Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 141

This week in TV Guide: April 1, 1983

It's something of a milestone day here at the blog. Not only do we have an unprecedented Monday edition of "This Week in TV Guide," today's installment represents the 366th edition (including a few repeats)—literally a year's worth of TV Guides. Therefore, it seems appropriate that we'd commemorate such an event on a special day.

But there's more! It's still Monday, so following our review of this week's issue, we'll have the listings from Wednesday of this week. Consider it two for the price of one!

Not only is it a special day, it's also a special issue; as you know, I'm not a big fan of TV Guides from the '80s onward, but I'm making an exception for this one, which came to me in the mail through the courtesy of my great and good friend Jodie Peeler. Therefore, with no further adieu, let's get started.

It's no surprise that this week's cover story, by

It's no surprise that Del Coronado's cover story is the mega-news that the mega-stars of Dynasty are jumping to NBC to star in "the biggest, dirtiest, most expensive adult drama of them all: Supermarket. It's the story of the King Kong supermarket (biggest in the world), owned by John Kong (John Forsythe), and his battle for supermarket supremacy against James Klooger (James Farentino), owner of the rival Klooger supermarket chain. So big is Kong that he has to have not one, but two mistresses: Joan (Joan Collins), who worked her way up from checkout girl to assistant manager of drugs and sundries; and Linda (Linda Evans), whom Kong discovered working in a dime store.

The enormous cast of 75 regulars includes Barbara Stanwyck as Kong's ex-wife; Doug Barr, Michael Sabatino, and Matt Dillon as his sons; Heather Locklear, Valerie Bertinelli, and Jaclyn Smith ans his daughters; and Donna Mills and Tony Franciosa as the in-laws. There's also Peter Graves, Bill Bixby, Bette Davis, Lana Turner, Robert Stack, Hal Linden, Polly Bergen, Lloyd Bridges, Morgan Fairchild, Buddy Ebsen, MacLean Stevenson, Lorenzo Lamas—well, at this point it's probably easier to list the people who aren't in the series.

According to NBC chief Grant Tinker, Supermarket has Number one stamped all over it. "We're going to have the finest nastiness and decadence on the air—deeper, more meaningful decadence and quality nastiness that will appeal to every age group." With all that going, how can Supermarket possibly fail? Says Tinker, "it's about real people, with real feelings. It just comes right through the TV screen and grabs you by the throat."

Wait a minute, where did TV Guide go?

As I mentioned yesterday, you'll have to wait until Monday for our latest installment of "This Week in TV Guide," but I think you'll find it worth the wait. In the meantime, you didn't think I'd leave you alone and lost, did you?

The video below comes from another great YouTube channel, that of RwDt09. (One of these days, I'm going to have to start putting these on the sidebar.) The title is pretty self-explanatory: "21 New Shows of Fall TV 1955." Watch, then we'll discuss.


Aside from the sheer pleasure of watching, let's think about the shows that were new in 1955: Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The Honeymooners. Gunsmoke. Cheyenne. Wyatt Earp. Phil Silvers. Perry Como. (Not to mention The Big Surprise, a game show hosted by Mike Wallace. Mike Wallace!) Now, you know me well enough by now that I'm not given to grand pronouncements, so I'm not going to say that this must have been the greatest freshman class of television shows in history. Rather, I'll challenge you: name the season that was better. Your turn. TV  

Around the dial

Before we dip into the past, a word about tomorrow. I have a new issue of TV Guide, one that won't be ready by Saturday. That means two things: first, that I'll have something else up tomorrow, something that I promise you'll really like. (As Rocky the Flying Squirrel would say.) Second, on Monday you'll see an unprecedented double-feature: not only "This Week in TV Guide," but the program listings as well, It'll be a long piece, but I think you'll agree afterwards that the two-day delay was well worth it. And now we return to our regularly scheduled program.

I always enjoyed the Twilight Zone episode "Printer's Devil, partly because of the pun in the title, and partly because Burgess Meredith is, as always, delightful to watch. The Twilight Zone Vortex has all the details on one of the best of the hour-long TZ episodes , written by Charles Beaumont and directed by Ralph Senensky.

At Cult TV Blog, John takes a look at "Queen's Pawn," an episode of the legendary '70s police series The Sweeney, starring John (Inspector Morse) Thaw. One of the things that John comments on is how the show portrays the Britain of the time; not in the same manner, but with the same effect, as Naked City. It's a show that gives you a contemporary look at what things were like "back then."

The TV Guide of March 25, 1989 is on tap at Television Obscurities, and among other things it reminds us of when the Academy Awards were held at least a month later than they are today (and they used to be even later than that, in early April). Among other things, Merril Pannit reviews Mission: Impossible (the newer version, not the original), which he calls "pure escapism" fun.

In his Saturday Evening Post column, Bob Sassone talks about why Jay Leno is right when he says late-night television is too political and too boring. ("It doesn’t even matter if I agree with a lot of what they say," Bob says; "I still find myself veering away from Colbert and Kimmel and watching reruns of Perry Mason or Friends.")

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack continues his Hitchcock Project on James P. Cavanagh with Edmund Gwynn's final screen appearance, in the 1957 episode "Father and Son." I'm assuming most of you have seen Miracle on 34th Street, where Gwynn plays Kris Kringle (and wins a Supporting Actor Oscar in the process); this , but if that's all you know him from, you're really missing something.

I don't consider myself anywhere near an expert on Sherlock Holmes; like others, I consider Jeremy Brett the definitive Holmes, and Basil Rathbone the most enjoyable Holmes. I don't stray far from the classices, but Realweegiemidget Reviews takes us to a revisionist Holmes, one in which our hero thinks he's Sherlock. It's the TV-movie The Return of the World's Greatest Detective , and the Holmes is: Larry Hagman. I'll bet he wouldn't have needed so long to figure out who shot J.R. TV  

TV Jibe: Signs of the times

TV  

What's on TV? Tuesday, March 30, 1965

We've advanced to the end of March, 1965, and for the first time in awhile we're looking at a Minnesota State Edition rather than just the Twin Cities. Gives us a little more perspective on what's going on, I suppose. Speaking of perspective, look at Red Skelton's show on CBS - Raymond Burr and The Kinks. Nothing says how strange the '60s were quite like that lineup, hmm?

 2  KTCA (Educ.)
Morning
    8:40 DRIVER EDUCATION
    9:10 MATHEMATICS—Grade 6
    9:25 SING A SONG—Grade 2
    9:40 DRIVER EDUCATION
  10:00 MATHEMATICS—Grade 4
  10:25 FILM SHORT
  10:40 DRIVER EDUCATION
  11:00 SINGING—Grade 4
  11:30 SOCIAL SCIENCE—Lupton
Afternoon
  12:00 DRIVER EDUCATION
  12:30 FRENCH—Grade 4
  12:55 HEALTH—Grade 3
    1:10 PORTFOLIO—Grade 9
    1:30 DRIVER EDUCATION
    2:00 SCIENCE—Grade 5
    2:30 DRIVER EDUCATION
    3:00 MICROBIOLOGY
    3:30 INDUSTRY ON PARADE
    3:45 TEACHING MATHEMATICSCh. 2 leaves the air until 5:30 P.M.
    5:30 KINDERGARTEN—Education
Evening
    6:00 SPANISH
    6:30 GERMAN—Taraba
    7:10 HUMANITIES—Swanson
    8:00 STRING QUARTET
    8:30 BETHEL COLLEGE
    9:00 FOLIO—Arnold Walker
    9:30 ENGLISH POETS—Jones
  10:00 STELLAR WORLD
  10:30 POET’S EYE


 3  KDAL (Duluth) (CBS)
Morning
    7:35 FARM AND HOME
    7:45 TREE TOP HOUSE—Jane Ogston
    8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children
    9:00 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise
    9:30 TUG-O-WAR—Game
  10:00 ANDY GRIFITH—Comedy
  10:30 McCOYS
  11:00 LOVE OF LIFE
  11:25 NEWS—Trout
  11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
  11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
Afternoon
  12:00 TOWN AND COUNTRY—Becker
  12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    1:00 PASSWORDCelebrities: Frank Sinatra Jr, Penny Fuller
    1:30 HOUSE PARTYGuests: Toni Arden, Bettina Consolo
    2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTHPanelists: Milt Kamen, Tammy Grimes, Chester Morris, Alexis Smith
    2:25 NEWS—Edwards
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial
    3:30 JACK BENNY
    4:00 TRAILMASTER—Western
    5:00 HUCKLEBERRY HOUND
    5:30 NEWS—Cronkite
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:30 PATTY DUKE—Comedy
    7:00 JOEY BISHOP
    7:30 RED SKELTONGuests: Raymond Burr, the Kinks
    8:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy
    9:00 BURKE’S LAW—Mystery
  10:00 NEWS
  10:15 ROARING 20’s—Drama
  11:15 MOVIE—Drama“Johnny Dark” (1954)


 3  KGLO (Mason City, IA) (CBS)
Morning
    7:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER
    8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children
    9:00 SPANISH I—Duran
    9:25 SPANISH II—Duran
    9:45 JOE EMERSON—Music
  10:00 ANDY GRIFITH—Comedy
  10:30 McCOYS
  11:00 LOVE OF LIFE
  11:25 NEWS—Trout
  11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
  11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    1:00 PASSWORDCelebrities: Frank Sinatra Jr, Penny Fuller
    1:30 HOUSE PARTYGuests: Toni Arden, Bettina Consolo
    2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTHPanelists: Milt Kamen, Tammy Grimes, Chester Morris, Alexis Smith
    2:25 NEWS—Edwards
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial
    3:30 JACK BENNY
    4:00 BART’S CLUBHOUSE—Children
    5:00 SUPERMAN—Adventure
    5:30 NEWS—Cronkite
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:30 SHOWCASE 39—Drama
    7:00 JOEY BISHOP
    7:30 RED SKELTONGuests: Raymond Burr, the Kinks
    8:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy
    9:00 DOCTORS/NURSES
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 MOVIE—Drama“The Littlest Hobo” (1958)


 4  WCCO (CBS)
Morning
    6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER—Education
    7:00 AXEL AND DEPUTY DAWG
    7:30 CLANCY AND COMPANY
    8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children
    9:00 NEWS—Dean Montgomery
    9:15 WHAT’S NEW?—Gwen Harvey
    9:25 DR. REUBEN K. YOUNGDAHL
    9:30 TUG-O-WAR—Game
  10:00 ANDY GRIFITH—Comedy
  10:30 McCOYS
  11:00 LOVE OF LIFE
  11:25 NEWS—Trout
  11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
  11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:15 SOMETHING SPECIAL
  12:25 WEATHER—Bud Kraehling
  12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    1:00 PASSWORDCelebrities: Frank Sinatra Jr, Penny Fuller
    1:30 HOUSE PARTYGuests: Toni Arden, Bettina Consolo
    2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTHPanelists: Milt Kamen, Tammy Grimes, Chester Morris, Alexis Smith
    2:25 NEWS—Edwards
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial
    3:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy
    4:00 MOVIE—Comedy“Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy” (1955)
    5:30 NEWS—Cronkite
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:20 DIRECTION—Religion
    6:25 WEATHER—Don O’Brien
    6:30 WORLD WAR I—Documentary
    7:00 JOEY BISHOP
    7:30 RED SKELTONGuests: Raymond Burr, the Kinks
    8:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy
    9:00 DOCTORS/NURSES
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 MOVIE—Drama“The Sad Horse” (1959)
  12:00 ROLLER DERBY


 5  KSTP (NBC)
Morning
    6:30 CITY AND COUNTRY  COLOR 
    7:00 TODAYGuests: Songwriters Kander and Ebb, author Peter Wyden
    9:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game  COLOR 
    9:30 WHAT’S THIS SONG?—Game  COLOR Celebrities: Marguerite Piazza, Tom Kennedy
    9:55 NEWS—Newman
  10:00 CONCENTRATION—Game
  10:30 JEOPARDY—Game  COLOR 
  11:00 CALL MY BLUFF—Game  COLOR Celebrities: Orson Bean, Peggy Cass
  11:30 I’LL BET—Game  COLOR Celebrity couples: Patricia Blair and Martin Colbert vs. Dan and Dolphia Blocker
  11:55 NEWS—Scherer
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS AND WEATHER  COLOR 
  12:15 DIALING FOR DOLLARS—Game  COLOR 
  12:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game  COLOR 
  12:55 NEWS—Kalber
    1:00 MOMENT OF TRUTH—Serial
    1:30 DOCTORS
    2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
    2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game  COLOR Celebrities: David McCallum, Barbara McNair
    3:00 MATCH GAMECelebrities: Selma Diamond, Art James
    3:25 NEWS
    3:30 DIALING FOR DOLLARS—Game  COLOR 
    4:30 LLOYD THAXTON—VarietyGuests: Jay and the Americans
    5:25 DOCTOR’S HOUSE CALL
    5:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley
Evening
    6:00 NEWS  COLOR 
    6:30 MR. NOVAK—Drama
    7:30 HULLABALOO  COLOR Host: Michael Landon. Guests: Ian and Sylvia, Dionne Warwick, Linda Bennett, Peter and Gordon, the Vibrations, Cannibal and the Headhunters, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers
    8:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire  COLOR 
    9:00 BELL TELEPHONE HOUR  COLOR Host: Henry Fonda. Guests: John Raitt, Florence Henderson, Gretchen Wyler, John Reardon, Barbara McNair, Susan Watson, Johnny Harmon
  10:00 NEWS  COLOR 
  10:30 JOHNNY CARSON  COLOR 
  12:15 MOVIE—Drama“Why Must I Die?” (1960)


 6  WDSM (Duluth) (NBC)
Morning
    7:00 TODAYGuests: Songwriters Kander and Ebb, author Peter Wyden
    9:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game  COLOR 
    9:30 WHAT’S THIS SONG?—Game  COLOR Celebrities: Marguerite Piazza, Tom Kennedy
    9:55 NEWS—Newman
  10:00 CONCENTRATION—Game
  10:30 JEOPARDY—Game  COLOR 
  11:00 CALL MY BLUFF—Game  COLOR Celebrities: Orson Bean, Peggy Cass
  11:30 I’LL BET—Game  COLOR Celebrity couples: Patricia Blair and Martin Colbert vs. Dan and Dolphia Blocker
  11:55 NEWS—Scherer
Afternoon
  12:00 REBUS—Game
  12:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game  COLOR 
  12:55 NEWS—Kalber
    1:00 MOMENT OF TRUTH—Serial
    1:30 DOCTORS
    2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
    2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game  COLOR Celebrities: David McCallum, Barbara McNair
    3:00 MATCH GAMECelebrities: Selma Diamond, Art James
    3:25 NEWS
    3:30 DONNA REED—Comedy
    4:00 BEANY AND CECIL—Cartoons
    4:30 BOZO AND HIS PALS  COLOR 
    5:35 ROCKY TELLER  COLOR 
    5:40 WEATHER, SPORTS  COLOR 
    5:50 NEWS—Lew Martin, Don Wright
Evening
    6:00 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley
    6:30 COMBAT!—Drama
    7:30 HULLABALOO  COLOR Host: Michael Landon. Guests: Ian and Sylvia, Dionne Warwick, Linda Bennett, Peter and Gordon, the Vibrations, Cannibal and the Headhunters, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers
    8:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire  COLOR 
    9:00 BEN CASEY—Drama
  10:00 NEWS
  10:20 JOHNNY CARSON  COLOR 
  12:00 NEWS


 6  KMMT (Austin) (ABC)
Morning
  10:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game Celebrity: Jack Palance
  11:00 DONNA REED—Comedy
  11:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST
Afternoon
  12:00 REBUS—Game
  12:30 FARM MARKETS
  12:35 CARTOONS—Children
    1:00 FLAME IN THE WIND
    1:30 DAY IN COURT—Drama
    1:55 NEWS—Marlene Sanders
    2:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
    2:30 YOUNG MARRIEDS
    3:00 TRAILMASTER—Western
    4:00 CAPTAIN ATOM—Children
    5:45 NEWS—Peter Jennings
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:30 COMBAT!—Drama
    7:30 McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy
    8:00 TYCOON—Comedy
    8:30 PEYTON PLACE—Drama
    9:00 FUGITIVE—Drama
  10:00 NEWS
  10:20 NIGHTLIFE—VarietyGuest host: Jack Carter


 8  WDSE (Duluth) (Educ.)
Morning
    8:40 DRIVER EDUCATION
    9:10 10 MATHEMATICS—Grade 6
    9:25 SING A SONG—Grade 2
    9:40 DRIVER EDUCATION
  10:10 MATHEMATICS—Grade 4
  10:25 FILM SHORT
  10:40 DRIVER EDUCATION
  11:00 SINGING—Grade 4
  11:30 SOCIAL SCIENCE—Lupton
Afternoon
  12:00 DRIVER EDUCATION
  12:55 HEALTH—Grade 3
    1:10 PORTFOLIO—Grade 9
    1:30 DRIVER EDUCATION
    2:00 SCIENCE—Grade 5
    2:30 DRIVER EDUCATION
    3:00 MICROBIOLOGY
    3:30 INDUSTRY ON PARADE
    3:45 TEACHING MATHEMATICS
    4:15 TEACHING SPANISHCh. 8 leaves the air until 5:30 P.M.
    5:30 KINDERGARTEN—Education
Evening
    6:00 SPANISH
    6:30 GERMAN—Taraba
    7:10 HUMANITIES—Swanson
    8:00 STRING QUARTET
    8:30 BETHEL COLLEGE
    9:00 FOLIO—Arnold Walker
    9:30 ENGLISH POETS—Jones
  10:00 STELLAR WORLD
  10:30 POET’S EYE


 8  WKBT (LaCrosse) (CBS)
Morning
    7:45 DEBBIE DRAKE—Exercise
    8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children
    9:00 NEWS—Mike Wallace
    9:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy
  10:00 ANDY GRIFITH—Comedy
  10:30 McCOYS
  11:00 LOVE OF LIFE
  11:25 NEWS—Trout
  11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
  11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    1:00 PASSWORDCelebrities: Frank Sinatra Jr, Penny Fuller
    1:30 HOUSE PARTYGuests: Toni Arden, Bettina Consolo
    2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTHPanelists: Milt Kamen, Tammy Grimes, Chester Morris, Alexis Smith
    2:25 NEWS—Edwards
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial
    3:30 JACK BENNY
    4:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
    4:30 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB—Children
    5:00 BOZO THE CLOWN—Cartoons
    5:30 NEWS—Cronkite
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:30 COULEE CROSSROADS
    7:00 McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy
    7:30 RED SKELTONGuests: Raymond Burr, the Kinks
    8:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy
    9:00 DOCTORS/NURSES
  10:00 NEWS
  10:25 FILM SHORT
  10:30 HOLLYWOOD PALACE—VarietyHost: Robert Goulet Guests: Carol Lawrence, Bill Dana, Bill Cosby, Les Surfs, Three Akeffs, Eva Vidos, Kay and her pets
  11:30 WELLS FARGO—Western


 9  KMSP (ABC)
Morning
    7:30 MY LITTLE MARGIE—Comedy
    8:00 BREAKFAST—Grandpa Ken
    9:00 ROMPER ROOM—Miss Betty
  10:00 ERNIE FORD—Variety
  10:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game Celebrity: Jack Palance
  11:00 DONNA REED—Comedy
  11:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:15 LOIS LEPPART—Interview
    1:00 FLAME IN THE WIND
    1:30 DAY IN COURT—Drama
    1:55 NEWS—Marlene Sanders
    2:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
    2:30 YOUNG MARRIEDS
    3:00 TRAILMASTER—Western
    4:00 DATE WITH DINO—Teen-agers
    4:30 DOBIE GILLIS—Comedy
    5:00 NEWS—Peter Jennings
    5:15 NEWS AND WEATHER
    5:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy
Evening
    6:00 HENNESEY—Comedy
    6:30 COMBAT!—Drama
    7:30 McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy
    8:00 TYCOON—Comedy
    8:30 PEYTON PLACE—Drama
    9:00 FUGITIVE—Drama
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 MOVIE—Drama“Flat Top” (1952)
  12:15 NIGHTLIFE—VarietyTime approximate. Guest host: Jack Carter


10 KROC (Rochester) (NBC)
Morning
    7:00 TODAYGuests: Songwriters Kander and Ebb, author Peter Wyden
    9:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game  COLOR 
    9:30 WHAT’S THIS SONG?—Game  COLOR Celebrities: Marguerite Piazza, Tom Kennedy
    9:55 NEWS—Newman
  10:00 CONCENTRATION—Game
  10:30 JEOPARDY—Game  COLOR 
  11:00 CALL MY BLUFF—Game  COLOR Celebrities: Orson Bean, Peggy Cass
  11:30 I’LL BET—Game  COLOR Celebrity couples: Patricia Blair and Martin Colbert vs. Dan and Dolphia Blocker
  11:55 NEWS—Scherer
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS
  12:15 SHOW AND TELL—Mary Bea
  12:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game  COLOR 
  12:55 NEWS—Kalber
    1:00 MOMENT OF TRUTH—Serial
    1:30 DOCTORS
    2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
    2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game  COLOR Celebrities: David McCallum, Barbara McNair
    3:00 MATCH GAMECelebrities: Selma Diamond, Art James
    3:25 NEWS
    3:30 LOVE THAT BOB!—Comedy
    4:00 LONE RANGER—Western
    4:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy
    5:00 WOODY WOODPECKER
    5:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley
Evening
    6:00 NEWS
    6:30 MR. NOVAK—Drama
    7:30 HULLABALOO  COLOR Host: Michael Landon. Guests: Ian and Sylvia, Dionne Warwick, Linda Bennett, Peter and Gordon, the Vibrations, Cannibal and the Headhunters, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers
    8:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire  COLOR 
    9:00 BELL TELEPHONE HOUR  COLOR Host: Henry Fonda. Guests: John Raitt, Florence Henderson, Gretchen Wyler, John Reardon, Barbara McNair, Susan Watson, Johnny Harmon
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 JOHNNY CARSON  COLOR 


11 WTCN (Ind.)
Morning
  10:00 NEWS
  10:15 HANK MEADOWS—Foods
  10:30 MOVIE—Mystery“Night of Mystery” (1937)
  11:45 PARTY FARE
  11:55 NEWS—Dick York
Afternoon
  12:00 LUNCH WITH CASEY—Children
  12:45 KING AND ODIE—Cartoons
    1:00 MOVIE—Western“Geronimo” (1939)
    3:00 BACHELOR FATHER—Comedy
    3:30 DAVE LEE AND PETE—Children
    4:30 CASEY AND ROUNDHOUSE
    5:15 ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS
    5:30 SEA HUNT
Evening
    6:00 RIFLEMAN
    6:30 BOLD JOURNEY—Travel
    7:00 CAPTURE—Adventure
    7:30 HAVE GUN—WILL TRAVEL
    8:00 WANTED—DEAD OR ALIVE
    8:30 LARAMIE—Western
    9:30 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
  10:00 MOVIE—Drama“Hannibal” (1960)
  12:00 AMOS ‘N’ ANDY—ComedyTime approximate.


13 WEAU (Eau Claire) (NBC)
Morning
    7:00 TODAYGuests: Songwriters Kander and Ebb, author Peter Wyden
    9:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game  COLOR 
    9:30 ROMPER ROOM—Children
  10:00 CONCENTRATION—Game
  10:30 JEOPARDY—Game  COLOR 
  11:00 CALL MY BLUFF—Game  COLOR Celebrities: Orson Bean, Peggy Cass
  11:30 I’LL BET—Game  COLOR Celebrity couples: Patricia Blair and Martin Colbert vs. Dan and Dolphia Blocker
  11:55 NEWS—Scherer
Afternoon
  12:00 FARM AND HOME—Discussion
    1:00 MOMENT OF TRUTH—Serial
    1:30 DOCTORS
    2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
    2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game  COLOR Celebrities: David McCallum, Barbara McNair
    3:00 MATCH GAMECelebrities: Selma Diamond, Art James
    3:25 NEWS
    3:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy
    4:00 CARTOONS—Children
    4:30 GARDEN ALMANAC
    5:00 YOGI BEAR—Cartoons
    5:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley
Evening
    6:00 BRIDE’S WORLD—Mrs. Marcus
    6:05 SPORTS, WEATHER, NEWS
    6:30 MR. NOVAK—Drama
    7:30 HULLABALOO  COLOR Host: Michael Landon. Guests: Ian and Sylvia, Dionne Warwick, Linda Bennett, Peter and Gordon, the Vibrations, Cannibal and the Headhunters, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers
    8:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire  COLOR 
    9:00 MY THREE SONS—Comedy
    9:30 BEWITCHED—Comedy
  10:00 NEWS
  10:30 12 O’CLOCK HIGH—Drama
  11:30 MOVIE—Biography“I Aim at the Stars” (1960)
    TV  

This week in TV Guide: March 27, 1965

Yes, it's another fondly-remembered issue from the past. But take heart; next weekend offers a new issue! Well, sort of.

I'm often fond, when writing here, of quoting the old French saying, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même"—the more things change, the more they stay the same.  And as I've read through these TV Guides, I find that more and more to be the case.  For example, take the following quote: "When I was a boy, a liberal was one who looked upon the state as . . . a necessary evil, to be watched night and day. Today, a ‘liberal’ is likely to be one who looks upon the state as a panacea.”

Since we’re reviewing a TV Guide from 1965, you probably think that’s when this quote was authored, and that the point is to show how little things have changed in nearly fifty years. Any guest on Fox News might say the very words today without changing even a comma, and nobody would blink an eye; but in fact that quote comes from 1947, predating this TV Guide by almost twenty years.

The man who said that was at one time one of the more recognizable faces on television, but today it’s unlikely you’ve heard of him unless you’re my age, or even older, and that's a shame because he was one of the major figures in early television, someone whose influence continues today. His name was Lawrence E. Spivak , and for thirty years he was the moderator and power behind Meet the Press. Spivak, along with Martha Roundtree, created Meet the Press for radio in 1945, and added a television component in 1947.  At the time he wrote the above, he was publisher of The American Mercury, a conservative magazine founded by H.L. Mencken.  Spivak fought vigorously against Communism and what he saw as its infiltration of labor unions.  He wrote against government control of the media, and advocated kicking the Soviet Union out of the United Nations.

Nowadays, Spivak has buried any personal ideology in the name of fairness. "I couldn't maintain my position as an impartial interviewer in the eyes of viewers if they knew my political philosophy or position on any particular issue," he tells writer Edith Efron. Instead, he positions himself as "anti-everybody," with no one escaping his public grilling. And yet, when pressed, he will give us an insight into his personal opinions. "I still think that the conflict between the individual and the state is the big problem of our time," he says. "The question I ask is: How much freedom are we willing to sacrifice for how much economic security? I fear that if we keep allowing the Government to handle more and more of our problems, we'll get into trouble." Conservatives would probably accept this verbatim, and if you substitute "national" for "economic" when discussing the sacrifice of freedom, you'd probably describe every liberal's concern about the Patriot Act. "The old-fashioned liberal originally was a fighter against concentrated power in the Government," he concludes, echoing his comments from 1947. "But the contemporary liberals are seeking more concentrated power." 

Efron says of Lawrence E. Spivak that his "heart is where Barry Goldwarter's is, his head is where [Socialist] Norman Thomas's is," meaning that Spivak is conservative in idology, but has the temperament of an anarchist who doesn't want to be told what to do. And that seems to me like a pretty good combination.

Around the dial

We kick-off this week with a visit to Bob Sassone's site, where Bob lists his dozen favorite TV shows , along with the best of the rest. You've seen me complain about best-of lists before—when they're written by people who have no appreciation for classic television—but you'll hear no complaints from me here, as Bob comes up with some very perceptive and eclectic choices. Brisco County Jr., for instance, is a show that I never felt got the credit it deserved; sure, some of it was corny, but it was also very witty and clever (and, Bruce Campbell). I like MST3K and The Odd Couple as well, and I always like to see someone take a show like What's My Line? seriously as a best-of series. Well done! (I also love his bit about Twitter .)

At Classic Film & TV Cafe, Rick gives us seven things to know about Constance Towers , a familiar face to TV fans for appearances on everything from Perry Mason, Hawaii Five-O and The Outer Limits to General Hospital and the Hallmark Channel. Oh, and she was in some pretty good movies too, like The Horse Soldiers and The Naked Kiss.

Speaking of familiar faces, at Comfort TV, David reminds us that diversity in television is not something that just started. Case in point: Gregory Sierra , who appeared in just about every television show imaginable during the course of a 40-year career.

I'm old enough that I remember when Barbary Coast was on TV; the universality of Star Trek was not quite what it is today, so that I could point to Shatner and say, "Hey, didn't he used to be Captain Kirk?" (As if he'd never work again.) Fire-Breathing Dimetrodon Time remembers back when as well. (And I really like the pun of that title.)

At Christmas TV History, Joanna takes us to her latest tour of classic Christmas and pop culture sites, as she visits New York City , where she sees the statue of Ralph Kramden, goes past the building where Felix and Oscar lived, and stops at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree!

The March 18, 1989 issue of TV Guide asks the question: "Are women reporters better than men?" Kind of sexist, if you ask me, but, oh well. Find out the answer to that question and more as Television Obscurities continues with a look back at the year 1989 in TV Guide. TV  

Everything but the news

Those of us who believe in an afterlife know that once we’ve shuffled off this mortal coil, we’ll be called to account for our life’s actions. Not surprisingly, one who has accomplished much in life often has much to account for as well. You have to think that, when the time comes, Ted Turner will be one of these folks.

Turner’s greatest accomplishment in life, at least as far as television goes, has to be the creation of Turner Classic Movies, one of the greatest of all cable channels (as well as being one of the few niche networks to remain true to its original calling). And then—you knew this had to be coming—there’s CNN.

When it first started, critics referred to it as “Chicken Noodle News,” but in time it proved that it had real chops when it came to covering news as it happened, without viewers having to wait for a recap on the evening news. The idea of a channel devoted to nothing but news, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, was something that had been discussed since the germination of cable television as an idea. No longer would news be confined to the dimensions of a half-hour, with the length of stories often dictated by commercial placement. Now there could be an emphasis on longer, more in-depth features that covered the subtleties of complicated stories, as well as coverage of items that often received scant mention by Cronkite, Brokaw, et al. Neither would such a network be a slave to ratings, as were the broadcast nets. What could possibly go wrong?

That last was a redundant question, of course. Plenty could go wrong, and I think most of it has. The success of CNN bred competition—it’s the American way—and before long, there was not one, but three all-news networks, with Fox and MSNBC joining in the fun. Today, each of these networks has its own identity, its own way of doing business, and its own ideological agenda. Very little airtime is spent on actual news; most of it is devoted to self-contained programming driven by personalities, programs that inevitably degenerate into shoutfests—that is, when not simply reinforcing their own preconceived notions regarding what the news actually “means.”

News networks also discovered it’s not all that easy to fill a 24/7 news cycle, resulting in an emphasis on “event” coverage. Some of these, such as the assassination attempt on President Reagan and the start of the first Gulf War, were obvious; but it was the ability of cable news to create events—to take a local story and turn it into something deserving of national coverage, to elevate every trial into the Trial of the Century, and to provide days-long coverage of any story that appeals to our voyeuristic instincts, only to ditch it as soon as a newer one comes along—that have come to dominate. Identifying such stories—or, if necessary, creating them—became essential to filling the broadcast day, and as the news networks each developed their own agendas, they began to pick-and-choose the stories that would be most prominent, the stories that most closely hewed to their own ideology, as well as that of their viewers. They also began spending an inordinate amount of time attacking and ridiculing each other; inevitable, one supposes, giving how hard they work to fill airtime, that they’d eventually take the creation of news stories in-house, so to speak. (As a sidenote, I’d be interested to find out how many cable news stories actually overlap, appearing on all three networks. Not many, I’d bet.)

A few weeks ago I asked readers to suggest which television series would have changed history the most had it not existed, and while you can’t exactly classify an entire network as a “series,” I think one could argue that things might be quite different today without CNN. Oh sure, in retrospect we can say that the creation of an all-news network was obvious, a slam dunk; but it was far from a sure thing when Turner came up with the idea all those years ago. It could be that the overnight news programs tried by a couple of the broadcast networks might well have convinced people that this was the expanded news the public needed. Yes, the 9/11 attacks might have prompted calls for greater news coverage, but then television did quite well in covering events such as the assassination of Kennedy and the resignation of Nixon without having to go 24/7 thereafter. And we might have been spared the national embarrassment that was the O.J. Simpson trial in the process.

The best you can say is that someone probably would have come up with the cable news idea sooner or later, but there’s no assurance that it would have been someone with the drive and deep pockets of a Ted Turner, someone who was willing and could afford to wait out the hard times until the network found a stable footing. Would Stanley Hubbard’s All News Channel , for example, have necessarily spawned Fox News and MSNBC? As is the case with Tootsie Roll Pops, the world will never know.

One doesn’t have to be a mind-reader to know that this scenario is not at all what television’s pioneers envisioned when they spoke glowingly of the possibilities for an all-news network. I think what we have today would have sickened most of them, and probably caused them to despair of television ever getting this news thing right. I used to watch cable news frequently; now, I watch it hardly at all. And I like news; think of how those who aren’t news junkies must feel about it. CNN, Fox, and MSNBC have moved from covering the news to creating it, from reporting on our world to shaping it, from telling us how it is to lecturing us on how they want it to be, all the while using their resources to make it happen.

It would be wrong to lay blame for all of this at the feet of Ted Turner, who hasn’t been controlled CNN for many years; he might well be as sick of it as the rest of us. But Turner made a career out of entertaining us, from winning the America’s Cup owning America’s Team to creating America’s news network. How appropriate, then, that today’s cable news is saturated with coverage of stories that previously served up as fodder for tabloids and made-for-TV movies. As the songwriter said, that’s entertainment. TV  

What's on TV? Monday, March 20, 1961

I don't know how we came to have so many of these 1961 issues all at once, but here they are. You'll be glad to know that we'll be moving on to other years for awhile—or maybe you won't. I think it's always nice to have a little variety anyway. Stick around for next week and see what we get.



 2  KTCA (Educ.)
    MORNING   
    9:15 YA HABLAMOS ESPANOL
    9:30 PEOPLE ARE TAUGHT DIFFERENTLY—Discussion
  10:15 YA HABLAMOS ESPANOL
  10:30 ART—Grade 6
  11:00 YA HABLAMOS ESPANOL
  AFTERNOON 
    1:30 SINGING TOGETHER—Grade 5
    1:50 KOMM, LACH UND LERNE
    2:05 RED MYTH—Documentary
    2:30 EXPLORING NUMBERS—Gorr
    3:00 TEA AT THREE—Vivian Hoff
     EVENING    
    6:00 ADVENTURES OF DANNY DEE
    6:30 THE EXCEPTIONAL CHILD
    7:00 PROSPECTS OF MANKIND
    8:00 RUSSIAN AREA STUDY
    8:30 ST. THOMAS PRESENTS
    9:00 WORLD AFFAIRS—George Grim
    9:30 MUSIC—Arnold Walker
  10:00 GREAT BOOKS—Discussion
  10:30 BACKGROUND—Dr. Ziebarth
  10:40 VIRUS—Science
Ah, George Grim, host of World Affairs at 9:00 p.m. Around here, he was known more as a newspaperman, writing for nearly 40 years for the Minneapolis Star (the evening paper) and, later on, the Minneapolis Tribune (the morning paper). According to this , at one time or another he was on every one of the "big five" stations in the Twin Cities except for WTCN. 

 4  WCCO (CBS)
    MORNING   
    7:00 FLYING SAUCER—Siegfried
    8:00 NEWS—Richard C. Hottelet
    8:15 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children
    9:00 NEWS—Dean Montgomery
    9:10 DR. REUBEN K. YOUNGDAHL
    9:20 WHAT’S NEW?—Arle Haberle
    9:30 VIDEO VILLAGE—Monty Hall
  10:00 DOUBLE EXPOSURE—Dunne
  10:30 YOUR SURPRISE PACKAGE
  11:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial
  11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
  11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
  AFTERNOON 
  12:00 NEWS—Dave Moore
  12:15 SOMETHING SPECIAL—Merriman
  12:20 WEATHER—Bud Kraehling
  12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    1:00 FACE THE FACTS—Red Rowe
    1:30 HOUSE PARTY—Art Linkletter
    2:00 MILLIONAIRE—Drama
    2:30 VERDICT IS YOURS—Drama
    3:00 BRIGHTER DAY—Serial
    3:15 SECRET STORM—Serial
    3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    4:00 AROUND THE TOWN—Haeberle
    4:30 BOZO THE CLOWN—Children
    5:00 AXEL AND DOG—Clellan Card
    5:30 CLANCY THE COP—Children
    5:55 SPORTS—Rollie Johnson
     EVENING    
    6:00 NEWS—Dean Montgomery
    6:10 WEATHER—Don O’Brien
    6:15 NEWS—Douglas Edwards
    6:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel
    7:00 PETE AND GLADYS—Comedy
    7:30 BRINGING UP BUDDY—Comedy
    8:00 INGRID BERGMAN—Drama   SPECIAL 
    9:30 JUNE ALLYSON—Drama
  10:00 NEWS—Dave Moore
  10:15 WEATHER—Bud Kraehling
  10:20 SPORTS—Dick Enroth
  10:30 TIGHTROPE!—Police
  11:00 WEATHER—Don O’Brien
  11:05 MOVIE—Melodrama“Crashout” (1955)
Arle Haberle's name pops up constantly in these early '60s issues. She was on WCCO both mornings and afternoons, doing What's New and Around the Town. They're the kind of shows you still have on local television, but now they're decked out more like infomercials. It was nice to have someone you could turn to on television who could tell you what was going on around your city.

 5  KSTP (NBC)
    MORNING   
    6:00 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM   COLOR Chemistry
    6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM   COLOR Probability and Statistics
    7:00 DAVE GARROWAYAnniversary of publication of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”Local news at 7:25 and 8:25 A.M.
    9:00 SAY WHEN—Art James
    9:30 PLAY YOUR HUNCH—Merv Griffin   COLOR 
  10:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Cullen   COLOR 
  10:30 CONCENTRATION—Hugh Downs
  11:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
  11:30 IT COULD BE YOU   COLOR 
  11:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer
  AFTERNOON 
  12:00 NEWS—John MacDougall
  12:15 WEATHER—Johnny Morris
  12:20 TREASURE CHEST—Jim Hutton
    1:00 JAN MURRAY—Game   COLOR 
    1:30 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama
    2:00 YOUNG DR. MALONE—Serial
    2:30 FROM THESE ROOTS
    3:00 MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY
    3:30 HERE’S HOLLYWOOD—InterviewGuests: Susan Strasberg, George Maharis
    4:00 TOPPER—Comedy
    4:30 T.N. TATTERS—Children
    5:15 CITY DETECTIVE—Police
    5:45 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley
     EVENING    
    6:00 NEWS—Bob Ryan
    6:15 WEATHER—Johnny Morris
    6:30 AMERICANS—Drama
    7:30 WELLS FARGO—Western
    8:00 ACAPULCO—Adventure
    8:30 DANTE—Mystery
    9:00 BARBARA STANWYCK—Drama
    9:30 TO BE ANNOUNCED
  10:00 NEWS—John MacDougall
  10:15 WEATHER—Johnny Morris
  10:20 SPORTS—Al Tighe
  10:30 JACK PAAR—VarietyGuest: Kaye Ballard
  12:00 NEWS—Roger Krupp
If my math is correct, Today is celebrating the 110th anniversary of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Why, I'm not sure, although perhaps the increasing attention paid to the civil rights struggle has something to do with it.

 9  KMSP (Ind.)
    MORNING   
    9:50 CHAPEL OF THE AIR—Religion
    9:55 NEWSBEAT—Tony Parker
  10:00 JACK LA LANNE—Exercises
  10:30 MOVIE—Drama“Inside Job” (1946)
  11:30 I MARRIED JOAN—Comedy
  AFTERNOON 
  12:00 KARTOONTIME—Children
  12:30 WILLY—Comedy
    1:00 FOLLOW THAT MAN—Mystery
    1:30 RACKET SQUAD—Police
    2:00 MOVIE—Drama“Dr. Kildare’s Victory” (1941)
    4:00 HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE—Comedy
    4:30 MR. ADAMS AND EVE—Comedy
    5:00 SUSIE—Comedy
    5:30 OUR MISS BROOKS—Comedy
     EVENING    
    6:00 LOONEY TUNERS CLUB—Children
    7:00 WRESTLING—Minneapolis
    8:00 MACKENZIE’S RAIDERS—Drama
    8:30 PLAY OF THE WEEK—Musical“archy and mehitabel”
  10:35 NEWS—Paul Sevareid
  10:50 SPORTS—Tony Parker
  10:55 WEATHER—Jere Smith
  11:00 NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL
  11:30 OFFICIAL DETECTIVE—Sloane
For those of you who saw the Saturday listings I did last month, you'll remember that KMSP has wrestling on Saturday nights. Tonight's wrestling show at 7:00 p.m. consists of "taped highlights of one of last Saturday's action-packed matches." Their words, not mine.

11 WTCN (ABC)
    MORNING   
    7:55 FARM NEWS—Frank Seifert
    8:00 GOOD MORNING MINNESOTA!
    8:30 CARTOON CIRCUS—Children
    9:00 ROMPER ROOM—Miss Betty
    9:45 SHAPE UP—Louraine Larson
  10:15 WAYS WITH FOOD—Mrs. Meyer
  10:30 LIFE OF RILEY—Comedy
  11:00 MORNING COURT—Drama
  11:30 LOVE THAT BOB!—Comedy
  AFTERNOON 
  12:00 CAMOUFLAGE—Don Morrow
  12:30 NUMBER PLEASE—Bud Collyer
    1:00 ABOUT FACES—Ben Alexander
    1:25 NEWS—Al Mann
    1:30 DR. HUDSON’S SECRET JOURNAL—Drama
    2:00 DAY IN COURT—Drama
    2:30 ROAD TO REALITY—Drama
    3:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY—Bailey
    3:30 WHO DO YOU TRUST—Carson
    4:00 AMERICAN BANDSTAND—ClarkGuest: Adam Wade
    5:00 5 O’CLOCK REPORT—Huston
    5:05 CASEY JONES WITH POPEYE
    5:30 RIN TIN TIN—Adventure
     EVENING    
    6:00 AMOS ‘N’ ANDY—Comedy
    6:30 CHEYENNE—Western
    7:30 SURFSIDE 6—Mystery
    8:30 BING CROSBY—Variety   SPECIAL Guests: Maurice Chevalier, Aldo Monaco, Carol Lawrence
    9:30 PETER GUNN—Mystery
  10:00 NEWS—Chick McCuen
  10:15 WEATHER—Stuart A. Lindman
  10:20 SPORTS—Buetel, Horner
  10:30 PHIL SILVERS—Comedy
  11:00 NEWS—Ken Anderson
  11:05 MOVIE—DramaTheater 11: “Journey for Margaret” (1942)
  12:30 NEWS—Stuart A. Lindman
In the issues we've looked at from the 1950s, we would have seen the name Chick McCuen over at WCCO, where he was the news director and anchor. In 1958 he moved over to WTCN, and then to the mighty WMAQ in Chicago. Best McCuen story, of many: at WMAQ, he was one of only 25 reporters to be credentialed to the Richard Speck "Trial of the Century" in 1967, only to wind up on the other side of the picket line because of the AFTRA strike. Wound up being hired as the maitre 'd at the restaurant where the reporters hung out. Of course, he's in the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame . TV  

This week in TV Guide: March 18, 1961

Perhaps no star demonstrates the change in popular culture over the last 60 or so years more than Ingrid Bergman.

In 1950 there were fewer stars bigger than Bergman, who had appeared in a string of hits including Intermezzo, Casablanca, Joan of Arc and The Bells of St. Mary's, and had won an Academy Award as Best Actress for Gaslight. She then became involved in a scandal—an affair with director Roberto Rossellini (they were both married to other people at the time) which left her pregnant, and her reputation in tatters. Her adultery got her denounced on the floor of the U.S. Senate (as "a horrible example of womanhood") and disinvited from The Ed Sullivan Show, and she remained in something of an exile even after winning her second Oscar in 1958 for Anastasia. It wasn't until 1958, when she made a triumphant appearance as a presenter at the Oscarcast, that she returned to the American spotlight, and even then the lengthy ovation she received from the audience was controversial—some felt it amounted to a tacit endorsement of her past behavior.

This week, Bergman prepares for a rare television appearance, in the drama Twenty-Four Hours in a Woman's Life* on CBS Monday night. Gilbert Millstein's profile only alludes to that scandal, remarking that "in the last two decades, she has been successively praised, blamed, boycotted, picked over, analyzed, adjured, sympathized with, litigated over and clasped once more to the public breast without any noticeable erosion." Bergman herself says that "Everybody feels that you belong to them.  I would have liked to have my own problems in peace, but it was not to be and I could not change any of it." Having played a nun in The Bells of St. Mary's and a saint in Joan of Arc led people to view her not as a woman, but through the prism of the roles she played.

*Written by John Mortimer, better known as the creator of Rumpole of the Bailey .

And that is just one of the ways in which we see the massive cultural changes over these years. It's hard to imagine, for example, that the public, cynical as they now are, would feel so betrayed by an actress' personal life.  For that matter, adultery itself doesn't have the cache it used to. The old saying, "there's no such thing as bad publicity" seems to be more true now than ever. Hugh Grant's indiscretion a few years ago was played mostly for laughs, and probably helped Jay Leno's career more than anything else. With the advent of reality television to go along with the fanmags, embarrassment and public ostracism are things of the past.

The fallout over Ingrid Bergman's scandal was probably excessive (didn't the Senate have anything better to do?) but it came from a period in time when there was a common moral code, a sense of right and wrong that was generally accepted by a majority of the public. If people lacked charity in their reaction, it could be said that their hearts might have been in the right place.

Ultimately, though, it's time to live and let live. Ingrid Bergman, her elegance and her talent, are back—and we're the more fortunate for it.