May 6, 2019

What's on TV? Thursday, May 7, 1981

By 1981, we were no longer living in the World's Worst Town™, and so this issue is another from my personal collection, with our St. Paul address on the label. I don't know why I kept this particular issue; sometimes it's easier to tell why I hung on to one, but this one is a mystery. I'd only kept a couple dozen or so before I started buying old issues in earnest (although it would probably be easier to find them in stores), but I didn't really ramp up my purchasing until I started this blog. You're welcome.


 2  KTCA (PBS)

MORNING


     6:15
COLLEGE FOR WORKING ADULTS

     6:45
A.M. WEATHER

    7 AM
ENERGY

     7:30
MISTER ROGERS—Children

    8 AM
SESAME STREET (CC)—Children

    9 AM
ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children

     9:30
MUSIC…

  10 AM
CAPTIONED RAINBOW’S END

   10:30
ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children

  11 AM
REBOP—Children

   11:30
SESAME STREET (CC)—Children

AFTERNOON

   12:30
MISTER ROGERS—Children

    1 PM
DICK CAVETT
Guest: Gore Vidal

     1:30
OVER EASY (CC)
Guest: Merle Haggard

    2 PM
MEETING OF MINDS

    3 PM
HERE’S TO YOUR HEALTH (CC)

     3:30
MISTER ROGERS—Children

    4 PM
SESAME STREET (CC)—Children

    5 PM
ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children

     5:30
CAPTIONED RAINBOW’S END

EVENING

    6 PM
OVER EASY (CC)
Guest: Odetta

     6:30
MacNEIL, LEHRER REPORT

    7 PM
VIC BRADEN’S TENNIS FOR THE FUTURE (CC)
Debut

     7:30
DICK CAVETT
Guest: Frank McHugh

    8 PM
SNEAK PREVIEWS—Movie Reviews
“Caveman,” “The Howling”

     8:30
EDGE OF SURVIVAL—Report
Special

     9:30
FAST FORWARD—Documentary

  10 PM
SOUNDSTAGE (CC)
Odetta, Tom Paxton, Bob Gibson, Josh White Jr.

  11 PM
AUSTIN CITY LIMITS
Leo Kottke, Passenger

  12 AM
WORLD

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were still hosting Sneak Previews back in 1981, when their viewing included these two blockbuster movies. According to IMDb, the other movies reviewed on the program included Hardly Working, Breaker Morant, and Mon Oncle D'Amerique. The dogs of the week were Alice Sweet Alice (Roger) and Going Ape! (Gene).


 4  WCCO (CBS)

MORNING

    6 AM
CBS NEWS—Charles Kuralt

    7 AM
NEWS

     7:30
ALICE

    8 AM
PHIL DONAHUE

    9 AM
HOUR MAGAZINE
Guests: Andy Williams, Morgan Fairchild

  10 AM
PRICE IS RIGHT—Game

  11 AM
YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS—Serial

AFTERNOON

  12 PM
MIDDAY

   12:30
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

    1 PM
AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial

    2 PM
GUIDING LIGHT—Serial

    3 PM
JOKER’S WILD—Game

     3:30
JOHN DAVIDSON
Guests: Rod Steiger, Susan Sarandon, Rick Springfield, Lonnie Shorr, Ricky Jay

    5 PM
NEWS

     5:30
CBS NEWS—Dan Rather

EVENING

    6 PM
NEWS

     6:30
PM MAGAZINE

    7 PM
WALTONS

    8 PM
MAGNUM, P.I.—Crime Drama

    9 PM
NURSE—Drama
[Last show of the series.]

  10 PM
NEWS

   10:30
CAROL BURNETT AND FRIENDS
Guest: Maggie Smith

  11 PM
NBA CHAMPIONSHIP
Special Taped earlier tonight

    1 AM
NEWS

     1:30
NEWS

    4 AM
NEWS

This is an era that the NBA's not proud of—having the finals shown on a tape-delay basis. It's hard to believe that any major pro sports league, let alone the NBA, would have been reduced to this, but there you have it. Even more difficult to believe is that the league's most storied team, the Boston Celtics, are in the finals, taking on the Houston Rockets. Of course, back in the day, the idea of a playoff game being televised any time other than on a weekend would have been unlikely in and of itself. Still, there's almost something demeaning about showing a playoff game on tape, don't you think? Like taking a step backward. And WCCO adds insult to injury by pushing it back 30 minutes further with Carol Burnett and Friends. Ah, the pre-cable days.


 5  KSTP (ABC)

MORNING

    6 AM
COUNTRY DAY—Gary Schendel

     6:30
NEWS

    7 AM
GOOD MORNING AMERICA—David Hartman

    9 AM
TWIN CITIES TODAY

  10 AM
LOVE BOAT

  11 AM
FAMILY FEUD—Game

   11:30
RYAN’S HOPE—Serial

AFTERNOON

  12 PM
ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial

    1 PM
ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial

    2 PM
GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial

    3 PM
MATCH GAME
Susan Richardson, Ted Lange, Bob Donner, Joyce Bulifant, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly

     3:30
STARSKY & HUTCH—Crime Drama

     4:30
HAPPY DAYS AGAIN—Comedy

    5 PM
NEWS

     5:30
ABC NEWS—Frank Reynolds

EVENING

    6 PM
NEWS

     6:30
TIC TAC DOUGH—Game

    7 PM
MORK & MINDY

     7:30
BOSOM BUDDIES—Comedy

    8 PM
BARNEY MILLER (CC)

     8:30
TAXI

    9 PM
20/20—Hugh Downs

  10 PM
NEWS

   10:30
ABC NEWS—Ted Koppel

  11 PM
CHARLIE’S ANGELS—Crime Drama

   12:10
SUPERMAN—Adventure

   12:40
MOVIE—Comedy
“My Man Godfrey” (1957)

     2:40
MOVIE—Comedy BW 
“At War with the Army: (1950)

    5 AM
TO BE ANNOUNCED

I'm convinced that Bosom Buddies exists only to prove that even the biggest stars have to go through some kind of purgatory before making it to the big time.


 9  KMSP (Ind.)

MORNING

    6 AM
700 CLUB—Religion

    7 AM
FRED FLINTSTONE & FRIENDS—Cartoons

     7:30
GREAT SPACE COASTER—Children

    8 AM
KROFFT SUPERSTARS—Children

     8:30
JETSONS—Cartoon

    9 AM
RICHARD SIMMONS—Health

     9:30
PEOPLE ARE TALKING

   10:30
MERV GRIFFIN
Guests: Steve Kanaly, Mimi Kennedy, Susan Sarandon

AFTERNOON

  12 PM
MIKE DOUGLAS
Co-host: Jim Stafford. Guests: Randi Oaks, Dr. Lee Salk, The Comedy Store Players

     1:30
LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game

    2 PM
$50,000 PYRAMID—Game

     2:30
FACE THE MUSIC—Game

    3 PM
CASPER—Cartoons

     3:30
POPEYE—Cartoon

    4 PM
SCOOBY-DOO—Cartoon

     4:30
BRADY BUNCH—Comedy

    5 PM
DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy BW 

     5:30
GOOD TIMES

EVENING

    6 PM
BARNEY MILLER

     6:30
ALL IN THE FAMILY

    7 PM
GUNSMOKE—Western

    8 PM
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game
George Gobel, Audrey Landers, Tom Dressen, Tony Randall, Christopher Norris, Wayland & Madame, Paul Lynde, Vincent Price

     8:30
WORLD OF PEOPLE

    9 PM
NEWS

  10 PM
RHODA—Comedy

   10:30
ROCKFORD FILES—Crime Drama

   11:40
KOJAK—Crime Drama

   12:50
BOLD ONES

As long as Hollywood Squares had Paul Lynde and George Gobel, it still had a chance.


11 WTCN (NBC)

MORNING

     5:30
WHAT’S NEW?—Nelson/Martin

    6 AM
JIM BAKKER—Religion

    7 AM
TODAY—Tom Brokaw
Guest: Len Deighton

    9 AM
LAS VEGAS GAMBIT—Game

     9:30
BLOCKBUSTERS—Game

  10 AM
WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Game

   10:30
PASSWORD PLUS—Game
Patty Duke Astin, Jon Bauman

  11 AM
TO TELL THE TRUTH

   11:30
DOCTORS—Serial

AFTERNOON

  12 PM
DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial

    1 PM
ANOTHER WORLD—Serial

    2 PM
TEXAS—Serial

    3 PM
MY THREE SONS—Comedy

     3:30
WELCOME BACK, KOTTER

    4 PM
CHICO AND THE MAN—Comedy

     4:30
M*A*S*H

    5 PM
M*A*S*H

     5:30
NBC NEWS—John Chancellor

EVENING

    6 PM
NEWS

     6:30
FAMILY FEUD—Game

    7 PM
NBC MAGAZINE WITH DAVID BRINKLEY

    8 PM
MOVIE—Drama
“The People vs. Jean Harris,” Part 1 (Made for TV; 1981)

  10 PM
NEWS

   10:30
TONIGHT

   11:30
TOMORROW COAST-TO-COAST—Tom Snyder
Guest: Santana

    1 AM
MARY TYLER MOORE—Comedy

My thought in looking at WTCN's afternoon lineup, as was the case with KMSP, is that this is where classic television fans come from. Not that I'm a fan of the shows here; my point is that it's the after-school watching that kids used to do, with shows that had been aired in the recent past, that makes the impression on them. In my case, for instance, I remember Gilligan's Island, Star Trek, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea not from their original runs, even though they were on when I was growing up; it was when I watched them in the afternoon a few years later that they became part of my television cultural heritage.


17 KTCI (PBS)

AFTERNOON

     5:30
VILLA ALEGRE—Children

EVENING

    6 AM
MacNEIL, LEHRER REPORT

     6:30
DICK CAVETT

    7 PM
MYSTERY! (CC)

    8 PM
MacNEIL, LEHRER REPORT

     8:30
OVER EASY (CC)

    9 PM
INSIDE STORY

     9:30
LAWMAKERS

  10 PM
DICK CAVETT

   10:30
CAPTIONED ABC NEWS

This is when KTCI, the companion PBS station in the Twin Cities, was in its phase of showing repeats from what KTCA had shown earlier in the day (or week). For example, unless I miss my guess, the Mystery episode tonight aired on the big station Tuesday, featuring one of the lesser-known (to me, anyway) British detective series, "Sergeant Cribb" (Alan Dobie). TV  

9 comments:

  1. I haven't got this issue, so it's Bits & Pieces Time:

    - Noting that the PBS stations out your way had as little respect for regular scheduling as their Chicago counterparts.
    The multiple slottings of Dick Cavett's shows are a good example.
    I do recall the prime time show here: I came upon it by accident, and found that the guest for the half-hour was Frank McHugh, from Warner Bros's Irish Mafia of the '30s.
    McHugh was 83 at the time, and retired to Connecticut; he was a neighbor and friend of Dick Cavett's, which is why he did the show (you may safely bet that McHugh wouldn't have gotten by the demographic hurdles of the commercial nets).
    Had I more advance notice of this Cavett show, I would have alerted my movie-buff father of McHugh's appearance here; as it was, McHugh passed away only a few months afterward, so there was no follow-up (and no rerun).
    So There Too.

    - Hollywood Squares was in the final season of its original run.
    Paul Lynde had returned after a year's hiatus, and George Gobel had successfully replaced the just-passed Cliff Arquette, and I see that this week saw the return of old hands Tony Randall and Vinnie Price (as his friends called him) - but The End is The End, isn't it?

    - In passing, I note that KSTP is still (as always) bypassing Edge Of Night for no good reason.
    I know how annoying I can get on this subject, but Edge was still the best of all the daytime dramas, then or ever; Henry Slesar was still doing the stories, and the cast always gave their all (including the just-getting-started Lori Loughlin, of whom you may have heard some things lately).
    Oh well …


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so absolutely right about the PBS stations out here, which seemed to operate on their own frequency. You're right about Edge as well; the scheduling from our affiliates out here may go some ways to explaining why I am the way I am...

      Delete
  2. You made a typo, listing KSTP as being on both Channels 5 and 9, while Channel 9 should be KMSP.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It was the second game of the 1981 NBA Finals, which in most of the Eastern and Central time zones aired on a four-hour tape-delay.

    I believe only two CBS affiliates actually aired the game live: The then-WNAC-TV in Boston (the CBS affiliate at the time) and KHOU-TV Houston. WNAC and KHOU ended-up running the 8-10 P.M. ET (7-9 P.M. CT) portion of that night's CBS prime-time lineup in late-night, after the late-night local news.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, do I remember watching much of what was scheduled, mostly from WTCN and "We're receptive Channel 9!" Got my daily double dose of M*A*S*H after sports practice and later, KMSP's line up of classic comedies and police shows with my faves being Dick Van Dyke, All in the Family, Rhoda and Kojak.

    World of People was a nationally syndicated show that Steve Edelman & Sharon Anderson were a part of after they decided to leave KSTP's morning show, Twin Cities Today. It lasted just one season. The two of them came back to KSTP a few years later to host another successful afternoon show, Good Company, for a fairly long run before creating Edelman Productions out on the west coast.

    KTCA had two good programs that I always enjoyed watching. The Dick Cavett Show and Steve Allen's creation, Meeting of Minds.

    ReplyDelete
  5. From the daytime pre-emptions department (except for the aforementioned "Edge of Night":

    WCCO pre-empted all 3 sitcom reruns: "The Jeffersons" at 9, "Alice" at 9:30, and "One Day at a Time" at 3.

    KTCN pre-empted "Card Sharks" at 11:00. Interesting that KMSP, with their other game show offerings, didn't elect to pick it up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Being a fellow "Baby Boomer", such as yourself, I know all about afterschool viewing. But I'm one of very few that can recall shows like Gilligan, Voyage, Star Trek: TOS, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, The Odd Couple, Bonanza and Gunsmoke from their original network runs AND the daily repeats I grew up with. But this is also true of shows I NEVER got to see in their original runs, such as Adventures of Superman, the 50's Mickey Mouse Club, The Real McCoys, Dennis the Menace, I Love Lucy (which has been reran forever), The Life of Riley, I Married Joan, Jack Benny, The Best of Groucho and countless others. Especially with the advent of cable coming into its' own. I'm kinda glad I can say that.
    BTW, how many can say they saw reruns of Wild Bill Hickok IN COLOR? They were on the old CBN Cable Network (now called Freeforms). This was back around 1982-85. And where did they go? Not to YouTube, certainly. All I get are the B&W ones.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!