15 Classic Aaron Spelling Shows Throughout the Decades

13. The New People

Not everything Spelling touched turned to gold. 1969’s The New People was one of those failures. You’d think a series developed and initially written by Twillight Zone creator Rod Serling would have been a certain hit, but this one … wasn’t. The innovative series focused on a group of young college students who find themselves stranded without adults on an uninhabited island. Think of it as part Lord of the Flies, part Lost only set in the late ’60s. Unfortunately, studio influence and poor ratings doomed the show to a brief 17-episode run.

11. The Rookies

As the popularity of The Mod Squad began to wane, Spelling responded with another show about three young police officers that was in no way exactly the same as The Mod Squad because the stars of this show were both uniformed and all men. So, that’s something. Oh, and Kate Jackson also appeared as a token nurse/spouse. At any rate, the police procedural was a hit with fans, running for nearly a hundred episodes. It even spawned a spin-off, called S.W.A.T.. It’s theme song was a hit, but the show only ran two seasons.

10. Starsky and Hutch

Spelling continued to churn out hit after hit through the seventies. He branched out, making several TV movies, some of which developed into full-fledged series. One of those was Starsky and Hutch, a winning show about two cops working the beaches and back alleys of Southern California. The bromance between the two leads was so beloved by fans that Spelling himself once referred to the show as TV’s first heterosexual love affair.