What's on TV? Wednesday, October 8, 1980

If you've paid attention to these Minnesota State Editions, you'll notice the ways they've changed over the years. A half-dozen or so channels have changed call letters since the statewide editions of the early 1960s, and WXOW in LaCrosse doesn't even come on the scene until 1970; meanwhile, in thenew  in the Twin Cities, three stations change their affiliations. There are also several PBS affiliates from around the state, but I didn't include them because their programming was mostly redundant. I did, however, share what you'd be seeing on Superstation WGN.

This week in TV Guide: October 4, 1980

Whis week, Ed Asner and Mason Adams, the stars of Lou Grant, are on the cover, and with a name like Lou Grant it has to be good, right?*

*Bonus points to anyone who gets that joke.  If you're not sure, here's a clue.

Seriously, I digress from this TV Guide for a moment to take a look at the issue of April 23, 1977. In the TV Teletype, we read a story about how Asner's going to be doing a new CBS series this fall about the newspaper business. Asner describes the show, to be set in Los Angeles, as a "modern epic," capturing "the ambiance of a newspaper." He admits he's a bit nervous, never having carried an hour-long series before: "I have yet to meet a happy hour-series star," but adds that the show will be about 30% comedy. The writer of the blurb notes that it will have seven recurring characters.

What's interesting here is that nowhere is the name of the series mentioned, nor that it will be spinning off Asner's character from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Did they even know it would be at this point? Was it something that was added later on, as if they decided the show needed an extra hook? Or were they shying away from it, fearful that viewers would be leery of a sitcom character being spun off into a drama? The always-reliable Wikipedia is no help here, although it does note that none of the main characters from MTM were ever seen or even referenced to in the series, and that the only crossover character to ever appear on both shows was Eileen Heckart as Mary's aunt Flo, a recurring bit in the former series who made a single appearance in the later. So, what's the scoop* here? Inquiring minds want to know.

*A little newspaper lingo there.

The article itself is about Adams, and mentions his famous Smuckers commercial among the extensive radio and commercial work that has distinguished his career. Amongst Lisa See's review of that career and the details of his life (voracious reader, consummate professional, adeptness at playing different voices during rehearsals), one statement stands out that tells us a lot about the life of an actor. Adams strikes me as being just about as well-adjusted as anyone in the business, and yet he's unable to escape that constant worry that unemployment is just around the corner: "I'm lucky. I've always worked. I've never had barren periods. But there's nothing you can count on. My reach has far exceeded my grasp. I guess pessimism is just my nature." Lest that sound like too much of a downer though, he adds, laughing, "Maybe it's just the fear of becoming smug."

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In many of these early October issues, I've gotten the chance to write about coverage of the World Series. But it's 1980 now, and we've got another layer of playoffs to deal with: the League Championship Series. It's quite a contrast to 1963, with the division winners in each league facing off in a best 3-of-5 series to determine who goes to the Series, but it seems positively simple if you compare it to today's setup, with three division winners and two wild card teams from each league, and an LCS that's expanded to 4-of-7. Sometimes the "Fall" Classic even ends in November, which means it's usually the month's first turkey.

At any rate, the regular season comes to an end on Sunday, with ABC's cameras on hand to cover the pivotal games in the pennant chase. Actually, I should say the season is supposed to end on Sunday, and would have if the Houston Astros had been able to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in even one of the three games they play to end the season. They don't, however, and the Dodgers' win on Sunday forces a one-game playoff which ABC covers on Monday afternoon. I remember catching that game after coming home from class; pretty much everyone expects the Dodgers to keep rolling and take Houston, but the Astros score an upset win to take the division and go on to face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

ABC has no trouble televising the League Championship Series games; the National League starts Tuesday night and continues Wednesday afternoon, while the American League starts on Wednesday night and follows up with a Thursday night game. Friday, the National League plays in the afternoon, the American League in the evening. Not so complicated, is it?  Ah, for those simpler days. And the games weren't bad, either: see for yourself, with Game 3 of the NLCS on Friday, October 10, between the Phillies and Astros in Houston.

Oh yeah, the NFL is on as well. In the Twin Cities the Vikings home game against Pittsburgh is blacked out; the rest of the state gets it on NBC, however. The late game, on CBS, has the 49ers playing the Rams in Los Angeles (or Anaheim, to be precise). The Monday night matchup on ABC has Tampa Bay taking on the Bears in Chicago. And that's it: no Sunday night game, no Thursday night game. As I said, simpler.

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Big week for movies, not surprisingly since we're still early in the fall season. On Monday, NBC features the Oscar-winning Julia, starring Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and Jason Robards. ABC's offering, on Sunday night, is a repeat of Jaws, which goes head-to-head with CBS's made-for-TV A Perfect Match, which draws its prestige from its teleplay, written by the great director/writer John Sayles. Down one rung from that is the third Sunday night movie, NBC's repeat of Burt Reynolds in The End. We won't discuss the Thursday night movie on NBC, The Castaways on Gilligan's Island, which Judith Crist describes as "tedious even with 24 of its 72 mediocre minutes cut."  At least it still has Dawn Wells as Mary Ann.

The finest show of the week is probably part two of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, airing on Monday night as part of Great Performances on PBS. If you're only familiar with the big-screen version that came out a few years ago, you really should invest the time in this; it's an exceptional six-part adaptation of John le Carré's spy thriller, starring the incomparable Alec Guinness as master spy George Smiley. It's really one of the finest shows of its type to appear on television—well, you can start here with episode one.

The prime complaint I've had through the years with le Carré's writing is the moral ambiguity of it all, as he attempts to draw some level of equivalency between the actions of the American and Soviet spies. It fits in perfectly with the times, however: in 1980, as today, the United States is a country struggling to find out what it really stands for.

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Speaking of the miniseries, in 1980 it remains a force to be reckoned with. TV Update tells us of NBC's massive success with Shōgun; the gamble to kick off the season with the 12-hour drama pays big dividends, the estimated 125 million viewers and 51% share making it the second-highest rated miniseries of all time, outdone only by the original Roots.

In other news from the update, a follow-up on the Reagan-Anderson presidential debate, which President Carter boycotted (he didn't think the independent candidate John Anderson should be included). ABC indeed stuck with Midnight Express because of President Carter's absence, but even with one major and one minor candidate and only two networks, the debate scored 42% of all viewers in New York, 44% in Chicago, and 44% in Los Angeles. Express, meanwhile, drew 42% and 39% in New York and Chicago; Priscilla Presley's Those Amazing Animals, which aired against the debate on the West Coast, scored a mere 24% in Los Angeles.

Finally, "ABC has agreed to grant Kaiser Aluminum air time to reply to a report on 20/20 that asserted that aluminum wiring for homes is unsafe."  All the two sides have to do now is decide how much time Kaiser will get, and when it will be broadcast.

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The cross-section of decades represented by these TV Guides gives testimony not only to the role of television within culture, but to the shape of the culture itself, as we can see from some of this week's articles.

In the 1950s, Howdy Doody stirred controversy by asking whether or not children should be watching the same kinds of shows as adults. Back then, it meant the manic comedy of a Milton Berle. This week, Marlo Thomas writes about the role television plays in presenting "the facts of life." It's a companion piece to Thomas' controversial Body Human special "The Facts for Girls," running Tuesday afternoon on CBS. Says Thomas, "Using television to bring accurate, straightforward information about sexual facts and feelings into the home can provide a starting point of shared feelings and information." Almost seems quaintly naive today, doesn't it?  It's a far cry from the '50s and '60s, when dramatists had so much trouble writing about adult themes, but it's also light years away from today's television, when even broadcast networks present decidedly adult topics with a frankness that might have made people in the '80s blush. Or maybe not; I don't know.

Speaking of which, there's also a very interesting article by Richard D. Heffner on what the movie ratings system really means. Heffner, who produces David Susskind's Open End* program and teaches communications and public policy at Rutgers, is also the chairman of the Classification and Rating Administration, which helps determine what a movie's rating is.

*Also known, by Susskind's detractors, as Open Mouth.

Among other things, Heffner points out that nothing is actually prohibited in today's movies: "Nothing is banned by our system, or refused a rating." And in answer to the question (posed by himself; Heffner the college professor interviews Heffner the CARA chairman) "Don't you ever want to refuse even your ultimate X rating to some of the awful things you see?" he replies, "Don't you think I share your sensibilities, your outrage, your disgust at some of what appears on the screen? Believe me, I do. . . But as an erstwhile American historian, I'm convinced that the price of film censorship in this country would be too great." The Production Code, which held sway until 1968, had gradually given way in the face of competition from television, and the movie audiences' increasing willingness to make box office smashes out of movies that didn't receive the code. (Some Like It Hot, for one.) Again, this article tells us much about how the times have changed, particularly in regards to sex and violence, and how they'll continue to morph.

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Last but not least, there's a full-page ad at the beginning of the programming section touting a new and revolutionary network that will change the way you consume news. Ta-da!

Take a look at that programming guide.  Gotta say, it looks a hell of a lot better than what CNN has on today.  Back when they had, you know, actual news. TV

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Around the dial

The fall of 1978 is an interesting time for me. It was when I started college, and stopped paying so much attention to TV. And at Comfort TV, David's up to primetime Thursdays in 1978. What do I remember most? Those shows starting C.B.S.

John's series of Patricia Hayes appearances wraps up in this week's Cult TV Blog with her performance in "You Talk Too Much," a play in the Centre Play anthology series, and his review of this series of essays.

Patrick McGoohan's always worth watching in anything, and that includes the movie that Rick reviews this week at Classic Film & TV Cafe: All Night Long, a jazz version of Othello, with our man Pat as the Iago character. Definitely a TV watch!

Time for Murder: well, is there ever a bad time for murder? Boy, that's a dangerous attitude to have, isn't it? However, it's also the title of the TV chiller that Paul reviews at Drunk TV: six British tales of mystery and suspence. And, I'm betting, murder!

And more Mavis Movie Madness: this time it's season two of Bronco, which is actually its first season as a stand-alone series, after Bronco Layne (Ty Hardin) was basically a stand-in on Cheyenne during Clint Walker's contract dispute.

Hey, it's something new at Shadow & Substance, which is always a cause for cheer. This week, it's a quick look at the teaser for the sesaon five Twilight Zone opener "In Praise of Pip," one of TV's first mentions of Vietnam. Ah, if only the rest of the season were this good.

I don't know why The View from the Junkyard always seems to be bringing up the end  of these weekly wrap ups, but maybe it's a case of saving the best for last. It's The A-Team at the ballet! Well, sort it out for yourself as Roger looks at "The A-Team Is Coming..."  TV

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The reel story

There's a great addendum to Monday's listings that was brought to my attention by one of our readers, and for a moment I'd considered using it as the little coda to the listings, but upon further reflection I decided this might deserve a piece of its own. (It's also true that I didn't have anything else planned for the day, but we'll overlook that for now.)

It concerns the 1962 movie The Notorious Landlady, which was shown on the CBS Thursday Night Movie. It's not a particularly controversial movie, not one that sparked a huge uproar or anything like that. (In case you're curious, you can read a decent summary of the movie here.) Nor was the movie interrupted by a breaking news story, or anything like that. No, what happened here was, for lack of a better description, a very special something: the film reels were run in the wrong sequence.

You read that right. Back in the day, movies on television were shown the same way they were in theaters: by playing them on reels. And while various accounts differ somewhat on the precise mechanics, the basic event is consistent: CBS jumped ahead in the story, eventually realized what had happened, stopped the movie, had an announcer apologize*, and then replayed enough of the film to restore the proper sequence.The mistake stretched what was supposed to be a 2¼-hour broadcast to roughly three hours.

*The reader who brought this to my attention, who happened to have seen the broadcast himself, reported that "They stopped the film and after a short break the announcer did a voiceover: 'we were out of sequence. We now return in sequence'." He noted that the announcement was "not the most well-written," but then, I suspect they don't have a specific entry in the book covering "movie shown out of order." 

Now, all of this is a great story in itself, and it happens in this very issue. Needless to say, it garnered a fair amount of attention at the time; Time called it "a classic goof," and who doesn't enjoy one of those every once in a while. But, as is so often the case, the "rest of the story" is where you find the most telling details. In that same Time article, the magazine noted that "Twenty-one million people watched the show, but the network got only a peep of protest." Which tells us one of two things: either the incident caught the viewers in an unusually tolerant and understanding mood, or—and this is the interpretation I prefer—the audience was so indifferent to what they were watching, or so lulled to sleep by it, that nobody noticed. In other words, the fact that a part of the movie was shown in the wrong order didn't, apparently, make any difference to those watching it.

Now, over the years, I've seen my share of movies and television programs that didn't seem to make much sense. There might even have been times when I was tempted to think that the story was being told out of sequence. But, to the best of my knowledge, I've never actually experienced it for real. (Or reel, if you prefer.)

Were this the case, that people were simply numbed to the experience, it would be the perfect example of television having arrived at the pinnacle of its existence. There's actually a theory used to explain such an event, called the Hypodermic Needle Theory, which dates back to the 1930s. According to this article on the "Myth of the Zombie Viewer," "This model suggested that media messages are injected directly into a passive audience, shaping thoughts and behaviours with little resistance. Under this framework, viewers had no agency—they were empty vessels waiting to be filled with whatever the broadcaster chose to transmit." As Time noted, Marshall McLuhan would have loved it.

What about you? Does any of this strike a bell as having been something you saw or remembered? TV

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What's on TV? Thursday, September 30, 1965

This is one of those days that demonstrates the accuracy of NBC's claim to be "The Full Color Network." CBS boasts of only two prime time colorcasts (My Three Sons and Gilligan's Island), while ABC's curious choice is O.K. Crackerby, co-creator Cleveland Amory's failed sitcom (17 episodes), starring Burl Ives. Who knows why—it would take someone like Dick Tracy to find out, and hopefully that's a big-enough hint to you regarding something contained in today's listings, which, as you might have figured, are from the Minnesota State Edition. And be warned: there's a bonus article on today's listings coming on Wednesday, so don't miss it!