Action Pack (TV programming block): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:29, 22 March 2024

Latest revision as of 08:13, 11 August 2025

(9 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)

Line 16:

| headquarters =

| major_contracts =

| parent = [[MCA Inc.|MCA]] (1994–1996)<br>[[Seagram]] (1996–2000)<br>[[Vivendi|Vivendi Universal]] (2000–2001)

| sister = Universal Family Network

| format =

Line 25:

}}

'''''Action Pack''''', also called '''Universal Action Pack''',<ref name="vty"/> was a [[Television syndication|syndicated]] programming block series of [[television movies]] and [[television series]] created by [[Universal Television]] that aired from [[1994 in American television|1994]] until [[2001 in American television|2001]]. The ''Action Pack'' included two hours of various television series produced by Renaissance Pictures and distributed by MCA TV (later known as [[NBCUniversal Television Distribution|Universal Television Enterprises]] and Studios USA Television Distribution).

==Background==

Line 31:

==History==

In 1994, the ''Action Pack'' initially ran as a [[wheel series]] of television movies, which were all effectively pilots; if successful, they would become TV series the following season.<ref name=lat>{{cite news|last1=Cerone|first1=Daniel|title=Television : There's Action Off the Beaten Path : The ground is shifting in TV's prime time as a slew of new shows arrive--but don't go looking for them in the usual places|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-16/entertainment/-ca-12369_1_prime12369-time-programming/2story.html|accessdateaccess-date=June 8, 2017|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=January 16, 1994|pages=1–2}}</ref><ref name="ws">[http://www.whoosh.org/issue3/kym1.html Mysteries Surrounding the Creation of the Syndicated Television Show XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS] Whoosh Online Edition. Issue Three. November 1996.</ref> The initial plan was for four films created from six franchises for the block, including ''[[TekWar]]'', ''[[Smokey and the Bandit]]'', ''[[Midnight Run]]'', ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'', ''[[Vanishing Son]]'' and the working title ''Fastlane'' when offered at programming executive conference in January 1994.<ref name=lat/><ref name="vty">{{cite news|last1=Benson|first1=Jim|title='Action' packs wallop, gives markets a boost|url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/action-packs-wallop-gives-markets-a-boost-117597/|accessdate=June 9, 2017|periodical=Variety|publisher=Cahners Business Information|date=January 20, 1994}}</ref>

On January 17 and 18, 1994, a dozen stations showed ''[[TekWar]]'', the premiere TV movie of the programming block. The stations' ratings increased greatly with a 350% increase in [[KOFY-TV|KOFY]] in San Francisco. MCA cut Rob Cohen's ''Midnight Run'' to three films, so that star Christopher McDonald could star in a feature film. Cohen produced ''[[Knight Rider 2010]]'' as a replacement.<ref name="vty"/> The block aired its first season until January 1995 and lost $30 million.<ref name=vty0/> ''TekWar'' was picked up as a regular TV series for the [[USA Network]] instead of Action Pack, starting in January 1995.<ref name="sfts">{{cite book|last1=Garcia|first1=Frank|last2=Phillips|first2=Mark|title=Science Fiction Television Series, 1990–2004: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows|date=March 28, 2012 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=9780786491834 |page=326 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQIDAQAAQBAJ&q=%22Captain+Zoom%22+%22Action+Pack%22&pg=PA326|access-date=June 9, 2017|language=en|via=Google Books}}</ref>

From January to June 1995, the block included ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and ''Vanishing Son''. The ''Hercules'' series became a surprise hit as the third most-watched first-run syndicated action hour.<ref name=vty0/> From September 1995 through January 2000, ''Action Pack'' included ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and its spinoff, ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]''.<ref name="ws"/><ref>[http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/Entertainment/Xena/welcome.html Bevis King's Xena: Warrior Princess website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224095116/http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/Entertainment/Xena/welcome.html |date=December 24, 2008 }}</ref> AfterA year after ''Hercules'' ended its run in January 2000, the ''Universal Action Pack'' launched the ''Back2Back Action Hour'' consisting of two thirty-minute series: ''[[Jack of All Trades (TV series)|Jack of All Trades]]'' and ''[[Cleopatra 2525]]''<ref name="pgz">{{cite news|last1=Owen|first1=Rob|title=On the Tube: The ratings dropped with her golden locks - WB says grow it back|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/tv/20000121owen3.asp|accessdate=June 9, 2017|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|publisher=[[Block Communications]]|date=January 21, 2000|archive-date=October 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023154359/http://old.post-gazette.com/tv/20000121owen3.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> to air alongside ''Xena''. The lineup lasted until second quarter 2001. ''Jack of All Trades'' and ''Xena'' were canceled and ''Cleopatra 2525'' was increased to an hour-long show in January 2001.<ref name="abc">{{cite news|title=Xena Canceled|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=114424&page=1|accessdate=June 9, 2017|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|publisher=[[Disney-ABC Television Group]]|date=October 17, 2000}}</ref>

After ''Xena'', the most successful series on the ''Action Pack'', completed airing its final season's reruns in the summer of 2001,<ref name="abc" /> ''Cleopatra 2525'' also stopped production and the ''Action Pack'' block was discontinued.

Line 61:

*''[[Midnight Run for Your Life]]''<ref name="ws"/>

'''[[Bandit (film series)|Bandit]]''' filmsseries (Spinspin-offsoff of the ''[[Smokey and the Bandit]]'' filmstrilogy):

*''Bandit Goes Country''

*''Bandit Bandit''

Line 78:

*''[[Knight Rider 2010]]'' (1994)<ref name="vty"/>

*''[[The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space]]'' (December 9, 1995)<ref name="ct">{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Allan|title=Mission On Planet Pangea Full Of Sci-fi Schtick|url=httphttps://articleswww.chicagotribune.com/1995-/12-/03/entertainment/9512030370_1_zoommission-captain-midnighton-planet-pangea-full-of-sci-fi-schtick/|accessdateaccess-date=June 9, 2017|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|publisher=[[Tronc|Tribune Publishing]]|date=December 3, 1995|language=en}}</ref>

* ''[[Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus]]'' (May 24, 1996)

* ''Atlantis: The Lost Continent'', first shown on a Starz/Encore network channel in March 1997 before being run on Action Pack as a pilot TV film in August 1997.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ryan|first1=Tim|title=Honolulu Star-Bulletin Features|url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/96/11/04/features/story1.html|accessdate=June 9, 2017|newspaper=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]]|publisher=[[Gannett Company]]|date=November 4, 1996}}</ref> When it finally aired it was known as ''[[Escape from Atlantis (film)|Escape from Atlantis]]''.{{CN|date=November 2023}}

Line 149:

* [[WPDF-LP|WEYB]], [[WPDE-TV|WPDE]], Florence, SC

* [[WACH]], Columbia, SC

* [[KWGN-TV|KWGN]], Denver, CO

* [[KCIT]], Amarillo, TX

==References==