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August 14, 2017

What's on TV? Thursday, August 20, 1970

A while back - quite a while, now that I think of it - someone mentioned here that I didn't have very many issues from 1970. And by golly, they were right - at the time, I might have had one, or none at all. Although you probably know my affinities don't lay with the 1970s for a number of reasons, I have no particular animus against 1970 other than aesthetics: I don't like the TV Guide redesign. Otherwise, as I've pointed out before, the first part of the decade more closely resembles the end of the '60s than it does the rest of the '70s. For those of you who'd like to see this rectified, you'll be glad to know that this recent increase in 1970 issues (this is the second in a month) is going to continue through this year and into next year. It won't be an every-other-week kind of thing, but I'll be ramping up the frequency a little more. Right, Kenneth?

Today's issue, by the way, is from Pittsburgh, with added assistance from the surrounding areas.

 2   KDKA (CBS)

MORNING


     5:55
FARM REPORT  -C- 

     6:00
FAIR ADVENTURE

     6:30
SUMMER SEMESTER  -C- 

     7:00
NEWS  -C- 

     7:30
CBS NEWS – Benti  -C- 

     8:00
CAPTAIN KANGAROO – Children  -C- 

     9:00
CONTACT – Marie Torre  -C- 

   10:00
LUCILLE BALL  -C- 

   10:30
HILLBILLIES  -C- 

   11:00
ANDY GRIFFITH – Comedy  -C- 
         
   11:30
LOVE OF LIFE – Serial  -C- 

AFTERNOON

   12:00
NEWS  -C- 

   12:30
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW – Serial  -C- 

     1:00
MIKE DOUGLAS  -C- 
Guests Mickey Rooney, Tony Curtis, Melanie

     2:30
GUIDING LIGHT – Serial  -C- 

     3:00
SECRET STORM – Serial  -C- 

     3:30
EDGE OF NIGHT – Serial  -C- 

     4:00
GOMER PYLE  -C- 

     4:30
DAVID FROST  -C- 
Guests Zsa Zsa Gabor, Barbara Barrie, Tom Poston, Dana Vallery

EVENING


     6:00
NEWS  -C- 

     6:30
CBS NEWS – Walter Cronkite  -C- 

     7:00
NEWS  -C- 

     7:30
FAMILY AFFAIR – Comedy  -C- 

     8:00
HAPPY DAYS – Variety  -C- 
Guests Harry James, Helen Forrest

     9:00
MOVIE – Adventure
“Operation Amsterdam” (English; 1959)

   11:00
NEWS  -C- 

   11:30
MERV GRIFFIN – Variety  -C- 
Guests Count Basie, Helen Gurley Brown

     1:00
MOVIE – Drama
“Crash Landing” (1958)

You've obviously figured out that Happy Days, at 8:00 p.m., is not the same as the sitcom with Richie, the Fonz, and the Cunninghams. It's a variety show, a summer replacement for The Jim Nabors Hour, and it showcases big band performers and singers from the era, along with comedians and other acts.


 4  WTAE (ABC)

MORNING


     7:00
SEA HUNT – Adventure

     7:30
THREE STOOGES – Children

     8:00
ROMPER ROOM  -C- 

     8:50
FASHIONS IN SEWING  -C- 

     9:00
MOVIE – Drama
“Cell 2455, Death Row”

   10:30
GALLOPING GOURMET  -C- 

   11:00
BEWITCHED  -C- 
         
   11:30
THAT GIRL  -C- 

AFTERNOON

   12:00
CANDID CAMERA

   12:30
WORLD APART – Serial  -C- 

     1:00
ALL MY CHILDREN  -C- 

     1:30
LET’S MAKE A DEAL  -C- 

     2:00
NEWLYWED GAME  -C- 

     2:30
HE SAID! SHE SAID!  -C- 
Guests Alan Alda, Shelley Berman, Art James and Gene Rayburn

     3:00
GENERAL HOSPITAL  -C- 

     3:30
ADVENTURE TIME  -C- 

     4:30
HAZEL – Comedy  -C- 

     5:00
PERRY MASON – Mystery

EVENING


     6:00
NEWS  -C- 

     6:30
ABC NEWS – Reynolds/Smith  -C- 

     7:00
MISTEROGERS – Children  -C- 

     7:30
ANIMAL WORLD  -C- 

     8:00
THAT GIRL  -C- 

     8:30
BEWITCHED  -C- 

     9:00
TOM JONES  -C- 
Guests Anthony Newley, Peggy Lipton, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, John Byner

   10:00
SURVIVORS  -C- 

   11:00
NEWS  -C- 

   11:30
MOVIE – Comedy
“The Four Poster” (1952)

     1:30
DICK CAVETT  -C- 
Guest Carlos Montoya

The 9 a.m. movie, Cell 2455, Death Row, is based on the book of the same name by Caryl Chessman, one of the few people in American legal history to be executed under the "little Lindbergh" law that did not require a murder in order for kidnapping to be a capital offense. William Campbell, who for a time was married to JFK inamorata Judith Exner, plays Chessman in this movie; in a later Chessman TV movie Kill Me If You Can, he's played by Alan Alda, one of the guests on He Said! She Said! at 2:30 p.m.


 5  WDTV (CLARKSBURG) (CBS)

MORNING


     7:30
CBS NEWS – Benti  -C- 

     8:00
CAPTAIN KANGAROO – Children  -C- 

     9:00
DING DONG SCHOOL

     9:30
JIM BOWIE – Adventure

   10:00
LUCILLE BALL  -C- 

   10:30
HILLBILLIES  -C- 

   11:00
ANDY GRIFFITH – Comedy  -C- 
         
   11:30
LOVE OF LIFE – Serial  -C- 

AFTERNOON

   12:00
WHERE THE HEART IS – Serial  -C- 

   12:25
ALMANAC NEWSREEL

   12:30
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW – Serial  -C- 

     1:00
NEWS – Wade Dotson

     1:30
AS THE WORLD TURNS – Serial  -C- 

     2:00
LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING  -C- 

     2:30
GUIDING LIGHT – Serial  -C- 

     3:00
SECRET STORM – Serial  -C- 

     3:30
EDGE OF NIGHT – Serial  -C- 

     4:00
GOMER PYLE  -C- 

     4:30
UNCOVERED – Crime Drama

     5:00
RAWHIDE – Western

EVENING

     6:00
NEWS  -C- 

     6:30
CBS NEWS – Walter Cronkite  -C- 

     7:00
WILBURN BROTHERS – Music

     7:30
FAMILY AFFAIR – Comedy  -C- 

     8:00
HAPPY DAYS – Variety  -C- 
Guests Harry James, Helen Forrest

     9:00
MOVIE – Adventure
“Operation Amsterdam” (English; 1959)

   11:00
NEWS  -C- 

   11:30
MERV GRIFFIN – Variety  -C- 
Guests Count Basie, Helen Gurley Brown

Count Basie and Helen Gurley Brown on with Merv - the sublime and the ridiculous.
 9  WDTV (CLARKSBURG) (CBS)

MORNING


     7:00
CBS NEWS – Benti  -C- 

     8:00
CAPTAIN KANGAROO – Children  -C- 

     9:00
ROMPER ROOM  -C- 

     9:30
JACK LaLANNE  -C- 

   10:00
LUCILLE BALL  -C- 

   10:30
HILLBILLIES  -C- 

   11:00
ANDY GRIFFITH – Comedy  -C- 
         
   11:30
LOVE OF LIFE – Serial  -C- 

AFTERNOON

   12:00
WHERE THE HEART IS – Serial  -C- 

   12:25
NEWS  -C- 

   12:30
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW – Serial  -C- 

     1:00
TEL-ALL  -C- 

     1:30
AS THE WORLD TURNS – Serial  -C- 

     2:00
LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING  -C- 

     2:30
GUIDING LIGHT – Serial  -C- 

     3:00
SECRET STORM – Serial  -C- 

     3:30
EDGE OF NIGHT – Serial  -C- 
     4:00
GOMER PYLE  -C- 

     4:30
BATMAN – Adventure  -C- 

     5:00
BEN CASEY – Drama

EVENING

     6:00
NEWS  -C- 

     6:30
CBS NEWS – Walter Cronkite  -C- 

     7:00
COUNTRY CARNIVAL  -C- 
Guest George Riddle

     7:30
FAMILY AFFAIR – Comedy  -C- 

     8:00
HAPPY DAYS – Variety  -C- 
Guests Harry James, Helen Forrest

     9:00
MOVIE – Adventure
“Operation Amsterdam” (English; 1959)

   11:00
NEWS  -C- 

   11:30
MERV GRIFFIN – Variety  -C- 
Guests Count Basie, Helen Gurley Brown

     1:00
TV PARTY LINE  -C- 

I've read many laments that Ben Casey isn't available in DVD; although I've never been much of a Vince Edwards fan, I agree that a program like Casey should be out there, and if the rights holder isn't willing to do anything with it, they should have to give it up to someone who will. I know that might be a controversial interpretation of copyright - use it or lose it - but these programs weren't meant to spend time gathering dust, were they?
 11  WIIC (NBC)

MORNING


     5:55
FARM REPORT  -C- 

     6:00
QUEST – Lessons

     6:30
TV PARTY LINE  -C- 

     7:00
TODAY  -C- 
Guests Nancy Mitford, Roy Anries de Grott

     9:00
PORKY PIG – Children  -C- 

     9:30
MOVIE GAME  -C- 
Guests Bob Crane, Andy Devine, Kirk Douglas, Stu Gilliam, Shirley Jones, Nancy Walker

   10:00
DINAH SHORE  -C- 
Guests Mary Jane Hungerford, Irene Hirose

   10:30
CONCENTRATION – Game  -C- 

   11:00
SALE OF THE CENTURY – Game  -C- 
         
   11:30
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES – Game  -C- 
Guests Jim Backus, Lohman & Barkley, Jan Murray, Suzanne Pleshette, Vincent Price, Bill Reynolds, Connie Stevens

AFTERNOON

   12:00
NEWS C

   12:30
WHO, WHAT OR WHERE – Game  -C- 

   12:55
NBC NEWS – Floyd Kalber  -C- 

     1:00
ANOTHER WORLD/SOMERSET – Serial  -C- 

     1:30
LIFE WITH LINKLETTER – Interview  -C- 
Guest Sammy Davis Jr.

     2:00
DAYS OF OUR LIVES – Serial  -C- 

     2:30
DOCTORS C

     3:00
ANOTHER WORLD/BAY CITY – Serial  -C- 

     3:30
F TROOP – Comedy

     4:00
MOVIE – Adventure  -C- 
“Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon” (Italian; 1965)

EVENING

     6:00
NEWS  -C- 

     6:30
NBC NEWS  -C- 

     7:00
I LOVE LUCY – Comedy

     7:30
DANIEL BOONE – Adventure  -C- 

     8:30
IRONSIDE  -C- 

     9:30
DRAGNET  -C- 

   10:00
GOLDDIGGERS – Variety  -C- 

   11:00
NEWS  -C- 

   11:30
JOHNNY CARSON – Variety  -C- 
Guest host Joan Rivers, guest Jane Howard

     1:00
HOTLINE – Ron Jaye  -C- 

Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon would have been a perfect afternoon movie, whether after-school or on a Saturday afternoon. I'm looking for the silhouettes at the bottom of the screen now.
 12  WBOY (CLARKSBURG) (NBC, ABC)

MORNING


     7:00
TODAY  -C- 
Guests Nancy Mitford, Roy Andries de Grott

     9:00
CARTOONS – Children  -C- 

     9:30
JACK LaLANNE  -C- 

   10:00
DINAH SHORE  -C- 
Guests Mary Jane Hungerford, Irene Hirose

   10:30
CONCENTRATION – Game  -C- 

   11:00
SALE OF THE CENTURY – Game  -C- 
         
   11:30
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES – Game  -C- 
Guests Jim Backus, Lohman & Barkley, Jan Murray, Suzanne Pleshette, Vincent Price, Bill Reynolds, Connie Stevens

AFTERNOON

   12:00
VIDEOSCOPE  -C- 

   12:30
WHO, WHAT OR WHERE – Game  -C- 

   12:55
NBC NEWS – Floyd Kalber  -C- 

     1:00
JEOPARDY – Game  -C- 

     1:30
LIFE WITH LINKLETTER – Interview  -C- 
Guest Sammy Davis Jr.

     2:00
DAYS OF OUR LIVES – Serial  -C- 

     2:30
DOCTORS  -C- 

     3:00
ANOTHER WORLD/BAY CITY – Serial  -C- 

     4:00
ANOTHER WORLD/SOMERSET – Serial  -C- 
     4:30
MIKE DOUGLAS  -C- 
Guests Roger Williams, Dana Valery, Maxwell Maltz

EVENING


     6:00
NEWS  -C- 

     6:20
AROUND AND ABOUT  -C- 

     6:30
NBC NEWS  -C- 

     7:00
CALL OF THE WEST  -C- 

     7:30
DANIEL BOONE – Adventure  -C- 

     8:30
IRONSIDE  -C- 

     9:30
DRAGNET  -C- 

   10:00
GOLDDIGGERS – Variety  -C- 

   11:00
NEWS  -C- 

   11:30
JOHNNY CARSON – Variety  -C- 
Guest host Joan Rivers, guest Jane Howard

Don't forget at 7:30 that Daniel Boone wasn't just a man - he was a real man.
 13  WQED (NET)

AFTERNOON

     4:00
SESAME STREET  -C- 
Guest Lou Rawls

     5:00
MISTEROGERS – Children  -C- 

     5:30
WHAT’S NEW – Children

EVENING

     6:00
SUMMER FUN

     6:30
MISTEROGERS  -C- 

     7:00
NEWSROOM  -C- 

     8:00
WASHINGTON REVIEW  -C- 

     8:30
EVENING AT POPS  -C- 
Guest Chet Atkins

     9:30
WORLD PRESS

   10:30
BOOK BEAT

   11:00
NEWSROOM  -C- 

It would have been a treat to see Chet Atkins, not just on Evening at Pops but any chance you got. Mr. Guitar, indeed.
 21  WFMJ (YOUNGSTOWN) (NBC)

MORNING


     7:00
TODAY  -C- 
Guests Nancy Mitford, Roy Andries de Grott

     9:00
FASHIONS IN SEWING  -C- 

     9:15
TELE-VIEW  -C- 

     9:25
NEWS  -C- 

     9:30
SESAME STREET – Children  -C- 

   10:30
CONCENTRATION – Game  -C- 

   11:00
SALE OF THE CENTURY – Game  -C- 
         
   11:30
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES – Game  -C- 
Guests Jim Backus, Lohman & Barkley, Jan Murray, Suzanne Pleshette, Vincent Price, Bill Reynolds, Connie Stevens

AFTERNOON

   12:00
JEOPARDY – Game  -C- 

   12:30
WHO, WHAT OR WHERE – Game  -C-   

   12:55
NBC NEWS – Floyd Kalber  -C- 

     1:00
GALLOPING GOURMET  -C- 

     1:30
LIFE WITH LINKLETTER – Interview  -C- 
Guest Sammy Davis Jr.

     2:00
DAYS OF OUR LIVES – Serial  -C- 

     2:30
DOCTORS  -C- 

     3:00
ANOTHER WORLD/BAY CITY – Serial  -C- 

     3:30
BRIGHT PROMISE – Serial  -C- 

     4:00
ANOTHER WORLD/SOMERSET – Serial  -C- 

     4:30
THE GAME GAME  -C- 
Celebrities Chelsea Brown, Alejandro Rey, Kaye Stevens

     5:00
MR. ROBERTS – Comedy  -C- 

     5:30
WHAT’S MY LINE? – Game  -C- 
Panel Alan Alda, Arlene Francis, Anthony Roberts, Gail Sheldon

EVENING

     6:00
NEWS  -C- 

     6:30
NBC NEWS  -C- 

     7:00
I LOVE LUCY – Comedy

     7:30
DANIEL BOONE – Adventure  -C- 

     8:30
IRONSIDE  -C- 

     9:30
DRAGNET  -C- 

   10:00
GOLDDIGGERS – Variety  -C- 

   11:00
NEWS  -C- 

   11:30
JOHNNY CARSON – Variety  -C- 
Guest host Joan Rivers, guest Jane Howard

I enjoy seeing programs like Mr. Roberts pop up in these listings, because you don't see them too often. It was a one-season series, on NBC from 1965-66, starring the always-likeable Roger Smith in the role made famous by Henry Fonda. I suspect it was probably packaged with a group of other WB productions for syndication.
 33  WYTV (YOUNGSTOWN) (ABC)

MORNING

     8:00
DENNIS THE MENACE – Comedy

     8:30
FLINTSTONES – Children  -C- 

     9:00
ZANE GREY – Western

     9:30
DIAL DATELINE  -C- 

   10:00
NEWS – Joe Shafran  -C- 

   10:30
MOVIE GAME  -C- 
Celebrities Gyan Cannon, Phyllis Diller, David Janssen, Hugh O’Brian. Host Sonny Fox

   11:00
BEWITCHED  -C- 
         
   11:30
THAT GIRL  -C- 

AFTERNOON

   12:00
BEST OF EVERYTHING  -C- 

   12:30
WORLD APART – Serial  -C- 

     1:00
ALL MY CHILDREN  -C- 

     1:30
LET’S MAKE A DEAL  -C- 

     2:00
NEWLYWED GAME  -C- 

     2:30
DATING GAME  -C- 

     3:00
GENERAL HOSPITAL  -C- 

     3:30
ONE LIFE TO LIVE – Serial  -C- 

     4:00
DARK SHADOWS  -C- 

     4:30
BARNEY BEAN – Children  -C- 

     5:30
OUTDOOR REPORT  -C- 

EVENING

     6:00
CHEYENNE – Western

     7:00
CAN YOU TOP THIS?  -C- 
Guests Steve Allen, Morey Amsterday, Stu Gilliam

     7:30
ANIMAL WORLD  -C- 

     8:00
THAT GIRL  -C- 

     8:30
BEWITCHED  -C- 

     9:00
TOM JONES  -C- 
Guests Anthony Newley, Peggy Lipton, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, John Byner

   10:00
SURVIVORS  -C- 

   11:00
NEWS  -C- 

   11:30
DICK CAVETT  -C- 
Guest Carlos Montoya

Carlos Montoya, Dick Cavett's guest tonight, is one of the great flamenco guitarists of all time. You can catch one of his performances here.


 53  WPGH (Ind.)

AFTERNOON

   12:00
CARTOONS – Children  -C- 

   12:30
BOZO THE CLOWN  -C- 

     1:00
JACK LaLANNE – Exercise  -C- 

     1:30
AS THE WORLD TURNS – Serial  -C- 

     2:00
LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING  -C- 

     2:30
DATING GAME  -C- 

     3:00
ROCKY AND FRIENDS  -C- 

     3:30
MARINE BOY – Children  -C- 

     4:00
MARVEL SUPERHEROES  -C- 

     4:30
EIGHTH MAN – Children  -C- 

     5:00
SPEED RACER – Children  -C- 

     5:30
SUPERMAN – Children  -C- 

EVENING

     6:00
FLINTSTONES – Children  -C- 

     6:30
PATTY DUKE – Comedy

     7:00
GILLIGAN’S ISLAND

     7:30
MOVIE – Adventure
“The Naked Street” (1955)

     9:30
WHAT’S MY LINE? – Game  -C- 
Panel Jack Cassidy, Arlene Francis, Soupy Sales, Gail Sheldon

   10:00
HEY LANDLORD! – Comedy

   10:30
HONEYMOONERS – Comedy

   10:55
NEWS

   11:00
CAN YOU TOP THIS?  -C- 
Guests Milton Berle, Henny Youngman, Morey Amsterdam

   11:30
COMBAT! – Drama

As is the case with so many independents, WPGH is the clearing house for network programs that aren't carried for one reason or another by affiliates - see As the World Turns, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, and The Dating Game. And I have to wonder about that 7:30 p.m. movie - you'd have to think that The Naked Street is a street in The Naked City, wouldn't you? TV  

21 comments:

  1. RJMAugust 14, 2017 at 11:25 AM

    A few things I noticed on this 8/20/70 lineup:

    • The David Frost Show was 90 minutes long? I realize that in 1970 Carson’s Tonight Show was still 90 minutes long, but for a late night show, that makes sense. It just seems to me particularly long for a mid afternoon show.

    • I chuckled over the distinction that the audience for Three Stooges as “Children”

    • For those of you not from the Pittsburgh area, the “Adventure Time” show at 3:30 on channel 4 (WTAE) was a kids show hosed by Paul Shannon. It ran for over 15 years and was a staple in my childhood viewing. The show would air cartoons, skits and had a live kids audience. Shannon was also one of the kids how hosts most responsible for bringing the classic Three Stooges shorts to TV and introduced a whole new generation of fans to the Howards & Mr. Fine.

    • From what I recall, Concentration was a fun game show. Utilizing memory and solving rebus puzzles. My family had the home board game version and I know as kids we played that game a lot.

    • Reading that lineup of celebrity guests for Hollywood Squares interests me. I’m usually very good at remembering celebrities, actors, comedians, etc… but for the life of me (without googling) I don’t know who Lohman & Barkley or Bill Reynolds were.

    • I was a HUGE fan of channel 53 growing up! It was my destination for a lot of TV and cartoon shows that you couldn’t find anywhere else (especially Speed Racer, Kimba the White Lion, Marine Boy, Marvel Super-Heroes, etc…) alas, just one year later, in 1971, it went off the air. It did eventually return, two years later, and is still on the air today, but for those two years I missed all those great shows & cartoons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Byron KelleyNovember 13, 2017 at 8:18 AM

      They remind me of the indies in my market, WUAB Channel 43, which is now a MyNetwork TV affiliate, and the former WKBF Channel 61, which is now known as Univision owned WQHS Chanel 61, a decendant of its 1980's-era ownership by the Home Shopping Network. As for broadcasting uncleared network programming, it was far and few in- between. While the latter did not cherry-pick any network content, the former did carry two CBS daytime offerings, reruns of "The Lucy Show" and the daytime soap opera "The Secret Storm", during the 1968-69 season. WUAB also carried several nights of the CBS primetime lineup, while WJW Channel 8 broadcasted Cleveland Indians baseball, during the mid-1970's. They also carried " Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking Eve" from ABC once in the 1980's. One more thing about WUAB, they were the first Cleveland outlet for the franchise syndicated game show "Bowling for Dollars" not WEWS , as listed in wikipedia, although they would pick it up soon after. As for WKBF, as I mentioned ealier, they ever picked up any network rejects from WKYC Channel 3, WEWS Channel 5, or WJW Channel 8, during its 1968-75 ownership with the Kaiser Broadcasting Corporation (not to mention its first lifespan). However, about a year after Channel 61 returned to the air in the Spring of 1981 as WCLQ, they cleared "Family Feud", "The Edge of Night", and reruns of " The Love Boat", beginning in the fall of 1982, as well as "CBS Late Night" in lieu of WEWS and WJW. We also had access to the former WAKR (later to become WAKC on November 3, 1986) Channel 23 in nearby Akron, which carried the entire ABC lineup, much of it in its intended network pattern. And Channel 3 had been owned and operated by NBC on and off since it went on the air in 1948 as WNBK Channel 4.They were sold by NBC in 1991.

      Delete
  2. UnknownAugust 14, 2017 at 12:27 PM

    For RJM:

    - Al Lohman and Roger Barkley were a morning radio team in Los Angeles, whom Hollywood Squares producers Heatter & Quigley were trying to promote into TV stardom, ultimately with their own game, Name Droppers (that didn't happen, but that's another story ...).
    As for Bill Reynolds, that was likely William Reynolds, Efrem Zimbalist's #2 on The FBI.

    - Ninety minutes was the standard length for talk shows well into the 1970s; the cutback to an hour didn't start until Johnny Carson instituted same late in the decade.
    All the talkers listed here were 90 minutes long in their original forms (local stations had the option of hour-long edits as their schedules dictated).
    This was also a period when hosts would accumulate guests over the course of 90 minutes, usually three or four on a show. Thus, a listing that only mentions one guest is omitting several others who mainly weren't known to the log writers when TV Guide went to press (the network shows taped day-and-date, so the other bookings often hadn't been set).

    - In other matters:
    The 1970 Happy Days was more of a blackout comedy show, in the style of Laugh-In and Hee-Haw.
    Louis Nye was sort of the host, in the guise of an old-time radio announcer. Blackout performers included Jim MacGeorge and Chuck McCann as Laurel & Hardy, Julie McWhirter (later Dees) as Gracie Allen (I forget who played George Burns), and a guy named Bill Oberlin who was a dead ringer/soundalike for W. C. Fields.
    The musical performers, like Helen Forrest and Harry James, were cut into and all around the comedy bits, in the style of Hee-Haw; the producers were Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth of that latter show.

    - Daniel Boone was a man -
    - yes, a big man ...
    That's how that theme song went.
    Lyrics by Vera Matson (Mrs. Ken Darby, if you remember a comment I made here, long, long ago ...).

    - I gotta say something about He Said, She Said, Goodson-Todman's first draft of Tattletales.
    The four celebrities listed are there with their spouses, trying to match answers to very personal questions.
    On one show I remember, David Susskind's then-wife let it out that their pet name for each other was "Love-Face".
    David guessed right on this one, but if you've never seen a white-haired man with a ruddy complexion blush ...
    Susskind's words to host Joe Garagiola:
    " ... This is a revealing bugger, this show ..."

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    1. SeanAugust 15, 2017 at 11:42 PM

      Believe it or not, Heatter and Quigley would try Lohman and Barkley again in 1979 with their show "Bedtime Stories". The distinguishing feature of the show, besides interviews of the contestant couples, was the podiums shaped like, as referred in the show "Tacky Beds". The show only lasted a few months in 1979. YouTube has the pilot.

      As for Daniel Boone, my dad said that was my theme song when I was a baby, I don't know what that makes me though. :)

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  3. Melanie PowersAugust 14, 2017 at 5:09 PM

    Great bizarre Rather event reference...the subtle stuff is clever and fun, Mitchell...Much like watching the subtle use of song lyrics in the dialogue in virtually every episode of St Elsewhere...

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  4. jabartlettAugust 15, 2017 at 8:18 AM

    Historians occasionally talk about the "short 20th century" (1914-1991) and the "long 19th" (1789-1914). Decades break the same way. The Sixties, the cultural and political era we spell capital T and capital S, don't really start until after 11/22/63, and it's easy to argue that they don't really end til 1973 (end of combat involvement in Vietnam) or even 74 (Nixon quits). By that arithmetic, the 70s probably last until around 1982 or so, until we started to climb out of the recession. I haven't thought as much about when the 80s end and the 90s begin---maybe with the election of Bill Clinton---but the 90s surely end on 9/11/2001.

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    1. UnknownAugust 15, 2017 at 11:58 AM

      I pretty much agree with jabartlett's take on decades. One only has to look at the record charts to see a great divide starting in 1966. The Ballad of the Green Berets was a huge hit in Feb '66, I doubt it would have gotten airplay in the Summer of '67. As someone who was in his teens during this time, I can safely say that Jan. 1 1966 to Jan. 1 1969 seemed like twelve years not three.

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    2. Mitchell HadleyAugust 16, 2017 at 9:58 PM

      Love this discussion on decades. I seem to recall writing something on this a few years ago, although maybe I just thought it, but as I recall the point was very much what ja said, that up until JFK's assassination, the 50s continued into the 1960s, and the late 60s extended beyond 1970. Really good from you both!

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  5. AnonymousAugust 15, 2017 at 5:20 PM

    Interestingly enough, WTAE Channel 4 ran a movie at 11:30 P.M. and delayed Dick Cavett until 1:30 A.M.

    They were able to tape the network feed, and had enough time to re-wind and cue-up the tape for it to be shown at 1:30 A.M.

    I wonder if other ABC stations did this tactic with Cavett or CBS stations with Merv Griffin.

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    1. UnknownAugust 15, 2017 at 8:19 PM

      I don't have a list handy, but it was common industry knowledge that Dick Cavett and Merv Griffin had major clearance issues with many affiliates who had late-night success with local movies for years.
      Before Cavett, ABC had the same problems with Les Crane and Joey Bishop. Afterwards, Cavett's various replacements ran up against the same wall.
      At CBS, many affiliates were lukewarm at best about competing with NBC's long-settled Tonight franchise.
      The 24/7 networks of today were still a couple of decades away.

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    2. Al LeosAugust 15, 2017 at 9:59 PM

      A number of CBS affiliates aired the nighttime Merv Griffin in the afternoon, just like they aired his syndicated show.

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    3. Byron KelleyNovember 13, 2017 at 7:18 AM

      That's how our CBS affiliate (which is now a Fox affiliate) did, although they initially aired it pattern at 11:30.

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    4. Byron KelleyNovember 13, 2017 at 8:40 AM

      WSTV did it in 1972

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  6. AnonymousAugust 15, 2017 at 5:25 PM

    This was probably the second time KDKA Channel 2 broadcast Merv Griffin in late-night.

    As a Group W/Westinghouse station (Group W/Westinghouse produced and distributed Merv's syndicated 1965-69 talk show), KDKA probably aired Merv's 1965-69 talk show in late-night for at least part of it's run, even if the Merv Griffin Westinghouse show was eventually aired in late-afternoon by KDKA.

    (Most non-Westinghouse stations aired the 1965-69 Merv Griffin show in late afternoon; while the Metromedia independents ran it---and his subsequent 1972-85 syndicated talk-show---in prime-time)

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  7. UnknownAugust 16, 2017 at 10:03 PM

    I remember the Happy Days summer replacement show - a typical blend of comedy bits and musical numbers with a big band era flavor. Very enjoyable. The show always ended with a Pied Pipers-type group singing Johnny Mercer's "Dream". It's still a favorite song.

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  8. AnonymousAugust 16, 2017 at 10:27 PM

    Just a kind, friendly correction; Channel 9 at the time was CBS with the call letters being WSTV in Steubenville, Ohio (Dean Martin's hometown) until the early 80's when they switched to WTOV and NBC as the primary network.

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    1. AnonymousAugust 17, 2017 at 11:19 AM

      Yep, and WSTV was a Rust Craft TV station, back in the day. I find it odd that Wheeling's WTRF-7 is missing from the listings.

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    2. Byron KelleyNovember 13, 2017 at 7:25 AM

      They also forgot Youngstown's WKBN Channel 27, as well as the Johnstown/Altoona set

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  9. Paul DucaAugust 16, 2017 at 11:21 PM

    Nancy Mitford was the oldest of seven colorful and controversial siblings of an English family. Wikipedia's thumbnail biographies of them:

    Nancy Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973). Married Peter Rodd and had a longstanding relationship with French politician and statesman Gaston Palewski. She lived in France much of her adult life. A writer of many novels, including her most popular (and somewhat autobiographical), The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. Also a noted biographer of historical figures, including the Sun King.
    Pamela Mitford (25 November 1907 – 12 April 1994), known as "Woman". Married and divorced the millionaire physicist Derek Jackson. John Betjeman, who for a time was in love with her, referred to her as the "Rural Mitford". After her divorce, she spent the remainder of her life as the companion of Giuditta Tommasi (died 1993), an Italian horsewoman.[7]
    Thomas Mitford (2 January 1909 – 30 March 1945), known as "Tom". Educated at Eton, where he was a close friend of James Lees-Milne.[8] Regular lover of Tilly Losch during her marriage to Edward James. Died as a soldier in Burma. According to Jessica's letters, he supported British fascism and was stationed in Burma after refusing to fight in Europe.[6]
    Diana Mitford (17 June 1910 – 11 August 2003). Married aristocrat and writer Bryan Walter Guinness in the 1929 society wedding of the year. She left him in the society scandal of the year (1933) for British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley. She was interned in Holloway Prison during the Second World War. Her belief in fascism never wavered nor her affection for Adolf Hitler. Mother of Max Mosley.
    Unity Valkyrie Mitford (8 August 1914 – 28 May 1948), known as "Bobo" or "Boud" to her siblings. Famous for her adulation of and friendship with Adolf Hitler. Shot herself in the head days after Britain declared war on Germany,[6] but failed to kill herself and eventually died of pneumococcal meningitis at West Highland Cottage Hospital, Oban, after being transferred from Inch Kenneth.
    Jessica Mitford (11 September 1917 – 22 July 1996), known as "Decca". Eloped with Esmond Romilly to the Spanish Civil War. Spent most of her adult life in the United States. Two years after Esmond was killed during the Second World War she married Robert Treuhaft, whom she met as a fellow US government employee. Member of the American Communist Party until 1958. She wrote several volumes of memoirs and several volumes of polemical investigation, including the best-selling The American Way of Death (1963) about the funeral industry. Grandmother of James Forman, Jr. and Chaka Forman, sons of the African-American civil rights leader James Forman by her daughter Constancia Romilly.
    Deborah Mitford (31 March 1920 – 24 September 2014). Married Andrew Cavendish who became the Duke of Devonshire, and with him turned his ancestral home, Chatsworth House, into one of Britain's most successful stately homes. She wrote a dozen books.

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  10. Paul DucaAugust 16, 2017 at 11:29 PM

    Nancy was likely on TODAY to promote her latest book, a biography of Frederick the Great. Around this same time, Jessica wrote this expose of the Famous Writers School, with astonishingly frank comments from Bennett Cerf (who wasn't on the episode run of WHAT'S MY LINE? offered by either station this week)


    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1970/07/let-us-now-appraise-famous-writers/305319/

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Thanks for writing! Drive safely!