2) The Munsters: The series is back on FETV, which I believe shows the episodes uncut.
3) WOR Channel 9 (NY): I saw a great ad in The New York Times touting its weekday lineup in the early evenings. It started with Ironside at 6:00 and continued with Bowling for Dollars and Liar's Club. The ad called it, "Nightly fun and adventure for the whole family."
"Mom, can we eat on the TV trays tonight?"
"No, we eat at the dinner table on Mondays."
"Aw, but, Mom, Don Gordon's gonna be on Ironside!"
"All right, just this once!"
"Mom, can we eat on the TV trays tonight?"
"No, we eat at the dinner table on Mondays."
"Aw, but, Mom, Don Gordon's gonna be on Ironside!"
"All right, just this once!"
4) Michael McDonald: This week we learned that the iconic singer had a son 58 years ago that he never knew. Wow, this news only makes that episode of What's Happening!! that much more poignant, knowing that he and the Doobies were fighting copyright violation not just for the current generation of fans, but for the 10-year-old son he didn't know he had!
5) Mannix: This clip made the rounds a few weeks ago, and it still makes me smile:
6) Saturday Night's Main Event: The Times' TV listings describe it as simply "wrestling exhibitions," but I will give you a bit more. The episode that aired 40 years ago tonight featured Hulk Hogan defending the World title against Paul Orndorff, Ricky Steamboat against Jake Roberts in a Snake Pit match, and a tag team title match pitting the British Bulldogs against the Dream Team. Oh, and Roddy Piper was all over the show!
7) ABC Evening News: On this night in 1976, Barbara Walters joined Harry Reasoner at the anchor desk, and he was not thrilled. In fact, reports state that she asked him what kind of tree he would be and he snapped, "A rotting one so I could be struck lightning and fall over onto your car!"
8) National Trucker Appreciation Day: It's October 4, or 1o-4. Get it?
9) Sometimes a Great Notion: NBC gave this Paul Newman movie its broadcast TV debut 50 years ago tonight (It was the first film shown on HBO), and it actually changed its name to Never Give an Inch. I mean, I have heard of networks changing language, aspect ratio, even running time, but the title of the movie?
10) R.I.P. James Sloyan: I really enjoyed his work in a few Murder, She Wrotes, but he had a long and productive career.
Dennis Haskins:
