What was on TV February 27th through March 5th, 1982

This week's TV Guide is yet another example of that bothersome mailing label.  Sorry, Pamela Sue Martin.

Schnoz

I believe we're all familiar with the "Groucho Nose" glasses gag. They've been around for years, in fact since the 1940's. But did you know their proper name is "Beaglepuss"?  The Topstone company marketed them simply as "Schnoz".

Up Your Nose, This Song Really Blows

A couple weeks ago I featured an album by John Travolta. It seems fitting I would find this 45 a week later.

"Alias" Barbarino

I decided the cure for the winter doldrums was to do some gleaning of my past finds that laid dormant and push some content through (lucky you).

First up is actually a recent find from this past weekend.  I admit I bought it strictly for the sticker alone.

What was on TV October 24th through 30th, 1981

This is a repost from October 30th, 2015, but it's a fun one. Plus I've fixed the invalid Youtube links. Enjoy!

I don't have a lot of commentary on this issue simply because I wanted to get it out quickly.  Halloween is fast approaching and I'm hopping busy.  This issue has some great Halloween show ads including "Disney's Halloween", "Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween", "Dark Night of the Scarecrow" (still a favorite), the network debut of "John Carpenter's Halloween" and of course "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."  The network shows were running behind this year, so there are also lots of season premiers of your favorite shows from yesteryear.  Enjoy!

Romper Romance

Wow, January went fast.  Like so many New Year's resolutions, I failed to live up to mine.  I only posted once last month.  Well, let's see if I can beat that record in February, even if it is a short month.

One of my earliest crushes (as far as 4-year olds can have crushes) was on Miss Lois, our local St. Louis Romper Room hostess.  I watched religiously every morning.  I even asked for Romper Stompers for Christmas one year. And I drew her a picture. It was of some stick-figure children playing on a swingset and slide next to a traditional house complete with window, door and chimney.

Original artist's recreation

What was on TV December 6 through 12th, 1980

After a long hiatus of TV Guide (not to mention regular) posts, I'm back with a look into television 1980-style.  The Guide had yet to make the leap to the square-bound, cable-thick version.  Sorry, it's still only 3 networks for you. Choose your television viewing wisely.

Christmas Is...Wondering What's on Television

My childhood revolved around the television set.  What was on tonight?  What was on this coming weekend?  Who's on Fantasy Island this week? What's on now?!

The holidays ramped up my television obsession.  When is "Rudolph" going to be on?  What about Charlie Brown? Will this be the year without "The Year Without a Santa Claus?!"

It all started on Thanksgiving Day with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  This was generally followed by an afternoon of odd assorted animated specials.  Sometimes they were those "Famous Classic Tales" like "The Mysterious Island" and "Gulliver's Travels", sometimes the similarly-themed "The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo" with Magoo playing the main character of classic literature, and sometimes it was those oddball Lutheran Television cartoons like "Christmas Is..." featuring "Benji" and his dog "Waldo".  This flex-disc mail giveaway promoted its appearance on local St. Louis television station KSD, channel 5 at noon on Christmas Day.

What was on TV September 18th through 24th, 1976 -- Fall Preview Edition

Hang onto your hats and get out your reading glasses. It's time for the Fall Preview issue of TV Guide.  This time from September of 1976.  I wasn't quite in my prime yet as  a TV watcher at this time, but soon would be.  I was still sharing Saturday mornings with my sister and prime time with my brothers. But soon, soon I would rule the TV roost.  In America, we were on the downside of the Bicentennial and headed straight for the Disco era. Let's take a look at what exciting offerings were made by the big 3 in 1976.

What was on TV August 7th through 13th, 1982

Picking up the week after our last TV Guide post is this week in 1982's TV Guide featuring Carroll O'Connor and Denise Miller.

With the success of the ABC's recent "Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family", the network has just announced two more specials.  Hopefully the network won't decide to do "Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's Archie Bunker's Place".

What was on TV July 31st through August 6th, 1982

It's been a while since I've done a TV Guide post and I apologize in advance because this one is a little hum drum.  I guess Summer programming had little to offer but repeats.  The networks were gearing up for the new season premieres and couldn't be bothered with old programming.  But there is an interesting article at the end on the coming of the "Information Age" that is pretty prophetic, though they "missed it by that much".

What Was on TV June 10-16, 1978

While looking for a "Friday Flashback", I came across this TV Guide post from June 2014. It was from back when I only scanned certain pages and it was severely lacking in content.  So, I decided this one needed a refresh and repost.  I'm leaving my original contents, but have updated them and added additional comments and content.

Enjoy!

Okay, I know it's been over 2 months.  But I'm full of excuses.  My PC was down for a month of that time after a harddrive failure.  Then I was on vacation for 2 weeks of the other month.  The remaining 2 weeks, I'll just throw to the wind and blame life in general.

I'll mark my return with another installment of What Was on TV.  This time, it's June 10-16, 1978.  I generally try to align these with the actual week, but I'm a week late.  But let's face it, this TV Guide is already 15 years out of date, so does it really matter?

This cover reminds me of television's UFO fascination of the 1970's, almost rivaling that of...today?  I recall watching shows like In Search Of and Project Blue Book. I also recall being terrified I was going to be abducted.  Thanks TV!  (***Update*** Apparently, there was no show called "Project Blue Book". It was called "Project U.F.O."  I maintain it's another victim of the "Mandela Effect").  

Merry Chris-mouse

Mr. and Mrs. Santa Mouse were made by Royalty Industries in 1970 and were made to be banks.

They are clearly inspired by the popular puppet of the time, "Topo Gigio".

"Topo  Gigio" debuted on Italian television in 1959.  In 1963, he began appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show". "Topo Gigio" (translated from the Italian for "Louis Mouse") was operated by 4 puppeteers, 3 for various articulation and a fourth to voice "Topo".  The puppeteers all dressed in black and used a black back drop to conceal themselves.  "Topo" was known for his stereotypical Italian accent, always saying to Ed when he would depart: "Keesa me goo'night!".  "Topo" continued as a regular throughout the show's run and even closed out the final show in 1971.

Happy Days Die(cut)ssected

Welcome to Day 31, and you know what that means. It's Halloween! Every year when I post my first Countdown, I can't imagine how I'll come up with a post for every day, but here we are. I hope I've added a little to the spirit of the season.

Growing up, my love of both Halloween and television blended in the month of October with the Halloween specials of my favorite shows. Back then, it seemed every show paid their respect to the season with injections of orange and black and ghosts and goblins.

One of my favorites is the 1974 "Haunted" episode of "Happy Days". I make it a point to re-watch it every year.

During this year's viewing, I took special notice of the decorations used in the show. Although the show is set in the 1950's, popular Halloween decorations of the early 1970's from companies such as Beistle and Peck are used. I decided to freeze frame scenes in the episode and identify as many as I could.

The Little Screens

This recent New York Times slideshow introduced me to the photography of Lee Friedlander, specifically his series of photos featuring images of television shows and commercials as seen on actual TVs in the early 1960's.  Oddly enough, I found my own cache of similar images at an estate sale recently, the work of another TV fanatic from 1964.  I'm not sure if he was inspired by Friedlander, but looking through the various images, I can tell what did inspire him.

Featuring random shots of mainly talk show programs, this photographer leaned primarily toward the female guest (and often her figure). Most shots are labeled with the program name and broadcast date.

What was on TV May 9th through 15th, 1981

I know, I'm a week and a half late on this TV Guide, but it's not like you were going to use it to watch TV last week, is it? Enjoy.

What was on TV December 26th, 1981 through January 1st, 1982

The week between Christmas and New Year's was always prime TV viewing for me, being off for two weeks from school. Let's take a look at that week in 1981. Excuse the skewed images. The spine was broke on this issue.

What was on TV November 1st through 7th, 1980

1980, like this year, was an election year.  My first thought looking at this cover was, "I didn't know Phil Donahue ran for president."  It's actually John Anderson, whom I've never heard of before.  He did win 6% of the popular vote in that election, but of course Ronald Reagan won with 50.7% of the vote carrying 44 states.  And no, this is not an invitation to get political (past or present) in the comments.

The Scarecrow

I picked this book up at an estate sale Friday for two reasons.

What was on TV September 10th through 16th, 1977 - Fall Preview Issue

As I suspected, I have been less than productive in posting these Fall Preview issues. They're quite labor intensive with all the scanning and cropping, but I'll see if I can't get at least one more posted this season. Today's issue comes from 1977. Enjoy!