Post by tHeOwL on Aug 29, 2004 13:16:24 GMT -5
Reply to this message with your comments or memories of these shows . . .
CHIPS
Police Drama
FIRST TELECAST: September 15, 1977
CHiPs, an acronym for California Highway Patrol, was the motorcycle equivalent to a previous episodic police series, Adam 12. Jon Baker (Larry Wilcox) and "Ponch" Poncherello (Erik Estrada) were two state motorcycle patrolmen, both young bachelors, whose adventures helping citizens, fighting crime, and leading active social lives were all woven into the series. The two men worked as a team, and spent most of their working time around the vast Los Angeles freeway system. Each episode was a composite of four or five separate incidents, both on the job and off, with violence downplayed in favor of human interest and the humourous element of their work. Jon was rather straight and serious, while "Ponch" was the romantic free spirit, whose happy-go-lucky attitude did not alway sit well with their superior, Sgt. Getraer (Robert Pine). Added in 1978 were Harlan (Lou Wagner), a police mechanic who worked on their "choppers," and Sindy (Brianne Leary), a female "Chippie" who worked out of a patrol car. She was replaced, the following fall, by another female "Chippie," Bonnie Clark (Randi Oakes).
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Comedy/Drama
FIRST TELECAST: March 15, 1977
This comedy-drama focused on a family with eight very independent children, aged 8 to 23. When the series began, Tom (Dick Van Patten), the father, was a newspaper columnist for the Sacramento, California Register, and Joan (Diana Hyland) was his wife of 25 years. The death of actress Diana Hyland during production of the spring 1977 episodes of Eight Is Enough forced major changes, however. Hyland had completed only four shows and was written out of the remainder as being "away." When the series returned with new episodes that fall, Tom Bradford had become a widower, his wife having died, at least in the storyline, about "a year ago." With the help of his best friend Doc Maxwell (Michael Thoma), Tom set about keeping order among his large brood while re-entering, in middle age, the singles world. He soon found romance in the person of Abby (Betty Buckley), pretty schoolteacher who came to the Bradford home to tutor one of the youngsters. Their romance blossomed, and on a special two hour telecast on November 9, 1977, Tom and Abby were married.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Adventure
FIRST TELECAST: April 5, 1978
Spider-Man, the Marvel comic creation of Stan Lee, was brought to life for this limited run CBS series. Peter Parker (Nicholas Hammand) was a young college science major and a part-time news photographer for the Daily Bugle. When he was accidently bitten by a radioactive spider, he suddenly found himself endowed with superhuman abilities. He could sense the presence of danger and possessed strength far superior to that of ordinary men; he could scale sheer walls without ropes and had a magic web concealed in a wrist band that helped him to "fly" and to subdue attackers. But the transformation of Spider-Man was a mixed blessing for young Peter. He was, by nature, a rather simple, nonviolent man who found himself forced to lead a double life, possessing powers he didn't quite understand and didn't really want. Peter's boss at the Daily Bugle was publisher J. Jonah Jameson (Robert F. Simon). Jameson's secretary, Rita (Chip Fields), was Peter's good friend and protector.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Science Fiction
FIRST TELECAST: September 17, 1978
SPECIAL EFFECTS: John Dykstra
MUSIC: The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Battlestar Galactica was the most highly publicized new series of the fall 1978 schedule. Reported to have cost one million dollars per hour to produce -- the highest budget ever for a regular series -- it used spectacular special effects to depict a mighty life and death struggle between the forces of good and evil in outer space, thousands of years in the future. Lasers flashed, majestic spaceships lumbered through deep space, and dashing, caped heroes fought half-human, half-robot villians for no less than the survival of mankind.
DALLAS
Drama
FIRST TELECAST: April 2, 1978
Soap operas have always been a staple of daytime television, but ABC's mid-1960s Peyton Place was the last prime-time soap opera to be a major viewer attraction -- until Dallas. It was not a big hit when it premiered in 1978, but Dallas's audience continued to build and, by the 1980-1981 season, it was the runaway most popular series on network television, having spawned one spinoff (Knots Landing) and a host of imitators, including Dynasty, Flamingo Road, and Secrets of Midland Heights.
FANTASY ISLAND
Romantic Drama
FIRST TELECAST: January 28, 1978
When ABC realized it had a major hit with Love Boat, it immediately began developing a second program using a similar theme. That program was Fantasy Island, and, scheduled right after Love Boat on Saturday night, it soon became an equally big hit.
ANGIE
Situation Comedy
FIRST TELECAST: February 8, 1979
THEME: "Different Worlds" by Gimbel and Fox, sung by Maureen McGovern
Cinderella-story comedy about a pert young waitress (Donna Pescow) who finds her handsome -- and rich -- young prince. When Brad Benson (Robert Hays) first walked into the Liberty Coffee Shop, Angie thought he was poor and began slipping him pastries. It turned out he was not only a pediatrician from the medical building across the street, but scion of one of Philadelphia's richest families. They fell in love and were married, much to the dismay of Brad's overbearing big sister, Joyce (Sharon Spelman), and stuffy father, Randall (John Randolph), and to the bemusement of Angie's down-to-earth mama, Theresa (Doris Roberts). Mr. Falco had walked out 19 years earlier -- "He went to get the paper" -- but Theresa still kept a place at the table for him. She had raised Angie and younger sister Marie (Debralee Scott) by running a newstand. The Bensons had a different set of problems. Snobbish Joyce was three times divorced and undergoing therapy with a psychiatrist who hated her. DiDi (Diane Robin) was Angie's big-hearted, big-mouthed best friend at the coffee shop, and Phipps (Emory Bass) was the butler.
ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE
Situation Comedy
FIRST TELECAST: September, 1979
The 1977-1978 season brought a major change to All in the Family. In the opening three-part story, Archie (Carroll O'Connor) gave up his job to pursue the American dream of owning his own business. Along with bartender Harry Snowden (Jason Wingreen), he purchased Kelsey's Bar from an ailing Tommy Kelsey (Brendon Dillon), and reopened it as Archie's Place. During the 1979-80 season All in the Family grew even further away from its original format, as the action shifted to Archie's bar, and the name of the series was changed to Archie Bunker's Place. Archie's wife Edith was seen only infrequently -- Jean Stapleton, feeling that she had exhausted the potential of her character, wished to be phased out of the series. New regulars were introduced at the bar, as Archie expanded it to include a short-order restaurant and took on a Jewish partner named Murray Klein (Martin Balsam). Murray's liberal intellectual background was in sharp contrast to, and sometimes in sharp conflict with, Archie's views. The ethnic mix of Archie's Place included Veronica Rooney (Anne Meara), the sardonic Irish cook, Jose (Abraham Alvarez), the Puerto Rican busboy, and a wide variety of customers.
THE DUKES OF HAZZARD
Comedy Adventure
FIRST TELECAST: January 26, 1979
THEME: "The Dukes of Hazzard," written and sung by Waylon Jennings
Rural comedies such as The Beverly Hillbillies had been a staple of the CBS lineup in the 1960s. The Dukes of Hazzard signaled a revival of the "good old boy" comedy, nearly a decade later. Luke (Tom Wopat) and Bo (John Schneider) Duke were cousins and buddies in Hazzard County, located "east of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio" (no mention of the state, but there is a real Hazard, Kentucky -- a city not a county). Their nemesis was Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke), a fat, blustery, and thoroughly corrupt local politician always seen in a white flannel suit. The Dukes easily managed to avoid capture by dimwitted Sheriff Coltrane (James Best), Boss Hogg's brother-in-law, while acting as Robin Hoods of the county. The boys hot-rodded all over Hazzard County in their souped-up Dodge Charger, "General Lee," occasionally pausing for some sage advice from their wise old Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle). Moonshine, wild car chases and crashes, and lots of scantily clad young women, including the Duke's gorgeous cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach), populated the series. Country star Waylon Jennings served as offscreen narrator, to the accompaniment of fast-paced banjo music.
CHIPS
Police Drama
FIRST TELECAST: September 15, 1977
CHiPs, an acronym for California Highway Patrol, was the motorcycle equivalent to a previous episodic police series, Adam 12. Jon Baker (Larry Wilcox) and "Ponch" Poncherello (Erik Estrada) were two state motorcycle patrolmen, both young bachelors, whose adventures helping citizens, fighting crime, and leading active social lives were all woven into the series. The two men worked as a team, and spent most of their working time around the vast Los Angeles freeway system. Each episode was a composite of four or five separate incidents, both on the job and off, with violence downplayed in favor of human interest and the humourous element of their work. Jon was rather straight and serious, while "Ponch" was the romantic free spirit, whose happy-go-lucky attitude did not alway sit well with their superior, Sgt. Getraer (Robert Pine). Added in 1978 were Harlan (Lou Wagner), a police mechanic who worked on their "choppers," and Sindy (Brianne Leary), a female "Chippie" who worked out of a patrol car. She was replaced, the following fall, by another female "Chippie," Bonnie Clark (Randi Oakes).
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Comedy/Drama
FIRST TELECAST: March 15, 1977
This comedy-drama focused on a family with eight very independent children, aged 8 to 23. When the series began, Tom (Dick Van Patten), the father, was a newspaper columnist for the Sacramento, California Register, and Joan (Diana Hyland) was his wife of 25 years. The death of actress Diana Hyland during production of the spring 1977 episodes of Eight Is Enough forced major changes, however. Hyland had completed only four shows and was written out of the remainder as being "away." When the series returned with new episodes that fall, Tom Bradford had become a widower, his wife having died, at least in the storyline, about "a year ago." With the help of his best friend Doc Maxwell (Michael Thoma), Tom set about keeping order among his large brood while re-entering, in middle age, the singles world. He soon found romance in the person of Abby (Betty Buckley), pretty schoolteacher who came to the Bradford home to tutor one of the youngsters. Their romance blossomed, and on a special two hour telecast on November 9, 1977, Tom and Abby were married.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Adventure
FIRST TELECAST: April 5, 1978
Spider-Man, the Marvel comic creation of Stan Lee, was brought to life for this limited run CBS series. Peter Parker (Nicholas Hammand) was a young college science major and a part-time news photographer for the Daily Bugle. When he was accidently bitten by a radioactive spider, he suddenly found himself endowed with superhuman abilities. He could sense the presence of danger and possessed strength far superior to that of ordinary men; he could scale sheer walls without ropes and had a magic web concealed in a wrist band that helped him to "fly" and to subdue attackers. But the transformation of Spider-Man was a mixed blessing for young Peter. He was, by nature, a rather simple, nonviolent man who found himself forced to lead a double life, possessing powers he didn't quite understand and didn't really want. Peter's boss at the Daily Bugle was publisher J. Jonah Jameson (Robert F. Simon). Jameson's secretary, Rita (Chip Fields), was Peter's good friend and protector.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Science Fiction
FIRST TELECAST: September 17, 1978
SPECIAL EFFECTS: John Dykstra
MUSIC: The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Battlestar Galactica was the most highly publicized new series of the fall 1978 schedule. Reported to have cost one million dollars per hour to produce -- the highest budget ever for a regular series -- it used spectacular special effects to depict a mighty life and death struggle between the forces of good and evil in outer space, thousands of years in the future. Lasers flashed, majestic spaceships lumbered through deep space, and dashing, caped heroes fought half-human, half-robot villians for no less than the survival of mankind.
DALLAS
Drama
FIRST TELECAST: April 2, 1978
Soap operas have always been a staple of daytime television, but ABC's mid-1960s Peyton Place was the last prime-time soap opera to be a major viewer attraction -- until Dallas. It was not a big hit when it premiered in 1978, but Dallas's audience continued to build and, by the 1980-1981 season, it was the runaway most popular series on network television, having spawned one spinoff (Knots Landing) and a host of imitators, including Dynasty, Flamingo Road, and Secrets of Midland Heights.
FANTASY ISLAND
Romantic Drama
FIRST TELECAST: January 28, 1978
When ABC realized it had a major hit with Love Boat, it immediately began developing a second program using a similar theme. That program was Fantasy Island, and, scheduled right after Love Boat on Saturday night, it soon became an equally big hit.
ANGIE
Situation Comedy
FIRST TELECAST: February 8, 1979
THEME: "Different Worlds" by Gimbel and Fox, sung by Maureen McGovern
Cinderella-story comedy about a pert young waitress (Donna Pescow) who finds her handsome -- and rich -- young prince. When Brad Benson (Robert Hays) first walked into the Liberty Coffee Shop, Angie thought he was poor and began slipping him pastries. It turned out he was not only a pediatrician from the medical building across the street, but scion of one of Philadelphia's richest families. They fell in love and were married, much to the dismay of Brad's overbearing big sister, Joyce (Sharon Spelman), and stuffy father, Randall (John Randolph), and to the bemusement of Angie's down-to-earth mama, Theresa (Doris Roberts). Mr. Falco had walked out 19 years earlier -- "He went to get the paper" -- but Theresa still kept a place at the table for him. She had raised Angie and younger sister Marie (Debralee Scott) by running a newstand. The Bensons had a different set of problems. Snobbish Joyce was three times divorced and undergoing therapy with a psychiatrist who hated her. DiDi (Diane Robin) was Angie's big-hearted, big-mouthed best friend at the coffee shop, and Phipps (Emory Bass) was the butler.
ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE
Situation Comedy
FIRST TELECAST: September, 1979
The 1977-1978 season brought a major change to All in the Family. In the opening three-part story, Archie (Carroll O'Connor) gave up his job to pursue the American dream of owning his own business. Along with bartender Harry Snowden (Jason Wingreen), he purchased Kelsey's Bar from an ailing Tommy Kelsey (Brendon Dillon), and reopened it as Archie's Place. During the 1979-80 season All in the Family grew even further away from its original format, as the action shifted to Archie's bar, and the name of the series was changed to Archie Bunker's Place. Archie's wife Edith was seen only infrequently -- Jean Stapleton, feeling that she had exhausted the potential of her character, wished to be phased out of the series. New regulars were introduced at the bar, as Archie expanded it to include a short-order restaurant and took on a Jewish partner named Murray Klein (Martin Balsam). Murray's liberal intellectual background was in sharp contrast to, and sometimes in sharp conflict with, Archie's views. The ethnic mix of Archie's Place included Veronica Rooney (Anne Meara), the sardonic Irish cook, Jose (Abraham Alvarez), the Puerto Rican busboy, and a wide variety of customers.
THE DUKES OF HAZZARD
Comedy Adventure
FIRST TELECAST: January 26, 1979
THEME: "The Dukes of Hazzard," written and sung by Waylon Jennings
Rural comedies such as The Beverly Hillbillies had been a staple of the CBS lineup in the 1960s. The Dukes of Hazzard signaled a revival of the "good old boy" comedy, nearly a decade later. Luke (Tom Wopat) and Bo (John Schneider) Duke were cousins and buddies in Hazzard County, located "east of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio" (no mention of the state, but there is a real Hazard, Kentucky -- a city not a county). Their nemesis was Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke), a fat, blustery, and thoroughly corrupt local politician always seen in a white flannel suit. The Dukes easily managed to avoid capture by dimwitted Sheriff Coltrane (James Best), Boss Hogg's brother-in-law, while acting as Robin Hoods of the county. The boys hot-rodded all over Hazzard County in their souped-up Dodge Charger, "General Lee," occasionally pausing for some sage advice from their wise old Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle). Moonshine, wild car chases and crashes, and lots of scantily clad young women, including the Duke's gorgeous cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach), populated the series. Country star Waylon Jennings served as offscreen narrator, to the accompaniment of fast-paced banjo music.
