Promo Theatre: Man, oh, Manimal!

Anytime I see that phrase in a promo, I have to share it! Here is a spot that ran before the infamous 1983 NBC series debuted:

12 Days of Watching (2024) #10: Ernie Anderson would have made a good Santa Claus

Today's clip isn't all Christmas, but it has enough! You get to hear Ernie Anderson say, "Christmas Comes to Pacland!" And the Joanie Loves Chachi holiday episode preview is so nice you gotta watch it twice!

I think I want to see that Too Close for Comfort episode mentioned during the Happy Days end credits and then shown in a promo. That episode of It Takes Two looks ridiculous. 

The Benson clip has promise of holiday hijinks. It all ends with Ernie Anderson teasing Dr. No in part with his silky smooth utterance of "Ursula Andress."

As varied as this assortment of TV entertainment is, it reminds of how I was talking the other day about CBS being number one for the holidays in the Eighties. It gave us Peanuts, Rudolph, Frosty, and more. ABC gave us Christmas Comes to Pacland.

Promo Theatre: Robert Guillaume sounds almost as cool as Ernie Anderson

In this 1985 ABC promo, come to hear Benson DuBois mutter, "Welcome to the Love Boat," and stay for a look at the premiere of short-lived program The Quest!

This episode of Benson, "Death in a Funny Position," is the fourth-season premiere and offers guests like Michael Constantine, Ron Carey, Keene Curtis, Lynda Day George, and Tab Hunter!

The Quest lasted a mere 8 episodes, but it offered an interesting cast in a show about a tiny European principality offering some Americans a chance to be its ruler. Stars include Perry King, Karen Austin, Ray Vitte, John Rhys-Davies, and Noah Beery Jr.

Promo Theatre: Report to Murphy on CBS

Here's another look at Report to Murphy, the short-lived Michael Keaton sitcom we mentioned last week when discussing The Kid with the Broken Halo.

Promo Theatre: A Year at the Top gets a push from CBS!

Longtime BOTNS followers know one of our favorite "We'd Like to See" shows is A Year at the Top with Greg Evigan and Paul Shaffer. (We first talked about it in our Run, Joe, Run episode)

Mike actually did see a little of it on one of his adventures, but the show remains a rarity even in collecting circles.

Therefore it was a thrill to see one of our favorite YouTube channels, The Museum of Classic Chicago Television, post not one, but two vintage promos for the 1977 CBS series last week:

Promo Theatre: The GNARLIest, RADDest, FLYest promo ever for Webster?

Hey, remember back in 1990 when Webster was really cool all of a sudden? No? Well, let me remind you:

You might think, OK, they are just having a laugh on themselves. I am sure they were aware on some level that this would be silly--the shot of George and Katherine dancing ensures that--but no matter the intent, this is 30 seconds of cringe. No matter the audience, no matter the degree to which the tongue is embedded in the cheek, this is something else.

Promo Theatre: ABC promotes Automan...and more!

In this promo reel posted by the great ewjxn YT account, we get all sorts of 1984 ABC goodness, including several looks at the same AKA Pablo and two glimpses of the Automan episode we discussed on the podcast! And, hey, don't forget Shaping Up with Leslie Nielsen!

Promo Theatre: You're BUSTED, pal!

Miami Vice hitting USA network in 1988 was pretty exciting already, but if you weren't into the initial news, I bet you got a jolt after hearing Sonny Crockett yell, "You're BUSTED, pal!" in this great promo:

Promo Theatre: Hijinks on ABC!

It's been a while since we shared an Ernie Anderson promo. Courtesy of the fine YT account Bionic Disco, here's a good one for a Thursday night in 1978:

You really get a great rhythm with this spot. The way the clips and Anderson's comments intersect just make a nice flow. of course it all ends with a great, "on Soap!" to punctuate everything.

Promo Theatre: NBC gives us the Facts in 1984

Here's a great promo for NBC's lineup on March 14, 1984. Note that there is a SPOILER at the end (and in the thumbnail) for a long-running storyline on St. Elsewhere.

There are several things I like about this. First is the sheer incongruity of all these shows together.  Night Court lasted long enough to straddle several eras at NBC, yet still it seems odd to be paired with Facts of Life. And does that comedy combo seem like an obvious lead-in for an intense St. Elsewhere?

The lineup seems even wilder when you consider what preceded the shows spotlighted in this promo. At 8:00, NBC aired a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Mr. T!

The other great thing about the clip is the awesomeness of Danny Dark, but we all know that. In this particular spot, I love the TV announcer shorthand. NBC used to use this a lot, it seems to me, but so many of their shows already had one-word titles--Cheers, Friends,  Frasier, Seinfeld... It just strikes me as funny to refer to Facts of Life as Facts as if the series needs no other description.

Did anyone else refer to it like that? "Hey, are you going to give me a ride to the hospital on--" "Sorry, gotta go! Facts is on!"

Bowl season just ain't what it used to be

I miss the old days when pre-New Year's bowl games weren't all (or at least 95%) on ESPN, but when many of them were scattered throughout the dial at random times. Did they mean more then? Yeah, it seemed like they did. But they also meant nothing, and that was part of what was cool about the experience. It was just more football, and you often had no idea when or why it was on a given channel.

Here are some old promos for bowl games that were syndicated:

I mean, don't you miss the days when a bowl game could be on "Channel 46"?

And my beloved Channel 11 got in the game, too.  After the New Year's Run portion of this clip, hear the sounds of "Dancing in the Dark" as WPIX hypes the upcoming "Blue Bonnet Bowl."  And, man, when was the last time anyone on TV referred to TCU as "Texas Christian"?

Finally today, I posted this before, but I love it so much I am sharing it again. Hugo Faces, the great account that gave us that WPIX video, uploaded this clip from 1984. I didn't remember WOR being a major college football player, but they had the Aloha Bowl! I wonder if they ever had the short-lived Garden State Bowl.

Promo Theatre: Can KITT bust out Michael Knight?

I don't know about you all, but I think I need to see this episode:

We've seen the old "guy breaks partner out of jail" routine, but not usually with a sentient automobile doing it.  And what determination! "They'd never take me alive."

I mean, I am rooting for KITT, but wouldn't it be cool to see him and Michael commiserating on Death Row together?

Promo Theatre: CBS--Looking Good?

CBS' 1979 promo campaign was "Looking Good!" It's a generic slogan, but one that can serve its purpose if in fact the network IS looking good. 

This particular promo makes you doubt the veracity of the expression:

CBS is sounding good with the great Danny Dark, who I associated with NBC growing up but who was the voice of the Tiffany Network before that. Looking good, though? 

The Last Resort lasted a mere 16 episodes; creator Gary David Goldberg scored a couple years later with Family Ties. As for Struck by Lightning, did anyone ever utter the phrase, "Hey, Jack Elam! Looking GOOD!" I personally love the idea of Elam as a modern-day Frankenstein's monster, but the show itself had an even shorter run than Resort.

Then we get TV movie Sex and the Single Parent. You know, I just don't want to see that.

Promo Theatre: Hot soccer action on USA Network!

Anyone remember the Major Indoor Soccer League on USA Network?

Actually, I don't. I remember college basketball, boxing, pro basketball, college football, even hockey (it goes without saying that we all remember professional wrestling on USA), but not the MISL.  But here it is!

I like how it won't be seen in the Wichita and STL areas. Why? Was the MISL that concerned about protecting its attendance? Was there LOCAL coverage of the MISL?

Notice the solemn way Al Trautwig (I assume) says it: "Our coverage will not be seen..." Hey, cheer up, Al.  That leaves about 245 other major markets that can hear you call the game

And the St. Louis Steamers?

Promo Theatre: NBC is Proud as a Peacock!

Because we love network promos around here and also because we love late Seventies/early Eighties NBC, here's a 1980 "Proud as a Peacock" spot.  Another old favorite makes a "blink and you miss him" cameo about 7 seconds in, too:

Yep, Marjoe Gortner from "Speak Up America!"

And Luther Vandross on vocals! What a promo.  Look at the stuff they're hyping, though. Aside from the theatricals, there aren't a lot of hits in here.

But they're proud! UH-HUH!

You Tube Spotlight: NBC 1974

Welcome back to YT Spotlight, where we take a clip from our latest video playlist and showcase it in its own post. We put a lot of stuff into this week's Rockford Files tribute, and one of the intriguing promos is this hype for NBC's 1974 season:

What an odd jingle! At one point it's like, "Yeah, you never heard of this stuff, but you didn't know Sanford and Son until you actually watched it!"

As the commenters point out, this turned out to be another sorry season for the Peacock Network despite new hits like Rockford and Little House and Police Woman. However, it was still an improvement over the 73-74 campaign, and NBC even beat out ABC for second place while CBS won the season.

Promo Theatre: Ernie and the Doobies!

What a combination: Ernie Anderson voicing a promo for (I assume) the first Doobie Brothers Farewell Concert! It kicks off this great batch of promos and ads from a Tijuana ABC affiliate!

Is there anything that Anderson doesn't make sound better? Final concerts..San Francisco...even music itself is all the better for Ernie having spoken about it. The only drawback is he doesn't call them "The BATTY-winning Doobie Brothers!" Then again, they wouldn't win one for about 35 years, so I can't blame him.

Thanks to the great uploader ewjxn for posting!

Promo Theatre:

On March 3, 1978, after a presentation of Ski Lift to Death, AKA Snowblind (I gotta see that one sometime), CBS hyped several shows, including the premiere of The Incredible Hulk!

The TV movie had aired in the fall, but March 10 was the first episode of the series as an ongoing Friday night thing. Following that one, the quirky Husbands, Wives, and Lovers was another series premiere at 10:00. It didn't last long (I've sampled it thanks to Friend of the Show Ian), ending in June.

Thanks to the great channel ewjxn for uploading this clip!

Promo Theatre: What the heck is "Live-In"?

At first glance, this promo is kind of off-putting:

However, after you see it, it just becomes outright laughable, and not in the sense of, "Hey, that new sitcom is going to make me laugh a lot and for the right reasons!"

I love the tagline, "It's hard to live with temptation."

Live In did not live on after this premiere.  It lasted only 9 episodes from March to June 1989 at 8:00 on CBS. And does this somehow seem a little off brand for 1989 CBS, or is it just me?

CBS was having trouble finding stability in that 8:00 timeslot on Mondays. Look at the shows that started there in the Fall after Scarecrow and Mrs. King as CBS kept moving established hits around and pairing them with flops:

1986: Kate & Allie

1987: Frank's Place

1988: Major Dad

1989: Newhart

Spring 1989: Live-In

1990: Uncle Buck

1991: Finally Burt Reynolds stabilizes the night with Evening Shade.

Stars Lisa Patrick and Chris Wells didn't catch on with America as an Australian live-in domestic engineer and the hormonally charged high schooler who wants her to be more than just, uh, his maid. In this spot, Wells seems to be trying a little too hard but lacking something. Patrick seems charming enough, but the nation just didn't want a show about a horny teenager relenttlessly hitting on his housekeeper.

Wells had several regular gigs after this, including a stint on Falcon Crest and a spot as a regular on 1990's single-season sitcom Married People. Patrick has very few credits besides Live-In. You failed her, CBS!

Promo Theatre: Two of Us and Private Benjamin on CBS

In the 1980-1981 overview episode of our most recent season, we talked a bit about two midseason programs on CBS.  To be fair, many shows ended up as "midseason" debuts of sorts because of the writer strike we discussed, but this pair of sitcoms wasn't even in the "waiting in the wings" section of that season's TV Guide Fall Preview. 

Here is a vintage promo for the shows:

Each premiered April 6, 1981, but while Benjamin had some modest success, earning an Emmy for co-star Eileen Brennan and lasting parts of 3 seasons, Peter Cook's Two of Us was canceled a year later despite being retooled to add Tim Thomerson when it made the Fall 1981 schedule.

Here is a promo for the premieres of the two shows: