This week in TV Guide: August 9, 1980

There have been, by my count, ten issues of TV Guide that I've written about that feature major articles on children's programming—its quality, its effects on children, its tie-ins to advertising. It's been a thing since before TV Guide was first published, and it's continued beyond the time when TV Guide, and television in general, ceased to become literate. The concerns have remained the same, as have the proposals. One could probably cut and paste from any of my past ten reviews, and come up with much the same content as this week's cover story by Claire Safrana, in which "A blue-ribbon panel offers guidance for parents." In fact, the only reason I'm even bothering to report on it is because of the capsule reviews of each show, some of which are frankly hilarious. 

First things first: the three best Saturday/Sunday morning shows, according to the panel, are PBS's Once upon a Classic and CBS's 30 Minutes and The New Fat Albert Show, with the ABC Weekend Specials coming in a close fourth. Once upon a Classic is the clear front-runner, with comments that include "Outclasses all the others" and "Handsome format, first-rate dramas. We could use more of those." But the entertainment value here comes from the shows at the bottom of the list.

Take CBS's The All-New Popeye Hour, which comes in at #21 out of 27 programs reviewed, scoring 2.4 out of a possible 10. The verdict: "All new? Nothing new! Violent, destructive behavior is rewarded constantly." Hello? Don't you know that's the way things are? Violent, destructive behavior is always rewarded today, provided you're on the right side. Maybe the kids watching this cartoon learned their lessons too well. 

And then there's The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show, also on CBS, ranked right in the middle at #14. "The only thing to say is that some kids love this formula of chase, collision and comeuppance." And then, at #19, you've got NBC's The Daffy Duck Show, essentially the same program but featuring Bugs's nemesis. Even so, the panel comments, "Old cartoon favorites cut up into unintelligible segments. Surely the kids will notice." How this differs from Bugs Bunny is a mystery, I guess. Apparently the kids loved it well, considering they remain hugely popular today, especially when compared to the rest of the shows on the list; just look at the Blu-Ray, remastered versions on Amazon. Message to the panel: bite me.

Some of the other comments, however, are pithy and funny, and probably right on the money:

• Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo (NBC): "Basically schlock."
• The Skatebirds (CBS): "Terrible! What a waste of any child's time."
• The Godzilla/Globetrotters Adventure Hour (NBC): "Worthless, pointless, awful." [I wonder who thought combining a basketball team and a Japanese monster was a good idea?]
• Jason of Star Comman (CBS): "It aspires to a low level апd succeeds."
  
• Casper and the Angels (NBC): "Boring. A silly takeoff on Charlie's Angels. An excuse to show women in tights." [The real question is how you can do a takeoff on Charlie's Angels, featuring women in tights, and have it come out boring?
• Saving the best for last, it's Captain Caveman & the Teenangels (ABC); "No redeeming values."

The irony is that one of the most-praised cartoons on the list is Fat Albert, the brainchild of a man who, we have since discovered, displays the very worst qualities that one might have assigned to adults who grew up watching those other cartoons. We're reminded again that irony can be a real bitch.

For all this, though, the panel's conclusion is hard to argue with. "Most cartoon shows are on the same level. Indeed, they aspire to that same, very low level," says Harvard's Dr. Gerald Lesser. "Yet cartoons are not the worst menace io attack our society in recent years. They are harmful in that they waste a lot of a child's time. We can do better than that." Indeed we can, as I've been saying the last few weeks. But considering the quality of many of the primetime shows on television, the answer is obvious: iswhy should children's television be any different?

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Where have I read this before? "Reruns Loom for September as Actors' Strike Continues."  Yes, SAG-AFTRA is on strike against the networks and the major TV and movie studios, and Frank Swertlow gives us the latest on the work stoppage that leaves the start of the new television season in doubt. As was the case in the recent series of Hollywood strikes, the only prime-time shows that are unaffected are reality programs—Real People, Speak Up America, Games People Play, That's Incredible!, and Those Amazing Animals—and Prime Time Friday. Oh, and The Tim Conway Show, which operates under a different contract (probably since it's the only variety show left on television). It's true that there are completed episodes for many series, but the nets are reluctant to use them because they'd be scattered among reruns and would lose their promotional impact. For the same reason, events such as Shogun might be delayed. 

As was the case last year, the actors' strike is not a brief affair; it took three months, until October, before actors returned to work, although the agreement was reached in mid-February. (In fact, it was the longest actors' strike until last year's.) Unlike last year, the Emmy Awards did go on as s cheduled, but it was boycotted by the union, with best actor winner Powers Boothe (for Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones) being the only nominee to show. 

With the agreement reached in mid-September, Shogun went on as scheduled, airing September 15-19. Both sides claimed victory, as is often the case in such labor disputes, but there was one clear-cut, and most unexpected, winner: Carl Sagan's series Cosmos, which premiered during the strike, and faced little competition from the networks. I guess that outcome could have been predicted in the stars.

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The Democratic Party meets in convention this week at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with suspense in short supply. Despite a challenge from Senator Edward Kennedy, President Carter appears to have things locked up; he leads Kennedy in the delegate count, 1,982 to 1,235, with 1666 needed to win, and barring a movement to free the delegates from their primary commitments (the movement fails), Carter will win the nomination. But old traditions die hard, and Sally Bedell reports on the preparations being made by the networks for their gavel-to-gavel coverage of the proceedings. Once upon a time, the convention meant drama, suspense, and spontaneity, but today it's all about following the script. And I do mean "script"; says William Carruthers, former TV advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford, "There is no reason that a convention should be laid out for prime time any differently than an entertainment special. You need a well-developed format and you have to consider the personalities and events to determine what you do each night." 

Although politicians and networks had long since learned the need for a certain amount of cooperation, the turning point in TV coverage probably dates back to the tumultuous 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, a perfect storm of conflict not likely to ever be repeated, and their 1972 soirée in Miami Beach, a gathering so disorganized and chaotic that presidential nominee George McGovern wound up giving his acceptance speech at 3:00 a.m. Friday morning. That determination to not let history repeat itself could be seen almost immediately at the 1972 Republican convention, held in Miami Beach a month after the Democrats. Their three-day conclave featured a script "so meticulously detailed it included pauses for applause and instructions for cheering. Football hero Bart Starr, who appeared on the podiurn during the opening ceremony, was even directed to 'nod' to the color guard as it passed by." 

With so little suspense at hand, why do the networks insist on spending large amounts of time, talent, and money covering the proceedings? According to former NBC correspondent and Ford press secretary Ron Nessen, "Prestige, money and ratings are at stake for the networks. The network that wins the convention will win the campaign and Election Night, and through the next four years will be the news champ." Add to that the personal rivalries that exist between floor correspondents, all of whom are busy jockying for air time "like a pack of frustrated bloodhounds." One CBS correspndent glumly admits that "We're concerned about Walter [Cronkite] this year. It's his last convention and he is going to want as much time on camera as possible." With the lack of news often palpable, reporters are often forced to great lengths to fill what air time they do get; one expert calls it "let's pretend journalism." "When nothing is going on, everyone runs around posing questions to people who are in no position to give an answer," he says. "They are saying, in effect, 'Let's pretend your answer means something'." And what does it all amount to? One veteran reporter says at the end of the day, "You ask me about the cnvention. I have memories of nothing."

Today's conventions play like very bad infomercials hosted by second-rate hucksters and thrust onto all-"news" channels, with minimul network coverage until the acceptance speeches; by comparison, the 1980 conventions were models of substance. I suppose it's possible, though not unlikely, that things could change someday. Perhaps, but I wouldn't count on it. As former Reagan aide John Sears says, "There is only one rule for politicians at conventions toдау. When you are out there, look good."

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Well, this has been depressing so far, hasn't it? And since the convention dominates primetime, it falls to the local stations to offer counterprogramming. Milwaukee's WVTV handles things nicely; they're planning to air a three-night, six-hour adaptation of Taylor Caldwell's Testimony of Two Men (Monday through Wednesday, 8:00 p.m.), starring David Birney, David Huffman, Steve Forrest, Barbara Parkins, William Shatner, and J.D. Cannon. Those living in Chicagoland are fortunate; the White Sox have a three-game series against the New York Yankees, with all three games airing at 7:00 p.m. on WSNS in Chicago and WQRF in Rockford.

WGN offers specials and movies as an alternative; on Monday, it's The Madwoman of Central Park West (7:00 p.m.), a one-woman musical comedy starring Phyllis Newman. She co-wrote the semi-autobiographical story with Arthur Laurents; the songwriters include the team of Adolph Green (Phyllis's husband) and Bette Comden, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Barry Manilow. On Tuesday, it's Casablanca, 1943's Best Picture, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, and Paul Henreid. (But you probably knew all that already. At least I hope so.) Wednesday brings 1965's Cat Ballou (6:30 p.m.), the Western comedy for which Lee Marvin won his Best Actor Oscar; Jane Fonda co-stars as the title character. And on Thursday it's Charade (6:30 p.m.), the light-hearted thriller also known as the best movie Alfred Hitchcock never directed (it was Stanley Donan), with Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn, and a very hummable theme. The convention ends on Thursday, and Friday WGN's back to basics, with the White Sox taking on the Boston Red Sox in Chicago (7:30 p.m.)

Of the three non-convention days, the best is Sunday, a day for sports, with ABC offering expanded coverage of the PGA Championship from the Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, with Jack Nicklaus romping to a record seven-stroke victory over Andy Bean. (2:30 p.m.) CBS counters with same-day coverage of the Formula 1 German Grand Prix, won by France's Jacques Laffite, while NBC is live in Milwaukee for Indycar's Milwaukee 200, with Johnny Rutherford taking first. (3:00 p.m. for both). 

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On weeks when we can, we'll match up two of the biggest rock shows of the era, NBC's The Midnight Special and the syndicated Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and see who's better, who's best.

Kirshner: Guest performers are Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, the Police and the Specials. Musical selections include "Hurt So Bad." 

Midnight: Gladys Knight & the Pips (hosts), Linda Ronstadt, Frankie Valli, Randy Newman, the O'Jays, Herb Alpert and Glen Campbell. Also featured: a salute to Elton John. Musical highlights include "Midnight Train to Georgia" (Gladys and the Pips), "When Will I Be Loved?" (Linda), a medley of Frankie Valli's hits, and "All His Love" (Randy). The episode first aired in 1976. 

I guess the two Linda Ronstadt perforamnces cancel each other out, while I think it's hard to top the Police, they're cancelled out by Fleetwood Mac. (Again, your mileage may vary.) On the other hand, you've got Herb Alpert, Glen Campbell, and Frankie Valli, and that's going to give the edge to The Midnight Special.

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Even though subliminal advertising has long been a no-no for both the movies and television, but that doesn't mean you can't expect to see some not-so-subtle messages appearing on your favorite shows when they debut following the end of the actors' strike. 

   Fight back—wear buttons!

Despite CBS spokesman Gene Mater's protestations that "We don't believe we should use entertainment programming to transmit message" (long pause here for the laughter to die down), it appears that several series are taking up President Carter's suggestion that prime-time entertainment shows should encourage viewers to practice energy conservation. Last September, the president met with the heads of the three networks to discuss how this could be done, and several TV producers, including Norman Lear, Garry Marshall, and Gene Reynolds, have been working with the Department of Energy and a citizen's group called the Solar Lobby on how to educate viewers. 

For instance, an episode of Archie Bunker's Place last season included "a 10-minute segment about setting thermostats at 68 degrees," while Marshall plans to include messages on Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Mork & Mindy. "I told these people we gotta tie energy up with sex so the viewers will listen," is how Marshall explains a proposed scene in which "Fonzie may show that his room has a 'solar side' by bringing a girl friend into what he calls 'а warm spot.'" Marshall even uses the term "subliminal" in describing the tactics being used.

Now, none of this is really new. During my conversation with CBS newsman Joseph Benti a few years ago, he mentioned how television would use various techniques such as producing commercials with racially integrated casts to try and influence attitudes in society without people being overtly aware of it. And if you listen to old-time radio sitcoms from the World War II era, you'll often hear characters talking about buying war bonds and contributing to scrap metal drives. I have to admit being uncomfortable with the whole idea of the federal government overtly promoting such messages through TV shows. I didn't like it when Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign tried it, and I don't like it now, especially when someone like Marshall admits that it's a subliminal message. After all, while nobody is opposed to putting out a positive message, who gets to decide what "positive" means?

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MST3K alert: Marooned (1969) Oscar-winning special effects enhance the tension as mission control races against time and a threatening hurricane to retrieve three astronauts trapped in space. Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen. (Friday, 3:00 p.m., WLS in Chicago) Marooned is the only film featured on MST3K to win an Oscar, and so it's appropriate that when it was shown, it was under the name Space Travelers, having been redistributed byFilm Ventures International, "an ultra-low-budget production company that prepared quickie television and video releases of films that were in the public domain or could be purchased inexpensively." I like to think that this (and the terrible new opening and closing credits) is what makes it MST3K-worthy. TV  

This week in TV Guide: April 15, 1967

IIn the past, we've seen issues of TV Guide where circumstances have contrived to make programming listings subject to change. Most of the time the changes are caused by news coverage of breaking events, but this week we have something completely different: the strike by AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which has already thrown the networks for a loop and threatens to complicate things for an indefinite period of time.

The strike, which all in all ran for 15 days, was actually settled by the time this issue hit the newsstands*, but at press time there was no telling when the end was going to come; thus, almost every other page contained some variant of the warning that programming—mostly newscasts, soap operas, variety programs and game shows—was being affected due to the AFTRA strike, and therefore might change. However, "[b]ecause the strike might end soon, TV GUIDE's listings are based on normal network schedules."

*The strike ended at 8:05 p.m. on April 10, just in time for the broadcast of the Academy Awards. I'll leave that to you as do whether or not that was a good thing. Had the strike still been going, the Academy had announced the show would go on with or without television; Bob Hope himself was unsure as to whether or not he would appear as host.

The effects of the strike have been immediate and quite noticeable, with results that in many cases were more entertaining than the regular programming. There's the sudden cult celebrity of Arnold Zenker, for example, thrust into the anchor chair of the CBS Evening News. Walter Cronkite isn't the only newscaster honoring the picket lines; he's joined by Peter Jennings of ABC and David Brinkley of NBC. (Hugh Downs, host of Today, was "chauffeured to the picket line 'in a Cadillac limousine supplied by the network.'")

Jennings's place on the newsbeat is being taken by producers Daryl Griffin and William Sheehan, neither of whom commands the following of Zenker. Others, however, including Brinkley's co-anchor Chet Huntley (who famously said he was "a newsman, not a performer"), Frank McGee and Ray Scherer, are continuing to work; at an event to pick up the Broadcasters' Distinguished Service Award, Huntley, and Brinkley confessed that "they really did not see eye to eye about Huntley's strike-breaking." Some would speculate that the perceived split between the two damaged their chemistry in the eyes of viewers; whether or not it does, the ratings for The Huntley-Brinkley Report will never be quite the same. and Cronkite (after reclaiming his anchor chair from Zenker) would beocme the face of the evening news for a generation.    

Equally hard-hit are the soaps, most of which are still being broadcast live. In place of the stories, networks have been running repeats of old favorites like Candid Camera and Father Knows Best. Some regular viewers have been suffering withdrawal because of the changes, which have left some key characters in life-threatening situations. "Oh please, bring them back," one said. The effects were not all bad, however, as many other viewers are feeling a sense of relief—much like an alcoholic drying out, as one put it. Many housewives have been telling reporters they've found themselves getting much more housework done than they used to; as a Mount Pleasant mother of four put it, "Once you break the habit, you feel free again." (I wonder, though, how many of them went back to it once the strike ended?)

In other strike-related news, The Doan Report tells us that Johnny Carson is "quitting his show for good" because NBC is combatting the strik by showing reruns of The Tonight Show. According to Carson's attorney (Bombastic Buskin?). the network is essentially turning Carson into "a scab against himself." NBC, however, responds that the star, who's making $780,000 a year (roughly $6.2 million in today's dollars) and has already developed a reputation for difficulty (remember his 15-minute flu?), is merely holding out for more money.

NBC newsman Edwin Newman, in a TV Guide piece entitled "Confessions of a Rookie Picket," humorously confesses that there is an upside to pounding the pavement in the line outside Rockefeller Center: "the females in the area are quite personable, and miniskirts add a new dimension to picketing.  Male pickets who appear downcast aren't. They are actually looking about two feet above the ground."

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During the 60s, the Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace were the premiere variety shows on television. Whenever they appear in TV Guide together, we'll match them up and see who has the best lineup..

Sullivan: Scheduled guests include singer Nancy Wilson; Norman Wisdom of the Broadway musical "Walking Happy"; and comedians Norm Crosby, Totie Fields, and Hendra and Ullett.

Palace: Host Milton Berle talks with baseball's Willie Mays, Maury Wills and Jim Piersall, and joins them for a parody of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." Also: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Buddy Rich and his band, singer Marilyn King, illusionist Prassano Rao and the tap-dancing Dunhills.

Ed's lineup this week is a little light, to be honest, with some of his favorite comedians, Norm Crosby and Totie Fields, and Nancy Wilson. But what lineup can compare when you have Maury Wills leading off and Willie Mays batting clean-up? Throw in Roy Rogers and Dale Evens, and Buddy Rich and his band, and the winner is clear. It's Palace with a home run. 

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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. 

Felony Squad, just concluding its first of three seasons on ABC, is yet another example in the abandoned genre of half-hour dramas, which really is unfortunate; as I've said before, the brief running time forces each episode to be more tightly constructed, and less focused on the personal lives of its stars, which in general is always a good idea. Felony Squad also demonstrates that a police procedural can be fun for the whole family. 

Our crime-fighting heroes are a trio of cops with, says Cleve, "a separate copy for each age group to identify with." stars Howard Duff as the middle-aged Sam Stone, which is about as good a name for a veteran cop as you could ask. He's given to fatherly talks with the junior partner of the firm, Jim Briggs, played by Dennis Cole. Jim has this annoying habit, according to Amory, of getting shot, on average, once in each show. But have no fear; "He's left-handed, you see, and even when he's shot in one arm, before you know it, he comes back for more, blazing away with the other." And for seniors, there's Ben Alexander as Dan Briggs, Jim's father, and you could be forgiven for wondering if we're talking about Frank Smith, Alexander's character from the original version of Dragnet*, or Steven Hill, who plays Dan Briggs on Mission: Impossible. Oh well; that's always the risk one runs in the TV universe. 

As police shows of the 1960s go, Felony Squad is pretty good. Its characters are likeable, and Duff is always a steady, sturdy presence in any role he plays. Cleve has a bone to pick with him, and the series, though: those "fatherly" talks he's always having with Jim extend to the crooks they've just shot, and "Take our word for it—after on of them, the crook is glad to go." In fact, the length of time it takes for the bad guys to die is one of Amory's chief complaints. A recent episode sees Ricardo Montalban shot by Stone "fair and square" after choking two men to death during a multi-million dollar industrial theft. He's given plenty of time for his "final curtain line," but can't resist resuming after the final commercial break to give his own heart-to-heart to Stone, asking him to complete the deal. When Stone refuses—he is the hero, after all—Montalban can only shake his head, verbally at least. "No style," he ruefully says. Harsh, maybe, but as Amory concludes, it described the show pretty well."

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Ready for some sports? The baseball season has opened, and NBC kicks off its Game of the Week coverage with the defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the St. Louis Cardinals, who will win this year's National League title (as well as the World Series). Newly retired Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax joins the NBC broadcasting team; Koufax was never a good fit in the broadcast booth, and he leaves NBC after the 1972 season.

The Minnesota Twins open their local television schedule on Friday night with a game against the Detroit Tigers (6:55 p.m. CT, WTCN and others). These two teams finished second and third in 1966 (behind the champion Baltimore Orioles), and they'll be key players in the four-team death match for the 1967 American League crown. The Twins plan to telecast 50 games during the regular season on WTCN, although they'll be adding some at the end due to the pennant race. Interesting how times have changed, isn't it—nowadays, between OTA and cable, almost every team televises almost every game.

WTCN follows-up on its Friday Twins telecast with The Winning Team (10:15 p.m., time approximate), the life story of Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, starring Ronald Reagan. Many years ago Terry Cashman wrote a hit song called "Talkin' Baseball," which included the line "the great Alexander is pitching again in Washington." A lot of people didn't get that line, but he's talking about Reagan, the newly-elected president, playing Alexander in this movie. A nice touch.

On Saturday at 12:30 p.m., CBS presents coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs, with game five of the semifinal series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks, or, if that series has concluded, game five between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. If both of those series have already concluded, we'll be seeing the first game of the Stanley Cup Final. It will in fact be the Toronto-Chicago game that is seen, with the Leafs winning 4-2 on the way to a 4-2 series victory, and an eventual Cup triumph over Montreal. It's a historic win for the Maple Leafs, the last champion of the NHL's "original six" era; in September the league will kick-off its new season with six new expansion teams, and since then the teams just seem to keep coming. It's also a historic win for another, more dubious reason: to date, 1967 marks the last time the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup.

The NBA's in playoff mode as well—Sunday's game on ABC is expected to be from the finals, and indeed it is: game two between the San Francisco Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers are led by Wilt Chamberlain, who used to play for the Warriors, who used to be in Philadelphia before moving to San Francisco.* Philly's going to win this game, 126-95, on the way to a six-game victory over the Warriors.

*They then moved to Oakland and became the Golden State Warriors, but in 2017 they moved back to San Francisco. They're still called Golden State, though.

Also that Sunday (1:30 p.m.), CBS presents the premiere of a brand-new soccer league, the National Professional Soccer League, forerunner to the North American Soccer League*, as the Baltimore Bays tangle with the Atlanta Chiefs. I love this attempt in the listings to explain soccer for American fans who don't understand much about the game: "Placing best foot (and head) forward, 11-man teams maneuver the ball in a field roughly 110 by 75 yards. Only the goalkeeper can touch the ball with his hands or arms. Each goal is worth one point." I guess that does about cover it, though it loses something in the translation.

*The NASL was formed in 1968 by a merger between the aforementioned NPSL and the rival United Soccer League, and lasted until 1984.

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It's been a big week for Ronald Reagan, too. In addition to The Winning Team, the California governor is scheduled to appear on the premiere of Joey Bishop's late-night ABC talk show. The show itself was in doubt right up until the last minute, due to the strike, but it goes on as planned. Not planned is that, due to a scheduling mixup, Reagan shows up late for the live broadcast. Nowadays people would say this was a harbinger of things to come for Bishop, but as we know Joey was actually serious competition for Carson for a time.

The rerun season is beginning, and many of the biggest shows will be doing second-runs throughout the summer (except for the variety shows, many of which had summer replacements). One show presenting the first in a series of reruns: The Fugitive, in its final season. But as the listing notes, "Viewers will learn the truth about Dr. Kimble's guilt or innocence in a two-part episode to be telecast in August." As I've mentioned before, this may be one of the only times the concluding episode of a series has been shown after the rerun season, as the positively final episode of the show's run.

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There have been many starlets in the pages of TV Guide over the years, but this week's starlet gives us the opportunity to ponder the different ways in which the word can be used. It can refer to an up-and-coming female star, kind of like a junior star; or (as the word "boomlet" is to politics) it can mean a star whose sheen peters out, never attaining the brilliance that had been hoped for. In this case, both definitions apply to cover girl Karen Jensen, "The Starlet, 1967." 

Have you heard of Karen Jensen? I hadn't, although that in and of itself doesn't mean anything. Her IMDb listing gives us some information about her career, including that she was a regular in the NBC series Bracken's World. She also was named "Miss Fire Prevention Week," narrowly lost out to Sharon Tate for the part of Jennifer in Valley of the Dolls, and once won the Golden Calf Trophy for the actress with "the most beautiful legs in the world."  

In a whimsical, if somewhat mocking (today we might think of it as snarky), unbylined article, TV Guide goes into detail on how Jensen has all the prerequisites for stardom: vacuity and giggling innocence combined with sexual qualities, interests in obscure philosophies and material goods like furs and jewels, dates with the right men, and an attitude "which must exude the essence of Starletism."

Karen Jensen has it all going for her: she's "bright, pretty, affable, affected and a bit vague about just what it is she's saying." She has the "kit": she reads the "right" books: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (of the later, Jensen reports, "It's about this young man who wants to find himself. I identified with him. He walks with his soul!"), she makes the rounds with the "right" people (George Burns' son Ronnie; producer Sy Weintraub; singer Jimmy Boyd (who "taught me a lot about ethics"); she has the "right" kind of sex appeal and knows how to talk about it ("I'd rather go nude now than wear something wrong"); and her life has the "right" kind of tragedy (her boyfriend Randy Boone went away "to think things out about us. I cried when he went. Then he married a girl he'd known only a few weeks. I was very sad.")

Mind you, I'm not making fun of Karen. Well, maybe a little, but you understand what I mean. She's done a lot more in the industry than I ever will. She worked steadily, if not spectacularly, for a number of years. No, I think, if anything, this shows how hard it is to make it big in Hollywood, and perhaps how our perceptions have changed over the years. There's a sexist, patronizing tone to the story, which I doubt you'd read today. Even the term "starlet" could be seen as sexist, seeing as how it fails the unisex test; we don't distinguish between "actors" and "actresses" anymore, except at the Academy Awards. But the thing is—I suspect it's just as accurate as it was then.

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Finally, TV Teletype tells us that comedians Rowan and Martin are being considered for an NBC series for the '68-'69 season, and will be doing a special as lead-in to the network's Miss America coverage. There are many false alarms in the Teletype rumor mill, but this isn't one of them: that special—Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In—will indeed lead to a series, which debuts as a replacement for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in January of 1968. And the rest, as we know, is history. TV  

This week in TV Guide: April 15, 1967

In the past (most notably here) we've seen issues of TV Guide where circumstances have contrived to make programming listings subject to change.  This week, however, we have something completely different - the strike by AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which has already thrown the networks for a loop and threatens to complicate things for an indefinite period of time.

The strike, which ran for 15 days, had actually been settled by the time this issue hit the newsstands*, but at press time there was no telling when the end was going to come; thus, almost every other page contained some variant of the warning that programming - mostly newscasts, soap operas, variety programs and game shows - was affected due to the AFTRA strike, and therefore might change.  However, "[b]ecause the strike might end soon, TV GUIDE's listings are based on normal network schedules."

*The strike ended at 8:05pm on April 10, just in time for the broadcast of the Academy Awards.  I'll leave that to you as do whether or not that was a good thing.  Had it not been settled, the Academy had announced the show would go on with or without television; Bob Hope himself was unsure as to whether or not he would appear as host.

The effects of the strike were quite noticeable, and in many cases more entertaining than the regular programming.  Take news, for example.  Many of the major newscasters - Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, David Brinkley - honored the picket lines and refused to appear.  Others, including Brinkley's co-anchor Chet Huntley (who famously said he was "a newsman, not a performer"), Frank McGee and Ray Scherer, continued to work.  Cronkite's place on the CBS Evening News was taken by program manager Arnold Zenker, who developed a cult following during his two-week stint, while Jennings was replaced by producers Daryl Griffin and William Sheehan.  Huntley continued on sans Brinkley, and some speculated that the perceived split between the two damaged their chemistry and led to Cronkite's subsequent rise in the ratings.   

Equally hard-hit were the soaps, most of which were still broadcast live.  In place of the stories, networks ran repeats of shows such as Candid Camera and Father Knows Best.  Some regular viewers were thrown into a panic by the sudden withdrawal, which left some key characters in life-threatening situations.  "Oh please, bring them back," one said.  The effects were not all bad, however, as many other viewers felt a sense of relief - much like an alcoholic drying out, as one put it.  Many housewives, the soaps' main audience, told reporters they found themselves getting much more housework done than they used to; as a Mount Pleasant mother of four put it, "Once you break the habit, you feel free again."  (I wonder, though, how many of them went back to it once the strike ended?)

The Doan Report tells us that Johnny Carson announced he was "quitting his show for good" because NBC was running repeats of The Tonight Show, turning Carson into, his attorney claimed, "a scab against himself."  NBC, however, responded that the star, who'd already developed a reputation for difficulty (remember his 15-minute flu?), already making $780,000 a year, was merely holding out for more money.

NBC newsman Edwin Newman, in a TV Guide piece entitled "Confessions of a Rookie Picket," humorously confesses that there is an upside to pounding the pavement in the line outside Rockefeller Center: "the females in the area are quite personable, and miniskirts add a new dimension to picketing.  Male pickets who appear downcast aren't.  They are actually looking about two feet above the ground."

***

During the 60s, the Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace were the premiere variety shows on television. Whenever they appear in TV Guide together, we'll match them up and see who has the best lineup..

Ed Sullivan: Scheduled guests include singer Nancy Wilson; Norman Wisdom of the Broadway musical "Walking Happy"; and comedians Norm Crosby, Totie Fields, and Hendra and Ullett.

Hollywood Palace: Host Milton Berle talks with baseball's Willie Mays, Maury Wills and Jim Piersall, and joins them for a parody of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."  Also: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Buddy Rich and his band, singer Marilyn King, illusionist Prassano Rao and the tap-dancing Dunhills.

OK, this week is gonna be a little different.  I was struck, as you might also be, by how thin Ed's guest list was, so I did something I don't usually do: I checked with another source to see if there might have been a change in the final lineup.  And there was.  According to TV.com, the actual list of guests was: Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, Tony Bennett, the Count Basie Orchestra, 14 year-old Australian pianist Alan Kogosowski, South American guitarists Los Indio Tabajaras, acrobat act The Mercners, Totie Fields and Hendra & Ullett.

Just a bit of a change, don't you think?  Now, Ed's show was notorious for incorporating last-minute changes after the afternoon rehearsal, as Sullivan moved around, cut or added to the lineup, so that could have been part of it.  It might have had something to do with the AFTRA strike, there could have been last-minute cancellations, or the guest list might simply have been incomplete at press time.  (It did say "scheduled," after all, and it was a live show - anything could have happened.)

So do we review what was, or what was supposed to be?  There's no question the actual Sullivan lineup is stronger than that listed in TV Guide,  but Buddy Rich, Roy & Dale and Willie Mays can still hold their own with Tony Bennett, Count Basie and Nancy Sinatra.  My verdict: I'm still giving it to The Palace.  And that'll teach you to mess around with TV Guide.

***

Ready for some sports?  The baseball season has opened, and NBC kicks off its Game of the Week coverage with the defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the St. Louis Cardinals, who will win this year's National League title (as well as the World Series).  Newly retired Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax joins the NBC broadcasting team.  Koufax was never a good fit in the broadcast booth, and he leaves NBC after the 1972 season.

The Minnesota Twins open their local television schedule on Friday night with a game against the Detroit Tigers.  These two teams finished second and third in 1966 (behind the champion Baltimore Orioles), and they'll be key players in the four-team death match for the American League crown.  The Twins plan to telecast 50 games during the regular season, although they'll be adding some at the end due to the pennant race.  Interesting how times have changed, isn't it - nowadays, between OTA and cable, almost every team televises almost every game.

Channel 11 follows-up on its Friday Twins telecast with The Winning Team, the life story of Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, starring Ronald Reagan.  Many years ago Terry Cashman wrote a hit song called "Talkin' Baseball," which included the line "the great Alexander is pitching again in Washington."  A lot of people didn't get that line, but he's talking about Reagan, the newly-elected president, playing Alexander in this movie.  A nice touch.

On Saturday, CBS presents coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs, with game 5 of the semifinal series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks; or, if that series has concluded, game five between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens.  If both of those series have already concluded, we'll be seeing game one of the Stanley Cup Final.  It would in fact be the Toronto-Chicago game that was seen, with the Leafs winning 4-2 on the way to a 4-2 series victory, and an eventual Cup triumph over Montreal.  This is a historic season for the NHL, the last of the six-team era.  In September the league will kick-off its new season with six new expansion teams, and since then the teams just seem to keep coming.

The NBA's in playoff mode as well - Sunday's game on ABC is expected to be from the finals, and indeed it was: game two between the San Francisco Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers.  The Sixers are led by Wilt Chamberlain, who used to play for the Warriors, who used to be in Philadelphia before moving to San Francisco.*  Philly's going to win this game, 126-95, on the way to a six-game victory over the Warriors.

*They now play in Oakland and are called the Golden State Warriors, but in 2017 they're scheduled to move back to San Francisco.  No word yet on what they'll be called.

Also that Sunday CBS presents the premiere of a brand-new soccer league, the National Professional Soccer League, forerunner to the North American Soccer League*, as the Baltimore Bays tangle with the Atlanta Chiefs.  I love this attempt in the listings to explain soccer for American fans who don't understand much about the game: "Placing best foot (and head) forward, 11-man teams maneuver the ball in a field roughly 110 by 75 yards.  Only the goalkeeper can touch the ball with his hands or arms.  Each goal is worth one point."  I guess that does describe it.

*The NASL was formed in 1968 by a merger between the aforementioned NPSL and the rival United Soccer League, and lasted until 1984.  The name has since been taken by the country's number-two soccer league.

***

It was a big week for Ronald Reagan, too.  In addition to The Winning Team, the California governor is scheduled to appear on the premiere of Joey Bishop's late-night ABC talk show.  The show itself was in doubt, due to the strike, but it goes on as planned.  Not planned is that due to a scheduling mixup, Reagan shows up late for the live broadcast.  Nowadays people say this was a harbinger of things to come, but as we know Bishop was actually serious competition for Carson for a time.

The rerun season is beginning, and many of the biggest shows will be doing second-runs throughout the summer (except for the variety shows, many of which had summer replacements).  One show presenting the first in a series of reruns: The Fugitive, in its final season.  But as the listing notes, "Viewers will learn the truth about Dr. Kimble's guilt or innocence in a two-part episode to be telecast in August."  As I've mentioned before, this may be one of the only times the concluding episode of a series has been shown after the rerun season, as the final episode of the show's run.

*** 

 

The word "starlet" can be taken two ways, I suppose.  It can refer to a female star, or (like the word "boomlet") can mean a star whose sheen peters out, never attaining the brilliance that had been hoped for.  In this case, both definitions apply to cover girl Karen Jensen, "The Starlet, 1967." 

Have you heard of Karen Jensen?  I haven't, although that in and of itself doesn't mean anything.  Her Wikipedia entry (again, not a be-all and end-all) wouldn't suggest someone who made it big-time, although her IMDb listing gives us more information.

In a not-altogether flattering article (today we might think of it as snarky), TV Guide goes into detail on how Jensen has all the prerequisites for stardom: vacuity and giggling innocence combined with sexual qualities, interests in obscure philosophies and material goods like furs and jewels, dates with the right men, and an attitude "which must exude the essence of Starletism."

Karen Jensen has it all going for her: she's "bright, pretty, affable, affected and a bit vague about just what it is she's saying."  She reads the "Right" books - Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.  Of the later, Jensen reports, "It's about this young man who wants to find himself.  I identified with him.  He walks with his soul!"

Mind you, I'm not making fun of Karen.  She's done a lot more in the industry than I ever will.  She worked steadily, if not spectacularly, for a number of years.  No, I think, if anything, this shows how hard it is to make it big in Hollywood, and perhaps how our perceptions have changed over the years.  There's a sexist, patronizing tone to this un-bylined story, which I doubt you'd read today.  But the thing is - I suspect it's just as accurate as it was then.

***

Finally, TV Teletype tells us that comedians Rowan and Martin are being considered for an NBC series for the '68-'69 season, and will be doing a special as lead-in to the networks' Miss America coverage.  There are always false alarms in the Teletype rumor mill, but that special - Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In - would indeed lead to a series, which actually debuted as a replacement for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in January of 1968.  And the rest, as they say, is history. TV