What was on TV January 12th through 18th, 1980

Posts have been a little light lately, it's that time of the season. It might be cheating, but here's a TV Guide re-post from last year (with a few additional scans).  I'm not exactly running out of issues to post, but the supply is getting thin.  But don't worry, I have a brand new one coming soon.  Until then, from this week in 1980, it's America's favorite Highway Patrol Officers, Ponch and John.

I was never a big CHiPs fan, but the main reason was my 7th grade sweetheart at the time had a crush on Erik Estrada, so I refused to watch it.  I did catch it in syndication a few years later and found it not without its charms.

  

I'm a fan of Ray Bradbury, but "The Martian Chronicles" both in book and television form was a bit over my head.  I remember watching this on tv and wondering what the heck was going on.

A reminder of how ugly this period in automotive history was.

This TV Update discusses ABC's declining ratings with their top shows like Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy slipping rapidly.  They mention CBS's rise, but in only a few years the NBC machine would begin their domination of the airwaves.

I recall my utter dismay when I learned Spider-woman would be getting her own cartoon and Spider-man was once again being snubbed.  I'd been waiting for some Spider-man respect for years only to be met with the terrible live-action television.  I would finally get a Spider-man series the following season with another disappointment of Spider-man and his Amazing Friends.

It's Big Saturday once again with Abbott & Costello, The Marx Brothers and Willard.

Following Willard from Saturday day was...

Ben! Oh, and Jerry Lewis too.

I don't recall Chain Reaction, so it must not have lasted too long.  On the other hand, I'm sure I watched the Guinness World Records hosted by Gavin MacLeod and Loni Anderson.

Now, I was a red-blooded American teenage boy by 1980, but to be honest, I never saw the appeal of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.  I remember them being the rage and even my 7th grade English teacher going on about them.  He was a perv.

I don't recall FYI either, but it appears this was a sort of Schoolhouse Rock for soap opera housewives.

When I see 8-track tapes, I automatically think of Señor Wences.  As in two outdated forms of entertainment.

In my mind, this was a "jump the shark" moment for the Peanuts cartoon specials.  Having run out of holidays, "It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown" focuses on Homecoming and the little red-haired girl being named queen, which seems an odd thing considering she's supposed to be about 8 years old. The other thing I didn't like about this particular special was the major "cop out" at the end.  Charlie Brown is about to kiss the little red-haired girl and just as he's about to, he goes into some drug-induced hallucination and has a lapse of memory of the entire evening.

Lower prices at $18.95 for a VHS tape?  I think not, Fotomat.

There was a time when "Teacher Seduces Salami" made complete sense to the American viewing public.  Google "Teacher Seduces Salami" these days and you find lots of "NSFW" images.

This was yet another "very special " episode of Mork & Mindy.  Tom Sullivan (the real-life blind actor, and apparently singer) played Tom Poston's son.  He would play a similar role on WKRP a couple years later.

I'm not sure what the deal is with this "B.A.D.Cats" ad, but it looks like they're holding a standee or a ventriloquist's doll of Jimmie Walker.

I believe I mentioned it before, but I always preferred Help! to Hard Day's Night.  I know it's sacrilege to the ardent Beatles fan, but the humorous story line won me over as a child.

For you Larry Wilcox fans out there.  All three of you.

Don't be a stiff.

I tried to do one these tied yarn rugs when I was a kid.  You used a complicated (to me) hooking implement to tie the yarn around a plastic mat.  I found it was easier just to hand tie the yarn.  I never did finish my rug.

Well, that's another week in Television History.  See you next time.