answer to. It was in the 70's or 80's and may have been a pilot that was never made into a series, since I'm pretty sure I only saw it once in the summer. The setting was an inner city school. There was a tall, dark and handsome teacher who had good rapport with the kids, but the episode I saw centered around a young nerdy-looking novice on his first day. His first class was chaos and he was ready to quit until he got a pep talk from Tall, Dark, and Handsome. The novice went back and made a speech that anyone who didn't want to learn could just leave. The whole class ran out. Then two kids quietly sneaked back in, and the novice went ahead with his lesson for the two of them. 

 

It's a huge long shot, but does anyone happen to know what I'm talking about? I've looked at the Wikipedia entry of TV shows with school settings, and none of them seem right. Teachers Only comes closest, but the first episode sounds different.

[Rinaldo]

I'm throwing this out there without any exhaustive research, but the first series that popped into my head for that overall description is The Bronx Zoo, which actually ran for 21 episodes over 2 seasons in 1987-88. Ed Asner was the principal, David Wilson would seem to fit the old pro teacher (including, I guess, the tall-dark-handsome part), and Jerry Levine would definitely fit the nerdy-novice slot. I hope it's the show you were thinking of! Here's a teaser intro with opening credits.

 

[GreekGeek]

Thank you for reminding me about this show, although I don't think it was the one I had in mind. This one was not centered around the principal. 

[Misslindsey]

Mine is a kids show that I want to say was from the 80's since that was when I was a kid and watched it. It took place in a department store and there was a male mannequin who came to life either when his hat was removed or put on. I cannot remember for certain. I think someone says magic words or something. There was a lady who worked in the department store, a puppet mouse, and a puppet man who was the security guard. I cannot think of what the name of the show was.

[ParadoxLost]

"hocus pocus alimagocus"  its Today's Special.  I have never seen this show. I'm not even awesome at google.  Its at the top of the page went you search "mannequin tv show".

[janie jones]

I've got two.

 

There was a cartoon that aired in the mid to late '90s (one for grownups).  I'm pretty sure it aired on cable.  It was about a talk show hosted by a man and a woman.  That's all I remember.

 

The other thing was a documentary that I didn't see the beginning of, but it concerned two men and two women who for the purpose of the documentary were going to dress as the opposite gender and experiment with passing as such.  One of the people got so freaked out I think they quit the experiment early.

[Misslindsey]

 

"hocus pocus alimagocus"  its Today's Special.  I have never seen this show. I'm not even awesome at google.  Its at the top of the page went you search "mannequin tv show".

Well, I feel like an idiot. Thanks for the info.

[SnideAsides]

Trying to identify a Quantum Leap knockoff from at least a decade ago. All I remember about the actual show is that there was an episode set around an ice skating rink where the Sam and Al expies were teaching kids to skate, and the Al was given a name badge reading "Mr. Klutz" and spent a huge amount of the episode trying to convince the kids it was pronounced "Klootz". From what little else I remember, it was an hour long, either American or Canadian (probably American, since the Australian TV networks seem to not understand there are shows from other countries), from anywhere between about 1995 and 2001 (I watched it in an early-afternoon-filler-reruns timeslot while recovering from a broken leg in 2003, and nothing felt too out-of-date), and only lasted a few weeks of weekday reruns so probably only had two seasons at most. Anyone able to help?

[GreekGeek]

Trying to identify a Quantum Leap knockoff from at least a decade ago. All I remember about the actual show is that there was an episode set around an ice skating rink where the Sam and Al expies were teaching kids to skate, and the Al was given a name badge reading "Mr. Klutz" and spent a huge amount of the episode trying to convince the kids it was pronounced "Klootz". From what little else I remember, it was an hour long, either American or Canadian (probably American, since the Australian TV networks seem to not understand there are shows from other countries), from anywhere between about 1995 and 2001 (I watched it in an early-afternoon-filler-reruns timeslot while recovering from a broken leg in 2003, and nothing felt too out-of-date), and only lasted a few weeks of weekday reruns so probably only had two seasons at most. Anyone able to help?

Was it "Sliders"?

[SnideAsides]

My Sliders boxsets say no.

[editorgrrl]

Trying to identify a Quantum Leap knockoff from at least a decade ago. All I remember about the actual show is that there was an episode set around an ice skating rink where the Sam and Al expies were teaching kids to skate, and the Al was given a name badge reading "Mr. Klutz" and spent a huge amount of the episode trying to convince the kids it was pronounced "Klootz".

Google says Twice in a Lifetime season 2, episode 15, "Even Steven" (2000).

I searched for "mr klutz" tv skating.

[ganesh]

For years I thought I hallucinate Tales of the Gold Monkey. This was before the Internet was a resource and literally no one knew what I was talking about.

[Rick Kitchen]

For years I thought I hallucinate Tales of the Gold Monkey. This was before the Internet was a resource and literally no one knew what I was talking about.

 

I loved that show.

 

 

Edited August 19, 2015 by Rick Kitchen

[Rinaldo]

I would have stood up for you, ganesh! I remember it well. My problem is that there were two Indiana Jones knockoffs on TV that season: that one, and Bring 'Em Back Alive, and I can never remember which one had Steven Collins and which Bruce Boxleitner. Both series lasted only the single 1982-83 season.

[ParadoxLost]

OK, I thought of one I've never been able to figure out.

 

Back in the late 80s or very early 90s there was an attempt to do a late night soap opera.  It had a new episode every week night and didn't survive more than three months.  I really don't think it was on cable.  It was either on one of the big three or one of the local stations that you'd get without cable (what the hell did they call those, there used to be a term for it... anyway these are the ones that became FOX, CW/WB, and TBS, etc. eventually).  In my memory it was an actual attempt to do a late night soap.  But I suppose its possible it way a syndicated soap that happened to land in late night in my area (I cared not and knew not about BTS then).   I don't think it was a soap from another country unless there are some that are generic enough to pass for being set in the US.

 

I remember the lead storyline / couple being a blond girl and a brunette guy.  There was probably a love triangle or star crossed nature to them because I remember angst about whether they would get together but that doesn't narrow it down.  I'm fairly certain right before it was cancelled that the blond was in a car accident and maybe had amnesia (car=certain, amnesia=not so sure).  The proximity of this to the cancellation was very close because I remember it as being cancelled before resolving a cliffhanger.

[Rick Kitchen]

Was it "Rituals"?

[ParadoxLost]

Was it "Rituals"?

 

That wasn't it.  Too many actors from GH and Days that I would have been able to remember and make the connection.

 

But it inspired an internet search that found it.  It shames me but I probably am required to share since I brought it up.

 

The 1994 TV adaptation of Valley of the Dolls.  Test aired in only 13 cities for 65 episodes on CBS after Letterman.  Turns out "the blond" was Y&R's Sharon Case.  I think I made up the car crash but I found a clip that made me click onto the actors.

[SnideAsides]

Google says Twice in a Lifetime season 2, episode 15, "Even Steven" (2000).

I searched for "mr klutz" tv skating.

That's the one!

[Demented Daisy]

For years I thought I hallucinate Tales of the Gold Monkey. This was before the Internet was a resource and literally no one knew what I was talking about.

 

That was me and the Great Space Coaster.  Even today, I mentioned it to my husband and he looked at me like I had 3 heads.

[mishy]

That was me and the Great Space Coaster.

My brother and I are the only people we know who knows what the hell that was! I can sing the theme song like I watched it yesterday. I'm sure I lost some important information by retaining it but there it is.

[ganesh]

How about Powerhouse?

[callmebetty]

My brother and I are the only people we know who knows what the hell that was! I can sing the theme song like I watched it yesterday. I'm sure I lost some important information by retaining it but there it is.

On the great space coaster get on board on the great space coaster.

I'm Gary gnu with all the news

Loved that show.

You all aready bringing back so many memories.

Did anyone watch TV 101 with a very young Matt LeBlanc? I remember the one episode where a student got an abortion or was going to and they played an REM song. Sometimes I feel I dreamt it. I think it was shown over the summer

[mishy]

Did anyone watch TV 101 with a very young Matt LeBlanc?

Yes!! I watched that too! I recall Alex Desert and I think possibly Stacey Dash? I'd have to go look it up but I do remember watching at least some of it.

[walnutqueen]

A miniseries that I think aired on PBS?  About a British museum (or archive) of photography with 3 awesome employees that is going under.  A rich American finally saves them after being show pictures of his childhood home ... I think?  What I remember are the wonderful photographs.  I seem to recall there were only a few episodes, and it was a long time ago.

[Ghost Ship]

walnutqueen, I'm almost certain that you're thinking of "Shooting The Past" written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. Here is a link to its IMDB entry.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184157/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

[walnutqueen]

walnutqueen, I'm almost certain that you're thinking of "Shooting The Past" written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. Here is a link to its IMDB entry.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184157/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

 

 

Yesssss!  A thousand thanks, Ghost Ship - you are awesome.  :-)

[Shannon L.]

This isn't a series, but a Christmas special.  It was about a little bear who went out in search of Christmas.  On Christmas Eve, an old gentleman with a beard, tells him to go to an address and wait, and he would find Christmas.  The place turned out to be a poor apartment, with shabby furnishings and a sad little tree with very little under it.  The bear thought that he had the wrong place because this couldn't possibly have anything to do with Christmas, but he was tired, so he decided to take a quick nap.  He fell asleep under a tree and was wakened the next morning by a little girl's shout of glee as she picked him up and twirled him around saying that she knew Santa would bring her the teddy bear she's always wanted.

 

Please tell me I'm not imagining all of that! 

[ganesh]

I'll have what she's having.

[SmithW6079]

This isn't a series, but a Christmas special.  It was about a little bear who went out in search of Christmas.  On Christmas Eve, an old gentleman with a beard, tells him to go to an address and wait, and he would find Christmas.  The place turned out to be a poor apartment, with shabby furnishings and a sad little tree with very little under it.  The bear thought that he had the wrong place because this couldn't possibly have anything to do with Christmas, but he was tired, so he decided to take a quick nap.  He fell asleep under a tree and was wakened the next morning by a little girl's shout of glee as she picked him up and twirled him around saying that she knew Santa would bring her the teddy bear she's always wanted.

 

Please tell me I'm not imagining all of that! 

Could it be "The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas"?

[Shannon L.]

That's it! Thanks, SmithW6079. I only remember seeing it once and it was quite a tear jerker.

[roamyn]

Speaking of Christmas, there was a special in the late 60s (I believe) that starred the Jody (I think) from Family Affair .

All I remember is that he died - maybe from falling off a cliff, and might have had something to do with him becoming an angel.

[SmithW6079]

That's it! Thanks, SmithW6079. I only remember seeing it once and it was quite a tear jerker.

You're welcome. Apparently, you can rent it on YouTube.

[ABay]

roamyn, I think that was called The Littlest Angel. I thought it was an Easter special, though.

[roamyn]

roamyn, I think that was called The Littlest Angel. I thought it was an Easter special, though.

You could be right. I was little and have never seen it again.

[C76]

There's a show where 2 people (or 2 pairs of people) compete for a car makeover. I think it was made within the past 10 years. I also think that one of the pairs/people risked losing their car.

 

Sorry, but I can't remember more details than that. Also, the show might have been filmed in Canada (Toronto).

Edited October 31, 2015 by C76

[The Crazed Spruce]

There's a show where 2 people (or 2 pairs of people) compete for a car makeover. I think it was made within the past 10 years. I also think that one of the pairs/people risked losing their car.

 

Sorry, but I can't remember more details than that. Also, the show might have been filmed in Canada (Toronto).

I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Last Car Standing. It aired on Discovery Canada in 2013 for one season, and was produced by the same company that makes Canada's Worst Driver. (BTW, it was hosted by Christian Potenza, who does the voice of sadistic reality show host Chris McLean on Total Drama Island.)

[auntlada]

It was either on one of the big three or one of the local stations that you'd get without cable (what the hell did they call those, there used to be a term for it... anyway these are the ones that became FOX, CW/WB, and TBS, etc. eventually).

 

UHF channels?

[ParadoxLost]

UHF channels?

I think that is right.  I remember them being in that range of channels.

[C76]

I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Last Car Standing. It aired on Discovery Canada in 2013 for one season, and was produced by the same company that makes Canada's Worst Driver. (BTW, it was hosted by Christian Potenza, who does the voice of sadistic reality show host Chris McLean on Total Drama Island.)

Thanks, The Crazed Spruce! I was drawing a blank. 

[joelene]

Mine is an anime from the late 80s/early 90s. I watched it on VHS at a friends house and it must've been between '91 and '93 that I saw it, but it might've come out a few years earlier. I think it was a movie, or part of a movie series.

It took place on a space ship, and there were several female characters (there might've been some male ones, but I only vaguely recall girls/women). I think one or a few of them were robots or humanoids or whatever. She (or they) looked and acted like humans, the one in particular I'm thinking of was a redhead and I think she had a yellow-ish suit. And there was some sort of sinister spectre onboard, hunting them, and it was like a see-through blob thing. One of the characters was engulfed by it and electrocuted somehow? This might all be faulty memory. In the end I think only a few of the crew survived, killing the spectre blob thing. I think they eventually found a planet to settle down on.

Sound familiar to anyone? Did I just dream I saw this?

[Shannon L.]

There was a British reality show on a number of years ago, where 3-4 experts in a particular field took someone with an absurd and very loose connection to their field of expertise and trained them (quickly) in it, then put them into a competition with others who had been in months/years of training in that same field. The goal was for the judges to discover who the fake contestant was.  The experts watched the competition from another room.  The episodes I remember are:

 

Sheep shearer to hairstylist (the competition was cutting a bob--the hardest haircut to master)

Food cart vendor to chef

Lower middle class woman pretending to have been raised in a very wealthy family (this one didn't have judges, just a bunch of people gathered for an expensive event that included dinner. Later, the diners at the woman's table were asked if they knew who the undercover person was).

 

I would love to know the name of this so I can see if it's on Amazon (it's probably too old, though) because I'd love to see the rest of the competitions.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Shannon L.

[Pollock]

There was a British reality show on a number of years ago, where 3-4 experts in a particular field took someone with an absurd and very loose connection to their field of expertise and trained them (quickly) in it, then put them into a competition with others who had been in months/years of training in that same field. The goal was for the judges to discover who the fake contestant was.  The experts watched the competition from another room.  The episodes I remember are:

 

Sheep shearer to hairstylist (the competition was cutting a bob--the hardest haircut to master)

Food cart vendor to chef

Lower middle class woman pretending to have been raised in a very wealthy family (this one didn't have judges, just a bunch of people gathered for an expensive event that included dinner. Later, the diners at the woman's table were asked if they knew who the undercover person was).

 

I would love to know the name of this so I can see if it's on Amazon (it's probably too old, though) because I'd love to see the rest of the competitions.

 Faking It ? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355080/?ref_=tt_ov_inf

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/faking-it/on-demand/32922-001 

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/faking-it/episode-guide

[Shannon L.]

I believe that's it.  Thank you, Pollock!

[Demented Daisy]

Mine is an anime from the late 80s/early 90s. I watched it on VHS at a friends house and it must've been between '91 and '93 that I saw it, but it might've come out a few years earlier. I think it was a movie, or part of a movie series.

It took place on a space ship, and there were several female characters (there might've been some male ones, but I only vaguely recall girls/women). I think one or a few of them were robots or humanoids or whatever. She (or they) looked and acted like humans, the one in particular I'm thinking of was a redhead and I think she had a yellow-ish suit. And there was some sort of sinister spectre onboard, hunting them, and it was like a see-through blob thing. One of the characters was engulfed by it and electrocuted somehow? This might all be faulty memory. In the end I think only a few of the crew survived, killing the spectre blob thing. I think they eventually found a planet to settle down on.

Sound familiar to anyone? Did I just dream I saw this?

 

Sorry I only just now saw this.  It sounds a bit like the Phoenix Saga of the X-Men cartoon series in the early 90's.

 

[zxy556575]

Faking It! Discovery or TLC should resurrect that in the U.S. It was a fun show and the outcome was always a nail-biter. The expert judges who were brought in sometimes did NOT like it one bit when they were fooled, which was also great.

[Wax Lion]

There was a US version of Faking It on TLC. It was really awful. While the British version focused on the skill being learned, there was more drama to the TLC version and the few times I watched it, the subjects were really whiny.

 

ETA: Okay, any telenovela experts out there? I'm trying to remember the name of a Spanish telenovela that was popular enough that an American remake aired on Telemundo. It was set in a boarding school and had an O in the title (not a word with an 'o' but just an O) and had a storyline with a gay character (as I recall the American version got a lot of criticism for muting that story.)

Edited January 15, 2016 by Wax Lion

[Rick Kitchen]

There was a US version of Faking It on TLC. It was really awful. While the British version focused on the skill being learned, there was more drama to the TLC version and the few times I watched it, the subjects were really whiny.

 

ETA: Okay, any telenovela experts out there? I'm trying to remember the name of a Spanish telenovela that was popular enough that an American remake aired on Telemundo. It was set in a boarding school and had an O in the title (not a word with an 'o' but just an O) and had a storyline with a gay character (as I recall the American version got a lot of criticism for muting that story.)

 

That was “Dangerous Relationships”.  The original series was Spanish, "Fisica o Quimica", which became famous for its gay teen storyline.  It was remade in Russia, as well, despite Russia's notorious homophobia.  But “Dangerous Relationships”, set in an elite Miami high school, copped out and couldn't even show kisses.