What's on TV? Wednesday, January 2, 1974

Ah, for the days when there were only five stations from which to choose! This old Minneapolis-St. Paul edition is right there: the three commercial networks, independent WTCN, and KTCA, the PBS station that only programs from 4:00 p.m. on. And what a fine lineup WCCO has (with the exception of Sonny and Cher, but even there, they've got a great guest lineup: Laurel and Hardy shorts at 6:30 (now that's the kind of local-access programming I can get behind) and a crime back-to-back of Cannon and Kojak. It certainly beats NBC's schedule, two-thirds of which is going off the air after tonight. Anyway, it's a grand way to get 1974 off to a flying start. Right?

This week in TV Guide: December 29, 1973

Of the four traditional major college football bowl games—Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Orange—the Sugar was often cast in the role of the red-headed stepchild. It was frequently the fault of the Sugar Bowl organization itself, in that it was the victim of its own racial policies, for instance, in refusing to invite integrated teams to play schools from the South. (Louisiana State, the team that has played in the Sugar Bowl more than any other, was actually prohibited by state law until 1961 from playing integrated teams; even after that, the ban existed informally. I wrote about that whole situation here.) As a result, the quality of teams participating in the game often suffered, falling significantly behind that of the other three. In 1972, in an effort to separate the game from the rest of the New Year's Day games, the Sugar Bowl was moved to New Year's Eve, where its only competition came in the form of serious drinking and debauchery.

In 1973, however, the Sugar Bowl presented the sport with a game for the ages, an underrated gem that tends to get lost amongst the other contenders for "Game of the Century": a matchup between the #1, undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide, and the #3, undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish, with nothing less than the mythical national championship on the line.* (Monday, 7:00 p.m. CT, ABC)

*Oklahoma, ranked #2, was on probation and ineligible to play in bowl games. It wouldn't prevent the Sooners from winning the crown the following year, though.

It had been dark and rainy during the day, with tornado warnings in the area, and at one point, ABC Sports head Roone Arledge allegedly wondered out loud if he might be able to persuade the two schools to postpone the game for a few days, so that the weather wouldn't play a factor. Absurd, I know—even he didn't have that kind of power back then. (It wouldn't be until 1987 that television had that kind of clout, when NBC "persuaded" the organizers of the Fiesta Bowl to move a similar #1-vs-#2 matchup from New Year's Day to January 2 for greater exposure.) At any rate, the moment passed, the weather dried up, and the game kicked off as scheduled. The two teams traded the lead into the fourth quarter; then, with Notre Dame nursing a one-point lead, the Fighting Irish found themselves staring at third and long from inside their own five-yard line. In a daring bit of play-calling—the kind that wins national championships—Notre Dame quarterback Tom Clements, from his own end zone, completes a pass to Roben Weber for 35 yards and a first down. Notre Dame holds on from there for the 24-23 win in this first-ever meeting between the two college giants, and claims the national title. 

Today's college football playoff system may be better at choosing a national champion (although I think the jury's out on that, too), but it's come at the expense of the New Year's bowl games. It's also greatly lessened the entertainment value of New Year's Day television, and I"m not sure we'll ever get that back. 

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On special occasions, we get to take a simultaneous look at three of the great rock music shows of the pre-MTV era: NBC's The Midnight Special, ABC's In Concert, and the syndicated Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Let's look at this week's listings and see who's better, who's best.

Kirshner: Johnny Winter and Argent perform at New York's Palace Theatre. Music: Johnny Winter (band) - "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo," "Stone County," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Johnny B. Goode" and "Silver Train." Argent - "God Gave Rock and Roll to You," "I Am the Dance of Ages," "I Don't Believe in Miracles," "It's Only Money" and "Hold Your Head Up."

Concert: We're not given much information other than that the performers are Seals & Crofts, Jessie Colin Young, Eddie Kendricks, and Walter Heath.

Special: Every gues sings a million-selling hit on this show, which includes the Edgar Winter Group ("Frankenstein"), the late Jim Croce ("Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown), Loggins and Messina ("Your Mama Don't Dance"), Al Green ("Call Me"), Curtis Mayfield ("Superfly"), Billy Preston ("Will It Go Round in Circles?"), Gladys Knight and the Pips ("Midnight Train to Georgia"), Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show ("Cover of Rolling Stone"), the O'Mays ("Love Train"), Gilbert O'Sullivan ("Get Down"). 

It's quite the red-letter day here, as this is, by my count, only the fifth time we've had the chance to compare all three of these shows at the same time. For all that, it's kind of an uneven playing field this week, as Special counters the regularly-scheduled episodes on the other two series with a compilation show featuring nothing but million-sellers. Practically every song on this lineup is part of the soundtrack for anyone who grew up in the 1970s (or listens to 70s on 7 on SiriusXM). However, we deal with what we have, and this week there's no question: the clock strikes midnight for In Concert and Kirshner, which makes it a special night for The Midnight Special.

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From 1963 to 1976, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever they appear, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. 

We are, Cleveland Amory points out, in the era of alternates. Some series, such as The Name of the Game, alternated leads from week to week; others, the best-known of which is NBC's Sunday Mystery Movie, alternated the series themselves, a concept known as the "wheel" series. Shaft, the focus of this week's review, falls into that category, alternating with Hawkins (starring James Stewart) and The CBS Tuesday Night Movies. Next season, Cleve suspects, we'll see even more alternating, perhaps between offense, defense, and special teams. 

At any rate, Shaft is a rarity among television series spun off from movies, in that the star of the movies, Richard Roundtree, reprises his role on the small screen. That is a plus as far as things go, and that's about as far as it does go, because otherwise Shaft is pretty much as run-of-the-mill as every other private detective series on TV: there's the PI, his frienemy on the police force, and his client, plus the assorted baddies that are out to get the client. The result, Amory points out, is that "each episode must rely almost entirely on the guest stars and the plot. And so far the plots have been, at best, only fair to muddling." And this leads almost directly to another problem the series faces: its 90-minute running time, which is why the Tuesday Night Movies can be part of the format. "Ninety minutes is movie length, and only a very exceptional TV episode can carry it without dragging. And when a detective show drags, make no mistake, it is a real drag." 

Even when the plot clicks, as it did in the premiere, it requires a certain suspension of disbelief that may be a bit too much for the average viewer. The premiere revolved around a kangaroo court set up to retry "guilty" defendants who had escaped punishment through one means or another, along with the guilty party's lawyer. The story was fast-paced and exciting, aided by fine performances from Richard Jaeckel as the bad cop (naturally), Dean Jagger as the corrupt judge, and Robert Culp as the ringleader of the entire operation. Now, a cast like that is movie quality. However, for this to work, you had to accept the concept that such a court could continue to operate in New York City without getting caught. If you could, great. If not, well, as Cleve says, "join the club." He also has trouble with what he views as gratuitous and unnecessary violence, not to mention the use of slow motion and stills. In another episode, a pimp's brother takes a slow-motion dive out a window, "and kind of stays up—well, the only thing left to believe was that the 90 minutes too, must be up." 

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Since we're on the subject of comparisons, there was something else on Monday night besides the Sugar Bowl: the battle of the network New Year's Eve programs. It's easy to forget that Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve premiered not on ABC, but NBC, appearing in the timeslot usually occupied by The Tonight Show (10:30 p.m. CT). This year, the show comes from the ballroom of the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA with host George Carlin, Billy Preston, the Pointer Sisters, Tower of Power and Linda Ronstadt—and, of course, live coverage of the ball drop with Dick in Times Square. (Ironically, ABC's Wide World of Entertainment counter-programs that night with American Bandstand's 20th Anniversary Show, starring—of course—Dick Clark.) Beginning in 1974, New Year's Rockin' Eve adds Dick's name to the title and moves to ABC, where it remains to this day.

Meanwhile, on CBS Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians make their 18th consecutive New Year's Eve appearance on television, having started on CBS radio in 1929. (10:30 p.m., CBS) Guy's sole guest was singer Barbara McNair. Among the pieces the Royal Canadians would play that night, besides "Auld Lang Syne," is "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," and if you've ever seen Sinatra sing this song, you'll appreciate that it can be a painful thing to see and hear. When I was growing up, the local CBS affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul, WCCO, always tape-delayed this broadcast to begin at 11:30 p.m., in order for the balldrop celebration to occur at midnight local time. In the interests of broadcast accuracy, I'll note that most stations in the Central time zone probably carried it at 10:30 p.m.

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A great lineup for New Year's Day. CBS kicks things off at 9:00 a.m. with the Rose Parade preview, featuring hosts Bob Barker and June Lockhart and Grand Marshal Charles Schulz. NBC counters with the Junior Orange Bowl Parade at the same time (the King Orange Jamboree Parade had been shown the previous evening), followed by their own parade preview show, hosted by Doc Severinsen (9:45 a.m.) At 9:30 a.m. CBS is off to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl Parade, while the independent WTCN carries KTLA's coverage of the Rose Parade preview.  At 10:30 a.m., everyone's on hand for the Tournament of Roses Parade, and the fitting theme, "Happiness Is . . . " We could all use the suggestions. 

With the move of the Sugar Bowl to New Year's Eve, the bowl scene is a little less cluttered, with each game having its own block of time: the Cotton Bowl (1:00 p.m., CBS), with Nebraska defeating Texas 19-3; Rose Bowl (3:45 p.m., NBC), with a final score of Ohio State 42, USC 24; and Orange Bowl as the nightcap (7:00 p.m., NBC), Penn State beating LSU 16-9. Back then college football games didn't run four hours; NBC even scheduled a recap of the day's coverage for 9:45 p.m., before the local news.

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For no particular reason, we'll take this opportunity to look back once again on CBS's murderer's row of Saturday night shows, starting with All in the Family at 7:00 p.m., and continuing through to M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore (in which Phyllis discovers her husband is having an affair with Happy Homemaker Betty White), The Bob Newhart Show, and The Carol Burnett Show (with guests John Byner and Helen Reddy). It's still unequaled for star power, as far as I can see.

Sunday belongs to professional football, with the NFC and AFC championships.  In the NFC, Minnesota takes on Dallas (noon, CBS), with the Vikings coming out on top, 27-10. In the AFC, the defending Super Bowl champions, Miami, defeats Oakland by the same score (3:00 p.m., NBC). Two weeks later, the Dolphins will overwhelm the Vikings in the Super Bowl, the last win for Miami and the second of four defeats for Minnesota. By contrast, this year the NFL's regular season won't even be done on December 30. For something a little different, Malcolm Muggeridge, the British humorist and journalist whom you've read many times here at the blog, is William F. Buckley Jr.'s guest on Firing Line (9:00 p.m., PBS).

On Monday, Gunsmoke (7:00 p.m., CBS) presents a backdoor pilot for an upcoming series, Dirty Sally, starring Jeanette Nolan. When this was originally shown in 1971, it received more mail on than any other episode in the series' long run. Despite Nolan being nominated for an Emmy, the series will disappear after the obligatory 13 weeks. After that, our favorite private detective, Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) visits Lucy on a Here's Lucy tale that has the redhead being chased by two bank robbers (8:00 p.m., CBS). 

I suppose the only thing that can compete with football on Tuesday is a disaster flick, and ABC has the answer with a rerun of the telemovie Short Walk to Daylight, with James Brolin starring in this tale of New York City earthquake survivors stranded in the subway system. (7:30 p.m.) Judith Crist says "The plot's as incredible as the characters are stereotyped." Better to stick to the football. 

Wednesday, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour welcomes Tennessee Ernie Ford and Lyle Waggoner to the first show of the new year. (7:00 p.m., CBS) Late night, Rod Serling travels to Los Angeles International Airport for a talk with people involved in the air travel business, including pilots and stewardesses, airport security personnel, and nervous travelers (10:30 p.m., ABC). Is there any resemblance at all between air travel then and now, besides the idea that you're flying through the air in a metal tube?

On Thursday, an NBC News Presents special entitled "The College Money Crunch" (9:00 p.m.) goes to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Edwin Newman's report focuses on the middle-class, caught between the poor, who receive all the financial support, and the wealthy, who don't need it. I can't imagine how the amount of debt back then would compare to what it is today. 

One more bit of sports rounds out the week on Friday: a rare regular-season prime time appearance by the National Hockey League, as the Boston Bruins take on the New York Rangers from Madison Square Garden; it's the kickoff (to mix a metaphor) of NBC's NHL coverage for the year. (7:30 p.m.)

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And now the news. In The Doan Report, Rhode Island Senator John Pastore is again calling for hearings on television violence—something that seems to come around every so often, like malaria, only to have it recur again a few years later. There's also a movement afoot to curb the proliferation of network reruns. In favor: unions, who hope that more episodes will increase studio employment.  Opposed: the networks, who claim that cutting back on reruns would pose a significant financial hardship. Now, we've got "seasons" that barely last more than a dozen episodes, and a proliferation of "unscripted television" that renders the whole point of employment moot. I may complain about television in the 1970s, but there's a reason why we still include the decade when we talk about the "good old days." 

Speaking of episodes, the new year used to introduce what was called the "Second Season," when the networks introduced their first wave of replacements for their failed shows, and so a number of series make their swan songs this week: Tenafly and the anthology Love Story on NBC, and Roll Out! on CBS. Roll Out! was, some thought, the Tiffany Network's attempt, to copy the success of M*A*S*H, transferred to a World War II setting, while Tenafly was notable for being one of the first series to feature a black actor in the lead role, with James MacEachin starring as a former police detective-turned private eye. You'll notice, between Tenafly and Shaft, that it was a bad season for black private detectives. I suspect this has more than a little to do with how television turned potentially unique characters into bland copycats of those that were already on the airwaves.

Back to the subject at hand, though, which is the upcoming Second Season. With the shifting of the schedules, a few favorites are preparing for new timeslots: ABC's Toma, which will take a circuitous route to become Baretta next season, will be moving from Thursday to Friday to make way for two new series, Chopper One* and Firehouse; neither new series will make it past the Second Season. Arthur Hill's legal drama, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law is also on the move, from its Wednesday time to Saturdays. 

*A type in TV Guide rendered this series "Hopper One."  Perhaps that's why they weren't able to find an audience; the audience wasn't able to find the show.

And then there's a series that did make just a little splash. At the conclusion of the final episode of "The Little Farm" on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre, the TV Guide notes that "Next week: 'Upstairs, Downstairs,' a 13-part drama about life in Edwardian England" will begin. As I recall, that went over a bit more than those other series...

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And that kid on the cover? That's "Mason Reese, 7-year old huckster." Back in the early 70s, Reese was ubiquitous on television, appearing on commercials for Ivory soap, Post Raisin Bran, Perdue chicken, Underwood chicken spread, the Zayre store chain, and more. If he wasn't pitching products, he was chatting it up with the likes of Dick Cavett and Mike Douglas.

When asked how he liked the business, he replied, "It's fun. You get to travel around and meet lots of important people and shoot crap with the cameramen."

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MST3K alert: The Undead (1957) Experiments in reincarnation hurtle a scientist back to the dark ages. Pamela Duncan, Richard Garland, Allison Hayes. (Saturday, 11:30 p.m., WTCN) "I've never known more about what isn't going on in a movie," Mike says about this melodrama featuring shape-shifters, imps (played by Billy Barty!), witches, and the Devil, all directed by Roger Corman. If that isn't nightmare fuel, I don't know what is. TV

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Around the dial

The above is not me, alas, although it does feature three of my favorite things: Christmas, television, and cats. And while there are no cat posts below, we do have plenty of the first two that we can look at on this Boxing Day, which I've always thought ought to be a national holiday. Of course, when you're retired, every day is a holiday it its own way. Anyhow. . .

At Cult TV Blog, John brings to a conclusion his series on The Prisoner and how it may (or may not) mirror Soviet Russia. We come to the final two episodes, "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out," plus his overall conclusions from this fascinating exploration.

I love Paul's review of A Very Brady Christmas at Drunk TV. Granted, it might not be the most charitable review of the Bradys, but it's all done with affection toward the original series, and makes the excellent point that "we don’t want these classic properties helpfully 'updated' for the times." Amen, brother.

Comet over Hollywood interviews Jeremy Arnold, film historian and author of Christmas in the Movies: 35 Classics to Celebrate the Season on—what else?—the history of Christmas movies, with some very insightful historical, cultural, and sociological notes on the evolution of the genre. 

Speaking of which, at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence has a look at five Christmas TV movies from when Hallmark was good. I don't know if there's much for me to add to what I've already written about Hallmark movies in the past, but if you haven't read it yet, my annual Christmas humor essay does the heavy lifting.

Martin Grams dips into the Christmas season with this review of "Cold Death," a 1937 episode of The Shadow, starring 22-year-old Orson Welles in the title role, and telling a story that bears more than a passing resemblance to one of our favorite Christmas stories, proving just how adaptable it is.

At The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew shares two different versions of "The Christmas Song," sung by Rosemary Clooney and Nat King Cole, on their respective television series. What a fun look back at one of the great songs of all time. In fact, I'm listening to Nat as I write this, with total enjoyment.

Garry Berman is back with a story on the resurgence of the network sitcom, one of the oldest and most loved of television genres, and his report is that the sitcom is alive and well. Hard to imagine television without it; whether it's your favorite genre or not, it shows people can always use a good smile. 

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, that you're enjoying this Boxing Day, and that the rest of your Christmas season is a peaceful one. See you back here tomorrow! TV

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The Night Before Christmas

For as long as I can remember, Christmas Eve has been the biggest day of the year for me. Bigger than my birthday. Bigger even than Christmas itself. Growing up, Christmas Eve was when our family had our tree; then, of course, there was the anticipation of Santa himself. Waiting through the day and the early hours of Christmas morning, imagining that I heard him out in the living room. The excitement was so great that one year it actually made me physically ill, so worked up did I get. 

One of life's lessons that has stuck with me ever since: it's all about the anticipation.

Now, of course, I'm a more responsible adult. There are far fewer presents under the tree with my name on them, and I'm just fine with that. My wife and I open them Christmas morning, and then work on getting everything ready for Christmas dinner and our company. The real meaning of Christmas has taken on the greatest importance for me, more important than any gift waiting to be unwrapped. (Although that shouldn't be taken as an indication that I'm willing to forgo presents altogether. Some things never change.)

Christmas Eve remains a special day, though. December 24—12/24—still has that power, not unlike other special combinations of numbers, whether it be your birthday or another day, like July 4. It begins with errands and baking, and ends with Midnight Mass, and in-between there's the pleasure of driving through mostly deserted streets, looking at front windows illuminated with Christmas trees and, oftentimes, families spending the evening together. It's all about the anticipation.

So what to write about on Christmas Eve?

A few years ago I wrote about Axel, the legendary Minneapolis-St. Paul kids' show host, and what better time than Christmas Eve to listen to his famed rendition of "The Night Before Christmas."

Your friendship, your loyalty to me and to It's About TV! throughout the years (not to mention your tolerance!), and your appreciation of classic television, are all very important to us here, and so, to all of you, my sincere and heartfelt wishes for a very Merry Christmas. Take a moment in the next couple of days to give thanks for your blessings, and tell someone you love them. TV

If you enjoy the content here and want to support my broader creative work, please consider making a donation at my Ko-fi page. Any amount you contribute helps me continue writing, researching, and sharing these articles and projects. Thank you!

What's on TV? Friday, December 31, 1965

There's no great revelation in today's listings, but if you want to ring out the old year with a smile you can do worse than the French classic Mon Oncle, which appears here as "My Uncle," Jacques Tati's Oscar-winning comedy about the dangers of consumerism (9:30 p.m., KXTV). Might be a gentle refresh after all the rampant materialism of Christmas, eh? This last listing of 1965 is from the Northern California edition.