What was on TV April 21st through 27th, 1979

After a long hiatus (since 2020!), "What was on TV" returns with this April 21st through 27th, 1979 issue featuring Walter Cronkite who would retire from "The CBS Evening News" in 1980, though he would continue to work until his death in 2009.

My brother had a Citation. I recall it being a lot of trouble.

While this article is in regard to commercials aimed at selling products to children, only 2 years later all bets were off when the FCC ruled children's television shows could feature toy products themselves, such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Care Bears, Rainbow Brite, Transformers, et al.

I recall Stockard Channing being promoted as the next big star. Unfortunately, after her breakout in "Grease", her tv series failed to take off and she worked sporadically in stage, film and television throughout the rest of her career, though she did win an Emmy for her role on the TV show "The West Wing" in 2002.

As I like to do, I ponder what I would have watched on Saturday mornings at this time.  I'm fairly certain I would have started out with Scooby's All-Stars for a half-hour. At 7:30 I would be forced to break off for "The Fantastic Four". I've mentioned in previous posts, this particular cartoon was of great disappointment to me as the fourth member of the Four was a new character introduced for the cartoon: H.E.R.B.I.E. the Robot. H.E.R.B.I.E. was a replacement for The Human Torch who I felt was the coolest (no pun intended) character of the group.  While urban legend has it the Torch was replaced due to fears children would set themselves on fire emulating him, in reality, the character was already licensed out separately for a solo movie which never happened.

At 8:00 I would either turn to the old standard, "Bugs Bunny" or I might have returned for the last 30 minutes of Scooby.  8:30 I would have turned to "Superfriends".  While I was never a DC fan, I wouldn't pass up any opportunity to watch a superhero show.

That takes us to 10 a.m., where I must hang my head in shame and admit I watched (and liked) "Fangface". "Fangface" was basically Scooby Doo, except one of the characters turned into a werewolf.

10:30 is a mystery.  It doesn't look like anything was on I would be interested in, though I may have turned to the last 30 minutes of "Tarzan and the Super 7".

At 11:00, I traditionally would have watched "The ABC Weekend Special", though I don't recognize this particular episode.  "The ABC Weekend Special" was similar to "The Afterschool Special" except with less drama and morals.  Its episodes were always based on young adult and children's fiction.

By noon, I would have turned to either channel's 11 or 30 which featured serials like Tarzan and Blondie or movies featuring Abbott & Costello or Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis.

Saturdays were a full day for me.

This "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" audio tape has nothing to do with the Jack Finney story or movie.  Instead, it's a thinly-veiled attempt to get Sci Fi nerds to listen to Jack Van Impe preach about The Rapture.

I always wanted to stay at a Jellystone Park when I was a kid. We always ended up camping at the much cheaper state parks.  The waterslide was an extra draw for me as I'd never slid down one up to 1979.

I'd never heard of the game show "Whew!".  It lasted a year. Seems like an odd premise.

I remember when Carol Burnett tried to get into dramatic roles.

I'm not sure who the model is for Silva Thins, but she looks familiar.

I feel like this ad was directed at me. Okay, I know "Tom" is referring to Thomas Jefferson on the nickel.

If I recall correctly, Fonzie loses his sight when Potsie accidentally hits him in the head with a serving tray at Arnolds. Seems plausible.

You can watch "Time Express" on Youtube.  I did.  Okay, I mostly skipped through it.

These Q&A columns are always interesting.  And now I know Bing Crosby was responsible for video tape.

My first instinct is that this is Jennilee Harrison (Suzanne Somers' replacement on "Three's Company", but I could find no validation for that other than my own blog post from 2014. If it isn't Jenilee Harrison, it's still the same model as in that ad.

And that wraps up this "What was on TV" post.  See you in 2026 for the next installment.  Kidding, I'll try to do more. But seriously, no promises.