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our lucky viewers.
These
rare fall season previews from the Seventies are brought to you by Daniel
J. Ferreira, Jr. and Jeff Vilencia, and they are a stone
cold gas! Represented are some of the biggest winners and losers of
the decade.
This
short film was shot to give CBS execs a look at what the MTM show would
be like without shooting an entire pilot and was only broadcast on the
CBS Fall Season Preview show in August, 1970.
Notice that Lou Grant's office is completely different here than it
is in the final version of the classic first episode, which contains
the same verbal exchange between Lou and Mary heard here - word for
word, right down to :"You've got spunk - I hate spunk!".
ABC
decided to update the look of their sports anthology series with
this new promo song in the Seventies - it was hard to top the
excitement of the original "thrill of victory, agony of defeat"
theme, but they succeeded.
This
series, loosely based on real stories from the FBI, ran from 1965-1974.
At the end of most episodes, one of the FBI's ten most wanted
criminals would be profiled.
Efrem
Zimbalist, Jr (as Agent Lewis Erskine) and Phillip Abbott (as
Agent Arthur Ward) were the only two regulars to last the run
of the series.
The
actors who guest-starred on this show actually had to pass a real
FBI check before being cast. That may explain why most of the
actors were unknowns.
Dramatic
series with Arthur Hill and Lee Majors as high-powered Santa Barbara
attorneys, seen on ABC from 1971-1974.
When
Lee Majors left the series in 1973, he was replaced by Reni Santoni,
and then HE was replaced midseason by David Soul ('Starsky and
Hutch') before the show itself was sacked.
ABC's
venerable news magazine debuted over twenty years ago. Hard to believe
- but even harder to remember was the show's original line-up of hosts
and correspondences. If the hosts don't look familiar in this promo,
no wonder - everyone was fired after the first live telecast.
Here's
the replacement cast which included Geraldo Rivera, Sylvia Chase and
Hugh Downs.
In the three Shaft theatrical movies released in the Seventies
('Shaft', 'Shaft's Big Score' and 'Shaft in Africa'), Richard
Roundtree played street-wise detective John Shaft, a man willing
to do anything to protect the values of ghetto life against the
white drug dealers, pimps and crooked cops that infested the neighborhoods.
Or something like that.
'Shaft'
(the television series) premiered in October of 1973 as part of
CBS's 'New Tuesday Night Movies' - a rotating 'wheel' consisting
of 'Shaft', 'Hawkins' and the 'Tuesday Night Movie'.
The
show ran from 9:30-11:00 with Richard Roundtree reprising his
role as New York detective John Shaft, this time playing it more
like Mannix than Superfly.
The
theme music by Isaac Hayes was carried over into this cool fall
season promo.
TV
series starring Jodie Foster, based on the hit movie. ABC had
high hopes for this critically acclaimed show, it was probably
the only series ever to be filmed on location in Kansas, but it
was canceled mid-season due to poor ratings.
Richard
Ranke adds:
"I saw the show Paper Moon
once, and here is a big coincidence - how many people remember
that Connelly and O'Neal played the Harrington brothers in the
prime time soap, Peyton Place (1964-1969)? The female lead in
the Paper Moon show was Jodie Foster (who could make a transition
from successful child-actor to successful adult-actor) playing
a role originated by Tatum O'Neal (who couldn't)."
-Richard Ranke
"When
you need a cop that's no lady, Get Christy Love." This cop flop
starred Teresa Graves ('Laugh-in') in the crime-busting title
role. Christy was TV's first black policewoman, snapping "You're
under arrest, Sugah!" when she slapped on the cuffs.
She's
hip, but watch out for her super-bad karate moves and confrontational
dialogue like "I got news for you Lieutenant- Christie Love isn't
a quitter, Sugah. She intends to fight!"
When
Tony Musante decided not to return for another season of his one-season
hit cop show 'Toma', producer Jo Swerling, Jr. signed former 'Our
Gang' kid star Robert Blake for the role.
But
Blake was such a strong personality, they decided to revamp the
show a bit and call the character 'Baretta'. It was an immediate
hit but the star soon began to battle for more intelligent scripts,
leading to original producer Swerling's ousting.
Robert
Blake's off-camera battles and excesses led to a relatively short
run for the series. Because of his outlandish on-set behavior
(reported to have been alcohol/drug related), Blake found subsequent
work difficult to find, and he hasn't made many appearances on
television since.
This
comedy-drama changed the nature of television - a hit show that
tackled problems relevant to the times. Busing, prejudice and
drugs were the focus of typical episodes. Pretty soon, the network
schedules were crowded with 'relevant' shows, but none lasted
as long or had half the impact of 'Room 222'.
Lloyd
Haynes, Michael Constantine, Denise Nicholas and Karen Valentine
star as the faculty. Valentine's character Alice Johnson started
out as an inept student teacher that eventually graduated to full
teacher status.
None
of the regulars found another successful TV series in their future,
except Denise Nicholas who appeared on 'In The Heat Of The Night'
from 1989-1994.
"Make
A Wish" was an ABC Sunday morning series starring Tom Chapin,
produced, written and directed by Lester Cooper.
Educational
in nature, this show is fondly remembered for the original folksy
tunes, written and sung by Tom Chapin (singer Harry Chapin's bother).
Different subjects were explored each week, but in 1975 the show's
focus shifted to historical Bicentienial themes exclusively.
'Make
A Wish' was one of those rare educational shows that kids actually
liked and parent groups lauded with awards. The premier episode
of the Bicentienial season (on September 7, 1975) looked back
at the first trans-continental railway.
Robert
Blake's off-camera battles and excesses led to a relatively short
run for the series. Because of his outlandish on-set behavior
(reported to have been alcohol/drug related), Blake found subsequent
work difficult to find, and he hasn't made many appearances on
television since.
Lloyd
Haynes, Michael Constantine, Denise Nicholas and Karen Valentine
star as the faculty. Valentine's character Alice Johnson started
out as an inept student teacher that eventually graduated to full
teacher status.
