Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 33
April 22, 2024
What's on TV? Tuesday, April 22, 1969
Tonight's heavyweight title fight between champ Joe Frazier and challenger Dave Zyglewicz, live from Houston (6:30 p.m., KTXL), is for the "five-state" heavyweight championship, and if that sounds as ridiculous to read as it did to type, there's a good reason for it: when Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title, the World Boxing Association set up a tournament to select his successor. Frazier, the top-ranked contender, refused to take part in the tournament, and was subsequently recognized as the champion by the influential New York State Athletic Commission and five states (Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas and Maine), plus Mexico and Argentina. He knocks out Zyglewicz in the first round, and eventually defeats Jimmy Ellis, the WBA champion, to unify the title; he will become undisputed champion after beating Ali in 1971. That Ali fight wasn't on live home TV, though, while tonight's bout is a prominent part of the Northern California edition.-2- KTVU (BAY AREA) (IND.) Morning 8:05 NEWS COLOR 8:15 RELIGION COLOR 8:30 JACK LA LANNE COLOR 9:00 POPEYE—Children COLOR 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES 10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy COLOR 10:30 ROGUES—Drama 11:45 ROMPER ROOM—Children COLOR Afternoon 12:30 BEAT THE ODDS—Game COLOR 1:00 MOVIE—Drama COLOR “Svengali” (English; 1954) 3:00 LINKLETTER SHOW COLOR Guests: Raymond St. Jacques, Peter Marshall 3:30 POPEYE—Children COLOR 4:00 TIMMY AND LASSIE—Adventure 4:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER 5:00 DENNIS THE MENACE 5:30 PATTY DUKE—Comedy Evening 6:00 MY FAVORITE MARTIAN COLOR 6:30 McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy 7:00 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 7:30 BASEBALL SCOREBOARD 7:40 GIANTS WARM-UP—Hodges 7:55 BASEBALL COLOR San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers 10:45 GIANTS CLUBHOUSE—Simmons 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 UNTOUCHABLES—Drama 12:30 NEWS COLOR
-3- KCRA (SACRAMENTO) (NBC) Morning 6:00 RHYME AND REASON 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guest: Mel Heimer 9:00 IT TAKES TWO—Game COLOR Celebrities: Jim Backus, Chad Everett, Rod Serling, and their wives 9:25 NEWS—Nancy Dickerson COLOR 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PERSONALITY—Game COLOR Celebrities: Jim Backus, Peggy Cass, Van Johnson. On-film: Ethel Merman 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES COLOR Guests: Bill Bixby, Jack Cassidy, Nanette Fabray, Linda Kaye, Paul Lynde, Allan Sherman, Rose Marie, Charley Weaver, Wally Cox 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Edwin Newman COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:30 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial COLOR 1:00 DOCTORS—Serial COLOR 1:30 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial COLOR 2:00 MOVIE—Drama “Close to My Heart” (1951) 3:30 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety COLOR Guests: Lillian Gish, Sam Levenson, Harry Golden, Aliza Kashi, Emily Yanch, Pat Cooper 4:30 BATMAN—Adventure COLOR Guest villain: Julie Newmar (Catwoman) 5:00 TRAVENTURE THEATRE COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS—Chet Huntley/David Brinkley COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Whitten/Jervis COLOR 7:30 NBC WHITE PAPER SPECIAL COLOR “Ordeal of the American City” Pre empted: Jerry Lewis and “Julia” 9:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Never on Sunday” (Greek; 1960) 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON COLOR Guests: Bud Collyer, William Redfield 1:00 NEWS COLOR
-4- KRON (BAY AREA) (NBC) Morning 6:30 NEWS—Dick Doughty COLOR 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guest: Mel Heimer 9:00 IT TAKES TWO—Game COLOR Celebrities: Jim Backus, Chad Everett, Rod Serling, and their wives 9:25 NEWS—Nancy Dickerson COLOR 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PERSONALITY—Game COLOR Celebrities: Jim Backus, Peggy Cass, Van Johnson. On-film: Ethel Merman 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES COLOR Guests: Bill Bixby, Jack Cassidy, Nanette Fabray, Linda Kaye, Paul Lynde, Allan Sherman, Rose Marie, Charley Weaver, Wally Cox 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Edwin Newman COLOR Afternoon 12:00 HIDDEN FACES COLOR 12:30 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial COLOR 1:00 DOCTORS—Serial COLOR 1:30 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial COLOR 2:00 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Guests: Dave Garroway, Nancy Culp 2:30 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Keir Dullea, Meredith MacRae. Host: Gene Rayburn 2:55 NEWS—Floyd Kalber COLOR 3:00 JOAN RIVERS COLOR Guests: Soupy Sales, Joey Adams 3:30 REAL McCOYS—Comedy 4:00 FLINTSTONES COLOR 4:30 CARTOONS—Children COLOR 4:45 VOYAGE—Adventure COLOR 5:45 NEWS COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley/David Brinkley COLOR 7:00 WIDE WONDERFUL WORLD COLOR 7:30 NBC WHITE PAPER SPECIAL COLOR “Ordeal of the American City” Pre empted: Jerry Lewis and “Julia” 9:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Never on Sunday” (Greek; 1960) 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON COLOR Guests: Bud Collyer, William Redfield 1:00 NEWS COLOR
-5- KPIX (BAY AREA) (CBS) Morning 6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER COLOR English Literature: the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins 6:30 THING ABOUT MONEY 7:00 NEWS—Joseph Benti COLOR 7:30 NEWS—Ron Magers 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO COLOR 9:00 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:30 HOTLINE—Discussion COLOR 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE COLOR 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING COLOR 1:30 GUIDING LIGHT COLOR 2:00 SECRET STORM COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial COLOR 3:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety COLOR Guests: Mike Connors, Marty Allen, Bobby Russell, Jean-Pierre Hallet, Gladys Knight and the Pips 4:30 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety COLOR Guests: Lillian Gish, Sam Levenson, Harry Golden, Aliza Kashi, Emily Yanch, Pat Cooper Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 7:00 NEWS—Weston, Tompkins COLOR 7:30 LANCER—Western COLOR 8:30 RED SKELTON COLOR Guest: Sergio Franchi Postponed from an earlier date 9:30 GOVERNMENT STORY COLOR “The Chief Legislator” 10:00 60 MINUTES SPECIAL COLOR May be pre-empted by a late-news show 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 PERRY MASON—Mystery 12:30 MOVIE—Fantasy “Between Two Worlds” (1944)
-6- KVIE (SACREMENTO) (EDUC.) Morning 9:00 CLASSROOM—Education 11:30 EXPLORING SENTENCES Afternoon 12:00 MISTEROGERS—Children 12:30 FOLK GUITAR 1:00 CLASSROOM—Education 2:00 CLASSROOM—Education Recess: 2:20-5:45 P.M. 5:45 FRIENDLY GIANT—Children Evening 6:00 MISTEROGERS—Children 6:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:00 FOLK GUITAR—Music COLOR 7:30 FRENCH CHEF—Cooking Party dishes 8:00 WORLD PRESS COLOR 9:00 NET FESTIVAL—Profile COLOR Subject: David Amram 10:00 GOVERNOR REAGAN’S PRESS CONFERENCE 10:30 SCIENCE REPORTER
-7- KGO (BAY AREA) (ABC) Morning 6:00 IT'S YOUR MONEY COLOR 6:25 A.M.—Jim Dunbar COLOR 8:30 GIRL TALK—Interviews COLOR Guests include Marjorie Craig. Host: Betsy Palmer 9:00 MOVIE—Drama COLOR “This Angry Age” (1958) 11:00 ANNIVERSARY GAME COLOR 11:30 GRAHAM KERR—Cooking COLOR Crème Brulee Afternoon 12:00 BEWITCHED—Comedy 12:30 FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK—Game COLOR Guests: Stu Gilliam, Sue Lyon, Rose Marie, Jan Murray, Jerry Van Dyke. Host: Lloyd Thaxton 12:55 CHILDREN’S DOCTOR COLOR 1:00 DREAM HOUSE COLOR 1:30 MAKE A DEAL COLOR 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME COLOR 2:30 DATING GAME COLOR 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial COLOR 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial COLOR 4:00 DARK SHADOWS COLOR 4:30 MOVIE—Biography COLOR “Prince of Players” (1955) Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 7:00 NEWS—Frank Reynolds COLOR 7:30 MOD SQUAD COLOR 8:30 IT TAKES A THIEF COLOR 9:30 N.Y.P.D.—Crime Drama COLOR 10:00 THAT’S LIFE—Musical COLOR 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOEY BISHOP COLOR 1:00 NEWS COLOR
7W KRCR (REDDING) (ABC, NBC) Morning 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guest: Mel Heimer 9:00 IT TAKES TWO—Game COLOR Celebrities: Jim Backus, Chad Everett, Rod Serling, and their wives 9:25 NEWS—Nancy Dickerson COLOR 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PERSONALITY—Game COLOR Celebrities: Jim Backus, Peggy Cass, Van Johnson. On-film: Ethel Merman 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES COLOR Guests: Bill Bixby, Jack Cassidy, Nanette Fabray, Linda Kaye, Paul Lynde, Allan Sherman, Rose Marie, Charley Weaver, Wally Cox 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Reeter COLOR Afternoon 12:00 HIDDEN FACES COLOR 12:30 FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK—Game COLOR Guests: Stu Gilliam, Sue Lyon, Rose Marie, Jan Murray, Jerry Van Dyke. Host: Lloyd Thaxton 12:55 CHILDREN’S DOCTOR COLOR 1:00 DREAM HOUSE COLOR 1:30 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial COLOR 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME COLOR 2:30 DATING GAME COLOR 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial COLOR 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial COLOR 4:00 DARK SHADOWS COLOR 4:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 5:00 BEWITCHED—Comedy 5:30 NEWS COLOR Evening 6:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley/David Brinkley COLOR 7:00 FBI COLOR 7:30 NBC WHITE PAPER SPECIAL COLOR “Ordeal of the American City” Pre empted: Jerry Lewis and “Julia” 8:00 IT TAKES A THIEF—Adventure COLOR 9:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Never on Sunday” (Greek; 1960) 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON COLOR Guests: Bud Collyer, William Redfield
9W KIXE (REDDING) (EDUC.) Morning 8:30 CLASSROOM—Education 9:00 CLASSROOM—Education Recess: 11:30 A.M.-1 P.M. Afternoon 5:00 READING—Education Evening 6:00 MISTEROGERS—Children 6:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:00 READING—Education 7:30 FRENCH CHEF—Cooking Ham dinner 8:00 WORLD PRESS 9:00 NET FESTIVAL—Profile Subject: David Amram 10:00 GOVERNOR REAGAN’S PRESS CONFERENCE 10:30 ANSEL ADAMS—Interview
10 KXTV (SACRAMENTO) (CBS) Morning 6:00 CALENDAR COLOR 6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER COLOR English Literature: the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins 7:00 NEWS—Joseph Benti COLOR 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO COLOR 9:00 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES 10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy COLOR 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE COLOR 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING COLOR 1:30 GUIDING LIGHT COLOR 2:00 SECRET STORM COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial COLOR 3:00 LINKLETTER SHOW COLOR Guests: Raymond St. Jacques, Peter Marshall 3:30 PASSWORD—Game COLOR Guests: Bea Benaderet, Eddie Albert. Host: Allen Ludden 4:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety COLOR Guests: Mike Connors, Marty Allen, Bobby Russell, Jean-Pierre Hallet, Gladys Knight and the Pips 5:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 7:00 WHAT’S MY LINE?—Game COLOR Panel: Peggy Cass, Bert Convy, Arlene Francis, Soupy Sales. Host: Wally Bruner 7:30 LANCER—Western COLOR 8:30 RED SKELTON COLOR Guest: Sergio Franchi Postponed from an earlier date 9:30 DORIS DAY COLOR 10:00 60 MINUTES SPECIAL COLOR May be pre-empted by a late-news show 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 MOVIE—Drama “The Tall Target” (1951)
12 KHSL (CHICO) (ABC, CBS) Morning 6:30 FILM COLOR 7:00 NEWS—Joseph Benti COLOR 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO COLOR 9:00 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES 10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy COLOR 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE COLOR 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR Afternoon 12:00 PDQ—Game COLOR Celebrities: Will Hutchins, Ruta Lee, Jesse White 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING COLOR 1:30 GUIDING LIGHT COLOR 2:00 SECRET STORM COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial COLOR 3:00 LINKLETTER SHOW COLOR Guests: Raymond St. Jacques, Peter Marshall 3:30 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety COLOR Guests: Shirley Bassey, Soupy Sales, the Four Tops, the Amazing Kreskin 4:30 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety COLOR Guest host: Garry Moore. Guests: Jack Douglas and Reiko, Aliza Kashi, Marty Brill 5:30 NEWS COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 7:00 N.Y.P.D.—Crime Drama COLOR 7:30 LANCER—Western COLOR 8:30 RED SKELTON COLOR Guest: Sergio Franchi Postponed from an earlier date 9:30 DORIS DAY COLOR 10:00 OUTSIDER—Crime Drama COLOR 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOEY BISHOP COLOR
13 KOVR (SACRAMENTO) (ABC) Morning 6:25 NEWS COLOR 6:30 JACK LA LANNE COLOR 7:00 AGRICULTURE TODAY COLOR 7:15 CARTOONLAND COLOR 8:20 FANTASTIC VOYAGE 8:50 CARTOONLAND COLOR 9:00 JACK LA LANNE COLOR 9:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE—Game COLOR 10:00 MOVIE—Drama “Front Page Story” (English; 1955) 11:45 COMMUNITUY CALENDAR—Joseph Tomes 11:50 NEWS COLOR Afternoon 12:00 BEWITCHED—Comedy 12:30 FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK—Game COLOR Guests: Stu Gilliam, Sue Lyon, Rose Marie, Jan Murray, Jerry Van Dyke. Host: Lloyd Thaxton 12:55 CHILDREN’S DOCTOR COLOR 1:00 DREAM HOUSE COLOR 1:30 MAKE A DEAL COLOR 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME COLOR 2:30 DIVORCE COURT—Drama COLOR 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial COLOR 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial COLOR 4:00 DARK SHADOWS COLOR 4:30 GILLIGAN’S ISLAND COLOR 5:00 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 5:30 NEWS—Frank Reynolds COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 PERRY MASON—Mystery 7:25 OUTDOORSMAN—Lange COLOR 7:30 MOD SQUAD COLOR 8:30 IT TAKES A THIEF COLOR 9:30 N.Y.P.D.—Crime Drama COLOR 10:00 THAT’S LIFE—Musical COLOR 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOEY BISHOP COLOR 1:00 NEWS COLOR
19 KLOC (MODESTO) (IND.) Afternoon 4:30 FILM 5:00 CARTOONS—Children 5:30 CHESTER SMITH—Variety Evening 7:30 GOSPEL WARM-UP 8:00 MOVIE—Drama “Two Headed Spy” (1958) 10:00 DAVID TERRELL
40 KTXL (SACRAMENTO) (IND.) Morning 11:00 ROMPER ROOM—Children COLOR Afternoon 12:00 HIDDEN FACES COLOR 12:30 MOVIE—Mystery “Hollow Triumph” (1948) 2:00 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Guests: Dave Garroway, Nancy Culp 2:30 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Keir Dullea, Meredith MacRae. Host: Gene Rayburn 2:55 NEWS—Floyd Kalber COLOR 3:00 ANN SOUTHERN—Comedy 3:30 CAPN’S LOCKER COLOR 4:30 POPEYE—Children COLOR 5:00 PATTY DUKE—Comedy 5:30 MY FAVORITE MARTIAN Evening 6:00 RAT PATROL COLOR 6:30 BOXING SPECIAL COLOR Heavyweight Championship: Joe Frazier vs. Dave Zyglewicz Regular programming is pre-empted 8:00 DONALD O’CONNOR—Variety COLOR Guests: Earl Morrall, Pat Buttram, Robert Reed, Cheryl Miller, Johnny Nash 9:00 MOVIE—Drama “A Tale of Two Cities” (English; 1958) 11:10 MOVIE—Drama “All My Sons” (1948)
TV
April 20, 2024
This week in TV Guide: April 19, 1969
You may recall the sensation that was The Beatles: Get Back, the eight-hour documentary directed by Peter Jackson that ran on Disney+ over three consecutive nights beginning on Thanksgiving Day, 2021. It seemed, at least to this non-Beatles fan, that everyone was either watching it, talking about it, or both; it aired to great reviews and great ratings. In addition, a feature film was made of the famous rooftop concert that features in the documentary.I bring all this up because in this week's TV Guide, we have a pictorial featuring the Fab Four, performing on that rooftop, as part of Michael Lindsay-Hogg's documentary Let It Be, being made in support of the album of the same name. "The reason for making an album is obvious. The reason for filming the session is to let the world—all over which the Beatles hope to sell the documentary in a few months— know just how the Beatles go about their work." And part of that work is the recording session on the roof of the Apple Corps building, located in London's Savile Row. Needless to say, the impromptu session attracted quite a number of passersby, who proceeded to gather on the streets and sidewalks below, prompting calls from neighboring shops to the Metropolitan Police demanding that they "quell the noise." But, as TV Guide notes, "Even bobbies couldn't do that."
The original documentary came out in 1970, by which time it served as something of an epitaph for the group, which was in the process of a highly publicized breakup. As was noted at the time, a good portion of Jackson's documentary was comprised of footage shot by Lindsay-Hogg, which Jackson proceeded to restore and enhance; Jackson himself referred to it as "a documentary about a documentary," a supplement to, rather than a replacement of, the original. It also presented a revisionist account of the making of the Let It Be album, presenting a far more upbeat atmosphere than had been previously thought.
As you know, we're always searching for relevancy here at It's About TV!, and it seems to me that nothing could be more relevant that a pictorial in support of a documentary that would come out the following year and then would be reprised more than fifty years later to become another TV sensation. Who knew?
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During the 60s, the Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace were the premiere variety shows on television. Whenever they appear in TV Guide together, we'll match them up and see who has the best lineup.Sullivan: Ed's scheduled guests: Norm Crosby; Ken Berry of Mayberry R.F.D.; dancer Peter Gennaro; comic Pat Cooper; and singers Julie Budd, Grace Markay, and the Chambers Brothers.
Palace: Host Steve Lawrence presents Phyllis Diller, Broadway songstress Florence Henderson and Bill Dana (as skydiving instructor Jose Jimenez). Also: the singing Fuller Brothers; ventriloquist Russ Lewis; the Rhodins, aerialists; and Pat Anthony’s wild-animal act.
To be perfectly honest, neither lineup overwhelms this week, but since I copped out with a push last week, I'm forced to make a choice, so let's bear down and get to it. I've always enjoyed Steve Lawrence, a versatile performer, and although it isn't fashionable anymore, Bill Dana's Jose Jiminez act was very funny. And who can really vote against Mrs. Brady? I liked Norm Crosby on Palace last week, so I have to like him on Sullivan this week, but while there's nothing wrong with Ed's show, I'll give the nod to Palace this week.
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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. That Show isn't, as you might think, one of those epaulets that people use when they're talking about something they might have found slightly distasteful, as in, "Did you see that show last night?" It is, in fact, the title of Joan Rivers' new talk show, syndicated five-times-a-week to stations around the country, and as Cleveland Amory says, it really is different from the run-of-the-mill talkfest. For one thing, Rivers attempts to engage her audience during her opening monologue. It might be a little too much for some viewers, with Rivers "[j]umping and bouncing around, weaving, waving, punching and gyrating," and trying (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) to provoke a reaction. In one show, she emerged to great applause from the audience, except for one man who stubbornly refused to clap. Rivers, who honed her talent on the nightclub circuit, naturally picked him out; "You have guts, mister," she said.
Rivers really works the audience, "and make no mistake— she works hard." When a joke fails to get a response she doubles down, building on it until something happens. After a string of cracks about her supposed lack of talent at housekeeping failed to elicit much reaction, she finally got some applause for proclaiming that she had a nice, clean garden. "'Now, you're applauding,' she said, smiling. "I like your applause, you know. I’m a mother—and a working mother."
Perhaps the most novel aspect of That Show—and it is novel—is how Rivers mixes her guests, matching the typical talk show celebrity with a non-celebrity who has an unusual or interesting job or hobby, "which becomes the basis for a discussion with both Miss Rivers and the celebrity. Most of the time the celebrity has only two choices—either play second fiddle or just burn." The match-ups are meant to be incongruous, or at least humorous; one show, for example, paired an etiquette writer and former middleweight boxing champion Rocky Graziano; another featured a psychotherapist who'd authored a book on marital fights, along with James Earl Jones, star of The Great White Hope. Naturally, Rivers and Jones staged a pretend fight for the doctor to critique, at one point moaning, "Where did we lose the magic?" I've never been a fan of Rivers, though I didn't have the animosity toward her that some did, and I have a feeling I'd have asked the same question about That Show.
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Some interesting specials highlight the best of the week, starting on Sunday night with the 23rd presentation of the Tony Awards (10:00 p.m., CBS), hosted by Diahann Carroll and Alan King. It's hard to know how relevant the Tonys have ever been to the public at large; I know that Broadway is a tourist trap, and people planning a trip to the city may depend on the Tonys to give them some idea of what's hot, but I can't help thinking that in 1969, Broadway was much more relevant to the entertainment industry, considering how many stars had roots in the legitimate theater. Just look at some of this year's nominees: Art Carney, James Earl Jones, Brenda Vaccaro, Charlotte Rae, Herschel Bernardi, Jack Cassidy, Angela Lansbury, Joel Grey, Jerry Orbach, and Donald Pleasence. Nowadays, when a big name appears on stage, it's seen as a bid to attract a mainstream audience; back then, it was called making a living.Monday features an uninterrupted evening of specials, ranging from animation to concerts to dramatic poetry readings, starting with the Babar the Elephant (7:30 p.m., NBC), narrated and voiced charmingly by Peter Ustinov, and based on the first three Babar books. That's followed by the latest Singer Presents musical special starring Don Ho (previous specials have included the legendary Elvis comeback, Sinatra's "A Man and His Music," and Tony Bennett); the theme is "Hawaii-HO!" (I wonder where they got that idea, hmm?), with Don leading viewers on a musical tour of Hawaii (8:00 p.m., NBC; no video, but you can listen to the soundtrack here .) Speaking of Sinatra, you can see him in a repeat of Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing (9:00 p.m., CBS), in which Frank is joined by Diahann Carroll and the 5th Dimension for music that's "swinging, soul, spiritual and psychedilic." Sinatra was famous for an aversion to doing multiple takes, and tonight's program is the dress rehearsal tape—Sinatra liked it and decided not to do a final taping. The poetry comes from Spoon River (10:00 p.m., CBS), a one-hour adaptation of Edger Lee Masters' free-verse Spoon River Anthology. Charles Aidman, who stars along with Jason Robards, Joyce Van Patten, and Jennifer West, wrote and directs the play, which he adapted from his own 1963 Broadway version; Hal Lynch and Naomi Caryl Hirshhorn perform the folk songs that accompany Masters' poems. I'm not sure I can imagine anything like this on American television today, not even on PBS.
Things turn more serious on Tuesday's NBC White Paper "Ordeal of the American City" (7:30 p.m.), a 90-minute look at "how urban ills are reflected on campus," with a focus on student unrest, teacher strikes, minority-group protests, and international conflicts. If this sounds a lot like what's going on in the world of education today, I suspect it's no coincidence; this should have been called "a look at how urban ills are caused and exacerbated by what's taught on campus."
On Wednesday, Barry Sullivan and E.G. Marshall star in "This Town Will Never Be the Same," the latest presentation of Prudential's On Stage series of dramatic stories relating to today's issues (9:00 p.m., NBC). Sullivan plays a newspaper editor facing a dual crisis: his paper is on the verge of collapse, and his son has been implicated as a drug dealer. Vincent Gardenia and Roy Scheider headline a distinguished supporting cast.
Thursday, NBC's acclaimed Project 20 series turns its eye on the father of the country in "Meet George Washington" (7:30 p.m.), the story of "the best-known unknown in our history." In Susan Ludel's background article on the show, producer/director Donald Hyatt explains why Washington should be relevant to the "Now" generation, young people more interested in "new" revolutionaries than old ones: "Most people don't know what George Washington stood for; they don’t know why he was great. People are vague about the principles of the American Revolution, and many of them are unclear about the basic ideas behind the Declaration of Independence. Americans today are." (He could be talking about millennials, couldn't he?) He rejects the idea that history has no bearing on our lives today, and says that "knowledge of the past is a prerequisite to dealing successfully with the present"; "It is ideas that make history and that make the present intelligible. It is from ideas that all movements spring. To say that history doesn’t matter is to say that ideas don’t matter. But they do." Perhaps someone should dust this program off and show it today.Finally, The Wild Wild West isn't a special, but Friday's episode is special in a way, with Pat Paulson making a surprisingly effective dramatic acting debut as a greenhorn agent assigned to assist West in "The Night of the Camera" (7:30 p.m., CBS). Incidentally, this episode is notable in that Ross Martin's character, Aretemus Gordon, does not appear; Martin suffered a heart attack in August 1968, necessitating guest appearances by several actors filling in for him during his absence. Martin's place in this story is taken by none other than Charles Aidman, who appeared in four episodes; other actors included William Schallert and Alan Hale, Jr. (who is also quite effective, by the way; showing some acting chops he didn't get to display in Gilligan's Island.
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You'll notice I didn't mention Saturday up there, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten it completely—otherwise, we wouldn't have that groovy illustration of him on this week's cover. (And by the way, that just doesn't seem right, does it? A psychedelic Lawrence Welk? You'd have had an easier time selling me the idea of Ronald Reagan as the Democratic nominee for president.) But if you're looking for an entertainer trying to successfully bridge the Generation Gap, who better to turn to than the maestro?
"I think young," Welk tells a somewhat apprehensive Digby Diehl. "I listen to KHJ [a middle-of-the-road rock station in Los Angeles], to the Top 40, in my car and at home, and so I know what goes on. If I hear a song I like, my associates and I analyze it and perhaps try it out at the Hollywood Palladium before considering it for the show." Welk explains the need for a careful, cautious approach; "We've had the mothers and fathers so long, we don’t want to do anything to displease them. We want them to depend upon the fact that we’re not going to use any swear words or do anything that would be inappropriate, in the moral sense, to carry into the home. If there’s a double meaning, we don’t play it on television." He freely admits he doesn't understand much of the new stuff; for instance, a few years back he had a hit with "Puff, the Magic Dragon," and was later horrified to discover the song's possible link to the drug culture. "One of my musicians once told me a couple of years ago, 'Lawrence, I didn’t think there were still people in the world as naïve as you!'"He carefully considers the meaning behind the Generation Gap. "I think that there are some forces working to disturb us," he says. "If you bring me a song, and I and a group of other people can't understand it, then you're talking about something that's pretty far out. Good music, sensible music, will bring about good thoughts, good living, good common sense. Music out of this world that you can’t understand will bring about confusion." He adds, however, that "if we have an open mind towards this younger generation, we can learn many good things from them."
If it's true, as Diehl asserts, that Welk really doesn't understand what's happening in the world of contemporary pop music, it's also true that it doesn't really matter. Welk has already outlasted Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Harry James; the way things are going, he may go beyond the Beatles and Elvis as well. "I'm dedicated to entertaining people. I'm more interested in that than in creating art. If people pay a dollar to hear us, then we ought to give them a dollar and a half's entertainment. If we just do something for ourselves that's 'Art,' we've cheated them. Well, here we are, 55 years later, and The Lawrence Welk Show is still going strong with reruns on many PBS stations. And this is after running on the network and in syndication until 1982—indeed, long after the Beatles (see above) and Elvis fled the scene. That's not to say the others aren't still popular, but so is Welk. The maestro, it would seem, knew what he was talking about after all.
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There's a rare full-page editorial on the cancellation of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by CBS. As the editors note, "This publication has in the past wholeheartedly defended the right of even the Smothers Brothers to have their say on the issues of the day." They continue, "We are in full accord, however, with the Columbia Broadcasting System in its wise, determined and wholly justified insistence on meeting its responsibilities by retaining the right to preview what it will telecast over its facilities." And the Smothers made that impossible by delaying the delivery of their finished shows to the network for review, as was their contractual obligation. It's their right to do so; after all, it's CBS that "is open to censure from the public for its telecasts; it therefore should have some control of what is said. And the Smothers Brothers have been saying plenty to arouse a substantial part of America." To those who claim CBS's decision stomps on free speech, the Editors respond that "Freedom of speech is not, the issue. The issue is taste. And responsibility. And honesty. And perspective. And a proper respect for the views of others." They continue, "Shall entertainers using a mass medium for all the people be allowed to amuse a few by satirizing religion while offending the substantial majority?. . . Shall a network be required to provide time for a Joan Baez to pay tribute to her draft-evading husband while hundreds of thousands of viewers in the households of men fighting and dying in Vietnam look on in shocked resentment?" These are good questions, ones not easily answered, possibly because we've lived in a culture that reveres egalitarianism so much that we casually brush off the idea of anything being sacred. And yet, this was not always the case.
"For all the Smothers Brothers’ pseudo-intellectualism, it seems doubtful that they have ever encountered George Bernard Shaw’s statement that 'Liberty means responsibility.'" The editors agree with CBS's decision, based on a policy "that is determined not to insult the general mores of the country." They also applaud the judgment shown by NBC and ABC in not picking up the Brothers. "Tom Smothers has been quoted recently as saying, “We don’t want to offend anyone out there. But if you get offended, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.” The last person who made a social pronouncement in terms of pastry was Marie Antoinette. And look what happened to her."
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What else? Well, Liz Trotta, one of the best television reporters and war correspondents, talks about her experiences in Vietnam. I would have written about this, except I'm afraid you might be getting Vietnam fatigue. Nonetheless, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to link to this article I wrote a few years ago about Trotta and her two books, including Fighting for Air: In the Trenches with Television News, a wonderful memoir of her career, including her time in Vietnam. If you're interested, I'd suggest reading the book rather than her brief TV Guide article; it will give you much, much more.
And there's an article by Merle Miller on his hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa, a town where people just don't watch much TV. I have no idea whether or not that is still the case, having never visited Marshalltown despite spending most of my life in a neighboring state that was only a good afternoon's drive away. But let's be honest here; this is a website about television. Do we really want to read about people who don't watch television, even though they may be far more well-rounded and mentally adjusted than we are?
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MST3K alert: Cat Women of the Moon (1954) A rocket ship from the Earth lands on the moon, where its crew discovers a civilization of cat women. Sonny Tufts, Marie Windsor, Victor Jory. (Saturday, 8:00 a.m., KCRA in Sacramento) This is another Rifftrax feature, which, as you know, is close enough for us, if not for government work. Appropriately enough, our riffers are Mary Jo Pehl, who played Pearl Forrester on MST3K, and Bridget Nelson, the better half of Michael J. Nelson. Marie Windsor is campily evil, and Victor Jory appropriately heroic. All this, and Sonny Tufts too! TV
April 19, 2024
Around the dial
Before we get to our usual Friday content, a couple of notes from the mailbag. First, reader Gary asks if anyone knows whether or not there are copies of extant episodes of Woody Woodbury's talk show from 1967-68. I'm not aware of any; I've seen a handful of clips on YouTube, and the Woody Woodbury YouTube channel consists of excerpts from his comedy albums. My guess is that the tapes of his show were probably wiped back in the day, but as I'm the first to admit, I'm far from knowing everything, so if anyone out there has any thoughts, just let me know.
I also had a great email from Bill, whose family viewing habits have come to include Petticoat Junction, including the initial black-and-white episodes. "My wife said she used to watch the reruns as a child. However, they were only the color episodes as the first two years in black-and-white were not available for syndication. So in a way, the first 74 shows were new to her. For me, it’s gratifying to see my daughter appreciate a classic series. Until now, with the exception of some of the game shows on Buzzr (Classic Concentration, Password Plus), she has not been interested in anything old-time TV let alone a show filmed in monochrome! It’s also nice that we can sit down as a family and watch a program that doesn’t disturb or offend." Is this great or what? Aside from validating the worth of B&W programming, it's a throwback to the days when families used to, you know, do things together. Made my day!
We begin this week's tour around the dial at bare-bones e-zine, where Jack's Hitchcock Project looks at the first of two contributions from the team of Albert E. Lewin and Burt Styler, the fourth-season episode " Cheap is Cheap ," with a great starring turn by Jack Benny regular Dennis Day, who turns the tables on convention by being the cheap one in this tale of spousal murder.
John returns to the world of The Avengers this week at Cult TV Blog; he takes on " Double Danger ," a first-season episode that no longer exists in video form. No problem for John, as his review is based on the original camera script, which he's read; now it's his turn to share it with us.
Benny Hill actually did have a career before his eponymous sketch comedy series; one example comes to us from the Metzinger Sisters at Silver Scenes, where they review Hill's starring role in the 1956 farce Who Done It? , where he plays a detective trying to smash a plot to destroy England though a weather-making machine.
After a long break, The Twilight Zone Vortex returns with Jordan's review of the September/October, 1983 issue of The Twilight Zone Magazine, the bulk of which concerns the summer's release of Twilight Zone: The Movie, plus fiction features, interviews with director John Landis and writer Richard Matheson, and more!
TZ also features in A View from the Junkyard, where Mike and Roger butt heads over the 1963 episode " Steel ," starring Lee Marvin in a future where boxing has been outlawed, and prizefighters replaced with robots. When his robot-boxer breaks down, Marvin is determined (foolish? Pig-headed?) to take the robot's place in order to get the money to repair it.
At Travalanche, it's a belated tribute to newsman Robert MacNeil , who died on April 12. I always had great respect for MacNeil; his reporting of the Kennedy assassination, his work on Washington Week in Review, his long stint on The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, and his hosting of other specials. He was one of the last of the great reporters of the era.
Television's New Frontier: The 1960s turns his attention to the 1959-60 syndicated dramatic anthology Deadline , featuring Paul Stewart as the host and occasional star of stories that flash back to a time when reporters were "heroes and the guardians of truth and justice." We started watching this a couple of months ago; while it's not great, it's usually pretty good and quite interesting.
Last Tuesday would have been the 100th birthday of the great composer Henry Mancini ; among his many hits, Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts singles out perhaps his most influential: the "Peter Gunn Theme." If ever an instrumental theme summed up the coolness of a television show, this is it.
"While Jim wrestles with the man-eating alligator, you can't afford for your family to wrestle with financial problems after you die. That's why you need insurance from Mutual of Omaha." If you remember Marlin Perkins saying something like this (and who doesn't?), you'll enjoy a review of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom by Paul at Drunk TV. TV
April 17, 2024
April 15, 2024
What's on TV? Monday, April 18, 1966
Tonight's Academy Awards broadcast begins at 7:00 p.m. here on the West Coast, which means it starts at 10:00 p.m. out East. Now, if you think that's really late, remember that the show is scheduled to run for only two hours, as we can see from the shows scheduled to air after the Oscars, and because of the live broadcast, ABC affiliates in this Northern California edition get a bonus hour of prime time programming (starting at 7:00 and ending at 11:30). Speaking of which, at 10:30 it's Twelve O'clock High (a Quinn Martin production!), and if you live in Sacramento, after that you can see the movie on which it was based, starring Gregory Peck and Dean Jagger. I wonder how many times that happens?-2- KTVU (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (IND.) Morning 9:50 RELIGION TODAY—Protestant 10:00 NEWS—Walt Harris 10:30 JACK LA LANNE COLOR 11:00 ROMPER ROOM—Children Afternoon 12:00 STAR PERFORMANCE—Drama 12:30 NEWS 12:35 I WANT TO KNOW—Mel Venter 1:00 DIVORCE COURT—Drama 2:00 MOVIE—War Drama “The Immortal Sergeant” (1943) 3:25 NEWS 3:30 CAPTAIN SATELLITE—Children 4:30 ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS 5:00 SUPERMAN—Adventure 5:30 THREE STOOGES—Comedy Evening 6:00 CARTOON CUT-UPS COLOR 6:30 YOGI BEAR—Cartoons COLOR 7:00 FRACTURED FLICKERS 7:30 MOVIE—Adventure COLOR “Prisoner of Zenda” (1952) 9:30 HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS “The Immortal Jolson” 10:00 NEWS—Helmso, Cordell, Mann 10:30 KINGDOM OF THE SEA COLOR 11:00 MOVIE—Adventure COLOR “Caesar the Conqueror” (Italian; 1961)
-3- KCRA (SACRAMENTO) (NBC) Morning 6:00 RHYME AND REASON 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guests: Thelma Oliver, Helen Gallagher, Dr. William Halliday, Lawrence Cardinal Shehan 9:00 EYE GUESS COLOR 9:25 NEWS—Edwin Newman 9:30 CONCENTRATION 10:00 MORNING STAR—Serial COLOR 10:30 PARADISE BAY—Serial COLOR 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 LET’S PLAY POST OFFICE—Game COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Floyd Kalber Afternoon 12:00 NEWS 12:25 NEWS 12:30 DAYS OF OUR LIVES COLOR 1:00 DOCTORS—Serial 1:30 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial 2:00 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Dr. Joyce Brothers, Dr. Frank Baxter 2:30 MOVIE—Drama “Dark Hazard” (1934) 4:00 MOVIE—Western COLOR “Cattle Empire” (1958) 5:30 TRAVENTURE THEATRE COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR 6:30 NEWS COLOR 7:30 HULLABALOO—Music COLOR Hosts: Jerry and Gary Lewis. Guests: the Playboys, Joanie Sommers, Barry McGuire, Paul Revere and the Raiders 8:00 JOHN FORSYTHE—Comedy COLOR 8:30 DR. KILDARE—Drama COLOR 9:00 ANDY WILLIAMS COLOR Guests: Red Buttons, Martha Raye, Arthur Lyman 10:00 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE—Drama COLOR 11:00 NEWS 11:30 TONIGHT COLOR 1:00 NEWS
-4- KRON (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (NBC) Morning 6:25 FARM NEWS 6:30 PROFILE—San Diego State “Circus: American Style” 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guests: Thelma Oliver, Helen Gallagher, Dr. William Halliday, Lawrence Cardinal Shehan 9:00 EYE GUESS COLOR 9:25 NEWS—Edwin Newman 9:30 CONCENTRATION 10:00 MORNING STAR—Serial COLOR 10:30 PARADISE BAY—Serial COLOR 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 LET’S PLAY POST OFFICE—Game COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Floyd Kalber Afternoon 12:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:25 NEWS 12:30 DAYS OF OUR LIVES COLOR 1:00 DOCTORS—Serial 1:30 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial 2:00 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Dr. Joyce Brothers, Dr. Frank Baxter 2:30 MATCH GAME COLOR Celebrities: Ed McMahon, Skitch Henderson 2:55 NEWS 3:00 ELEVENTH HOUR—Drama 4:00 DECEMBER BRIDE—Comedy 4:30 MAYOR ART—Children 5:30 SEA HUNT—Adventure Evening 6:00 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Brown, Jensen, Fleming 6:55 SPORTS—Ed Hart 7:00 ASSIGNMENT FOUR COLOR 7:30 HULLABALOO—Music COLOR Hosts: Jerry and Gary Lewis. Guests: the Playboys, Joanie Sommers, Barry McGuire, Paul Revere and the Raiders 8:00 JOHN FORSYTHE—Comedy COLOR 8:30 DR. KILDARE—Drama COLOR 9:00 ANDY WILLIAMS COLOR Guests: Red Buttons, Martha Raye, Arthur Lyman 10:00 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE—Drama COLOR 11:00 NEWS 11:30 TONIGHT COLOR 1:00 NEWS
-5- KPIX (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (CBS) Morning 6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER Classical Myths: “Jason and Medea” 6:30 MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE 7:00 NEWS—Jim Anderson 7:30 NEWS—Mike Wallace 7:55 KPIX EDITORIAL—Louis Simon 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 I LOVE LUCY 9:30 McCOY—Comedy 10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:25 NEWS 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial Afternoon 12:00 NEWS 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 1:00 PASSWORD—Game Contestants: Arlene Francis, Ross Martin 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR Guests: Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson, Andy Russell 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH 2:25 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT 3:00 SECRET STORM 3:30 JOHN B. TUCKER—Variety DEBUT Guest: Jimmy Dean 4:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety Co-hosts: The King Sisters. Guests include Guy Mitchell 5:30 TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite C 7:00 RIFLEMAN—Western 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH 8:00 I’VE GOT A SECRET Guest: Gretchen Wyler. Panelists: Henry Morgan, Betsy Palmer, Bill Cullen, Bess Myerson. Host: Steve Allen 8:30 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:00 ANDY GRIFFITH COLOR 9:30 WHERE’S EVERETT? SPECIAL COLOR “Hazel” is pre-empted 10:00 TALENT SCOUTS—Variety COLOR 11:00 NEWS 11:20 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety Guests: Tab Hunter, Sonny Tufts, Elizabeth Hubbard, Totie Fields, Vi Velasco, Cleo Dawson 12:50 MOVIE—Romance “Hooray for Love” (1935)
-6- KVIE (SACREMENTO) (EDUC.) Morning 9:15 CLASSROOM—Education Mathematics, Spanish Afternoon 12:00 CHILDREN’S FAIR 12:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children 1:10 CLASSROOM—Education Social Studies, Science 5:30 CHILDREN’S FAIR Evening 6:00 U.S.A.—Poetry Michael McClure, Brother Antonius 6:30 STOCK MARKET REPORT 6:35 MUSICAL PORTRAITS 7:00 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:30 PAGING PARENTS 8:00 DOLLARS AND SENSE 8:30 IN MY OPINION 9:00 PROBE—Dr. Albert Burke 9:30 LOS ANGELES—Concert SPECIAL Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
-7- KGO (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (ABC) Morning 5:45 YOU CAN TELL A STORY 6:15 CARTOON FACTORY 6:30 A.M.—Dunbar, Fleming, Bentley 8:30 GYPSY ROSE LEE—Panel 9:00 MOVIE—Drama “San Francisco” (1936) 11:00 MARKET SWEEP—Game 11:30 DATING GAME Afternoon 12:00 DONNA REED—Comedy 12:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 1:00 BEN CASEY—Drama 2:00 CONFIDENTIAL FOR WOMEN—Serial 2:30 TIME FOR US 2:55 NEWS 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 3:30 NURSES—Serial 4:00 NEVER TOO YOUNG 4:25 ARLENE DAHL COLOR 4:30 WHERE THE ACTION IS Performers: Maxine Brown, Freddy Cannon 5:00 MOVIE—Mystery “The Fat Man” (1951) Evening 6:25 SPORTS—Bud Foster 6:30 NEWS—Roger Grimsby 7:00 OSCAR AWARDS SPECIAL COLOR 9:00 SHENANDOAH—Western 9:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial 10:00 JESSE JAMES—Western 10:30 12 O’CLOCK HIGH 11:30 NEWS 1:25 MOVIE—Drama “Behind the High Wall” (1956)
-7- KRCR (REDDING) (ABC, NBC) Morning 7:55 AGRICULTURE REPORT 8:00 TODAY C Guests: Thelma Oliver, Helen Gallagher, Dr. William Halliday, Lawrence Cardinal Shehan Picked up in progress 9:00 EYE GUESS COLOR 9:25 NEWS—Edwin Newman 9:30 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise 10:00 MORNING STAR—Serial COLOR 10:30 PARADISE BAY—Serial COLOR 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 LET’S PLAY POST OFFICE—Game COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Floyd Kalber Afternoon 12:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:25 NEWS 12:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 1:00 BEN CASEY—Drama 2:00 CONFIDENTIAL FOR WOMEN—Serial 2:30 TIME FOR US 2:55 NEWS 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 3:30 NURSES—Serial 4:00 NEVER TOO YOUNG 4:25 ARLENE DAHL COLOR 4:30 WHERE THE ACTION IS Performers: Maxine Brown, Freddy Cannon 5:00 CASPER—Cartoons 5:30 BEATLES—Cartoons Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR 7:00 OSCAR AWARDS SPECIAL COLOR 9:00 ANDY WILLIAMS COLOR Guests: Red Buttons, Martha Raye, Arthur Lyman 10:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED 10:30 12 O’CLOCK HIGH 11:30 NEWS 11:45 TONIGHT—Variety COLOR
-8- KSBW (SALINAS) (CBS, NBC) Morning 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guests: Thelma Oliver, Helen Gallagher, Dr. William Halliday, Lawrence Cardinal Shehan 9:00 I LOVE LUCY 9:30 CONCENTRATION 10:00 MORNING STAR—Serial COLOR 10:30 PARADISE BAY—Serial COLOR 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:30 LET’S PLAY POST OFFICE—Game COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Floyd Kalber Afternoon 12:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:25 NEWS 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 1:00 PASSWORD—Game Contestants: Arlene Francis, Ross Martin 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR Guests: Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson, Andy Russell 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH 2:25 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT 3:00 SECRET STORM 3:30 MOVIE—Adventure “The Green Buddha” (1955) 5:00 WEBSTER WEBFOOT—Children 5:30 SUPERMAN—Adventure Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 7:00 WALT DISNEY’S WORLD 8:00 ZORRO—Adventure 8:30 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:00 ANDY GRIFFITH COLOR 9:30 MOVIE—Drama “In Love and War” (1958) 11:30 TONIGHT COLOR
-9- KQED (SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND) (EDUC.) Morning 9:15 CLASSROOM—Education Mathematics, Science Afternoon 12:00 CHILDREN’S FAIR 12:30 CHILDREN GROWING 1:05 CLASSROOM—Education Spanish, Science 4:00 FRENCH CHEF—Cooking Roast beef casserole and braised carrots 4:30 U.S.A.—Dance New York City Ballet 5:00 WHAT’S NEW—Children 5:30 CHILDREN’S FAIR Evening 6:00 WHAT’S NEW—Children 6:30 PORTRAIT IN MUSIC 6:45 KQED REPORT—James Day 7:00 FOLK GUITAR—Lessons 7:30 ANTIQUES—George Michael 8:00 KOLTANOWSKI ON CHESS 8:30 DOLLARS AND SENSE 9:00 IN MY OPINION 9:30 CITY BEAT—Mel Wax 9:50 RADENZEL REPORTS 10:00 IF YOU DON’T DRINK—Discussion 11:00 SOVIET PRESS—Panel
-9- KIXE (REDDING) (EDUC.) Morning 9:15 CLASSROOM—Education Mathematics, Spanish, Science Afternoon 12:00 CHILDREN’S FAIR 12:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children 1:10 CLASSROOM—Education Science, Geography, Spanish 5:30 CHILDREN’S FAIR Evening 6:00 U.S.A.—Poetry Michael McClure, Brother Antonius 6:30 STOCK MARKET REPORT 6:35 MUSICAL PORTRAITS 7:00 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:30 PAGING PARENTS 8:00 DOLLARS AND SENSE 8:30 IN MY OPINION 9:00 PROBE—Dr. Albert Burke 9:30 LOS ANGELES—Concert SPECIAL Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
10 KXTV (SACRAMENTO) (CBS) Morning 6:25 FARM NEWS 6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER Classical Myths: “Jason and Medea” 7:00 WEATHER—Bob Douglas 7:05 NEWS—Mike Wallace 7:30 DIVER DAN—Cartoons 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 I LOVE LUCY 9:30 McCOY—Comedy 10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:25 NEWS 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial Afternoon 12:00 NEWS 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 1:00 PASSWORD—Game Contestants: Arlene Francis, Ross Martin 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR Guests: Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson, Andy Russell 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH 2:25 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT 3:00 SECRET STORM 3:30 GYPSY ROSE LEE—Panel Guests: Adele Simpson, Marie Lord 4:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety Co-hosts: The King Sisters. Guests include Guy Mitchell 5:30 NEWS Evening 6:00 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 6:30 LAWMAN—Western 7:00 RIFLEMAN—Western 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH 8:00 I’VE GOT A SECRET Guest: Gretchen Wyler. Panelists: Henry Morgan, Betsy Palmer, Bill Cullen, Bess Myerson. Host: Steve Allen 8:30 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:00 ANDY GRIFFITH COLOR 9:30 WHERE’S EVERETT? SPECIAL COLOR “Hazel” is pre-empted 10:00 SOMETHING SPECIAL SPECIAL COLOR Tony Martin 11:00 NEWS 11:30 MOVIE—Drama “Twelve O’clock High” (1949)
11 KNTV (SAN JOSE) (ABC) Morning 7:55 VOICE OF AGRICULTURE 8:25 NEWS 8:30 DISCOVERY ’66—Children 9:00 HOCUS POCUS—Children 9:15 BUCKAROO 500—Buck Weaver 9:30 HOCUS POCUS—Children 10:00 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy 10:30 DONNA REED—Comedy 11:00 MARKET SWEEP—Game 11:30 DATING GAME Afternoon 12:00 BINGO—Game 12:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 1:00 BEN CASEY—Drama 2:00 CONFIDENTIAL FOR WOMEN—Serial 2:30 TIME FOR US 2:55 NEWS 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 3:30 NURSES—Serial 4:00 NEVER TOO YOUNG 4:25 ARLENE DAHL COLOR 4:30 WHERE THE ACTION IS Performers: Maxine Brown, Freddy Cannon 5:00 MARSHAL DILLON—Western 5:30 NEWS Evening 6:00 HAVE GUN—WILL TRAVEL 6:30 RICHARD DIAMOND—Mystery 7:00 OSCAR AWARDS SPECIAL COLOR 9:00 SHENANDOAH—Western 9:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial 10:00 JESSE JAMES—Western 10:30 12 O’CLOCK HIGH 11:30 NEWS 1:25 MOVIE—Western “The Command” (1953)
12 KHSL (CHICO) (ABC, CBS) Morning 7:05 BIG PICTURE—Army COLOR 7:30 NEWS—Mike Wallace 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 I LOVE LUCY 9:30 McCOY—Comedy 10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:25 NEWS 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial Afternoon 12:00 FAMOUS PLAYHOUSE—Drama 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 1:00 PASSWORD—Game Contestants: Arlene Francis, Ross Martin 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR Guests: Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson, Andy Russell 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH 2:25 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT 3:00 SECRET STORM 3:30 MOVIE—Comedy “The Kid from Cleveland” (1949) 5:00 POPEYE—Cartoons COLOR 5:30 OZZIE AND HARRIET—Comedy Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 7:00 MARSHAL DILLON—Western 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH 8:00 I’VE GOT A SECRET Guest: Gretchen Wyler. Panelists: Henry Morgan, Betsy Palmer, Bill Cullen, Bess Myerson. Host: Steve Allen 8:30 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:00 ANDY GRIFFITH COLOR 9:30 WHERE’S EVERETT? SPECIAL COLOR “Hazel” is pre-empted 10:00 TALENT SCOUTS—Variety COLOR 11:00 NEWS 11:30 ZANE GREY—Adventure
13 KOVR (SACRAMENTO) (ABC) Morning 6:55 NEWS 7:00 CARTOONLAND—Children 7:45 BEANY AND CECIL—Cartoons 8:15 KING AND ODIE—Cartoons 8:30 JACK LA LANNE COLOR 9:00 MOVIE—Drama “Crime in the Streets” (1956) 10:30 NEVER TOO YOUNG—Serial 10:55 ARLENE DAHL 11:00 MARKET SWEEP—Game 11:30 DATING GAME Afternoon 12:00 NEWS 12:15 TODAY IN AGRICULTURE 12:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 1:00 BEN CASEY—Drama 2:00 CONFIDENTIAL FOR WOMEN—Serial 2:30 TIME FOR US 2:55 NEWS 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 3:30 NURSES—Serial 4:00 CAP’N DELTA—Children COLOR 4:30 WHERE THE ACTION IS Performers: Maxine Brown, Freddy Cannon 5:00 HUCKLEBERRY HOUND COLOR 5:30 CISCO KID—Western COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 NEWS—Bob Young 6:45 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 7:00 OSCAR AWARDS SPECIAL COLOR 9:00 SHENANDOAH—Western 9:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial 10:00 JESSE JAMES—Western 10:30 12 O’CLOCK HIGH 11:30 NEWS 1:25 UNTOUCHABLES—Drama
TV
April 13, 2024
This week in TV Guide: April 16, 1966
I can appreciate that some of you are, by now, tired of the continuous references to Vietnam in the TV Guides of this era. If, like me, you lived through that time, you might well prefer not going through it again; on the other hand, if you're too young to remember all that, you might not care about what seems to you like ancient history. Nevertheless, the fact that Vietnam is written about so frequently in a television magazine shows how thoroughly it dominated the culture in the second half of the 1960s. Such is the case once again this week, in "A Remarkable Letter from Vietnam,"* written by Jesse Zousmer, ABC's vice president and director of TV news and a veteran newsman, shortly before he and his wife were killed in a plane crash near Tokyo.
*Which, I should add, has absolutely nothing to do with the pictures of the three beauties from Petticoat Junction that grace the cover.
The letter was written to Elmer Lower, president of ABC News, in an attempt to explain, to him and all ABC staffers concerned, about the problems encountered in covering this war. "It is," he says, "like trying to cover our South in revolt on a bicycle with one correspondent." It is, he continues, being 13 miles from the biggest battle of the day "and not [hearing] a word of it, even though I talked to such as Westmoreland, Kinnard, the 7th commander, Col. Moore and more damn [Public Information Officers] than you could smile at." His point: "They didn’t know either."
You'd better be ready to find your own way around, too. "It is just frequently not possible to get from one base to another. If we score a big victory, the Army will lay on planes for all who want to go. But generally you are on your own. You just show up at the airport and check in." You pack the night before, "the shaving mirror and the anti-insect stuff, the extra everythings, the toilet paper and the candy, the extra towel for around the neck to absorb sweat and keep the sand from settling on your collar and giving you a rash." It's unspeakably hot, especially when the sun comes up; "When it gets noonish, run for the shade." And it's important to stay in constant shape—it's the only way to keep up, and you must keep up.
Jesse ZousmerJust as the jeep was the mode of transportation in previous wars, in Vietnam it's the helicopter. "And each time you ride, a gunner sits half out the left and right sides, peering for action. We saw no bullets and heard none. But these kids don’t kid around." The choppers take off and land 24 hours a day, every day. "There are so many you can't ever count what you can see at one time." They take you to a bombed-out jungle—"We are Americans. Where there are jungles, we tear them down. Where there are forests, we level them. Where there are mountains, we cut roads through them. Where there are bomb-blasted tree stumps, we use them as foundations for our construction." One sniper can threaten the whole area; "If he fires one bullet at us, we respond with an arsenal of howitzers and mortars and all those ugly things that have big numbers followed by mm... like 105 mm and 155 mm etc." And there's one motto: "Kill the VC's." [Viet Cong]The correspondents sleep 15 to a tent with no pillows, no blankets. Cooking is done inside on Coleman stoves; the tent's flaps are down to keep the blackout. "It’s a night of racking coughing, and some guys dreaming out loud." Then, there are the pounding sounds of the heavy guns and the ever-present helicopters. "Let the VC’s fire a gun . . one of our birds someplace up there sees it, and for fun or fear he calls in artillery corrections, etc. God, how the hell the VC’s must feel . . . how hopeless against our power .. . what they must consider our waste ... if they had any comprehension of our costs." (Yeah, probably felt hopeless all the way to victory, right?)
Zousmer has great admiration for the correspondents reporting from Vietnam, particularly the cameramen lugging their heavy equipment everywhere. "Our guys are superb," he says. "Smiling, helpful, hep, quick, brave." That's nothing compared to what he feels for the soldiers there, though; "veteran soldiers, all kids, all in different kinds of the same clothes, each carrying a different weapon, or a different piece of gear."
All in all, Zousmer's depiction of covering the war is a depressing one, and that's just for the press; it must have been multiple times worse for the soldiers themselves—miserable conditions in the middle of nowhere, out of contact, not sure why they're there, with even their leaders not sure what's going on. As many have written, before and since, it was a war unlike anything we were used to, and one can only think that the troops showed great courage in the face of it. It's too bad that courage proved to be in a wasted effort.
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During the 60s, the Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace were the premiere variety shows on television. Whenever they appear in TV Guide together, we'll match them up and see who has the best lineup.Sullivan: Ed's scheduled guests: Jimmy Durante; singer Petula Clark; the rock 'n' rolling Animals; opera singers Franco Corelli and Dorothy Kirsten; comic Myron Cohen; Gita Morelly, contortionist; and, in a taped segment, the Swingle Singers, who use jazz rhythms in performing classical music.
Palace: Singer Tony Martin and dancer Cyd Charisse (Mrs. Martin) introduce actor Cesar Romero, who appears in the sketch "At Home with the Martins"; singer Vikki Carr; the comedy team of Rowan and Martin; comedian Norm Crosby; juggler Bobby Winters; and the acrobatic Suns Family.
Tough call this week. I like a lot of Ed's lineup, from Durante to a really good lineup of singers (including Petula Clark, who's identified in the listing as "Pet" Clark), and Myron Cohen, who generally has a very funny routine. On the other hand, I also like Rowan and Martin, and Norm Crosby (although I know some people don't like his schtick), and I'd enjoy seeing the skit with Cesar Romero and the Martins. And if Cyd Charisse dances, well, that's a bonus. So what would you do? As Crow T. Robot would say, "If you're past midfield, go for it. Or just punt." That's what I'm going to do—punt. This week is a Push.
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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. The Wild' Wild West is, Cleveland Amory says, for those who appreciate the good old days, the "post-Civil War times when men were men and women were women and there weren't any teen-agers at all." And while the show's two stars, Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, are pretty good, what's really wild about it are the gadgets. I mean, who among us wouldn't want our man cave to be a pool hall with one ball that turns into a smoke bomb, and two cues that turn into, respectively, a rapier and a gun? Or to walk around with a pistol in the heel of our shoes, bullets in the belt buckle, and secret pockets with keys to open every door? Says Cleve, "The only thing lacking to make a real vacation of it was credit cards."
Of course it requires a certain suspension of disbelief—what action series, then or now, doesn't?—it's also true that the action keeps you on your toes enough that you won't have time to notice it. And, after all, why should we be in any doubt about a plot to assassinate a Supreme Court justice masterminded by a master puppeteer operating a world of steam-filled puppets under the sea, assisted by a beautiful girl puppet who turns out to be a real woman? Or an episode starring Nehemiah Persofff, who turns out to be Victor Buono in disguise? Admit it: considering the headlines we're subjected to every day in the news, does this really seem to be that implausible? It makes a hell of a lot more sense than anything I've read online lately.
What's most implausible, Amory says, is the title. Originally it was to be called The Wild West, but "some genius upstairs had the wild idea of calling it The Wild, Wild West." Which was pretty stupid, since the hero's name is West and it is a Western. It should have been called The Wild West West. But who, I ask you, would believe a series with a title like that?
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The entertainment highlight of the week is the 38th Academy Awards, hosted once again by Bob Hope, and broadcast for the first time in color! (Monday, 7:00 p.m. PT, ABC) George Christy, in this week's cover story, makes a compelling case for the idea that the best show actually happens off camera. (Considering what the Oscarcast has become over the last few years, one would hope this is still the case.) Take 1961, for example, when Mitzi Gaynor, scheduled to interview the winners, was left waiting because Best Actress winner Elizabeth Taylor had passed out in the ladies' room. "Poor Mitzi was left on camera with egg on her face," says producer-director Dick Dunlap, doing this year's show for the sixth time; "Nobody bothered to say much to her; all the action was backstage" with people, including the other winners, off looking for Liz.Costume consultant Edith Head, an eight-time Oscar winner for costume design, announces the red carpet arrival on television and radio, and always checks the stars' gowns at the Sunday afternoon dress rehearsal. But it seems as if some of the stars are determined to defy her; "Come evening, when the show is in progress, Edith, looking at her notes, announces, 'Here comes Judy Garland in black velvet'—only Judy has switched at the last minute to red silk, and when Edith looks up, she feels like a goon," Dunlap recounts grimly.
No article on off-camera drama would be complete without recounting the 1963 Oscars, and the clash between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Both women, who had co-starred in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, were scheduled presenters; in addition, Davis had been nominated for Best Actress for the movie, while Crawford (who had not been nominated) had agreed to accept for Anne Bancroft—nominated for The Miracle Worker—should she win. "There are only two large dressing rooms backstage," Dunlap explains. "Sinatra [that year's host] was automatically assigned one, and who do you think took over the other? Joan, of course, who moved right in with two Pepsi-Cola coolers, a portable bar stocked with champagne and booze, and a buffet table." Dunlap arranged for Davis to use Sinatra's dressing room to wait in, and as Maximillian Schell began to read the names of the nominees, the drama rose to peak pitch, leaving Dunlap with a decision to make. "[T]here is a desperation between actresses to win. [Bette would have been the first three-time Best Actress winner.] And Joan was not even a nominee, but if Anne Bancroft won, she would save face and dazzle the audience. For a second, I debated: Should I show the scene to the viewers? I decided I couldn’t—it would have been cruel."
In the end, Schell ripped open the envelope—and announced Anne Bancroft's name. "Joan instantly stood erect—shoulders back, neck straight, head up. She stamped out her cigaret butt, grabbed the hand of the stage manager, who blurted afterward that she 'practically broke all my fingers with her strength.' Then she soared calmly on-stage with that incomparable Crawford composure. Backstage, Bette bit her cigaret and seemed to stop breathing. Joan was out there; suddenly it was her night." Now, how could anything on-screen hope to compete with that?
As far as this year's broadcast is concerned, it's become fashionable for nominees to be no-shows, so only two of the Best Actor nominees are present: Lee Marvin for Cat Ballou, and Rod Steiger, for The Pawnbroker. Either would be worthy winners, but it's Marvin who takes home the prize. He joins Julie Christie, who wins Best Actress for Darling, and Robert Wise, Best Director for the year's Best Picture, The Sound of Music.
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Sometimes we run into one of those "where are they now" moments, when we read about someone who was supposed to become the Next Big Thing but instead turned out to be someone we've never heard of, who has an IMDb listing of one or two lines. It happens in the sports world as well as the entertainment business, as we see in the ABC News documentary The Big Guy (Saturday, 10:30 p.m., KOVR in Sacramento), a profile of heavyweight boxer Jim Beattie. The show covers Beattie's preparation for an upcoming fight against journeyman Dick Wipperman at Madison Square Garden in New York. Beattie, who weighs in at 6' 9" and 240, is touted as a future contender for the heavyweight crown, but the fight against Wipperman, who comes in with 26 wins in 30 fights, is a major step up. In the fight, Wipperman gives Beattie a tough battle before Beattie scores a TKO in the seventh round. Beattie's rise in the rankings finally comes to an end in 1968 when he's knocked out by heavyweight contender Buster Mathis; after losing his following fight, he steps away from the sport. Although he makes a comeback in 1976, fighting on local cards in his hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota, he retires for good in 1979 with a career record 0f 40-10, never really fulfilling that early promise. His closest whiff of the crown coming in the 1970 James Earl Jones movie The Great White Hope, where Beattie plays "the Kid"—as you can find in IMDb.
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Elsewhere in sports, Saturday is the season debut of the baseball Game of the Week (11:00 a.m., NBC), with the New York Yankees taking on the Baltimore Orioles, led by their newest addition, former National League MVP Frank Robinson. In October, the Orioles will win the World Series, while Robinson wins the Triple Crown and American League MVP. Meanwhile, on Sunday it's the first game of the NBA Finals (11:00 a.m., ABC), as the defending champion Boston Celtics host the Los Angeles Lakers. It's the tenth consecutive appearance in the finals for the Celtics, seeking their eighth straight title; although the Lakers win game one in overtime, 133-129, the Celtics come out on top in a thrilling seven-game series.
Monday sees the debut of The John Bartholomew Tucker Show (weekdays, 3:30 p.m., KPIX in San Francisco). Tucker comes from radio, where he worked for WJZ in Baltimore, hosts this live "variety show for happy people," with former Miss Minnesota Sharon Carnes and the Ralph Sharon Trio; guest on this opening show is Jimmy Dean. By the way, for those of you who remember NBC's radio program Monitor, Tucker was one of the final two communicators with the show when it ended in 1975.Fred Astaire concludes a rare dramatic television role on Dr. Kildare (Tuesday, 8:30 p.m., NBC), in the conclusion of a four-part story, in which he plays pool shark Joe Quinlan, reunited with his seriously ill daughter, a nun (Laura Devon). By this time Kildare is a half-hour series, broadcast twice weekly, so the story isn't really as long as it might seem; it's really a two-hour story spread out over four episodes. In tonight's final episode, Quinlin—himself suffering from a heart ailment—insists on leaving the hospital to play in a big-stakes tournament, with plenty of stress.
Wednesday, Danny Thomas returns with another in his series of variety specials, a spoof of the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope "Road" movies (9:00 p.m., NBC). It all begins on The Today Show, where Crosby tells Hugh Downs that he doesn't want Hope as his co-star in his latest movie, The Road to Lebanon. Danny Thomas would be perfect," Crosby says. "He's younger, fresher, and Lebanese." Claudine Auger, the Bond Girl in Thunderball, rounds out the cast (no pun intended).
Horrors! The Howells find out from a radio broadcast that they're not legally married, in a traumatic Gilligan's Island (Thursday, 8:00 p.m., CBS). Without looking this episode up, I'm willing to bet that the solution to this awkward situation is to have the Skipper marry them, since we all know that ship's captains are authorized to perform marriages, right? Wrong! According to the always-reliable Wikipedia (which I verified by watching an episode of Perry Mason), a ship's captain does not have the legal right to officiate a wedding at sea, unless he's either a judge, a justice of the peace, a minister, or a Notary Public. (Hey—you could have been married by me back in the day!) Now, it is true that most Princess Cruise captains have Bermuda licenses to perform weddings, so you can get married on certain Princess ships. But you have to go to a judge and swear that everything in the documentation is accurate. There are various theories as to how the trope came into being, but it's not worth going into now; if you're planning to get married at sea in the near future, I'll leave it to you to check things out beforehand.
On Friday, it's the fourth and final movie in the series of UN dramas shown on ABC over the last three years, The Poppy is Also a Flower (7:30 p.m.). The series,
which I wrote about here
, dramatizes (or propagandizes, depending on your point of view) the vital role played in the world by the UN—in this case, the fight against the international drug trade. Like the others, tonight's movie is sponsored by Xerox and presented without commercial interruption, and features a true all-star cast from top to bottom: directed by three-time James Bond director Terence Young, based on a story idea by Ian Fleming, introduced by Princess Grace of Monaco, and starring (among others) E.G. Marshall, Trevor Howard, Angie Dickinson, Yul Brynner, Rita Hayworth, Marcello Mastroianni, Omar Sharif, Barry Sullivan, and Eli Wallach. It makes my fingers hurt just to list them all.Also on Friday, it's the final episode of Sammy Davis Jr., ill-fated variety show (8:30 p.m., NBC). I wrote about some of the show's challenges here ; although Davis would buckle down in an effort to right the ship, it came too late to save it from the chopping block. Tonight's show is, quite possibly, the best of the series: a one-man show starring Sammy, which you can see here.
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MST3K alert: The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) After being burned in a plutonium explosion, an Army colonel starts growing at the rate of 10 feet per day. Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs. (Wednesday, 5:00 p.m., KGO in San Francisco) Unfortunately, since the rights to use the movie expired, you can no longer see the MST3K version, except on YouTube. However, you can still catch the unwanted, unasked-for sequel, War of the Colossal Beast, with a completely different cast. Take it from me: if you've seen one colossal man, you've seen them all. TV
April 12, 2024
Around the dial
All right, we're ready for another week, and we'll start at Comfort TV, where I've been enjoying David's trip through 1970s TV; he's now up to
Saturday, 1973
, and unless you have a favorite somewhere else, you'll be bowled over by the epic CBS lineup: All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and Carol Burnett. Has any other lineup come close?At Cult TV Blog, John takes on " The Black Tower ," one of the adaptations of P.D. James's famous Adam Dalgliesh detective novels, with Roy Marsden as Dalgliesh. I'm always partial to him because his is the Dalgliesh I saw on Mystery! too many years ago; I think you'll like it as much as John does.
The Broadcasting Archives has a brief but neat post, complete with picture, about Garroway at Large , the 1949-54 series starring Dave Garroway (who else?), which provides an outstanding example of what came to be known as the "Chicago Style" of TV, furthered on Today.
This is from last year, but it's new to me, so it counts: at A Vintage Nerd, it's 10 hard-to-find classic TV shows . Some of them are harder to find than others, but a little effort will turn most of them up, and you'll find they're worth it.
A View from the Junkyard returns to the world of The Avengers (I should say that we return to it, since I've linked to other things the past couple of weeks), and the Steed/Tara episode " All Done with Mirrors ." involving spies, a telescope, and a lighthouse. What more do you need?
How old does a show have to be to qualify as "classic"? I've often wondered whether or not what I write about is really more like "vintage" TV, but regardless, 15 years is probably long enough, and since I live in Indiana, I can hardly ignore Terence's take on Parks and Recreation at A Shroud of Thoughts.
You'll remember my review last week of Lon Davis's terrific book Stumbling into Film History, and this week Lon appears on Richard Skipper Celebrates to discuss his book, and more. Sit back and relax, and let Lon take you back to a wonderful and fascinating time! TV
April 10, 2024
The New Top Ten: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Considering the number of times I've mentioned Mystery Science Theater 3000 here, it can't be a bombshell that it's now part of the Top Ten; in fact, the only thing surprising about it is that it wasn't there in the first place. (We'll get to that later.) And let me assure you that this isn't a case of hometown favoritism either, although it didn't hurt to be from Minneapolis at the same time that Mystery Science Theater made its local debut.
It all begins on Thanksgiving night, 1988. Now, if you've been reading this site for any length of time, you'll know that as far as television goes, Thanksgiving is synonymous with only two things, parades and football, and the parades were long gone. (As were the drumsticks.) Normally, I'd have been watching the late football game, but we were at my grandmother's apartment—and no, we didn't have to go over the river and through the woods to get there—and, as she didn't have cable TV, I had to make due with the over-the-air stations, one of which was KTMA, which was premiering a new series called Mystery Science Theater 3000, hosted by the local comedian Joel Hodgson. I'd heard of him, had seen ads in the local alternative papers for his stand-up act at various clubs. In fact, a friend of mine, attending one of his shows, had been invited to come up on stage and battle him in a game of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. He lost to Hodgson, several times, after which Hodgson revealed he'd nailed the head of his own robot down so it couldn't pop up.The premise was pretty simple—science fiction movies with commentary provided by a guy and two robots, who appeared as silhouettes on the bottom of the screen. Riffing, they called it. For the premiere, they were doing a double-feature of Supermarionation movies, Invaders from the Deep and Revenge of the Mysterions from Mars (which you can see at the links). The comments were funny, sarcastic, smart-assed—qualities I'd well-developed by then, and laced with pop culture references. I got it, liked it—and then I don't think I ever watched another episode. Four months or so later I moved to Maine, where of course there was no KTMA, and pretty much forgot all about it.
A few months later, I read that Comedy Central was adding Mystery Science Theater 3000 to its lineup. It was nice to see a hometown show make good, and I started checking it out. This time, I kept watching. It was a funny show then, it's a funny show now; the more absurd, the better. There was, for instance, the time Joel tried to play Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" on electric bagpipes made out of a vacuum cleaner. There were running jokes about Peter Graves on Biography, Ted Kennedy's driving, Jack Ruby fantasy camps, and Rush Limbaugh. There were catchphrases: "A planet where apes evolved from men." "Bite me!" "By that time, my lungs were aching for air." Gorgo, Gamera, Godzilla, Torgo, Santo the Silver Maskman, Japanese sci-fi, biker movies. The Thanksgiving Turkey Day marathons. The dumber the humor, the more obscure the references, the better. Most of the episodes were on YouTube, and eventually, long after the original series had ended, it was incorporated into the regular Saturday night viewing schedule.
So why wasn't it on my original list of Top Ten shows? Who knows? Not every program I enjoy made it; there's only room for ten, after all. But then a funny thing happened one day: a channel on the streaming service Pluto devoted to MST3K 24/7. And then there was a Shout! TV channel devoted to MST3K. And a YouTube channel! Suddenly, it wasn't just for Saturday nights or Thanksgiving marathons; it was for whenever you felt like it, good for when nothing else fit, when things weren't going well, or for just vegging out. It didn't matter that we'd already seen some of the movies two or three times; in fact, it seemed as if every time we watched Beginning of the End or Radar Men from the Moon or Lost Continent, there was something we'd missed the first five or six times. It was the epitome of what my friend David Hofstede refers to as "Comfort TV," good for whatever ails you. And it was obvious that it deserved not just a place on the Top Ten list, but a high one.
There are, of course, two basic questions for any MSTie: one, where do I stand on the great
Joel vs. Mike
question? If it's not quite to the level of "Which Darren is your favorite" on Bewitched, it's still important. Mike—Michael J. Nelson, the show's head writer—stepped into the lead role when Joel Hodgson left the show, and shepherded the series through its move to the Sci-Fi channel, the big-screen movie, and the eventual end of the series, and there is a school of thought that one has to be either Joel or Mike. I don't buy it, and while it may have taken awhile to get used to Mike as the host (he'd appeared many times as various characters during the Joel era), it was for the most part an easy transition for me. Besides, how could you not like someone who not only could tell a joke featuring
Muir Mathieson
, but could pronounced his name right?The second question, perhaps more relevant to today: what do I think of the MST3K reboot, which Joel Hodgson launched a few years ago, following a monstrously successful crowdfunding campaign? Well, the short answer is that I'm glad there are three more seasons, but as is the case with so many remakes and reboots, you can't really go home again. Joel himself has only occasionally appeared on the show, while an entirely new cast of voices play the robots Tom Servo and Crow. Perhaps I'm just too old, but I'm also too attached to the old cast to warm to the new one; the voices themselves sound like they're just not quite right for the characters. Additionally, the riffs and cultural references don't quite fit my demographic, and the movies aren't the black-and-white sci-fi flicks that I enjoy the most. And the low-budget feel of the original was an important part of its charm. But then, that's just me, and I know there are lots of people out there who enjoy the new series just fine.
Be that as it may, it's the classic version of Mystery Science Theater 3000 that takes its rightful place in the new Top Ten, along with Judd for the Defense and Maigret. Those shows made the list because they make me think, but MST3K belongs there because I can watch it over and over and it makes me laugh out loud, and there are very few shows about which I can make that statement. As long as we have shows like this to watch, we're in good shape—to infinity and beyond, coining a phrase. There's more I could say, much more, but I have to go now: Samson vs. the Vampire Women is about to start. TV
April 8, 2024
What's on TV? Tuesday, April 6, 1976
Unlike politics today, the Republican presidential nomination was anything but wrapped up by April 6, which makes tonight's network coverage of the New York and Wisconsin primaries must-see viewing for political junkies. The incumbent, Gerald Ford, had gotten off to a strong start against challenger Ronald Reagan, and by late March Reagan was being urged to drop out of the race and endorse Ford. But Reagan would score an upset victory in the North Carolina primary on March 23; although he will lose Wisconsin to Ford tonight (and New York will, for the time, remain uncommitted), Reagan will score additional victories in Arizona and South Carolina later in the month, before winning Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Indiana in early May. The two will go to the convention with the nomination still in doubt (the last time this happened in American politics), and while Ford wins a narrow victory, it is obvious that the hearts of the delegates belong to Reagan, who will win the nomination (and the election) four years later. You'll be able to read about that in the Northern California listings as well! -2- KTVU (BAY AREA) (IND.) MORNING 6:30 CONTEMPORARY ISSUES—Instruction 7:00 BUGS AND FRIENDS—Cartoon 7:30 CARTOONS 8:30 ROMPER ROOM—Children 9:00 NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR 9:30 THAT GIRL—Comedy 10:00 MOVIE—Western “Good Day for a Hanging” (1959) AFTERNOON 12:00 BONANZA—Western 1:00 MOVIE—Adventure BW “The Black Arrow” (1948) 2:55 NEWS 3:00 PORKY AND FRIENDS—Cartoon 3:30 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB BW 4:00 BATMAN—Adventure Guest villain: Vincent Price (Egghead) 4:30 LASSIE—Drama 5:00 PARTRIDGE FAMILY—Comedy 5:30 BEWITCHED—Comedy EVENING 6:00 STAR TREK—Adventure 7:00 FBI—Crime Drama 8:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Baby, the Rain Must Fall” (1965) 10:00 NEWS 11:00 BILKO—Comedy BW 11:30 HONEYMOONERS—Comedy BW 12:00 NEWS
-3- KCRA (SACRAMENTO) (NBC) MORNING 5:55 FARM MARKET REPORT 6:00 RHYME AND REASON—Instruction 6:30 CONTEMPORARY ISSUES—Instruction 7:00 TODAY—Hartz/Walters 9:00 GAMBIT—Game 9:30 HIGH ROLLERS—Game 10:00 WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game 10:30 CROSS-WITS—Game 11:00 MAGNIFICENT MARBLE MACHINE—Game Jamie Farr, Nanette Fabray, Jo Anne Worley, Earl Holliman 11:30 TAKE MY ADVICE—Discussion Orson Bean, Rose Marie, Dan Rowan 11:55 NBC NEWS—Edwin Newman AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:30 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial 1:30 DOCTORS—Serial 2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial 3:00 DATING GAME 3:30 CELEBRITY SWEEPSTAKES—Game Charo, Buddy Hackett, Dan Rowan 4:00 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game Hal Linden, John Byner, Susan Clark, Karen Valentine, Isable Sanford, Demond Wilson, George Gobel, Rose Marie, Paul Lynde 4:30 MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN 5:00 NEWS EVENING 6:00 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor 6:30 NEWS 7:30 SEVEN THIRTY 8:00 MOVIN’ ON 9:00 POLICE WOMAN—Crime Drama 10:00 CITY OF ANGELS—Crime Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 JOHNNY CARSON Guests: Bobby Goldsboro, Suzanne Pleshette, Carl Sagan 1:30 TOMORROW—Tom Snyder
-4- KRON (BAY AREA) (NBC) MORNING 6:25 NEWS 6:30 AS MAN BEHAVES 7:00 TODAY—Hartz/Walters 9:00 CELEBRITY SWEEPSTAKES—Game Charo, Buddy Hackett, Dan Rowan 9:30 HIGH ROLLERS—Game 10:00 WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game Hal Linden, John Byner, Susan Clark, Karen Valentine, Isable Sanford, Demond Wilson, George Gobel, Rose Marie, Paul Lynde 11:00 SOMERSET—Serial 11:30 TAKE MY ADVICE—Discussion Orson Bean, Rose Marie, Dan Rowan 11:55 NBC NEWS—Edwin Newman AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:30 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial 1:30 DOCTORS—Serial 2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial 3:00 IRONSIDE—Crime Drama 4:00 MERV GRIFFIN 5:30 NEWS EVENING 6:30 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor 7:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game 7:30 BOBBY VINTON—Variety Guest: Jim Stafford 8:00 MOVIN’ ON 9:00 POLICE WOMAN—Crime Drama 10:00 CITY OF ANGELS—Crime Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 JOHNNY CARSON Guests: Bobby Goldsboro, Suzanne Pleshette, Carl Sagan 1:30 TOMORROW—Tom Snyder 2:30 NEWS
-5- KPIX (BAY AREA) (CBS) MORNING 6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER Presidential Power and American Democracy 6:30 SUCCESS WITHOUT STRESS—Instruction 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hughes Rudd 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO Guest: Eli Wallach 9:00 PLAYMATES—SCHOOLMATES—Children 9:30 KATHRYN CROSBY 10:00 GAMBIT—Game 10:30 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial 10:55 CBS NEWS—Douglas Edwards 11:00 YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 1:30 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial 2:00 ALL IN THE FAMILY 2:30 MATCH GAME Scoey Mitchell, Susan Howard, Fannie Flagg, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson 3:00 TATTLETALES—Game Guests: Totie Fields and George Johnson, Ross and Olavee Martin, Jerry and Rita Vale 3:30 ROBERT YOUNG, FAMILY DOCTOR—Drama 4:30 MIKE DOUGLAS Co-host: Foster Brooks. Guests: Princess Grace, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the Hudson Brothers, the Not Ready for Prime Time Players, Foster’s daughter Teri EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 NEWS—Bohrman/Joiner 7:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game 8:00 SELFISH GIANT—Cartoon Special 8:30 PUTTIN’ IT BACK TOGETHER 9:00 M*A*S*H 9:30 ONE DAY AT A TIME—Comedy 10:00 SWITCH—Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Fixer” (1968) 2:20 RIFLEMAN—Western BW
-7- KGO (BAY AREA) (ABC) MORNING 6:20 NEWS 6:30 INSIDE MUSIC—Instruction 7:00 GOOD MORNING, AMERICA—David Hartman Guests: Cornelia Wallace, Linus Pauling 9:00 A.M. SAN FRANCISCO—Fleming 10:30 HAPPY DAYS 11:00 RHYME AND REASON—Game Charlie Brill, Geralding Brooks, Jamie Farr, Ross Martin, Mitzi McCall 11:30 NEIGHBORS—Game AFTERNOON 12:00 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 12:30 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial 1:00 RYAN’S HOPE—Serial 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 2:00 $20,000 PYRAMID—Game Rick Hurst, Vicki Lawrence 2:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 3:30 MOVIE—Western “The Young Country” (1970) 5:00 NEWS EVENING 6:00 NEWS 7:00 ABC NEWS—Harry Reasoner 7:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 8:00 HAPPY DAYS 8:30 LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY—Comedy 9:00 ROOKIES—Crime Drama 10:00 FAMILY—Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 MYSTERY OF THE WEEK “Murder in the First Person Singular” 1:30 NEWS
-8- KSBW (SALINAS) (CBS, NBC) MORNING 6:30 PUNTO DE INTERES 6:55 THOUGHT FOR TODAY 7:00 TODAY—Hartz/Walters 9:00 CELEBRITY SWEEPSTAKES—Game Charo, Buddy Hackett, Dan Rowan 9:30 HIGH ROLLERS—Game 10:00 WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game Hal Linden, John Byner, Susan Clark, Karen Valentine, Isable Sanford, Demond Wilson, George Gobel, Rose Marie, Paul Lynde 11:00 MAGNIFICENT MARBLE MACHINE—Game Jamie Farr, Nanette Fabray, Jo Anne Worley, Earl Holliman 11:30 TAKE MY ADVICE—Discussion Orson Bean, Rose Marie, Dan Rowan 11:55 NBC NEWS—Edwin Newman AFTERNOON 12:00 SOMERSET—Serial 12:30 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial 1:30 DOCTORS—Serial 2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial 3:00 FBI—Crime Drama 4:00 HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy 4:30 FAMILY AFFAIR—Comedy 5:00 GILLIGAN’S ISLAND 5:30 BRADY BUNCH—Comedy EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor 7:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass, Tom Posten, Kitty Carlisle 7:30 BEWITCHED—Comedy 8:00 MOVIN’ ON 9:00 POLICE WOMAN—Crime Drama 10:00 CITY OF ANGELS—Crime Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 JOHNNY CARSON Guests: Bobby Goldsboro, Suzanne Pleshette, Carl Sagan 1:30 TOMORROW—Tom Snyder
-9- KQED (BAY AREA) (EDUC.) MORNING 8:00 LILIAS, YOGA AND YOU 8:30 MISTER ROGERS 9:00 SESAME STREET 10:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children AFTERNOON 12:00 NOVA 12:30 WOMANTIME—Gerri Lange 2:00 WOMANTIME—Gerri Lange 4:00 MISTER ROGERS 4:30 SESAME STREET 5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children EVENING 6:00 CARRASCOLENDAS—Children 6:30 SAN FRANCISCO CHAMBER MUSIC 7:00 CONSUMER SURVIVAL KIT—Report 7:30 NEWSROOM 8:00 STRAUSS FAMILY Part 4 9:00 ADAMS CHRONICLES—Drama Chapter 12 10:00 MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS 10:30 INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL 11:00 NEWSROOM 11:30 ABC NEWS—Harry Reasoner Captioned for the hearing-impaired.
10 KXTV (SACRAMENTO) (CBS) MORNING 6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER Presidential Power and American Democracy 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hughes Rudd 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO Guest: Eli Wallach 9:00 AT NINE ON TEN—Damron/LaMotte 9:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game 10:30 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial 10:55 CBS NEWS—Douglas Edwards 11:00 YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial AFTERNOON 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 1:30 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial 2:00 ALL IN THE FAMILY 2:30 MATCH GAME Scoey Mitchell, Susan Howard, Fannie Flagg, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson 3:00 DINAH! Sandy Duncan, Tanya Tucker, Allen Ludden, the Spinners, Thom Bell, Dominic Savage, Ed Buckbee 4:00 MIKE DOUGLAS Co-host: Foster Brooks. Guests: Princess Grace, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the Hudson Brothers, the Not Ready for Prime Time Players, Foster’s daughter Teri 5:30 NEWS EVENING 6:00 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite 6:30 NEWS 7:00 CONCENTRATION—Game 7:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game 8:00 DESTINTATION: AMERICA—Documentary 9:00 M*A*S*H 9:30 ONE DAY AT A TIME—Comedy 10:00 SWITCH—Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Fixer” (1968)
11 KNTV (SAN JOSE) (ABC) MORNING 6:00 IN CELEBRATION OF FLIGHT—Documentary 6:30 DUEL WITH FIRE 7:00 GOOD MORNING, AMERICA—David Hartman Guests: Cornelia Wallace, Linus Pauling 9:00 THAT GIRL—Comedy 9:30 COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER—Comedy-Drama 10:00 I DREAM OF JEANNIE—Comedy 10:30 HAPPY DAYS 11:00 RHYME AND REASON—Game Charlie Brill, Geralding Brooks, Jamie Farr, Ross Martin, Mitzi McCall 11:30 NEIGHBORS—Game AFTERNOON 12:00 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 12:30 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial 1:00 RYAN’S HOPE—Serial 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 2:00 $20,000 PYRAMID—Game Rick Hurst, Vicki Lawrence 2:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 3:30 IRONSIDE—Crime Drama 4:30 ADAM-12—Crime Drama 5:00 NEWS 5:30 ABC NEWS—Harry Reasoner EVENING 6:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Wild Season” (South African; 1968) 8:00 HAPPY DAYS 8:30 LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY—Comedy 9:00 ROOKIES—Crime Drama 10:00 FAMILY—Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 MYSTERY OF THE WEEK “Murder in the First Person Singular” 1:30 MOVIE—Adventure BW “Red Ball Express” (1952) 3:20 MOVIE—Adventure “Son of Ali Baba” (1952) 4:35 MOVIE—Drama BW “Strange Confession” (1944)
13 KOVR (SACRAMENTO) (ABC) MORNING 6:25 NEWS 6:30 CONSUMER EXPERIENCE—Instruction 7:00 GOOD MORNING, AMERICA—David Hartman Guests: Cornelia Wallace, Linus Pauling 9:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUECES—Game 9:30 MORNING SCENE—Chet Hancock 10:30 HAPPY DAYS 11:00 RHYME AND REASON—Game Charlie Brill, Geralding Brooks, Jamie Farr, Ross Martin, Mitzi McCall 11:30 NEIGHBORS—Game AFTERNOON 12:00 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 12:30 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial 1:00 RYAN’S HOPE—Serial 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 2:00 $20,000 PYRAMID—Game Rick Hurst, Vicki Lawrence 2:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH Kitty Carlisle, Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass, Joe Garagiola 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial 4:00 GOMER PYLE, USMC 4:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES BW 5:00 ADAM-12—Crime Drama 5:30 NEWS EVENING 6:00 ABC NEWS—Harry Reasoner 6:30 MERV GRIFFIN Guests: Johnny and June Carter Csh, the Tennessee Three, Roger Miller, Larry Gatlin 8:00 HAPPY DAYS 8:30 LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY—Comedy 9:00 ROOKIES—Crime Drama 10:00 FAMILY—Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 IRONSIDE—Crime Drama 1:00 BONANZA—Western 1:30 NEWS
14 KCSM (BAY AREA) (PBS) MORNING 8:00 MISTER ROGERS 8:30 LOWELL THOMAS REMEMBERS—Documentary BW 9:00 SESAME STREET 10:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children 10:30 CARRASCOLENDAS—Children 11:00 THEATER IN AMERICA—Comedy-Drama BW “Who’s Happy Now?” AFTERNOON 12:30 ANYONE FOR TENNYSON?—Poetry BW 1:00 KOSCIUSZKO: AN AMERICAN PORTRAIT—Drama BW Special 2:00 COLLEGE FOR CANINES BW Debut 2:30 LILIAS, YOGA AND YOU BW 3:00 NOVA BW 4:00 MISTER ROGERS 4:30 SESAME STREET 5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children EVENING 6:00 COLLEGE FOR CANINES BW Debut 7:00 AS MAN BEHAVES BW 7:30 EVENING EDITION WITH MARTIN AGRONSKY 8:00 BEHIND THE LINES 8:30 SILENT PERSPECTIVES BW 9:00 INTERACTION BW 9:30 ON CAMPUS—Interview 10:00 WOMAN ALIVE! 10:30 WOMAN
20 KEMO (BAY AREA) (Ind.) MORNING 7:30 STOCK MARKET TODAY—Tom Miller 8:00 NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE UPDATE 8:30 MARKET PLACE 9:00 WALL STREET ROUND TABLE AFTERNOON 12:00 700 CLUB 1:30 DEAF HEAR—Religion 2:00 BOZO’S BIG TOP—Children 3:00 NINO—Novela 4:00 LA FABRICA—Novela 5:00 VIVIANA ORTIGUERA—Novela 5:30 NOTICIERO EVENING 6:30 LA LOBO—Novela 7:30 EL PECADO DE SOFIA 8:00 ESMERALDA—Novela 9:00 ESTE MEXICO NUESTRO 10:00 LAS AVENTURAS DE PETER PEREZ 11:00 700 CLUB—Religion
31 KMUV (SACRAMENTO) (Ind.) AFTERNOON 3:00 TATTLETALES—Game Guests: Totie Fields and George Johnson, Ross and Olavee Martin, Jerry and Rita Vale 3:30 GAMBIT—Game 4:00 SOLID GOLD HEROES 5:55 PAUL HARVEY COMMENTS EVENING 6:00 MOVIE—Musical BW “Shall We Dance” (1937) 8:20 MOVIE—Drama BW “Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case” (1940) 9:55 MOVIE—Comedy BW “You’re Only Young Once” (1938) 11:30 P.T.L. CLUB—Religion
36 KGSC (SAN JOSE) (Ind.) MORNING 10:50 COMMUNITY SPEAKS 11:00 PUBLIC AFFAIRS 11:30 YOGA FOR HEALTH AFTERNOON 12:00 MOVIE—Mystery BW “The Black Doll” (1938) 2:00 MIKE DOUGLAS Co-host: Carol Lawrence. Guests: Pat Cooper, the Staple Singers, Michael Lord, Dr. Marvin Schneiderman 3:30 MOVIE—Western “Dakota Incident” (1956) 5:25 NEWS 5:30 GET SMART EVENING 6:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Whirlpool” (1949) 7:55 NEWS 8:00 MOVIE—Comedy “The Lady Wants Mink” (1953) 9:55 NEWS 10:00 MERV GRIFFIN Guests: Psychcs Joseph DeLouise, Kebrina Kinkade, Alan Vaughan, Robert Nelson, Jess Stearn 11:30 MOVIE—Musical BW “If I’m Lucky” (1946) 1:00 MOVIE—Thriller BW “The Profile of Terror” (1963) 2:45 MOVIE—Musical “Week-End in Havana” (1941) 4:00 MOVIE—Mystery BW “Solo for Sparrow” (1962)
38 KVOF (BAY AREA) (Ind.) AFTERNOON 3:30 P.T.L. CLUB 5:30 TREEHOUSE CLUB EVENING 6:00 PATTERN FOR LIVING—Religion 6:30 CHRIST THE LIVING WORD—Religion 7:00 CELEBRATION OF LIFE—Religion 7:30 MADAME SHEIKH 8:00 FOXWORTHY BAPTIST CHURCH—Dr. J. Thurmond George 9:00 ACTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT—Religion 9:30 MUSIC CITY 10:00 P.T.L. CLUB
40 KTXL (SACRAMENTO) (Ind.) MORNING 5:50 PUBLIC AFFAIRS 6:30 NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY 7:00 CAPTAIN’S CARTOONS 8:00 SPEED RACER 8:30 LASSIE—Drama 9:00 FLINTSTONES—Cartoon 9:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy BW 10:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Jane Eyre” (1944) AFTERNOON 12:00 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy BW 12:30 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy BW 1:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Three Faces of Eve” (1957) 3:00 THREE STOOGES—Comedy 3:30 CAPTAIN’S CARTOONS 4:00 MUNSTERS—Comedy BW 4:30 PARTRIDGE FAMILY—Comedy 5:00 BRADY BUNCH 5:30 HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy EVENING 6:00 STAR TREK—Adventure 7:00 FBI—Crime Drama 8:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Pawnbroker" (1965) 10:00 NEWS 11:00 MOD SQUAD—Crime Drama 12:00 MOVIE—Drama “Sea Wife” (1957) 2:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Mob” (1951) 4:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “The End of the Affair” (English; 1955)
44 KBHK (BAY AREA) (Ind.) MORNING 11:00 NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY 11:30 NEWSTALK—Martin Bowdry AFTERNOON 12:00 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER BW 12:30 MOVIE—Drama “Spoilers of the Forest” (1957) 2:00 UNDERDOG—Cartoon 2:30 HUCK AND YOGI—Cartoon 3:00 POPEYE—Cartoon 3:30 SUPERMAN—Adventure BW 4:00 FLINTSTONES—Cartoon 4:30 THREE STOOGES—Comedy 5:00 LITTLE RASCALS—Comedy BW 5:30 MONKEES—Comedy EVENING 6:00 BRADY BUNCH—Comedy 6:30 ADAM-12—Crime Drama 7:00 HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy 7:30 HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy 8:00 DINAH! Guests: James Earl Jones, Sandra Palmer, Rev. Jesse Jafckson, Gino Vannelli, Jim Stafford 9:30 BEST OF GROUCHO—Game 10:00 IT TAKES A THIEF--Adventure 11:00 MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN—Serial 11:30 DARK SHADOWS—Serial 12:00 MOVIE—Western BW “Dark Command” (1940)
46 KMST (SALINAS-MONTEREY) (CBS) MORNING 6:30 NEWS 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hughes Rudd 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO Guest: Eli Wallach 9:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game 9:30 KATHRYN CROSBY 10:00 GAMBIT—Game 10:30 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial 10:55 CBS NEWS—Douglas Edwards 11:00 YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial AFTERNOON 12:00 MIDDAY—Interview 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 1:30 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial 2:00 ALL IN THE FAMILY 2:30 MATCH GAME Scoey Mitchell, Susan Howard, Fannie Flagg, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson 3:00 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB BW 3:30 MERV GRIFFIN Guests: Joan Rivers, Wayne Newton, Frank Sinatra Jr. 4:30 DINAH! Guests: James Earl Jones, Sandra Palmer, Rev. Jesse Jafckson, Gino Vannelli, Jim Stafford EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 GUNSMOKE—Western 7:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game 8:00 SELFISH GIANT—Cartoon Special 8:30 GOOD TIMES 9:00 M*A*S*H 9:30 ONE DAY AT A TIME—Comedy 10:00 SWITCH—Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 NEW YORK/WISCONSIN PRIMARIES Special 12:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Fixer” (1968) 2:20 RIFLEMAN—Western BW
54 KTEH (SAN JOSE) (PBS) MORNING 7:00 SESAME STREET 8:00 MISTER ROGERS 10:45 ELECTRIC COMPANY AFTERNOON 12:00 LOWELL THOMAS REMEMBERS—Documentary 12:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY 1:15 VILLA ALEGRE—Children 4:00 CARRASCOLENDAS—Children 4:30 MISTER ROGERS 5:00 SESAME STREET EVENING 6:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children 6:30 REALIDADES 7:30 ELECTIONS ‘76 8:00 BEHIND THE LINES 8:30 CONSUMER SURVIVAL KIT—Report 9:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “Lord of the Flies” (English; 1963) 10:30 WOMAN 11:00 ABC NEWS—Harry Reasoner Captioned for the hearing-impaired
60 KDTV (BAY AREA) (Ind.) AFTERNOON 4:00 UNA MUCHACHA LLAMADO MILAGROS—Serial BW 5:00 LO IMPERDONABLE—Serial 5:30 MUNDO DE JUGUETE—Serial EVENING 6:00 NOTICIERO 6:30 NOTICIERO 7:00 EL MILAGRO DE VIVIR 8:00 CHESPIRITO—Comedy 8:30 EL CHAVO DEL OCHO—Comedy 9:00 EXITOS—Music 9:30 BARATA DE PRIMAVERA—Serial 10:30 NOTICIERO
TV
April 6, 2024
This week in TV Guide: April 3, 1976
Our introduction to Liz Torres, the newest cast member of CBS's sitcom Phyllis, comes with the heavy shadow of Barbara Colby, the cast remember she replaced, who was murdered on July 24, 1975 in Los Angeles. Nine months later, her murder remains unsolved, writes Don Freeman, "[w]ith no clues, no motives and no suspects." He calls it a "bizarre case," and so it remains to this day. Phyllis, as you may recall, is a spinoff from The Mary Tyler Moore show, with Cloris Leachman reprising her role of Phyllis Lindstrom, who has moved from Minneapolis to San Francisco following the death of her husband, Lars. The premise has Phyllis taking a job as an assistant in a photographic studio owned by Julie Erskine, played by Colby. After having appeared in three episodes, Colby and a fellow actor, James Kiernan, were shot and killed shortly before midnight while walking from an acting class to their car. Colby died instantly; Kiernan was able to tell the police little before he, too, died—only that they'd been shot by two black men he didn't recognize, who had pulled up in a light-colored van, told them to put up their hands, fired two shots (each being hit by one), and then driven off. Neither Colby nor Kiernan were robbed, which would seem to rule that out as a motive. Left with little else to work with, the police concluded that it was either a "targeted killing" (i.e. a hit?) or a random drive-by shooting.
Today, nearly 50 years later, the murder remains unsolved. Colby was, at the time, separated from her husband, Bob Levitt, the son of Ethel Merman, but the couple were said to have been on good terms, and it appears he was never considered a serious suspect. There had been a string of crimes in the West Los Angeles-Santa Monica area that night, including another murder; police looked into the possibility that the crimes were related, and six gang members were taken into custody, but as far as the murders of Colby and Kiernan are concerned, nothing ever came of it.
In a filmed tribute, Leachman called Colby "one of the most joyful and giving people I have ever known," and referring to the decision to recast the role with Torres, she said "It was not easy to replace Barbara Colby as an actress, and it is impossible to replace her as a person." The tribute was intended to be shown prior to the start of the series, but it was vetoed by CBS. "It was felt simply that the film was inappropriate," an unnamed official at CBS says, "and that airing the three episodes in which Barbara Colby appeared was enough." "CBS probably felt we were visiting on a lot of people something they knew little about," Grant Tinker, president of MTM replies. "The network saw the film we made and said no. I think they were wrong." So does Ed. Weinberger, executive co-producer of Phyllis. "It’s a delicate, sensitive issue and the network does have its prerogative. We objected but we were all so disconsolate about Barbara that we had no stomach to fight for what we thought was just and proper. I don’t think the network was callous, just mistaken."
Colby and Cloris Leachman on PhyllisToday, such a tribute would almost certainly have been aired. Weinberg's conclusion that CBS was "mistaken" sounds very much like something said by someone who knew they would have to work with the network in the future, and didn't want to burn any bridges. The decision does sound callous, in other words, very much a standard operating procedure from a television network that long since lost any intension of providing anything that didn't, in some way, augment the bottom line. We've seen too many poor judgements over the years, too much meddling, too much unfounded arrogance, to think otherwise.As for the show, it would run for two seasons before being cancelled. Torres continued in the role that Barbara Colby had begun for the rest of the season, before the character was eliminated. Whether or not that was by design—Torres says of taking the role, "I miss New York, but you go where the work is." She added, "I'm an actress who replaced an actress who was murdered. The show must go on. But there are times when I feel—a bit strange."
There are several podcasts and videos exploring the murders of Barbara Colby and James Kiernan, and you can find them easily enough. It is, however, surprising that the murder of a television actress is not better remembered that it is. Perhaps, being that it remains unsolved to this day, networks like CBS don't look at it as being commercial. Perhaps it doesn't have a happy-enough ending.
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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. Do you remember a series called Sara? Not Sarah, Plain and Tall (if you remember that), just Sara. I swear, this is the first time I've ever heard of it. Granted, these are the days of the World's Worst Town™, when I didn't have regular access to a CBS affiliate; still, I did have access to TV Guide, and if I ever saw this show in its pages, it didn't leave an impression.
Sara stars Brenda Vaccaro as a schoolteacher in 1870s Colorado Territory; she emigrated from Philadelphia, which she found "dreary and predictable." But, according to Cleveland Amory, the City of Brotherly Love was a cauldron of excitement compared to what we see here, where the stories "are so dreary and predictable that we advise you to snooze a bit. Then, when you wake up, you can figure out not what has happened (you'll already know that from being ahead before you dozed off) but what's going to happen." So maybe that was it—I slept through it all.
Sara is, it goes without saying, a liberated woman fighting a male establishment, and since she's also a teacher, this makes her cause at least twice as righteous. And predictable. One plot line involved her failure to get any new books from the school board, whereupon she decided to have her students write their own book, and have it published by the local newspaper. "Even in those days, it was publish or perish," Cleve notes, "—but in this case, it didn't matter which." So what we have here is a talented actress, Vaccaro, starring in a vehicle that moves at a glacial pace (what else do you think created the Rocky Mountains?), featuring predictable plots, stereotypical characters, and not much else. How this series survived for twelve episodes a mystery to me. One thing seems for certain, though; in this case, a bad memory serves to be a blessing.
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On weeks when we can, we'll match up two of the biggest rock shows of the era, NBC's The Midnight Special and the syndicated Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and see who's better, who's best.Kirshner: Performers include Ike & Tina Turner ("Oh My My," "Sexy Ida"); C.W. McCall ("Convoy," "Green River," "Classified"); Queen ("Bohemian Rhapsody").
Midnight: Hostess Helen Reddy welcomes Barry Manilow ("Something's Comin' Up"); Fleetwood Mac ("Rhiannon"); pop group Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds; rock group Queen; and rock artist Gary Wright. Also featured is a tribute to Roger McGuinn and the Byrds.
Keeping in mind that these are all my personal opinions, not intended to inflame anyone with preferences to the contrary, this week's offering provides me, for once, with a clear choice. I would have been watching The Midnight Special, given that it was all that was available to me in the World's Worst Town™; nevertheless, I don't care for Helen Reddy, I don't care for Barry Manilow, and I really don't care for Fleetwood Mac. But what about Queen? Well, I like them, but I can get them on Kirshner, and besides, I can get Tina Turner as well. I think I can stand C.W. McCall in return for that. This week, Kirshner takes the prize.
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A couple of the week's more noteworthy programs unwittingly highlight how far TV Guide fell from its pinnacle to its final days as a weekly with local listings; we won't even discuss what it's become today.
One of the features that appeared in the magazine from time to time was called "Background." It was an article written by a distinguished historian or writer, putting one of the week's shows into a historical or cultural perspective, allowing viewers to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation—or to spur them to watch it in the first place, if they hadn't been thinking about it.
Case in point #1: Thursday night's Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of "Truman at Potsdam" (8:00 p.m. PT, NBC), starring Ed Flanders as Harry Truman, John Houseman as Winston Churchill, and José Ferrer as Joseph Stalin, plus Barry Morse as Secretary of State James Byrnes, and Alexander Knox as Secretary of War Henry Stimson. Based on the book Meeting at Potsdam by Charles L. Mee Jr, it's the story of the Potsdam Conference, held in Potsdam, Germany in July and August 1945, at which Truman, Churchill, and Stalin met to work out the partition of postwar Europe. It was Truman's first meeting with the other two members of the so-called Big Three, having taken office only three months before. We're given the background on all this in an article by W. Averill Harriman, former governor of New York, who was at Potsdam as U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union. In the article, Harriman focuses on the many decisions facing Truman, including Stalin's obvious reneging on commitments he'd previously made at Yalta. It's a brief but interesting look at the reasoning behind some of Truman's decisions, as well as how the Soviets wound up with a free hand in East Germany. ("Truman at Potsdam" also merits a mention in "The Screening Room," the preview of some of the week's notable programs. The preview refers to a scene which "is bound to generate controversy," in which Truman states one of his reasons for using the atomic bomb on Japan: "What we're going to do is say to the Russians, ‘We’ve got it and we’re not afraid to use it... .'" Now, if this is accurate, and if Truman is actually justifying the use of this murderous weapon as being part of international power politics, that is truly an unconscionable decision. Granted, I've never been a fan of Truman to begin with, but his willingness to use the Bomb, and his attitude towards it afterward, have always been morally troubling, and this does nothing to lessen that.)
Case in point #2: Friday night, ABC airs The Story of David (9:00 p.m.), part one of a two-part movie presentation that concludes the following Sunday night with David and Bathsheba, with Timothy Bottoms starring as young David (Keith Michell plays the older David in part two) and Anthony Quayle as King Saul. (In case you're curious, Bathsheba is played in part two by Jane Seymour. Of course, you're thinking.) The background article in this case is provided by novelist Chaim Potok, who tells us about the historical David, his conflict with King Saul (including his twice-refusal to kill Saul when he had the chance), and his eventual rise to become king of Israel, over which he would reign for 40 years, ending with his anointing of Solomon as his successor.
Although neither of these articles runs more than a couple of pages, providing the briefest of perspectives on the stories about to appear on television, they're serious, incisive, and thought-provoking pieces, ones that could not only encourage someone to watch the programs, but also to read more about the historical events on which they're based. And while they're constrained by space considerations to offering in-depth scholarship, they're certainly heads and shoulders above the kind of fanmag mush and sensationalism that makes up TV Guide today.
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For those of you who might think I don't pay enough attention to women's sports, here's one for you: the final two rounds of the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winners Circle Golf Championship (Saturday 3:00 p.m., Sunday, 2:00 p.m., ABC), the richest tournament on the women's tour, featuring a $200,000 total purse, with $32,000 to the winner. Dinah Shore co-founded the tournament along with David Forster, chairman of Colgate-Palmolive, in 1972; her name and involvement ensured the tournament would have a great deal of credibility, not to mention visibility. The tournament continues to this day as one of the women's tour's major championships, although it's undergone name, sponsor, and location changes in the meantime. In 1976, the top prize goes to one of the game's greats, Judy Rankin, who fires a final-round 68 to win by three strokes.Speaking of "do you remember?" series as we were earlier, how many of you recall Almost Anything Goes? It was a show that held a certain amount of fascination for me, as was the case with so many of the shows that we weren't able to see in the World's Worst Town™; I don't know whether or not it was any good, but the idea of three teams, representing various smaller towns from around America, competing against each other in a series of stunts reminiscent of Beat the Clock or Wipeout sounded like fun. It had credible announcers as well: Charlie Jones, Lynn Shackleford, and the ubiquitous Regis Philbin. I never have seen an episode of it, so I can't say whether or not the fascination was justified. (Saturday, 8:00 p.m., ABC)
The movie highlight of the week has to be the network television premiere of Five Easy Pieces (Monday, 9:00 p.m., ABC), starring Jack Nicholson and Karen Black. Judith Crist calls it "a brilliant film, abrasive in its perceptions, brutal in its truths and near-lyrical in its composition," and it cops Nicholson his first Oscar nomination. It has some competition for the top spot, though, in a "bonanza week—for the serious film buff as well as the casual viewer." On Tuesday, it's Lord of the Flies (9:00 p.m., PBS), the 1963 adaptation of William Golding's novel, "both a gripping adventure-horror story and a frightening, thought-provoking commentary on the heart and mind of man," featuring a cast of "remarkable non-professionals." That's followed at midnight by the CBS late movie, The Fixer, directed by John Frankenheimer, written by Dalton Trumbo, and starring Alan Bates in an Oscar-nominated turn; it is, Crist says, "an intense, painful experience." And on the local side, Sacramento's KTXL chips in with a pair: first, Sidney Lumet's outstanding The Pawnbroker (Tuesday, 8:00 p.m.), with a powerful, Oscar-nominated performance by Rod Steiger as a Harlem Holocaust survivor; then, it's a two-part showing of Otto Preminger's epic courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (Wednesday and Thursday, 8:00 p.m.), with James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, and George C. Scott. You don't see movie weeks like this anymore—but then, you don't see many movies like this anymore.
Meanwhile, Dick Cavett tours the backlots of Paramount Studios in Backlot U.S.A. (Monday, 10:00 p.m., CBS), where he's joined by Mickey Rooney, John Wayne, Gene Kelly, and Mae West; Red Skelton (and Clem Kadiddlehopper, George Appleby, Freddy the Freeloader, and Sheriff Deadeye) hosts America on Parade (various dates and times, syndicated), a Bicentennial trip through American history, from the Walt Disney parks in Florida and California; Perry Como reminds us that he's on TV more than just at Christmastime, as he celebrates Marti Gras in New Orleans with Leslie Uggams and Dick Van Dyke (Wednesday, 9:00 p.m., ABC); Barbara Walters hosts the fourth annual "Woman of the Year" awards, honoring ten women for their accomplishments in politics, sports, entertainment, education, and other areas, as selected by Ladies' Home Journal (Thursday, 9:30 p.m., NBC). Petula Clark, Kate Smith, and the Fifth Dimension provide the entertainment, while presenters include Pearl Bailey, Carol Burnett, and Marlo Thomas; and with Easter just around the corner (April 18), NBC debuts a new Easter cartoon, The First Easter Rabbit (Friday, 8:00 p.m.), with the voices of Burl Ives, Robert Morse, Paul Frees, Stan Freberg, and Dian Lynn.l l l
According to the Teletype, "One of the latest entries in the miniseries sweepstakes is a multi-hour version of Alex Haley's book Roots, currently being filmed for ABC. The book, which will be published later this summer, chronicles Haley's family history from Africa, through slavery in America, up to the present day." They have no idea of the sensation that awaits, do they?Also from the Teletype, we have a true-life mystery that one might usually find on, say, Banacek: a $75,000 diamond ring lent to The Merv Griffin Show for use by some of its female guests (including the aforementioned Brenda Vaccaro) has gone missing! The ring was one of several pieces supplied by Laykin et Cie, jewelers; S.W. Laykin, the firm's president, says, "When we got ready to leave, we packed everything up and I asked my security officer if everything that we brought was there. He said yes. Then the bag was locked. The following morning we took inventory and the ring wasn't there. There's no question either it was stolen or it dropped out of the bag without any of us seeing it." Of course, if this had occurred on a TV series, it would have been an inside job: the security officer perhaps, conspiring with someone on the show's staff, perhaps even one of the female stars. But real life isn't always that entertaining.
Doesn't this story make you want to know more? Alas, I wasn't able to find out anything more, other than that the same jeweler, Laykin et Cie, once loaned $500,000 worth of jewels to Doris Day for her to use use in the movie Pillow Talk. (Apparently, there weren't any complications that time.) Now, admittedly, I didn't spend a whole lot of time checking this out (otherwise, you'd probably be reading this three days later than scheduled), so if anyone out there knows whether or not this case was ever solved, you know what to do in the comments section.
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Since it's the cover story, I suppose we ought to make mention of Melvin Durslag's predictions for the upcoming baseball season. It's an important year of change for the sport: in fact, at press time, the owners have locked the players out of training camp in a dispute over the terms by which free agency is to be introduced; the players want to be eligible after four seasons, while the owners want eight years of experience plus a draft to determine which teams a free agent could negotiate with. The players countered with six seasons and no draft, whereupon the lockout commenced. (Don't worry; it will get settled in time.) ABC has joined NBC in national telecasts, taking over Monday Night Baseball and sharing the All-Star Game, the playoffs, and the World Series on an alternating basis. And Bill Veeck, the bad-boy entrepreneur of baseball, is back, as the new owner of the Chicago White Sox. As for the actual game on the field, Durslag has the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds coming out on top in the National League, while the American League sees the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals taking their divisions; he likes the Red Sox to win their first World Series since 1918. In the event, Mel gets three out of four right, only missing out on the Red Sox, who are beaten out by the New York Yankees; the Yankees advance to the Series with a memorable five-game playoff victory over Kansas City, but lose out to the Big Red Machine in a four-game sweep. Different team, same red color.
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MST3K alert: It Conquered the World (1956) Scientists discover that an outer-space monster has arrived from Venus to destroy Earth. Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef. (Saturday, 9:30 p.m., KBHK) "He learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature… and, because of it, the greatest in the universe. He learned too late for himself that men have to find their own way, to make their own mistakes. There can't be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves. And when men seek such perfection… they find only death… fire… loss… disillusionment… the end of everything that's gone forward. Men have always sought an end to the toil and misery, but it can't be given, it has to be achieved. There is hope, but it has to come from inside—from man himself." TV
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Insightful commentary on how classic TV shows mirrored and influenced American society, tracing the impact of iconic series on national identity, cultural change, and the challenges we face today.
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