Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 139

What's on TV? Thursday, May 7, 1981

By 1981, we were no longer living in the World's Worst Town™, and so this issue is another from my personal collection, with our St. Paul address on the label. I don't know why I kept this particular issue; sometimes it's easier to tell why I hung on to one, but this one is a mystery. I'd only kept a couple dozen or so before I started buying old issues in earnest (although it would probably be easier to find them in stores), but I didn't really ramp up my purchasing until I started this blog. You're welcome.\



 2  KTCA (PBS)
MORNING

     6:15 COLLEGE FOR WORKING ADULTS
     6:45 A.M. WEATHER
    7 AM ENERGY
     7:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
    8 AM SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
    9 AM ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
     9:30 MUSIC…
  10 AM CAPTIONED RAINBOW’S END
   10:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
  11 AM REBOP—Children
   11:30 SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
AFTERNOON
   12:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
    1 PM DICK CAVETTGuest: Gore Vidal
     1:30 OVER EASY (CC)Guest: Merle Haggard
    2 PM MEETING OF MINDS
    3 PM HERE’S TO YOUR HEALTH (CC)
     3:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
    4 PM SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
    5 PM ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
     5:30 CAPTIONED RAINBOW’S END
EVENING
    6 PM OVER EASY (CC)Guest: Odetta
     6:30 MacNEIL, LEHRER REPORT
    7 PM VIC BRADEN’S TENNIS FOR THE FUTURE (CC)Debut
     7:30 DICK CAVETTGuest: Frank McHugh
    8 PM SNEAK PREVIEWS—Movie Reviews“Caveman,” “The Howling”
     8:30 EDGE OF SURVIVAL—ReportSpecial
     9:30 FAST FORWARD—Documentary
  10 PM SOUNDSTAGE (CC)Odetta, Tom Paxton, Bob Gibson, Josh White Jr.
  11 PM AUSTIN CITY LIMITSLeo Kottke, Passenger
  12 AM WORLD
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were still hosting Sneak Previews back in 1981, when their viewing included these two blockbuster movies. According to IMDb, the other movies reviewed on the program included Hardly Working, Breaker Morant, and Mon Oncle D'Amerique. The dogs of the week were Alice Sweet Alice (Roger) and Going Ape! (Gene).


 4  WCCO (CBS)
MORNING
    6 AM CBS NEWS—Charles Kuralt
    7 AM NEWS
     7:30 ALICE
    8 AM PHIL DONAHUE
    9 AM HOUR MAGAZINEGuests: Andy Williams, Morgan Fairchild
  10 AM PRICE IS RIGHT—Game
  11 AM YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial
AFTERNOON
  12 PM MIDDAY
   12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
    1 PM AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    2 PM GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
    3 PM JOKER’S WILD—Game
     3:30 JOHN DAVIDSONGuests: Rod Steiger, Susan Sarandon, Rick Springfield, Lonnie Shorr, Ricky Jay
    5 PM NEWS
     5:30 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
EVENING
    6 PM NEWS
     6:30 PM MAGAZINE
    7 PM WALTONS
    8 PM MAGNUM, P.I.—Crime Drama
    9 PM NURSE—Drama [Last show of the series.]
  10 PM NEWS
   10:30 CAROL BURNETT AND FRIENDSGuest: Maggie Smith
  11 PM NBA CHAMPIONSHIPSpecial Taped earlier tonight
    1 AM NEWS
     1:30 NEWS
    4 AM NEWS
This is an era that the NBA's not proud of—having the finals shown on a tape-delay basis. It's hard to believe that any major pro sports league, let alone the NBA, would have been reduced to this, but there you have it. Even more difficult to believe is that the league's most storied team, the Boston Celtics, are in the finals, taking on the Houston Rockets. Of course, back in the day, the idea of a playoff game being televised any time other than on a weekend would have been unlikely in and of itself. Still, there's almost something demeaning about showing a playoff game on tape, don't you think? Like taking a step backward. And WCCO adds insult to injury by pushing it back 30 minutes further with Carol Burnett and Friends. Ah, the pre-cable days.

 5  KSTP (ABC)
MORNING
    6 AM COUNTRY DAY—Gary Schendel
     6:30 NEWS
    7 AM GOOD MORNING AMERICA—David Hartman
    9 AM TWIN CITIES TODAY
  10 AM LOVE BOAT
  11 AM FAMILY FEUD—Game
   11:30 RYAN’S HOPE—Serial
AFTERNOON
  12 PM ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial
    1 PM ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial
    2 PM GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
    3 PM MATCH GAMESusan Richardson, Ted Lange, Bob Donner, Joyce Bulifant, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly
     3:30 STARSKY & HUTCH—Crime Drama
     4:30 HAPPY DAYS AGAIN—Comedy
    5 PM NEWS
     5:30 ABC NEWS—Frank Reynolds
EVENING
    6 PM NEWS
     6:30 TIC TAC DOUGH—Game
    7 PM MORK & MINDY
     7:30 BOSOM BUDDIES—Comedy
    8 PM BARNEY MILLER (CC)
     8:30 TAXI
    9 PM 20/20—Hugh Downs
  10 PM NEWS
   10:30 ABC NEWS—Ted Koppel
  11 PM CHARLIE’S ANGELS—Crime Drama
   12:10 SUPERMAN—Adventure
   12:40 MOVIE—Comedy“My Man Godfrey” (1957)
     2:40 MOVIE—Comedy BW “At War with the Army: (1950)
    5 AM TO BE ANNOUNCED
I'm convinced that Bosom Buddies exists only to prove that even the biggest stars have to go through some kind of purgatory before making it to the big time.


 9  KSTP (Ind.)
MORNING
    6 AM 700 CLUB—Religion
    7 AM FRED FLINTSTONE & FRIENDS—Cartoons
     7:30 GREAT SPACE COASTER—Children
    8 AM KROFFT SUPERSTARS—Children
     8:30 JETSONS—Cartoon
    9 AM RICHARD SIMMONS—Health
     9:30 PEOPLE ARE TALKING
   10:30 MERV GRIFFINGuests: Steve Kanaly, Mimi Kennedy, Susan Sarandon
AFTERNOON
  12 PM MIKE DOUGLASCo-host: Jim Stafford. Guests: Randi Oaks, Dr. Lee Salk, The Comedy Store Players
     1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game
    2 PM $50,000 PYRAMID—Game
     2:30 FACE THE MUSIC—Game
    3 PM CASPER—Cartoons
     3:30 POPEYE—Cartoon
    4 PM SCOOBY-DOO—Cartoon
     4:30 BRADY BUNCH—Comedy
    5 PM DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy BW 
     5:30 GOOD TIMES
EVENING
    6 PM BARNEY MILLER
     6:30 ALL IN THE FAMILY
    7 PM GUNSMOKE—Western
    8 PM HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—GameGeorge Gobel, Audrey Landers, Tom Dressen, Tony Randall, Christopher Norris, Wayland & Madame, Paul Lynde, Vincent Price
     8:30 WORLD OF PEOPLE
    9 PM NEWS
  10 PM RHODA—Comedy
   10:30 ROCKFORD FILES—Crime Drama
   11:40 KOJAK—Crime Drama
   12:50 BOLD ONES
As long as Hollywood Squares had Paul Lynde and George Gobel, it still had a chance.


11 WTCN (NBC)
MORNING
     5:30 WHAT’S NEW?—Nelson/Martin
    6 AM JIM BAKKER—Religion
    7 AM TODAY—Tom BrokawGuest: Len Deighton
    9 AM LAS VEGAS GAMBIT—Game
     9:30 BLOCKBUSTERS—Game
  10 AM WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game
   10:30 PASSWORD PLUS—GamePatty Duke Astin, Jon Bauman
  11 AM TO TELL THE TRUTH
   11:30 DOCTORS—Serial
AFTERNOON
  12 PM DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial
    1 PM ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
    2 PM TEXAS—Serial
    3 PM MY THREE SONS—Comedy
     3:30 WELCOME BACK, KOTTER
    4 PM CHICO AND THE MAN—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 NBC MAGAZINE WITH DAVID BRINKLEY
    8 PM MOVIE—Drama“The People vs. Jean Harris,” Part 1 (Made for TV; 1981)
  10 PM NEWS
   10:30 TONIGHT
   11:30 TOMORROW COAST-TO-COAST—Tom SnyderGuest: Santana
    1 AM MARY TYLER MOORE—Comedy
My thought in looking at WTCN's afternoon lineup, as was the case with KMSP, is that this is where classic television fans come from. Not that I'm a fan of the shows here; my point is that it's the after-school watching that kids used to do, with shows that had been aired in the recent past, that makes the impression on them. In my case, for instance, I remember Gilligan's Island, Star Trek, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea not from their original runs, even though they were on when I was growing up; it was when I watched them in the afternoon a few years later that they became part of my television cultural heritage.


17 KTCI (PBS)
AFTERNOON
     5:30 VILLA ALEGRE—Children
EVENING
    6 AM MacNEIL, LEHRER REPORT
     6:30 DICK CAVETT
    7 PM MYSTERY! (CC)
    8 PM MacNEIL, LEHRER REPORT
     8:30 OVER EASY (CC)
    9 PM INSIDE STORY
     9:30 LAWMAKERS
  10 PM DICK CAVETT
   10:30 CAPTIONED ABC NEWS
This is when KTCI, the companion PBS station in the Twin Cities, was in its phase of showing repeats from what KTCA had shown earlier in the day (or week). For example, unless I miss my guess, the Mystery episode tonight aired on the big station Tuesday, featuring one of the lesser-known (to me, anyway) British detective series, "Sergeant Cribb" (Alan Dobie). TV  

This week in TV Guide: May 2, 1981

Care for some charasmatic newsmen? Gerald M. Goldhaber's article on the most popular TV newsmen confirms what we've always been told: Walter Cronkite has the most charisma.

Goldhaber is Chairman of the Communication Department at The State University of New York at Buffalo. He's also president of the New York research firm McLuhan, Goldhaber, Williams, Inc., which was founded by Marshall McLuhan. All this means that Goldhaber likely knows what he's talking about. The study suggests three distinct kinds of charismatic personalities: the "hero," an idealized person who is what we wish we were; the "antihero," seen as "the common man," someone that we're comfortable with; and the "mystic," someone who's unusual, different, strange or unpredictable. Other qualities taken into consideration include appearance, sexuality, message similarity, actions, and imagery.

As I mentioned, Cronkite comes out on top, even though he's no longer anchoring the CBS Evening News: his 43 antihero charisma rating far outdistances NBC's Roger Mudd at 31, and John Chancellor at 29. Dan Rather, who's inherited Cronkite's spot behind the anchor desk, scores 41, but none comes from the antihero category; Rather scores 34 under hero, and 7 under mystic. A telling anecdote comes from Art Buchwald, who mentions that, "I remember once, when the astronauts were in trouble and I was worried, my wife said, 'Don't worry: Walter will solve the problem.' Twenty minutes later, Walter came back on the air. . . and fixed it. Dan Rather will never be able to do anything like that." That's it in a nutshell.

My preferred anchor, Frank Reynolds of ABC, ranks third with a total score of 33 (13 hero, 20 antihero); his co-anchors Max Robinson (12/19=31) and Peter Jennings (17/5/5=27) rank fifth and seventh overall. I'd argue that in another twenty or so years, Jennings would rank at the top of the list, don't you think? Using the same criteria, Good Morning America's David Hartman is the ideal morning show host, with an antihero rating of 33.

According to Goldhaber, the study suggests that NBC should put Mudd behind the anchor desk when Chancellor retires and use Tom Brokaw in the field; that Reynolds should be less aggressive and that Robinson and Jennings would make better reporters; and that CBS may just want to reconsider Dan Rather as an anchor unless he can rid himself of the hero mold (he never does)—otherwise the network might be better off moving Charles Kuralt from mornings to evenings. Wouldn't all that have been interesting?

◊ ◊ ◊
On the cover this week are the hosts of one of television's more surprising hits of recent years: Cathy Lee Crosby, the one-time professional tennis player, failed Wonder Woman and B-movie actress, perennial game-show celebrity and B-grade singer John Davidson, and hall-of-fame quarterback and B-grade TV personality Fran Tarkenton. What's really incredible about their show, That's Incredible!, is that in its first season (of four), the show finished #3 in the Nielsens.

That's Incredible! isn't exactly a reality show, not in the way we think of them today, anyway. It's closer to shows like  Ripley's Believe it or Not!  or, back in the old days, You Asked For It . I suppose you could also compare it to something like America's Funniest Home Videos, in that the hosts really don't do a whole lot more than introduce videos. Time called it "the most sadistic show on television," and for every segment that focused on something that was a real accomplishment, a medical or technological advancement, there was a clip of a man catching a bullet in his teeth.

So why was it popular? It's only a theory, mind you, but the show's first and most successful season was 1979-80. The country was in a malaise, the economy was a mess, and we were apparently too inept to free the hostages in Iran. There was, for those of us alive at the time, a feeling of great impotency, as if the United States couldn't do anything right anymore. Under those circumstances, it's perhaps understandable that people wanted to watch a show that didn't require much from them, that consisted of people actually accomplishing things, even if it was just catching a bullet in your teeth. A feature on cryogenic corneal reshaping through lathe keratomileusis might have been enough to remind people that we could get something right at least once in a while.  As I say, it's just a theory.

Either that, or it was Cathy Lee Crosby.

◊ ◊ ◊
On Saturday at 4:00 p.m. CT, ABC brings us the 107th running of the Kentucky Derby, live from Churchill Downs. The broadcast's only an hour long, compared to the virtually all-day coverage that NBC foists on us nowadays*, but that's plenty of time to cover the excitement as Pleasant Colony holds off Woodchopper to win by less than a length. Colony will go on to win the Preakness two weeks later and then, with Triple Crown excitement building, finishes third in the Belmont. As I recall, there wasn't as much excitement about a possible Triple Crown winner back in 1981. After all, following the great Secretariat's victory in 1973, Seattle Slew had taken the Crown in 1977, and Affirmed the very next year. In fact, Spectacular Bid had fallen just short in 1979, so at this point the question wasn't whether not the Triple Crown would be won, but whether or not this year's Derby winner would fail to win it. Who could possibly have known that Affirmed's 1978 triumph would be the last time for almost 40 years?

*Which is still double the 30 minutes that CBS often offered when it carried the Triple Crown races.

◊ ◊ ◊
By 1981, the TV Teletype—which once graced both the beginning and end of the shiny section—has been reduced to one single page, encompassing news from both New York and Hollywood. There's not much here that's newsworthy, but I do see a note that in June, "NBC will telecast five pilot episodes of "Wedding Day," a daytime series in which real couples get married, for better or for worse, on TV." Sounds like something you'd see on E! or Bravo nowadays, no? Also in the Teletype is a story about Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Ken Berry getting together for "Eunice," a spinoff of the bit from Burnett's variety show. That, of course, becomes Mama's Family.

Long Live Betamax!In the "TV Q&A" feature, a questioner asks why TV sound can't be broadcast in stereo. The answer—it can! It's already being done in Japan, and should be making its way here within the next few years. Wonder what they'd think of surround sound? There's also a question from someone who'd recorded a number of tapes on  Betamax and wondered if it would be compatible with VHS , and another from someone concerned that their new cable box meant they couldn't use the remote control from their television. A lot of this is probably gibberish to younger readers, but for people of my age these were real problems—and it makes me feel old. Again.

A rising star of the '80s is future Oscar nominee Mare Winningham, who appears this week in the TV-movie Freedom, in which she plays a rebellious 15-year-old runaway. This comes on the heels of her performance as a runaway teen-age hooker in Off the Minnesota Strip in 1980, and Operation Runaway, in which she played, well, a runaway. Typecasting, anyone? Unlike many profiles from TV Guide, Winningham actually does fulfill her potential, with a long and successful career in both TV and movies.

◊ ◊ ◊
So what's on tap for viewing this week? Well, on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m., ABC has a special two-hour Love Boat, featuring "top fashion designers": Geoffrey Beene! Halston! Bob Mackie! Gloria Vanderbilt! Compared to the guest cast that week (including Morgan Brittany, Jayne Kennedy, McLean Stevenson and Robert Vaughn), it might have been the first time the designers were bigger stars than the celebrities. Oh well, I'm sure a fun time was had by all.

If  you wanted to catch all of Love Boat, you would have been forced to pass up NBC's Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, which also starts at 7:00. I'm not a country music fan, so I really have no idea how well-known Barbara Mandrell is today, but back in the early '80s she was a big name. Blonde, cute, with a good-enough voice, and two equally cute sisters; not a bad combination for a show that ran for a couple of years. You also would have missed Channel 9's airing of the syndicated Hee Haw, not to mention the show that followed it at 8:00 p.m., Dolly.* You would have been good to see Lawrence Welk at 6:00 p.m,, though, so there is that. And then don't forget ABC's Fantasy Island at 9:00 p.m., with an all-star cast—Cleavon Little, Joe Namath, Christopher Connelly, Trish Stewart.  I mean, they're stars. Right?

*One guess as to who that would have been. Or perhaps two, if you get my drift.

A quick look at the rest of the week's "highlights":

Sunday: CBS has a pretty strong lineup, which kicks off with 60 Minutes, followed by Archie Bunker's Place, One Day at a Time, Alice, The Jeffersons and Trapper John, M.D. All of those shows made a nice little profit for CBS. But my choice would have been PBS' Meeting of Minds , the marvelous Steve Allen program in which historic figures from the past (played by actors) "sit down" to discuss the issues of the day. This week's discussion looks promising: economist Adam Smith (Sandy Kenyon), birth-control (and eugenics) advocate Margaret Sanger (Jayne Meadows, Allen's wife), and Gandhi (Al Mancini). Again, back to a time when good conversation was actually considered entertainment.

Monday: Take your pick; it's the aforementioned That's Incredible! on ABC, or Little House on the Prairie on NBC. If you like your drama straight up, there's M*A*S*H (still) and Lou Grant on CBS.

Tuesday: It's ABC's version of CBS' famed Saturday-night Murderers' Row of the 1970s, with Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Three's Company, Too Close for Comfort and Hart to Hart. I'd imagine a lot of networks would love to have that lineup as well.* But for other choices, there's always Hill Street Blues on NBC, or the made-for-TV flick Broken Promise on CBS.

*Topic for another day: could we postulate that this is ABC's signature lineup of all time, to compete with that CBS Saturday night schedule (All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett) and NBC's Must-See Thursday of the 90s (anchored by Friends, Frazier and ER, along with, variously, Will and Grace, Suddenly Susan and others)? Might make for an interesting discussion.

Wednesday: A fleeting reminder of the glory that once was Hallmark Hall of Fame, as PBS' single season of the long-running series presents Charles Durning in the one-man play "Casey Stengel." I don't think Durning looked anything like Stengel, but he was brilliant in the role. That year was a very good one for Hall of Fame; in addition to "Stengel," there was another one-man performance, with Roy Dotrice as "Mr. Lincoln," and Jane Alexander and Edward Hermann teaming up for "Dear Liar." If you're not a fan, you're probably watching Real People, Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life on NBC.

Thursday: Heavy hitters, indeed: The Waltons and Magnum, P.I. on CBS, Mork & Mindy, Barney Miller and Taxi on ABC, and part one of the murder-of-the-week telemovie The People vs. Jean Harris on NBC. Jean Harris, you may recall, was accused and convicted of the murder of her lover Dr. Herman Tarnower, author of the famed "Scarsdale Diet." Think Atkins, but with violence.

Friday: I'd think the night would have been dominated by CBS' twin-bill of Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas.Tonight's Dallas episode is a repeat of the season premier, which opened with J.R.'s crumpled body being discovered. That's right, it's the "Who Shot J.R.?" season! What's particularly interesting about this is that Friday, nowadays considered something of a TV graveyard, was anything but back in 1981. ABC sought to siphon off some of that Dallas audience with a brand new Battle of the Network Stars, and NBC gave us the shocking verdict in the conclusion of The People vs. Jean Harris.

◊ ◊ ◊
Also on Friday night is a program I have fond memories of. Actually, "program" might be a misnomer, but I'm not sure what you'd call it. Not a series, nor a miniseries, because it's not scripted drama. I suppose you might think of it as reality programming, but it doesn't exploit anyone. No, I guess there's really no way to describe the spectacle that was "Action Auction."

The Auction was the principal fundraiser for KTCA, Minneapolis' public broadcasting station. It was a delightfully scatterbrained week or so of broadcasting that preempted Channel 2's prime time schedule and, on the last night of the auction, would stretch into the the early hours of the next morning. I first became acquainted with it in 1971 or '72, when the broadcast came live from the Garden Court of Southdale Center . The Garden Court was the center atrium of the three-story mall, and people were able to stand at the railings and watch the show while the mall was open.

You might think that this would be pretty dry programming, but you'd be wrong. For one thing, celebrities from all the other Twin Cities stations would appear to do some time as a guest auctioneer (KTCA wasn't seen as competition at the time, and appearing on it was more like a civic duty). There were also some fantastic items being auctioned off—from a popcorn wagon that became a staple during summers on the Nicollet Mall, to lunch with movie star Cary Grant.* And it wasn't just a spectator sport, of course; anyone could call up and bid on an item, and anyone who's attended a benefit featuring a silent auction knows that some of those items are pretty good.

*Grant, a member of the board of Faberge, was in St. Paul often for board meetings, and was apparently a big supporter of public broadcasting.

The best part of the auction was the final Saturday, which would start at 4:00 p.m. and would end—well, whenever the last item had been sold. In the year I'm thinking of, the year of the Southdale broadcast, that hour came at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, and there was a wonderful shot on TV of the sun rising through the clear windows that lined the Garden Court. Watching the auction was a lot like watching a telethon, and as midnight came and went, as 2:00 a.m. came and went, the on-air personalities would get loopier and loopier.  (The closest I've seen  to it was the 1987 Islanders-Capitals four-overtime playoff game, which ended around 1:00 a.m. CT and at one point featured announcers Mike Emrick and Bill Clement on camera with their neckties tied around their foreheads like headbands while Clement did impressions of John Wayne.)

There was something delightfully amateurish about Action Auction, and as KTCA became more professional and more polished, the auction started to lose its appeal. Eventually it became a dry affair, more reminiscent of a pledge break than live anarchy; I don't remember when KTCA finally discontinued it, but it would be great if they brought it back one more time—in its goofiest version, of course. TV  

Around the dial

Lately, I’ve been considering cutting the cable and going with a streaming service. It seems to make sense, since probably 90% of what we watch (outside of sports and news) comes from DVDs or Amazon Prime. Because I have this foolhardy idea that I can educate myself on the pros and cons of each service out there in hopes of making a well-thought out decision—itself somewhat foolhardy—I’ve been going to various websites, gathering information on everything from channel lineups to costs to antenna placement.

It should come as a surprise to exactly nobody, then, that the result of this has been a dramatic increase in popup ads for—you guessed it—streaming services. I’m flattered to know that Sling, Hulu, PlayStation Vue, and Philo (among others) are so eager to have our business; it’s nice, after all, to be wanted. I’d be even more flattered if I were convinced, beyond what they say in their ads, that any one of them could give me the kind of service they want. They say they can, but will I find myself casting off a perfectly functional but very expensive cable plan for a cheaper service that is worth exactly how much less I pay for it? Stay tuned; I’m as eager to find out the answer as you are. In the meantime. . .

I know that professional darts doesn’t exactly fall under the category of classic television, but for an aging coot like me, the evolution of darts from pub activity to big-time television spectacle is reminiscent of watching pro football evolve from an athletic contest all about winning to a pop culture/party/concert mishmash in which the game is secondary. Besides, how can you pass up a quote like this, found in Bryan Curtis’s excellent Ringer article ?

Last year, at a tournament in the city of Wolverhampton, someone let out some horrific farts on stage during a match. To the delight of the British press, the players blamed each other. Asked for comment, [promoter Barry] Hearn deadpanned, “We’ve got to get to the bottom of this.”

The answer: you can’t. Read it for yourself.

At Comfort TV, David returns with the latest installment of the 100 most memorable songs introduced on TV.  Some real classics here, coming from shows like The Addams Family, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Greatest American Hero and The Carol Burnett Show.

We think we live a pretty dull life, all in all, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (although with all the streaming video ads, it promises to get more interesting by the day). Our friends, on the other hand, might (?) consider us a bit goofy. But Dave Garroway had the courage to admit he led a goofy life , as Jodie recounts in this week's Garroway at Large. 

It's hard now to remember how big a deal War and Remembrance was when it aired 25 years ago, partly because of the sheer scope of it. It's one of the things that's "bustin' out all over" the month of May, and you can read about it at TV Obscurities in this week's A Year in TV Guide feature.

Ah, it's back to F Troop at The Horn Section, and Hal's focus this week is on 1965's "Dirge for the Scourge," with Sam Urp—the "Scourge of the West"—played by Jack Elam in a wonderful bit of casting. Hal makes a comparison between F Troop and Bilko, which I'd never considered before. I have to think about that. TV  

Taking TV seriously

"Pop culture can fill you with empty calories; that’s just what it wants. Once you pop, you can’t stop.”

That quote comes from " Searching for Life in the Time of Easter Eggs ," Sean Fennessey's article at The Ringer, that asked whether or it was possible to watch today's movies and television shows on their own terms, instead of looking for hidden meanings from their creators. It reminded me of a piece I did about three weeks ago , a fairly deep dive on Hogan’s Heroes where I asked questions about the morality of  actions taken during the show—questions that might not really be considered until you’d seen each episode multiple times.

The difference is that, unlike the shows mentioned in The Ringer article (Game of Thrones, etc.), the issues in Hogan's Heroes were ones that weren't planted by the creators—in fact, they might not even have known about them. When I wrote The Electronic Mirror , I argued in favor of viewing television in this manner, of exploring programs not only for their subtleties, but for meanings that the creators themselves might never have intended. Biblical scholars will tell you that certain personages from the time—Caiaphais, for one*—often speak the truth inadvertently, without realizing what it is they’re saying, or what its significance is. It’s fair to say, therefore, that just because a particular subtext was missing from the scriptwriter’s intent, that doesn’t mean we aren’t free to consider the questions it raises.

*John 11:50.

What it really boils down to, I suppose, is whether or not one can address such serious questions—questions of life and death, of ethics and morality and the costs associated with doing the right thing—within the context of any television show, not just a sitcom meant mostly as a form of clever but diverting entertainment.* In the case of Hogan, the questions clearly are valid ones, and could be addressed at some length and detail.

*Most of you probably know about the controversy surrounding Hogan’s Heroes and the question of whether or not a Prisoner of War camp is an appropriate location for a situation comedy so this series in particular seems ripe for deeper discussions. 

The next question is this: was this an outlier, a case of a devoted fan digging deeper into the meaning of a show than most people would be inclined to do? Was Hogan’s Heroes itself ever intended to be analyzed in such a manner? Or should we look at all television this way, as a form of entertainment that comes embedded with its own Easter eggs that point, for the curious viewer, in the direction of a gateway to a more significant form of discussion and debate?

To the surprise of nobody, I’m sure, I subscribe to a fair number of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages dealing with classic television. And again, not surprisingly, most of them deal with questions about things like “Who’s Your Favorite TV Spy?” or “Does Anyone Remember [fill-in name of show between 1970-2010]?” I like these kinds of discussions; they’re fun and frivolous, and they often bring back warm and happy memories. They are, in short, entertaining.

And so let’s go back to the quote at the beginning of this essay.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from decades of old TV Guides, it’s this: there has always been a concern that television should be more than just “mere entertainment.” I don’t think the phrase “empty calories” was in use back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but, as I pointed out in The Electronic Mirror, the food metaphor was always close at hand; I frequently quote Erwin D. Canham as pointing out that people can’t live on dessert alone; therefore, television has an obligation to provide viewers with a balanced diet of programming.

I think some people might be afraid of this kind of scholarship, for that’s what it is. They think they’ll be accused of being nerds, of turning into obsessives who dress up at conventions and create foreign languages and live their lives in a semi-permanent state of detachment from the real world—Trekkies, in other words. They may simply fear that going beyond the text of the show threatens their ability to enjoy it for what it is: a relaxing form of entertainment that they can share alone or with friends. Or, it may be something that they never even consider.

I want to challenge the notion that classic TV consists of empty calories, to go beyond it, as I think many of you do as well. I want to prove that pop culture can be the balanced diet that provides both the nourishment of dinner and the fun of dessert. It can never leave the realm of entertainment; Easter eggs do no good if nobody’s there to see it. But it doesn’t have to be a plateful of empty calories either, and in fact we should try and avoid that whenever possible.

That’s what I set out to do in The Electronic Mirror, and it’s what I look to do here on a regular basis. It can be done, and I think I’ve tried to do this, without becoming threatening, without discouraging the reader who wants nothing to do with a dry, academic text. Hopefully you find it as much fun as I do, and as satisfying. (If you don’t, I hope you’ll at least come for the old TV Guides, and stay for the cartoons.)

Whatever the case—and I’m trying to speak beyond the choir here—I hope you’ll consider that classic television can be stimulating as well as entertaining, that it can cause you to ask big questions and ponder the meanings of what you see on the screen, that it will engage you in a form of active participation that will enrich your viewing pleasure in so many different ways. Yes, it’s fun and games, but to paraphrase Peggy Lee, that’s not all there is. TV  

What's on TV? Friday, May 3, 1957

This week's TV Guide is advertised as the Northern Minnesota edition, and you'll see some differences from our usual Minnesota State Edition. The stations shown include a pair from Fargo, North Dakota, and the Twin Cities educational channel, KTCA, hasn't yet started broadcasting. Many areas only have two stations, which means we have more split affiliations than usual. You'll notice that variety shows are a regular part of the daytime schedule. And, of course, Daylight Saving Time plays havoc with some of our schedules. It's just an average day in the broadcasting week.



 3  KDAL (Duluth) (CBS, ABC)
Morning
    6:45 NEWS—HotteletLocal news at 6:55 A.M.
    7:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO
    7:45 NEWS—HotteletLocal news at 7:55 A.M.
    8:00 GARRY MOORE—VarietyGuests: Georgie Kaye, Martha Davis and Spouse
    9:30 STRIKE IT RICH—Quiz
  10:00 VALIANT LADY—Serial
  10:15 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial
  10:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
  10:45 GUIDING LIGHT--Serial
  11:00 NEWS—Walter Cronkite
  11:10 STAND UP AND BE COUNTED
  11:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:05 MARIAN KEY—Variety
  12:30 HOUSE PARTY—LinkletterGuest host: Jack Slattery
    1:00 BIG PAYOFF—Quiz
    1:30 BOB CROSBY  COLOR 
    2:00 BRIGHTER DAY—Serial
    2:15 SECRET STORM—Serial
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 MOVIE—To Be Announced
    4:30 JOLLY JOE—Kids
    5:00 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:15 NEWS—Edwards
    6:30 WILD BILL HICKOK—Western
    7:00 MR. ADAMS AND EVE
    7:30 DR. HUDSON’S JOURNAL
    8:00 WEST POINT—Drama
    8:30 ZANE GREY—Western
    9:00 LINE-UP—Drama
    9:30 PERSON TO PERSONGuests: Sophia Loren, Alcatraz Warden Paul Madigan
  10:00 NEWS
  10:15 HERB TAYLOR’S NOTEBOOK
  10:30 MOVIE—Drama“Secret Beyond the Door” (1948)


 4  WCCO (CBS)
Morning
    5:40 TELE-FARMER—Seils
    6:00 JIMMY DEAN—Music
    6:45 NEWS—HotteletLocal news at 6:55 A.M.
    7:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO
    7:45 NEWS—HotteletLocal news at 7:55 A.M.
    8:00 GARRY MOORE—VarietyGuests: Georgie Kaye, Martha Davis and Spouse
    9:30 STRIKE IT RICH—Quiz
  10:00 VALIANT LADY—Serial
  10:15 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial
  10:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
  10:45 GUIDING LIGHT--Serial
  11:00 LIBERACE—Music
  11:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:15 TAKE FIVE—Cedric Adams
  12:20 WEATHER—Bud Kraehling
  12:30 HOUSE PARTY—LinkletterGuest host: Jack Slattery
    1:00 BIG PAYOFF—Quiz
    1:30 BOB CROSBY  COLOR 
    2:00 BRIGHTER DAY—Serial
    2:15 SECRET STORM—Serial
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 AROUND THE TOWN—Haeberle
    3:30 MOVIE—To Be Announced
    4:30 BUGS BUNNY—Cartoons
    5:00 AXEL AND DOG—Clellan Card
    5:30 POPEYE CLUBHOUSE—Jass
    5:55 WEATHER, NEWS, SPORTS
Evening
    6:15 NEWS—Edwards
    6:30 BEAT THE CLOCK—Stunts
    7:00 MR. ADAMS AND EVE
    7:30 SCHLITZ PLAYHOUSE“The Traveling Corpse”
    8:00 WEST POINT—Drama
    8:30 ZANE GREY—Western
    9:00 LINE-UP—Drama
    9:30 PERSON TO PERSONGuests: Sophia Loren, Alcatraz Warden Paul Madigan
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 MOVIE—Mystery“Strange Triangle” (1946)
  12:00 WEATHER—Mel Jass


 4  KXJB (Fargo) (CBS)
Morning
  11:00 COMMUNITY BILLBOARD—Dale Olson
  11:30 VALIANT LADY—Serial
  11:45 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
Afternoon
  12:00 MARKETS—Ro Grignon
  12:05 DOWN TO EARTH—Talk
  12:20 NEWS—Don Kingsley
  12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS
    1:00 BIG PAYOFF—Quiz
    1:30 BOB CROSBY  COLOR 
    2:00 BRIGHTER DAY—Serial
    2:15 SECRET STORM—Serial
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 ARTHUR GODFREY—Variety
    3:30 STRIKE IT RICH—Quiz
    4:00 HOUSE PARTY—Linkletter
    4:15 GARRY MOORE—Variety
    4:30 SUSIE—Comedy
    5:00 CAPT. JIM—Kids
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:15 NEWS—Edwards
    6:30 BEAT THE CLOCK—Stunts
    7:00 MR. ADAMS AND EVE
    7:30 SCHLITZ PLAYHOUSE“The Traveling Corpse”
    8:00 STATE TROOPER—Police
    8:30 TALENT SCOUTS—Godfrey
    9:00 LINE-UP—Drama
    9:30 PERSON TO PERSONGuests: Sophia Loren, Alcatraz Warden Paul Madigan
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 PANORAMA—Jim Adelson
  11:30 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS


 5  KSTP (NBC)
Morning
    6:45 TERRY TUNES—Cartoons
    7:00 TODAY—Dave GarrowayGuest: Paul Whiteman
    8:00 HOME—Francis
    9:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Contest
    9:30 TRUTH OR CONSQUENCES
  10:00 TIC TAC DOUGH—Quiz
  10:30 IT COULD BE YOU
  11:00 CLOSEUP—Interviews
  11:30 TREASURE CHEST—Quiz
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:15 WEATHER—Johnny Morris
  12:20 MELODY FAIR—Music
  12:30 TENNESSEE ERNIE
    1:00 MATINEE THEATER  COLOR “The Gioconda Smile”
    2:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY
    2:45 MODERN ROMANCES
    3:00 TOPPER—Comedy
    3:30 SUSIE—Comedy
    4:00 MOVIE—Western
    5:00 SIDE SHOW—T. N.  Tatters
    5:30 CAPT. DARYL—Kids
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:20 YOU SHOULD KNOW—Quiz
    6:30 XAVIER CUGAT—Music
    6:45 NEWS—Huntley-Brinkley
    7:00 JOSEPH COTTEN—Drama
    7:30 BIG STORY—Drama
    8:00 BOXING—LouisvilleEddie Machen vs. Joey Maxim
    8:45 SPORTS—Red Barber
    9:00 BLONDIE—Comedy
    9:30 DR. HUDSON’S JOURNAL
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 CITY DETECTIVE—Police
  11:00 TONIGHT—Jack Lescoulie


 6  WDSM (Duluth) (NBC, ABC)
Morning
    7:00 TODAY—Dave GarrowayGuest: Paul Whiteman
    8:00 HOME—Francis
    9:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Contest
    9:30 TRUTH OR CONSQUENCES
  10:00 TIC TAC DOUGH—Quiz
  11:00 CLOSEUP—Interviews
  11:30 CLUB 60—Variety  COLOR 
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:05 CLUB 60—Variety  COLOR 
  12:30 TENNESSEE ERNIE
    1:00 MATINEE THEATER  COLOR “The Gioconda Smile”
    2:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY
    2:45 MODERN ROMANCES
    3:00 TOPPER—Comedy
    3:30 AFTERNOON—Libby Smith
    4:00 LOONEY TUNES—Cartoons
    4:30 CAPT. “Q”—Kids
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:15 JIM BOWIE—Adventure
    6:45 NEWS—Huntley-Brinkley
    7:00 JOSEPH COTTEN—Drama
    7:30 MAN CALLED X—Adventure
    8:00 BOXING—LouisvilleEddie Machen vs. Joey Maxim
    8:45 SPORTS—Red Barber
    9:00 BLONDIE—Comedy
    9:30 HAWKEYE—Adventure
  10:00 NEWS
  10:15 TRACER—Mystery
  10:45 TONIGHT—Jack Lescoulie               

 6  WDAY (Fargo) (NBC, ABC)
Morning
  10:00 TIC TAC DOUGH—Quiz
  11:00 CLOSEUP—Interviews
  11:30 AROUND THE WORLD—Variety
Afternoon
  12:00 NOONDAY—Variety
  12:30 TENNESSEE ERNIE
    1:00 MATINEE THEATER  COLOR “The Gioconda Smile”
    2:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY
    2:45 MODERN ROMANCES
    3:00 TOPPER—Comedy
    3:30 PARTY LINE—Variety
    4:30 BIG PICTURE—Army Film
    5:00 MOVIE—Western
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:15 NEWS—John Daly
    6:30 RIN TIN TIN—Adventure
    7:00 JIM BOWIE—Adventure
    7:30 CROSSROADS—Drama
    8:00 BOXING—LouisvilleEddie Machen vs. Joey Maxim
    8:45 SPORTS—Red Barber
    9:00 BLONDIE—Comedy
    9:30 BROKEN ARROW—Western
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 MOVIE—Mystery“Calling All Cars” (1935)
  11:55 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS


 9  KMGM (IND.)
Afternoon
    5:00 MOVIE—Western
Evening
    6:00 ADVENTURE TIME—Serials
    6:30 MY LITTLE MARGIE—Comedy
    7:00 MOVIE—Mystery“Meet Boston Blackie” (1941)
    8:30 SCIENCE FICTION THEATER
    9:00 MOVIE—DramaMGM Time: “Omaha Trail” (1942)
  10:30 MOVIE—Western“The Marshal’s Daughter” (1953)



11 WTCN (ABC)
Morning
    8:50 KASH BOX—Quiz
    9:00 TEL-A-STORY PLAYHOUSE
    9:30 J.P. PATCHES—Kids
  10:00 DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS—Drama
  10:30 VARIETY TIME
  11:00 ROMPER ROOM—Miss June
  11:55 NEWS—Paul Sevareid
Afternoon
  12:00 CASEY JONES—Rog Awsumb
  12:30 TROUBLE WITH FATHER
    1:00 AFTERNOON FILM FESTIVAL“Both Sides of the Law” (English; 1954)
    2:30 NEWS—Paul Sevareid
    3:00 MOVIE—Spy Drama “The Thief” (1952)
    4:00 CARTOON CARNIVAL—Kids
    5:00 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:15 NEWS—John Daly
    6:30 RIN TIN TIN—Adventure
    7:00 JIM BOWIE—Adventure
    7:30 CROSSROADS—Drama
    8:00 TREASURE HUNT—Quiz
    8:30 VISE—Drama
    9:00 RAY ANTHONY—Music
    9:30 STAR AND THE STORY—Drama
  10:00 MOVIE—Drama“Casbah” (1948)
  11:30 NEWS—Frank Seifert
  TV  

This week in TV Guide: April 27, 1957

There’s discontent rising in the land, my friends, and it’s about to boil over. It pits neighbor against neighbor, city against city, network against network; and there’s no telling how far it may go before it’s done. I speak, of course, of: Daylight Savings Time.

Daylight Time was scheduled to go into effect for the year at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 28. That is, in places where it was observed. And what a mess that was, as TV Guide points out. "Duluth, Minn., and Superior, Wis., lie right next to each other in the Central Time Zone.* Both receive programs from the same TV stations. During the winter, everything is fine. Come summer, Superior goes to daylight time; Duluth, however, stays on standard (unless the state legislature passes a new law). To which of the two times should programs be geared?"

*I can vouch for this, having been in Duluth before. The area is often referred to as "Duluth-Superior."

See, at this point both the federal and some state governments have left it up to local communities to decide whether or not to go on Daylight Savings Time. Minnesota, as a state, did not observe it; the legislature, however, was in the process of debating a law that would put Minneapolis-St. Paul and Duluth on it, leaving the rest of the state on Standard Time. This becomes a major issue for the networks, who are at this point still dealing with a substantial number of live programs. The advent of tape has helped things to an extent, but it's still confusing, as this example of the Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen shows illustrates. The shows are initially broadcast live at 8:00 p.m. in New York. New York follows Daylight Time.

Instead of being televised [live to other parts of the country], they are recorded on tape. The tape is held for three hours, then transmitted at 8 o'clock Los Angeles PDT. The tape is simultaneously fed back to stations in the Central Standard Zone for broadcast at the usual air time there of 9 o'clock and in the Mountain Standard Zone at 8 o'clock.

Do you have a headache yet? If not, consider that Seattle remains on Standard time, which puts it an hour behind Los Angeles. Seattle is frequent host to televised boxing. With an air time of 10:00 p.m. EDT, this means the main event must begin at 6:00 p.m. PST, with the undercard starting even earlier. As an NBC exec says, "What fight fan wants to watch a fight at 6 o'clock? He hasn't even had is dinner yet."

The effect of this national confusion isn't limited to TV, of course—airlines and railroads have to deal with the shifting sands of time as well. Whatever you have to say about Daylight Savings Time (I'm against it, personally), I think everyone can agree that things were much worse back then.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️
As you can see from the cover, the feature story this week is on Groucho Marx, whose show You Bet Your Life is one of the top-rated programs on TV. Groucho was seldom at a loss for words, and this week's interview, conducted at Romanoff's restaurant by staff writer Dan Jenkins (not this one) is no exception.

Groucho on criticism of TV: "I don't see why everybody, including myself, should spend so much time criticizing television. I think television has done a remarkably good job considering the circumstances. If you were the advertising man entrusted with the spending of two or three million dollars, would you try to elevate the public or would you try to find yourself a good commercial show? When the public wants to be elevated, it will do its own elevating."

On Hollywood creativity: "People look upon Hollywood as a great outdoor lunatic asylum. This is not true. There are some very intelligent people in Hollywood—intelligent enough to know what all the rest of the lunatics want in the way of entertainment."

On appearing as a guest on other programs: "I've regretted most of the guest spots I've done. But for one of them, a four-minute spot, I got $25,000. How can I regret that? If somebody wants to spend his money that foolishly, I am quite happy to help him out."

On the unfairness of the TV ratings system: "The only way to judge a show's value is to examine the sales record of the show's product. I think I am safe in saying that De Soto [the car company that sponsored his show] barely existed in the public's mind before You Bet Your Life, and then only as a character who preceded Mark Twain on the Mississippi . I think they know now that De Soto is an automobile. I drive two of them myself, though not at the same time."

On the photographer suggesting Groucho might want to hide his drink before being photographed: "Why? And if it looks like tomato juice, tell 'em there's vodka in it. I don't see why I should hide the fact that I have a drink with my lunch. Let's order a drink for the photographer. He probably needs one more than I do."

On the future: "The future will have a TV screen covering your living-room wall. All in color." Lest this sound too scholarly, considering this has pretty much come to pass, he adds, "The set itself will erupt popcorn at regular intervals. They'll even send a man to your house to put his feet on your shoulders and provide background talking and paper rustling."

♦️ ♦️ ♦️
Saturday morning's presentation of Winky Dink and You on CBS is the last show of the series, to be replaced the next week by Susan's Show, hosted by Susan Heinkel. Susan's Show debuted in 1956 on Chicago CBS affiliate WBBM before moving to the network a year later.* The premise of Susan's Show was pretty simple: using a magic flying stool, Susie would travel to mystical lands, where she would engage in adventures with her dog Rusty. In other words, pretty standard kids' TV fare.

*Chicago was a hotbed of television in the early days, and many series made the transition from local to national broadcasts.

By the way, did I mention that Susan Heinkel is 12 years old? Not only that, she's a show biz veteran, having started her career in St. Louis at the age of three, and she's a hit in Chicago, trailing only the Mickey Mouse Club in the daytime ratings. Notes the article, "Susan ad-libs commercials with astonishing poise." 


Think about that next time you get a bumper-sticker talking about how your kid's an honor student. Impressive, but does she have her own TV show yet?

♦️ ♦️ ♦️
Starting in 1954, Steve Allen hosted his own NBC variety show which, at the beginning, aired opposite that of Ed Sullivan. It didn't run as long as Ed's, of course, but then Allen said his goal was never to conquer Ed, but to coexist with him, which he did for several seasons. Let's see who gets the best of the contest this week.

Sullivan: Ed welcomes Lena Horne, singer; young actor Anthony Perkins, in his TV singing debut; Bill Haley's Comets; comedians George de Witt and Jack Paar; Apaka, Honolulu's top recording star; the Happy Jesters, instrumental group; Heidi, Toronto's adding dog; and Jim Piersall, Boston Red Sox outfielder.

Allen: Steve greets comedians Jack Carson and Don Adams' songstresses Brenda Lee and Abbe Lane, who is joined by Xavier Cugat and his band; and dancers Peter Gennarro and Ellen Ray from the Braodway musical "Bells Are Ringing."

Not bad. You can clearly see Ed's vaudeville roots showing, far more than Allen, who concentrates on more established stars. Abbe Lane, profiled in the front of the magazine, is not only a talented singer and dancer, she's a knockout (with "one of the world's most remarkable torsos"), who's married to the bandleader Cugat (his fourth wife; he later divorces her and marries Charo ). Don Adams will eventually become Maxwell Smart, and Jack Carson is a TV mainstay.

On the other hand, it's hard to top the great Lena Horne, and although Perkins is supposed to sing, he's also there to plug the movie Fear Strikes Out, the true story of Jim Piersall's struggle with mental illness.* But the reason I'm giving this one to Sullivan is a more whimsical one: Jack Paar, who's appearing on Ed's show, will - three months later - take over the Tonight Show; the very program that Steve Allen had given up. I love that kind of irony.

*Perkins' widow, Berry Berenson, was killed on American Airlines flight 11 during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️
Wouldn't be able to get away with this today.Baseball season! But it's pre-major league baseball in the Twin Cities, so there's no Minnesota Twins. Instead, there's the Minneapolis Millers, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Giants, who the year before moved from Minneapolis to the brand-new Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington (even though TV Guide, which lacks the subtleties, says the Met is in Minneapolis). The new digs have been built in hopes of luring a major league team, and in time they will—the Washington Senators, who make Minnesota their home in 1961. On Thursday night the Millers take on the Louisville Colonels. A quick glance at the lineups gives me the name of at least one future star, Orlando Cepada , who plays for the Millers before being called up to the Giants, now in San Francisco, in 1958. Cepada is elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999.

There is major league baseball on TV Saturday afternoon, though it isn't seen in the Twin Cities. (Perhaps the Millers were playing at home and the games were blacked out?) Lindsay Nelson and Leo Durocher are behind the mic for NBC as the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates face off from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, while the irrepressible Dizzy Dean and Buddy Blattner call CBS's telecast of the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️
"To a national audience, Mike Wallace is known as the sympathetic quizmaster on "The Big Surprise," which recently left the air. New Yorkers, however, know him as the incisive interviewer on a late evening local program which made its debut last fall and created widespread interest."

And with that, ABC launched the debut episode of The Mike Wallace Interviews (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., ABC), which introduced us to the Mike Wallace we all came to know and love (or hate). I've seen clips of Wallace as game show host, actor and commercial pitchman, and I'm sure that acting experience helped hone his skills when it came to interviewing. Still, it's hard to imagine Mike Wallace as anything other than the newsman and 60 Minutes star, isn't it? Kind of like finding out your parents were once young—it just doesn't compute.

Also, there's a note in the Teletype that confirms "CBS's new Perry Mason show, starring Raymond Burr, will replace Jackie Gleason next fall." Who could have imagined how that would turn out.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️
Speaking of which, we'll end today with the kind of footnote to which I'm so often drawn. Again from the Teletype:

"Charles Van Doren, Twenty-One winner, has signed an exclusive contract with NBC. Tentatively, they'll build a quiz show around him, use him as consultant on educational shows. He'll continue as college prof."

This was, of course, before the Quiz Show Scandals, before he was exposed as being part of the rigged show, before he was fired from NBC and Columbia University. In other words, before everything fell apart.

But as far as this issue of TV Guide is concerned, all of that is in the future. And what impresses me the most is looking at this note, so innocent and without guile. It's not a reprint, it's not a message that blinks on a computer archive. (As you'll be reading it.) No, what I hold in my hands is the actual TV Guide, a historical document, if you will, which came out before anything had hit the fan. It was not only written in the context of the time, it was printed and sold in that context as well. It's kind of like the difference between a lithograph of the Declaration of Independence and the real thing, though not nearly as important, of course. It is, nonetheless, living history. Our history. And that never fails to impress me. TV  

Around the dial

Since this space tends to get used as a catch-all from time to time, I thought I'd lead off with a couple of unrelated notes. First, a big thanks to Bruce, who ran across the August 9-16, 1958 issue of TV Guide in his mother's possessions, and was generous enough to send to me as a contribution to the Hadley TV Guide Archives. (You'll be reading about this issue come August.) I really am touched by the kindnesses shown by you all; it's gratifying, as well as humbling, to know that what I'm doing is connecting with you.

Second, a question that came up in the comments thread from Brune, who asks, "Can I please buy a copy of the show Get It Together . where these artist performing The Ides of March / Vic Dana / Little Anthony and the Imperials?" Well, Brune, if you want to buy that, it's OK with me! Wait, what's that? Oh, you want to know where you can buy a copy of it? Well, so would I, because then I'd be able to tell you, and it would make me look like I really know what I'm writing about here. I'm afraid I don't, though: does anyone out there have a suggestion for Brune?

And now on to our regular programming, and since we were off on Good Friday, we have some catching up to do. At bare-bones e-zine, it's Part 8 of Jack's Hitchcock Project look at the works of James P. Cavanagh, and it's the fifth season opener, "Arthur," a black comedy directed by Hitch himself, starring Laurence Harvey, Hazel Court, and Patrick Macnee.

Meanwhile, over at Comfort TV, David returns with part two of his look at the 100 most memorable songs introduced by classic TV . ( Part one was during our bye last week.) You can count me in on any list that includes "The Lumberjack Song."

Amanda's launching a new project over at Made for TV Mayhem: a look at the long-running religious series Insight , produced by our old friend, Fr. Elwood Kieser.   Lest you be scared away by "religious" programming, Fr. Kieser was always careful to avoid being "preachy" in his program, which (as was the case also with Bishop Sheen) made them even more effective.

A couple of remembrances by Jodie at Garroway at Large: first,  Sarah Lee Lippincott , Dave Garroway's third wife, who passed away in February; and then, a really wonderful piece on  Charles Van Doren , whose death I mentioned in passing a couple of weeks ago. Again, we need to keep these pieces of TV history alive.

At The Twilight Zone Vortex, Jordan reviews another of the episodes on the show's new incarnation, "A Traveler," starring Steven Yeun, which aired last week. A very interesting observation by Jordan, who notes that while he likes the new series, "there is a noted lack of humanism in the new series which is replaced with a bleak and sometimes utterly hopeless outlook on the future of human relations."

Kirk Cameron and Jason Bateman are on the cover of the April 22, 1989 edition of TV Guide: find out more about what's inside in Television Obscurities' continuing look back at TV Guide 30 years ago. Farrah Fawcett, Mr. T, and Nazi hunters - who can beat that?  TV  

The "It's About TV" Interview: Edward "Torchy" Smith, author of Shooting the Breeze with Baby Boomer Stars!

Edward Smith, who goes by the name of Torchy and has the red hair to back it up, is a man after my own heart. He "always had an interest in seeking a way to combine his nostalgia obsession with communications through the internet," resulting in his iHeart Radio program  Baby Boomers Talk Radio , where he's interviewed over 100 celebrities from his generation, including kid stars. And it's those kid stars of the past that form the basis of his new book,  Shooting the Breeze with Baby Boomer Stars!: Surprising Celebrity Conversations for the Retro Generation . Well, as an unapologetic member of said Retro Generation, I knew right away that this was a man I needed to talk with, and I'm delighted that he was able to make time to sit down for this latest edition of the It's About TV Interview.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️
It's About TV: Torchy, welcome to the It's About TV Interview. If you're looking to talk about the past, you've come to the right place! 

Torchy Smith: I live in the past and I am proud of it.

So what gave you the idea to reach out to and talk with the child stars of the past? 

I always wanted to be a kid star myself.  I was a cute red-haired freckled kid and drew a lot of attention back then.  The only thing holding me back was that I did not live close enough for my mother to take me to any casting call in Hollywood.

My kids were in the business. My daughter was a TV producer for the “E” Channel and my son was a talent agent.  After my retirement I thought it was my turn now.

I liked how you talk at the beginning about how you contacted these people. It seems that in most cases, it’s just a matter of having the guts to reach out to them. 

Guts and getting their right contact information.  I think because I did my class reunions, I had the skills to know how to reach and FIND THEM.

Was there a common thread when it came to the experiences of the stars you talked to, of the conclusions that you or they might have arrived at, or are they all really unique situations? 

A common thread is MONEY.  They need it and as many artists (take out extra word here) are bad business people. The ones that took lemons and made lemonade have taken their fame and seemed to make a springboard from that. The business part of show business is just that. And there are many ways to still be in the business without being in front of the camera.  Look up the terms called BELOW THE LINE and ABOVE THE LINE .  Google them.

Speaking of money, one thing that comes through in many of your interviews is the question of royalties—or perhaps I should say the lack of royalties—that they earned for their work. Some people might be surprised to find that early success doesn't necessarily translate to great wealth.

In 1965, when Ronald Reagan was president of The Screen Actors Guild—that was the watershed year for TV royalties. All early TV actors and writers got screwed. The most amazing story is about the Jackie Coogan Laws . Google that. This can be a very long subject and a very interesting one. Many stars tell that they have recently gotten checks for about 15 cents.

Torchy SmithDid you find much bitterness when you talked with these people, or a reluctance to talk about the past; or did they see their acting days as being more or less positive experiences, giving them access to a life that they might not otherwise have had? 

Yes….many hung up on me. Some had substance abuse problems.

Which leads to my next question: it seems that with so many of today's child stars—the kids who were on Disney Channel shows, for example—we hear about wild lifestyles, gender fluidity, drug and alcohol problems, the works. Granted, it's tough to handle stardom no matter how old you are, but was there a secret to the kids who made it through this period relatively unscathed?

I have concluded that if the parents had a plan “B” for their kids, that would help face the real world.  If the parents did not live off their kid’s money, then the pressure did not hurt the kid later on when the spotlight turned off.

How difficult was it for them to transition into an "ordinary" life? Or was it just a case of them doing what they were told because that’s what kids do? 

Paul Petersen has a line about that. “I never knew one kid that would drive himself or herself to a casting call.”  They all had difficulties.

What makes a child star grow into an adult star? In other words, do those who stay in the business and become successful have something in common, as opposed to those who kind of leave that life behind and do something else? 

Very few can start as a child star and maintain their fame without being type cast. Not everyone can be a Mickey Rooney or a Ron Howard.  The only common denominator is not to be typecast. But then, how do you know if your show is going to be a big hit for years?

And then there's someone like Shirley Temple, who had a remarkable career after show business: politician, diplomat, ambassador, parent. Was she just extraordinary, or do we just not hear about the child stars that go on to live “normal” lives without looking back? 

Yes, many have normal lives without looking back…But they were not as famous as Shirley.  (Shirley you must be joking)  (Laughs) From the movie Airplane.

In the course of your interviews, you actually seemed to have a lot in common with many of these stars, such as sharing an acquaintance, even though it might not have been a personal connection. Did that surprise you, or, for lack of a better description, are stars really that much like you and me? 

I don’t like the term HAS BEANS…but that made it easier in some ways. In other ways their agents are no longer around. After I got known and word spread, I most always dealt through their PR guy. Many still have some connection to a representative because they would write a book or needed a rep for personal appearances. Most stars are not like the average person.  They have a deep-rooted experience that they rest cannot comprehend. Once they get to know more about them you can understand that.  Of course, they have the same feelings and eat, and crap just like us. I have noticed that after awhile the fame settles in and becomes a part of their life that gets easier to appreciate.

What does our continuing fascination with the stars of the past tell us about our relationship to that time period? Do we romanticize it too much, or were things then really that different from how they are now? 

The TV pie back the (extra word taken out) 50’s and 60’s was in three pieces. Today it is about 300 pieces and cut up with the same viewership. This is a big difference for competition with programs now compared to back then. If you were in a bad TV program and it was aimed at kids, we still watched it and still talked about it to our friends on the playground at school.  We had no other choices. So, the TV kid stars were known no matter what.

I feel frustrated that my grandchildren will never know that somehow things felt better with less choices.  We had three flavors of ice-cream and enjoyed it just as much as they do with 31 flavors. We felt safe and the reason why is that program called “Happy Days” was because THEY WERE.

Was there anyone who opened up to you in an unexpected way, maybe telling you something that they hadn’t talked about before, or something that really caught you off-guard?

Yes..Sherry Jackson from the Make Room for Daddy show and many other TV and film appearances.

Until she dies, I promised I would not say. And I believed every word of it. She talked on the phone with me almost once a week. We became friends, then ended up in an argument. I was going to write her life story. That is all I can say for now.

Without going into too much detail—obviously, I want people to buy your book!—what are some stories you can share that might really surprise us? For example, you mention that Anson Williams's second cousin was Dr. Henry Heimlich, who came up with the Heimlich Maneuver. 

Mark Metcalf, who played Neidermeyer in Animal House, did everything he could to avoid going to Vietnam, which mostly included hiding out in the woods of Oregon for about a year. After that he went back to face the music and they didn’t want him anymore.  The irony here is that at the end of the movie they showed funny and fictitious updates of the Animal House Kids and they labeled Neidermeyer with “Killed by his own troops in Vietnam.”

Staying with Animal House, Stephen Furst, who played Ken Dorfman, arrived in Los Angeles seeking a career in acting and not knowing one soul there. He found his first job as a pizza delivery boy and came up with the genius idea to staple his headshot and resumé to each pizza box he delivered. BINGO ! It worked.  He got his first audition that way from Matty Simmons, the producer of Animal House.

Not quite as good as Lana Turner's story, but it'll do!

Billy Gray, who's best known for his role as Bud in the TV series, Father Knows Best, was in a ton of feature films before that including one of the most important science fiction movies of all time called The Day the Earth Stood Still. As a little boy he taught Mr. Carpenter, the spaceman [played by Michael Rennie] all about the ways of earthlings. Recently they made a new version of that classic movie. Billy contacted them about playing a small part or even a bigger part of the old professor that was originally played by Sam Jaffee. He seemed perfect for that role. The casting people seemed enthused and gave him the script to study. He spent a lot of time practicing the German Professor with an accent and even put a screen test on YouTube . They chose John Cleese instead. The reviews were harsh, and the movie was a bomb.

It's always nice to see some cosmic justice, so to speak, in Hollywood.

Kathy Garver, who played Cissy on TV’s Family Affair, got her big break as a child in 1956, when she played a child slave in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. Garver was told as an extra to sit in a wagon with a lamb on her lap for the beginning of the great march of thousands of slaves leaving Egypt. At first when Mr. DeMille spotted Garver he thought she might steal the scene and bellowed out to the cameraman, “Don’t let that little girl’s face get in the shot!" So, they placed a blanket over her face. Then all of a sudden, he changed his mind and little Kathy stole his heart. Mr. DeMille had a short scene written just for her on the spot. It was an auspicious beginning.

Finally, Lyle Waggoner was best known for his many years working with Carol Burnett and the cast of memorable characters on her variety show. But it wasn’t until after his stint with the TV series Wonder Women that he really made some serious money. On location shots he was provided a mobile trailer that was used as his dressing room. He asked the production head that if he bought one would they rent it from him. They said “yes.” He went out and purchased one and leased it to the show for $450 a week for three years. Waggoner eventually attained a whole fleet in various models and created a multi-million-dollar company called “ Star Waggons ”  that his son now operates. Seems all of Hollywood leases from the company.

I really appreciate your taking the time to talk with me today, Torchy. Anything in closing that you'd like to add?

This is an update that has a connection to my book and interviews…Johnny Crawford of The Rifleman TV series had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and has been placed in a facility dealing with that horrible disorder. Paul Petersen, a lifelong friend, has started a Go Fund Me Page to raise money for the expensive cost incurred at such a facility. The Go Fund Page is called Johnny Crawford’s Alzheimer’s Fund . I have interviewed both of these cherished Baby Boomer Celebrities in person and for my Radio Show. Both are featured in my book. I had one of the last interviews that Johnny ever gave.

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In case I didn't make it clear in the interview, Shooting the Breeze is a terrific read—fun and easy. His chats with the stars ("interview" is too stuffy a word; "shooting the breeze" is an apt description) are filled with tidbits that you've probably not read anywhere else. If you're one of us living in the past, or at least taking long vacations there, I think you'll appreciate adding Shooting the Breeze to your bookshelf.

My thanks once again to Torchy Smith for joining me at the It's About TV Interview, and a special word of appreciation to Jeff Abraham for helping to arrange our conversation. Be sure to check out Torchy's website, Baby Boomers Talk Radio, and his Facebook site, Baby Boomers VIP Interviews, for more fascinating trips back into the wonderful world of the past. TV  

What's on TV? Sunday, April 22, 1973

It's Easter Sunday, and today's broadcasting schedule, which comes to us from the Minnesota State Edition of TV Guide, gives us a mix of religious programming and playoff hockey and basketball. Through in a few movies, and you've got a little something for everyone.



 2  KTCA (PBS)
AFTERNOON
     4:00 THE MESSIAH—ConcertSpecial
EVENING
     6:00 ZOOM
     6:30 SALUTE TO SPRING
     7:30 JOAN SUTHERLAND: WHO’S AFRAID OF OPERA
     8:00 MASTERPIECE THEATRE“The Golden Bowl” Part 5
     9:00 FIRING LINEGuest: Rev. Donald Soper
   10:00 SOUL’S HARBOR
Joan Sutherland, one of opera's greatest sopranos, hosted this six-part series consisting of shortened versions of famous operas. This was when cultural programming wasn't so unusual on television; Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson often featured opera singers, and Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts were still being broadcast. Considering how little music education there is today, we could use a program like this again.



 3  KDAL (DULUTH) (CBS)
MORNING
     8:00 ARCHIE’S FUN HOUSE
     8:30 HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS—Cartoon
     9:00 THE YEAR 1200—Art Special
   10:00 EASTER SERVICE—Religion Special
   11:00 WOMEN’S GOLFCinderella Tournament
AFTERNOON
   12:00 WHA PLAYOFF Special
     2:30 CBS SPORTS SPECTACULARTime approximate. Diving, weightlifting
     4:00 YOU ARE THERE
     4:30 FACTS OF FISHING
     5:00 60 MINUTES
EVENING
     6:00 JOHNNY MANN’S STAND UP AND CHEER
     6:30 DICK VAN DYKE
     7:00 M*A*S*H
     7:30 MANNIX
     8:30 BARNABY JONES—Crime Drama
     9:30 ALL IN THE FAMILY
   10:00 NEWS
   10:20 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
   10:35 CHAMPIONSHIP FISHING
   11:05 MOVIE—Drama “Breakout” (Made for TV; 1970)
It really seems strange to see 60 Minutes on outside of prime time, doesn't it?


 4  WCCO (CBS)
MORNING
     7:00 SUNDAY MORNING
     7:45 JOBS NOW!
     8:00 ARCHIE’S FUN HOUSE
     8:30 HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS—Cartoon
     9:00 LAUREL AND HARDY TENT BW 
   10:00 EASTER SERVICE—Religion Special
   11:00 STOCKMARKET REPORT
   11:15 WORLD OF AVIATION
   11:30 NEWS—Bob McNamera
AFTERNOON
   12:00 WHA PLAYOFFSpecial
     2:30 CBS SPORTS SPECTACULARTime approximate. Diving, weightlifting
     4:00 YOU ARE THERE
     4:30 CBS SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
     5:00 60 MINUTES
EVENING
     6:00 NEWS—Skip Loescher
     6:30 DICK VAN DYKE
     7:00 M*A*S*H
     7:30 MANNIX
     8:30 BARNABY JONES—Crime Drama
     9:30 MOORE ON SUNDAY
   10:00 NEWS
   10:50 FACE THE NATION
   11:20 MOVIE—Comedy“The Extraordinary Seaman” (1969)
The WHA playoff at noon—don't know which game they carried—represents a rare appearance of the World Hockey Association on network television. This is the first year of the rival league to the NHL, but their games seldom attained national coverage in the United States. Of course, the NHL wasn't on all that often either.


 5  KSTP (NBC)
MORNING
     6:30 HYMN TIME—David Stone
     7:00 GOSPEL JUBILEE
     8:00 ORAL ROBERTS
     8:30 DAY OF DISCOVERY
     9:00 FAITH FOR TODAY
     9:30 AMERICAN RELIGIOUS TOWN HALL MEETING
   10:00 EASTER SUNDAY Special
   11:00 HIGH SCHOOL BOWLSt. Anthony Village vs. Edina West
   11:30 MEET THE PRESS
AFTERNOON
   12:00 HENRY WOLF—Discussion
     1:00 MAYBERRY RFD
     1:30 NHL ACTION
     2:00 STANLEY CUP PLAY-OFF Special
     5:00 AUDUBON WILDLIFE THEATRE
     5:30 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
EVENING
     6:30 WORLD OF DISNEY
     7:30 HEC RAMSEY—Crime Drama
     9:30 POLICE SURGEON
   10:00 NEWS
   10:30 CHARLIE McCARTY
   12:00 LIVING EASY WITH DR. JOYCE BROTHERS
   12:30 HENRY WOLF—DiscussionGuests: S.I. Hayakawa , William N. Walker
As I recall, KSTP was always reluctant to carry network news on Sunday, even though, as we see on WDSM below, NBC did have a Sunday night newscast. (It took me years to learn about that.) I admire KSTP's confidence that nothing newsworthy happens on the weekend.


 6   WDSM (DULUTH) (NBC)
MORNING
     7:15 SACRED HEART—Religion
     7:30 INSIGHT
     8:00 REX HUMBARD
     9:00 OLD TIME GOSPEL HOUR
   10:00 DAY OF DISCOVERY
   10:30 FILM
   11:00 THIS IS THE LIFE
   11:30 MEET THE PRESS
AFTERNOON
   12:00 CHARLES BLAIR’S BETTER WORLD
   12:30 PRINCE OF PEACE: THE MASTER Special
     2:00 STANLEY CUP PLAY-OFF Special
     5:00 PORTER WAGONER—MusicGuests: Eddie and Joe
     5:30 NBC NEWS—Utley
EVENING
     6:00 CRISS AWARDSpecial
     6:30 WORLD OF DISNEY
     7:30 HEC RAMSEY—Crime Drama
     9:30 POLICE SURGEON
   10:00 NEWS
   10:30 MOVIE—Drama BW “Night Freight” (1955)
Interesting, and completely appropriate, that Hec Ramsey is listed as a crime drama, despite its Western setting. Like Whispering Smith and unlike, say, Gunsmoke, the emphasis in this series was on solving crimes; the Western setting was more symbolic, in the sense that it suggested the fading away of the Old West, and the dawning of the scientific aspect to investigative work.


 6  KAUS (AUSTIN) (ABC)
MORNING
     7:00 CHURCH SERVICE—Catholic
     7:30 VOICE OF VICTORY
     8:00 REVIVAL FIRES
     9:00 CURIOSITY SHOP
   10:00 REX HUMBARD
   11:00 THIS IS THE LIFE
   11:30 FOCAL POINT
AFTERNOON
   12:15 FAMILY HOUR
   12:30 DIRECTIONSJoined in progress. Special: Easter Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC
     1:00 NBA PLAYOFF Special
     3:15 HOWARD COSELL SPORTS MAGAZINE
     3:30 GOLF TOURNAMENTSpecial: Tournament of Champions
     5:30 LASSIE
EVENING
     6:00 WILD WILD WEST
     7:00 PORTRAIT: A MAN WHOSE NAME WAS JOHNSpecial
     8:00 MOVIE—Comedy“Three on a Couch” (1966)
   10:15 ASSIGNMENT: VIENNA—Crime Drama
   11:15 BORIS KARLOFF PRESENTS THRILLER BW 
   12:15 ABC NEWS—Bill Beutel
I've never seen Thriller listed this way before, as Boris Karloff Presents Thriller. I know series often go into syndication with different names, but it's usually when they're still in first-run on the network. Maybe they needed Karloff's name to drive viewership.


 7  KCMT (ALEX) (NBC, ABC)
MORNING

     7:00 U. OF MINN.
     7:30 OLD TIME GOSPEL HOUR
     8:30 REVIVAL FIRES
     9:00 CHALLENGE OF TRUTH
     9:30 CHURCH SERVICE—Catholic
   10:30 DAY OF DISCOVERY
   11:00 CATHOLIC HOUR
   11:30 MEET THE PRESS
AFTERNOON
   12:00 CATHOLIC HOUR NEWS
   12:15 NEWS
   12:30 COUNTRY JUBILEE
     1:00 ECHOES FROM CALVARY
     1:30 FISHIN’ HOLE
     2:00 STANLEY CUP PLAY-OFF Special
     5:00 FACTS OF FISHING
     5:30 LAWRENCE WELK
EVENING
     6:30 WORLD OF DISNEY
     7:30 HEC RAMSEY—Crime Drama
     9:30 SANFORD AND SON
   10:00 NEWS
   10:30 COMMENTARY
   10:35 OUTDOORS WITH BUD
   10:50 CRISS AWARD Special
   11:20 MOVIE—Comedy BW “She Wouldn’t Say Yes” (1945)
Lawrence Welk has moved from network broadcast to syndication; like Hee Haw on WTCN, it marks the evolution of former network shows into first-run syndication. Of course, often it just gave KCMT an excuse to preempt more network programming.


 8  WDSE (DULUTH) (PBS)
AFTERNOON
     4:00 THE MESSIAH—ConcertSpecial
EVENING
     6:00 ZOOM
     6:30 SALUTE TO SPRING
     7:30 JOAN SUTHERLAND: WHO’S AFRAID OF OPERA
     8:00 MASTERPIECE THEATRE“The Golden Bowl” Part 5
     9:00 FIRING LINEGuest: Rev. Donald Soper
Lord Soper, William F. Buckley Jr.'s guest on Firing Line, was a liberal Methodist minister, member of the House of Lords, leader in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and author of the following quote, with which I think Buckley might have agreed: "To-day we are living in what is the first genuinely pagan age—that is to say, there are so many people, particularly children, who never remember having heard hymns at their mother's knee, as I have, whose first tunes are from Radio One, and not from any hymn book; whose first acquaintance with their friends and relations and other people is not in the Sunday School or in the Church at all, as mine was".


 9  KSTP (ABC)
MORNING

     7:30 OLD TIME GOSPEL HOUR
     8:30 I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES
     9:00 CURIOSITY SHOP
   10:00 BULLWINKLE
   10:30 MAKE A WISH
   11:00 FISHIN’ HOLE
   11:30 FOCUS—Rochelle
AFTERNOON
   12:00 DIRECTIONSSpecial: Easter Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC
     1:00 NBA PLAYOFF Special
     3:15 HOWARD COSELL SPORTS MAGAZINE
     3:30 GOLF TOURNAMENTSpecial: Tournament of Champions
     5:30 RAT PATROL
EVENING
     6:00 LAWRENCE WELK
     7:00 PORTRAIT: A MAN WHOSE NAME WAS JOHNSpecial
     8:00 MOVIE—Comedy“Three on a Couch” (1966)
   10:15 NEWS
   10:45 DICK CAVETT
   12:15 ABC NEWS—Bill Beutel
Although the teams in this afternoon's NBA playoff game hadn't been set at press time, the records show that it was New York and Boston, with the Knicks winning 117-110 in two overtimes. This must have been a long time ago, if the Knicks were in the playoffs.


10 WDIO (DULUTH) (ABC)
MORNING
     7:30 DAVEY AND GOLIATH
     8:00 CHURCH SERVICE—Catholic
     8:45 WITH THIS RING
     9:00 CURIOSITY SHOP
   10:00 BULLWINKLE
   10:30 MAKE A WISH
   11:00 WRESTLING
AFTERNOON
   12:00 DIRECTIONS Special: Easter Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC
     1:00 NBA PLAYOFF Special
     3:15 HOWARD COSELL SPORTS MAGAZINE
     3:30 GOLF TOURNAMENTSpecial: Tournament of Champions
     5:30 FISHIN’ HOLE
EVENING
     6:00 JAMES PAUL McCARTNEY—Music Special
     7:00 PORTRAIT: A MAN WHOSE NAME WAS JOHNSpecial
     8:00 MOVIE—Comedy“Three on a Couch” (1966)
   10:15 ABC NEWS—Bill Beutel
   10:30 NEWS
   10:45 SPORTSMAN’S NOTEBOOK
   11:15 MOVIE—Drama BW “Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1952)
You can't blame Paul for wanting an hour this evening, seeing as how John already has an hour of his own.


10 KROC (ROCHESTER) (NBC)
MORNING
     8:30 OLD TIME GOSPEL HOUR
     9:30 THIS IS THE LIFE
   10:00 EASTER SUNDAY Special
   11:00 DAVEY AND GOLIATH
   11:15 ANSWER IS LOVE
   11:30 MEET THE PRESS
AFTERNOON
   12:00 COMMENT ‘73
   12:30 PRINCE OF PEACE: THE MASTER Special
     2:00 STANLEY CUP PLAY-OFF Special
     5:00 ECHOES FROM CALVARY
     5:30 NBC NEWS—Utley
EVENING
     6:00 CRISS AWARDSpecial
     6:30 WORLD OF DISNEY
     7:30 HEC RAMSEY—Crime Drama
     9:30 I’VE GOT A SECRETCelebrities: Chad Everett, Pat Carroll, Richard Dawson, Anita Gillette, Gene Rayburn
   10:00 NEWS
   10:30 MOVIE—Drama “Day of Triumph” (1954)
   12:35 ANSWER IS LOVE
As was the case with the NBA playoff game above, the NHL matchup hadn't been set at press time, but it happens to have been the semifinal series between the Canadians and Flyers, with Montreal winning 4-1, en route to yet another Stanley Cup victory.


11 WTCN (Ind.)
MORNING

     8:00 BATMAN
     9:00 CHURCH SERVICE—Catholic
     9:30 CAPITOL APPROACH—Amundson
   10:00 FLINTSTONES—Cartoon
   11:00 WONDERAMA
AFTERNOON
     1:00 FATHER KNOWS BEST BW 
     1:30 HERE COME THE BRIDES
     2:30 MOVIE—Western“The Man Called Gringo” (West German; 1966)
     4:00 MOVIE—Drama“Drums Along the Mohawk” (1939)
EVENING
     6:00 HEE HAW
     7:00 VIRGINIAN
     8:30 IT TAKES A THIEF
     9:30 NEWS
   10:00 PERRY MASON BW 
   11:00 MOVIE—Drama“Kentucky” (1938)
A quiet day on WTCN. I never miss a great West German Western, though.


12 KEYC (MANKATO) (CBS)
MORNING
     8:00 REX HUMBARD
     9:00 ORAL ROBERTS
     9:30 OLD TIME GOSPEL HOUR
   10:30 HOUR OF HOPE
   11:00 GOSPEL FELLOWSHIP
   11:30 FACE THE NATION
AFTERNOON
   12:00 WHA PLAYOFFSpecial
     2:30 CBS SPORTS SPECTACULARTime approximate. Diving, weightlifting
     4:00 YOU ARE THERE
     4:30 CBS SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
     5:00 60 MINUTES
EVENING
     6:00 I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES
     6:30 DICK VAN DYKE
     7:00 M*A*S*H
     7:30 MANNIX
     8:30 BARNABY JONES—Crime Drama
     9:30 DORIS DAY
   10:00 NEWS
   10:30 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
   10:45 UFO
Today's episode of the CBS classic You Are There, in which Walter Cronkite and others cover famous events in history as if television had been around, is the trial of Joan of Arc. Appropriate for Easter Sunday, don't you think? TV  

This week in TV Guide: April 21, 1973

When I showed my wife the cover of this week's TV Guide with Raymond Burr as Pope John XXIII, and added that the Pope was actually the good guy in the program, she remarked, "Boy, they wouldn't do that on TV today, would they?"

The program in question is Portrait: A Man Whose Name Was John, an ABC special airing at 7:00 p.m. CT on Easter Sunday.  It tells the true story of Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, who in 1958 would be elected John XXIII, but during World War II was the apostolic delegate (i.e. ambassador) to Turkey, and his battle to save over 600 Jewish children from being shipped to Nazi Germany. It was a cherished experience for Burr, who had personally met John four times* during his papacy and called him the most impressive human being he had ever met. "There was absolute communication between us," he said of their first meeting in 1959, which had been arranged by Family Theatre producer Father Patrick Peyton . Though not Catholic—he describes himself as "believing in all religion"—Burr had long hoped to do a film project based on John's life (a film for "all people"), when he was approached by producer David Victor with the idea for A Man Whose Name Was John. It was less ambitious than Burr's plan, but "it told a lot about the kind of man Roncalli was." Eventually, Burr decided, "it wouldn't be a bad idea" to take it on. As far as I know, Burr's own movie on John was never made.

*At this point I should point out, not unkindly, that given Burr's predilection for creating events in his own life, one has to be careful not to put too much stock into this. Still, his impressions of John are so strong I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The whole movie is, not surprisingly, available on YouTube. Burr makes for a very convincing John; dare I suggest that TV Guide's cover shot makes him look even more papal than the current pope?


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Given that Easter doesn't have a set day every year, this is the second of back-to-back issues we've looked at with Easter programming of one kind or another, and this issue is no exception. In addition to John, there are several religious-themed movies, mostly on Saturday night on local TV: The Robe (9:00 p.m., Austin's WEAU), A Man Called Peter (10:30 p.m., WKBT in LaCrosse, Wisconsin), The Nun's Story (10:45 p.m. WDIO in Duluth), and The Song of Bernadette (10:50 p.m., WCCO in Minneapolis).

As for Easter itself,  CBS has a live broadcast of an Easter service from New York, conducted by the famed positive thinker Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (10:00 a.m.), NBC presents a Sunday morning documentary on the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral in England (10:00 a.m.), while ABC's Directions covers the Easter Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. (12:00 p.m.) Later in the day (12:30 p.m.), Eau Claire's WEAU gives us an hour of sacred music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and at 4:00 p.m., PBS has Handel's Messiah (which Handel wrote as an Easter, rather than Christmas, piece), featuring the Arion Musical Club of Milwaukee.  In case you're looking for ABC's annual airing of The Ten Commandments, that didn't start until 1973.

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TV's two definitive 70s-era rock music shows, NBC's The Midnight Special and ABC's In Concert, faced off on Friday nights.  Midnight Special was a weekly show, airing after Johnny Carson, while In Concert was an every-other week part of Wide World of Entertainment.  Whenever the two slug it out, we'll be there to give you the winner.

Don't know if you can call this week's matchup entirely fair, as In Concert goes with a three-hour marathon (originally broadcast as two separate shows) featuring Alice Cooper; The Allman Brothers Band; Blood, Sweat and Tears; Curtis Mayfield; Seals and Crofts; Chuck Berry; Poco; and Bo Diddley. I count eighteen songs during the show, with almost everyone doing at least one of their biggest hits ("School's Out," "Ramblin' Man," "Roll Over, Beethoven," "Summer Breeze," etc.) The 90-minute Midnight Special counters with an all-50s show hosted by Jerry Lee Lewis with Little Anthony and the Imperials, Chubby Checker, the Shirelles, the Ronettes, Freddy Cannon and the Diamonds.

You can't say the stars weren't out this Friday night, can you?  I'm going to give it to In Concert strictly on the basis of it being twice as long; as far as the talent, it's a push.

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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. 

Friends, this is a column to be savored, to be remembered; indeed, to be immortalized. For in this column, friends, Cleveland Amory admits he has made a mistake.

Back in the summer, Cleve reviewed The Bobby Darin Show and wrote, among other things, that this show would never make it past the summer. First of all, it's a variety show, and we all know that they're on their last legs. Second—well, to be frank about it, the show wasn't very good. But, as Our Critic says, "we can't always be right, can we?" The show is back, and much better than it was during the summer. For one thing, Darin has made liberal (or should we say conservatively?") included the oldies in his repertoire, songs like "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Hello, Young Lovers" that made him big in the first place. His guest list has improved as well, with terrific appearances by Burl Ives and Sid Caesar, among others, and the welcome addition of 8½ year old Charlotte Wong—a girl for all ages, according to Amory—as a regular. The show's skits have improved as well, particularly Darin's takeoff on Groucho Marx.

At the outset, Amory remarks that one of the reasons variety shows are in trouble is that if they appeal to seniors, then they're not attractive to sponsors; if, like Sonny & Cher, they appeal to the younger set, well, that's a fickle audience with a short attention span. And despite the fact that Amory has an animus against shows that try to appeal to everyone, it's clear that this is just what The Bobby Darin Show does. He doesn't love it, but he does like it. And coming from Cleve, that's pretty good.

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Besides John, there are some other very interesting specials on this week—or at least they were interesting to me, even though I didn't see any of them. Yes, it's time for more tales from the World's Worst Town™. As you know, my six years in exile were spent primarily watching two television stations; the main channel, KCMT, was primarily an NBC affiliate, but picked up additional programming (mostly sports and some specials) from ABC. We did get TV Guide up there; this very issue, in fact, which still carries my name and address on the label Unfortunately, the Minnesota State Edition meant I was continually being taunted with glimpses of shows I would never see. Nonetheless, a number of these shows intrigued me—they seemed fraught with a suggestion of gravitas that lent them importance, or so it seemed.

*I realize I'm being quite shallow in judging quality of life based on number of television stations received, but you have to remember I was only 13 at the time.  On the other hand, the promoters of cable TV would surely have agreed with me.

Monday night, for example, CBS counters with its own special Monday night, as Rex Harrison stars in The Adventures of Don Quixote, (8:00 p.m.), a co-production with the BBC, sponsored by IBM. Frank Finlay is his Sancho Panza, and Rosemary Leach is Dulcinea. Doctor Who fans will recognize Roger Delgado, The Master, as a Monk. (Not a meddling one, as Whovians will understand.)

Tuesday is one of those nights that made the VCR inevitable; Cliff Robertson stars in ABC's The Man Without a Country (7:30 p.m.), available (naturally) on YouTube . I suspect viewers today might wonder what all the fuss was about back then. The final 30 minutes dovetails with CBS's Playhouse 90 at 8:30 p.m. (yes, it's still around, though as an occasional special rather than a regular series), presenting Ingmar Bergman's made-for-TV play The Lie, the story of a husband and wife (George Segal and Shirley Knight Hopkins) struggling to hold their marriage together. An all-star supporting cast includes Robert Culp, Victor Buono, William Daniels, Dean Jagger, and Mary Ann Mobley. As one of the unhappily marrieds comments, "People have to lie and deceive in order to live together."  Does this in any way resemble The Secret Life of Dentists ?

PBS weighs in with a couple of specials of their own: on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m., the opera great Joan Sutherland continues a series of abridged operas on Who's Afraid of Opera (this week: La Traviata), and on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m., the network presents a restored version of David Lean's epic Oliver Twist, which includes nine minutes of footage originally cut from the American film version.

Now, you may notice that none of these are on NBC, which means none of them are seen in our household.  Oh, there was an NBC special: The Going Up of David Lev (Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.), a musical saluting the 25th anniversary of the creation of Israel, starring Topol (Fiddler on the Roof), Brandon Cruz (The Courtship of Eddie's Father), Melvyn Douglas and Claire Bloom. And on Friday, NBC's documentary series The American Experience looks at three turbulent eras in U.S. history—the Revolution, the Civil War and the Depression. The program is entitled "Strange and Terrible Times," which not only seems to describe our own times, but certainly is an apt way to put my six years in the wilderness. But don't start cheering—neither of these were on KCMT, which preempted them for Twins baseball games. That the games were what I would have watched anyway is besides the point.

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This week's "Shape of Things to Come" feature: this note in The Doan Report, asking "Will the Senate's Watergate probe early next month develop, as some observers predict, into a major TV show?" The Senate committee, led by North Carolina Democrat Sam Ervin, is welcoming the cameras into the hearing room, and NBC News president Richard Wald tells Doan that "We'll air a live pickup if the hearings are interesting enough." Oh, they will be, Mr. Wald—trust me on this.

That note makes all the more poignant a CBS news special on Thursday, Five Presidents on the Presidency (8:00 p.m.), in which the incumbent, Richard Nixon, is quoted as saying, "The most important thing about a public man is not whether he's loved or disliked, but whether he's respected. I hope to restore respect to the Presidency."

Doan also tells us of the strange Star Trek craze; even though the show has been off the air for several years, there are still devoted fans "hold[ing] reunions to bemoan its loss." For them, producers hope to provide some solace with a new sci-fi series entitled Starlost, created and written by legendary writer Harlan Ellison, starring Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey). It winds up being called The Starlost, and if you've never heard of it, this article —with the title "Is The Starlost the Worst Science Fiction Series Ever Made?" might provide an explanation.

And finally there's the coming end of the third and final incarnation of Jack Paar's talk show, the one that featured on ABC's Wide World of Entertainment.  Paar had made the comeback, in part, to help out his old friend and protege Dick Cavett, but speculation is that ABC and Paar "will mutually call off his late-night comeback as an unsalvageable disappointment." A pity; we could use that intelligent conversation today. TV