What was on TV March 20th through 26th, 1982

I'm back from hiatus, although I'm making no promises. I have missed blogging and hope to resume a regular schedule, but life, you know?

But take it for what it is.  And what it is is another look into TV of the past.  This time from 1982.

The first few pages of this issue were water damaged, but they weren't that interesting, so let's skip to page 8.

This is how I ate supper until I was about 5.  Although we used the telephone book.

Movie theaters needn't have worried.  They survived cable, cassettes, movie discs, piracy and now streaming and show no signs of slowing down.

The letter from Mike Wallace defending his apology for the "ethnic joke" he told piqued my interest so I had to Google it. I found the answer in a 1982 article in The New York Times:

"The incident occurred in March, when Mr. Wallace was interviewing a vice president of San Diego Federal Savings and Loan for a story about fraud in the home-improvement industry, in which low-income people, particularly blacks and Spanish-speaking persons, had the mortgages on their homes foreclosed. ...according to others present, the exchange began when one person in the room said about the people who were reportedly defrauded, 'I wonder why they sign those contracts without reading them.' Mr. Wallace reportedly replied, 'They're probably too busy eating their watermelon and tacos.'"

It's hard to imagine a similar scenario today that wouldn't end in immediate termination. Mike Wallace remained with CBS news and the "60 Minutes" program through 2008. You can read the full article here.

This Saturday morning line-up is vaguely familiar yet a little foreign.  I was 13 years old at this time and was beginning to lose interest in Saturday morning TV in favor of sleeping in.  However, given this line up, I probably would have watched Superfriends, Thundarr, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, Bugs Bunny/Road Runner, Richie Rich, Scooby and Scrappy Doo, Spider-man and his Amazing Friends, Fonz, Blackstar and the ABC Weekend Special. That came out way too easily. I take that back; I'm pretty sure I was still watching at 13.

I normally spent the rest of the day watching old movies, although this looks like a particularly challenging line up.  I did like Shirley Temple movies, but I don't recall "Baby Take a Bow".  And I might have watched "Pack Up Your Troubles" with Laurel & Hardy, although I was more of an Abbott & Costello fan. Even the local PBS station programming looks lacking of interest to my 13-year-old mind.

I swear for a moment I thought Dinah Shore above was David Bowie.

"T. J. Hooker" was of course the second star vehicle for William Shatner and another chance to employ his famous acting prowess and hairpiece.

Dinah Shore again.  And I thought the right page might be an advertisement for a fourth Angel on "Charlie's Angels", but...

...it's actually an ad for Harlequin romance novels. I remember a girl I went to high school with had one of these with her at all times.

Man, Dinah Shore was all over 1979.

Block program listings begin making their appearance. I had no access to anything below Channel 30.

I vaguely recall "It's Magic Charlie Brown".  If I remember correctly, Snoopy ends up turning Charlie Brown invisible which allows him to finally kick the football from Lucy's hands.

I couldn't find the full episode, but these clips will give you an idea of "The Great Houndini".

If I recall correctly, Chachi's mom is Ellen Travolta who is John Travolta's...(Googling)...oldest sister.

Glenmarry Missioners, bringing God to the heathens of the Appalachia Mountains. They are still around and still focused on Appalachia. Aren't there heathens elsewhere?

When I first saw the drawing above and the name "Valerie Curtin", I presumed it was some relation to Jane Curtin as I saw a resemblence in the far right character.  However, though she is Jane Curtin's cousin, that's not her on the right. That's Jean Marsh.  Valerie Curtin is in the middle with the permed hair.  Inexplicably, the drawing features Jeffrey Tambor being tied up in the famous pose, but Peter Bonerz (stop your giggling) played "their obnoxious boss".

I recall watching "The Phoenix" which was an extremely short-lived  (one month) TV mid-season replacement. Based upon a 1981 made-for-TV movie, it was about "an ancient extraterrestrial named Bennu of the Golden Light, who is discovered in a sarcophagus in Peru and awakened in the 20th Century." The standout memory I have is the weird little bounce he would do with his Adam's apple whenever he was supposed to be in a trance.  You can watch the pilot here. Or just watch the intro to the show.

Seeing the promotional art for Capitol above, I'm once again reminded of how many opportunities there were for magazine illustrators back then.

♪♪You don't have to be lonely, with Sears Count-on-Comfort Sale♫

It's nice to finally put a face to "Cavity Creep".

And that concludes our visit to 1982. We now return you to 2019. I'm sorry.