1975 evening television programming
Remember when the TV had two big dials and that was it? You didn't need anything more because there were just a handful of channels. I don't remember a lot about television during this year with the exception of Cher who I was obsessed wth, "The Bugs Bunny Show" on Saturday mornings, "Captain Kangaroo" and a whole lot of "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers" on PBS. I did watch a good big of "Tony Orlando and Dawn" and was confused all through my childhood at which lady was Dawn (not knowing that that was actually the name of them as a duo).
These prime time shows were clearly for the grown ups and when I did watch shows like "All in the Family" or "Barney Miller", I didn't understand anything about them. Now I realize the brilliance and edginess of so many shows that were popular during this time. There is quite an offering here from the day when good television writing was in full effect and way before people eating roaches on "reality" television made for top ratings. Many of these shows combined biting brilliant humor with social and political issues that no television writers would touch with a 50 foot insulated pole in this day. "The Jeffersons", "Good Times", "All in the Family" and "Maude" all had the guts to bring up issues of race, class and women's rights while keeping their excellent comic edge. I guess we have brilliant minds like Norman Leer's to thank for that.
Our Aunt Alice and Uncle Lee in Jackson, Ala. had and still have those huge console television sets that had stereo sound way before their time and looked like they could have doubled as small cruise ships. That was the ultimate television experience as a kid and we have the 1970s to thank for bringing us the concept of the television as a massive piece of furniture to become glued to. From the pages of TV Guide here they are:
CBS --The Jeffersons, Doc, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Carol Burnett Show
NBC -- Emergency!, NBC Night at the Movies
Sunday
ABC -- Swiss Family Robinson, The Six Million Dollar Man, The ABC Sunday Night Movie
CBS -- Cher, Kojak, Bronk
NBC -- The Wonderful World of Disney, The Family Holvak, NBC Sunday Mystery Movie
Monday
ABC -- Barbary Coast, NFL Monday Night Football
CBS -- Rhoda, Phyllis, All in the Family, Maude, Medical Center
NBC -- The Invisible Man, NBC Monday Night at the Movies
Tuesday
ABC -- Happy Days; Welcome Back, Kotter; The Rookies; Marcus Welby, M.D.
CBS -- Good Times, Joe and Sons, Switch, Beacon Hill
NBC -- Movin' On, Police Story, Joe Forrester
Wednesday
ABC -- When Things Were Rotten, That's My Mama, Baretta, Starsky and Hutch
CBS -- Tony Orlando and Dawn, Cannon, Kate McShane
NBC -- Little House on the Prarie, Doctors Hospital, Petrocelli
Thursday
ABC -- Barney Miller, On the Rocks, The Streets of San Francisco, Harry O
CBS -- The Waltons, The CBS Thursday Night Movies,
NBC -- The Montefuscos, Day, Ellery Queen, Medical Story
Friday
ABC -- Mobile One, The ABC Friday Night Movie
CBS -- Big Eddie, M*A*S*H, Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones
NBC -- Sanford and Son, Chico and the Man, The Rockford Files, Police Woman
Remember when the TV had two big dials and that was it? You didn't need anything more because there were just a handful of channels. I don't remember a lot about television during this year with the exception of Cher who I was obsessed wth, "The Bugs Bunny Show" on Saturday mornings, "Captain Kangaroo" and a whole lot of "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers" on PBS. I did watch a good big of "Tony Orlando and Dawn" and was confused all through my childhood at which lady was Dawn (not knowing that that was actually the name of them as a duo).
These prime time shows were clearly for the grown ups and when I did watch shows like "All in the Family" or "Barney Miller", I didn't understand anything about them. Now I realize the brilliance and edginess of so many shows that were popular during this time. There is quite an offering here from the day when good television writing was in full effect and way before people eating roaches on "reality" television made for top ratings. Many of these shows combined biting brilliant humor with social and political issues that no television writers would touch with a 50 foot insulated pole in this day. "The Jeffersons", "Good Times", "All in the Family" and "Maude" all had the guts to bring up issues of race, class and women's rights while keeping their excellent comic edge. I guess we have brilliant minds like Norman Leer's to thank for that.
Our Aunt Alice and Uncle Lee in Jackson, Ala. had and still have those huge console television sets that had stereo sound way before their time and looked like they could have doubled as small cruise ships. That was the ultimate television experience as a kid and we have the 1970s to thank for bringing us the concept of the television as a massive piece of furniture to become glued to. From the pages of TV Guide here they are:
Saturday
ABC -- Saturday Night Live, S.W.A.T.CBS --The Jeffersons, Doc, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Carol Burnett Show
NBC -- Emergency!, NBC Night at the Movies
Sunday
ABC -- Swiss Family Robinson, The Six Million Dollar Man, The ABC Sunday Night Movie
CBS -- Cher, Kojak, Bronk
NBC -- The Wonderful World of Disney, The Family Holvak, NBC Sunday Mystery Movie
Monday
ABC -- Barbary Coast, NFL Monday Night Football
CBS -- Rhoda, Phyllis, All in the Family, Maude, Medical Center
NBC -- The Invisible Man, NBC Monday Night at the Movies
Tuesday
ABC -- Happy Days; Welcome Back, Kotter; The Rookies; Marcus Welby, M.D.
CBS -- Good Times, Joe and Sons, Switch, Beacon Hill
NBC -- Movin' On, Police Story, Joe Forrester
Wednesday
ABC -- When Things Were Rotten, That's My Mama, Baretta, Starsky and Hutch
CBS -- Tony Orlando and Dawn, Cannon, Kate McShane
NBC -- Little House on the Prarie, Doctors Hospital, Petrocelli
Thursday
ABC -- Barney Miller, On the Rocks, The Streets of San Francisco, Harry O
CBS -- The Waltons, The CBS Thursday Night Movies,
NBC -- The Montefuscos, Day, Ellery Queen, Medical Story
Friday
ABC -- Mobile One, The ABC Friday Night Movie
CBS -- Big Eddie, M*A*S*H, Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones
NBC -- Sanford and Son, Chico and the Man, The Rockford Files, Police Woman
Comments
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, you must have gotten this from a TV guide you just found?
Beckeye I have one year on you and what I most strongly remember was Cher -- the most fabulous vision in her sequin gowns on the "Sonny and Cher show." I didn't discover John Travolta until "Grease" and he was a vision all too himself. There was some flat out sexiness going on the 1970s -- that is for sure.