1) The Streets of San Francisco: We went back to Quinn Martin this week, and we had a blast watching this 1970s ABC cop show.
2) Karl Malden: Before he was a pitchman for American Express (OK, and after he was an award-winning movie star), he was Mike Stone on The Streets, and he was great.
3) Michael Douglas: Before he was a superstar (not Bert D'Angelo, Superstar, mind you), he was Buddy Boy on The Streets, and he was great.
4) Michael Learned Michael Lerner: OK, he was in the episode we discussed this week, and you have to admit we have showed restraint this week. I think I have it out of my system, but you can always check this out.
By the way, 50 years ago tonight, ABC premiered the movie Reflections of Murder starring Tuesday Weld, Sam Waterston...and Michael Lerner!
5) Early holiday presents from Prime Video: Amazon added a ton of series this week from the Universal library, including Kojak and returning faves like The Rockford Files, McCloud, and MacMillan and Wife. Yes, Prime added commercials this year, but it also added a lot of library material.
5) Short workweeks: It's Thanksgiving week in the USA, and many of us get at least a day off. Let's all enjoy and show our thanks by sitting down and watching a lot of old TV.
And you will see him again this week, but it's never too early to salute the King of Thanksgiving!
6) Chuck Brown's Turkey Time: Make sure you get this one in this year!
7) Emergency!: Peacock quietly added the long-running 1970s medical action show recently.
8) National Off the Wall People's Poll: 40 years ago tonight, NBC preempted Partners in Crime with this special hosted by Sarah Purcell and...Liberace? Boy George and Barry Manilow appeared on the special, too, making this the least macho hour of the week.
Next week, the network would debut a revamped Saturday night lineup with Gimme a Break moving into this slot, but on this night, according to a UPI article, viewers learned the results of a national poll asking, "What famous person would you like to see get down and breakdance?" (Choices included President Reagan, Tom Selleck, Michael Jackson) "Who is the sexiest woman over 50?" (Choices included Sophia Loren, Angie Dickinson, Joan Collins.) The special didn't do very well, losing to Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer on CBS and a special two-hour Love Boat on ABC.
9) Dwight Schultz: Happy birthday to the Howlin' Maddest Saturday Morning Preview Show host of them all!
10) R.I.P.: Cable TV? It's far from over yet (Cue Frank Stallone), but the announcement that Comcast is spinning off its cable networks has many speculating about the decline of cable television. Some of these channels were decent at one time.
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