Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 144

Around the dial

Ever heard of an episode of Father Knows Best called  “Twenty-Four Hours in Tyrantland” ? Neither had I, until it wound up on David's list of "The Unshakeables" at Comfort TV. I mentioned on Wednesday how much have changed—this would be right there. Wish I'd included this in my book.

The first time I ever saw the Twilight Zone episode "Miniature," it was as a colorized presentation, and the big news was that this was the first time the episode had been seen on TV since the original broadcast, due to legal technicalities. It's a masterpiece , as Jordan shows at The Twilight Zone Vortex.

What I like about our classic TV blog community is that it is a community, with new friends and heretofore unknown treasures just around the corner. That's why I take a moment to share Carol's story about the passing of her friend (and former colleague of Bob Crane) Morgan Kaolian over at Bob Crane: Life & Legacy. Sounds like he was quite a guy, Carol.

One of my favorite television books of all time—but why narrow it to that? a favorite book period—is The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew Lee Fielding's warm and wise memoir of his mother's time in television, particularly on Your Hit Parade. Good news from The Lucky Strike Papers: a revised edition is coming out ! You really should have this book in your library.

At Garroway at Large, Jodie points to another reason why Garroway deserves to be remembered, and not just by historians. As we can see in " Lost Garroway ," Dave was truly the face of NBC, both TV and radio. It's beyond foolish to even consider anyone with that kind of stature in television today, and to think that someone who was as much a part of the American consciousness as Garroway is now all but forgotten—well, I just don't get it.

Oh, I used to love watching the Oscars. Of course, this is back when the show only ran a couple of hours, meaning I could stay up at least that late, even though I had to go to school the next day.* Today, you'd have to pay me. But it's a good excuse to look at Classic Film and TV Cafe's "Snubbed by Oscars" poll. Vote for your favorites; it's not as if the Oscars got it right every time.

TV Guide promises a Hot February! in the issue of February 4, 1989, the latest in Television Obscurities' look at 30 years back. Among other things, there's a story welcoming the return of Columbo, and an on-location report on the heralded miniseries Lonesome Dove. TV  

Another world, not my own*

*With apologies to Dominick Dunne.

Odysseus sat on the beach, Anthony Esolen tells us in the opening to his new book, Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World , casting his eye upon the sea, as he has done every night for as long as he can remember. It is a beautiful world, Esolen says, a world in which all is well; "only the man is lost; only the man is not well." He has all he needs here, and the beautiful woman who loves him like a pet has promised that he will not age as long as he stays here. And yet, "He suffers the pang of something bitter and sweet, and more bitter than sweet." It is, says Esolen, the pain from the desire to return from whence he came. It is, in the Greek word that we use to describe it, nostalgia, "the ache to turn back home."

How I wish I had read this before I wrote  The Electronic Mirror. Not because of the elegance of Esolen's language, though elegant it is, in a way to which I can only aspire. No, it is because of the essential truth contained in those words, a truth I've tried many times to express, here and elsewhere. It helps give us a better understanding of just what that "turn back home" really means, and it has to do with what I feel is the problem today: alienation.

I'm going to refer back to that JFK assassination radio coverage I wrote about last month . Now, I don't mean to put too fine a point on this—it's certainly not my intent to turn this into the JFK channel. At the same time, these long-form recordings provide a brief immersion in the past; not just the big moments, but the little moments that precede them—and, as we'll see, the little moments within the big moments, the ones that I think provide the clearest insight and the most pain.

For example: whenever CBS would break to allow affiliates to make local announcements, the announcers at my hometown station, WCCO-AM in Minneapolis, would read listings of special church services being held in memory of Kennedy; there were so many that it sounded like they were reading lists of school closings in the Midwest during a blizzard. A lot of businesses were closing early that Friday; not so much because of the shock (although that too), but to allow their employees to attend services that might be happening at, say, 5:00 p.m. Would we hear that today?

Outside the WCCO studio, as the station broadcast the news on loudspeakers, passersby were asked for their impressions. First one man, then another, and still another, would say it. I wasn't a Kennedy man, they would say, I didn't vote for him, but I think this is the most terrible thing that's ever happened to this country. Now, remember: these were businessmen being interviewed, old enough for nearly all of them to have remembered Pearl Harbor (it was only 22 years ago, after all), and probably for most of them to have fought either in World War II or Korea. And yet, this is a terrible, terrible thing, the worst thing that could happen. Said about a man they hadn't voted for. Would we hear that today?

In Washington, the Senate majority leader, Mike Mansfield, and the minority leader, Everett Dirksen, spoke to the media. Dirksen, a Republican, talked about the last time he and the president had spoken, just a few days ago when Kennedy was presiding over the annual pardon of the Thanksgiving turkey, and what a pleasant conversation they had had, talking of pending legislation, of 1964, and other things. Democrat Mansfield, after praising the president's memory, talked of “the cooperation and the support which the distinguished senator from Illinois, Mr. Dirksen, the minority leader of the Senate, gave to the President of the United States, a Democrat, time and time again, when the interests of the nation were at stake; and I know how grateful he was to you for the many contributions you made, and I am just as grateful, and the nation is, too.” Mansfield called it a fond memory; do people have fond memories of those they disagree with today? Dirksen later said of Kennedy, “If at any moment he may have seemed overeager, it was but the reflection of a zealous crusader and missioner who knew where he was going,” Would we hear that today?

Throughout the weekend, on WLW-AM in Cincinnati, at every station break the announcer recited a variation of the same script, WLW and the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation asking listeners to "join with us in prayer for John Kennedy, his family, and President Lyndon Johnson." At ABC radio, Don Gardiner, a newsman given to a very formal style, announced the death of the president and, one suspects for his own benefit as well as that of the audience, says, "Let us pray," followed by a moment of silence. Would we hear that on a network today? Now, it's true that the public tends to turn to religion in times of crisis; 9/11, for example. And not to suggest that such revivals are insincere, but usually church attendance returns to normal after a few weeks. Conversely, during the JFK weekend, one reporter remarks how the churches are full, yes, with people saying prayers and lighting candles; but not as full as they are on Sundays. Would we hear that observation today?

I could go on with this, ad nauseam. You listen to the music being played on the radio prior to the news bulletins, and there's no need for parental advisories. You hear the prices being quoted for groceries, and a family could probably be supported on the father's salary. You hear about families, for that matter, and that seems to be a quaint concept today. It is impossible to look at the past without feeling alienated by the present.

Yep, things have changed during my lifetime. But then, my wife's grandmother was alive when the Wright brothers flew, and again when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. There is anger in the world, and discontent, and searching. Sic semper erat, et sic semper erit,you say; thus has it always been, thus it shall ever be, and I get that. As Esolen points out, there has been no Eden since Eden. But the life that was lived in that world, and the things about which we disagreed, were still based on a common sense of principles, a shared definition of things. We hear it said often that "we don't speak the same language anymore," and I believe this; in his book The Great Delusion, political scientist John Mearsheimer reminds us that “For a society to hold together, there must be substantial overlap in how its members think about the good life, and they must respect each other when, inevitably, serious disagreements arise.” Perhaps God, in His infinite wisdom, is demonstrating something of His divine sense of humor—using the lesson from the Tower of Babel to impart a rebuke to us all.

We all feel this, the unsettledness of the world. Opioids, depression, suicide; you don't have to look far to see it. Anxiety is at an all-time high; social media makes it impossible to escape, makes it too fast to assimilate, makes it too contentious to discuss. We all live in our own little universe, where reality is whatever we choose to make of it. Nostalgia doesn't exacerbate this feeling; it helps explain it. Classic television and radio don't cause us to live in the past; they help us see how things were at any given point in that period without, as someone once said, "the corruption of hindsight." As you turn the pages, you visit a world as it was at the time when it was.

"I do not believe," John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address, "that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation." Indeed; we must accept this, since it's impossible to travel backward in time anyway. But nostalgia does not suggest that we live in the past; instead, what we must do is find out what the past can teach us about the future. As I've said many times, you discover who we are by understanding who we were. When we hear, as we often do, that you can't turn the clock back, that you can't return to how things used to be back then, that's the very time when we do need to return to "back then," as Esolen reminds us in the parable of the Prodigal Son, and find out (or remember) what it means to go home.

This doesn't mean that I'm condemning the present uniformly, nor am I idealizing the past unequivocally. That would be as foolish as trying to pit 2018 against 1968 in terms of which year was worse. There is much about the present that is good, in the same way that there is much about the past that was not. The point is that the world has changed since 1963, and in doing so I believe we've seen a steady erosion of what kept society—the world—together. It had already started before 1963, and it will probably continue beyond today. But it's only that nostalgia that understanding of who we used to be, that can help us truly understand how far we've traveled from home, who we've become today. Alienation? No wonder. It is, as I said, another world, a different world from that into which I was born. And increasingly, it's a world that doesn't feel like my own. TV  

What's on TV? Thursday, February 9, 1984

I still find it hard to comprehend that 1984 was 35 years ago; some of you out there will look at these shows as every bit as deserving of the "classic" moniker as the shows from the '50s and '60s. It could be just me, or it could be this particular night of the week, but I have to admit that aside from Hill Street Blues and Cheers, none of these network shows strike me as being "classic." And yet, as I mention below, for the cable stations, WGN and USA in particular (but also ESPN, TBS, and CNN, for starters), this looks like the glory days compared to the way they are now. To each his own, I suppose. This week's listings come from Minneapolis-St. Paul.



 2  KTCA (PBS)
MORNING
     5:45 A.M. WEATHER
     6AM COLLEGE FOR WORKING ADULTS
     6:30 NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT
     7AM CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
     7:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
     8AM SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
     9AM ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
     9:30 3-2-1 CONTACT (CC)—Children
   10AM REBOP—Children
   10:30 LAP QULITING WITH GEORGIA BONESTEEL—Instruction
   11AM WOODWRIGHT’S SHOP—Instruction              11:30 SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
AFTERNOON
   12:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
     1PM MOVIE—Crime Drama BW “Blackmail” (English; 1929)
     2:30 WORD INTO IMAGE—Documentary
     3PM OVER EASY (CC)Guest: Bel Kaufman
     3:30 MISTER ROGERS—Children
     4PM SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
     5PM 3-2-1 CONTACT (CC)--Children
     5:30 NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT
EVENING
     6PM MacNEIL, LEHRER NEWSHOUR
     7PM NIGHTTIMES, WITH GARY GILSON
     8PM SNEAK PREVIEWS—Movie Reviews
     8:30 MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS
     9PM MYSTERY! (CC)“Reilly, Ace of Spies” Part 4
   10PM GOOD NEIGHBORS—Comedy
   10:30 TO THE MANOR BORN—Comedy
   11PM SEEING THINGS
   12AM LATENIGHT AMERICA—Wholey Guest: Mark Russell
I've always been a fan of Mark Russell and his political satire; it's certainly got an edge to it, but it's bipartisan, and it's not mean-spirited. Today's comics could take a cue or two from him.

 4  WCCO (CBS)
MORNING
     5AM NEWS
     5:30 CBS NEWS—Kurtis/Sawyer
     8AM PHIL DONAHUE
     9AM HOUR MAGAZINEGuests: John James, June L. Shiplett
   10AM PRICE IS RIGHT—Game
   11AM YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial
AFTERNOON
   12PM NOON REPORT
   12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
     1:30 CAPITOL—Serial
     2PM GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
     3PM TATTLETALES—GameGuests: Melody Thomas, Eric Braeden, Deborah Mullowney
     3:30 WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game
     4PM BREAKAWAY—Magazine
     5PM NEWS
     5:30 CBS NEWS—Dan Rather
EVENING
     6PM NEWS
     6:30 PM MAGAZINEGuests: Christopher Atkins, Linda Gray
     7PM MAGNUM, P.I.—Crime Drama
     8PM SIMON & SIMON—Crime Drama
     9PM KNOTS LANDING
   10PM NEWS
   10:30 JEFFERSONS (CC)—Comedy
   11PM TRAPPER JOHN, M.D.
   12:10 MOVIE—Drama“…And Your Name is Jonah” (Made for TV; 1979)
     1:30 CBS NEWS
Capitol was a soap opera set in Washington, in the world of politics. You may think it went off the air years ago, but in fact it just changed channels. Instead of CBS, it's now on C-SPAN.

 5  KSTP (ABC)
MORNING
     5AM FILM
     5:30 HEALTH FIELD
     6AM NEWS
     7AM GOOD MORNING AMERICA—Hartman/Lunden
     9AM FAMILY—Drama
   10AM BENSON
   10:30 LOVING—Serial
   11AM FAMILY FEUD—Game              11:30 RYAN’S HOPE—Serial
AFTERNOON
   12PM ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial
     1PM ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial
     2PM GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
     3PM GOOD COMPANY—Variety
     4PM HAPPY DAYS AGAIN
     4:30 EYEWITNESS AFTERNOON
     5PM NEWS
     5:30 ABC NEWS (CC)—Peter Jennings
EVENING
     6PM NEWS
     6:30 ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHTGuest: Walter Cronkite
     7PM XIV WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES
   10PM NEWS
   10:30 XIV WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES UPDATE
   11PM NIGHTLINE—Ted Koppel
   11:30 MOVIE—Biography BW “Man of a Thousand Faces” (1957)
     1:50 MOVIE—Drama BW “Dangerous” (1935)
     3:25 MOVIE—Comedy BW “Half Shot at Sunrise” (1930)
Tonight's Olympic coverage was to feature one of the glamour events of any Olympiad: the men's downhill. However, due to weather, the race was postponed for a week; when it eventually was run, the winner was American Bill Johnson. 

 9  KMSP (Ind.)
MORNING
     5AM NEWS
     5:30 JIMMY SWAGGART—Religion
     6AM GARY RANDALL—Religion
     6:30 :20 MINUTE WORKOUT—Exercises
     7AM SUPERFRIENDS—Cartoon
     7:30 TOM AND JERRY—Cartoon
     8AM FLINTSTONES—Cartoons
     8:30 GREAT SPACE COASTER—Children
     9AM GILLIGAN’S ISLAND
     9:30 MORNING STRETCH—Exercise
   10AM WOMAN TO WOMAN—Discussion
   11AM BIG VALLEY—Western
AFTERNOON
   12PM NEWS
     1PM LOVE CONNECTION
     1:30 JOKER’S WILD—Game
     2PM TIC TAC DOUGH—Game
     2:30 WOODY WOODPECKER—Cartoon
     3PM SCOOBY DOO—Cartoon
     3:30 HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE—Cartoon
     4PM LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE
     5PM LOVE BOAT—Comedy
EVENING
     6PM TAXI—Comedy
     6:30 PEOPLE’S COURT (CC)
     7PM COLLEGE BASKETBALLMinnesota at Ohio State
     9PM NEWS
   10PM TAXI—Comedy
   10:30 ROCKFORD FILES—Crime Drama
   11:30 TOP 40 VIDEOS
   12AM THICKE OF THE NIGHTGuests: Sarah Purcell, Bob Paris, Wally George, Bill Champlain
     1:30 MOVIE—Thriller“Scream of the Wolf” (Made for TV; 1974)
     3AM MOVIE—Science Fiction BW “Night Caller from Outer Space” (English; 1965)
     4:30 MUNSTERS—Comedy BW 
Boy, remember Thicke of the Night? It really stands out here, because neither ABC nor CBS have gotten into the late night talk show business yet. It's preceded by Top 40 Videos; for you youngsters out there, there used to be an entire channel devoted to showing those things.

11 WTCN (NBC)
MORNING
     5AM COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER—Comedy/Dramma
     5:30 MY THREE SONS—Comedy
     6AM AG-DAY
     6:30 NBC NEWS—John Dancy
     7AM TODAY—Gumbel/ChungGuest: Sylvester Stallone
     9AM FACTS OF LIFE
     9:30 SALE OF THE CENTURY—Game
   10AM WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game
   10:30 DREAM HOUSE—Game
   11AM MARY TYLER MOORE—Comedy              11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
AFTERNOON
   12PM DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial
     1PM ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
     2PM MATCH GAME-HOLLYWOOD SQUARES
     3PM LAVERNE & SHIRLEY & COMPANY—Comedy
     3:30 ALICE—Comedy
     4PM ONE DAY AT A TIME—Comedy
     4:30 THREE’S COMPANY—Comedy
     5PM NEWSCOPE
     5:30 NEWS
EVENING
     6PM NBC NEWS—Tom Brokaw
     6:30 FAMILY FEUD—Game
     7PM GIMMIE A BREAK!
     7:30 FAMILY TIES
     8PM CHEERS
     8:30 BUFFALO BILL
     9PM HILL STREET BLUES—Crime Drama
   10PM NEWS
   10:35 M*A*S*H
   11:05 TONIGHTGuests: Tony Bennett, Lee Van Cleef
   12:05 LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMANGuest: Steve Martin
     1:05 NEWS
     1:40 CELEBRITY CRUSADE FOR LIFE
     2:40 MOVIE—Drama“Secrets” (Made for TV; 1977)
     4:30 MARY TYLER MOORE—Comedy
Like Happy Days Again, Laverne & Shirley & Friends is called that because it's still in first-run on the network; therefore, it had to have an alternate title in syndication. Somehow, I don't think most people noticed the difference.

17 KTCI (PBS)
AFTERNOON
     5PM SESAME STREET (CC)—Children
EVENING
     6PM NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT
     6:30 OVER EASY (CC)
     7PM MASTERPIECE THEATRE (CC)
     8PM MacNEIL, LEHRER NEWSHOUR
     9PM SNEAK PREVIEWS
     9:30 ENTERPRISE (CC)—Documentary
   10PM MYSTERY! (CC)
   11PM LAWMAKERS
   11:30 TONY BROWN’S JOURNAL
KTCI was always been something of an enigma; sometimes it served as an outlet for PBS programming that didn't air on the big station, KTCA, while at other times it simply rebroadcast shows that had been on Channel 2 earlier. This is one of those latter times, and it's also before KTCI had a full broadcasting schedule.

29 WFBT (Ind.)
MORNING

     6AM JIM BAKKER—Religion
     7AM BREAKFAST WITH CASEY JONES
     8AM INSPECTOR GADGET—Cartoon
     8:30 D. JAMES KENNEDY—Religion  
     9AM 700 CLUB—Religion
   10:30 JIMMY SWAGGART—Religion
   11AM JIM BAKKER—Religion
AFTERNOON
   12PM REJOICE—Danny Koker
   12:30 ANOTHER LIFE—Serial
     1PM THAT GIRL—Comedy
     1:30 MERV GRIFFINGuest: Gary Coleman
     2:30 TREASURE HUNT—Game
     3PM FAMILY AFFAIR—Comedy
     3:30 INSPECTOR GADGET—Cartoon
     4PM LONE RANGER—Western BW 
     4:30 F TROOP—Comedy BW 
     5PM GET SMART!—Comedy
     5:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy BW 
EVENING
     6PM ADAM-12—Crime Drama
     6:30 700 CLUB—Religion
     8PM JIM BAKKER—Religion
     9PM SPORTS MAGAZINE
     9:30 SILENT SERVICE—Drama BW 
   10PM REJOICE—Danny Koker
   10:30 EMERGENCY!—Drama
   11:30 MOVIE—Mystery BW “Mr. Wong, Detective” (1938)
WFBT (which is now WFTC) stood for "Family Bible Television;" hence, the religious programming, combined with wholesome classic television. It went through several other iterations, including one as the Twin Cities' Fox affiliate; today, it's an "affiliate" of MyNetwork.

41 KXLI (St. Cloud) (Ind.)
MORNING

     6AM BIZNET NEWS
     8AM CARTOON CARNIVAL
     8:30 MUPPET SHOW—Variety
     9AM DANIEL BOONE—Adventure
   10AM STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO—Crime Drama
   11AM HAWAII FIVE-O—Crime Drama
AFTERNOON
   12PM FNN FINANCIAL NEWS
     1PM MILLIONAIRE—Drama BW 
     1:30 BURNS AND ALLEN—Comedy BW 
     2PM OUR MISS BROOKS BW 
     2:30 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy BW 
     3PM BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
     3:30 MY FAVORITE MARTIAN—Comedy
     4PM INSPECTOR GADGET—Cartoon
     4:30 HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE—Cartoon
     5PM LEAVE IT TO BEAVER BW 
     5:30 TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama BW 
EVENING
     6PM M*A*S*H
     6:30 WKRP IN CINCINNATI—Comedy
     7PM FAMILY—Drama
     8PM COLLEGE BASKETBALLNotre Dame vs. Rutgers
   10PM COLLEGE BASKETBALLArizona State at Washington
   12AM FNN FINANCIAL NEWS
KXLI was the original "TV Heaven," specializing in classic TV programs, theme nights, and marathons. It sounds ideal, but KXLI also faced frequent financial challenges. I believe this is from its modified TV Heaven era, when it had a significant number of classic shows, combined with a heavy college sports schedule.


USA 
MORNING
     5AM WRESTLING
     6AM CARTOON EXPRESS
     7AM CALLIOPE—Children
     8AM ALIVE & WELL!Guest: Jessie White
   10:30 GREAT AMERICAN HOMEMAKER
   11AM MOVIE—Drama BW “Miss Annie Rooney” (1942)
AFTERNOON
     1PM SONYA—DiscussionGuest: James Coco
     2PM ALIVE & WELL!Guest: Jessie White
     4PM HOT SPOTS—Music
     5PM CARTOON EXPRESS
EVENING
     6PM RADIO 1990—Lisa Robinson
     6:30 DRAGNET—Crime Drama
     7PM NBA BASKETBALLSeattle at Indiana
     9:30 COLLEGE BASKETBALLTexas El Paso at San Diego State[Joined in Progress]
   11PM PICK THE PROS—Discussion
   11:30 SPORTS PROBE
   12AM 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES PREVIEW
   12:30 NBA BASKETBALLSeattle at Indiana, taped earlier tonight
     3AM WRESTLING
     4AM MOVIE—Drama BW “The Mark” (English; 1961)
I know USA is still in the original programming business, but I was surprised to see how much like a regular broadcast network they were at this point. Besides the sports that always marked USA, they have Alive & Well, Sonya, cartoons, and some older movies. In other words, they were more than just an outlet for endless reruns of NCIS.


WGN 
MORNING
     5AM CHICO AND THE MAN—Comedy
     5:30 FAITH 20—Religion
     6AM TOP O’ THE MORNING
     6:30 MUPPET SHOW—Variety
     7AM BOZO—Children
     8:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
     9AM MOVIE—Drama BW “The Tarnished Angels” (1957)
AFTERNOON
   12PM NEWS
     1PM RHODA—Comedy
     1:30 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy BW 
     2:30 ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS—Cartoon
     3PM SUPERFRIENDS—Cartoon
     3:30 SCOOBY DOO—Cartoon
     4PM CHARLIE’S ANGELS
     5PM ONE DAY AT A TIME—Comedy
     5:30 WKRP IN CINCINNATI—Comedy
EVENING
     6PM BARNEY MILLER—Comedy
     6:30 JEFFERSONS (CC)—Comedy
     7PM INCREDIBLE HULK
     8PM COLLEGE BASKETBALLNotre Dame vs. Rutgers
   10PM NEWS
   10:30 INN NEWS—Bosh/Harper
   11PM TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama BW 
   11:30 MOVIE—Drama“The Poseidon Adventure” (1972)
     2AM INN NEWS—Bosh/Harper
     2:30 ROWAN & MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN
     3AM MOVIE—Drama“Then Came Bronson” (Made for TV; 1969)
This is the classic WGN I remember; the one that would have had Cubs baseball in the summer, Bozo in the morning, and local news. Now it's virtually a clone of cable networks such as—well, USA.  TV  

This week in TV Guide: February 4, 1984

Look familiar? It should; as I mentioned last week, we're in a brief hiatus from new TV Guide reviews, which means a blast from the past. This week, we go back six years to a rare look at an issue from the 1980s.


We've skipped ahead twenty years from last week's issue, to another Olympics preview—the XIV Winter Olympiad, in perhaps the most tragic city ever to host the games.

The '84 Games were the first Winter Olympics to be held in a Communist country, Yugoslavia. At the time Sarajevo was known primarily as the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the event that triggered World War I. Fresh off of its triumphant coverage of the Lake Placid games, ABC presented what was then a record 63½ hours of coverage for the 14 days*. As was the case in 1980, we see the coverage dominating ABC's prime-time schedule, covering anywhere from 2 to 4½ hours each night, with a 30 minute review after the late local news. It's interesting that ABC feels the need to point out that most of the coverage will be on a tape-delay basis, viewers having been spoiled by all the live coverage from Lake Placid (not including the US-USSR hockey game, of course).

*This was the last Winter Olympics to start in mid-week; in 1988 the Calgary games would begin on Saturday, and since then the start has been moved to Friday in order to accommodate a prime-time opening. ABC's coverage actually started the night before, on Tuesday, with the first round of the hockey tournament.

The Opening Ceremonies, Kosevo StadiumQuestions abounded: would the hockey team be able to repeat its memorable gold medal-winning 1980 run?  (Not hardly; they managed to defeat Poland 7-4 in the seventh-place game.) Would the speed skaters duplicate the amazing Eric Heiden's five gold medals? (Not quite—no medals at all, actually.) Would the Mahre brothers come through in the alpine events? (Yes; Phil won gold and Steve silver in the slalom.) And would there be another American star born in Sarajevo? (I'd nominate Bill Johnson, the downhill gold medalist.)

It was a great show; everyone agreed that Wednesday afternoon's Opening Ceremonies were charming, capturing the spirit and culture of Sarajevo. As the flag was passed to Calgary for 1988, everyone agreed that the Canadians would have a hard act to follow.

The bobsled run became a mortar launching padFast forward ten years to 1994. Kosevo Stadium, the site of the Opening Ceremonies, is riddled with holes from howitzer shells and snipers' bullets, and a graveyard lies not far away. The bobsled run has been turned into an artillery position from which rebel forces can shell the city. The men’s downhill ski area is now a UN buffer, and the steps on the medal presentation stand are being used for executions. Zetra Stadium, home of the figure skating, was blown up a few years ago, and now serves as a base for French UN troops. Maps that used to direct tourists to various Olympic venues are now used by journalists as military battle maps.

The civil war that gutted Yugoslavia in the '90s killed nearly 150,000 people, and resulted in hundreds of thousands of refugees and the breakup of the country itself.* The siege of Sarajevo, which lasted nearly four years, killed over 11,000 people, including 1,500 children. Reminders of the 1984 games are few and far between, even as the city (now the capital of Boznia and Herzegovina) is well on the way to rebuilding. Some civic leaders even speak of the hope that they might once again host the Olympics. That, indeed, would be a miracle.

The stand for medal ceremonies: an execution site*Making this the only Olympic Games to be held in a country that no longer exists, if one discounts the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. I don't think the reunification of a country is quite the same as the dissolution of one, myself.

One of the most memorable quotes about Sarajevo came in a Sports Illustrated article written during the height of the war . Skier Jure Franko, who carried Yugoslavia's flag in the Opening Ceremonies and went on to win silver in the giant slalom, speaks bitterly about Sarajevo ten years later:

"As many positive feelings as I had then, that's how many negative feelings I have now. For me to know that the people who surrounded me with such love, the same people who surrounded all the athletes with such love, who wrapped the entire Olympic Village in all possible warm feelings...to know that they are now trying to kill each other is basically unthinkable. Eighty, maybe 90 percent of the people dying now in Sarajevo have absolutely nothing to do with the war. They die when they go to get bread or a bucket of water. They are innocent."

It puts the "warfare" of modern athletic competition in perspective a bit, don't you think?

Around the dial

Ithink most of you can tell that's Lyndon B. Johnson. LBJ was a great television watcher, both before and while he was president; in the Oval Office, he had a console installed with three television screens, so he could watch news coverage on all three networks at the same time. But what is he watching here? The answer at the end.

Since we're in a mystery frame of mind, let's continue with the latest Hitchcock Project at bare-bones e-zine, with Jack continuing his look at the works of James P. Cavanagh. This week it's the season one episode "The Creeper," based on a real-life murder mystery that was unsolved at the time it was originally dramatized for radio.

At The Horn Section, Hal is back to Hondo, with "Hondo and the Death Drive," from December, 1967, a four-star whoopass episode if ever there was one. But as Hal reminds us, "Your lives are meaningless compared to HONDO!" 

Most classic TV fans know that the British series Till Death Us Do Part was the model for the American series All in the Family, but as Thrilling Days of Yesterday points out, since Till Death never achieved the mass release in America that, say, Monty Python did, not a lot of people know what that British series was like. Ivan sets out to shed some light on it .

Keeping it all in the (British) family, Cult TV Blog offers a first look at a series that's new to John, Gideon's Way, from 1965. Does it hold up well today? Does it make John want to watch more? Read and find out.

The Broadcasting Archives at the University of Maryland links to this Washington Post article on how the average American has even more ways to stream television. I look at this kind of thing frequently, always wanting to weigh my options, to see what the possibilities are. It always gives me a headache when I do.

One of my favorite shows, Peter Gunn, is the latest subject of Television's New Frontier: the 1960s.  A fascinating look at how the show comes to an end, and the future endeavors of cast and crew.

Continuing his look at 1989, Television Obscurities explores the issue of January 28, 1989 , with the stars of Roseanne, Roseanne Barr and John Goodman, on the cover, and a variety of stories guaranteed to take you back 30 years in time.

* * *
So what is LBJ watching? I plucked this picture from Google images, and although there was no description with it, I'm sure you could find one if you looked moderately hard. But even without a description, we know a few things. The man speaking has a longish badge on his left lapel, probably a convention credentials badge. The curtain behind the speaker has stars on it, and the only occasion I can think of that fits the bill is the 1960 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. Since the Speaker of the House traditionally served as convention chairman back in the day, and since the gentleman on the screen looks bald, I'm prepared to identify him as "Mr. Sam," Sam Rayburn, longtime House Speaker and LBJ's mentor. Which means this picture is probably LBJ in his hotel room, preparing to watch the roll call for president, at which he'll finish second to John F. Kennedy. Look at his expression—I think he knows he's going to lose this vote. Could anyone possibly imagine what the future has in store for him?  TV  

TV Jibe: the warranty doesn't cover everything

SOURCE: WWW.ANDERTOONS.COMTV  

What's on TV? Wednesday, January 29, 1964

As I mentioned on Saturday, this is probably my favorite TV Guide, and I feel as if I know most of the programs in this issue intimately, so many times have I read it over the years. Long before I got into the collecting and writing business, I found in this issue a fascination with the television of my time and yet before my time, and I really think that it's been the most influential factor in developing my habits of viewership and study. Whether or not that's a good thing is for you to decide, I suppose. Although the Saturday review was a repeat from a few years ago, today's listings, which come from the Minneapolis-St. Paul edition, are brand new. Let's get to it!


 2  KTCA (Educ.)
Morning
    8:55 FRENCH—Grade 4
    9:10 SPANISH—Grade 4
    9:30 SPANISH—Grade 5
    9:45 PORTFOLIO—Grade 11
  10:40 EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
  11:00 PORTFOLIO—Grade 11
  11:25 EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
  11:45 KINDERGARTEN—Marron
Afternoon
  12:15 PSYCHOLOGY—McKinney
    1:00 SPANISH—Grade 4
    1:20 SPANISH—Grade 5
    1:35 GERMAN—Grade 4
    1:50 SCIENCE—Grade 3
    2:20 GERMAN—Grade 6
    2:35 SPANISH—Grade 6
    2:50 EXPLORING SCIENCE—Grade 6
    3:00 PHARMACOLOGY—Education
    3:45 SPANISH—Preview
    5:30 KINDERGARTEN—Marron
Evening
    6:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED
    6:30 GENERAL SCIENCE—Fischbeck
    7:00 INQUIRY—Discussion
    7:30 CONTINENTIAL COMMENT
    8:00 CONVERSATIONAL SPANISH
    8:30 MACALESTER COLLEGE   DEBUT 
    9:00 SEE THE WEST—Mather
    9:30 WORD POWER—James Brown
  10:00 PROFILE—History
  10:30 AMERICAN IDEALS
I know I've said this before, but this seems the ideal of what educational television was supposed to be all about. Mostly local programming, a sprinkling of national shows (although I don't know that any of tonight's shows fit that description), and evening programming that can prove educational for adults.


 4  WCCO (CBS)
Morning
    6:30 UNDERSTANDING OUR WORLD
    7:00 SIEGFRIED, AXEL, CLANCY
    8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children
    9:00 NEWS—Dean Montgomery
    9:15 WHAT’S NEW?—Women
    9:25 DR. REUBEN K. YOUNGDAHL
    9:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy
  10:00 McCOYS—Comedy
  11:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial
  11:25 NEWS—Robert Trout
  11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
  11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS—Dave Moore
  12:15 SOMETHING SPECIAL
  12:25 WEATHER—Bud Kraehling
  12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
    1:00 PASSWORD—Allen LuddenCelebrities: Georgia Brown, Jack Jones
    1:30 HOUSE PARTY—Art Linkletter
    2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel Panelists: Joan Fontaine, George Grizzard, Jan Murray, Phyllis Newman
    2:25 NEWS—Douglas Edwards
    2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial
    3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial
    3:30 BEST OF GROUCHO—Quiz
    4:00 AROUND THE TOWN—Harvey
    4:30 AXEL AND DEPUTY DAWG
    5:00 CLANCY AND COMPANY
    5:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite
Evening
    6:00 NEWS—Dean Montgomery
    6:15 SPORTS—Don Dahl
    6:20 SPOTLIGHT—George Rice
    6:25 WEATHER—Don O’Brien
    6:30 CHRONICLE—Documentary
    7:00 WCCO REPORTS—Documentary
    7:30 TELL IT TO THE CAMERA
    8:00 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES—Comedy
    8:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy
    9:00 DANNY KAYE—VarietyGuest: Diahann Carroll
  10:00 NEWS—Dave Moore
  10:15 WEATHER—Bud Kraehling
  10:20 SPORTS—Hal Scott
  10:30 DRAGNET—Police
  11:00 STEVE ALLEN—Variety
  12:30 MOVIE—Western“Bitter Creek” (1954)News follows the movie.
The 10:00 news features WCCO's epic lineup: the legendary Dave Moore with the news, beloved Bud Kraehling with weather, and Ray Scott's brother Hal with the sports. This trio was the gold standard throughout my youth in the Twin Cities.

 5  KSTP (NBC)
Morning
    6:30 CITY AND COUNTRY
    7:00 TODAY—Hugh DownsGuest: Ethel Ennis
    9:00 SAY WHEN—Art James
    9:25 NEWS—Edwin Newman
    9:30 WORD FOR WORD   COLOR 
  10:00 MISSING LINKS—Ed McMahon   COLOR Panelists: Shari Lewis, Tom Poston, Daryl Hickman
  11:00 FIRST IMPRESSION   COLOR 
  11:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES   COLOR 
  11:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer
Afternoon
  12:00 NEWS—MacDougall   COLOR 
  12:15 WEATHER—Morris   COLOR 
  12:25 WOMAN’S WORLD   COLOR 
  12:30 TREASURE CHEST   COLOR 
    1:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL   COLOR 
    1:25 NEWS—Floyd Kalber
    1:30 DOCTORS—Drama
    2:00 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama
    2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Tom Kennedy   COLOR Guests: Arlene Dahl, Barry Sullivan
    3:00 MATCH GAME—Gene RayburnCelebrities: Jane Withers, Don Ameche
    3:25 NEWS—Sander Vanocur
    3:30 MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY
    4:00 MOVIE—Comedy“Once upon a Time” (1944)
    5:25 DOCTOR’S HOUSE CALL—Fox
    5:30 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley
Evening
    6:00 NEWS—Bob Ryan   COLOR 
    6:15 WEATHER—Morris   COLOR 
    6:25 SPORTS—Al Tighe   COLOR 
    6:30 VIRGINIAN—Western   COLOR 
    8:00 ESPIONAGE—Drama
    9:00 ELEVENTH HOUR—Drama
  10:00 NEWS—MacDougall   COLOR 
  10:15 WEATHER—Morris   COLOR 
  10:20 SPORTS—Al Tighe   COLOR 
  10:30 JOHNNY CARSON   COLOR 
  12:00 NEWS AND SPORTS   COLOR 
Because of this issue, I became fascinated with the psychiatrist series The Eleventh Hour, which tonight features Robert Ryan as a veteran politician using every trick in the book to stop a pork barrel spending bill. Presumably, someone is trying to claim he's not competent. Unfortunately, only the first season of The Eleventh Hour is out on DVD, and this is a second-season episode. But without my interest in this, I might not have checked out Breaking Point and The Human Jungle, both of which are superior to the average medical drama.

 9  KMSP (ABC)
Morning
    7:40 CHAPEL OF THE AIR—Religion
    7:45 BREAKFAST—Grandpa Ken
    9:00 ROMPER ROOM—Miss Betty
    9:55 NEWS—Lois Leppart
  10:00 OBJECT IS—Dick ClarkCelebrities: Darren McGavin, Terry-Thomas, Ruta Lee
  11:00 SEVEN KEYS—Jack Narz
  11:30 PEOPLE’S CHOICE—Comedy  
Afternoon
  12:00 ERNIE FORD—VarietyGuest: Don Cherry
  12:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy
    1:00 LOIS LEPPART—Interview
    1:30 DAY IN COURT—Drama
    1:55 NEWS—Lisa Howard
    2:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
    2:30 QUEEN FOR A DAY—Bailey
    3:00 TRAILMASTER—Western
    4:00 SUGARFOOT—Western
    5:00 NEWS—Bob Allard
    5:15 NEWS—Ron Cochran
    5:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy
Evening
    6:00 DOBIE GILLIS—Comedy
    6:30 OZZIE AND HARRIET—Comedy
    7:00 PATTY DUKE—Comedy
    7:30 FARMER’S DAUGHTER—Comedy
    8:00 BEN CASEY—Drama
    9:00 WINTER OLYMPICS   SPECIAL “Channing” is pre-empted.
  10:00 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
  10:30 DETECTIVE—Police
  11:30 TARGET: CORRUPTORS—Drama
  12:30 NEWS
  12:35 SEN. EUGENE McCARTHY
On this opening day of the Winter Olympics, ABC devotes its hour of coverage to highlights of the Opening Ceremonies, along with previews of key events and competitors. Interestingly, later in the year NBC will cover the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics live via satellite from Tokyo.

11 WTCN (Ind.)
Morning
  10:45 KUKLA AND OLLIE—Children
  11:00 EN FRANCE—Language
  11:30 DATELINE: MINNESOTA
  11:55 TRICKS FOR TREATS—Meadows
Afternoon
  12:00 LUNCH WITH CASEY—Children
  12:45 KING AND ODIE—Cartoon
    1:00 MOVIE—Musical“Birth of the Blues” (1941)
    2:45 LEE PHILLIP--Women
    3:00 DECEMBER BRIDE—Comedy
    3:30 ROBIN HOOD—Adventure
    4:00 BEETLE AND PETE—Dave Lee
    4:30 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB—Children
    5:00 SUPERMAN—Adventure
    5:30 LONE RANGER—Western
Evening
    6:00 WHIRLYBIRDS—Adventure
    6:30 BOLD JOURNEY—Travel
    7:00 EXPEDITION!—Documentary
    7:30 STONEY BURKE—Drama
    8:30 DESILU PLAYHOUSE—Drama
    9:30 NEWS—Dick Ford
    9:45 WEATHER—Stuart A. Lindman
    9:50 SPORTS—Buetel, Horner
  10:00 MOVIE—Mystery“The Crimson Kimono” (1959)
  12:15 BURNS AND ALLEN—Comedy
Stoney Burke is Jack Lord's series before Hawaii Five-O, a single-season drama about a rodeo star on the national circuit. I have it on DVD; while I wouldn't rank it as highly as Five-O, I think it's pretty good. TV  

This week in TV Guide: January 25, 1964

It's time once again for a dip into the archives of past TV Guide articles. I mentioned my current (un)employment situation a couple of weeks ago, which means that the Hadley TV Guide collection is undergoing its own type of shutdown. Hopefully this series of reruns will only last a couple of months (if you'd like to loan an issue for the cause, please email me), but in the meantime please enjoy a look back at issues we've enjoyed in the past. As always, the Monday TV listings feature will be new!

If I numbered the TV Guides in my collection, this would be Volume 1, Issue 1. Not only was it the first TV Guide in my collection, it was the one that introduced me to a brand new world, a whole 'nother way of thinking. It was The Land That Time Forgot, even though I didn't.

I’ve mentioned in past discussions of the JFK assassination that my mother used to save things for me, things that she thought I’d want to look at when I got older. The afternoon Minneapolis Star was one of them, with the headline “President Slain”; this TV Guide was another. It contained a special section, “America’s Long Vigil,” an in-depth look at television’s coverage of the assassination and its aftermath, with a special forward by President Johnson.

I was three years old at the time of this issue, January 25, 1964. The section begins in the front section of the TV Guide, just before the local programming section. As a matter of fact, readers are told that they “will have an uninterrupted section to keep if they remove the programming pages after those pages have served their purpose.” I don’t know why that wasn’t done in this case; probably it was just easier to save the whole thing.

I always knew where my mother kept the TV Guide, and eventually I tucked it inside the front cover of another book she’d bought, William Manchester’s The Death of a President, one of the best books on the JFK assassination. As I grew older and more interested in history – this was, after all, the seminal news story of my young life—I’d pull the book down from the shelves from time to time and read bits and pieces of it. Never from cover to cover, oddly enough; although I’ve read the book several times since then, I don’t think I’ve ever read it straight through.

Anyway, my interest soon focused on the television coverage, and I probably read that special section dozens of times, trying to imagine what it must have been like to see it as it happened.* And in the course of reading that section, I’d also read through the programming listings. Eventually, once I knew the JFK section forward and backward, my prime focus became the programs. It was like opening a door to a new world, the world of the past—not the distant past, but my past.

*Little knowing that one day I’d be able to see it all for myself, thanks to TV retrospectives, YouTube clips and various collectors. It was particularly exciting when I’d recognize a portion of the coverage from having read about it, to the point that I knew what they’d be saying next. Some of it was anticlimactic, some quite different from what I’d imagined, but most was even more dramatic than I’d hoped for. It was also interesting to find out that TV Guide’s writers got some of it wrong, but that’s another story.

Some of the listings rekindled memories. Hey—I remember when Combat! was on! And Whirlybirds! And Sea Hunt, and The Twilight Zone! I remember those sinister, silhouetted figures on Kraft Suspense Theater! And the Saturday morning shows, like Alvin and Fireball XL-5, and that episode of The Jetsons when George and Mr. Spacely go to the robot football championships (in a domed stadium, no less! I used to watch Mr. Wizard and G-E College Bowl! And Ted Mack and his Original Amateur Hour – round and round she goes, and where she stops, nobody knows!

In other cases there were shows I’d never seen or heard of, but they captured my attention. The Eleventh Hour. Route 66. The Bell Telephone Hour. The Greatest Show on Earth. They looked interesting, they sounded interesting. There was no way of telling from the listings whether they were any good or not, so I just assumed they were all classics. How could I ever have imagined that one day I’d be able to see so many of them and find out for myself?

Would I have developed the consuming my consuming interest in classic television if I hadn't had this TV Guide? Possibly; there were many issues I saved over the years, even before I started my collection. I used to cut out Close-Ups that caught my eye (mostly football games), and I always loved watching TV. So perhaps it was bound to happen whether or not my mother had saved this issue.

But the fact is that she did, and here we are. Myself, I think this TV Guide instilled the curiosity in me, the wonder at what was, the desire to recreate the past and recapture its memories. Even today, when I flip through the pages, I'm assaulted with those memories. Memories of the shows, memories of the early 60s—and memories of reading about them in this TV Guide. Sometimes it's that memory that's best of all.

Around the dial

Well, we haven't had quite enough of lists yet, so I'll start this week off at Comfort TV, where David comes up with one I really enjoy: the 10 most iconic costumes in classic TV. 

As you know, I appreciate a good TV Jibe here from time to time, so naturally I enjoy Jodie's linkage of Bill Keane and Dave Garroway at this week's Garroway at Large.

What was I watching Joan Collins in the other night? Ah yes, The Persuaders! (You really should try that series out sometime.) Anyway, follow the Joan Collins line long enough and you're come to The Colbys , the Dynasty spinoff that's the subject at Realweegiemidget. 

The Late, Great Kaye Ballard , indeed: a wonderful remembrance of the star of television, movies, and Broadway, who died this week, over at A Shroud of Thought.

Would you pay $89.95 for a VHS copy of Hot to Trot ? That's what it would have cost in 1989; find out about that and more in the latest installment of A Year in TV Guide: January 21, 1989 at Television Obscurities.

At Bob Crane: Life & Legacy, Carol continues the campaign to elect Bob to the National Radio Hall of Fame . If you only know him from Hogan's Heroes, go over there to find out there's a lot more to learn.

More to learn tomorrow about TV Guide, so be sure to come on over. TV  

My turn: my little list of classic TV programs

The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you. 
But it really doesn't matter whom you put upon the list, 
For they'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed! 
(CHORUS)
You may put 'em on the list — you may put 'em on the list; 
And they'll none of 'em be missed — they'll none of 'em be missed!

- Groucho Marx (and others), The Mikado

You may recall that last Friday, I shared with you the results of the Classic TV Blog Association's list of the Top 25 Classic TV Programs of all time . (Classic being defined as anything which appeared in prime time and started before 1990.) It's generated comments, not only at our respective blogs, but in Twitter discussions as well. In passing along the list, I refrained from sharing my own thoughts, other than to say that some of my shows had made the final count, some had not. However, a number of you were quick to jump on this; you weren't going to let me get away so easy without putting my own choices on the line.

Fair enough, I thought; and then, like any writer, I figured I might as well get my money's worth, or at least get another post out of it. I really didn't plan this though, and I don't mean to make anything sound like second-guessing or criticizing. As I generally say, the fault in cases such as this is probably mine.

As many of you probably know, a list of my own Top 10 programs appears on the menu ; but I could use this as a consideration only to a point. For one thing, some of the shows are post-1990 (so there! to any of you who think I only live in the past); for another, it's highly personal on my part—to the point, some of you might say, of eccentricity. I mean, no matter how much I might love The Alvin Show, I'm not going to put it on anyone else's list. Because of that, I threw out the rankings of the remaining shows altogether and decided to start from scratch.

A word on the methodology: each of us was first asked to submit a list of ten nominations, from which a list would be compiled. That would then be winnowed down in a final, ranked vote, to produce the final list of the top 25. As I mentioned, one proviso was that we could take the historical or artistic significance of programs into consideration; in other words, this wasn't necessarily a list of our favorite programs, but the programs we thought were the best. To this I'll add that I permitted a small conceit of my own, which was that I would not list a program that I didn't like. I was OK with voting for a show that wasn't a particular favorite, but I wouldn't compromise myself more than that. Well, I'm a TV historian, but I've never pretended to be completely objective.

Enough blabbering, I hear you saying—let's get on with this! And so we shall. I'll give you my lists first, followed by explanations where necessary. We'll start with my ten nominations; keep in mind that this is in no particular order:


Naked CityThe Twilight ZonePerry MasonThe PrisonerWhat’s My Line?The FugitiveSCTVRocky & BullwinklePolice SquadThe Ed Sullivan Show

When the nominations had been whittled down, I submitted this as my final list, in order of preference:


Perry MasonThe PrisonerDoctor WhoSCTVThe FugitiveDragnetThe Twilight ZoneThe Ed Sullivan ShowAlfred Hitchcock PresentsThe Defenders

For comparison, here are the top 10 of the list of 25 that the CTVA produced:


The Twilight ZoneI Love Lucy The Mary Tyler Moore ShowColumboAll in the FamilyDragnetMonty Python’s Flying CircusStar TrekThe PrisonerM*A*S*H

Having seen all these lists, I'm sure you have some questions:

I sure do. First of all, where's Lucy?

Fair enough. You remember how I said at the outset that I couldn't vote for a show that I didn't like? Well, at the risk of sacrificing any credibility as a TV historian, not only don't I love Lucy, I don't really like her. Not her, not the show. Something about her just grates on me, and it always has. But I don't begrudge people who do; this isn't a case of someone voting for, say, My Mother the Car as the greatest show ever. That one you'd have to defend, but not Lucy. Besides, I knew she'd be on the list anyway whether I voted for her or not.

Well, that's not a good reason, but at least it's a reason. But why don't you like The Twilight Zone? Have you got something against science fiction?

No! I've got it right there, at #7. As a matter of fact, I've also got Doctor Who on my list, as well as The Prisioner (but we'll talk about that later). At it's best, TZ is unquestionably one of the greatest. If we were to limit it to the show's first three seasons, I might have put it at #1 myself. But see, that's the thing. Rod Serling could be poetic, incisive, literate—even at his worst, he's most of those things. But he can also be didactic, strident, and lazy. Some of his scripts beat you over the head, again and again, to make a point. As I mentioned in my Top 10 review of TZ, "Those stories are painful enough when first viewed; they become almost impossible to watch again, and when you run into enough episodes like that, it can make it very difficult to enjoy and appreciate a series." The first couple of times through the series, I wasn't familiar enough with each episode to recognize the ones I liked as opposed to the ones I didn't like, so it was a voyage of discovery. Now, though, when I can pick and choose which ones to watch, I find that I'm skipping too many of them to make it #1 on a list of mine. Put another way: this is a series I liked a lot more when I was younger than I do today.

How do you justify Perry Mason as #1 on your list?

Well, that's a case where I've indulged my prerogative to combine "excellence" with "entertainment." Was Perry Mason great art? I don't know that I'd go that far, although I think it does say quite a bit about the American jurisprudence system, not to mention the integrity required from an officer of the law (I go into this more in The Electronic Mirror ). As I've mentioned in the past, it's a series that takes quite seriously the concept of the single-combat warrior. But besides that, it's fun—even though I own the DVD set, I still watch the MeTV runs of the show whenever I don't have to get up early the next day. Unlike Twilight Zone, I don't get tired of them after repeated viewings.

Any shows you think were overlooked?

I think The Fugitive ought to have been in the top 10. It's perhaps the best-written drama series that's ever been on television, and David Janssen delivers one of the most compelling performances TV has ever seen. Not to mention the idea of the nation's most-famous convicted murderer becoming the nation's #1 most-wanted criminal. The Fugitive invented a whole genre of television.

I can't believe that Naked City didn't even make the final list, let alone the top 10. It's also one of the best-written programs ever, and it gives us a noble presentation of what a policeman's job really is, a reminder that they truly are public servants. (I suspect that were they real, they'd be appalled by how today's detectives look at the public with contempt.) At its best, which is often, it touches on existential questions that TV has rarely done, then or now.

And Rocky & Bullwinkle (or whichever title you prefer)—well, it's perhaps the most brilliant satire we've ever seen on TV (and that includes SCTV). The way cartoon characters are used to say things that humans could never get away with is pure genius.

Speaking of SCTV, that should have been in the top 10 as well. I can't tell you how many times I look at shows from the 1980s on, on those YouTube channels that show you the opening credits from programs of the past, and find myself wondering if this is real, or SCTV.

I nominated The Ed Sullivan Show not because Ed was a great talent, because he wasn't. He did have an eye for talent, though, or at least was willing to take a chance on something that he believed his audience might like. If you want a cross-section of America at any given time, just look at the guest lists on Sullivan.

What programs made the list that you really want to rip?

Steady, now. As I said, I'm not questioning anything here. None of the shows were, I thought, indefensible, but under the category of programs that I don't like, in addition to Lucy I'd have to add M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, and All in the Family. If I'm being honest, they ought to be on a list, although maybe not as high as they are here. But M*A*S*H is too dated and way too sanctimonious for me, and as far as All in the Family is concerned, if I want to see people screaming at each other, I'll watch Fox News. I should add that I have nothing against MTM; after all, she did bring Minneapolis into the big time. I'm just not that high on sitcoms per se, and of those that do work for me, I'm a much bigger fan of Hogan's Heroes or Police Squad!

Any do-overs that you'd like?

Well, I do like Columbo; I just didn't have the room. Same thing with Python, which is almost as absurd as SCTV. And as several people mentioned on Twitter, there should have been at least one Western on the list somewhere. Maverick came up several times, as did Gunsmoke, and I think either one of them would have been at home on the list—probably Gunsmoke, if I were to choose again. There probably ought to be a private detective series on there as well, at least if we're talking about television history. The Rockford Files, for example, can look dated because of the clothes and hair, but Jim Garner's performance is never dated.

I think lists like this are fun, and as I mentioned last week, I'd still take this list over those that are produced by "experts" that think any show that was on more than 10 minutes ago is passé. So now it's your turn to go after me—but please be gentle. TV