Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 129

The faces of America

I continue to be incommunicado this week*, on assignment for my job. There's nothing secretive about it; it's just that otherwise I might be swamped by requests for autographs and copies of my books, and it's pretty embarrassing when that happens in front of your co-workers.

*True story: during Bill Russell's tenure as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, the assistant general manager told one of his players, Slick Watts, that Russell was incommunicado, upon which Watts suggested putting in a call to him there.

At any rate, I didn't want to start anything too new, so I thought we'd just revisit something we've looked at before, because it offers such a contrast between then and now. It's one of those "television as a window to the world" moments, although that itself isn't a particularly accurate cliche; with a director's ability to choose what we see with live events, for example, it's more accurate to say that television is window to what someone wants us to see, a window to their worldview. Even so, there are occasions when the sample size is so big, so vast, that it's impossible not to draw conclusions from what you see.

Such a case is a new (to me) video I was watching last week , CBS's coverage of the Sunday of JFK's assassination, including the crowds passing through the Capitol Rotunda, paying their respects to the late president. I've marked off a segment of the network's coverage where the cameras remain focused on the Rotunda scene for about 20 minutes; it's one of several such segments in the video. We're so familiar with those images in general, I think (even you youngsters out there, if any of you read this site), that sometimes, because there's so much to see, we lose track of just what it is that we're actually seeing: the vast panoply of the Rotunda, with John Trumbull's paintings portraying the founding and early history of the United States; the silent crowds passing by the black-shrouded catafalque displaying the flag-draped casket of the president; the honor guard standing at rigid attention. By the time it's over, at 10:00 the next morning, police estimate that over 250,000 will have come through the Rotunda. The networks return to the scene often, between memorial concerts and updates on Oswald's murder and highlights of the day's ceremonies. Commentary is kept to a minimum, the newscasters respecting the moment, sometimes unsure of their own voices. Aside from the natural sound, the only other accompaniment is the classical music being played; a lot of Beethoven, Barber's Adagio, Bach, Wagner, possibly Handel or Mozart. It sounds right. NBC chooses to remain on the air all night, showing the faces of America caught up in the act of being Americans.

Many of the men and women are dressed more formally than they might be today: men in suits and ties, holding their hats; women in dresses and coats, some trimmed with fur or wearing necklaces, others wearing more modest cloth coats. Some of it could be due to it being Sunday; with the massive crowds waiting throughout the day and into the night, many of them probably came to the Capitol right from church. Military men pass by the cameras, saluting smartly at the casket. Other people look as if they're dressed for work; nurses in their uniforms, men wearing jackets, headed for the assembly line or the construction site. Upper class, middle class, working class, all together for the same reason. There are many blacks in the crowd, not surprising considering the demographics of the D.C. area, but also because of their feelings toward a president who supported their civil rights cause; but even so they don't make up the majority of people who appear on our screens. Parents stoop to talk with their small children, pointing at the president's casket, trying to explain what they don't understand themselves. Young people—a lot of young people, but others in the prime of middle age, and seniors as well. They pass beside the casket on each side, two or three wide, silent except for the sound of their footsteps, and then they disappear into the shadows, fleeting silhouettes; the silent Americans.

And now we come to my point, which is this: would we see something like this today? It's inconceivable that all of these people were Kennedy supporters, or had voted for him. Would that be the case today, would people come to pay homage to a president they hadn't voted for? Is it even possible to not hate the president you don't vote for? Would mourners dress the way they did, would they see their clothing as a way of lending a sense of gravitas to the moment? Would blacks and whites mix so freely, united in a singular feeling of grief and sorrow? Would people even shed tears for someone they didn't know and might not have even voted for, simply because it was the president of the United States lying their, removed not by an election but by an act of terror? Would they view an attack against the president as an attack against their country, against themselves? Would this be a moment of mourning, or would it be mere sentimentality, with flowers and stuffed animals piling up against the gates of the White House?

Certainly there were other scenes around the Capitol, and the nation, that night. And yet, no matter where one was, no matter who was directing the shots, I suspect most of these scenes would be the same. Not all, to be sure, because that kind of uniformity of feeling is impossible, even in such circumstances. There were a lot of people who didn't like JFK, who didn't like the Kennedys, period, and not all of them set aside their feelings in a moment of national tragedy. Not every scene was silent and grave; the kids playing in the park as the funeral procession passed, for instance, either didn't know or didn't care what was going on. For some of them, teens perhaps, it was a lark; for others, it was their own way of processing the moment.

Whatever it was, whatever one saw on television, it was a scene from a united nation, a nation with a common history, a shared past, a lived heritage. Whether or not this was the moment that was the beginning of the end, the event that started the slide to where we are today, we don't know; we can't read too much into it, to give it an inflated significance or importance. We do know that this was a turning point in the history of television, a demonstration of the medium's ability to united a nation in a single moment, a single thought. Thanks to television, that moment existed, and still exists today for those who watch it. I defy anyone to do so without retreating into their own thoughts, their own meditations on what it shows us, what we were then, what we are today. TV  

What's on TV? Wednesday, October 21, 1981

As you all know by now, I don't venture into the TV Guides of the 1980s very often, but this week's listings offer the perfect opportunity to point out one of the major differences between today's TV and that of the past, even when we're only talking about 40 years ago. (And trust me, 1981 doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but you know what they say about time going by faster as you get older.) Back then, however long ago it was, there was only one network late-night talk show left: Carson had long since vanquished Bishop, Griffin and Cavett, driving the latter two to syndication and PBS, respectively. CBS made a go of it for a long time with their late night reruns and movies, although WCCO never showed them; ABC likewise followed Nightline with reruns, though I don't know if what we see were comes from the network or KSTP. Somehow it all seems much quieter, doesn't it? As for the morning shows, ABC's Good Morning America has taken on NBC's Today; CBS has its morning news, although WCCO never carried that, either. And, as I point out below, they don't even have a good substitute for it.

You're probably guessed that this week's listings are from the Twin Cities. And remember, comment approval may be slow this week while I'm on secret assignment.




 2  KTCA (PBS)
MORNING
     6:15 COLLEGE FOR WORKING ADULTS
     6:45 WEATHER
    7 AM ISSUES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
     7:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
    8 AM SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
    9 AM NOVA (CC)
  10 AM WHY IN THE WORLD
   10:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Company
  11 AM PEOPLE OF THE FIRST LIGHT (CC)—History              11:30 SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
AFTERNOON
   12:30 MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD—Children
    1 PM DICK CAVETTGuest: Sidney Lumet
     1:30 OVER EASY (CC)Guest: Helen Forrest
    2 PM MASTERPIECE THEATRE (CC)“A Town Like Alice,” Part 3
    3 PM VICTORY GARDEN—Thomson
     3:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
    4 PM SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
    5 PM ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
     5:30 STUDIO SEE—Children
EVENING
    6 PM OVER EASY (CC)Guest: Harriet Nelson
     6:30 MacNEIL, LEHRER REPORT
    7 PM NIGHTTIMES: SPORTSLINE
     7:30 DICK CAVETTGuest: Jacqueline Bisset
    8 PM HUNTER AND THE HUNTED—DocumentarySpecial
    9 PM WORLD—Documentary
  10 PM BUTTERFLIES—Comedy
   10:30 OMEGA FACTOR—Drama
   11:20 SPY!—Drama
   12:20 NIGHTTIMES: SPORTSLINE
Hugh Downs' guest on the 6:00 p.m. version of Over Easy is Harriet Nelson, of Ozzie and Harriet fame, who talks with Hugh about her adjustments to widowhood; Ozzie had died in 1975.

 4  WCCO (CBS)
MORNING
    6 AM MOVIE—Comedy BW “Loose in London” (1953)
    7 AM NEWS
     7:30 CHARLIE ROSEGuest: Sissy Spacek
    8 AM PHIL DONAHUE
    9 AM HOUR MAGAZINEGuests: Phyllis George, Gregory Harrison
  10 AM PRICE IS RIGHT—Game
  11 AM YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial
AFTERNOON
   Noon NOON REPORT
   12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
     1:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
    2 PM GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
    3 PM JOKER’S WILD—Game
     3:30 JOHN DAVIDSON Guests: Gary Coleman, Ricky Schroder, Missy Gold, Glenn Scarpelli, Larry Wilson, Marjabelle Stewart
    5 PM NEWS
     5:30 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
EVENING
    6 PM NEWS
     6:30 PM MAGAZINE
    7 PM MR. MERLIN—Comedy
     7:30 WKRP IN CINCINNATI
    8 PM MOVIE—Drama“A Few Days in Weasel Creek” (Made-for-TV; 1981)
  10 PM NEWS
   10:30 CAROL BURNETT AND FRIENDS—Comedy
  11 PM WKRP IN CINCINNATI
   11:35 MOVIE—Comedy-Drama “The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings” (1976)
     1:45 NEWS
     1:55 MOVIE—Drama BW “Shadow of a Doubt” (1942)
     2:15 NEWS
    4 AM NEWS
WCCO used to have quite a robust morning schedule: cartoons and local kids' shows, Captain Kangaroo, and the local news. A Bowery Boys movie, 30 minutes of news, and Charlie Rose interviews seems like a bit of a comedown, don't you think?

 5  KSTP (ABC)
MORNING
    6 AM COUNTRY DAY—Gary Schendel
     6:30 NEWS
    7 AM GOOD MORNING AMERICA—David Hartman
    9 AM TWIN CITIES TODAYGuests: The Lettermen, The Lockers
  10 AM LOVE BOAT
  11 AM FAMILY FEUD—Game              11:30 RYAN’S HOPE—Serial
AFTERNOON
   Noon ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial
    1 PM ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial
    2 PM GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
    3 PM MATCH GAMEDick Martin, Elaine Joyce, Richard Paul, McLean Stevenson, Brett Somers, Holly Hallstrom
     3:30 HERE’S LUCY—Comedy
    4 PM HAPPY DAYS AGAIN—Comedy
     4:30 HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy
    5 PM NEWS
     5:30 ABC NEWS—Frank Reynolds
EVENING
    6 PM NEWS
     6:30 ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT—Magazine
    7 PM WORLD SERIESSpecial: Game Two from the American League city
   10:15 NEWS
   10:45 NIGHTLINE—Ted Koppel
   11:15 STARSKY & HUTCH—Crime Drama
   12:15 LOVE BOAT
     1:25 ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT—Magazine
    4 AM FILM
     4:30 ABBOTT AND COSTELLO BW 
    5 AM TO BE ANNOUNCED
None of the pomp and ceremony that used to signal the World Series in TV Guide; just a note that the game's being played in the home of the American League rep. Of course, as I mentioned on Saturday, there wasn't much reason to get worked up about this baseball season.


 9  KMSP (Ind.)
MORNING
    6 AM 700 CLUB—Religion
    7 AM FRED FLINTSTONE & FRIENDS—Cartoon
     7:30 GREAT SPACE COASTER—Children
    8 AM KROFT SUPERSTARS—Children
     8:30 CASPER—Cartoon
    9 AM RICHARD SIMMONS—Health
     9:30 MORNING STRETCH WITH JOANIE—Exercise
  10 AM PRISONER: CELL BLOCK H—Drama
   10:30 DARK SECRETS OF HARVEST HOME—Drama              11:30 NEWS
AFTERNOON
   Noon TIC TAC DOUGH—Game
   12:30 BULLSEYE—Game
    1 PM MIKE DOUGLASGuest host: Stuart Damon. Guests: Bill Hayes, Gloria Loring, Elizabeth Allen, Barb and Steve North, James Mizell
    2 PM LEAVE IT TO THE WOMENPanel:      2:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy BW 
    3 PM POPEYE—Cartoon
     3:30 SCOOBY DOO—Children
    4 PM BRADY BUNCH—Comedy
     4:30 LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE
     5:30 GOOD TIMES
EVENING
    6 PM BARNEY MILLER—Comedy
     6:30 ALL IN THE FAMILY
    7 PM GUNSMOKE—Western
    8 PM NEW YOU ASKED FOR IT—Rich Little
     8:30 PEOPLE’S COURT
    9 PM NEWS
  10 PM RHODA—Comedy
   10:30 SATURDAY NIGHTGuest host: Buck Henry. Musical guest: Gordon Lightfoot
   11:30 SANFORD AND SON—Comedy
     Mid. BEST OF SULLIVANGuests: Jackie Gleason and Art Carney, the Temptations
    1 AM MERV GRIFFINGuests: Ann Jillian, Rip Taylor, Brian Kerwin
    2 AM NEWS
I'm sure the Honeymooners bit with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney on Best of Sullivan was probably a riot. Midnight is no time for a show like that to be on, though; us senior citizens who remember Sullivan can't stay up that late. . .


11 WTCN (NBC)
MORNING
     5:30 WHAT’S NEW?—Nelson/MartinGuests: Joan Rivers, Arvonne Fraser
    6 AM JIM BAKKER—Religion
    7 AM TODAY—Tom BrokawGuest: Viveca Lindfors
    9 AM LAS VEGAS GAMBIT—Game
     9:30 BLOCKBUSTERS—Game
  10 AM WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game
   10:30 PASSWORD PLUS—GameSorrell Booke, Irlene Mandrell
  11 AM HEALTH FIELD              11:30 DOCTORS—Serial
AFTERNOON
   Noon DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial
    1 PM ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
    2 PM TEXAS—Serial
    3 PM WALTONS—Drama
    4 PM LAVERNE & SHIRLEY & COMPANY—Comedy
     4:30 M*A*S*H
    5 PM M*A*S*H
     5:30 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor
EVENING
    6 PM NEWS
     6:30 FAMILY FEUD—Game
    7 PM REAL PEOPLE
    8 PM MOVIE—Mystery “Friendships, Secrets and Lies” (Made-for-TV; 1979)
  10 PM NEWS
   10:30 TONIGHTGuests: George Carlin, Pat Boone, Brenda Boozer
   11:30 MARY TYLER MOORE—Comedy
     Mid. BOB NEWHART—Comedy
   12:30 LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE
    1 AM CHICO AND THE MAN—Comedy
Arvonne Fraser, one of the guests on What's New? with Nancy Nelson and Warren Martin, was, in addition to being the head of the Minnesota chapter of the National Organization for Women, the wife of Don Fraser, who represented Minneapolis in the U.S. House of Representatives, and would later become mayor of Minneapolis. My mother knew both of them back when she was working for Myers Printing, the official printer of the DFL, and liked them both, even though politically they were 180⁰ apart from her, That's how people were back then, although it might come as a shock to those today who can't separate ideology from any part of their lives.


17 KTCI (PBS)
AFTERNOON
    4 PM MISTER ROGERS—Children
     4:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
    5 PM PEOPLE OF THE FIRST LIGHT (CC)
     5:30 VILLA ALEGRE—Children
EVENING
    6 PM COLLEGE FOR WORKING ADULTS
     6:30 DICK CAVETT
    7 PM SOCCER MADE IN GERMANY
    8 PM MacNEIL, LEHRER REPORT
     8:30 OVER EASY (CC)
    9 PM NOVA (CC)
  10 PM DICK CAVETT
   10:30 CAPTIONED ABC NEWS
I can't help it—whenever I see the captioned ABC News on KTCI, I think of this:

TV  

This week in TV Guide: October 17, 1981

The cover story for this week's issue is the World Series, which kicks off Tuesday night on ABC. It's difficult to work up much enthusiasm for the 1981 baseball season; a players' strike cancels nearly 40% of the games and splits the season into two halves, resulting in a second layer of playoffs that somehow manages to exclude the two teams that finished with the best winning percentages in the National League (Cincinnati and St. Louis). TV Guide refers to it as "baseball's longest—and shortest—season" (and dumbest, I'd add) and no wonder; this year's Series, should it go the full seven, won't end until October 28. Just imagine!

In the event, the Series pits the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers for the eleventh time. The favored Yanks are win the first two games before the Dodgers come storming back to win the last four, taking the Series right there at Yankee Stadium. What I remember most about this game (back in the day when I actually watched baseball) is that, with the Dodgers holding a decisive 9-2 lead, Yankee Stadium had emptied to probably half-capacity by the final out. So much for those games where the home fans stick around until the bitter end to offer their congratulations to their guys for a good effort.

t  t  t
Eleven days before the publication date of this issue, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated, putting the little-known Vice President Hosni Mubarak in charge. TV Update details the difficulties television news had in covering the story, beginning with the time of the attack. It was early morning in the United States when the ambush took place, and the first reports were sketchy—for some time, it was said that Sadat was unhurt, then that he had been shot but would recover, before the truth of the situation was finally learned. Adding to the difficulties for the networks, the Egyptian government immediately shut down all television transmissions, meaning that U.S. correspondents couldn't transmit their footage back to New York.

In these pre-cable news days, the networks stayed with their coverage for most of the day, finally being able to air pictures around 2:00 p.m. Eastern—vivid pictures that left the anchors grasping for words, and showed the viewers the full horror of the event. Up until then, the networks filled the time with speculation on what had happened (the presumption that Sadat was dead, but no official word for several hours) and interviews with Middle East experts.

We look back at history and identify black periods—1968, for example, when Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated within two months. That was bad, but so was 1981. In the span of seven months, from March 30 to October 6, the news had been dominated by three major shootings: assassination attempts against President Reagan and Pope John Paul II, and the successful attempt against Sadat. With both Reagan and John Paul surviving, there was at least reason to believe that Sadat would pull through as well, but his—and our—luck had run out. As someone who watched all three of them on television, I can attest that those days were madness indeed.

t  t  t
Jeff Prugh's lead article talks about yet another bleak news story of 1981, the culmination of the search for the Atlanta child killer and the question as to whether television news paid too much attention—or too little. The cases dated back to 1979, when the first of 28 murders of young blacks, all but two of them male and all but five minors, took place. In 1981 Wayne Williams was arrested for the murders, and subsequently convicted of two of them.

*The case continues to generate controversy. Note that the facts and figures cited are from the article itself; I haven't presumed to add additional information from more recent sources.


On the one hand, much of the coverage was sensational. ABC, more aggressive than the other two networks, at first reports that Williams will be charged with as many as 18 of the murders; not long after that, Williams is released from custody. And both networks and local affiliates go overboard covering the funerals, for example; one cameraman actually jumped on top of a coffin. One observer likens the coverage to a circus, with psychics offering help, Guardian Angels patrolling the streets, well-meaning people wearing green ribbons, and even a benefit concert by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. At the same time, there is (at least at first) a distinct lack of desire to closely scrutinize the competence of the police investigation, and Prugh notes that until 1981, much of white Atlanta wasn't even aware that anything unusual was going on at all. As one reporter notes, it's difficult to know how to cover such a story, whether to keep the public informed on all details, or to keep certain aspects of the case secret at the request of the police: "You want to be a responsible journalist and tell people what is going on. But then again, you want to do what a good citizen would do."

It's the eternal dilemma that plagues television news to this day, the combination of sensationalism and shallowness. Most people would probably think that, in this day of 24/7 news, television has become even more sensational and shallow, and I wouldn't disagree with that. Prugh points out that not all television coverage falls into this category; in-depth reporting on CBS' Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes, ABC's Nightline and PBS' MacNeil/Lehrer Report is of a high quality. But at the end of the day, there have been four additional murders committed since Williams' arrest. Nobody seems to notice, but in Atlanta there are many who suspect the story isn't really over after all. Earlier this year (2019, that is), the Netflix series Mindhunter took another look at the case; you can read about it here .

t  t  t
White House wedding, 1957Let's stick with the media for a minute. One of the stories from the cover asks what happens "When TV Goes Too Far" in covering the First Family. The writer asking the questions should know; it's Lynda Johnson Robb, daughter of former President Lyndon Johnson and wife of Chuck Robb (currently lieutenant governor of Virginia and less than a month away from being elected governor), and it's her opinion that "TV should allow the First Family some privacy."

Lynda was 19 when her father became president, and she's experienced the "prying eye" of the press. "Of course, the Constitution guarantees a free press," she writes, "but so much that children do is trivial at best and not worthy of national interest." For example, while living in the White House, the press reported on what she and her sister Luci ate, what they wore, what they slept in, how much they weighed. She remembers the story of her sister dancing, and what effect it might have on other of the nation's children: "If Luci can Watusi, then why can't I?"

Things didn't change with her White House wedding. One reporter wanted to know how many raisins were in the wedding cake; the Press Office assigned said reporter to go ahead and count them. On the honeymoon, she jokes that between the Secret Service and media, there were enough people around to field a football team. When Robb left for his tour in Vietnam, they'd been married for less than four months and she was pregnant; with the press around, there was no way to have a private farewell; "[W]ith cameras whirling, I had to set an example and 'deep-breathe' to keep from crying when Chuck departed. After all, there were many other wives and families who were also suffering."

This is not to say that all behavior by the First Family should be off-limits; after all, the First Family welcomes the attention when it's promoting a worthy cause, such as Lady Bird Johnson's campaign for national beautification, or Lynda's own "Reading is Fundamental" projects. And, as she points out in a fairly sentient statement, "I also believe that if the First Family's behavior compromises the President, their conduct should be called into question."

Why are we so interested in the First Family in the First Place? Lynda Bird makes a very interesting point, something that may be far more interesting today than it was when she wrote it in 1981. "Maybe the interest in every detail of White house life is the modern equivalent of yesterday's front-porch or clothesline neighborhood gossip. Most of us live more anonymous lives now, without the closeness of small-town life. We do not know our real neighbors, but through television and the press we feel that we know our famous 'neighbors' who live in the White House." To me, that sounds an awful lot like the kind of live so many live today. Not only do we not know our neighbors today, we don't even know our friends; they all live online. We don't know the closeness of what it means to live with people, or even around people. And so what do we do? We live our lives vicariously, not just through the lifestyles of the rich and famous, but the "real-life" reality stars whom we've made rich and famous by gossiping about them. And when there's no story to be had, no problem: the media simply finds something made-to-order, and blows it up until it's big enough to take on a life of its own. And it seems to always be open season on the First Family, at least this one, no matter who's to blame. I wonder, I just wonder, what Lynda Johnson Robb thinks of it today?

t  t  t
Enough of the historical analysis—let's take a look at what's on TV this week, shall we?

Saturday: ABC's Wide World of Sports (4:00 p.m. CT) presents a replay of the Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns welterweight title fight, which had been shown in theaters and on PPV September 16. Leonard wins the showdown via 14th round TKO. That night, ABC unleashes its two biggest hits from a powerhouse Saturday primetime lineup, in a night of special episodes. It stars with a special 90-minute Love Boat trip to "the starlit Caribbean" (7:00 p.m.) followed by a special 90-minute Fantasy Island (8:30 p.m.), as "the Devil battles for Mr. Roarke's soul." Each show is loaded with B-level stars and ABC featured players, and we wouldn't have had them any other way.


Sunday: Sunday Night Football wasn't a regular feature in 1981, but this week there's a special Sunday night edition of Monday Night Football (got all that?) featuring the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys, from Irving. It goes up against CBS' all-star Sunday lineup: 60 Minutes, Archie Bunker's Place, One Day at a Time, Alice, The Jeffersons, and Trapper John, M.D.  Considering that ABC's experiment with Sunday night football didn't last long, I'm willing to bet CBS won the night.

Monday: Oh boy, dueling Monday night movies! On CBS it's part one of the two-part Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls "1981" (8:00 p.m.), starring Catherine Hicks, Jean Simmons and Veronica Hamel as, respectively, Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, and Sharon Tate. (I'll stick with the original cast, thank you.) In her review, Judith Crist calls it "just another trash-wallow—second-hand and fifth-rate." If that's a little too much for you, try More American Grafitti (8:00 p.m., NBC), with much of the original cast but little of the original charm; Crist calls it "exploitative rather than nostalgic." Me? I would have voted for Monday Night Football (8:00 p.m., ABC), with the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys.

Tuesday: As I mentioned at the top, it's the first game of the World Series on ABC. CBS has part two of the aforementioned Valley of the Dolls 1981 (7:00 p.m.), which I presume is still wallowing in trash. NBC has a "comedy" called The Day the Women Got Even (7:00 p.m.), starring Barbara Rhoades, Georgia Engel, Jo Ann Pflug, Tina Louise, and Julie Hagerty as the women; Crist says this one is "feeble" and "wastes women and men alike." I have to admit, though, that after "trash-wallow" and "exploitative," "feeble" actually doesn't sound that bad.

Wednesday: If Game 2 of the Fall Classic isn't to your liking, the best program is probably The Hunter and the Hunted (8:00 p.m.. PBS), which profiles Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and his search for the infamous Josef Mengele. I mentioned not long ago that I've had a renewed interest in the German side of World War II thanks to the Nazi documentaries I've been watching on Smithsonian and on Amazon Prime, but I would have been interested in this even back then, thanks to a high school friend who loaned me his copy of Ira Levin's The Boys From Brazil. After you've read that, you can't help but be interested in the real story, I promise.

Thursday: It's back to ABC, where Mork & Mindy (7:00 p.m.) are on their honeymoon, with the teaser of "next week's astonishing news: Mork's pregnant!" Meanwhile, at the same time on NBC, Bob Hope hosts a gala entertainment show to celebrate the opening of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Joining Hope and the Fords are political satirist Mark Russell, "drunk" comic Foster Brooks, Danny Thomas, Glen Campbell and Sammy Davis Jr. Oh, and the current First Family, President and Mrs. Reagan.

Friday: Tonight's best bet comes courtesy of Channel 11, the NBC affiliate. On NBC's schedule for tonight is the movie Revenge of the Stepford Wives, but Channel 11 has the good taste to preempt this for Francis Ford Coppola's acclaimed thriller The Conversation (8:00 p.m.), starring Gene Hackman as a wiretapper who learns a little too much about the people he's investigating.

The Conversation came out the same year as Coppola's The Godfather Part II, and both movies were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. It's one of the few cases in which a director had two of his movies nominated for Best Picture in the same year (Steven Soderbergh had Erin Brockovich and Traffic in 2001, but that's the only other case I can think of). Coppola himself only got one director nomination in 1974, for Godfather II, but all-in-all it wasn't a bad year's work, was it? TV  

Around the dial

Just a word that I'll be out most of next week, on assignment for my job. We'll have the usual material while I'm gone, thanks to the wonders of technology, but it does mean that I won't be "live" very often next week. I'm trusting you all to play nice while I'm gone. I'll leave a reminder while I'm gone, because I know what short attention spans people have; by Wednesday, you might have forgotten I said anything about being away.

Now, what was I talking about? That's right, the week in classic TV blogging. Well, let's start with this piece from Carol at Bob Crane: Life and Legacy, which doubles as a reminder of the terrific podcast Flipside: The True Story of Bob Crane (see the sidebar for the link), and gives us a peek at a part of his career that many people forget about: his groundbreaking success in radio.

At Comfort TV, David takes a closer look at a rare beast nowadays, but a staple of the Comfort TV-era: the two-part episode . Some of them contain more padding than Joan Crawford's shoulder pads, but occasionally you'll run across a story that simply couldn't be told in a mere hour.

I've read about the British series Gideon's Way, and I have to confess that every time I run across the title I have to stop myself from confusing it with Gideon's Trumpet , the stirring story behind the landmark Supreme Court case that mandated states must provide an attorney free of charge to any criminal defendant who can't afford one. At any rate, John from Cult TV Blog is here to set me straight this week, with a review of the Gideon's Way episode "The Firebug."

I must admit that it never even occurred to me to think there was a link between Christmas and the horror classic The Curse of the Cat People , which explains why I'm not the Christmas expert here—Joanna is, and she looks at that link this week at Christmas TV History.

Back when television wasn't quite as prestigious as it is today, it was common to see movies adapted into television series; The Farmer's Daughter, for example. Eventually, we came to the point where we had made-for-TV movie adaptations of television series, sometimes as a way to wrap up a storyline, sometimes as a reunion, sometimes just for money. There should be a "don't try this at home" warning that comes with them, though, and if Martin Grams's depiction of the new Banana Splits Movie  is any indication, this one should have come before they even considered the idea.

Thanks to MeTV and DVD, I've come to have a great appreciation for The Untouchables, especially any episode featuring Bruce Gordon stealing scenes as Frank Nitti. As we celebrate the 60th anniversary(!) of its premiere, Terence has a good rundown at A Shroud of Thoughts.

Amid the ongoing TV Guide 365 project at Television Obscurities, take a moment to check out the Year in TV Guide look back at the issue of October 14, 1989 , with the World Series on the cover. You remember that, don't you? The one interrupted by the earthquake? Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself, eh? TV  

Those were the days

Back when I was compiling my Perry Mason collection, long before the series came out on DVD, I couldn't get enough of these things. This ad appeared in the TV Guide we looked at on Saturday.


I didn't get mine at Fotomat (and I didn't pay that much for them, either), but I saved plenty of bucks anyway. They're all gone now, of course, but I had them when I needed them. TV  

What's on TV? Saturday, October 12, 1974

Vegas, baby! City of Lights! No, wait—that's Paris, isn't it? Well, we're not in Paris this week, so the Nevada Edition of TV Guide will have to do. (Besides, I don't want to offend Reno, or the other locations in the issue.) As I mentioned on Saturday, today is the first day of the World Series, but because we didn't know at press time what teams would be playing, it doesn't appear anywhere in the listings. Lots of "To Be Announced," though. For the record, the pre-game begins at 12:30 p.m. on NBC, with the actual game starting at 12:45. We also don't know what the college football game of the week is, but if you're in the mood for westerns, science fiction, or country music, you're in luck! And if you're not, there's still plenty to watch.


 2  KTVU (OAKLAND) (Ind.)
MORNING
     9:00 VOICE OF AGRICULTURE
     9:30 REVISTA DE LA SEMANA—Al Gutierrez
   10:00 STANFORD FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS
   10:30 SAFARI TO ADVENTURE
   11:00 MOVIE—Western BW “Cast a Long Shadow” (1959)
AFTERNOON
   12:30 THAT GOOD OLE NASHVILLE MUSICGuests: Freddie Hart, Linda Kay Lance, Jimmy Dickens
     1:00 MOVIE—Thriller“Creature with the Blue Hand” (German; 1967)
     2:30 MOVIE—Thriller BW “The Werewolf of London” (1935)
     4:00 THIS WEEK IN THE NFL
     5:00 HEE HAWGuests: Jody Miller, Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart
EVENING
     6:00 STAR TREK—Adventure
     7:00 MOVIE—Fantasy“Journey to the Center of the Earth” (1959)
     9:30 WFL FOOTBALLShreveport Steamer at Southern California Sun
   12:30 MOVIE—Thriller BW “Burn Witch, Burn” (English; 1962)


 2  KTVN (RENO) (CBS)
MORNING
     6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTERThe Meaning of Death: Herman Melville’s interpretation
     7:00 FAITH FOR TODAY
     7:30 THIS IS THE LIFE
     8:00 SPEED BUGGY—Cartoon
     8:30 SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?—Cartoon
     9:00 JEANNIE—Cartoon
     9:30 PARTRIDGE FAMILY: A.D.—Cartoon
   10:00 VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS—Cartoon
   10:30 SHAZAM!—Children
   11:00 HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS—Children              11:30 HUDSON BROTHERS RAZZLE DAZZLE SHOW—Children
AFTERNOON
   12:00 U.S. OF ARCHIE—Cartoon
   12:30 FAT ALBERT—Children
     1:00 CBS CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL“Orange Watering Cart”
     2:00 CBS SPORTS SPECTACULARGymnastics
     3:00 GARNER TED ARMSTRONG
     3:30 DAY OF MIRACLES
     4:00 HEE HAWGuests: Jody Miller, Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart
     4:30 THAT GOOD OLE NASHVILLE MUSIC
     5:00 VIRGINIAN—Western
EVENING
     6:30 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
     7:00 BONANZA
     8:00 ALL IN THE FAMILY
     8:30 FRIENDS AND LOVERS—Comedy
     9:00 MARY TYLER MOORE
     9:30 BOB NEWHART—Comedy
   10:00 CAROL BURNETTGuests: Telly Savalas, the Smothers Brothers
   11:00 THIS WEEK IN THE NFL
   12:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Shadow of a Doubt” (1942)


 3  KORK (LAS VEGAS) (NBC)
MORNING
     6:30 TREEHOUSE
     7:00 ADDAMS FAMILY—Cartoon
     7:30 WHEELIE—Cartoon
     8:00 EMERGENCY PLUS 4—Cartoon
     8:30 RUN, JOE, RUN—Children
     9:00 LAND OF THE LOST
     9:30 SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS—Children
   10:00 PINK PANTHER—Cartoon
   10:30 STAR TREK—Cartoon
   11:00 JETSONS—Cartoon              11:30 GO—Children
AFTERNOON
   12:00 MOVIE—To Be Announced
     2:00 DICK GREGG—Sports
     2:30 MINOR KEY
     3:00 PERSPECTIVE
     3:30 VARSITY QUIZ
     4:00 MOVIE—Comedy“Half Angel” (1951)
     5:30 NBC NEWS—Tom Brokaw
EVENING
     6:00 COMMUNITY CAMERA-John Howe
     7:00 STAR TREK—Adventure
     8:00 EMERGENCY!
     9:00 MOVIE—Western“Showdown” (1973)
   11:00 MOVIE—Comedy“Some Kind of a Nut” (1969)
     1:15 MOVIE—Western“Wild Women” (Made for TV; 1970)


 3  KCRA (SACRAMENTO) (NBC)
MORNING
     6:30 ACROSS THE FENCE
     7:00 ADDAMS FAMILY—Cartoon
     7:30 WHEELIE—Cartoon
     8:00 EMERGENCY PLUS 4—Cartoon
     8:30 RUN, JOE, RUN—Children
     9:00 LAND OF THE LOST
     9:30 BILL COSBY—Comedy
   10:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED
AFTERNOON
     3:30 TO BE ANNOUNCED
     4:00 JIMMY DEANGuest: Johnny Russell
     5:00 HANK THOMPSON
     5:30 BOBBY GOLDSBOROGuest: Paul Williams
EVENING
     6:00 NBC NEWS—Tom Brokaw
     6:30 NEWS
     7:00 HEE HAWGuests: Ernest Borgnine, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Starr
     8:00 EMERGENCY!
     9:00 MOVIE—Western“Showdown” (1973)
   11:00 NEWS
   11:30 MOVIE—Science Fiction“Mission Mars” (1968)


 4  KCRL (RENO) (NBC)
MORNING
     7:00 ADDAMS FAMILY—Cartoon
     7:30 WHEELIE—Cartoon
     8:00 EMERGENCY PLUS 4—Cartoon
     8:30 RUN, JOE, RUN—Children
     9:00 LAND OF THE LOST
     9:30 SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS—Children
   10:00 PINK PANTHER—Cartoon
   10:30 STAR TREK—Cartoon
   11:00 JETSONS—Cartoon              11:30 GO—Children
AFTERNOON
   12:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED
     1:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED
     2:00 WALLY’S WORKSHOP
     2:30 VOICE OF AGRICULTURE
     3:00 TARZAN—Adventure
     4:00 TOWARD TOMORROW BW 
     4:30 EDUCATIAON OUR CHILDREN FOR TOMORROW BW 
     5:00 BIG BLUE MARBLE
     5:30 BOBBY GOLDSBOROGuest: Dave Loggins
EVENING
     6:00 NBC NEWS—Tom Brokaw
     6:30 NEWS BW 
     7:00 LAWRENCE WELK
     8:00 EMERGENCY!
     9:00 MOVIE—Western“Showdown” (1973)
   11:00 NEWS BW 
   11:30 JOHNNY CARSONGuests: Dick Shawn, Jacqueline Bisset, Gladys Knight and the Pips, William Demarist


 5  KVVU (HENDERSON-LAS VEGAS) (Ind.)
MORNING
     7:00 NEWS AND MUSIC
     8:30 SPOTLIGHT—Interviews
     9:00 CARTOONS
     9:30 MOVIE—To Be Announced
   11:00 MOVIE—Western“Wagons West” (1952)
AFTERNOON
   12:30 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Mind Benders” (English; 1953)
     2:00 MOVIE—Science Fiction“Dagora, the Space Monster” (Japanese; 1963)
     4:00 CHARLIE CHAN—Mystery BW 
     4:30 RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE—Adventure BW 
     5:00 WESTERNERS—Drama BW 
     5:30 COWBOY WEAVER—Music
EVENING
     6:00 WRESTLING
     7:00 UFO
     8:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Saturday’s Children” (1940)
   10:00 AVENGERS—Adventure
   11:00 MOVIE—Thriller BW “From Hell It Came” (1957)
     1:00 MOVIE—To Be Announced
     3:00 MOVIE—To Be Announced
     4:30 MOVIE—To Be Announced


 6  KVIE (SACRAMENTO) (PBS)
MORNING
     9:00 ZOOM—Children
     9:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY
   10:00 SESAME STREET
   11:00 ZOOM—Children              11:30 SESAME STREET
AFTERNOON
   12:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
     1:00 VIBRATIONS ENCORE—Variety
     1:30 ZEE COOKING SCHOOL—Children
     2:00 CARRASCOLENDAS—Children
     2:30 ERICA
     2:45 THEONIE
     3:00 LILIAS, YOGA AND YOU—Instruction
     3:30 UPDATE
     4:00 SESAME STREET
     5:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY
     5:30 ZOOM—Children
EVENING

     6:00 MR. WIZARD BW 
     6:30 JOHN BASSETTE . . . THIS TIME AROUND
     7:00 ACCION CHICANO—Variety
     7:30 MELE HAWAII—Music
     8:00 EVENING AT SYMPHONY
     9:00 INFLATION: THE MONEY MERRY-GO-ROUND—Report Special
   10:00 THE GARDEN PARTY—Drama Special


 8  KLAS (LAS VEGAS) (CBS)
MORNING
     7:00 VISION ON
     7:30 SUNRISE SEMESTERThe Meaning of Death: Herman Melville’s interpretation
     8:00 SPEED BUGGY—Cartoon
     8:30 SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?—Cartoon
     9:00 JEANNIE—Cartoon
     9:30 PARTRIDGE FAMILY: A.D.—Cartoon
   10:00 VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS—Cartoon
   10:30 SHAZAM!—Children
   11:00 HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS—Children              11:30 HUDSON BROTHERS RAZZLE DAZZLE SHOW—Children
AFTERNOON
   12:00 U.S. OF ARCHIE—Cartoon
   12:30 FAT ALBERT—Children
     1:00 CBS CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL“Orange Watering Cart”
     2:00 CBS SPORTS SPECTACULARGymnastics
     3:00 THIS WEEK IN THE NFL
     4:00 GARNER TED ARMSTRONG
     4:30 SUPERSTAR—Sig Sakowicz
     5:00 DUSTY’S TRAIL
     5:30 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
EVENING
     6:00 LAWRENCE WELK
     7:00 HEE HAWGuests: Jody Miller, Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart
     8:00 ALL IN THE FAMILY
     8:30 FRIENDS AND LOVERS—Comedy
     9:00 MARY TYLER MOORE
     9:30 BOB NEWHART—Comedy
   10:00 CAROL BURNETTGuests: Telly Savalas, the Smothers Brothers
   11:00 MOVIE—Adventure“River of Mystery” (1969)
     1:00 MOVIE—Comedy BW “She Wouldn’t Say Yes” (1945)


 8  KOLO (RENO) (ABC)
MORNING
     7:00 YOGI’S GANG—Cartoon
     7:30 BUGS BUNNY—Cartoon
     8:00 HONG KONG PHOOEY—Cartoon
     8:30 ADVENTURES OF GILLIGAN—Cartoon
     9:00 DEVLIN—Cartoon
     9:30 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
     9:45 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
AFTERNOON
     1:00 KORG: 70,000 B.C.—Children
     1:30 THESE ARE THE DAYS—Cartoon
     2:00 SUPER FRIENDS—Cartoon
     3:00 ALADDIN’S LAMP—Puppets
     4:00 INNER SPACE
     4:30 SKI SCENE
     5:00 WIDE WORLD OF SPORTSMotocross, F1 U.S. Grand Prix, World Lumberjack Championships
EVENING
     6:30 REASONER REPORT
     7:00 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
     8:00 NEW LAND—Drama
     9:00 KUNG FU
   10:00 NAKIA—Crime Drama
   11:00 ABC NEWS
   11:15 MOVIE—Drama BW “Big Jim McLain” (1952)
     1:00 MOVIE—Mystery BW “The Shadow of the Cat” (English; 1961)


10 KLVX (LAS VEGAS) (PBS)
EVENING
     6:00 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
     6:30 CONSULTATION
     7:00 ACCION CHICANO—Variety
     7:30 MELE HAWAII—Music
     8:00 VIDEO VISIONARIES
     8:30 FESTIVAL FILMS
     9:00 INFLATION: THE MONEY MERRY-GO-ROUND—Report Special
   10:00 THE GARDEN PARTY—Drama Special
   11:00 NEWS


10 KXTV (SACRAMENTO) (CBS)
MORNING
     6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTERThe Meaning of Death: Herman Melville’s interpretation
     7:30 BIG BLUE MARBLE
     8:00 SPEED BUGGY—Cartoon
     8:30 SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?—Cartoon
     9:00 JEANNIE—Cartoon
     9:30 PARTRIDGE FAMILY: A.D.—Cartoon
   10:00 VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS—Cartoon
   10:30 SHAZAM!—Children
   11:00 HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS—Children              11:30 HUDSON BROTHERS RAZZLE DAZZLE SHOW—Children
AFTERNOON
   12:00 U.S. OF ARCHIE—Cartoon
   12:30 FAT ALBERT—Children
     1:00 CBS CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL“Orange Watering Cart”
     2:00 AGRICULTURE U.S.A.
     2:30 CONVERSATION U.S.A.
     3:00 THIS WEEK IN THE NFL
     3:30 CELEBRITY BOWLING
     4:00 NAME OF THE GAME—Drama
     5:30 NEWS—Kavoors/Cornelius
EVENING

     6:00 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
     6:30 MASQUERADE PARTY
     7:00 WORLD AT WAR
     8:00 ALL IN THE FAMILY
     8:30 FRIENDS AND LOVERS—Comedy
     9:00 MARY TYLER MOORE
     9:30 BOB NEWHART—Comedy
   10:00 CAROL BURNETTGuests: Telly Savalas, the Smothers Brothers
   11:00 NEWS
   11:15 MOVIE—Drama“Torn Curtain” (1966)


13 KSHO (LAS VEGAS) (ABC)
MORNING
     6:25 NEWS
     6:30 PATTERN FOR LIVING
     7:30 BUGS BUNNY—Cartoon
     8:00 HONG KONG PHOOEY—Cartoon
     8:30 ADVENTURES OF GILLIGAN—Cartoon
     9:00 DEVLIN—Cartoon
     9:30 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
     9:45 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
AFTERNOON
     1:00 NFL GAME OF THE WEEK
     1:30 SUPER FRIENDS—Cartoon
     2:30 CELEBRITY TENNIS
     3:00 BOXING FROM THE OLYMPIC
     4:00 ROLLER GAMES
     5:00 WIDE WORLD OF SPORTSMotocross, F1 U.S. Grand Prix, World Lumberjack Championships
EVENING
     6:30 THRILLSEEKERS
     7:00 JEOPARDY!—Game
     7:30 JIMMY DEANGuest—Jody Miller
     8:00 NEW LAND—Drama
     9:00 KUNG FU
   10:00 NAKIA—Crime Drama
   11:00 ABC NEWS
   11:15 MOVIE—Drama“Trapeze” (1956)
     1:45 NEWS


13 KOVR (STOCKTON-SACRAMENTO) (ABC)
MORNING
     6:30 VOICE OF AGRICULTURE
     7:00 FOCUS ON EDUCATION
     7:30 VISION ON
     8:00 HONG KONG PHOOEY—Cartoon
     8:30 ADVENTURES OF GILLIGAN—Cartoon
     9:00 DEVLIN—Cartoon
     9:30 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
     9:45 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
AFTERNOON
     1:00 MOVIE—Western“The Savage Guns” (1961)
     3:00 DEATH VALLEY DAYS—Drama
     3:30 CELEBRITY TENNISJames Franciscus and Macdonald Carey vs. Peter Hansen and John Beradino
     4:00 49ER HUDDLE
     4:30 OUTDOORSMAN—Bel Lange
     5:00 WIDE WORLD OF SPORTSMotocross, F1 U.S. Grand Prix, World Lumberjack Championships
EVENING
     6:30 WILD, WILD WORLD OF ANIMALS
     7:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game
     7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTHPanel: Alan Alda, Peggy Cass, Bill Cullen, Kitty Carlisle
     8:00 NEW LAND—Drama
     9:00 KUNG FU
   10:00 NAKIA—Crime Drama
   11:00 ABC NEWS
   11:15 DON KIRSCHNER’S ROCK CONCERTGuests: Bad Company, Rare Earth, Renaissance
   12:45 SAINT—Crime Drama
     1:15 MOVIE—Biography BW “Pride of the Yankees” (1942)


40 KTXL (SACRAMENTO) (Ind.)
MORNING
     6:30 PHYSICAL FITNESS
     7:00 TEATRO LATINO
     9:00 IMAGE ‘74
     9:30 WALLY’S WORKSHOP
   10:00 MOVIE—Comedy BW “Bowery to Bagdad” (1954)
   11:00 ROLLER GAME
AFTERNOON
   12:00 MOVIE—Western“The Guns of Fort Petticoat” (1957)
     2:00 MOVIE—Science Fiction“Destination Inner Space” (1966)
     3:40 GRAND COUNTRY MUSIC
     4:30 TRUE ADVENTURE—Documentary BW 
     5:00 WRESTLING
EVENING
     6:00 VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA—Adventure
     7:00 SUPERMAN—Adventure
     7:30 POLICE SURGEON—Crime Drama
     8:00 THIS WEEK IN THE NFL
     9:00 BOXING FROM THE OLYMPIC
   10:00 MOVIE—Thriller BW “Burn Witch, Burn” (English; 1962)
   12:00 MOVIE—Science Fiction “The Astro-Zombies” (1969)
     2:00 MOVIE—Western“Run of the Arrow” (1957)
     4:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “To the Victor” (1948)

  TV  

This week in TV Guide: October 12, 1974

You are Frank Sinatra, one of—if not the—biggest names in entertainment. You came out of a two-year retirement last year, you've just recently concluded a massive world tour, and on Sunday night ABC is broadcasting a concert you performed just a few nights ago at Madison Square Garden in New York. You are Frank Sinatra, and your opening act tonight is: Sonny Bono.

Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. Sonny isn't actually in New York City. But The Sonny Comedy Revue (8:00 p.m. PT), his effort to prove that there is indeed life after Cher, kicks off a big night of music for ABC, one that concludes at 10:00 p.m. with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. And between Sonny and Herb—sounds like a sandwich shop, doesn't it?—is The Main Event. Or rather, Sinatra—The Main Event.

It's not just the title that plays off the Garden's storied boxing history; ads portray Sinatra posing like a victorious prize fighter, a towel around his shoulders, hands clasped triumphantly over his head. The stage looks like a boxing ring (minus the ropes), and Sinatra walks through the star-studded crowd to reach it, escorted by his entourage, all to the sounds of Howard Cosell's introduction. We get the message: Sinatra's not just The Chairman, he's the Heavyweight Champion; it's Frank's world, and we just live in it.

It's a great bit of theater, and no wonder—Roone Arledge, ABC's genius master of sports, is producing the special, using 11 cameras "including several hand-held ones" to capture the action. Sinatra sings all his favorites,* backed by Woody Herman and The Young Thundering Herd, and even though he might not be in the best voice on this night, who cares? "The Lady is a Tramp," "My Kind of Town," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "My Way"—that's what people want to hear.

*Plus a couple of clunkers. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"? I mean, it's a great song for Jim Croce, but seriously? Not "New York, New York," though—it hasn't been written yet.

Oh, and the rest of the night? Well, Sonny's guest stars are Glen Campbell, Twiggy, and The Staple Singers. Herb Alpert has a retooled Tijuana Brass, one that he says is more strongly influenced by jazz. The Muppets are around for some laughs, and Herb's vocalist (and future wife) Lani Hall puts some words to the music. All in all, that's a pretty good night of entertainment.

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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: Bad Company, Rare Earth and Renaissance are guests.

Special: Host Paul Anka welcomes James Brown, Guess Who, Brownesville Station, and the Tymes and Ohio Players soul groups.

This week's Kirshner comes to us Saturday night on KOVR in Sacramento. However, I don't think we have to think about this too much. It's an odd juxtaposition, the two shows this week, especially with Paul Anka, but he's having a career renaissance, so to speak, himself. Add James Brown, and you've got two legends on one stage—and the Guess Who aren't too bad, either. The clock strikes twelve for Kirshner this week; the glass slipper goes to The Midnight Special.

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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.

That's My Mama, one of ABC's new sitcoms, has gotten more than its share of attention since its debut. Part of that is because the network put it on a week ahead of its other shows, hoping it would stand out. Well, it worked, but perhaps not the way the network had hoped. It's gotten some pretty negative reviews, and Cleveland Amory says that's too bad, because it's a pretty good show.

It gives us a new comedy setting, Washington, D.C. (this is, remember, in the pre-C-SPAN days, before we knew just how funny a city Washington, D.C. could be), and producers (Allan Blye and Chris Bearde) who have chosen to handle the typical sitcom situations with "taste and even tact," rather than phony farce. And it has a terrific cast, starting with the titular Mama, Theresa Merritt, who defends her turf admirably. It's just as important, however, for her to have a worthy adversary—the success of shows like these invariably depends on the conflict between parent and child, who bicker all the way through but still love each other—and Clifton Davis, as her son, "not only gives his mother as good as he gets, which is plenty, but, miracle of miracles, she doesn't always kick the extra point. Sometimes he does." Throw in a daughter, played by Lynne Moody, who can hold her own against her mother, her brother, and her husband as well; add in a good supporting cast, and you're ahead of the game.

True, the plots often are nothing to write home about; this is a television series, after all, not a house of miracles. Still, there are enough things that stand out to make That's My Mama worth a second look—even a third.

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The World Series begins this weekend, though we don't know who's playing in it since the playoffs ended after press time. (I just looked it up: it's the Oakland A's and Los Angeles Dodgers. Actually, I knew that, but I did look it up just so I could type that last bit honestly.) It's also, if I'm not mistaken, the first all-West Coast series, so the weekend games will all have later start times, since those games are still played in the daytime. Saturday's coverage on NBC starts with a 15-minute pre-game show at 12:30 p.m., while Sunday's game starts at 1:00 pm. In any event, it's all done by the end of the week, with the A's winning their third straight series.

Melvin Durslag, TV Guide's resident sports expert, recently had a conversation with Oakland's owner, the irrepressible (and, some would say, irresponsible) Charles O. Finley. Finley has some, shall we say, interesting ideas about how to make baseball more popular. He suggests making the field more colorful, for example. "We should have the base lines and the bases in bright hues. Who the hell says that white is sacred?" Along those same lines, he'd like to get rid of the white baseball and replace it with an orange one. "Alert Orange," to be precise. He's in favor of a Designated Runner as well as the Designated Hitter. He'd like to see the umpires lose weight and have their own uniforms, instead of the suits that, he says, make them look like "undertakers." And so on.

What would Finley think of baseball today? The game is at a crossroads, with sabermetrics and the increasingly popular theory of " three true outcomes " reducing baseball to a frequently tedious, three-plus hour contest of home runs, walks, and strikeouts. The three-ball walk, which Finley talks about in this article, would certainly be up for discussion. (The automatic intentional walk, which Finley also advocated, has already come to pass.) One of Finley's passions was a pitch clock, forcing the pitcher to throw within 20 seconds; there's been serious talk about this, but it appears that it will be at least 2022 before it's implemented.

And then there's the prime-time World Series game. Finley advocated this long before the the first nighttime Series game was played in 1971, in part because, as Finley said, "Why play some of the games when the kids are in school and the workers are in the factories?" And yet games now run so late into the night (or early morning) that, as one sportswriter put it, an entire generation of school-age kids has grown up never having seen the end of a weeknight Series game. I think Charlie Finley, who for all his eccentricities was essentially a populist, would be horrified at what today's game has done to one of his prize ideas.

What would he do today? I think he might be tempted to sell the team, shake his head, and walk away.

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The first ratings results are in, reports Richard K. Doan, and already it's becoming clear which of this year's shows are hits—and which are bombs. In the latter category, ABC's The New Land, Kodiak, The Texas Wheelers, The Night Stalker, and the aforementioned Sonny Comedy Hour are sure losers, as is CBS's Sons and Daughters. Existing series in trouble include The Six Million Dollar Man, Kung Fu, The Odd Couple, and Adam-12. All is not lost, however, for veterans such as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, and M*A*S*H, which have returned to their winning ways, and newcomers Chico and the Man, Little House on the Prairie, Rhoda, That's My Mama, Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers, and The Rockford Files.
So how did it all turn out? The "experts" were wrong about The Six Million Dollar Man, which kept going successfully until 1978; they also missed the boat on Friends and Lovers, which was cancelled after 15 episodes; I think that was a case where the critics were so in thrall to that show that they didn't want to see the evidence that the rest of the country wasn't that crazy about it.
If, as it seems, Sonny can't cut it without Cher, what about the other way around? CBS has already given Cher a guarantee for a series of her own next year, and she'll have a special in February that might give us an idea of just that series might look like. That lasted two seasons, before a reconciliation with Sonny that lasted a further season. And after that? Well, Cher goes on to the movies, and Sonny to a political career that eventually takes him to Congress. Who'd have thunk it?

t  t  t
On Monday, ABC News Closeup takes a look at the dangers of playing high-school football in "Danger in Sports: Paying the Price." (10:00 p.m.) It's a particularly prescient topic in 2019, with the heightened awareness we have of head injuries and their long-term effects on the brain, but even in 1974 there were concerns about tactics such as leading with the head when tackling. In 1974 there were an estimated 800,000 injuries playing football each year; today that figure is 1.2 million. The more things change. . .

The World Series resumes on Tuesday, with weekday games beginning at 5:15 on the West Coast, pretty much taking care of NBC's prime-time lineup for the week. Which is just fine, since the night's highlight is the all-time great crime drama Point Blank (8:00 p.m., KTXL), with Lee Marvin outdoing himself as novelist Richard Stark's antihero Parker (renamed Walker in the movie), and a brilliant supporting cast including Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O'Connor, and a host of recognizable character actors. It's one of Marvin's greatest roles; although it's the only time he plays the character, you can't go wrong reading any of Stark's* 24 Parker novels.

*Pen name of the celebrated crime novelist Donald E. Westlake.

Occasionally I'll catch an episode of the long-running (1943-55) OTR drama Nick Carter, Master Detective on the SiriusXM Radio Classics channel, but I wasn't aware until now that a 1972 TV-movie version of Nick existed, with Robert Conrad in the role. Wednesday's CBS Late Movie (11:30 p.m.) presents The Adventures of Nick Carter, with Shelley Winters, Broderick Crawford, and Dean Stockwell as the supporting cast.

A couple of interesting programs on Thursday; first, it's an episode of PBS's outstanding sports documentary The Way it Was, hosted by Curt Gowdy (8:00 p.m.). Each week, The Way it Was focused on a great sports event of the past, combining highlights with a panel discussion featuring some of the surviving participants. Tonight it's the 1952 world middleweight championship bout between Rocky Graziano and Sugar Ray Robinson, and it's a tremendously entertaining half-hour. Later, on ABC's Wide World Special (11:30 p.m.), Dick Cavett does a 90-minute interview with Walter Cronkite from Cronkite's home at Martha's Vineyard. Cavett quotes a critic who once said, "Viewers rarely recall and relish a Cronkite statement. They believe it instead."

On Friday, the NBA kicks off a new season as the Golden State Warriors take on the Los Angeles Lakers (8:00 p.m., (KTVU, KTXL). I know it's hard to believe that the start of the season could be this low-key, but back in the pre-cable days, that's the way it is. (To coin a phrase.) Aside from a couple of special occasions, the NBA won't even have a game of the week on network television until January.

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Finally, this week's issue of TV Guide is the first of twelve that will be coming to you over the next year or so courtesy of Alvaro Leos, who graciously loaned these issues to me to use plugging holes in our weekly feature. I'm extremely grateful to him, as well as to all the benefactors who've dipped into their collections over the years to share their knowledge of TV Guide not only with me, but with you, the readers. As always, if you have any issues that you'd like to see on the site, and if you're willing to part company with them for a short time, please drop me an email. Thanks again!

t  t  t
R.I.P., Valerie Harper.  TV  

Around the dial

The picture up top comes from a Radio Times article from a couple of years back. The Radio Times is the British publication that is, I suppose, most comparable to what the old TV Guide was like, although perhaps one of our British readers can enlighten me further; I've only read it for Doctor Who. The article is by Alison Graham, who appears to be a woman after my own heart; it's titled "What Do People Talk About If They Don't Watch Telly?" , and I swear that this quote could have come, unedited, from my own lips:

There are some phrases that place a cold, dead hand of fear around my heart. Top of the list is “Have you read my blog?”, closely followed by “And now it’s time for Thought of the day”, with “Will you sign my petition” coming a very close third.

Actually, may I just revise that. Really, really at the super-top of the list is “I don’t have a television.” By choice! Can you imagine? There are people who don’t have tellies? What’s wrong with them? How can anyone not watch telly? It’s like saying “I choose not to breathe because I take all of my essential nutrients via osmosis from fairy dust.” Or, “I’ve decided not to eat because it messes up my mouth.”

It gets better from there; just read it.

At Garroway at Large, Jodie completes the story of The CBS Newcomers , part one of which began last week. It's the tale of Dave Garroway's attempted comeback as host of a televised talent show. Of Garroway, one critic says, “This man has too much talent to languish on the sidelines.” Would that we were able to see more of that talent today.

You've probably seen, read, or at least heard about, the hit that HGTV had with A Very Brady Renovation, and at Comfort TV, David points out how the show's success demonstrates the great affection that people have for the Bradys, and wonders what show could get the treatment next?

Seeing as how I'm a sucker for Perry Mason, it should be no surprise to any of you that I've chosen Thursday, October 8, 1964 as the daily entry to visit in this week's trip to the TV Guide 365 project at Television Obscurities.

The second Bill Ballinger script for Alfred Hitchcock Presents is the fifth-season episode "Road Hog," with Raymond Massey and Robert Emhardt, and you can read all about this terrific episode in Jack's Hitchcock Project at bare •bones e-zine.

Fire-Breathing Dimetrodon Time takes a look at what is perhaps the most unique Doctor Who story ever. It's the one-episode "Mission to the Unknown"  from 1965, and what's unique about it is that neither the Doctor nor any of his companions appear in it. It's the prologue to the epic Daleks' Master Plan that would air later in the year. It is, alas, one of those missing episodes, but thanks to the University of Central Lancashire, you can now see the animated reconstruction (featuring the original soundtrack). Always good to end on a high note!


   TV  

Back issues

A
s a teenager, there were two magazines that I subscribed to, without fail, every year: TV Guide and Sports Illustrated.* They’re both still around, technically, but I’m not even sure you can call them mere shells of their former selves. Each, in its time, was the preeminent “serious” publication in their respective genres; in today’s clickbait culture, they’re now some of the clickbatiest.

*I know I don't usually italicize TV Guide, but here it's being used in conjunction with other magazines whose titles I do italicize; it would look funny otherwise.

I had cause in the last week to think about each of them in terms of what has been lost, through various ownership changes, evolutions in taste, and a general dumbing-down of society. (Current readers excluded, of course; if you happen to be reading these words, I have nothing but the highest admiration for your intellect, though I do wonder if you might not have something better to do.) You may have read about the latest to befall SI; the new owners took over last week and promptly cut half of the workforce, introducing a business plan that sounds suspiciously like some kind of a pyramid scheme involving LLCs, freelancers, and unpaid college students. (And no kidding about the pyramid part; the diagram accompanying their business plan is an actual, freaking pyramid. Of all the qualities that the new ruling class possess, irony is apparently not one of them.) One of the first stories to come from the “new” SI, a report on Saturday night’s Notre Dame-Bowling Green game, sounded as if it had been written as a first draft by a stringer for a high school newspaper. It causes even a semi-professional writer such as yours truly to look around, imagine inhabiting this world, and think of Charlton Heston’s words in Planet of the Apes: “If this is the best they’ve got around here, in six months we’ll be running this publication.” Or something like that.

It’s been decades since I’ve subscribed to SI; I dropped it sometime in the ‘80s, I think. After that, I only read it when I was stuck in a doctor’s office with nothing else to do but thumb around a months’-old magazine and find out who won last year’s Super Bowl. SI’s specialty had never been bring you the scores; you could get those in your newspaper. No, what its talented staff did was to give you the story behind the story, the in-depth profile that went beyond the fan-friendly propaganda you read elsewhere. And, of course, there was the stunning photography, from a time when not every sporting event was on TV, and the ones that were were often in black-and-white. It allowed you to actually see what was going on, not just read about it. Its writers included some of the greatest: Dan Jenkins, Frank Deford, Herbert Warren Wind, Paul Zimmerman, George Plimpton, Tex Maule, Robert Creamer, and others. It was kind of like the New Yorker of sports, and though I also read Dick Schaap’s Sport magazine, SI was the one to which I subscribed.

I gave up on the magazine when it started to become too political, when there were too many sports, like white-water rafting, that I just didn’t care about, and when the swimsuit issue turned into barely-concealed soft-core porn. (Pun intended.) I might have had withdrawal for a couple of weeks, but by then there were other serious magazines to pursue, such as Inside Sports and Deford’s failed daily sports newspaper The National. Eventually, I pretty much lost interest in most sports, which is where we are today.

The reason I bring this up—a topic that seems to have little to do with television—is the second occasion, which I alluded to up there at the beginning of the second paragraph. It was the day before yesterday, and I’d stopped at the post office to mail some TV Guides back to the generous benefactor who had loaned them to me (you’ll be reading one of them this Saturday). The woman at the window asked me what kind of magazines I was mailing back, and I told her they were TV Guides from the 1960s and 1970s. I write about them, I said modestly.

“TV Guide!’ she said, as if I’d brought up a long-lost old friend. “I remember that! We used to wait for that every week, and then look through it”—and here she made a motion with her hands, as if she were paging through the magazine—“to see what all was on! That was good reading!”

She turned to her co-worker at the next window. “You remember TV Guide?”

“Sure,” she said. “We used to read that every week! Is that even still around?”

“Yeah,” the first woman said, “but now it’s jes' like some gossip sheet. That’s all they do. It used to be good reading!”

I left with a smile, not just because it had been a pleasant conversation, but because it proved that I wasn’t the only person who felt that way about the old magazine. Like SI, TV Guide had once been a respected, weekly publication that dealt with serious issues. Like SI, it had a stable of great writers—Edith Efron, Richard K. Doan, Cleveland Amory, Neil Hickey, John Gregory Dunne and more—and like SI, it was now published every-other-week, with a tabloid-like mentality, and a website that reads as if it was written by publicists to the stars and has little to say about anything. When you jettison your heritage like this, you lose your institutional memory; in TV Guide's case, the memory is not of the latest stars, or the current gossip—it is the history of television, of the industries, of the shows that came to fame and helped make the medium what it is. Losing that memory is like losing your family album; you're left wondering who you are and where you came from.

Looking back on these memories is guaranteed to make you feel old beyond your years, which is one of the reasons why I do this blog—to make something productive from a memory that might otherwise break your heart, or at least drive you to drink. But what can you do? Times change, people change, tastes change. That this change is not always for the best is beyond the point; it simply is. It does no good to encase yourself in a sentimental nostalgia that acts as a cocoon protecting you from the present time. The past is to be enjoyed, savored, learned from—and to act as an escape only occasionally. As I’m fond of saying, I don’t live in the past, I just vacation there a lot. I’ve met so many terrific people since I started writing seriously about classic television—not just the ladies at the post office, but my friends at MANC, my correspondents, the people who’ve bought my books, and you readers out there, who make yourselves felt even though I might never meet you, or even hear from you.

No, there are good things about the present—not the least of which is all the all the great people you meet when you’re talking about the past. TV  

What's on TV? Friday, October 11, 1963

Have we ever looked at an issue from Nashville? I don't remember, but in any event it's a lot like Minneapolis-St. Paul at this point; three affiliate stations, an educational station, and an independent (this one in Bowling Green). Of course, we didn't have Ralph Emery hosting Opry Almanac, but then they probably didn't have Mel Jass and his matinee movie, either.



 2  WDCN (EDUC.)
Morning
    8:45 LEARN WITH ME—Mimi Dunn
    9:00 TENNESSEE HERITAGE
    9:30 MELODY TIME—Nancy Brantley
  10:00 LEARNING RESOURCES
  10:30 MELODY TIME—Nancy Brantley
  11:00 LEARNING RESOURCES
  11:30 TENNESSEE HERITAGE
Afternoon
  12:00 LEARNING RESOURCES
  12:30 LEARN WITH ME—Mimi Dunn
Evening
    6:30 JAPAN TODAY—Documentary
    7:00 WHAT’S NEW—Children
    7:30 ON HEARING MUSIC
    8:00 ORDEAL BY FIRE—Documentary
    8:30 EVIL QUEEN—Ballet  SPECIAL 
    9:00 CANTERBURY CHOIR BOY  SPECIAL 


 4  WSM (NBC)
Morning
    6:00 OPRY ALMANAC—Emery
    7:00 TODAY—Hugh Downs
    9:00 SAY WHEN—Art James
    9:25 NEWS—Edwin Newman
    9:30 WORD FOR WORD  COLOR 
  10:00 CONCENTRATION—Hugh Downs
  10:30 MISSING LINKS—Ed McMahonPanelists: Joan Fontaine, Jack E. Leonard, Gene Rayburn
  11:00 YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION  COLOR Guests: Helen O’Connell, Stubby Kaye, Dennis James
  11:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES  COLOR 
  11:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS—Jud Collins
    1:00 PEOPLE WILL TALK  COLOR 
    1:25 WEATHER
    1:30 DOCTORS—Drama
    2:00 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama
    2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Tom Kennedy  COLOR Guests: Cesar Romero, Jaye P. Morgan
    3:00 MATCH GAME—Gene RayburnGuests: Jinx Falkenburg, Tom Poston
    3:25 NEWS—Sander Vanocur
    3:30 ADVENTURE LAND—Children
    4:30 BOBBY LORD—Music
    5:30 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley
Evening
    6:00 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
    6:30 INTERNATIONAL SHOWTIME
    7:30 BOB HOPE—Drama  COLOR “Something About Lee Wiley”
    8:30 HARRY’S GIRLS—Comedy
    9:00 JACK PAAR—Variety  COLOR Guests: Shelly Berman, Oscar Levant, Gene Sheldon
  10:00 NEWS, WEATHER
  10:15 TOUCHDOWN—Discussion
  10:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety  COLOR Guests: Teresa Brewer, Milt Kamen


 5  WLAC (CBS)
Morning
    5:45 FARM NEWS—Hank Menees
    6:00 COUNTRY JUNCTION—Variety
    7:45 NEWS, WEATHER—Emery
    8:00 TRIMMER VUE—Exercise
    8:15 CAPTAIN KANGAROO
    9:00 PEOPLE ARE FUNNY
    9:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy
  10:00 McCOYS—Comedy
  10:30 PETE AND GLADYS—Comedy
  11:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial
  11:25 NEWS—Harry Reasoner
  11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
  11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS—Merle Emery
  12:05 SINGING CONVENTION—Music
  12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    1:00 PASSWORD—Allen LuddenCelebrities: Barry Sullivan, Barbara Rush
    1:30 HOUSE PARTY—Art Linkletter
    2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Collyer Panel: Artie Shaw, Jan Sterling, Phyllis Newman, Milt Kamen
    2:25 NEWS—Douglas Edwards
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial
    3:30 POPEYE—Cartoons
    4:00 MOVIE—Western“Carson City” (1952)
    5:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite
Evening
    6:00 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
    6:30 GREAT ADVENTURE—Drama
    7:30 ROUTE 66—Drama
    8:30 TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama
    9:00 ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama
  10:00 NEWS—Bill Jay
  10:15 WEATHER—Bob Lobertini
  10:20 SPORTS—Bill Shell
  10:25 MOVIE—Musical Biography“So This Is Love” (1953)


 8  WSIX (ABC)
Morning
    6:45 NEWS, WEATHER, TIMETABLE
    6:55 FIVE GOLDEN MINUTES
    7:00 COUNTRY BOY EDDIE
    8:00 NEWS, WEATHER
    8:15 DEBBIE DRAKE—Exercise
    8:30 CAP’N CROOKS CREW—Children
    9:00 ROMPER ROOM—Children
  10:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Bill Cullen
  10:30 SEVEN KEYS—Jack Narz
  11:00 ERNIE FORD—Variety
  11:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST
Afternoon
  12:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
  12:30 TENNESSEEANS—McBride
    1:00 ANN SOTHERN—Comedy
    1:30 DAY IN COURT—Drama
    1:55 NEWS—Lisa Howard
    2:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY—Jack Bailey
    2:30 WHO DO YOU TRUST?
    3:00 TRAILMASTER—Western
    4:00 SUPERMAN—Adventure
    4:30 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB
    5:00 QUICK DRAW McGRAW
    5:30 NEWS—Hudley Crockett
    5:40 WEATHER—Gil Greene
    5:45 NEWS—Ron Cochran
Evening
    6:00 RIFLEMAN—Western
    6:30 77 SUNSET STRIP—Mystery
    7:30 BURKE’S LAW—Drama
    8:30 FARMER’S DAUGHTER
    9:00 OUTLAWS—Western
  10:00 NEWS, WEATHER
  10:15 NEWS—Murphy Martin
  10:25 STEVE ALLEN—VarietyGuest: Keely Smith


13 WLTV (BOWLING GREEN) (IND.)
Morning
  11:55 NEWS, WEATHER
Afternoon
  12:00 ROUNDUP—Jimmy Floyd
  12:55 NEWS, WEATHER
    1:00 BULLETIN BOARD
    1:30 MOVIE—To Be Announced
    3:30 ROMPER ROOM—Children
    4:30 SUPERCAR—Children
    5:00 KID’S SHOW—Jeff Till
    5:30 SPORTS—Bill Kuznitsof
    5:40 NEWS—Clem Cockrel
    5:55 WEATHER—Willard Cockrill
Evening
    6:00 WALTER WINCHELL FILE
    6:30 FINS, FURS AND FEATHERS
    7:00 ASSIGNMENT: UNDERWATER
    7:30 DIXIE JAMBOREE--Music
    8:00 BAR RANCH 13—Music
    8:30 MOVIE—Drama“The Lost Moment” (1947)
  10:00 NEWS—Clem Cockrel
  10:10 WEATHER—Bob Lobertini
  10:15 SPORTS—Clem Cockrel
  10:25 NEWS—Harold Hines
  10:30 OPINIONS—Aristotle Jones
  10:35 WASHINGTON FIASCO—Fisher




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