Apparently, Geraldo Rivera is immortal.
February 10, 2014 7:34 PM Subscribe
Forty years before "Modern Family" and "The Bachelor", ABC was... well, you can see for yourself: A thirty-three minute promo for the American Broadcasting Company from 1974.
IT WAS ALL LIKE THIS.
Yeah...and it was cool. Well, in some ways. I remember it, and I really miss that aesthetic, actually.
One thing I miss that was commoner back in the day were those prime-time documentary/nature kinds of shows. That genre has all but completely disappeared - maybe just gone to cable.
Action Biography!
posted by Miko at 7:53 PM on February 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
Yeah...and it was cool. Well, in some ways. I remember it, and I really miss that aesthetic, actually.
One thing I miss that was commoner back in the day were those prime-time documentary/nature kinds of shows. That genre has all but completely disappeared - maybe just gone to cable.
Action Biography!
posted by Miko at 7:53 PM on February 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
I like how earnest it is. Do you believe Sonny Bono in a chicken suit will make for good tv? Now that I've seen this, I do.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:59 PM on February 10, 2014
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:59 PM on February 10, 2014
What was the fight-y looking clip from Wide World of Sports all about near the beginning?
posted by lazaruslong at 8:00 PM on February 10, 2014
posted by lazaruslong at 8:00 PM on February 10, 2014
I need there to be a followup post about the Waltons/Little House knockoff cartoon These Are the Days ASAP.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:13 PM on February 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:13 PM on February 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
"Watch as the first family of modern man wipes out the Neanderthal race with rock bombardment"
"The Tribe"
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:16 PM on February 10, 2014
"The Tribe"
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:16 PM on February 10, 2014
Nope, this promo does not spark the memory/nostalgia centers. I wasn't even 5 years old when it aired, so I may have been asleep by the time it would've come on. I remember the shows, though.
Lord, Hong Kong Phooey. Man, I hated that cartoon. I was a Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour kid.
Most of American TV in the 70s for me was nothing but a decade-long Quinn Martin production - because that's the sort of cop show tripe that was always on in my house. All staccato announcers, "special guest stars" I've never heard from since, funky basslines and Antonio Fargas.
posted by droplet at 8:18 PM on February 10, 2014 [6 favorites]
Lord, Hong Kong Phooey. Man, I hated that cartoon. I was a Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour kid.
Most of American TV in the 70s for me was nothing but a decade-long Quinn Martin production - because that's the sort of cop show tripe that was always on in my house. All staccato announcers, "special guest stars" I've never heard from since, funky basslines and Antonio Fargas.
posted by droplet at 8:18 PM on February 10, 2014 [6 favorites]
There appear to be Wikipedia and Youtube (just the intro) entries, DOT.
posted by emjaybee at 8:18 PM on February 10, 2014
posted by emjaybee at 8:18 PM on February 10, 2014
My best take away from this was that there was once a show where Gary Busey and Mark Hamill played brothers. I would have watched that back then. Hell, I'd watch that now.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:23 PM on February 10, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:23 PM on February 10, 2014 [4 favorites]
KILLER BEES. I think I actually snuck out of bed and watched that from behind the sofa.
posted by emjaybee at 8:27 PM on February 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 8:27 PM on February 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
One thing I miss that was commoner back in the day were those prime-time documentary/nature kinds of shows
Hrmmm...
posted by smidgen at 8:28 PM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hrmmm...
posted by smidgen at 8:28 PM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
Man, '74 was a great year for trombonists apparently.
Apparently, Geraldo Rivera is immortal.
That's what I love about these talk show hosts, man. I get older, they stay the same age.
posted by Smedleyman at 9:04 PM on February 10, 2014 [10 favorites]
Apparently, Geraldo Rivera is immortal.
That's what I love about these talk show hosts, man. I get older, they stay the same age.
posted by Smedleyman at 9:04 PM on February 10, 2014 [10 favorites]
Do you believe Sonny Bono in a chicken suit will make for good tv?
People nowadays think that, er... what are we making fun of since Miley Cryrus twerked?
So people have long believed any stupid idea is good TV.
As proof: The Brady Variety Hour.
posted by Mezentian at 9:05 PM on February 10, 2014
People nowadays think that, er... what are we making fun of since Miley Cryrus twerked?
So people have long believed any stupid idea is good TV.
As proof: The Brady Variety Hour.
posted by Mezentian at 9:05 PM on February 10, 2014
The Odd Couple gets the briefest mention. Most of these are so bad as to rightly be completely forgotten, but there are a couple gems tucked in there.
But ah, body perms and moustaches....
posted by wallabear at 9:13 PM on February 10, 2014
But ah, body perms and moustaches....
posted by wallabear at 9:13 PM on February 10, 2014
For some reason, I almost immediately began to get a queasy feeling that the opening song is going to keep going for the entire 30 minutes, this poor bastard singing himself hoarse about togetherness and ABC!
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:29 PM on February 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:29 PM on February 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
The use of Kubrick's special effects innovations from 2001 reminds me of the way the cutting edge bullet-time effects from The Matrix are now used to advertise a family restaurant/ice cream parlor. The more things change ...
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:41 PM on February 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:41 PM on February 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
Holy crap - I spy Mark Hamill.
posted by Dag Maggot at 10:03 PM on February 10, 2014
posted by Dag Maggot at 10:03 PM on February 10, 2014
As proof: The Brady Variety Hour.
Like when the Partridge family ended up in the future.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:09 PM on February 10, 2014
Like when the Partridge family ended up in the future.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:09 PM on February 10, 2014
Or Pink Lady and Jeff. I mean when you're standing on the shoulders of a rich history like My Mother The Car? (Who knew Clark Gregg was so... well preserved?) We really need to see these shows to come back.
posted by Mezentian at 10:18 PM on February 10, 2014
posted by Mezentian at 10:18 PM on February 10, 2014
"What you see on ABC this fall, you'll be talking about tomorrow"
A catchy tune, but the lyrics are nonsensical.
Apparently, Geraldo Rivera is immortal.
In '74, Geraldo Rivera would have still been buzzing from his takedown of Willowbrook, which is probably the only worthwhile piece of reporting he's ever done.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:23 PM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
A catchy tune, but the lyrics are nonsensical.
Apparently, Geraldo Rivera is immortal.
In '74, Geraldo Rivera would have still been buzzing from his takedown of Willowbrook, which is probably the only worthwhile piece of reporting he's ever done.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:23 PM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
Kolchak!
posted by davebush at 10:38 PM on February 10, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by davebush at 10:38 PM on February 10, 2014 [7 favorites]
What was the fight-y looking clip from Wide World of Sports all about near the beginning?
Ali and Frazier were being interviewed by Cosell in the prelude to their second bout. Though they'd been friends before, in the run-up to the first fight Ali trash-talked Frazier as an Uncle Tom and himself as the revolutionary Negro exemplar, and in this interview that comes back and ticks off Frazier. Tape.
posted by dhartung at 11:08 PM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ali and Frazier were being interviewed by Cosell in the prelude to their second bout. Though they'd been friends before, in the run-up to the first fight Ali trash-talked Frazier as an Uncle Tom and himself as the revolutionary Negro exemplar, and in this interview that comes back and ticks off Frazier. Tape.
posted by dhartung at 11:08 PM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
"What you see ABC Saturday Mornings, you'll be talking about all weekend. You'll be talking about HONG KONG PHOOEYTM, a canine crusader who changes from janitor to crime fighter at the close of a drawer. About the NEW ADVENTURES OF GILLIGANTM, and his shipwrecked friends. About DEVLINTM, three kids out on their own together, as a motorcycle stunt team. About KORG, 70,000 B.C.TM, a family struggling to survive during prehistoric times. And THESE ARE THE DAYSTM, about a turn-of-the-century family in rural America. Five bright new shows, part of FUNSHINE SATURDAY each week."
A large part of the challenge of being an announcer, I'm convinced, is finding ways to announce weird things without your voice cracking. It's almost like those singers on commercials who somehow manage to sing with such profound feeling about laxatives.
posted by JHarris at 11:41 PM on February 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
A large part of the challenge of being an announcer, I'm convinced, is finding ways to announce weird things without your voice cracking. It's almost like those singers on commercials who somehow manage to sing with such profound feeling about laxatives.
posted by JHarris at 11:41 PM on February 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
Action Biography!
Yup, with a pre-fame Ted Koppel (who was just another reporter until he became the anchor of The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage, the late-night news update that evolved into Nightline and made him a household name.
It's a bit fuzzy, might have actually been Michael Cera.
Jessica Walter alert at 7:35. And, hey, a young Kurt Russell as a Scandinavian immigrant! (Adapted from the film.)
posted by dhartung at 11:50 PM on February 10, 2014
Yup, with a pre-fame Ted Koppel (who was just another reporter until he became the anchor of The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage, the late-night news update that evolved into Nightline and made him a household name.
It's a bit fuzzy, might have actually been Michael Cera.
Jessica Walter alert at 7:35. And, hey, a young Kurt Russell as a Scandinavian immigrant! (Adapted from the film.)
posted by dhartung at 11:50 PM on February 10, 2014
Why on earth would I be "talkin' about it" with ABC, for chrissakes? What would I be confiding in a not terribly good tv network circa 1974? The things I was worried about then (menstruation, boys, junior high -- not necessarily in that order) I wouldn't have told ANYBODY, let alone some conglomerate that had Howard Cosell on the payroll.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 2:37 AM on February 11, 2014
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 2:37 AM on February 11, 2014
The Brady Variety Hour.
You know, I was around in the 70s, and I couldn't begin to tell you what America's weird fascination with variety shows was all about. (Or the fake wood grain on all the AV equipment, or all the "harvest gold" kitchen appliances, or...)
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:15 AM on February 11, 2014
You know, I was around in the 70s, and I couldn't begin to tell you what America's weird fascination with variety shows was all about. (Or the fake wood grain on all the AV equipment, or all the "harvest gold" kitchen appliances, or...)
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:15 AM on February 11, 2014
Also: at 20:30, construction worker wearing an awesome t-shirt.
Bonus: "Shut up and drink yer gin!"
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 3:15 AM on February 11, 2014
Bonus: "Shut up and drink yer gin!"
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 3:15 AM on February 11, 2014
I was around in the 70s, and I couldn't begin to tell you what America's weird fascination with variety shows was all about.
It's a holdover from the heyday of Vaudeville, only 40-50 years in the past at the time. The variety show is a Vaudeville invention. Before the advent of TV, almost all aspiring actors, dancers, musicians, etc spent some time doing variety. Senior network executives, agents, many older stars and other people who had the power to create programming went back to this format to try to adapt it for television as a showcase for the myriad of celebrity personalities they had fostered but could not find (or invest in) thoroughly developed content for (see also the celebrity game show, the Christmas special).
That being said, it's kind of a cool format. I mean, the Muppets were a variety show (even as they were a parody of the variety show). I think it could be done well and wouldn't hate a tasteful revival.
posted by Miko at 5:00 AM on February 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
It's a holdover from the heyday of Vaudeville, only 40-50 years in the past at the time. The variety show is a Vaudeville invention. Before the advent of TV, almost all aspiring actors, dancers, musicians, etc spent some time doing variety. Senior network executives, agents, many older stars and other people who had the power to create programming went back to this format to try to adapt it for television as a showcase for the myriad of celebrity personalities they had fostered but could not find (or invest in) thoroughly developed content for (see also the celebrity game show, the Christmas special).
That being said, it's kind of a cool format. I mean, the Muppets were a variety show (even as they were a parody of the variety show). I think it could be done well and wouldn't hate a tasteful revival.
posted by Miko at 5:00 AM on February 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
Also, variety shows were about there only being three networks, and only one TV in the house (maybe a little one in the kitchen), right? So prime time had to provide a bit of everything to keep as much of the household transfixed for the commercials. Alas, we will never again have the possiblity of the likes of Grand Funk Railroad, Paul Lynde, Senor Wences and William F. Buckley appearing within the same 60 minute program.
posted by bendybendy at 5:07 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by bendybendy at 5:07 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
It's interesting to see the dozen new shows profiled at the end and how nearly all of them have completely vanished into the cultural ether. Out of the twelve, only "Kolchak" has any name recognition today and that's as a cult show (coincidentally, AV Club just posted an analysis of "Kolchak" as part of their "one-season wonders" series).
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:21 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:21 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Dad, what were the 70s like?
They were like this ok kid?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:35 AM on February 11, 2014
They were like this ok kid?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:35 AM on February 11, 2014
Saxon Kane, bullet time was used in commercials before The Matrix, most famously for The Gap.
The 10th Regiment of Foot, America may never be able to repay its debt to Lynda Carter for helping us endure the Seventies.
posted by NortonDC at 5:44 AM on February 11, 2014
The 10th Regiment of Foot, America may never be able to repay its debt to Lynda Carter for helping us endure the Seventies.
posted by NortonDC at 5:44 AM on February 11, 2014
You'll be talking about HONG KONG PHOOEYTM, a canine crusader who changes from janitor to crime fighter at the close of a drawer
And we did.
Or the fake wood grain on all the AV equipment
Do you really need that explained?
It replicated the classy, sophisticated devices of yore, when the grain wasn't fake.
posted by Mezentian at 5:53 AM on February 11, 2014
And we did.
Or the fake wood grain on all the AV equipment
Do you really need that explained?
It replicated the classy, sophisticated devices of yore, when the grain wasn't fake.
posted by Mezentian at 5:53 AM on February 11, 2014
Do you really need that explained?
It replicated the classy, sophisticated devices of yore, when the grain wasn't fake.
Whoa, no, no, no, this is the culmination of the era of "better living through chemistry" you're talking about here. Faux wood grain was SUPERIOR to the wood grain of yore. No need to have imperfections or out of place knot holes in your furniture or walls, no, when a vinyl laminate image "veneer" of perfect wood grain can be applied to absolutely smooth masonite!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:57 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
It replicated the classy, sophisticated devices of yore, when the grain wasn't fake.
Whoa, no, no, no, this is the culmination of the era of "better living through chemistry" you're talking about here. Faux wood grain was SUPERIOR to the wood grain of yore. No need to have imperfections or out of place knot holes in your furniture or walls, no, when a vinyl laminate image "veneer" of perfect wood grain can be applied to absolutely smooth masonite!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:57 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Whatever... hipster.
I prefer a smooth oak cabinet.
The doors have real heft. REAL HEFT!
And you need a few mates to move it.
Why, the family could be proud to gather 'round it on a Sunday.
You linoleum generation folk... I don't know.
It's because of you we have fake chrome.
posted by Mezentian at 6:01 AM on February 11, 2014
I prefer a smooth oak cabinet.
The doors have real heft. REAL HEFT!
And you need a few mates to move it.
Why, the family could be proud to gather 'round it on a Sunday.
You linoleum generation folk... I don't know.
It's because of you we have fake chrome.
posted by Mezentian at 6:01 AM on February 11, 2014
I was around in the 70s, and I couldn't begin to tell you what America's weird fascination with variety shows was all about.
My dad loved them and we watched all of them.
posted by octothorpe at 6:12 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
My dad loved them and we watched all of them.
posted by octothorpe at 6:12 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
It doesn't harken back to real wood grain of yore. That equipment was made of heavy steel and wire mesh before. It's what 10th regiment says but also the idea of bringing warmth, simplicity and the organic into modern living.
posted by Miko at 6:14 AM on February 11, 2014
posted by Miko at 6:14 AM on February 11, 2014
It doesn't harken back to real wood grain of yore?
Maybe we are talking about different things.
My first TV was in a great big wooden box with speakers. I had a 2.5m turntable cabinet that was a thing of beauty.
Then again, the "unit" for our first "VHS recorder" did indeed have "wood grain styling".
posted by Mezentian at 6:17 AM on February 11, 2014
Maybe we are talking about different things.
My first TV was in a great big wooden box with speakers. I had a 2.5m turntable cabinet that was a thing of beauty.
Then again, the "unit" for our first "VHS recorder" did indeed have "wood grain styling".
posted by Mezentian at 6:17 AM on February 11, 2014
If you can remember specific details of the 70s, you weren't doing the 70s right.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:30 AM on February 11, 2014
posted by Wolfdog at 6:30 AM on February 11, 2014
Looked like there was a clip in there from the Paper Moon TV series with little Jodie Foster taking over the Tatum O'Neil role.
posted by octothorpe at 6:36 AM on February 11, 2014
posted by octothorpe at 6:36 AM on February 11, 2014
Dad, what were the 70s like?
They were like this: the TV is showing a new Rhoda episode - which no one really cares that much about because it's not as good as Mary Tyler Moore was but it's still the best thing on any of the five (six on a good day) channels you can get on your tv in this time slot - while you build a plastic model kit of a Saturn 1-B rocket with dizzy-making toluene glue and paint "dope", carefully painting the black and white stripes on the sides of the first stage. You think it's a cool model because they used it to launch Skylab not long ago. You try not to get glue on your striped velour shirt or bell-bottom corduroys (you're a nerdy kid and not a showy dresser, this is just the kind of thing people wear). You have thick Ira Glass-style glasses not because it's nerd-cool but because that's the kind of glasses boys your age wear. (In a few years you'll get aviator-style glasses and will think that's cool.) Your little sister is playing with a Holly Hobbie doll and is wearing cat-eye glasses. When Rhoda is over, your dad from his Laz-E-Boy tells you to go change it to another channel so you trudge dutifully across the room and turn the big knob on the desk-sized tv to a different channel, adjusting the tuning while you are there so it's not totally snowy (it's still a little snowy). Meanwhile your mom is percolating coffee in the other room in an avocado-green coffee percolator that glugs for about a half-hour making terrible coffee that the adults drink anyhow because that's what coffee was like then. Pretty soon the adults give up watching dull tv and go in the other room to play pinochle and drink the bad coffee and gossip. (end of flashback)
posted by aught at 6:37 AM on February 11, 2014 [21 favorites]
They were like this: the TV is showing a new Rhoda episode - which no one really cares that much about because it's not as good as Mary Tyler Moore was but it's still the best thing on any of the five (six on a good day) channels you can get on your tv in this time slot - while you build a plastic model kit of a Saturn 1-B rocket with dizzy-making toluene glue and paint "dope", carefully painting the black and white stripes on the sides of the first stage. You think it's a cool model because they used it to launch Skylab not long ago. You try not to get glue on your striped velour shirt or bell-bottom corduroys (you're a nerdy kid and not a showy dresser, this is just the kind of thing people wear). You have thick Ira Glass-style glasses not because it's nerd-cool but because that's the kind of glasses boys your age wear. (In a few years you'll get aviator-style glasses and will think that's cool.) Your little sister is playing with a Holly Hobbie doll and is wearing cat-eye glasses. When Rhoda is over, your dad from his Laz-E-Boy tells you to go change it to another channel so you trudge dutifully across the room and turn the big knob on the desk-sized tv to a different channel, adjusting the tuning while you are there so it's not totally snowy (it's still a little snowy). Meanwhile your mom is percolating coffee in the other room in an avocado-green coffee percolator that glugs for about a half-hour making terrible coffee that the adults drink anyhow because that's what coffee was like then. Pretty soon the adults give up watching dull tv and go in the other room to play pinochle and drink the bad coffee and gossip. (end of flashback)
posted by aught at 6:37 AM on February 11, 2014 [21 favorites]
Whoa, you got 5 channels? We had 3 and I had to go outside to turn the antenna on the long pole attached to our house. Sometimes, when it was really overcast in just the right way, we could get ABC and another PBS station (the one that showed Dr. Who late at night!), but mostly we had 3.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 6:43 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 6:43 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
I spent 1974 in Thailand. Looks like I didn't miss much.
posted by pjern at 6:44 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by pjern at 6:44 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Three channels? LUXOORY!
posted by Mezentian at 6:47 AM on February 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Mezentian at 6:47 AM on February 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
I spent 1974 in Thailand. Looks like I didn't miss much.
You missed the rise of the Khmer Rouge in nearby Cambodia, and did nothing to stop it.
posted by Mezentian at 6:49 AM on February 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
You missed the rise of the Khmer Rouge in nearby Cambodia, and did nothing to stop it.
posted by Mezentian at 6:49 AM on February 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
We got 7 channels on VHF and a few more on UHF in the pre-cable age but that was the NYC area.
Afternoon movies on WOR FTW!
posted by octothorpe at 6:49 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Afternoon movies on WOR FTW!
posted by octothorpe at 6:49 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
You missed the rise of the Khmer Rouge in nearby Cambodia, and did nothing to stop it.
Wait, STOP it? Oh crap, was THAT what we were supposed to be doing?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 7:14 AM on February 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Wait, STOP it? Oh crap, was THAT what we were supposed to be doing?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 7:14 AM on February 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Here are the shows for the big 3 networks during the 1974-75 season, with the top 10 shows in yellow. I remember watching Columbo, and dipping in to MASH, All In The Family, Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Burnett and Dick Cavett (pretentious but he had good guests. For example, here is David Bowie on Cavett in 1974.). I remember watching PBS, as NOVA debuted that year. We also had UHF channels that showed things like Astro Boy and Ultra Man. I also remember various channels showing old black and white movies at odd hours and so getting thoroughly educated in things like 1930's classic gangster films (White Heat), old musicals (Top Hat), and comedies like Bringing Up Baby.
I was never a big fan of variety shows, but our current era reality tv shows are not exactly anything to write home about either.
It was quite exciting when we went to visit our cousins who lived in the Scranton area and actually had an early version of cable tv.
Also, Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975.
posted by gudrun at 7:14 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was never a big fan of variety shows, but our current era reality tv shows are not exactly anything to write home about either.
It was quite exciting when we went to visit our cousins who lived in the Scranton area and actually had an early version of cable tv.
Also, Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975.
posted by gudrun at 7:14 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was never a big fan of variety shows,
The Muppet Show is always the exception to that statement.
posted by Mezentian at 7:17 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
The Muppet Show is always the exception to that statement.
posted by Mezentian at 7:17 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
aught, if you were at my house, and most houses I went to, there was also a constant low-level haze of cigarette smoke, ashtrays on coffee tables and counters, and beer- or soda-can pulloff tabs always needing to be picked up.
posted by emjaybee at 7:28 AM on February 11, 2014
posted by emjaybee at 7:28 AM on February 11, 2014
emjaybee, if you were at my house, it was far more than a low-level haze of cigarette smoke. My parents went through 2.5 to 3 packs a day each and it seemed like most of the other adults around smoked a similar amount.
posted by octothorpe at 7:41 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 7:41 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
[Don't hurt me, but I'm not a Muppet fan either.]
posted by gudrun at 7:42 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by gudrun at 7:42 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think one of the weirdest things to come from the 70s was "Battle of the Network Stars."
posted by entropicamericana at 7:47 AM on February 11, 2014
posted by entropicamericana at 7:47 AM on February 11, 2014
If you can remember specific details of the 70s, you weren't doing the 70s right.
Since I was under 11 the whole time I feel good about my choices.
posted by Miko at 7:47 AM on February 11, 2014 [10 favorites]
Since I was under 11 the whole time I feel good about my choices.
posted by Miko at 7:47 AM on February 11, 2014 [10 favorites]
emjaybee - happy to report my own parents quit smoking in the early 70s but yeah if aunts and uncles were over drinking coffee and gossiping, you're right, there would be some haze then. The filthy big ashtrays are something I suppose I repress... the saddest part of that aspect is that five of of my dad's siblings had slowly and awfully succcumbed to lung cancer by 1990 (I attribute my own parents longevity to having quit).
I tried explaining soda can pull-tabs to a young nephew a few years ago and he just looked at me in disbelief. But then my nephews can't conceptualize the pre-cable/internet world in general.
For this 70s child, the Muppet show was late 70s I think and a little after my time (younger folks often bring that up and I have to disappoint by saying that I was a few years too old to appreciate either Sesame St or The Muppet Show).
Afternoon movies on WOR FTW!
Yes, WOR was great for random cool shows, also for having Mets games, and IIRC some Dr Who among the other syndicated stuff, I think that was the first place I saw Dr Who (it was hard for us to get the PBS station pre-cable), though WOR sometimes it didn't come in very well either (mid Hudson valley). WPIX (11) had monster moves too, and of course eternal Star Trek reruns, but unfortunately interrupted the good stuff sometimes for the Yankees. But in general I watched more from the syndicated channels than I did networks.
posted by aught at 8:01 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
I tried explaining soda can pull-tabs to a young nephew a few years ago and he just looked at me in disbelief. But then my nephews can't conceptualize the pre-cable/internet world in general.
For this 70s child, the Muppet show was late 70s I think and a little after my time (younger folks often bring that up and I have to disappoint by saying that I was a few years too old to appreciate either Sesame St or The Muppet Show).
Afternoon movies on WOR FTW!
Yes, WOR was great for random cool shows, also for having Mets games, and IIRC some Dr Who among the other syndicated stuff, I think that was the first place I saw Dr Who (it was hard for us to get the PBS station pre-cable), though WOR sometimes it didn't come in very well either (mid Hudson valley). WPIX (11) had monster moves too, and of course eternal Star Trek reruns, but unfortunately interrupted the good stuff sometimes for the Yankees. But in general I watched more from the syndicated channels than I did networks.
posted by aught at 8:01 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
1975 was also about gathering all your friends together to watch Monty Python and smoke dope, after which you tried to recall all the jokes that had you laughing helplessly but you couldn't, and nobody as yet had VCRs so the whole thing just became this ephemeral experience and if you were lucky there would be a repeat soon.
Also your jeans getting wet to the knees because the ideal length was pretty much dragging on the ground. And smoking. I was very asthmatic as a kid, but nobody seemed to think that it might be a good idea to not smoke around me. Because everyone smoked, everywhere. We used to smoke in college classes, hallways, offices, movie theatres (I may have invented the last one).
posted by jokeefe at 8:37 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also your jeans getting wet to the knees because the ideal length was pretty much dragging on the ground. And smoking. I was very asthmatic as a kid, but nobody seemed to think that it might be a good idea to not smoke around me. Because everyone smoked, everywhere. We used to smoke in college classes, hallways, offices, movie theatres (I may have invented the last one).
posted by jokeefe at 8:37 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
We used to smoke in college classes, hallways, offices, movie theatres (I may have invented the last one).
I don't think it was allowed in the actual theater by that time but definitely in the lobby. Also by the time I was in college in the early eighties, it was only allowed in the hallways of classroom buildings but not in class.
I do remember once going into the teacher's lounge in high-school in the late seventies and the air in the room was almost opaque from cigarette smoke.
posted by octothorpe at 8:47 AM on February 11, 2014
I don't think it was allowed in the actual theater by that time but definitely in the lobby. Also by the time I was in college in the early eighties, it was only allowed in the hallways of classroom buildings but not in class.
I do remember once going into the teacher's lounge in high-school in the late seventies and the air in the room was almost opaque from cigarette smoke.
posted by octothorpe at 8:47 AM on February 11, 2014
N-B-SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE US! N-B-SEEEEEE US!
THIS FALL!
And suddenly, you're unduly excited for absolutely no reason at all.
posted by droplet at 9:41 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
THIS FALL!
And suddenly, you're unduly excited for absolutely no reason at all.
posted by droplet at 9:41 AM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
If you find this interesting, you might love this book. Brief synopses of every prime time show ever broadcast. It's surreally hilarious as 90% of the shows seem as if they must be completely made up.
posted by billyfleetwood at 10:20 AM on February 11, 2014
posted by billyfleetwood at 10:20 AM on February 11, 2014
It was kind of awesome watching that ridiculously long promo thinking that I was a fetus when it came out
posted by suburbanbeatnik at 10:26 AM on February 11, 2014
posted by suburbanbeatnik at 10:26 AM on February 11, 2014
WPIX (11) had monster moves too, and of course eternal Star Trek reruns, but unfortunately interrupted the good stuff sometimes for the Yankees.
They also showed some of those old-timey monster movies in the mid '80s in 3D, and you had to buy the glasses at 7-11. Our whole family sat and watched a couple of those.
Also: PIX PIX PIX PIX PIX
posted by mintcake! at 10:27 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
They also showed some of those old-timey monster movies in the mid '80s in 3D, and you had to buy the glasses at 7-11. Our whole family sat and watched a couple of those.
Also: PIX PIX PIX PIX PIX
posted by mintcake! at 10:27 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
It was kind of awesome watching that ridiculously long promo thinking that I was a fetus when it came out
Your parents should have put out a promo for your expected premier!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 10:36 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Your parents should have put out a promo for your expected premier!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 10:36 AM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Little did they know, Steve Austin was waiting in the wings to pounce mid-season!
posted by Megafly at 11:08 AM on February 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Megafly at 11:08 AM on February 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
WPIX (11) had monster moves too, and of course eternal Star Trek reruns, but unfortunately interrupted the good stuff sometimes for the Yankees.
They also showed some of those old-timey monster movies in the mid '80s in 3D, and you had to buy the glasses at 7-11. Our whole family sat and watched a couple of those.
Also: PIX PIX PIX PIX PIX
Don't forget the "video game" bit they had for a while in the mid-80s: you could call the number for PIX, and an 8-bit style game was on the screen and you would say "shoot" or "fire" to allow your little anti-space-invader fellow BROADCAST ON WPIX FOR THE WORLD TO SEE shoot the alien bastards. People were watching you voice-command a video game! (Which was likely just a guy with a joystick hitting the fire button when the nine-year-old who called in said to. But still!)
posted by grubi at 1:04 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
They also showed some of those old-timey monster movies in the mid '80s in 3D, and you had to buy the glasses at 7-11. Our whole family sat and watched a couple of those.
Also: PIX PIX PIX PIX PIX
Don't forget the "video game" bit they had for a while in the mid-80s: you could call the number for PIX, and an 8-bit style game was on the screen and you would say "shoot" or "fire" to allow your little anti-space-invader fellow BROADCAST ON WPIX FOR THE WORLD TO SEE shoot the alien bastards. People were watching you voice-command a video game! (Which was likely just a guy with a joystick hitting the fire button when the nine-year-old who called in said to. But still!)
posted by grubi at 1:04 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
According to Everything Is Terrible, Saved By The Bell exists because the child actors made a deal with the devil (Sherman Helmsley, that's right, George Jefferson) for their own show, and watching this clip (a Saturday Morning promo video) it's difficult to disagree with that.
posted by JHarris at 1:04 PM on February 11, 2014
posted by JHarris at 1:04 PM on February 11, 2014
Don't forget the "video game" bit they had for a while in the mid-80s: you could call the number for PIX, and an 8-bit style game was on the screen and you would say "shoot" or "fire" to allow your little anti-space-invader fellow BROADCAST ON WPIX FOR THE WORLD TO SEE shoot the alien bastards.
That was actually a syndicated package thing going around, in our market on WAWS-30 out of Jacksonville it was called TV POW. You had to say "POW" instead of "PIX" though.
posted by JHarris at 1:05 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
That was actually a syndicated package thing going around, in our market on WAWS-30 out of Jacksonville it was called TV POW. You had to say "POW" instead of "PIX" though.
posted by JHarris at 1:05 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
And the games were obviously Intellivision things; one was the shooting game on Space Spartans, another a slot machine kind of thing.
posted by JHarris at 1:07 PM on February 11, 2014
posted by JHarris at 1:07 PM on February 11, 2014
That was actually a syndicated package thing going around, in our market on WAWS-30 out of Jacksonville it was called TV POW. You had to say "POW" instead of "PIX" though.
Ah, JHarris, good neighbor that you are you beat me to it.
I actually won on TV POW and managed to get the highest score for the week. They invited me to the studio and I got to appear on the air. My most distinct memory of this was the technicians playing around by flicking their cigarette lighters underneath my chair.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:04 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Ah, JHarris, good neighbor that you are you beat me to it.
I actually won on TV POW and managed to get the highest score for the week. They invited me to the studio and I got to appear on the air. My most distinct memory of this was the technicians playing around by flicking their cigarette lighters underneath my chair.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:04 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Brief synopses of every prime time show ever broadcast.
Semi-related self-link: my "Today on Cable" series of poems (via flim) from what feels like a million years ago. Sigh.
posted by aught at 2:23 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Semi-related self-link: my "Today on Cable" series of poems (via flim) from what feels like a million years ago. Sigh.
posted by aught at 2:23 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Aught, you delight me. One of our family's amusing pastimes was to read aloud the one-line movie synopses out of the daily paper listing. I thought it was just us.
posted by Miko at 2:25 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 2:25 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
We got 7 channels on VHF and a few more on UHF in the pre-cable age but that was the NYC area.
Showoff.
And of course there was "summer interference" when something happened late every summer in the heated upper ionosphere that made the lower VHF channels unwatchable sometimes (that meant no 2 or 3 - CBS or NBC - at those times). No wonder I became a compulsive reader.
I always felt bad for my cousins who lived on a farm in Pennsylvania and only got two snowy UHF stations on good days, one of which as far as I could tell showed nothing but Hee Haw and Lawrence Welk reruns. We played a lot of board games there.
posted by aught at 2:33 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Showoff.
And of course there was "summer interference" when something happened late every summer in the heated upper ionosphere that made the lower VHF channels unwatchable sometimes (that meant no 2 or 3 - CBS or NBC - at those times). No wonder I became a compulsive reader.
I always felt bad for my cousins who lived on a farm in Pennsylvania and only got two snowy UHF stations on good days, one of which as far as I could tell showed nothing but Hee Haw and Lawrence Welk reruns. We played a lot of board games there.
posted by aught at 2:33 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
And the idea of the ABC Movie (or really, any network movie presentation) is pretty impressive. Movies from just three years earlier and one from the year before. It's like the stuff on HBO coming out on network television, within a similar time frame.
posted by grubi at 4:18 PM on February 11, 2014
posted by grubi at 4:18 PM on February 11, 2014
And of course there was "summer interference"
I had completely forgotten that, but I recall it well.
And waiting minutes for the colour (COLOUR!) TV to warm up... hearing your show starting but not being able to see it was a tragedy.
posted by Mezentian at 4:51 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
I had completely forgotten that, but I recall it well.
And waiting minutes for the colour (COLOUR!) TV to warm up... hearing your show starting but not being able to see it was a tragedy.
posted by Mezentian at 4:51 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Luxury! Our console showed only a white dot in the center of the screen when we fired it up. It usually snapped into a picture within 10 seconds, but sometimes it never did, and we'd have to turn the TV off and try again.
There's also no static-electricity shock like the one you get from a giant console TV screen.
posted by Miko at 6:09 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
There's also no static-electricity shock like the one you get from a giant console TV screen.
posted by Miko at 6:09 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
We didn't actually have a color set until I was about 10 or 11. That's probably why I love old movies so much; B&W is still the default way that I understand moving images.
posted by octothorpe at 6:39 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 6:39 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh hey you guys, the 75 version might actually be better. Bicentennial! Roots! Happy Days!
posted by emjaybee at 7:00 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 7:00 PM on February 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Looking at the 75 version and seeing that the aired "The Last Detail" in primetime, I'm wincing just thinking about the censoring they had to do to the dialogue.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 7:19 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 7:19 PM on February 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
There's also no static-electricity shock like the one you get from a giant console TV screen.
Full disclosure: I don't know why but I used to get a perverse pleasure in using myself to discharge the tv set every time I passed it. Shag carpet and a massive console tv are a helluva drug!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 6:12 AM on February 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Full disclosure: I don't know why but I used to get a perverse pleasure in using myself to discharge the tv set every time I passed it. Shag carpet and a massive console tv are a helluva drug!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 6:12 AM on February 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm going to mention going with my dad with tv vacuum tubes to the local Rexall drug store to test in the big multi-socketed tube testing machine, so long as we're strolling down the 70s tv-nostalgia path. This, by the way, involved *removing the back of the big tv set, which to be fair was probably only made of heavy pressboard, poking around inside the tv's guts, hopefully not getting shocked by a capacitor, and removing fragile glass electronic components that didn't seem to be glowing propery*. Kind of wacky by today's standards.
To connect to another thread, wandering off to the paperback wire-spinner book racks while my dad was testing a maybe-bad tv tube was one of my earliest pleasurable book-browsing routines. (I was going to say my first, but then I remembered poring over the the Scholastic Book Club lists in elementary school, which was earlier and pretty cool as well.)
posted by aught at 7:43 AM on February 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
To connect to another thread, wandering off to the paperback wire-spinner book racks while my dad was testing a maybe-bad tv tube was one of my earliest pleasurable book-browsing routines. (I was going to say my first, but then I remembered poring over the the Scholastic Book Club lists in elementary school, which was earlier and pretty cool as well.)
posted by aught at 7:43 AM on February 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
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Though watching the Star Wars Holiday Special definitely cures 'em.
I remember these kinds of "Hey we're awesome, here's what's coming up next season!" promo shows well up into the 80s.
posted by emjaybee at 7:38 PM on February 10, 2014 [6 favorites]