Action Pack (TV programming block): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:54, 11 December 2022

Revision as of 12:55, 11 December 2022

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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|accessdate=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> 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}}</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]]|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.