What's on TV? Tuesday, January 31, 1984

The listings this week have expanded dramatically, and it's not just because we've got more local stations in the Twin Cities area than in the past. It's 1984, and we're now in the cable era that we've read so much about in older issues. It's not full-blown cablemania yet; this issue only carries program listings for nine, five of which you'll see below. Still, it's a distinct difference from, say, 1962, when at most you'd see your three network affiliates, an independent station or two, and perhaps an educational station (especially if a major university was nearby). As to whether or not cable television in 1984 is fulfilling the promise of giving us unlimited viewing opportunities? Well, you'll have to be the judge of that.

	KTCA, Channel 2 (PBS)
	Morning
	05:45a	A.M. Weather
	06:00a	College for Working Adults
	06:30a	Nightly Business Report
	07:00a	Intro to Technical and Business Communication
	07:30a	Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
	08:00a	Sesame Street
	09:00a	The Electric Company
	09:30a	3-2-1 Contact
	10:00a	High Feather
	10:30a	Quilting
	11:00a	World of Cooking
	11:30a	Sesame Street
	Afternoon
	12:30p	Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
	01:00p	Movie – “Sleeping Car to Trieste” (B&W)
	03:00p	Over Easy (guest Margaret Whiting)
	03:30p	Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
	04:00p	Sesame Street
	05:00p	3-2-1 Contact
	05:30p	Nightly Business Report
	Evening
	06:00p	MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour
	07:00p	Nature
	08:00p	Nova
	09:00p	Seeing Things
	10:00p	Good Neighbors
	10:30p	To the Manor Born
	11:00p	The Pallisters
	12:00a	Latenight America

In contrast to many of the KTCA listings of weeks gone by, the PBS affiliate has gone to a comprehensive, all-day broadcasting format. Still a number of reruns during the day, but it's nice to see that a couple of early-morning programs retain the educational spirit of the station's original mission, including College for Working Adults, the de facto successor to Sunrise Semester.

	WCCO, Channel 4 (CBS)
	Morning
	05:00a	News (local)
	05:30a	CBS Morning News (Bill Kurtis, Diane Sawyer)
	08:00a	Phil Donahue
	09:00a	Hour Magazine (guest Mariette Hartley)
	10:00a	The Price is Right
	11:00a	The Young and the Restless
	Afternoon
	12:00p	Noon Report
	12:30p	As the World Turns
	01:30p	Capitol
	02:00p	Guiding Light
	03:00p	Tattletales
	03:30p	Wheel of Fortune
	04:00p	Breakaway (guest James Farentino)
	05:00p	News (local)
	05:30p	CBS Evening News with Dan Rather
	Evening
	06:00p	News (local)
	06:30p	PM Magazine
	07:00p	Hallmark Hall of Fame – “The Master of Ballantrae”
	10:00p	News (local)
	10:30p	The Jeffersons
	11:00p	Magnum, P.I.
	12:10a	McCloud
	01:30a	CBS News

As I mentioned on Saturday, the Hallmark Hall of Fame, which has moved from longtime host NBC to CBS, still specializes in classical programming, although it's gone from staged dramas to movies. Alas, this won't last much longer.

	KSTP, Channel 5 (ABC)
	Morning
	05:00a	Entertainment Tonight
	05:30a	Health Field
	06:00a	News (local)
	07:00a	Good Morning America (interview with President Reagan, guests Tom Sellick, Jack Klugman)
	09:00a	Family
	10:00a	Benson
	10:30a	Loving
	11:00a	Family Feud
	11:30a	Ryan’s Hope
	Afternoon
	12:00p	All My Children
	01:00p	One Life to Live
	02:00p	General Hospital
	03:00p	Good Company
	04:00p	Eight is Enough
	05:00p	News (local)
	05:30p	ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings
	Evening
	06:00p	News (local)
	06:30p	Entertainment Tonight
	07:00p	Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders
	07:30p	Happy Days
	08:00p	Three’s Company
	08:30p	Oh Madeline
	09:00p	Hart to Hart
	10:00p	News (local)
	10:30p	Nightline
	11:30p	Movie – “Rodeo Girl”
	01:25a	Movie – “Imitation of Life”
	04:00a	Film
	04:30a	Film

I did not remember that Madeline Kahn had her own sitcom, and Oh Madeline didn't really do her any favors, running for only 22 episodes. Perhaps her talent was too big for the small screen, that TV just couldn't harness it all.

	KMSP, Channel 9 (Ind.)
	Morning
	05:00a	News (local)
	05:30a	Jimmy Swaggart
	06:00a	Gary Randall
	06:30a	:20 Minute Workout
	07:00a	Superfriends
	07:30a	Tom and Jerry
	08:00a	The Flintstones
	08:30a	Great Space Coaster
	09:00a	Carter Country
	09:30a	Morning Stretch
	10:00a	Woman to Woman (fest Betty Freidan)
	11:00a	The Big Valley
	Afternoon
	12:00p	News (local)
	01:00p	Love Connection
	01:30p	The Joker’s Wild
	02:00p	Tic Tac Dough
	02:30p	Gilligan’s Island
	03:00p	Scooby-Doo
	03:30p	Woody Woodpecker
	04:00p	Little House on the Prairie
	05:00p	The Love Boat
	Evening
	06:00p	Taxi
	06:30p	The People’s Court
	07:00p	Hodag Country Music Festival
	09:00p	News (local)
	10:00p	Taxi
	10:30p	The Rockford Files
	11:30p	Top 40 Videos
	12:00a	Thicke of the Night (guests Ann Turkel, Dana Hall, Linda Hopkins, Whitney Btown)
	01:30a	Movie – “The Domino Principle”
	03:30a	Movie – “Death Squad”

KMSP has done a nice job building its programming in the years since it went from being an ABC affiliate to an independent. You'll notice that it's the station that carries Thicke of the Night, which we talked about on Saturday. I think their programming was more creative when they first went independent - you saw a lot of programs that hadn't been on for awhile, series like Gunsmoke, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Nanny and the Professor. By now, it's heavily slanted to more recent network series. 

	WTCN, Channel 11 (NBC)
	Morning
	05:00a	The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
	05:30a	My Three Sons
	06:00a	Ag Day
	06:30a	NBC News (John Dancy)
	07:00a	Today (retirement of Edwin Newman)
	09:00a	The Facts of Life
	09:30a	Sale of the Century
	10:00a	Wheel of Fortune
	10:30a	Dream House
	11:00a	Mary Tyler Moore
	11:30a	Search for Tomorrow
	Afternoon
	12:00p	Days of Our Lives
	01:00p	Another World
	01:30p	Merv Griffin (guests Betty Buckley, Olympic Coach Jack Page)
	02:00p	Match Game-Hollywood Squares (panelists Constance McCashin, Tom Poston, Larry Manetti)
	03:00p	Bob Newhart
	03:30p	Alice
	04:00p	Special Treat
	05:00p	Newscope
	05:30p	News (local)
	Evening
	06:00p	NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw
	06:30p	Family Feud
	07:00p	The A-Team
	08:00p	Riptide
	09:00p	Remington Steele
	10:00p	News (local)
	10:35p	M*A*S*H
	11:05p	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (guests Linda Ronstadt, George Carlin)
	12:05a	Late Night with David Letterman
	01:05a	News (local)
	01:40a	Movie – “Bad Company”
	03:30a	Mission: Impossible
	04:30a	Mary Tyler Moore

I think we should note the Today show, which includes a tribute to Edwin Newman on the occasion of his retirement. Newman was one of the mainstays of NBC for many, many years, and his name has popped up in these listings frequently, usually as host of one of the morning news updates. He was one of the most erudite, witty, thoughtful newsmen ever on television, and even today, years after his death, he's still better than what passes for most on-air talent today.

	KTCI, Channel 17 (PBS)
	Afternoon
	05:00p	Sesame Street
	Evening
	06:00p	Nightly Business Report
	06:30p	Over Easy
	07:00p	Austin City Limits
	08:00p	MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour
	09:00p	Nova
	10:00p	American Playhouse

KTCI, the secondary PBS affiliate in the Twin Cities, has always had something of an identity crisis. For awhile the station simply replayed KTCA's PBS programming in off-hour timeslots, then it went through a spell when it contained entirely original programming. To be honest, I'm not sure what it does right now, but I'll be finding out shortly.

	WFBT, Channel 29 (Ind.)
	Morning
	06:00a	Jim Bakker
	07:00a	Breakfast with Casey Jones
	08:30a	D. James Kennedy
	09:00a	700 Club
	10:30a	Jimmy Swaggart
	11:00a	Jim Bakker
	Afternoon
	12:00p	Rejoice
	12:30p	Another Life
	01:00p	That Girl
	02:30p	Treasure Hunt
	03:00p	Family Affair
	03:30p	Inspector Gadget
	04:00p	The Lone Ranger
	04:30p	F Troop (B&W)
	05:00p	Get Smart
	05:30p	Dick Van Dyke (B&W)
	Evening
	06:00p	Soar with the Eagles
	06:30p	700 Club
	08:00p	Jim Bakker
	09:00p	Hungry Eyes
	10:00p	Rejoice
	10:30p	Emergency!
	11:30p	Movie – “Svengali” (B&W)

WFBT is one of the newer independent stations; as you can see, it consists entirely of religious and family programming, the FBT standing for "Family Bible Television." It later became KITN, and now it's WFTC, the MyTV affiliate.

	KXLI, Channel 41 (St. Cloud) (Ind.)
	Morning
	06:00a	Biznet News
	08:00a	Cartoon Carnival
	08:30a	The Muppet Show
	09:00a	Daniel Boone
	10:00a	The Streets of San Francisco
	11:00a	Hawaii Five-O
	Afternoon
	12:00p	FNN Financial News
	01:00p	The Millionaire (B&W)
	01:30p	Burns and Allen (B&W)
	02:00p	Our Miss Brooks (B&W)
	02:30p	Andy Griffith (B&W)
	03:00p	My Favorite Martian
	03:30p	He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
	04:00p	Inspector Gadget
	04:30p	The Twilight Zone (B&W)
	05:00p	Leave it to Beaver (B&W)
	05:30p	One Day at a Time
	Evening
	06:00p	M*A*S*H
	06:30p	WKRP in Cincinnati
	07:00p	Family
	08:00p	Movie – “Three for the Show”
	10:00p	The Jeffersons
	10:30p	The Rockford Files
	11:30p	Alfred Hitchcock Presents (B&W)
	12:00a	FNN Financial News

KXLI was a St. Cloud station available to Twin Cities viewers with one of those loop antennas. We never got a particularly clear picture, but it didn't matter back then, because KXLI, known as "TV Heaven," was one of the most entertaining stations in the cities. This was its second, less-successful, go-round as TV Heaven; while the afternoon programming is pretty good, the prime-time lineup is underwhelming. Back in its original incarnation, TV Heaven had theme nights: crime on Monday, war on Tuesday, and so on. It's how we got to see some fairly rare (in pre-DVD days) programs, including 12 O'Clock High, Mr. and Mrs. North, Mike Hammer (the Darrin McGavin version), The Fugitive, Combat!, and a host of others. I still miss that station.

	ESPN
	Morning
	05:00a	Business Times
	07:00a	SportsCenter
	07:15a	Sidelines
	07:45a	SportsCenter
	08:00a	College Basketball (Tennessee at Kentucky)
	10:00a	College Basketball (Georgetown at Syracuse)
	Afternoon
	12:00p	Skiing
	02:00p	College Basketball (Tennessee at Kentucky)
	04:00p	College Basketball (Georgetown at Syracuse)
	Evening
	06:00p	Sports Center
	06:30p	This Week in the NBA
	07:00p	Saviors, Saints & Sinners
	08:00p	College Basketball (Maryland at Virginia)
	10:00p	SportsCenter
	10:15p	College Basketball (Connecticut at Boston College)
	12:15a	Inside the PGA Tour
	12:45a	The Fishin’ Hole
	01:15a	SportsCenter
	01:30a	College Basketball (Maryland at Virginia)
	03:30a	Boxing Highlights

You know, I had completely forgotten that ESPN used to carry business programming in the early morning hours, but before it became a lifestyle network, it had to have something to show at 5 a.m. Frankly, I think it was an improvement over what it carries now. You can see that instead of endless replays of SportsCenter, the daytime lineup is filled with endless replays of the previous night's games. Besides the 6 p.m. SportsCenter, the primetime lineup consists of the weekly NBA newsmagazine, a documentary on the 1980 NFL season, and a single live college basketball game. Today, that college game would start at 6 p.m., and would be the first game of at least three, if not four, games.

	HBO
	Morning
	05:00a	Predators
	06:00a	Seal Pup
	06:30a	Movie – “Threshold”
	08:30a	Best of Consumer Reports
	09:00a	Movie – “Kiss Me Goodbye”
	11:00a	Movie – “The Terry Fox Story”
	Afternoon
	01:00p	Movie – “Threshold”
	03:00p	Seal Pup
	03:30p	Predators
	04:30p	Movie – “Kiss Me Goodbye”
	Evening
	06:30p	Best of Consumer Reports
	07:00p	George Burns
	08:00p	Movie – “The Terry Fox Story”
	10:00p	Movie – “Forced Vengeance”
	11:35p	Movie – “Threshold”
	01:10a	George Burns
	02:10a	Movie – “The Terry Fox Story”
	03:50a	Movie – “Forced Vengeance”

HBO has yet to go into original programming in a big way, aside from the George Burns special on tonight. Four movies constitute most of today's schedule, and you're going to get at least two or three chances to see each one. 

	WTBS
	Morning
	05:00a	CNN News
	06:00a	Funtime
	06:35a	I Dream of Jeannie
	07:05a	Bewitched
	07:35a	I Love Lucy
	08:00a	Movie – “’Til We Meet Again” (B&W)
	10:05a	Catlins
	10:35a	Texas
	11:05a	Perry Mason
	Afternoon
	12:05p	Movie – “Torpedo Bay”
	02:05p	The Flintstones
	02:30p	Battle of the Planets
	03:00p	The Munsters (B&W)
	03:35p	The Brady Bunch
	04:05p	Leave it to Beaver (B&W)
	04:35p	The Beverly Hillbillies
	05:05p	Little House on the Prairie
	Evening
	06:05p	Carol Burnett and Friends
	06:35p	NBA Basketball (Atlanta at Washington)
	08:50p	News
	10:00p	All in the Family
	10:30p	Catlins
	11:00p	Movie – “The Art of Love”
	01:05a	Movie – “Beach Ball”
	02:50a	Search for the Nile
	03:50a	The Rat Patrol
	04:20a	The World at Large
	04:30a	Jimmy Swaggart

TBS - excuse me, WTBS - has already latched on to it's famous 5/35 schedule, making it stand out from the rest of the stations. It also makes it much more challenging for the typist trying to record these listings for his faithful readers. The Turner Superstation has very little original programming at this point; in fact, you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish this lineup from any of the independent stations in most cities.

	USA
	Morning
	05:00a	Movie – “The Wooden Horse” (B&W) (from 4:00a)
	06:00a	Cartoon Express
	07:00a	Calliope
	08:00a	Alive & Well! (guest Jon “Bowzer” Bauman)
	10:00a	Designs for Living
	10:30a	Great American Homemaker
	11:00a	Movie – “The Wooden Horse”
	Afternoon
	01:00p	Sonya
	02:00p	Alive & Well! (guest Jon “Bowzer” Bauman)
	04:00p	Hot Spots
	05:00p	Cartoon Express
	Evening
	06:00p	Radio 1990
	06:30p	Dragnet
	07:00p	NHL All-Star Game
	10:00p	College Basketball (Mississippi at Auburn)
	12:00a	NHL All-Star Game
	03:00a	College Basketball (Mississippi at Auburn)

Back in 1984, USA was home of the National Hockey League, which had by this time departed network television. I was never fortunate enough to see their coverage; at this point in history, Minneapolis city government was embroiled in a political battle over selecting a cable company to provide coverage to the city, with the result that we still didn't have it. I've been told USA was quite good, though. Quite a difference in their programming from today, with their endless NCIS marathons. Of course, NCIS hadn't been created yet.

	WGN
	Morning
	05:00a	Chico and the Man
	05:30a	Faith 20
	06:00a	Top O’ the Morning
	06:30a	The Muppet Show
	07:00a	Bozo the Clown
	09:00a	Movie – “Shadow over Elveron”
	11:00a	Family
	Afternoon
	12:00p	News (local)
	01:00p	Rhoda
	01:30p	Andy Griffith (B&W)
	02:00p	I Dream of Jeannie
	02:30p	Alvin and the Chipmunks
	03:00p	Superfriends
	03:30p	Scooby-Doo
	04:00p	Charlie’s Angeles
	05:30p	WKRP in Cincinnati
	Evening
	06:00p	Barney Miller~
	06:30p	The Jeffersons
	07:00p	Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
	09:30p	INN News (Bosh/Harper)
	10:00p	Soap
	10:30p	The Love Boat
	11:35p	Movie – “Ride to Glory”
	02:00a	INN News (Bosh/Harper)
	02:30a	Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
	03:00a	Movie – “Night in Paradise”

This is the real WGN, home of Chicago Cubs baseball, and not the fake WGN "America" we get today if we live outside Chicagoland. And why do they insist on retaining the WGN moniker? Can't they think of anything better? After all, there's absolutely nothing WGN-ish about WGN America. Of course, there wasn't anything particularly national in scope about WGN back in 1984, either. As a matter of fact, they look a lot like WTBS, don't they? TV