Sunday, November 10, 2013

What was on TV November 12th through 18th, 1977


Making good on my word, here's this week's TV Guide from this week in 1977.  This issue is a New York City edition.  I'm not sure how I came into possession of this, considering I live in St. Louis.

Anyway, the big television event this week was the broadcast premier of "The Godfather Saga", a reworked edit by Francis Ford Coppolla of "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" with extended scenes and new material closing the gaps.  I have never seen any of these movies (insert gasp here).




I think we all remember Tippy the Turtle, Tiny Mouse and Stereotypical Pirate.  I even drew the pirate once, but I don't think I mailed it in.


The generically-named Art Instruction School of Minneapolis, Minnesota encouraged would-be artists to draw their version of these samples and submit the art for critique.  Of course, nobody was discouraged and everyone was offered the opportunity to take their art classes, for a fee. They're still in business.  Charles Schulz got his start through this course and later worked for them, developing his early Peanuts characters in his off-time.  Many of the characters in his strip are based on fellow employees including Charlie Brown (his real name), Linus, Schroeder, Shermie and even the Little Red-haired girl.

A subscription to TV Guide.  The gift that keeps on giving.


The Saturday Morning Lineup.  To be honest, it looks a little foreign to me.  I'm sure the shows were the same in St. Louis, but the lineup doesn't ring a bell.  Likewise, I don't recall the ABC Children's Novel for Television, but it appears to be an early prototype for the ABC Weekend Special. 



Dualing Skit Comedy Shows:Saturday Night Live and Second City Television.


For some reason, I never caught Second City Television.  The first time I ever hear of Bob & Doug McKenzie was their song "Take Off to the Great White North" with Gedde Lee.


I believe this is from the second season of "The Hardy Boys" when they filmed in tropical locations and tried to ride on Shaun Cassidy's pop status having him perform Da-Do-Ron-Ron whenever possible.


A nice string of Kaiju movies on Channel 7 that week.  Yes, that's a new word I just learned.  Click and look it up yourself.







No credit is given, but I'd recognize stock child actor Shane Sinutko anywhere.


You knew Christmas was just around the corner when the Christmas record advertisements began.

After Henry Winkler's infamous off-screen feud with Roz "Pinky Tuscadero" Kelly, her "little sister" Leather was brought aboard "Happy Days" to take her place.  Played by real-life rocker Suzi Quatro, she had a little more staying power than Pinky, but not much, appearing in only 7 episodes.




I loved those one-off shows like "Super-stunt".  In fact, I remember watching this.

This ad reminds me of the "Laverne and Shirley" episode where Shirley invests in the "Hubba Hubba Hiney".

In 1977, Super 8mm film was still the way to go for capturing family memories.  But affordable home camcorders were on the horizon and soon videotape would become the dominant media for home movies for the next 20 years.  Unfortunately, the medium succumbs much quicker than film, so if you still have your home movies on tape, better start digitizing soon.

5 comments:

  1. Don't remember The Hardy Boys as a cartoon, that is interesting! Love seeing the movies in these old listings, too. Makes me think that there were people out there who reorganized their schedule to make sure they were home to watch some of these things, since there were no DVRs or even VCRs!

    Hardy Boys followed by Six-Million Dollar Man? I bet I was watching!

    I saw most of the Kaiju movies via the Saturday afternoon Creature Double Feature, on Channel 56 in the Boston area. Good times.

    Looking at some of these pages, like that Wednesday afternoon one, I wouldn't know WHAT to pick, these days! A gold mine of goodness!

    That Saturday night lineup is one I remember best - Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley and Three's Company. Quite the great night of TV.

    Awesome stuff, as always. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Joe, that Hardy Boys was live action with Parker Stevenson and Shawn Cassidy. The first season was modeled more after the books with them working with their father in solving mysteries. The second season, I believe the father was eliminated and they were sent on location and more focus on Shawn and his singing.

      And yes, ABC ruled the airwaves for quite a chunk of the late 70's.

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    2. Tom, I am talking about the first TV listings scan, Saturday morning at 9 am. It has a Hardy Boys half hour cartoon listed. Going to go investigate that online!

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    3. Oh, wow! Didn't even see that. I don't recall that either. Let me know what you find out!

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    4. This is what I found on Wikipedia:

      In 1969, the American Broadcasting Company aired a Saturday morning cartoon series based on the Hardy Boys; the series was produced by Filmation and ran from 1969 to 1971. In this series, the Hardys were members of a rock and roll band. A group of professional musicians performed all the songs on the series, and toured across the United States. The animated series produced two bubblegum music albums "of moderate quality with no commercial success."The series was notable for being the first cartoon to include a black character.The show took note of current concerns; although aimed at a young audience, some plot lines dealt with illegal drugs, and the animated Frank and Joe spoke directly to children about not smoking and the importance of wearing seat belts.

      Here is a pic: http://www.planetdiecast.com/hwdphotos/originals/110/1350/Cartoon_Hardys_2_copy.jpg

      Cannot say I remember this show at all.

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