What was on TV December 26th, 1981 through January 1st, 1982

The week between Christmas and New Year's was always prime TV viewing for me, being off for two weeks from school. Let's take a look at that week in 1981. Excuse the skewed images. The spine was broke on this issue.

"With cups so small a raindrop could fill them." Apparently, this toy was prior to the choking preventative restrictions placed on toys.

A murder in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood of Make Believe?! I must have missed that episode.

Didn't we all have an "Uncle Toot" in the family? Don't pull his finger. Trust me.

Natalie Wood had just passed away (or had been murdered, depending on what you believe) the previous month.

The Columbia Records 1 cent promotion spanned many forms of media, from LPs to 8-track tapes to the cassette tape craze of the early '80's.

I don't recall when you could call in verdicts to The People's Court. It wasn't live, so it couldn't have influenced Judge Wapner's decision.

Thanks to Youtube (and a really old VHS tape), you can relive the New Year's Rockin' Eve countdown to 1982.

And if you didn't like Dick Clark, you could switch over to CBS's "Happy New Year, America" hosted by Donna Mills and Donnie Osmond.

Between all of the parades (that were nothing like Macy's Thanksgiving Parade) and football games, television really stunk for me on New Year's Day.

This Kmart ad hit home for me. There were so many times I received a present at Christmas requiring batteries we didn't have. As a whole, our house *never* had batteries, except maybe in my dad's flashlight which we were only allowed to observe at a distance.  I recall receiving a particular toy one year that required 3 C batteries. We had two.  My dad found a piece of wire and coiled it take up space and short the connection from the other two batteries to the contact. I can't complain, it worked.