What's on TV? Wednesday, September 19, 1979

This week we're back in the Twin Cities, in an issue from my own personal collection. At first glance, it looks to be to be as thick as the Minnesota State Editions I used to get when I lived in The World's Worst Town™, even though we only have listings for six stations. The reason? Ads. You can't turn a page without seeing one, two, perhaps three ads for various shows. They're bold, with lots of wide black striping and white lettering. In isolation, it perhaps looks crisp and easy to read, but when you see them bunched one after another, the effect is cluttered and cramped, hard on the eyes, and the busyness of the page makes it difficult to find and focus on the listings. But that's progress.

	-2- KTCA (PBS)
	MORNING
	7:45	A.M. WEATHER
	8 AM	SESAME STREET—Children
	9 AM	MISTER ROGERS—Children
	9:30	FREESTYLE
	10 AM	ONCE UPON A CLASSIC—Children “The Copter Kids”
	11 AM	ONCE UPON A CLASSIC—Children “The Secret Garden”
	11:30	SESAME STREET—Children
	AFTERNOON
	12:30	MISTER ROGERS—Children
	1 PM	ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
	1:30	ISSUES IN WORLD COMMUNICATIONS
	2 PM	OVER EASY—Hugh Downs Guests: Robert and Anthony Alda
	2:30	DICK CAVETT Guest: John Ehrlichman
	3 PM	MEETING OF MINDS—Discussion
	4 PM	MISTER ROGERS—Children
	4:30	SESAME STREET—Children
	5:30	ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
	EVENING
	6 PM	ONCE UPON A CLASSIC—Children “The Secret Garden,” Part 2
	6:30	MacNEIL/LEHRER REPORT
	7 PM	DICK CAVETT Guest: John Ehrlichman (part 2)
	7:30	DANCING DISCO—Instruction
	8 PM	GREAT PERFORMANCES—Music
	9:30	IRISH TREASURES—Art
	10 PM	RIPPING YARNS—Comedy
	10:30	BILL MOYERS’ JOURNAL
	11 PM	BLACK MAN’S LAND—Documentary Special

Quite a difference from earlier schedules for Channel 2, as by this time it's a full-day programming schedule, without the classroom programming of a few years earlier. I'm really sorry to have missed Dancing Disco, though.

	-4- WCCO (CBS)
	MORNING
	6 AM	WEDNESDAY MORNING
	7 AM	ALLAN’S WINDOW—Children
	7:30	CAPTAIN KANGAROO
	8 AM	PHIL DONAHUE
	9 AM	CROSS-WITS—Game Guests: Marty Allen, Rita Moreno, Orson Bean, Barbara Cason
	9:30	WHEW!—Game
	9:55	NEWS
	10 AM	PRICE IS RIGHT—Game
	11 AM	YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
	11:30	SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial
	AFTERNOON
	Noon	MIDDAY
	12:30	AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial
	1:30	GUIDING LIGHT—Serial
	2:30	ONE DAY AT A TIME
	3 PM	JOKER’S WILD—Game
	3:30	MIKE DOUGLAS Guests: Burt Reynolds, George Hamilton, Lesley-Anne Down
	5 PM	NEWS
	5:30	CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite
	EVENING
	6 PM	NEWS
	6:30	PM MAGAZINE
	7 PM	LAST RESORT—Comedy Debut
	7:30	STRUCK BY LIGHTNING Debut
	8 PM	MOVIE—Comedy-Drama “Sex and the Single Parent” (Made-for-TV; 1979)
	10 PM	NEWS
	10:30	MARCUS WELBY, M.D.—Drama
	11:30	BONANZA—Western
	12:30	NEWS
	1 AM	PHIL DONAHUE
	2 AM	NEWS
	4 AM	NEWS

 

Allan's Window, hosted by Allen Lotsberg, is the last kids' show on Twin Cities television. Lotsberg is, to this day, well-loved as Willie Ketchem on the Clancy and Willie show of years past. I suppose we should be grateful to have had these shows for as long as we did.

	-5- KSTP (ABC)
	MORNING
	6 AM	NEWS
	6:20	COUNTRY DAY
	7 AM	GOOD MORNING AMERICA—David Hartman Guest: Psycic Ruth Montgomery
	9 AM	TWIN CITIES TODAY
	10 AM	LAVERNE & SHIRLEY
	10:30	FAMILY FEUD—Game
	11 AM	$20,000 PYRAMID—Game Sal Viscuso, Elaine Joyce
	11:30	RYAN’S HOPE
	AFTERNOON
	Noon	ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial
	1 PM	ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial
	2 PM	GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial
	3 PM	MATCH GAME
	3:30	STARSKY & HUTCH—Crime Drama
	4:30	HAPPY DAYS AGAIN—Comedy
	5 PM	HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy
	5:30	ABC NEWS—Frank Reynolds
	EVENING
	6 PM	NEWS
	6:30	MATCH GAME PM Bart Braverman, Robert Walden, Betty White, Brianne Leary, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly
	7 PM	EIGHT IS ENOUGH
	8 PM	CHARLIE’S ANGELS
	9 PM	VEGA$—Crime Drama
	10 PM	NEWS
	10:30    11:40	LOVE BOAT BARETTA
	12:50	NEWS
	1:20	DOCTOR WHO—Science Fiction “Seeds of Doom,” Part 4
	1:50	THRILLSEEKERS
	2 AM	NEWS
	2:20	MOVIE—Western “Bugles in the Afternoon” (1952)
	5 AM	TO BE ANNOUNCED

 

A serious breech of etiquette in the credits for Doctor Who, where Tom Baker is listed as "Dr. Who" rather than "The Doctor." Of course, that's the way his character is listed in the show's end credits as well - they wouldn't make that change for another few seasons. That's what happens when your character has an ambiguous name.

 

	-9- KMSP (Ind.)
	MORNING
	6 AM	700 CLUB—Religion
	7 AM	UNDERDOG—Cartoon
	7:30	BULLWINKLE—Cartoon
	8 AM	POPEYE—Cartoon
	8:30	ARCHIES—Cartoon
	9 AM	DINAH! Guests: Chuck Wollery, Mimi Kennedy, Teri DeSario, Richard Simmons, Jay Johnson, Kazoos Brothers
	10:30	GONG SHOW—Game
	11 AM	MEDICAL CENTER—Drama
	AFTERNOON
	Noon	NOON ON NINE
	12:30	ROOM 222—Comedy-Drama
	1 PM	BOLD ONES—Drama The New Doctors
	2 PM	BEST OF GROUCHO—Comedy BW
	2:30	KROFFT SUPERSTARS—Children
	3 PM	CASPER—Cartoon
	3:30	POPEYE—Cartoons
	4 PM	MUNSTERS—Comedy BW
	4:30	GILLIGAN’S ISLAND
	5 PM	BRADY BUNCH—Comedy
	5:30	DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy BW
	EVENING
	6 PM	TIC TAC DOUGH—Game
	6:30	GOOD TIMES—Comedy
	7 PM	GUNSMOKE—Western
	8 PM	KOJAK—Crime Drama
	9 PM	SANFORD AND SON—Comedy
	9:30	NEWS
	10 PM	ALL IN THE FAMILY
	10:30	JIM ROCKFORD PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR—Crime Drama
	11 PM	STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO—Crime Drama
	11:40	BARETTA—Crima Drama
	12:30	PERRY MASON BW
	1:30	TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama BW

 

It's been around a year since The Great Affiliate Switch, in which ABC went from Channel 9 to Channel 5 and NBC went from Channel 5 to Channel 11, leaving Channel 9 as the Twin Cities' independent station. And they've assembled a pretty good lineup of programs over that time, shows like The Bold Ones that weren't always commonly seen in syndicated lineups. Before long, they'd be one of the nation's top-rated independent stations.

	11 WTCN (NBC)
	MORNING
	6 AM	PTL CLUB—Religion
	7 AM	TODAY—Tom Brokaw Guest: Ivan Tors
	9 AM	CARD SHARKS—Game
	9:30	HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game Conrad Bain, Barbi Benton, John Byner, George Gobel, Joan Rivers, Elke Sommer, Leslie Uggams, Jimmie Walker, Wayland & Madame
	10 AM	HIGH ROLLERS—Game
	10:30	WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game
	11 AM	MINDREADERS—Game Fred Travelena, Marcia Wallace
	11:30	PASSWORD—Game Wesley Bure, Debralee Scott
	AFTERNOON
	Noon	DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial
	1 PM	DOCTORS—Serial
	1:30	ANOTHER WORLD—Serial
	3 PM	MERV GRIFFIN Guests: David Brenner, Doc Severinsen, the Ritchie Family, Greg Evigan, J.J. Walker, Maureen McGovern
	4:30	CAROL BURNETT AND FRIENDS—Comedy
	5 PM	M*A*S*H—Comedy
	5:30	NBC NEWS—Chancellor/Brinkley
	EVENING
	6 PM	NEWS
	6:30	NEWLYWED GAME
	7 PM	REAL PEOPLE
	8 PM	MOVIE—Drama “Mrs. R’s Daughter” (Made-for-TV; 1979)
	10 PM	NEWS
	10:30	JOHNNY CARSON Guests: Dolly Parton, Patrick Duffy, Henny Youngman
	Mid.	TOMORROW—Tom Snyder
	1 AM	DATING GAME
	1:30	BEWITCHED—Comedy
	2 AM	FAMILY AFFAIR—Comedy
	2:30	LUCY SHOW
	3 AM	MAYBERRY R.F.D.—Comedy
	3:30	GONG SHOW—Game
	4 AM	IRONSIDE—Crime Drama
	5 AM	WHAT’S NEW?

 

This is so typically NBC at the end of the '70s. I'm not entirely sure what it says about a network that its highest-rated show is Real People.

	17 KTCI (PBS)
	AFTERNOON
	5:30	VILLA ALEGRE—Children
	EVENING
	6 PM	DICK CAVETT
	6:30	MacNEIL/LEHRER REPORT
	7 PM	MISTER ROGERS—Children
	7:30	ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
	8 PM	MacNEIL/LEHRER REPORT
	8:30	OVER EASY—Hugh Downs
	9 PM	BILL MOYERS’ JOURNAL
	10 PM	DICK CAVETT
	10:30	ABC NEWS—Frank Reynolds Captioned for the hearing-impaired

I've mentioned before that KTCI has gone back and forth between offering completely original PBS programming and replaying what was on KTCA earlier in the day or week. At this point in time, they're doing the latter. TV