Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 121

What I've been watching: February 2020

Shows I’ve Watched:
Shows I’ve Bought: The Wild Wild West Doctor Who: The Moonbase Star Trek: The Original Series Doctor Who: The War Games The Outer Limits

It’s often said that nostalgia is a way of reliving the past; detractors often accuse us of simply living in the past, as if we refuse to avoid or inhabit the present. I suppose I’d have to consult one of the doctors on The Eleventh Hour to find out the truth of that, not that I don’t on occasion get nostalgic for the days when I had more hair and carried fewer pounds. But then, you don’t want to hear me natter about a post-midlife crisis, or any such nonsense. You came here to read about old television shows, and by golly, I’m going to do my best to satisfy that desire.

Let’s take The Wild Wild West, for example. It’s the leadoff program on our Friday night viewing, having filled a role once occupied by The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and I link those two series deliberately, because they have a lot in common. Both series ran for four seasons, in each case the first season being black-and-white. Both owed a considerable debt to the success of the James Bond movie franchise; both featured a dynamic duo of suave agents dedicated to combating some kind of ridiculous, overly-complicated plot for world domination constructed by an absurdly colorful, egomaniacal villain living on the wrong side of sanity. In both shows the second banana served to soften the edges of the actor playing the hero, allowing the emergency of a humanity that might not otherwise be apparent to the viewer. And, most relevant to this discussion, neither The Wild Wild West nor The Man from U.N.C.L.E. are series that I watched regularly when they were originally on. It’s true that I might have been a bit young for them when they first started, but certainly by the time each series went off the air, I would have matured enough to enjoy the fast-paced action, the outrageous storylines, and the beautiful women that were hallmarks of the two.

So why didn’t I? I’m not entirely certain. It’s possible that the adults in the household wanted to watch something else, although I seem to have a vague memory of being told to watch U.N.C.L.E. once when I was bored and fussy, the idea being that this was the kind of show I ought to be enjoying. Certainly, at that age the most important thing on television for me was sports, but it’s impossible to think that there would have been a game on every single night that these programs aired. Barring some kind of regression therapy to take me back to the past, which might not answer these questions and certainly wouldn’t help me either grow hair or lose weight, I’m afraid we may never know.

I’m off on another tangent, aren’t I? All right, let’s get back to the point. If it’s true that I didn’t watch either of these shows back in the day, then it’s hard to accuse me of trying to relive the past by watching them now. Perhaps the best way to put it is that I’m trying to understand the past, particularly an era that for some reason continues to fascinate me. If this is what I’m doing, then I’m also discovering the added benefit that I enjoy both of these shows immensely.

The Wild Wild West stars Robert Conrad as James West and Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon, agents of the United States Secret Service working under the direction of President Ulysses S. Grant. We don’t often see Grant in the series, because their job isn’t to protect him bodily, but to foil plots that are usually aimed at toppling the United States government. West is the more prominent of the two, which you can tell right away because his name is part of the title (hence, the implicit pun, because West does indeed lead a wild, wild life), in the same way that Robert Vaughn was the titular Man from U.N.C.L.E. West is fast with his fists, with words, and with the ladies, which usually puts him in a fair degree of danger each week. And although he seems to specialize in extricating himself from these threats, it’s a good thing that he has Gordon, a master of disguise and dialect, backing him up.

Gordon, although he seems to spend a good amount of time unconscious as the result of the villain or his henchmen, is a good second to West for a couple of reasons. First, his disguises often allow him in to the villain’s lair, where he proves to be both clever and a tough customer to deal with, occasionally bailing West out at the last moment. Perhaps more important to us as viewers, though, Ross Martin performs that service I mentioned back at the outset: as David McCallum does with Robert Vaughn in U.N.C.L.E., Martin helps to soften and humanize Robert Conrad, who can often come across as abrasive and arrogant, without threatening his status as the show’s star. In West, Conrad’s ego is put to good use, as Conrad displays the confidence necessary for a hero, and his insistence on doing his own stunts is both effective and very impressive. The chemistry between Conrad and Martin, in fact, is one of the show’s best traits; although we’re not quite sure what the relationship is supposed to be at the outset, when the two agents refer to each other as “James” and “Artemus,” by the end of the first season they’ve become “Jim” and “Artie,” and their loyalty and devotion to each other is as great as that which they both show to their government.

I’d be way off base if I didn’t follow up on those colorful villains for a moment, the most famous and best-loved of them being the sinister Dr. Miguelito Loveless, played wonderfully by Oscar-nominee Michael Dunn. His appearances, from the very first, are one of the show’s highlights, but the over-the-top performances by various well-known actors each week ensure that West and Gordon face worthy rivals, to keep the show from descending into a complete cartoon.

I deliberately scheduled both The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild Wild West as Friday viewing not only because it’s historically accurate, but because they’re the perfect antidote to the workweek. After slaving over a desk for five days, who wouldn’t be happy to come home to such pleasant, reassuring company on the screen? It’s the perfect way to start a weekend.

My wife considers herself a purist when it comes to Star Trek: The Original Series, and so the enhanced special effects that come with the restored set didn't hold a lot of interest for her. We got the Blu Ray edition, though, because there was a sale going on at Amazon, and it seemed like the right thing to do. And boy, does it make a difference! It would be hyperbole to say that the new effects blew us away, because we're experienced television viewers who've seen a lot of special effects in the day, but it's difficult to describe how they bring Star Trek into, well, the present. It gives one the feeling of how it must have been to watch them during the original network run, even though they're much clearer now than they ever would have been then.

Original effects on the left, enhanced on the right
But for all that, the effects don't overpower what made the original Trek such compelling viewing. One of the things I always find interesting in these early episodes is how easy it could have been, as someone said, for the series to turn into The Mr. Spock Hour. He's an amazing character, even though he's not quite a finished product, with a superb portrayal by Leonard Nimoy. William Shatner, of course, is Captain Kirk, and these early episodes emphasize two things: the humanity of the man, and I don't mean that as charity, although that is present as well, but talking about the value of being fully human, something that neither machine nor Vulcan can replicate; and the importance to him of the Enterprise. As Harry Mudd tells one of his women, a Starfleet captain is married to his ship, and Kirk is a perfect example of this. DeForest Kelley's Dr. McCoy completes the trio that remains beloved for decades. All that, and special effects that are, dare we say it, out of this world? No, let's simply say that, like Baby Bear's porridge, they're just right.

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I've alluded to it in the past, but I might as well make it obvious here: the only Doctor Who I'm interested in is the classic series. I'll live with Ecclestone, Tennant, Smith and Capaldi (and John Hurt as the War Doctor), but that's as far as it goes. You can probably figure out who I've left off that list, but from what I've read, I haven't missed anything in the last couple of years.

That's a discussion for another day, though. After all, the name of this feature is "What I've Been Watching," not "What I Haven't Been Watching." Allow me to mention two new acquisitions I haven't had the chance to watch—yet. With an opening on the Saturday night viewing horizon, it's time to begin planning a start-to-finish viewing of Doctor Who—the first time since I originally saw them 30-some years ago. One of the reasons I haven't done that yet is that I haven't yet succeeded in replacing my old VHS versions with DVDs. And in case you haven't checked lately, the price of some Doctor Who discs is off the wall, bec ause they've gone out of print in the United States. They haven't in England, however, and because 1) I happen to have a region-free DVD player, and 2) the Region 2 discs are less expensive, I've been filling in the gaps, particularly in my Patrick Troughton collection.

The Troughton era suffered greatly from the BBC's policy of wiping video tapes in order to reuse them; until the last few years, less than a dozen of his stories had survived, and the balance existed only as telesnaps, a combination of the original soundtracks (they survived the purge) and still photos that had been taken, as I recall, during episode rehearsals. However, in the past few years copies of additional stories have turned up, found in the storerooms of former British colonies, and storiesthat only partially existed were completed by animating the missing episodes.

With the addition of The Moonbase and The War Games (the final Troughton story), I only have two more to buy; then I'll have the full Hartnell and Troughton collections. I figure that will take over a year to go through, by which time I'll be able to fill in some more gaps down the line. Providing coronavirus doesn't get me, I might get the complete series one of these days. And you'll read about it here. TV  

What's on TV? Wednesday, March 10, 1971

I don't know how it is that I wound up with such a stash of TV Guides from Philadelphia. It's logical to assume I got them all at the same time from the same vendor, sometime in the past year. I'm not sure how many more there are, but I feel as if I should be taking a course in the history of Philadelphia television. In the meantime, this will have to do.



 3  KYW (NBC)
MORNING
    6:00 NEWS
    6:15 HOW THEY GET THAT WAY -C-
    6:45 FARM, HOME AND GARDEN -C-
    6:55 TODAY IN PHILADELPHIA -C-
    7:00 TODAY -C-Guests: Bill Moyers, Don Tetrault
    9:00 McLEAN & COMPANY -C-
  10:00 DINAH SHORE -C-
  10:30 CONCENTRATION -C-
  11:00 SALE OF THE CENTURY -C-
  11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES -C-Guests: Bob Clayton, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Arte Johnson, Jan Murray, Wally Cox, Paul Lynde, Rose Marie, Charley Weaver
AFTERNOON
  12:00 NEWS—Marciarose/Caldwell -C-
  12:30 MIKE DOUGLAS -C-Guests: Al Capp, Lester Maddox, Chuck McCann, Andrea Marcovicci
    2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES -C-
    2:30 DOCTORS—Serial -C-
    3:00 ANOTHER WORLD -C-
    3:30 BRIGHT PROMISE -C-
    4:00 SOMERSET -C-
    4:30 DAVID FROST -C-Guests: Jane Russell, James Coco, Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki, Ella Mitchell, Rolf Harris, Kris Kristofferson
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS -C-
    7:00 NBC NEWS -C-
    7:30 MEN FROM SHILOH -C-
    9:00 JACK BENNY -C-Special: Guests: Lucille Ball, George Burns, Phil Harris, John Wayne, Dionne Warwick, Dr. David Reuben [Pre-empts “Music Hall]
  10:00 FOUR IN ONE -C-The Psychiatrist
  11:00 NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS -C-
  11:30 JOHNNY CARSON -C-Guests: Lucille Ball, Glen Campbell


 6  WFIL (ABC)
MORNING
    6:30 OPERATION ALPHABET -C-
    7:00 MY LITTLE MARGIE—Comedy
    7:30 CAPTAIN NOAH -C-
    8:30 POPEYE THEATER -C-
    9:00 LUCILLE RIVERS—Sewing -C-
    9:10 CONNIE ROUSSIN -C-
    9:20 NEWS -C-
    9:30 SUBJECT—Discussion -C-
  10:00 TARGET—Interview -C-
  10:30 MOVIE GAME -C-Guests: Desi Arnaz Jr., Nanette Fabray, Lorne Greene, Peter Lawford, Dick Martin, Lily Tomlin
  11:00 STAGE 6—Variety -C-
  11:30 THAT GIRL -C-
AFTERNOON
  12:00 BEWITCHED -C-
  12:30 WORLD APART—Serial -C-
    1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN -C-
    1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL -C-
    2:00 NEWLYWED GAME -C-
    2:30 DATING GAME -C-
    3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL -C-
    3:30 JURY TRIALS—Serial -C-
    4:00 DARK SHADOWS -C-
    4:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy
    5:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES -C-
    5:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH -C-
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS -C-
    6:30 ABC NEWS—Smith/Reasoner -C-
    7:00 WHAT’S MY LINE?—Game -C-Panel: Bert Convy, Arlene Francis, Soupy Sales, Gail Sheldon
    7:30 EDDIE’S FATHER -C-
    8:00 ROOM 222 -C-
    8:30 FASHION SHOW -C-Special
    9:00 MOVIE—Western -C-“Rio Conchos” (1964)
  11:30 DICK CAVETT -C-Time approximate. Guests: Deborah Kerr, Luis Miguel Dominguin
    1:00 RIFLEMAN—Western


 8  WGAL (LANCASTER) (NBC)
MORNING
    6:30 COUNTRY MUSIC -C-
    7:00 TODAY -C-Guests: Bill Moyers, Don Tetrault
    9:00 MIKE DOUGLAS -C-Guests: Al Capp, Lester Maddox, Chuck McCann, Andrea Marcovicci
  10:00 DINAH SHORE -C-
  10:30 CONCENTRATION -C-
  11:00 SALE OF THE CENTURY -C-
  11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES -C-Guests: Bob Clayton, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Arte Johnson, Jan Murray, Wally Cox, Paul Lynde, Rose Marie, Charley Weaver
AFTERNOON
  12:00 JEOPARDY—Game -C-
  12:30 NOONDAY ON 8 -C-
    1:00 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy
    1:30 JOE GARAGIOLA’S MEMORY GAME -C-
    2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES -C-
    2:30 DOCTORS—Serial -C-
    3:00 ANOTHER WORLD -C-
    3:30 BRIGHT PROMISE -C-
    4:00 SOMERSET -C-
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS -C-
    6:30 NBC NEWS -C-
    7:00 TRUTH OR CONSEUQNECES -C-
    7:30 MEN FROM SHILOH -C-
    9:00 JACK BENNY -C-Special: Guests: Lucille Ball, George Burns, Phil Harris, John Wayne, Dionne Warwick, Dr. David Reuben [Pre-empts “Music Hall]
  10:00 FOUR IN ONE -C-The Psychiatrist
  11:00 NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS -C-
  11:30 JOHNNY CARSON -C-Guests: Lucille Ball, Glen Campbell
    1:00 NEWS -C-


10 WCAU (CBS)
MORNING
    6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER -C-Life Processes
    6:30 TEMPLE UNIVERSITY SEMINAR—Prof. Trayes -C-
    7:00 CBS NEWS -C-
    8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children -C-
    9:00 BETTY HUGHES—Variety -C-
    9:55 NEWS—Edith Huggins -C-
  10:00 LUCILLE BALL -C-
  10:30 HILLBILLIES -C-
  11:00 FAMILY AFFAIR -C-
  11:30 LOVE OF LIFE -C-
AFTERNOON
  12:00 WHERE THE HEART IS—Serial -C-
  12:25 CBS NEWS -C-
  12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial -C-
    1:00 GALLOPING GOURMET -C-
    1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial -C-
    2:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING—Serial -C-
    2:30 GUIDING LIGHT -C-
    3:00 SECRET STORM -C-
    3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT -C-
    4:00 GOMER PYLE -C-
    4:30 MOVIE—Western -C-“The Violent Men” (1954)
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS -C-
    7:00 CBS NEWS—Cronkite -C-
    7:30 DR. SEUSS CARTOON -C-Special: “The Cat in the Hat”[“Men at Law’ will not be seen]
    8:00 COMEDY SPECIAL -C-“Robert Young and the Family”
    9:00 MEDICAL CENTER—Drama -C-
  10:00 HAWAII FIVE-O -C-
  11:00 NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS -C-
  11:30 MERV GRIFFIN -C-Guests: Desi Arnaz, Buck Owens, Bob Crosby, Horace Heidt and their sons
    1:00 MOVIE—Western “Destry Rides Again” (1939)
    2:50 NEWS -C-


12 WHYY (PBS)
MORNING
    9:00 SESAME STREET -C-Guest: Pat Paulsen
  10:00 CLASSROOM—Education
AFTERNOON
  12:00 CLASSROOM—Continued
    4:00 SESAME STREET -C-Guest: Pat Paulsen
    5:00 MISTER ROGERS -C-
    5:30 HODGEPODGE LODGE -C-
EVENING
    6:00 LOCAL NEWS—Don Dunwell
    6:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children
    7:00 WORLD PRESS REVIEW -C-
    8:00 FRENCH CHEF -C-
    8:30 DREAM MACHINE -C-Guests: Peter Yarrow, Andy Rooney, Stacy Keach
  10:00 MASTERPIECE THEATRE -C-“The First Churchills,” Chapter 9
  11:00 LOCAL NEWS—Al Campagnone


17 WPHL (Ind.)
MORNING
    9:30 APPLIED MANAGEMENT SCIENCE -C-
  10:00 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise -C-
  10:30 ROCKET ROBIN HOOD -C-
  11:00 JOHNNY CYPHER—Children -C-
  11:30 MANTRAP—Discussion -C-
AFTERNOON
  12:00 JEOPARDY—Game -C-
  12:30 WHO, WHAT OR WHERE -C-
  12:55 NBC NEWS—Floyd Kalber -C-
    1:00 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial -C-
    1:30 JOE GARAGIOLA’S MEMORY GAME -C-
    2:00 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE -C-
    3:00 ASTROBOY—Children
    3:30 KING KONG—Children -C-
    4:00 LONE RANGER—Children -C-
    4:30 THREE STOOGES—Children
    5:00 SPEED RACER -C-
    5:30 SPIDERMAN—ChIldren -C-
EVENING
    6:00 GILLIGAN’S ISLAND -C-
    6:30 DANIEL BOONE—Adventure -C-
    7:30 OF LANDS AND SEAS -C-
    8:30 MOVIE—Drama“Bright Leaf” (1950)
  11:00 CAN YOU TOP THIS? -C-Guests: Milton Berle, Morey Amsterdam, Henny Youngman
  11:30 MOVIE—Drama -C-“Woman of Straw” (English; 1964)


29 WTAF (Ind.)
MORNING
    7:55 BLACK HISTORY -C-
    8:00 NEWS WATCH -C-
    9:00 SKIPPER RYLE—Children -C-
  10:00 ROMPER ROOM—Children -C-
  11:00 PHIL DONAHUE -C-Guest: Gunilla Knutson
  11:55 COVER UP WITH ADELE -C-
AFTERNOON
  12:00 POPEYE & PALS—Children -C-
  12:30 BOZO—Children -C-
    1:00 DENNIS THE MENACE—Comedy
    1:30 REAL McCOYS—Comedy
    2:00 PHIL DONAHUE -C-Guest: Gunilla Knutson
    2:55 BLACK HISTORY -C-
    3:00 BEAT THE CLOCK—Game -C-Guest: Bert Convy
    3:30 ADAM, POPEYE & PALS -C-
    5:00 LAND OF THE GIANTS -C-
EVENING
    6:00 FLYING NUN—Comedy -C-
    6:30 I DREAM OF JEANNIE -C-
    7:00 DRAGNET—Crime Drama -C-
    7:30 PRO HOCKEY HIGHLIGHTS -C-
    8:00 PRO HOCKEY -C-Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins
  10:00 YOUNG LAWYERS -C-[Joined in progress at the conclusion of the hockey game]
  11:00 NEWS PROBE -C-
  11:30 PRO WRESTLING -C-
  12:30 BLACK HISTORY -C-
  12:35 NEWS WATCH -C-


39 WLVT (ALLENTOWN) (PBS)
MORNING
    7:15 SESAME STREET -C-
    8:15 CLASSROOM—Education
AFTERNOON
  12:00 CLASSROOM—Continued
    3:00 MANAGEMENT TRAINING
    3:45 MAGIC WINDOW—Children
    4:00 SESAME STREET -C-Guest: Pat Paulsen
    5:00 MISTER ROGERS -C-
    5:30 HODGEPODGE LODGE -C-
EVENING
    6:00 SESAME STREET -C-Guest: Pat Paulsen
    7:00 MISTER ROGERS -C-
    7:30 4 H TV SCIENCE CLUB -C-
    8:00 LET’S TALK TAXES -C-
  10:00 ON FILMGuest: Richard Harris. Host: George Stimel Jr.
  10:30 BOOK BEAT -C-Guest: Turner Catledge


48 WKBS (Ind.)
AFTERNOON
  12:00 DELAWARE VALLEY TODAY—Carl Grant -C-
  12:30 DICKORY DOC CARTOONS -C-
    1:00 MOVIE—Drama“The Velvet Touch” (1948)
    2:50 NEWS -C-
    3:00 KIMBA—Children -C-
    3:30 BANANA SPLITS -C-
    4:30 FLINTSTONES—Children -C-
    5:00 MUNSTERS—Comedy
    5:30 GET SMART—Comedy -C-
EVENING
    6:00 STAR TREK—Drama -C-
    7:00 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy
    7:30 IT TAKES A THIEF -C-
    8:30 CANDID CAMERAGuest: Dorothy Collins
    9:00 AVENGERS—Adventure -C-
  10:00 PERRY MASON—Mystery
  11:00 ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama
  11:30 MOVIE—Drama“Across the Bridge” (English; 1958)
TV  

This week in TV Guide: March 6, 1971

The late 1950s and early 1960s were the glory years for the literate political thriller, beginning with 1959’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Advise and Consent, a look at the seamy underbelly of American politics set against the backdrop of a confirmation battle over a nominee for Secretary of State. Advise and Consent was followed in quick succession by The Manchurian Candidate (1959) and Seven Days in May and Fail-Safe (both 1962). The books had several things in common: they were all successful, they all involved communism in one way or another, they all dealt with controversial topics (homosexuality in Advise and Consent, brainwashing in The Manchurian Candidate, a military coup in Seven Days in May, and an accidental nuclear attack in Fail-Safe), and they were all made into big-time movies with big-name stars (Henry Fonda in both Advise and Consent and Fail-Safe, Frank Sinatra  and Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate, and Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster in Seven Days in May).

In 1968, Fletcher Knebel, who co-authored Seven Days in May with Charles W. Bailey (the pair also wrote another political thriller, Convention), published the novel Vanished, about a presidential confidante who, as the title puts it, vanishes without a trace. Did he escape to avoid prosecution for a crime? Is he involved in a sordid affair? Or, most disturbingly, did he take his insider information and defect to an enemy nation? Unlike the books above, Vanished did not graduate to the big screen, but was instead transferred to television, as the first-ever two-part made-for-TV movie. Vanished makes its debut this week on NBC, airing Monday and Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET, with an impressive cast, including Richard Widmark (in his TV acting debut), James Farentino, William Shatner, Larry Hagman, Arthur Hill, E.G. Marshall, Eleanor Parker, Betty White, Russell Johnson, and Robert Young. For a touch of authenticity, the movie also includes three newsmen essentially playing themselves: Chet Huntley, Herb Kaplow, and Martin Agronsky.

I read Vanished, many years ago; it’s not up to the standards of the other books I mentioned (all of which I own), but it’s still an entertaining, if somewhat predictable, potboiler. The movie receives mixed reviews; Judith Crist calls it a "hey there" movie ("Hey there, it's Marcus Welby! Hey there, it's Dr. Craig!), and wonders if this will set a two-part pattern for future television movies. One of the most common criticisms is its length, which suggests that longer, meatier books might make for better multi-part stories. Today it gets lumped into the general category of “miniseries,” but in the days before the miniseries, at a time when only the biggest (and longest) big-screen movies got the two-part treatment, NBC’s billing of Vanished as a two-part movie is clearly meant to suggest prestige. We report; you can decide for yourself here .

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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the series of the era. 

If you liked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cleveland Amory says—"well, so did the producers" of ABC's new western, Alias Smith and Jones. But, as he reminds us, plagiarism is copying one book; research is copying two. And ABC "has researched this one real good. They've even got overtones of two previous shows, The Fugitive and Run for Your Life."

OK, we know that Cleve puts a premium on originality, but just because an idea isn't original doesn't mean the show isn't any good, right? Then again, "One thing you'll have to grant this show: It doesn't promise very much, and it certainly doesn't deliver a whole lot." He does like the premise, though, of two outlaws turned good guys, who are set to receive a pardon from the governor if they can stay out of trouble. Television being what it is, of course, trouble comes to look for them. (Otherwise, there's not much of a series here.) He also likes Smith and Jones's two stars, Pete Duel (Hannibal Heyes, alias Joshua Smith) and Ben Murphy (Kid Curry, alias Thaddeus Jones), "fine actors who deserve not only better treatment but also better finished scripts." And there are no complaints about the guest stars, who've included Burl Ives, Cesar Romero, Pernell Roberts and Slim Pickens. But—and you knew this was coming—"The basic trouble seems to be that the only suspense you have is whether or not you're going to believe anything—and, if so, for how long. We realize you're not meant to believe it, still, we want to believe, honest we do."

Amory's favorite episode so far involved a train robbery, with Smith and Jones posing as private agents "Grant" and "Gaines," hired to thwart the robbery. We also have guest star Beth Brickell, a supposed Southern belle who isn't what she appears to be, either. (Apparently, in this episode, nobody is.) In the climatic scene, Grant, as Heyes alias Smith alias Duel, and Gaines, as Curry alias Jones alias Murphy, succeed in convincing guest star William Windom that they are none of the above, but are secret agents who are in fact so secret that they're even a secret to the head of secret agents (guest star J.D. Cannon). "Alas and alack, it was one too many aliases for us. But just the same, we did try not to believe that we had to believe."

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It doesn't seem all that long ago that she was in our living rooms each week, Dinah Shore urging us to see the U.S.A. in our Chevrolets, and throwing us a big kiss at the end of her variety show. But it's been almost eight years since The Dinah Shore Show went off the air in 1963 (Chevy dropped its sponsorship in 1961), and with the exception of four ABC specials in 1964-65, her appearances since then have been limited to guesting on other people's shows. But that has changed.

She's now the host of Dinah's Place, a daily talk show airing mornings at 10:00 a.m. on NBC. And, as Arnold Hano points out, this isn't the Dinah Shore that we're all used to, the one who was "as easy to get along with as an old girdle": she sips wine with Frank Sinatra and Vincent Price, talks about "creative separation" with ex-priest James Kavanaugh, and discusses current topics such as drugs, politics, women's lib, and grape boycotts in support of Cesar Chavez and his farm workers. What's changed?

It starts with executive producer Henry Jaffe, a long-time Dinah friend, who urged her, "Aren't you tired of Vegas audiences? Don't you want to say something? You're more interesting now than you were 10 years ago. Speak out." And so she has. "Yes, I live in a glamorous way, she says. "I earned it. I worked for it. But my problems aren't different from other women's: children, work, ecology." And it's not just the subject matter: her personal playlist now includes Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Caned Heat; her backup combo has long hair and a mod sound, and she has quickly adapted to it. So much, in fact, that she'll win an Emmy for it in 1974.

And therein lies a story, one you've probably heard before, of NBC sending her a telegram congratulating her on the Emmy win and, oh, by the way, your show has been cancelled to make room for a game show. Unfazed, Dinah and the show move to syndication, and under the title Dinah! continues to run until 1980. Nothing could be finer.

t  t  t
Dinah Shore may have stopped urging us to drive from coast to coast, and The Hollywood Palace left the airwaves last year, but there are still a surprising number of variety shows around, and plenty of stars to appear on them.

Saturday's a great night for variety, and we'll start with dueling shows: Andy Williams on NBC and Lawrence Welk on ABC (both at 7:30 p.m.). As always, Larry depends on his regulars in his salute to musical history makers (including Hoagy Carmichael, Fanny Brice, George Gershwin, and Mario Lanza), while Andy spotlights the former Welk regulars the Lennon Sisters, plus Desi Arnaz, Jo Anne Worley, and the Bee Gees. At 8:30, Pearl Bailey follows Welk on ABC with Tony Bennett, Jimmy Durante and the Supremes. (As opposed to, say, Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters.) And that's followed at 9:30 by Johnny Cash, who brings the circus to the Grand Ole Opry with his guests Emmett Kelly Jr., trapeze artist Senor Antonio, juggler Miss Nova, sword balancer Marco Popo, Bobby and his trained chimps, the high-wire Rodrequez Brothers, and Bob Williams and his dog Louie. Oh, and there's also the regulars: June Carter, Car Perkins, the Carter Family, the Statler Brothers, and the Tennessee Three. On a syndicated note, Barbara McNair's show (10:00 p.m., WTAF) features Lou Rawls, Tobi Lark, Peter Appleyard, and Hart and Lorne.

Sunday belongs to CBS; at 8:00 p.m., it's our old friend, Ed Sullivan (in his program's final months), with Roy Clark, Louis Nye, Jeannie C. Riley, and Teresa Graves; the highlight of the program is the appearance of armed forces performers who were selected last year when the cast toured military bases. I wonder if any of them wound up in Vietnam, and if they made it back. Ed is followed at 9:00 p.m. by Glen Campbell, who's goodtiming it with Vikki Carr, David Steinberg, Shecky Greene, Seals and Crofts, and Mel Tillis. At 10:00 p.m., CBS has been rerunning full-hour Honeymoon shows from Jackie Gleason's show; tonight, the mob finds out that Ralph  is a dead ringer for their underworld boss. Guest stars include Bruce Gordon (who, I'll bet, plays a mobster) and Barbara Nichols. And late night (11:30 p.m.) on WPHL, it's Hugh Hefner's show, with Tom Smothers, Johnny Mathis, the Modern Jazz Quartet, John Stewart, and mentalist Kenny Kingston. It had better be good, though, because opposite it on WFIL is—Fail-Safe.

Monday night features the final month of Red Skelton's sad NBC series (7:30 p.m.), with guest Tony Randall. Laugh-In is on at 8:00 p.m.; no guest stars, just the regulars tonight. For stars, we'll hang around for Carol Burnett (10:00 p.m.), with Mike Douglas and Bernadette Peters.*

*Bernadette Peters seems to have been on television forever (and I mean that in a good way); she's only 72 today, which means she was 23 when this show was aired. Ah, the fountain of eternal youth.

Tuesday (are we going to go through the whole week? Yes, we are!), Don Knotts and his short-lived variety show lead the way (8:00 p.m., NBC), with Michael Landon, John Davidson, Charles Nelson Reilly and Gloria Loring.* At 8:30 p.m., it's Hee Haw, still on CBS, with Ray Charles and Lynn Anderson joining the show's all-star lineup of regulars.

*Another performer with an endless list of credits; she's one year older than Bernadette Peters, although today her son Robin Thicke might be better-known.

Kraft Music Hall is the regular feature on Wednesday, but this week it's preempted for a Jack Benny special, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Jack Benny--But Were Afraid to Ask, with guests Lucille Ball, George Burns, Phil Harris, John Wayne, Dionne Warwick, and author Dr. David Reuben.

On Thursday, we've got a full evening starting with Flip Wilson (7:30 p.m., NBC) and guests Lena Horne, Ray Stevens, and George Carline. At 8:00 p.m., CBS counters with Jim Nabors, who's pried Johnny Cash and June Carter away from ABC for an hour. Dean Marin rounds out the evening (10:00 p.m., NBC) with his old friend Orson Welles, old lover Petula Clark, old uncle Leonard Barr, and Norm Crosby, who's not old but is a frequent guest.

There aren't any variety shows on Friday night; I don't know why, because there have been ones in the past (remember ABC's Operation: Entertainment?), but I hate to break up a good thing, so we'll settle for Mike Douglas, whose Friday guests (12:30 p.m., KYW) are Al Capp (co-host), Jerry Lewis and singer Janis Ian.

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There's more this week, of the non-variety kind. On Saturday, one of the performers on American Bandstand (12:30 p.m., ABC) is Henry Mancini. Makes for a bit of a change, doesn't it? Sunday and Monday nights at 9:00 p.m., ABC presents a two-part showing of the 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty, with Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard. Judith Crist calls the remake spectacular, with Howard "simply suburb" as Captain Bligh, while Brando's Fletcher Christian is "interesting if uneven." As she points out, though, you'll have to miss the first half of Vanished to see it.

PBS profiles movie director David Lean (Tuesday, 9:00 p.m.), and it's a wonder that the filmmakers can cram it all into 60 minutes, what with Lean's output, including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Bridge on the River Kwai, Brief Encounter, Ryan's Daughter, and Great Expectations, to name a few.

The Cat in the Hat makes his television debut Wednesday night (7:30 p.m., CBS), with Allan Sherman as the voice of the Cat. It's the third Dr. Seuss cartoon to make it to the network, after How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Horton Hears a Who.

The wheel show Four in One (Wednesday, 10:00 p.m., NBC) presents The Psychiatrist, with Roy Thinnes as Dr. James Whitman, and Luther Adler as his older mentor, Dr. Bernard Altman (because the rules of television specify that a young doctor/lawyer/detective has to be paired with an older mentor); this week, Steven Spielberg directs "A Study of Death," with Clu Gulager as a champion golfer who has it all: money, a wife and child, and incurable duodenal cancer.

One of David Frost's guests on Thursday (4:30 p.m., KYW) is the ageless baseball immortal, Satchel Paige, 64 years old and less than five years removed from his last pitching appearance, with the minor league Peninsula Grays. He's also the author of one of the great quotes of all time, "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."

And then there's The Interns (Friday, 7:30 p.m., CBS), which tonight deals with the use and effects of drugs in professional sports. The Interns, based on the 1962 film The Interns and the 1964 sequel The New Interns is, as the title would suggest, about young doctors being mentored by an older, wiser doctor (imagine that!), none other than this week's cover star, Broderick Crawford. Crawford has led a colorful life, to say the least. Let Dwight Whitney set the scene: "We're sitting around shooting the early-morning breeze in Broderick Crawford's place. . .As usual, he is feeling no pain, and it is not even 9 o'clock in the morning." Whitney describes the interior of Crawford's home. "Several empty beer cans line the coffee table. Another half-full one is poised for take-off in a hamlike hand. In the kitchen, next to the empties and the vitamin-B complex, stands a tumbler smelling suspiciously like vodka." Did I mention it's 9 o'clock in the morning? "My mother [actress Helen Broderick] always said be ready, so I start the night before." Whitney finds him a "magnificently battered, enormously likable, lonely, beautiful bull of a man."

Crawford got his start on the stage, thanks to people like George S. Kaufman and Ethel Barrymore. He made the transition to movies, finding his role of a lifetime in the magnificent Gothic political drama  All the King's Men, which won him an Academy Award for Best Actor. When the movies began to slack off, he moved to TV and Highway Patrol, which ran for four seasons and made Crawford a boatload of money. It also made life more interesting for the hard-drinking Crawford, who constantly found himself confronted in bars by loudmouths proclaiming, "So, you're Brod Crawford, the big movie tough guy!" Says Whitney, "Brod usually accommodated them, and as a result, tangled with some of the best cops and touched base at some of the best pokies in town." Legend has it that some of Highway Patrol's scenes were filmed in the desert so Crawford could get behind the wheel of his police car even though his driver's license had been suspended; other stories tell of doing his scenes in the morning, while he was still able to stand.

For all that, as Whitney says, the money and the fame and the friends and his two sons, to whom he is devoted (he's also been divorced twice), Broderick Crawford is still a lonely man. "Let me put it this way," he says in conclusion. "I fear the mystery. You are born to die. The end is the beginning. The days may be awful lonesome, but the years are getting short. I've made my peace with myself. When I go I intend to go like a gentleman." Not too sentimental, though: "Meanwhile, I'll be up at 5 A.M. waiting for any bleep of a bleep that wants to ring me."

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Finally, a series of ads by WFIL, Channel 6 in Philadelphia, suggesting it might have been done in-house rather than by a high-paid advertising agency.


Now, as far as truth in advertising is concerned, I have no doubt that these are real people living in Philadelphia and watching the Channel 6 news. But c'mon, have you ever seen anything that screamed "Action News" less than these ads? Still, there's something charming, in a way, about these, especially compared to the slickness of today's ads. Maybe they're just you and me, people who actually need Action News in their lives, and WFIL figures we'll see them and think, "Hey, this is the news for me, too!" Then again, maybe not. TV  

Around the dial

Now that's style!

We're a little thin on blog updates this week, so I thought we'd take a spin through some podcasts and YouTube videos and see what's up.

Over at TV Confidential , Ed Robinson has more than enough to keep you busy, including a pair of episodes on Groucho Marx, Joan Van Ark talking about her famous Val Ewing character, and a birthday nod to Howard Hesseman.

From last month, Closer Classic TV talks with MeTV's Neal Saban, who, as it says, takes us inside the world of classic TV .

The To Tell the Truth YouTube page has all you could ask for in the way of episodes, including this one with a woman who ran for president of the United States in 1964 . Between LBJ and AuH2O, I'm afraid she didn't stand a chance.

One of the YouTube channels I've enjoyed has the charming name of Free the Kinescopes!  I think you'll enjoy it as well, no matter what you choose to watch.

For sci-fi fans, here's the very first episode of the British cult hit Blake's 7 , which was always a topic of conversation among the Whovians I hung around with back in the day.

Back at our more conventional fare, at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, Ivan returns to the world of Dark Shadows, with this look at the beginning of a 1967 story arc involving “a time-traveling excursion that finds series heroine Victoria Winters in the Collinsport of 1795 and interacting with ancestors of the family she knows from the present day.” I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure this is the only time that sentence has ever been typed in conjunction with a soap opera, at least of the retro era.

Cult TV Blog comes back with another British series with which I’m not familiar: Minder, a long-running comedy-drama about the London underworld. This week, John looks back at the 1978 episode “Gunfight at the OK Launderette,” and its roots in a real-life botched robbery in 1975.

It’s interview time at Classic Film & TV Café, and this week Rick interviews John Greco , author of the short story collection The Late Show , combining of classic cinema with mystery and murder (!) to create eight provocative stories. Sounds like a lot of fun, and of course that's what we're all about around here. TV  

The wonder of it all

I've said this before, but it bears repeating: I am a child of television. There's never been a time when television was not a reality in my life, never a moment when I wasn't able to turn it on and look in at the rest of the world. Television was always a marvel because of what it could do, but its existence was something I could take for granted because I didn't know any other way of life.

Because of that, I can't really imagine what the advent of television must have been like for people who'd lived maybe 20 or 30 years of their life without it. Was it something that never stopped being amazing to them, a phenomenon that, in some way, they appreciated more than those of use who grew up with it? That's how I feel sometimes when I look up at the moon, remembering the first nine years of my life, when nobody had ever set foot on its surface.

Or is it possible that they merely took it in stride, one more step in what must have seemed to be the inexorable march of progress: radio begat television, just as the movies preceded radio, gas led to electricity, balloons became the Wright Flyer, and so on. Sure, they were impressed, but they'd seen this kind of evolution before, and they were sure they'd see it again. I doubt that the millennials are much amazed by every next iteration of the iPhone or Android, and while the technology is a marvel, it couldn't be that surprising to someone who'd grown up watching Dick Tracy and his two-way wrist radio. On television, of course.

Paul Auster, the novelist and essayist, whose work I enjoy, is a bit older than I am but, like me, television was a constant presence in his life from his first conscious memories. In Report from the Interior, a memoir of his years growing up, he writes of an early childhood memory, conveying the sense of wonder that television could create in a five-year-old's mind, even from something as simple as watching a Felix the Cat cartoon:

They appear every afternoon on a television program called Junior Frolics, hosted by a man named Fred Sayles, who is known to you simply as Uncle Fred, the silver-haired gatekeeper to this land of marvels, and because you understand nothing about the production of animated films, cannot even begin to fathom the process by which drawings are made to move, you figure there must be some sort of alternate universe in which characters like Farmer Gray and Felix the Cat can exist—not as pen scratches dancing across a television screen, but as fully embodied, three-dimensional creatures as large as adults. Logic demands that they be large, since the people who appear on television are always larger than their images on-screen, and logic also demands that they belong to an alternate universe, since the universe you live in is not populated by cartoon characters, much as you might wish it was.

One day Auster's mother tells him that she will be taking him and his friend Billy to see Uncle Fred's show in person.

All this is exciting to you, inordinately exciting, but even more exciting is the thought that finally, after months of speculation, you will be able to set eyes on Farmer Gray and Felix the Cat. At long last you will discover what they really look like. In your mind, you see the action unfolding on an enormous stage, a stage the size of a football field, as the crotchety old farmer and the wily black cat chase each other back and forth in one of their epic skirmishes. On the appointed day, however, none of it happens as you thought it would. The studio is small, Uncle Fred has makeup on his face, and after you are given a bag of mints to keep you company during the show, you take your seat in the grandstand with Billy and the other children. You look down at what should be a stage, but which in fact is nothing more than the concrete floor of the studio, and what you see there is a television set. Not even a special television set, but one no bigger or smaller than the set you have at home. The farmer and the cat are nowhere in the vicinity. After Uncle Fred welcomes the audience to the show, he introduces the first cartoon. The television comes on, and there are Farmer Gray and Felix the Cat, bouncing around in the same way they always have, still trapped inside the box, still as small as they ever were. You are thoroughly confused. What error have you made? you ask yourself. Where has your thinking gone wrong? The real is so defiantly at odds with the imagined, you can't help feeling that a nasty trick has been played on you. Stunned with disappointment, you can barely bring yourself to look at the show. Afterward, walking back to the car with Billy and your mother, you toss away the mints in disgust.

Sure, the ending is something of a downer, but even so, Auster's tale speaks to the miracle of television, even to someone who has basically grown up with it. I was in the peanut gallery of one of those shows myself, once upon a time, although I don't recall having any expectations of seeing Felix the Cat in real life. (Maybe I was just a little older, or my imagination wasn't as fantastic.) I do remember how great it was to see backstage at a television studio. It's no big deal now, but it was back then.

How easy it's been for me to accept television, from rabbit ears to rooftop antennas to cable to satellite to streaming, from black-and-white to color to HD. How amazing it's been, and how easy it is to take it all in stride, as I do, as so many people do. I wonder; are we capable of wonder anymore? Kids start in on technology at such an early age, I don't know if it's even possible for them to be amazed by anything. Maybe we're past that, and if so, it's too bad. There's something exciting about the wonder of it all, the wonder and excitement that Paul Auster felt in that studio all those years ago. At least until he threw away the mints. TV  

What's on TV? Thursday, March 7, 1974

What to look for this week? Notice the celebrities on the game and variety shows, a who's-who of names from the early '70s. Some are bigger stars than others, but all of them are at least known for being known. One of the reasons I chose today is because of some series that we don't talk about much here; ABC's Chopper One and Firehouse, for instance. And movies; a lot of movies running on local stations. Have any favorites there? The listings are from the New Jersey-Pennsylvania issue; as is my want, I've ignored New Jersey altogether (nothing personal!) but added New York City.



 2  WCBS (NYC) (CBS)
MORNING
    6:00 FARM MARKET REPORT
    6:20 NEWS
    6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER The Media in America
    7:00 CBS NEWS—Hughes Rudd
    8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO
    9:00 FARMER’S DAUGHTER—Comedy
    9:30 PAT COLLINS
  10:00 JOKER’S WILD—Game
  10:30 $10,000 PYRAMID—GameMeredith MacRae, Tony Roberts
  11:00 GAMBIT—Game
  11:30 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial
  11:55 CBS NEWS—Edwards
AFTERNOON
  12:00 YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial
  12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
    1:00 WHAT’S MY LINE?
    1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    2:00 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game
    3:30 MATCH GAMEOrson Bean, Betty White, Mary Ann Mobley, Charles Nelson Reilly
    4:00 TATTLETALESPatty Duke Astin and John Astin, Bobby Van and Elaine Joyce
    4:30 MIKE DOUGLASJohn Byner, Rocky Graziano, Marilyn Michaels, Ralplh Charell
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS
    7:00 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite
    7:30 WACKY WORLD OF JONATHAN WINTERSGuests: Robert Fuller, Lorrie Luft, Maureen McGovern
    8:00 THE WALTONS—Drama
    9:00MARRIAGE TIMES FOUR—Comedy
     Special
  11:00 NEWS
  11:30 MOVIE—Comedy“Bunny O’Hare” (1971)
    1:05 MOVIE—Drama BW “Stop Train 349” (German; 1963)
    3:00 MOVIE—Biography“The Perils of Pauline” (1947)


 3  KYW (PHILADELPHIA) (NBC)
MORNING
    6:10 NEWS
    6:15 SUT YUNG YING YEE
    6:45 FARM, HOME AND GARDEN
    7:00 TODAY—McGee/WaltersGuest: Molly Haskell
    9:00 SOMERSET—Serial
    9:30 JACKPOT!—Game
  10:00 DINAH SHORE
  10:30 JEOPARDY!—Game
  11:00 WIZARD OF ODDS—Game
  11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARESMike Douglas, George Gobel, Roddy McDowall, Eva Gabor, Sally Struthers, Nanette Fabray, Arte Johnson, Charley Weaver
AFTERNOON
  12:00 NEWS
  12:30 BAFFLE—GameJack Cassidy, Tina Sinatra, Mike Evans, Rose Marie. Host: Dick Enberg
  12:55 NBC NEWS—Newman
    1:00 MARCIAROSE
    2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial
    2:30 DOCTORS—Serial
    3:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
    3:30 HOW TO SURVIVE A MARRIAGE—Serial
    4:00 MIKE DOUGLASCo-host: Mark Spitz. Guests: Sen. Henry Jackson (D-WA), Charlie Callas, Jaye P. Morgan
    5:30 NEWS
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS
    6:30 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor
    7:00 WHAT’S MY LINE?Soupy Sales, Joanna Simon, Leonard Harris
    7:30 EYEWITNESS NEWS: YESTERDAY
    8:00 FLIP WILSONGuests: Lena Horne, Tony Randall, Bob and Ray
    9:00 IRONSIDE
  10:00 MUSIC COUNTRY U.S.A.Host: Buck Owens. Guests: Dionne Warwicke, Jerry Reed, Jim Ed Brown, Mac Davis, Red Simpson, Ray Stevens, Red Steagall, Charlie Rich, Lynn Anderson, Tom T. Hall
  11:00 NEWS
  11:30 JOHNNY CARSON
    1:00 TOMORROW—Discussion
    2:00 NEWS


 4  WNBC (NYC) (NBC)
MORNING
    6:30 MEMORANDUM
    9:00 NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY
    9:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
  10:00 DINAH SHORE
  10:30 JEOPARDY!—Game
  11:00 WIZARD OF ODDS—Game
  11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARESMike Douglas, George Gobel, Roddy McDowall, Eva Gabor, Sally Struthers, Nanette Fabray, Arte Johnson, Charley Weaver
AFTERNOON
  12:00 JACKPOT!—Game
  12:30 BAFFLE—GameJack Cassidy, Tina Sinatra, Mike Evans, Rose Marie. Host: Dick Enberg
  12:55 NBC NEWS—Newman
    1:00 CONCENTRATION
    1:30 THREE ON A MATCH—Game
    2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial
    2:30 DOCTORS—Serial
    3:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
    3:30 HOW TO SURVIVE A MARRIAGE—Serial
    4:00 SOMERSET—Serial
    4:30 MOVIE—Comedy“I’d Rather Be Rich” (1964)
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS
    7:00 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor
    7:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES
    8:00 FLIP WILSONGuests: Lena Horne, Tony Randall, Bob and Ray
    9:00 IRONSIDE
  10:00 MUSIC COUNTRY U.S.A.Host: Buck Owens. Guests: Dionne Warwicke, Jerry Reed, Jim Ed Brown, Mac Davis, Red Simpson, Ray Stevens, Red Steagall, Charlie Rich, Lynn Anderson, Tom T. Hall
  11:00 NEWS
  11:30 JOHNNY CARSON
    1:00 TOMORROW—Discussion
    2:00 MOVIE—Comedy BW “Boy Meets Girl” (1938)


 5  WNEW (NYC) (Ind.)
MORNING
    6:30 YOUR FUTURE IS NOW
    7:00 UNDERDOG
    7:30 FLINTSTONES
    8:00 BUGS BUNNY
    8:30 FLYING NUN—Comedy
    9:00 HAZEL—Comedy BW 
    9:30 GREEN ACRES—Comedy
  10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy BW 
  10:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy BW 
  11:00 THAT GIRL—Comedy
  11:30 MIDDAY LIVEGuest: Enzo Stuarti
AFTERNOON
    1:00 MOVIE—Drama“Sabre Jet” (1953)
    3:00 CASPER
    3:30 HUCKLEBERRY HOUND
    4:00 BUGS BUNNY
    4:30 LOST IN SPACE—Adventure
    5:30 FLINTSTONES
EVENING
    6:00 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy BW 
    6:30 BEWITCHED—Comedy
    7:00 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—Adventure
    7:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARESHelen Hayes, Ted Knight, Roy Clark, Tina Sinatra, Harvey Korman, Rich Little, Rose Marie, Paul Lynde, Charley Weaver. Host: Peter Marshall
    8:00 DEALER’S CHOICE—Game
    8:30 MERV GRIFFIN
  10:00 NEWS
  11:00 ONE STEP BEYOND—Drama BW 
  11:30 MOVIE—Western BW “Drango” (1957)
    1:30 OUTER LIMITS—Science Fiction BW 


 6  WPVI (PHILADELPHIA) (ABC)
MORNING
    6:30 OPERATION ALPHABET BW 
    7:00 PERSPECTIVE
    7:25 NEWS
    7:30 CAPTAIN NOAH
    8:55 DIALING FOR DOLLARS
  10:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
  10:30 LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE
  11:00 PASSWORD—GameLee Meriwether, George Peppard
  11:30 BRADY BUNCH
AFTERNOON
  12:00 NEWS
  12:30 SPLIT SECOND—Game
    1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial
    1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game
    2:00 NEWLYWED GAME
    2:30 GIRL IN MY LIFE
    3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
    3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial
    4:00 BIG VALLEY—Western
    5:00 MOD SQUAD—Crime Drama
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS
    6:30 ABC NEWS—Smith/Reasoner
    7:00 TO TELL THE TRUTHNipsey Russell, Kitty Carlisle, Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass. Host: Garry Moore
    8:00 CHOPPER ONE—Crime Drama
    8:30 FIREHOUSE—Drama
    9:00 ABC THEATRESpecial: “Pueblo”
  11:00 NEWS
  11:30 DICK CAVETTGuest: Lucille Ball
    1:00 PERSPECTIVE


 7  WABC (NYC) (ABC)
MORNING
    6:00

    6:30 LISTEN AND LEARN—History BW 
    7:00 A.M. NEW YORK
    9:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Story of Esther Costello” (1957)
  11:00 GOMER PYLE, USMC—Comedy
  11:30 BRADY BUNCH
AFTERNOON
  12:00 PASSWORD—GameLee Meriwether, George Peppard
  12:30 SPLIT SECOND—Game
    1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial
    1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game
    2:00 NEWLYWED GAME
    2:30 GIRL IN MY LIFE
    3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
    3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial
    4:00 LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE
    4:30 MOVIE—Adventure“The Vikings” (1958) Part 1
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS
    7:00 ABC NEWS—Smith/Reasoner
    7:30 ANIMAL WORLD
    8:00 CHOPPER ONE—Crime Drama
    8:30 FIREHOUSE—Drama
    9:00 ABC THEATRESpecial: “Pueblo”
  11:00 NEWS
  11:30 DICK CAVETTGuest: Lucille Ball
    1:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Mountain Road” (1960)
    3:05 NEWS


 9  WOR (NYC) (Ind.)
MORNING
    7:30 NEWS BW 
    8:00 GARNER TED ARMSTRONG
    8:30 JOE FRANKLIN
    9:30 JOURNEY TO ADVENTURE
  10:00 ROMPER ROOM
  11:00 STRAIGHT TALK
AFTERNOON
  12:00 LUCY SHOW—Comedy
  12:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
    1:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Serpent of the Nile” (1953)
    2:30 MILLIONAIRE—Drama BW 
    3:00 MOVIE—Mystery BW “Secret of the Chateau” (1934)
    4:00 MOVIE—Adventure“Green Mansions” (1959)
EVENING
    6:00 WILD WILD WEST—Adventure
    7:00 LUCY SHOW—Comedy
    7:30 BOWLING FOR DOLLARS
    8:00 MOVIE—Comedy“Pillow Talk” (1959)
  10:00 CELEBRITY BOWLING
  10:30 NEWS—Tom Dunn
  11:00 WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
  11:30 MOVIE—Adventure“The Proud and the Damned” (1972)
    1:30 JOE FRANKLIN
    2:30 NEWS


10 WCAU (PHILADELPHIA) (CBS)
MORNING
    5:45 NEWS
    6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER The Media in America
    6:30 WAKE UP!
    7:00 CBS NEWS—Hughes Rudd
    8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO
    9:00 MORNINGSIDE WITH EDIE HUGGINS
  10:00 JOKER’S WILD—Game
  10:30 $10,000 PYRAMID—GameMeredith MacRae, Tony Roberts
  11:00 GAMBIT—Game
  11:30 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial
  11:55 CBS NEWS—Edwards
AFTERNOON
  12:00 YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial
  12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
    1:00 TATTLETALES—GamePatty Duke Astin and John Astin, Bobby Van and Elaine Joyce
    1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    2:00 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game
    3:30 MATCH GAMEOrson Bean, Betty White, Mary Ann Mobley, Charles Nelson Reilly
    4:00 MOVIE—Crime Drama“House of Bamboo” (1955)
EVENING
    6:00 NEWS
    7:00 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite
    7:30 SAFARI TO ADVENTURE
    8:00 THE WALTONS—Drama
    9:00 MARRIAGE TIMES FOUR—ComedySpecial
  11:00 NEWS
  11:30 MOVIE—Comedy“Bunny O’Hare” (1971)
    1:05 NEWS
    1:15 MOVIE—Drama BW “Code of Scotland Yard” (English; 1947)
    3:00 GIVE US THIS DAY
    3:10 MOVIE—Mystery BW “Man in the Dark” (English; 1964)
    4:35 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER BW 


11 WPIX (NYC) (Ind.)
MORNING
    7:00 NEWS—Roy Whitfield
    7:30 LITTLE RASCALS BW 
    8:00 COURAGEOUS CAT
    8:30 LIVING EASY WITH DR. JOYCE BROTHERS
    9:00 APRENDA INGLES
    9:30 ASK CONGRESS
  10:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Splendor” (1935)
  11:30 ABBOTT AND COSTELLO BW 
AFTERNOON
  12:00 NEW ZOO REVUE
  12:30 MAGIC GARDEN
    1:00 GALLOPING GOURMET
    1:30 GET SMART—Comedy
    2:00 ADDAMS FAMILY—Comedy BW 
    2:30 BILL COSBY—Comedy
    3:00 FATHER KNOWS BEST BW 
    3:30 NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR
    4:00 PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES—Comedy
    4:30 MUNSTERS—Comedy BW 
    5:00 GILLIGAN’S ISLAND—Comedy
    5:30 I DREAM OF JEANNIE—Comedy
EVENING
    6:00 I DREAM OF JEANNIE—Comedy
    6:30 BEAT THE CLOCKGuest: Werner Klemperer
    7:00 MOD SQUAD—Crime Drama
    8:00 TO TELL THE TRUTHNipsey Russell, Kitty Carlisle, Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass. Host: Garry Moore
    8:30 DRAGNET—Crime Drama
    9:00 BONANZA—Western
  10:00 NEWS
  11:00 PERRY MASON BW 
  12:00 TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama BW 
  12:30 NEWS
  12:50 TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama BW 


12 WHYY (PHILADELPHIA) (PBS)
MORNING
    9:00 SESAME STREET
AFTERNOON
    1:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY
    4:00 SESAME STREET
    5:00 MISTER ROGERS
    5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
EVENING
    6:00 DELAWARE NEWS BW 
    6:30 ANTIQUES
    7:00 TAKE 12
    7:30 JANE MOORE & . . .
    8:00 ADVOCATES—Report
    9:00 MOVIE—Biography“The Rise of Louis XIV” (Made for French TV; 1965)
  11:00 AVIATION WEATHER


13 WNET (NYC) (PBS)
MORNING
    9:00 SESAME STREET
AFTERNOON
  12:00 MASTERPIECE THEATRE
    1:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY
    4:00 SESAME STREET
    5:00 MISTER ROGERS
    5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
EVENING
    6:00 HODGEPODGE LODGE
    6:30 ZOOM
    7:00 BOOK BEAT
    7:30 CORONATION STREET
    8:00 ADVOCATES—Report
    9:00 SEASON OF GILBERT AND SULLIVAN FOR ALL
  10:00 51ST STATE—John Hamilton
  11:00 BILL MOYERS’ JOURNAL
  11:30 DAY AT NIGHT


17 WPHL (PHILADELPHIA) (Ind.)
AFTERNOON
  12:10 NEWS
  12:15 BULLETIN BOARD
  12:30 ROMPER ROOM
    1:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Voltaire” (1933)
    2:30 GOMER PYLE, USMC—Comedy
    3:00 PATTY DUKE—Comedy BW 
    3:30 JOHNNY SOKKO
    4:00 POPEYE—Cartoon
    4:30 OZZIE AND HARRIET—Comedy BW 
    5:00 WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE BW 
    5:30 SEA HUNT—Adventure BW 
EVENING
    6:00 UNTOUCHABLES—Crime Drama BW 
    7:00 BONANZA—Western
    8:00 OF LANDS AND SEAS—Travel
    9:00 MOVIE—Comedy “The Monte Carlo Story” (Italian; 1957)
  11:00 ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama BW 
  11:30 MOVIE—Adventure BW “Make like a Thief”
    1:30 BULLETIN BOARD


29 WTAF (PHILADELPHIA) (Ind.)
AFTERNOON
    2:00 LIVING EASY WITH DR. JOYCE BROTHERSGuest: James Beard
    2:30 NEWSPROBE
    3:00 LONE RANGER—Cartoon
    3:30 THREE STOOGES BW 
    4:30 SUPERMAN—Adventure
    5:00 LOST IN SPACE—Adventure BW 
EVENING
    6:00 BEWITCHED—Comedy
    6:30 COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER—Comedy-Drama
    7:00 THAT GIRL—Comedy
    7:30 HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy
    8:00 EVERYTHING GOES
    9:30 PHIL DONAHUEGuest: Psychologist Nathaniel Branden
  10:30 NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY
  11:00 SAFARI—Travel BW 
  12:00 IT’S HERE WITH JERRY BLAVAT
    1:00 SKI SHOW—Bill Hoffman


48 WKBS (PHILADELPHIA) (Ind.)
MORNING
  10:45 DELAWARE VALLEY TODAY
  11:30 NEW ZOO REVUE
AFTERNOON
  12:00 BANANA SPLITS
  12:30 LUCY SHOW—Comedy BW 
    1:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Flight for Freedom” (1943)
    3:00 HUCK AND YOGI—Cartoon
    3:30 SPEED RACER—Cartoon
    4:00 LITTLE RASCALS BW 
    4:30 FLINTSTONES—Cartoon
    5:30 GILLIGAN’S ISLAND—Comedy
EVENING
    6:00 STAR TREK—Adventure
    7:00 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—Adventure
    8:00 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy BW 
    8:30 MERV GRIFFINSteve Allen, Richard Dawson, Bobby Vinton, Paul Winfield, Jim Kelly
  10:00 PERRY MASON BW 
  11:00 NIGHT GALLERY
  11:30 MOVIE—Drama BW “Cry Danger” (1951)

TV  

This week in TV Guide: March 2, 1974

It isn't easy making the transition from movie star to television star. Robert Montgomery did it, as both producer and occasional star of Robert Montgomery Presents. Robert Taylor did it, going from being one of the biggest of movie stars to The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor. Shirley Booth won a Best Actress Oscar before Hazel, and Walter Brennan won three Oscars before embarking on a long and successful career in television. I'm sure you can think of other examples from the day.

But it's not for everyone. Yul Brynner found that it was easier to play the King of Siam on Broadway and in the movies than it was on the small screen. Henry Fonda's TV career wasn't exactly Primrose Lane, and Bing Crosby was far more successful with his TV specials than with The Bing Crosby Show. Glenn Ford had some success, with Cade's County running for two seasons, but it helped that he already had a reputation as a western star.

And this brings us to Jimmy Stewart.

Stewart is currently starring in Hawkins, part of CBS's Tuesday Night Movies wheel series*, in which he plays small-town attorney Billy Jim Hawkins, a character not unlike Paul Biegler, the small-town attorney Stewart played so well in Anatomy of a Murder. Only eight episodes of Hawkins are made; according to the always-reliable Wikipedia , Stewart asked out of the series after one season, despite it being a critical success, believing that "the quality of scripts and directors in television could not continuously measure up to the level to which he was accustomed with theatrical films." It seems appropriate, therefore, that the entirety of Maurice Zolotow's article consists of Stewart, on the set of Hawkins, reminiscing about his Hollywood movie career.

*Hawkins alternated with various TV-movies, as well as Shaft, starring Richard Roundtree. What is it we were saying about stars trying to make the transition from movies to television?

The headline is pure Stewart: "Wal, in the Old Days, Y'See..." Sounds like it came straight from the Carson show, doesn't it? By this time, Stewart is the veteran of 74 movies in a career that stretches over 40 years, and you can tell he takes great pleasure in recalling the stars at MGM: Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, William Powell, Greer Garson—and, yes, Robert Montgomery and Robert Taylor. Stewart acted with them all; one of his fondest memories is when he had to kiss Jean Harlow in Wife vs. Secretary (1936). Did I say he "had" to kiss her? We should all be forced to do such things: "He reports that Jean Harlow really kissed when she kissed. She did not believe in make-believe. She kissed him to the depths of his soul. It remains one of his most shattering sensory experiences."

Ronald Coleman, William Powell and Myrna Loy thrilled him when he saw them in the commissary. He destroyed a new car—the brakes failed while it was parked—trying to impress Olivia de Havilland on a date. He also went out with Ginger Rogers, Jeannette MacDonald, Alice Faye, Hedy Lamarr, Eleanor Powell and Lana Turner before he married Gloria in 1949. He speaks highly of his time at MGM; "Don't believe those cliches about Metro being a factory." He remembers the magic of making movies—"They were magicians. They could build anything, stage anything, they could turn this sound stage into the Sahara Desert or the North Pole or fight the battle of the Spanish Armada—nothing." The memories of a remarkable life—souvenirs, Zolotow calls them—flow from Stewart; as Zolotow says in conclusion, "often, while he is filming Hawkins, he will bring one out and share it with those around him."

Hawkins was not Stewart's first try at a television series; in 1971 he starred in The Jimmy Stewart Show, as a small-town college professor. (See any similarities at work here?) The Jimmy Stewart Show (the only time Stewart ever allowed himself to be billed as "Jimmy" on screen, rather than "James") only ran for one season before being cancelled; after the end of Hawkins, Stewart will return to television only as a guest on talk or variety shows, but never again as the star of a series.

And perhaps that's it after all, the reason Jimmy Stewart never made it big on television: it was too small for him.

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On weeks when we can, we'll match up two of the biggest rock shows of the '70s, NBC's The Midnight Special and the syndicated Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and see who's better, who's best.

Kirshner (version 1): The Steve Miller Band and the Raspberries are the guests. Songs include "Living in the U.S.A.," "Space Cowboy," "Mar Lou," "Gangster of Love," "Come On in My Kitchen," "Seasons," "The Joker" (Steve Miller).

Special: Gladys Knight and the Pips host, with Curtis Mayfield, Richie Havens, rock artist Jobriath, singer-composer Jim Weatherly, and rock groups Spooky Tooth and Les Variations.

This is another week where I don't have to think too much about the choices. Curtis Mayfield and Richie Havens work, but I can't say that I was ever a big fan of Gladys and the Pips—well, I could, but I'd be lying, and I don't want to encourage that. The rest of the lineup is just too not-to-my-taste. Not that I'm over the hill on Steve Miller either, but at least you know what you're getting: a lot of hits. Stick with Kirshner this week.

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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the series of the era. 

Sometimes you have to search to find out what Cleveland Amory thinks about a series, but other times it's right there in the first paragraph. This is one of those times.

The show in question is Dirty Sally, a comedy-drama Western starring Jeanette Nolan and Dack Rambo. And here is that opening paragraph in its entirety, for you to judge: "We've warned you before about watching shows that start with a song, but somehow you always forget. From now on just try to remember the three ills of mankind—wine, women and song. And the song that starts this one will really make you ill, man. It goes: 'She nursed him and she cursed him / And she taught him right from wrong / . . . She was a grandma to the lad / He was the son she never had.' There are more lines, but we've punished you enough. You can stop cringing."

Nolan, as Sally, is the woman in the song, nursing and cursing Rambo, whom she nursed back to health in a two-part episode of Gunsmoke a couple of years ago; I guess Doc Adams must have been busy at the time. Anyway, a spinoff was inevitable, since CBS claimed the story received more mail than any other episode in Gunsmoke's history. but Cleve isn't falling for it. "Our theory is that they received the mail, but did not open it." He also quotes the CBS press release describing Dirty Sally as a "half-hour family Western," and ads that the network "sure was right about the 'half' part, because if we ever saw half a show, this is it. It's so thin, you can lose weight just watching it." Dirty Sally premiered in January, as a replacement for the cancelled Calucci's Dept.; Amory describes the change as "not just a step down—it's a full flight." He doesn't particularly like the storylines, nor the characters, though he feels that Miss Nolan is getting "everything there is out of her lines," and Rambo does his best with what is "at best half a part."

I don't want you to be left with the idea that Amory doesn't like anything about the show, though; there's Worthless, the mule who is the only other regular. She's terrific, and Amory has the perfect solution: "Let's pick one episode where she has a big part, and start writing letters."

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Before there was the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979-80, there was the Pueblo.

On January 23, 1968, the USS Pueblo, a naval ship engaged in intelligence work, was attacked and seized by North Korea, and its crew of 82 (one was killed during the attack) taken prisoner. The United States claimed the ship was in international waters and the attack unprovoked, while North Korea countered that the ship had breached the DMZ several times and was in North Korean waters at the time it was seized.

For 11 months the men of the Pueblo were abused and tortured. The commander, Lloyd Bucher, was put through a mock firing squad and other psychological tortures; later, he was told by his captors that if he didn’t confess to the North Korean accusations, his men would be brought before him and executed. Bucher finally agreed to write out and deliver a confession, but inserted a pun into his confession that the North Koreans failed to catch, saying that “We paean the DPRK [North Korea]. We paean their great leader Kim Il Sung," pronouncing the word paean as pee on. Eventually, after the United States admitted to spying and promised that no such efforts would occur in the future (a confession which the U.S. government said was made only to obtain the release of the crew), the men were released. Bucher and his crew were eventually brought before a Navy Court of Inquiry, which recommended that Bucher and his intelligence offer be court-martialed for surrendering without a fight, and failing to destroy all classified documents; the recommendation was dismissed by Secretary of the Navy John Chaffee, who said of the men that “They have suffered enough.”

Wednesday at 8:30 p.m, ABC Theatre presents an encore of Pueblo, a dramatization of the events starring Hal Holbrook as Commander Bucher. Shot on videotape (not only giving the presentation the feel of a play but also creating a claustrophobic atmosphere), the drama presents Bucher testifying before Naval officers and congressmen, explaining the choices he faced and defending the decisions he made, both onboard the Pueblo and before his captors, intercutting scenes of his testimony with his experiences in the Korean prison. You can see the complete drama here .

The drama received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for seven Emmys, winning five. Holbrook pulled off the rare accomplishment of winning two Emmys for the same performance, one for Best Actor in a Drama, and the other, a “ Super Emmy ” for Actor of the Year in a special (defeating miniseries winner William Holden in The Blue Knight).


Super Emmys only existed for one year; until and unless the Academy brings the category back, we'll never see anyone win two Emmys for the same performance again. 
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I've pointed out many times—it probably seems to you like many, many times—that Saturday was not always the night that nobody watched television. CBS, for instance, has it's murderer's row lineup tonight, with All in the Family (8:00 p.m. ET), M*A*S*H (8:30 p.m.), Mary Tyler Moore (9:00 p.m.), and The Bob Newhart Show (9:30 p.m.), while ABC offers The Partridge Family (8:00 pacc.m.) before the ABC Suspense Movie, and NBC's special presentation of The Green Berets (8:00 p.m.). But what I find most interesting about this Saturday is a real programming oddity: the Grammys. Now, I can't imagine scheduling a major awards show live on a Saturday night nowadays, but here it is on CBS at 10:00 p.m., from the Hollywood Palladium, hosted by Andy Williams. This year's nominees for Album of the Year are "Behind Closed Doors" (Charlie Rich), "The Divine Miss M" (Bette Midler), "Innervisions" (Stevie Wonder), "Killing Me Softly" (Roberta Flack), and "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" (Paul Simon). And the winner is: Stevie Wonder! The Record of the Year and Song of the Year both go to Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song," and the Best New Artist is Bette Midler (beating out Marie Osmond, Barry White, Maureen McGovern, and Eumir Deodato. I wonder how far over the scheduled 90 minutes (!) the broadcast runs?

As for the rest of the week, Johnny Cash is the guest killer on a memorable Columbo (Sunday, 8:30 p.m., NBC), as a country music legend who murders his wife (Ida Lupino). The relationship between Columbo and Cash's character is a fun one; at the end you can see a mutual respect between the Lieutenant and a man he knows is too honest to be able to live with the guilt of his crime.

A screenshot from the original broadcast of HeidiWednesday features a repeat of Heidi (8:00 p.m., NBC), starring Julie Andrews' stepdaughter Jennifer Edwards in the title role, along with Maximillian Schell, Sir Michael Redgrave and Jean Simmons. The movie was first broadcast in 1968; I can't imagine why the listings don't make any mention of its memorable debut . For all that, it makes more sense to me than ABC's Wednesday Movie of the Week, The Stranger Who Looks Like Me (8:30 p.m.), starring Meredith Baxter, Beau Bridges, and Baxter's mother, Hazel's Whitney Blake. Here's what I don't get about this—the listing talks about "two adopted youths' frustrating search for their natural parents," yet the headline in the ad proclaims, "A powerful story of a woman's search." So what the hell happened to the other adopted youth? Somebody's not giving us the straight story here. If none of these appeal to you, check out The Merv Griffin Show (8:30 p.m., WKBS), as Merv hosts the 53rd annual Photoplay Awards.

On Thursday, Buck Owens hosts Music Country U.S.A. (10:00 p.m., NBC), with a veritable who's who of country stars: Jerry Reed, Jim Ed Brown, Mac Davis, Red Simpson, Ray Stevens, Red Steagall, Charlie Rich, Lynn Anderson, Tom T. Hall, Donna Fargo, Tommy Overstreet, Barbara Fairchild, Johnny Paycheck, Doug Kershaw, and Pat Daisy. Dionne Warwicke also appears, doing a duet of "Lonesome Me" with Buck. If you aren't too worn out to stay up late, catch Lucille Ball sitting down for 90 minutes with Dick Cavett as Dick's sole guest (11:30 p.m., ABC).

Friday's the night for variety specials, starting with Raquel Welch's "one-woman show" (9:00 p.m., CBS) in which the star sings, dances, and spoofs her own movie work. That's followed by Glen Campbell's The Musical West (10:00 p.m., NBC), and this most certainly is not a "one-man show," not with a guest lineup of Burl Ives, Michele Lee, and John Wayne. And Meredith Baxter makes a second appearance of the week on ABC's late-night The Invasion of Carl Enders (11:30 p.m.); this time, she plays "a girl possessed by the spirit of a woman believed to have been murdered." I wonder if she was adopted?

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Certainly, you know by now that I've been a fan of the manned space program since I was a child, so it's no surprise that I'd notice a couple of space-related items in this week's issue.

First, the recent splashdown of Skylab 4 has brought to an end the current era of U.S. manned flight, not to be resumed until the space shuttle comes along. It's also the occasion for ABC's science editor Jules Bergman to do some reminiscing of his own (Jimmy Stewart isn't the only one) on his years as a NASA insider. Says Bergman, "[I]t's now possible to tell some of the stories that couldn't be told before Or didn't get told for one reason or another." For example, two days before Wally Schirra's 1962 launch in Sigma 7, the astronaut almost killed himself in a waterskiing accident when his skis stuck in the mud, flinging him into the trees. Scott Carpenter, the next American into space, overshot the landing spot by 250 miles, causing the networks to wonder whether or not he'd survived. There were rumors that Carpenter had been enjoying a farewell party late into the night before; Flight Director Chris Kraft vowed Carpenter would never fly again, and he never did. Alan Shepard and Gordon Cooper, in a dress rehearsal for the first Mercury flight, teamed up to prank onlookers, with Cooper looking up at the Redstone rocket, started yelling, "I won't go! I won't go!" and attempted to break away from the two technicians accompanying him. Bergman himself was almost killed by a flying head from a dummy that had been flung out of a Vertical Accelerator at several hundred miles an hour.

Most impressive, perhaps, is Bergman's memory of Frank Borman, commander of Apollo 8, the first flight to orbit the moon. Bergman had spent six months trying to learn everything he could about the mission; "Borman's loyalty was such that he'd given me the unlisted number of his phone in the crew quarters in case I needed any last-minute questions answered." And, in fact, Bergman did have a question, on the eve of the flight. He called and left a message with one of the support crewmen; a few minutes later, Borman called back. "Hi! What's up?" I've always admired Frank Borman, and that just increases it. A real mensch.

And then there's the TV-movie premiere of Houston, We've Got a Problem on ABC Suspense Movie (Saturday, 8:30 p.m.), telling the story of Apollo 13 by focusing on the flight controllers in Houston, starring Ed Nelson as NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz.  According to Jim Lovell , the commander of the flight, you shouldn't waste your time with this one: "NASA did a disservice to the flight crew and ground personnel connected with Apollo 13 by co-operating fully with this film," Lovell writes in a letter to NASA chief James Fletcher that was quoted in last week's TV Guide. "I resent the mixing of fact and fiction. If NASA wanted exposure of this nature, the story should have been based on a fictitious space flight." (The movie couldn't even get the title right; the actual quote from Lovell, after the explosion on Apollo 13, was "Houston, we've had a problem.") Herman Sanders, the movie's executive producer, replies with a remarkable candor that reflects how dense network suits can be. "We could never have gotten a straight documentary on the network," he says, "So what we did was take the basic facts and add fictional drama on top. How would you keep people in suspense, otherwise, when they all know the outcome of the story already?" I dunno; ask Ron Howard, maybe? TV  

Around the dial

This week I'm starting things off with a video from the Oddity Archive YouTube channel, which looks at the history of radio and television news bulletins . If you're any kind of a news buff, most of these clips will be familiar to you (Pearl Harbor, JFK, 9/11), but what really sold it for me is the host's opening rant on how cable news has cheapened the concept of "breaking news" beyond recognition. I've been complaining about this for years, which is one reason why I, a self-professed news junkie, never watch it anymore. I'm tired of being manipulated by people who can't tell the difference between a genuine news bulletin and promoting whatever story the network is hot on at the moment. It's great stuff—I think you'll agree with what he has to say. One other thing he mentions, and you have to be of a certain age, I think, to appreciate this: there used to be a time when the words "bulletin" or "special report" made your heart skip a beat, because you knew, just knew, that something terrible had happened. Now, in the era where everything is breaking news, you don't feel that way anymore, which is good. But that sensation of waiting the five or ten seconds to find out what had happened—that feeling was indescribable.

At Comfort TV, David has a "purchase or pass" recommendation on Our Miss Brooks , the 1950s sitcom starring Eve Arden, which is just coming out on DVD. I've only see a couple of episodes on TV; I'm most familiar with the show from radio days, and though I enjoy Arden, I could never really get into the series. I'll let you find out for yourself what David thinks.

The Hitchcock Project returns to bare•bones e-zine this week with Jack's look at the Stirling Silliphant-written episode "Little White Frock" from Hitchcock's third season. We haven't seen this one yet, so I'm not going to go into detail, but you'll enjoy how Jack follows the tale from its short-story origins to its appearance on the small screen. Entertaining as usual.

Here's something sure to be a crowd-pleaser from Classic Film & TV Café: seven things to know about Angie Dickinson . It's probably a symptom of my sheltered upbringing, plus my mother's musical tastes, that I first knew her as Burt Bacharach's wife before I did as a movie star. (She has some interesting things to say about Burt, by the way. What a fool he was.)

Does Bob batch it or botch it? Well, according to Hal at The Horn Section, it's a little of both, as he reviews " Bob Batches It, " a very funny 1956 episode of Love that Bob!  I've also got Hal to thank for linking to the site That's Entertainment, which this week takes an in-depth at the 1956 radio comedy The Magnificent Montague , starring Monty Woolley, which was Nat Hiken's claim to fame prior to doing The Phil Silvers Show.

At Cult TV Blog, John admits that he thought the 2000 reboot of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) would have everything he disliked, but to his surprise, he would up enjoying it thoroughly, especially the episode " A Man of Substance ," which manages more than a nod to The Avengers.

It's time for Jordan's monthly look at the back issues of The Twilight Zone Magazine over at The Twilight Zone Vortex, and in the issue of October, 1982 , we have movie and book reviews, an interview with Nicholas Meyer, director of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Marc Scott Zicree's continuing guide to the original series, and the teleplay of the fifth-season episode "In Praise of Pip," which contains one of the first mentions of Vietnam on television. TV  

TV Jibe: Living the simple life

TV  

What's on TV? Saturday, February 23, 1980

Sometimes I think I don't pay enough attention to the weekend listings. In truth, if we were to sort through the 281 previous "What's on TV?" features, we'd probably find that Saturdays and Sundays are represented just as often as any other day of the week. (We'd probably also find that we have far too much free time on our hands.) In this case, looking at Saturday's listings was an obvious choice since we just looked at a 1980 issue last month. Trust me, the weekday daytime programs haven't changed that much in a month. Today's listings, which give us a nice mix of shows, movies and sports, comes from the Kentucky issue, which includes Cincinnati.



 3  WAVE (LOUISVILLE) (NBC)
MORNING
    6:30 FARMING WITH JACK CROWNER
   7 AM KENTUCKY AFIELD
    7:30 BLUE APPLE CLUBHOUSE
   8 AM GODZILLA, GLOBETROTTERS—Cartoon
   9 AM FRED AND BARNEY MEET THE SHMOO—Cartoon
  10:30 DAFFY DUCK—Cartoon
 11 AM CASPER AND THE ANGELS—Cartoon
  11:30 JETSONS—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon HOT HERO SANDWICH—ChildrenGuests: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pam Dauber, Robert Guillaume, Michael Learned, Joe Jackson
   1 PM WRESTLING
   2 PM NASHVILLE ON THE ROAD—Music
    2:30 GRIZZLY ADAMS—Adventure
    3:30 COLLEGE BASKETBALLAlabama at Vanderbilt
    5:30 POP GOES THE COUNTRY—MusicGuests: Marty Robbins, Brenda Lee, Tom Grant
EVENING
   6 PM NEWS
    6:30 NBC NEWS—Jane Pauley
   7 PM CAMOFLAGE—Game
    7:30 EMPHASIS
   8 PM CHiPs—Crime Drama
   9 PM BJ AND THE BEAR
 10 PM PRIME TIME SATURDAY—Tom Snyder
 11 PM NEWS
  11:30 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVEHost: Kirk Douglas. Guest: James Brown
   1 AM DON KIRSHNER’S ROCK CONCERTTom Petty and the Heartbreakers, David Johansen, the Village People, REO Speedwagon, Jay Leno


 5  WLWT (CINCINNATI) (NBC)
MORNING
   7 AM U.S. FARM REPORT
    7:30 HOT FUDGE—Children
   8 AM GODZILLA, GLOBETROTTERS—Cartoon
   9 AM FRED AND BARNEY MEET THE SHMOO—Cartoon
  10:30 DAFFY DUCK—Cartoon
 11 AM CASPER AND THE ANGELS—Cartoon
  11:30 JETSONS—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon HOT HERO SANDWICH—ChildrenGuests: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pam Dauber, Robert Guillaume, Michael Learned, Joe Jackson
   1 PM BATTLE OF THE PLANETS—Cartoon
    1:30 LONE RANGER—Western BW 
   2 PM MOVIE—Science Fiction“Terror of Mechagodzilla” (Japanese’ 1978)
    3:30 COLLEGE BASKETBALLIowa at Ohio State
    5:30 SHA NA NA—VarietyGuests: Danny and the Juniors
EVENING
   6 PM NEWS
    6:30 CONSUMER BUYLINE
   7 PM LAWRENCE WELK
   8 PM CHiPs—Crime Drama
   9 PM BJ AND THE BEAR
 10 PM PRIME TIME SATURDAY—Tom Snyder
 11 PM NEWS
  11:30 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVEHost: Kirk Douglas. Guest: James Brown
   1 AM SECOND CITY TELEVISION—Comedy
    1:30 DON KIRSHNER’S ROCK CONCERTTom Petty and the Heartbreakers, David Johansen, the Village People, REO Speedwagon, Jay Leno


 9  WCPO (CINCINNATI) (CBS)
MORNING
    5:55 FARM NEWS
   6 AM SUNRISE SEMESTERLearning to Write/Writing to Learn
    6:30 CALL THE DOCTOR
    7:30 ROY ROGERS—Western BW 
   8 AM MIGHTY MOUSE/HECKLE AND JECKLE—Cartoons
   9 AM BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER—Cartoons
  10:30 POPEYE—Cartoons
  11:30 FAT ALBERT—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon SHAZAM!—Children
  12:30 KIDSWORLD—Children
   1 PM CISCO KID—Western
    1:30 ANNIE OAKLEY—Western BW 
   2 PM ROY ROGERS—Western BW 
    2:30 MOVIE—Western“The Gun and the Pulpit” (1974)
   4 PM SPORTS SPECTACULARBoxing: Howard Davis vs. Vilomar Fernandez
   5 PM GOLFSpecial: Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open, third round
EVENING
   6 PM NEWS
    6:30 CBS NEWS—Schieffer
   7 PM WHEN HAVOC STRUCK—Documentary
    7:30 JOKER! JOKER!! JOKER!!!—Game
   8 PM CHISHOLMS—Western
   9 PM MOVIE—Adventure“S*H*E” (Made for TV, 1980)
 11 PM NEWS
  11:30 AVENGERS—Adventure
  12:40 RETURN OF THE SAINT—Crime Drama
    1:50 HERE AND NOW
    2:20 NEWS


11 WHAS (LOUISVILLE) (CBS)
MORNING
    7:30 LONE RANGER—Western
   8 AM MIGHTY MOUSE/HECKLE AND JECKLE—Cartoons
   9 AM BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER—Cartoons
  10:30 POPEYE—Cartoons
  11:30 FAT ALBERT—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon SHAZAM!—Children
  12:30 TARZAN/SUPER 7—Cartoons
    1:30 COLLEGE BASKETBALLMemphis State at Tulane
    3:30 BUGS BUNNY AND FRIENDS—Cartoons
   4 PM CBS REPORTSSpecial: “The Trouble with Women”
   5 PM NAME THAT TUNE—Game
    5:30 FACE THE MUSIC—Game
EVENING
   6 PM NEWS
    6:30 CBS NEWS—Schieffer
   7 PM HEE HEWGuests: Hank Snow, Margo Smith, Rodney Lay
   8 PM CHISHOLMS—Western
   9 PM MOVIE—Adventure“S*H*E” (Made for TV, 1980)
 11 PM NEWS
  11:30 MOVIE—Western“The Undefeated” (1969)
    1:30 NEWS


12 WKRC (CINCINNATI) (ABC)
MORNING
   6 AM KIDS ARE PEOPLE TOOGuests: Willie Aames, Paradise, Richard Dawson, Richard Simmons, Michael Lloyd
    7:30 MARLO AND THE MAGIC MOVIE MACHINE—Children
   8 AM WORLD’S GREATEST SUPERFRIENDS—Cartoon
   9 AM PLASTIC MAN—Cartoons
  10:30 SCOOBY AND SCRAPPY-DOO—Cartoons
  11:30 SPIDER-WOMAN—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon BOWLING
  12:30 XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMESSpecial: Ski jumping, speed skating, women’s slalom skiing
    3:30 PRO BOWLING$100,000 Ford Open
   5 PM WIDE WORLD OF SPORTSMotorcycle racing, Chinese acrobats
EVENING
    6:30 HEE HEWGuests: Hank Snow, Margo Smith, Rodney Lay
    7:30 BAXTERS
   8 PM XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMESSpecial: Women’s figure skating, women’s slalom skiing, speed skating, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, bobsledding
11 PM NEWS
  11:30 XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES UPDATESpecial
  11:45 MOVIE—Drama BW “Gaslight” (1944)
    1:50 MOVIE—Thriller BW “The Invisible Man” (1933)
    3:50 MOVIE—Thriller BW “The Invisible Man Returns” (1940)


15 WKPC (LOUISVILLE) (PBS)
MORNING
  11:30 SESAME STREET—Children
AFTERNOON
  12:30 FILM
   1 PM MOVIE—Western BW “Heart of the Golden West” (1942)
   2 PM VOYAGE OF CHARLES DARWIN—Drama
   3 PM RACQUETBALLSpecial: Boise Cascade Pro-Am
    4:30 CINEMA SHOWCASE
   5 PM SOAPBOX
    5:30 EVEN YOU CAN GROW HOUSEPLANTS
EVENING
   6 PM OLD HOUSEWORKS—Home Repair
    6:30 DANCING DISCO—Instruction
   7 PM UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS
   8 PM SNEAK PREVIEWS
    8:30 MOVIE—Comedy BW “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)
  10:30 DICK CAVETT
 11 PM MYSTERY!“Rumpole of the Bailey”
    Mid. MOVIE—Comedy “The Playboy of the Western World” (Irish; 1962)


18 WLEX (LEXINGTON) (NBC)
MORNING
    6:30 AG-USA
   7 AM U.S. FARM REPORT
    7:30 CARTOONS
   8 AM GODZILLA, GLOBETROTTERS—Cartoon
   9 AM FRED AND BARNEY MEET THE SHMOO—Cartoon
  10:30 DAFFY DUCK—Cartoon
 11 AM CASPER AND THE ANGELS—Cartoon
  11:30 JETSONS—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon WRESTLING
   1 PM CENTER CIRCLE
    1:30 U.K. STUDENT GOVERNMENT PRESENTS
   2 PM NUCLEAR POWER: WHERE DO WE STAND?—Documentary
    2:30 PHIL SILVERS—Comedy BW 
   3 PM TWO OF A KIND—Profile
    3:30 COLLEGE BASKETBALLAlabama at Vanderbilt
    5:30 FITNESS MOTIVATION
EVENING
   6 PM THAT NASHVILLE MUSICBillie Jo Spears, Vern Gosdin, the Osborne Brothers, Mac Wiseman
    6:30 NBC NEWS—Jane Pauley
   7 PM LAWRENCE WELK
   8 PM CHiPs—Crime Drama
   9 PM BJ AND THE BEAR
 10 PM PRIME TIME SATURDAY—Tom Snyder
 11 PM NEWS
  11:30 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVEHost: Kirk Douglas. Guest: James Brown
   1 AM SECOND CITY TELEVISION—Comedy
    1:30 SECOND CITY TELEVISION—Comedy


19 WXIX (CINCY) (Ind.)
MORNING
    6:15 PERSPECTIVE
   7 AM FLINTSTONES—Cartoons
    7:30 POPEYE—Cartoons
   8 AM BUGS AND PORKY—Cartoons
    8:30 TOM & JERRY—Cartoons
   9 AM POPEYE—Cartoons
    9:30 SUPERMAN—Adventure
 10 AM MOVIE—Comedy BW “The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap” (1947)
  11:30 MOVIE—Western “The Glory Guys” (1965)
AFTERNOON
    1:30 MOVIE—Drama“The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)
   4 PM MOVIE—Adventure“Juggernaut” (1974)
EVENING
   6 PM HAPY DAYS AGAIN—Comedy
    6:30 M*A*S*H
   7 PM ALL IN THE FAMILY
   8 PM DOLLY—VarietyGuest: Rod McKuen
   9 PM PORTER WAGONER—MusicGuest: Johnny Russell
    9:30 COUNTRY ROADS—Music
 10 PM NASHVILLE ON THE ROAD—Music
  10:30 THAT NASHVILLE MUSIC
 11 PM NHL HIGHLIGHTS
    Mid. TENNISIlie Nastase vs. Peter Fleming


27 WKYT (LEXINGTON) (CBS)
MORNING
   7 AM MOVIE—Western BW “Song of Arizona” (1946)
   8 AM MIGHTY MOUSE/HECKLE AND JECKLE—Cartoons
   9 AM BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER—Cartoons
  10:30 POPEYE—Cartoons
  11:30 FAT ALBERT—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon SHAZAM!—Children
    1:30 30 MINUTES
   2 PM KIDSWORLD—Children
    2:30 TOBACCO TALK
   3 PM TONY BROWN’S JOURNAL
    3:30 JIMMY HOUSTON OUTDOORS
   4 PM WILD KINGDOM
    4:30 NASHVILLE ON THE ROAD
   5 PM COUNTRY ROADS—Music
    5:30 POP GOES THE COUNTRY—MusicGuests: Ronnie Milsap, Ronnie McDowell
EVENING
   6 PM NEWS
    6:30 CBS NEWS—Schieffer
   7 PM HEE HEWGuests: Hank Snow, Margo Smith, Rodney Lay
   8 PM CHISHOLMS—Western
   9 PM MOVIE—Adventure“S*H*E” (Made for TV, 1980)
 11 PM NEWS
  11:30 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Great Lie” (1941)
    1:30 IT’S YOUR BUSINESS—Discussion


32 WLKY (LOUISVILLE) (ABC)
MORNING
    6:30 BIG BLUE MARBLE
   7 AM KIDSWORLD—Children
    7:30 MARLO AND THE MAGIC MOVIE MACHINE—Children
   8 AM WORLD’S GREATEST SUPERFRIENDS—Cartoon
   9 AM PLASTIC MAN—Cartoons
  10:30 SCOOBY AND SCRAPPY-DOO—Cartoons
  11:30 SPIDER-WOMAN—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon WEEKEND SPECIAL“The Trouble with Miss Switch”
  12:30 XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMESSpecial: Ski jumping, speed skating, women’s slalom skiing
    3:30 PRO BOWLING$100,000 Ford Open
   5 PM WIDE WORLD OF SPORTSMotorcycle racing, Chinese acrobats
EVENING
    6:30 ROWLAND’S JOURNAL
   7 PM JOKER! JOKER!! JOKER!!!—Game
    7:30 BAXTERS
   8 PM XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMESSpecial: Women’s figure skating, women’s slalom skiing, speed skating, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, bobsledding
 11 PM NEWS
  11:30 XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES UPDATESpecial
  11:45 MOVIE—Crime Drama“Dirty Harry” (1971)
    1:45 MOVIE—Drama“A Star is Born” (1937)
    3:55 ABC NEWS


41 WDRB (LOUISVILLE) (Ind.)
MORNING
    7:30 NEW SHAPES: EDUCATION
   8 AM JETSONS—Cartoons
    8:30 PTL CLUB—Religion
  10:30 TENNISIlie Nastase vs. Peter Fleming
AFTERNOON
  12:30 MOVIE—Comedy BW “High Society” (1955)
    1:45 MOVIE—Adventure BW “Tarzan Escapes” (1936)
    3:30 MOVIE—Adventure“Hercules Unchained” (Italian; 1959)
    5:30 COLLEGE BASKETBALLPurdue at Illinois
EVENING
    7:30 SANFORD AND SON—Comedy
   8 PM WILD KINGDOM
    8:30 IN SEARCH OF
   9 PM AMERICA’S ATHLETES—1980
 10 PM JIMMY HOUSTON OUTDOORS
  10:30 FISHING WITH ROLAND MARTIN
 11 PM 700 CLUB—Religion
  12:30 ROSS BAGLEY—Religion


62 WTVQ (LEXINGTON) (ABC)
MORNING
    6:30 MOVIE—Adventure“Flight of the Cougar” (1987)
   8 AM WORLD’S GREATEST SUPERFRIENDS—Cartoon
   9 AM PLASTIC MAN—Cartoons
  10:30 SCOOBY AND SCRAPPY-DOO—Cartoons
  11:30 SPIDER-WOMAN—Cartoon
AFTERNOON
  Noon WEEKEND SPECIAL“The Trouble with Miss Switch”
  12:30 XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMESSpecial: Ski jumping, speed skating, women’s slalom skiing
    3:30 FOCUS
   4 PM FISHING WITH ROLAND MARTIN
    4:30 BILL DANCE OUTDOORS
   5 PM WIDE WORLD OF SPORTSMotorcycle racing, Chinese acrobats
EVENING
    6:30 MUPPET SHOW—VarietyGuest: Dyan Cannon
   7 PM DANCE FEVERGuest judges: Robert Mandan, Cathy Rigby, Ronnie SchellHost: Deney Terrio
    7:30 SHA NA NA—VarietyGuests: the Kingston Trio
   8 PM XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMESSpecial: Women’s figure skating, women’s slalom skiing, speed skating, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, bobsledding
 11 PM NEWS
  11:15 ABC NEWS
  11:30 XIII WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES UPDATESpecial
  11:45 WRESTLING
  12:45 MOVIE—Adventure“Gold” (English; 1974)


 E  KENTUCKY EDUCATIONAL NETWORK
MORNING
11 AM ALTERNATIVES IN EDUCATION
  11:30 NEW SHAPES: EDUCATION
AFTERNOON
  Noon OF EARTH AND MAN
   1 PM GED SERIES
   2 PM ART OF BEING HUMAN
   3 PM AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
   4 PM GREAT DECISIONS 1980
    4:30 GREAT DECISIONS 1980: KENTUCKY PERSPECTIVE
   5 PM ADVOCATES IN BRIEF
    5:30 AS WE SEE IT
EVENING
   6 PM PRISONER—Drama
   7 PM ONCE UPON A CLASSIC—Children
    7:30 DICK CAVETTGuest: Myrna Loy
   8 PM UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS
   9 PM VISIONS
 11 PM MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS
TV