What Was On TV - February 12-18, 1983

Inspired by my last post, I've decided to try to make "What Was On TV" a regular feature.  This week brings us to February 12th through the 18th, 1983.  This week 30 years ago, M*A*S*H was wrapping up its 11-year run.  TV Guide celebrated with a foldout cover.  By this point, M*A*S*H had gone from zany, but sometimes poignant to downright preachy.  To my 14-year-old self, the whole "keep that damn chicken quiet" Hawkeye scene on the bus from the series finale was disturbing.

In case there was any doubt this was 1983

"Nobody else even laughed but I knew you'd love it."  Must have been one of those Valley Girl jokes.

KPLR Channel 11 could always guarantee a late Saturday night Creature Feature.  This particular weekend brought Creature from the Black Lagoon. 

Reading the rundown of this week's shows, I see the notorious Diff'rent Strokes molesting episode was airing for the first time.  1980's sitcoms were riddled with very special episodes and this one has to make the top 5.  If this episode helped spare one child, bless them.  But man did I hate very special episodes.

I don't know what episode this was, but based on Jo's ticked off expression and Natalie's and Blair's shocked and possibly horrified expressions, this has all the earmarks of yet another very special episode.

A couple of holiday specials that apparently didn't stand the test of time.  And while I've never seen "The Invisible Woman" starring Bob Denver and Harvey Korman, I'm going to have to call them on its claim as "Funniest Movie of the Year".   By the way "Towheads" would be a great name for a reality show about tow truck drivers.

Fonzie disappears on Happy Days and a ghost appears on Laverne & Shirley.  You do the math.  Yes, Fonzie is dead.

Fotomat, the writing on the wall still illegible at this point, attempting to cash in on this new Beta and VHS craze.  I remember paying these prices for blank videotapes.  Made you really carefully assess what show you were going to use it on.

Look at Murdoch, then look at Hannibal.  Who's howling mad now?

A friend of mine commented on my previous post about the usage of illustrations in the ads for tv shows rather than simply using photographs.  I noted this trend continued in this issue:

Here Dom demonstrates his surprise when his "friends" show up.  But were they really his friends, or were they just using him to get to Burt Reynolds?

When I saw this ad, I was reminded of a Saturday Night Live episode hosted by Pee Wee Herman which featured a skit of Pee Wee hosting a talk show.  "Running out of time" at the end of show he says, "And I'd like to thank Hall and Oates for not playing tonight!"

Now we know what Bob Newhart was doing between "The Bob Newhart Show" and "Newhart".  It also stars Gilda Radner looking much like her Judy Miller character from SNL.

The Sting is one of my favorite movies.  And yet I don't want to see this.