What's on TV? Thursday, November 25, 1976

As I mentioned on Saturday, there's so much to this week, I figured I'd save the Thanksgiving commentary for today. 

It's a particularly nostalgia-heavy day, starting at 8:00 a.m. with the parade coverage on CBS and NBC. As opposed to the (quite frankly) awful coverage that CBS has nowadays, which consists of a poor imitation of NBC's already bad Macy's broadcast, the 1970s featured William Conrad as our avuncular host in the New York studio (a warm and welcoming set complete with fireplace and decorations), from where he would send us to five parades, featuring stars of various CBS programs. Jack Lord was always the host in Hawaii (natch), but we also have Richard Crenna, Kevin Dobson, Michael Learned, Bill Macy, Gavin MacLeod, Mackenzie Phillips, Isabel Sanford, and Loretta Swit announcing from parades in Toronto, Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York. This was my preferred broadcast, and I'd always set the alarm to make sure I was up in time to see it—after all, who wouldn't prefer five parades to one? That one is the Macy's parade on NBC, also at 8:00, with Ed McMahon and Shari Lewis hosting the pre-parade, and then Ed joining Della Reese and McLean Stevenson joining the parade itself. I love the balloons and floats; my problem with Macy's has always been the "entertainment," with pop singers doing bad lip-synching to songs that I can't stand. And by the way, get off my lawn.

ABC has college football on Friday, which is why they're having their traditional day of Saturday morning kids' shows, starting 11:00 a.m., with Soupy Sales as host. It was always special seeing Saturday cartoons on another day; it added to the feeling that this day was special. Thursday afternoon football does that as well, and in addition to the NFL doubleheader, CBS tries an NBA special at noon. That did not become a tradition.

I really appreciate how the networks go all-out on Thanksgiving night. I think that they mostly show reruns these days, figuring that it's not a big TV day, but in 1976 they were still figuring that families might sit around the set after dessert (or perhaps before second helpings), and they saved some big shows for the occasion. CBS has a special two-hour Waltons' Thanksgiving at 7:00 p.m.—will John-Boy come back from being blinded in an accident? It was originally shown in 1973, but what better occasion to rerun it? That's followed by Beverly Sills and Carol Burnett in a two-woman show from the Metropolitan Opera House (9:00 p.m.) that's reminiscent of Burnett's 1960s specials with Julie Andrews at Carnagie Hall.

Over at NBC, a first-run episode of Dick Van Dyke's short-lived variety show at 7:00 is followed by the two-hour conclusion of Captains and the Kings, the star-studded nine-hour miniseries that was quite the show; I don't quite know if it's fair to call it a "sensation," but these was the heydays of the miniseries, Captains and the Kings was an engrossing hit, and it's unthinkable that NBC would show it on Thanksgiving night unless they expected a healthy audience.  

ABC's not left out; after the charming, animated Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (narrated by Sebastian Cabot), it's the traditional Thanksgiving rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M (traditional, that is, until the two schools joined different conferences and decided not to play each other at all); depending on where you live, you might instead see Colgate at Rutgers, or Appalachian State at East Carolina.

All in all, it's a totally satisfying day, particularly with all three networks offering special programs of one kind or another in primetime. It's what I said earlier—it makes the day feel special, and the turkey, potatoes and gravy only add to it. You can relive it all in this Minneapolis-St. Paul edition.

	-2- KTCA (PBS)
	MORNING
	10:00	ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
	11:30	SESAME STREET
	AFTERNOON
	12:30	MISTER ROGERS
	1:00	MacNEIL/LEHRER REPORT
	1:30	BOOK BEAT
	2:00	EVENING AT SYMPHONY
	3:00	GETTING ON—Report
	3:30	OUNCE OF PREVENTION
	4:00	MISTER ROGERS
	4:30	SESAME STREET
	5:30	ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children
	EVENING
	6:00	GUPPIES TO GROUPERS
	6:30	MacNEIL/LEHRER REPORT
	7:00	INQUIRY
	7:30	PERSPECTIVES
	8:00	VISIONS—Drama “The Great Cherub Knitwear Strike” [After the drama: a spoof of on-the-spot TV news coverage]
	9:30	JEANNE WOLF WITH. . . Guest: Edith Head
	10:00	WOMAN
	10:30	MacNEIL/LEHRER REPORT
	11:00	THIN EDGE—Mental Health

 

 

	-4- WCCO (CBS)
	MORNING
	6:00	CBS NEWS—Morton/Rudd
	7:00	CARMEN
	7:30	CLANCY AND WILLIE
	8:00	THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE COVERAGE Special [Pre-empts regular programming]
	11:00	SKI SHOW
	AFTERNOON
	12:00	NBA BASKETBALL Special: Washington Bullets at Phoenix Suns [Pre-empts regular programming]
	2:00	NFL TODAY
	2:30	NFL FOOTBALL Special: St. Louis Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys
	5:30	CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite
	EVENING
	6:00	NEWS
	6:30	ANDY WILLIAMS—Variety Guest: Wayne Newton
	7:00	WALTONS “The Thanksgiving Story” [Expands to two hours, pre-empting regular programming]
	9:00	SILLS AND BURNETT AT THE MET Special [Pre-empts regular programming]
	10:00	NEWS
	10:35	SCENE II—Dave Moore
	11:00	MOVIE—Musical “High Society” (1956)
	12:30	MOVIE—Crime Drama “The Doberman Gang” (1972)
	2:20	NEWS

 

 

	-5- KSTP (NBC)
	MORNING
	5:45	MINNESOTA TODAY
	6:15	TAKE KERR
	6:20	GRANDPA JIM
	6:30	LASSIE—Drama
	7:00	TODAY—Tom Brokaw Guests: Chinese Acrobats of Taiwan
	8:00	THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE COVERAGE Special [Pre-empts regular programming]
	11:00	GRANDSTAND
	11:30	NFL FOOTBALL Special: Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions
	AFTERNOON
	2:30	FIGURING ALL THE ANGLES—Documentary [Pre-empts regular programming]
	3:30	BRADY BUNCH—Comedy
	4:00	EMERGENCY ONE!—Drama
	5:00	THE MASK AND YOU
	5:30	NBC NEWS—Chancellor/Brinkley
	EVENING
	6:00	NEWS
	6:30	BOWLING FOR DOLLARS
	7:00	DICK VAN DYKE—Variety Guests: Freddie Prinze, George Foreman, the Spinners
	8:00	BEST SELLERS—Drama “Captains and the Kings,” conclusion [Beginning next week on “Best Sellers”: an adaptation of Anton Meyer’s “Once an Eagle”]
	10:00	NEWS
	10:30	JOHNNY CARSON Guest hostess: Joan Rivers. Guests: Michael Medved, David Wallechinsky
	12:00	TOMORROW—Tom Snyder
	1:00	MOVIE—Adventure BW  “Professional Soldier” (1936)

 

 

	-9- KMSP (ABC)
	MORNING
	7:00	GOOD MORNING, AMERICA—David Hartman
	9:00	PHIL DONAHUE Guest: William Holden
	10:00	FAMOUS CLASSIC TALES—Cartoon “The Last of the Mohicans”
	11:00	TOM & JERRY/GRAPE APE/MUMBLY—Cartoon
	AFTERNOON
	12:00	JABBERJAW—Cartoon
	12:30	SCOOBY-DOO/DYNOMUTT—Cartoon
	1:30	KROFFT SUPERSHOW—Children
	3:00	DINAH! Guests: Bing Crosby, Phil Harris, Pat Boone, Dong Kingman
	4:00	MIKE DOUGLAS Co-host: Zsa Zsa Gabor. Guests: Paul Newman, Robert Conrad, Jack Klugman (on tape), Stan Kann
	5:30	ABC NEWS—Reasoner/Walters
	EVENING
	6:00	NEWS
	6:30	MATCH GAME PM Richard Dawson, Charles Nelson Reilly, Brett Somers, Greg Morris, Fannie Flagg, Elaine Joyce. Host: Gene Rayburn
	7:00	WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO—Cartoon Special [Pre-empts regular programming]
	7:30	COLLEGE FOOTBALL Special: Texas A&M at Texas
	10:30	NEWS
	11:00	STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO—Crime Drama [Time approximate after football]
	12:10	DAN AUGUST—Crime Drama [If the college-football game played earlier this evening runs long, “Dan August” may be pre-empted]
	1:20	NEWS

 

 

	11 WTCN (Ind.)
	MORNING
	6:30	WHAT’S NEW?
	7:00	ROMPER ROOM
	7:30	POPEYE AND PORKY—Cartoons
	9:00	FLINTSTONES—Cartoon
	9:30	THAT GIRL—Comedy
	10:00	FATHER KNOWS BEST BW
	10:30	ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy
	11:00	WHAT’S NEW?
	AFTERNOON
	12:00	I DREAM OF JEANNIE—Comedy
	12:30	LUCY SHOW
	1:00	MOVIE—Drama “Count Three and Pray” (1955)
	3:00	GOMER PYLE, USMC
	3:30	FLINTSTONES—Cartoons
	4:00	BEWITCHED—Comedy
	4:30	GILLIGAN’S ISLAND
	5:00	FAMILY AFFAIR—Comedy
	5:30	PARTRIDGE FAMILY
	EVENING
	6:00	MY THREE SONS—Comedy
	6:30	ADAM-12—Crime Drama
	7:00	FBI—Crime Drama
	8:00	MERV GRIFFIN Guests: Robert Conrad, David Brenner, Dody Goodman, Rita Moreno, Gregory “Pappy” Boyington
	9:30	NEWS
	10:00	MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN—Serial
	10:30	ODD COUPLE—Comedy
	11:00	LOVE AMERICAN STYLE
	11:30	HONEYMOONERS—Comedy BW
	12:00	IRONSIDE—Crime Drama
	1:00	ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama BW
	1:30	ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama BW

 

 

	17 KTCI (PBS)
	EVENING
	7:00	MASTERPIECE THEATRE “How Green Was My Valley,” Part 3
	8:00	SOUNDSTAGE Guests: Janis Ian; Blood, Sweat and Tears
	9:00	BOOK BEAT Guest: Anne Baxter, “Intermission”
	9:30	LILIAS, YOGA AND YOU
	10:00	OURSTORY
	10:30	EARTHKEEPING [Captioned for the hearing-impaired]

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