New from the BOTNS Games Lab: The Celebrity Height Game! Mike has to guess if the celebrity heights listed in one Rick's vintage books match the "official" heights listed on IMDB! Can you get this kind of action anywhere else?
1) Doug Henning: This week on the podcast, we discussed the magician and his popular NBC specials. As we say, he was huge in the BOTNS era, and it was cool to remember him and check out some of those programs.
2) Daylight Savings Time: It's the good one, as we all gain an extra hour, almost as if by...magic. Hey, you don't suppose this is the handiwork of...
3) Joey Heatherton and Michael Landon: We salute the guest stars on Henning's second World of Magic special. Joey could have guested on Little House, maybe as a substitute teacher who catches the eye of all the men in Walnut Grove (except Charles, who of course treats her with dignity and acts normally) and the ire of their jealous wives.
4) Candy: Maybe you have a lot sitting around the house after Halloween. Maybe you don't. Either way, wouldn't some candy taste good right about now?
5) It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: If you didn't get candy, hopefully you at least didn't get a rock. During my annual viewing this weekend, I reflected that when I watched it on CBS growing up, I don't think I noticed that you could see the rock go into Charlie's bag with such clarity at each house they visited.
6) The Six Million Dollar Man: Check out the description, courtesy of Ultimate70s.com, of "One of Our Running Backs Is Missing" from 50 years ago tonight: Steve Austin is caught in the middle when a star football player is kidnapped as part of a betting swindle
Plus it has Larry Csonka, Dick Butkus, and Carl Weathers! I gotta see this one.
7) Puzzlers: Laurie and I watched this Sajak-hosted rarity courtesy of the awesome Game Show Vault. It's a very young Sajak with a rather airy contestant.
8) Stefanie Powers: Happy birthday to the Hart to Hart star!
9) Saturday Night's Main Event: 40 years ago tonight (aired but taped earlier), Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant faced King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd at Hersheypark Arena in Pennsylvania.
10) Sammy and Company: I get a kick out of Sammy's guest list in this episode that ran in syndication 50 years ago: Carroll O'Connor, Waylon Jennings, Vicki Lawrence, Willie Tyler & Lester. I'm sure they all got together for regular bridge games after this.
This week, we talk about Doug Henning's World of Magic specials on NBC. Our video playlist has all kinds of ads and promos, but today let's look at this clip:
I believe this is an extract taken from a special talking about unsold pilots. That is indeed what this Mandrake is. The 1979 production from Universal aired on NBC January 24, 1979.
Anthony Herrara plays the titular magician, who dates back to 1934's King Features comic strip. This somewhat snide clip doesn't highlight the rest of the cast: BOTNS favorite Gretchen Corbett, James Hong, Robert Reed, and Harry Blackstone!
The full movie is available on YouTube if you are interested.
YouTube Spotlight will not be seen today so that we can bring you this special post.
From all of us at BOTNS to all of you, Happy Halloween!
On this holiday we like to post Batty winner Solomon Grundy celebrating his favorite adult beverage, and we like to suggest some past episodes that might fit the mood this weekend. So we're going to do it again!
Our magic-themed episode this week with Doug Henning could fit the bill, but here are selections from our archives for your Halloween listening pleasure:
*We hope you find this episode full of WONDER and magic!
*Doug Henning (1947-2000) was a fixture on network television in the BOTNS era, appearing in NBC specials from 1975 to 1982 in addition to countless other shows and specials.
*Henning was indeed featured in Dynamite magazine. Also, I found this image from Retrontario of a similar mag:
*Henning's Muppet Show episode is 1980's Season 4, Episode 21.
*We talk about Night of 100 Stars here, and in the broadcast, Henning does an illusion with Ricky Schroeder, Maureen Stapleton, Florence Henderson, and Priscilla Lopez.
*The former Little Miss World is Cherish Alexander, who appeared in the 1982 Henning special.
*This World of Magic special premiered on NBC Thursday, December 23, 1976.
*Gibbsville lasted a mere 6 episodes on NBC.
*I have yet to find TV ratings info for this Doug Henning special. Everyone loooooooves to cite the reported 50 million for the 1975 special, but no one wants to talk about the numbers for this one!
*Of course CBS went another direction than what we wish would have happened with Henning and Marvel, and it aired its own Dr. Strange movie with Peter Hooten.
*There is a circus episode of Little House on the Prairie that features an elephant: "Annabelle" in Season 6.
Please enjoy our video playlist for this episode with promos, intros, commercials, and more! It also contains the full special that we discuss on the podcast. Click below to go right to it, or you can always visit our official YouTube page for all of our past episodes and similar lists for each one of them!
In the seventies and early eighties, magic had a face, and that face had a big mustache. It also had long hair and wore sparkly versions of hippie clothes and had assistants in hot pants. That face appeared on Broadway in two magic-themed musicals and all over TV from talk shows to the Muppet Show to a series of successful specials on NBC. That face had a name--Doug Henning. He invited audiences to believe in illusions and wonder and joy. In his second World of Magic special, he invited Michael Landon, Joey Heatheron, and Ricky Jay along for the fun, and we talk about it all on Battle of the Network Shows!
