tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post4470811207046401893..comments2024-03-27T22:27:16.556-04:00Comments on It's About TV: This week in TV Guide: August 21, 1971Mitchell Hadleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08695771505209080030noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-69354010254807982982016-08-24T23:42:53.948-04:002016-08-24T23:42:53.948-04:00That last was to be a reference to how THE NATIONA...That last was to be a reference to how THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SPECIALS debuted on PBS with "The Incredible Machine" (after having played on commercial networks, longest on CBS) in 1976, and was a ratings record-breaker for PBS at that time.<br /><br />WVIZ is one of the homes of all those band reunion pledge specials...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-88346517228155170492016-08-24T23:38:42.630-04:002016-08-24T23:38:42.630-04:00Hm. Tried to replace that last redundant "won...Hm. Tried to replace that last redundant "wonderful" but something flaked in the interface with my computer. <br />PBS these days is still a bit cheerful about how well DOWNTON ABBEY did for them...Sundays at 9pm ET/PT were for several seasons 1. THE WALKING DEAD (AMC), distantly 2. THE GOOD WIFE (CBS) and closely 3. DOWNTON (PBS) and usually NBC, ABC and Fox night as well have been running test patterns (Showtime doing well with SHAMELESS probably didn't help the latter three nets). SHERLOCK did nearly as well...so we'll see if any of the subsequent series will catch on as well (or inspire parody series such as ANOTHER PERIOD now on Comedy Central). MERCY STREET wasn't too shabby, if very grim, and even if it split the difference between THE CIVIL WAR and DOWNTON, that might not be enough...<br /><br />Also notable...in the Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-36452273403919306432016-08-24T22:55:25.560-04:002016-08-24T22:55:25.560-04:00MASTERPIECE THEATRE and NET PLAYHOUSE (as interest...MASTERPIECE THEATRE and NET PLAYHOUSE (as interesting a mixed bag as that episode might be...NET PLAYHOUSE would soon (1972) do the Vonnegut reworking of several stories into "Between Time and Timbuktu, or Prometheus-5: A Space Fantasy" (produced by the same team that would make under commission by PBS the fine earlier telefilm of Ursula Le Guin's THE LATHE OF HEAVEN (the later SyFy Channel film was terrible) and the sadly poor adaptation of John Varley's "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank"--a good story, but a very awkward episode of AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE, and most visible these days as MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 episode). THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE was also popping up about then, as one of the series that really caught my attention as a young tv viewer (this was about the time I was starting to pick out my own programming, perhaps a year of so earlier..such notable series as AN AMERICAN FAMILY and NOVA were coming soon. And NFL Films productions were wonderful...I've never been much of a football fan, but their productions were wonderful.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-17754940640065901862016-08-22T17:00:34.234-04:002016-08-22T17:00:34.234-04:00The "singing" "Taste Me" cigar...The "singing" "Taste Me" cigarette pack in the Doral ad had been a singing commercial for Doral before cigarette commercials on TV and radio were outlawed. <br /><br />R.J. Reynolds hoped that enough people still recalled their jingle that a print version could be successful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-26615680657526930012016-08-21T14:27:05.611-04:002016-08-21T14:27:05.611-04:00Really a snapshot in time: The Beverly Hillbillies...Really a snapshot in time: The Beverly Hillbillies, Red Skelton, and The Men from Shiloh (aka the Virginian) were about to leave the air within a month, with just a rerun or two to go. Green Acres, also. Mayberry RFD was also leaving, despite ranking 15th in the Nielsens.Halhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09291930694234773688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-7265534577715532892016-08-21T01:25:52.774-04:002016-08-21T01:25:52.774-04:00The reason PBS rarely had home grown programing, o...The reason PBS rarely had home grown programing, other than news, is because the government starved it of funds. The reason BBC had programs is because the government had funding that the BBC received. The reason that their endless pledge drives and is that there was no sustaining funds. We as a culture are afraid of anything that isn't driven by money. I'm not against a free market driven economy. But sometimes there might be a different way to do things then always depend on capitalism.<br /><br />By the way I like your blog and read it everyday to not only for your articles but also for your sidebar pf other blogs.<br /><br />Thanks for your time.Joseph C McGuirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031292261737674489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-75298317523318729122016-08-21T00:01:49.908-04:002016-08-21T00:01:49.908-04:00have you heard the one about how there used to be ...<i>have you heard the one about how there used to be a street named after Chuck Norris? It had to be changed, because nobody crosses Chuck Norris and lives.</i><br />Ironically those are now considered 'old jokes'. In '08 while running for Prez, Mike Huckabee had Norris on one of his TV ads. Just sitting there, facing the camera with a stern look on his face. While Huckabee told ''Chuck Norris fact'' after ''Chuck Norris fact''.<br />For the NFL pic if you were aiming for '71 you were pretty close! I can date the time period from the helmets. While the NFL-AFL merger was made official in the 1970 season (it actually happened in 1966, beginning the Super Bowl era, but the two weren't unified until 1970) the second clue is the Buffalo Bills helmet on the left. It's the original design, it became the more stylized buffalo in '78 IIRC. The third clue is no Seattle Seahawk or Tampa Bay Buccaneer helmets - they didn't begin play until 1976.YIHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16149048850538200399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-78917244973559108672016-08-20T22:51:37.287-04:002016-08-20T22:51:37.287-04:00Don't have this one, but do have a few adjoini...Don't have this one, but do have a few adjoining weeks ...<br /><br />In the summer of '71, Dean Martin's summer replacement was his <b>Summer Show</b> from four years previously, the one hosted by Vic Damone.<br /><b>The Golddiggers In London</b>, which introduced Marty Feldman to US TV, ran the previous summer, 1970.<br />Every prime time reference book I've got confirms this; so does my memory.<br />Awaiting your explanation ...<br /><br />Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.com