What was on TV October 25th through 31st, 1980

I have lamented in recent TV Guide posts how I was running out of Guides to blog about, even resorting to a decidely non-vintage (by my standards) TV Guide earlier this month. Well, a couple weekends ago, I stumbled upon an amazing cache of TV Guides dating from the 1960's through the 1980's at an estate sale. They were bargain priced and I ended up with 120 of them. My first offering from this group is this October 25th through 31st, 1980 issue with an Al Hirschfeld cover. Don't forget to look for his daughter's name "Nina" hidden in the picture. Enjoy, and there will be plenty more coming in the future.

Reach out and let someone know what an idiot they were for leaving behind such cool neighbors. Wait a minute.  "David and I dressed as our fantasy of each other...". So he wishes she were a rabbit and she wishes he was a devil?  Or is it vice versa.  The wording is a little obscure.

Onion & Chive... One, two, three cartoon vegetables.  Wait a minute.  Who's onion, who's chive and who's the third wheel?!

 Apparently, this Delco car stereo only plays Eagles' tunes.

Yeah, Kraft I get it.  The next president will be "ready to serve dip"s.  Well, Kraft, I don't care for your commentary on the American electorate.  If you don't like it, move to Russia!

 I loved "Thundarr the Barbarian", but was always a little concerned with it's predictions for 1994.  That's only 14 years away, man!

CBS thought a shirtless Walter Matthau was just the thing to bring in that much-coveted "flab and hairy-chest lover" demographic.

I know the Fantasy Island montage is for dramatic effect, but either Tattoo is standing on a chair or that woman is holding him up while he shoots.

"Let's Scare Jessica to Death" is a 1971 psychological horror movie.  It was named the 87th scariest movie of all time by the Chicago Film Critics Association, so it's got that going for it.  You can watch the entire movie of Youtube (of course).

I remember being disappointed by "Mom, The Wolfman and Me".  If you're going to put "Wolfman" in your title, I'd better see some Lon Chaney, Jr. action!

Thanks, CBS.  That poorly rendered drawing of a naked Hal Linden is now permanently seared into my brain.

1980 ad: "Lose 4-6 inches of Ugly Bulge".  2015 spam email: "Gain 4-6 inches of manly bulge".

There's all kinds of wrong with the "That's Incredible" picture above.  Is he swallowing the table?  Is that part of the table leg bulging in his neck?  Are that girl's shins actually the same length as her torso???

At the advertising photo shoot for "Flo": "Okay Geoffrey, make your goofiest face.  Sudi, look constipated. Flo, make googly eyes at Geoffrey's groin.  Anonymous guy, just stand back there anonymously."

Something tells me the promise of Trick or Treats at Elaine Powers is a trap.

Wait a minute.  How come this guy could get permission to drive a car off the Grand Canyon and Evel Knievel was refused and had to buy a piece of The Snake River Canyon for his ill-fated stunt?  I smell conspiracy. On a serious note, Dar Robinson had only 6 years left before his stunts caught up with him.  From wikipedia:

On November 21, 1986, on the set of the film Million Dollar Mystery, after the completion of the main stunt, the emergency medical staff was dismissed from the set. While filming a routine high speed run by the camera with a fellow stuntman, Robinson rode his stunt motorcycle past the braking point of a turn and straight off a cliff, to his death.

"Salem's Lot", of course, is a made-for-tv movie classic.  How many children of this era are scarred by the memories of that kid scraping on the outside of Lance Kerwin's window?  I think Lance himself is scarred from it.  I've never been able to find the full 3-hour version of this.  Every VHS/DVD release and every airing I've seen of it is a condensed 2 hour (or less) version.

"Hope for president".  Why does that sound familiar...

1980 was the year Suzanne Somers' contract negotiations would go awry and spell the end of her appearance on "Three's Company".

Seriously.  Raggedy Ann & Andy in "The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile".  Even at 13, I knew this was end of what remained of the classic era of animation, and a blight on Chuck Jones' otherwise stellar career.

I always enjoyed the Bugs Bunny Howl-O-Ween specials, but the filler animation between the classic shorts was always jarring and even Mel Blanc and June Foray couldn't reproduce the voices as they were in the originals.

As cheesy as it was, I loved "Real People".

In a bit of some marketing crossover, Arnold and Loni (seen above in "The Jayne Mansfield Story") appeared in 7-Up ads around this time

Image courtesy Pinterest

"Rape and Marriage: The Rideout Case" is another pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton vehicle. It also starred Mickey Rourke. And of course it's available on Youtube.

"I'm a Big Girl Now" was to be Diana Canova's leaping off point as a supporting member of Soap to a starring role.  It lasted one season.

I wrote about "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" during last year's countdown.  It's not a bad watch and the full episode is on Youtube.

"Grand Theft Auto" was Ron Howard's 1977 directorial debut.

I hope you enjoyed this TV Guide and a return to television gone by.  Stay tuned for 119 more.