1980-1981 TV Season: Shogun Week on NBC

 As we discussed in our latest episode, NBC started the strike-distorted 1980-1981 season with a bang as new miniseries Shogun dominated the first week.  CBS and ABC would claim that the season didn't actually start until later in the year, when more new shows were ready, but by the end NBC's early lead was wiped out anyway.

However, NBC had Shogun for one glorious week in September:

NBC went all-out in promoting the mini, running big display ads in TV Guide each day the series aired. Here is a look at the original print advertising from the September 13-September 19 1980 edition of the magazine:

And here is how TV Guide introduced the show in its "Screening Room" column and in a close-up:

1980 Season: What was the least popular show of the season?

As we discussed on this week's podcast, Dallas was the highest-rated show of the TV season that began 40 years ago.  It was by far the most popular regular program of the year. But what was the least?

Unfortunately, it's difficult to get detailed ratings information from past seasons. Most Internet resources copy the same top 30 list that Wikipedia runs, and even that is not necessarily rock solid.  I'd sure like to see the rest of the list.  As for getting comprehensive weekly rankings, fuggedaboutit.

However, we do have some kind souls gathering information and sharing it with the rest of us.  Ratings Ryan is a blog that collects ratings articles from vintage newspapers and posts the scans for viewing.  This site has some of the Nielsen-inspired news stories from the first half of the season. Unfortunately, there is nothing for the Spring half yet.

Of course we can assume that short-lived series that were canceled after the season were low rated. Examples include Freebie and the Bean (9 episodes), Aloha Paradise (8), Walking Tall (7) Breaking Away (7 aired), Secrets of Midland Heights (6 aired), CBS spring replacement series sitcoms Checking In (4) and Park Place (4).  All of these flopped, though some had tougher timeslot opponents than others.

However, there's one title that keeps popping up in the old articles that bother to mention the bottom 5 shows of a given week.  Several times, lumped in with random one-offs like The Smothers Brothers Special, you find NBC Magazine with David Brinkley. The public affairs/news show aired each Friday night at 10:00, opposing ABC's Friday night movie and...Dallas.  

Well, it's not hard to see why the series tanked, and it was obviously just something to throw at the competition without sacrificing a promising entertainment program (insert joke about 1980 NBC). 

The show languished in the ratings for several reasons, but it did  last several seasons! Here is an interesting NY Times piece about the show, one in which the 60-year-old Brinkley sounds kind of stuffy about what he's putting on the air.  He doesn't want to put rock stars on and sniffs that they belong on 20/20.  He criticizes "chasing crooked preachers" like on 60 Minutes, and says investigative pieces are OK if the subject "matters."  Well, LA-dee-DAH!

On the one hand, it's really unfair to say that this public affairs program, which lasted several seasons and did its duty by eating up time against an iconic show at its peak, is the least popular show of the 1980-1981 TV season. On the other...it DID get terrible ratings, and that's the pick for now.

Here are a few glimpses at this low-rated NBC time filler:

Hey, isn't that Benny Goodman? Isn't he...a musician? I guess rock stars are for 20/20, but those swing stars matter!

Top Ten #88

1) Dallas: This week we discuss the 1980-1981 TV season on the podcast, and the biggest deal of that season was the prime-time soap that was red hot with the "Who Shot J.R.?" storyline. SPOILERS BELOW!

2) Over Easy: Admit it: After listening to our show this week, you are a little deflated this series wasn't about eggs, aren't you?

3) Mac Davis: R.I.P. to the songwriter/performer.

4) The Halloween That Almost Wasn't: Our friends at 20th Century Pop discussed this Halloween special on their show this week.  Was it the nadir of Judd Hirsch's career? You decide!

5) Thundarr the Barbarian: The cartoon series debuted on this day in 1980 with all kinds of gore, scantily clad women, and of course Max Von Sydow. Wait, being told that was CONAN the Barbarian...but the cartoon had some of that, right?

6) Cheers: Do we ever need an "excuse" to put Cheers on the list? I think not.  This week, Decades has its Weekend Binge showcase the Batty-winning classic, and also, Ken Levine's excellent podcast features a first-person account of the premiere of the show.

7) Misfits of Science: The series premiered this day 35 years ago, and Toy Galaxy posted an amusing history of it this week. Here's the opening of the series:

8) Shogun: The biggest event of the early part of the 1980 season was the rollout of Shogun, which dominated an entire week in mid September:

9) Clifton Davis: The star of That's My Mama (and many other productions) turns 75 today!

10) Hammer House of Horror: The 1980 anthology series joined Crackle this month:

YouTube Spotlight: The City vs. Country Showdown: Underseen gem of the 1980-81 season?

One of the highlights of this week's massive video playlist commemorating the 1980-81 TV season is this NBC promo, not because it attempts to position Marie Osmond as sultry, but because of the event following Marie's show:

We here are big fans of the sports entertainment TV events that popped up in the BOTNS era in the wake of Superstars and Battle of the Network Stars, and this is a new one.  It doesn't seem to be readily available, but some digging reveals it premiered Tuesday, December 9, 1980 in a two-hour slot, followed by Steve Allen Comedy Hour.  It must be rare; I can't even find a reference to it in Vincent Terrace's massive guide to network specials.

Let's take a look at the guest list in lieu of more footage: 

On the Country side (I assume): Glen Campbell, Charley Pride (yes!), Catherine Bach (yasssssss!)

On the City side: Lou Gossett Jr., Grant Goodeve (yassssss!), Danielle Brisebois (What?)

And of course we see Larry Wilcox with slop over his head, and if that isn't enough, as Casey Kasem tells and shows us in the promo:

 HOST: JACK KLUGMAN!

All right, this is now on the official MUST-SEE list! Now, young Rick might have watched A Charlie Brown Christmas at 8:00 on CBS, but Now Rick wants to save that for the holiday and watch this great event now--as in, right now.

The special made Picks and Pans in People that week: and the description makes it sound even better:

“Country” stars like Melissa Gilbert, Glen Campbell, Tanya Tucker, Charley Pride and Catherine Bach vie with such “city” slickers as Lou Gossett, Linda Evans and Charlene Tilton in trashsport events from cow milking to jump rope.

The 1980 TV season video playlist is now live!

 In what may be our largest video playlist yet, we throw all kinds of great stuff at you to help you discover or relive the 1980-1981 television season! We have news clips of the Olympic boycott and the Mt. St. Helens explosion! Network hype promos! There are promos touting the programming lineups! Take a look at notable movies and syndicated shows! Michelle Pfeiffer visits The Tonight Show! We even have PSAs featuring Gregory Peck, Telly Savalas, and...The Little Rascals? All this and EGGS! Just click below!

Remember to visit our official YouTube page each week for episode-specific playlists, and check out back episodes of the podcast while you're there!

Show Notes: Episode 8-2: The 1980 TV Season

 *This week, we do something a little different and take a deep plunge into the 1980-1981 television season on its 40th anniversary.

*The top 5 shows in the year before, 1979-1980, were: 60 Minutes, Three's Company, MASH, Alice, and Dallas.

*'A House Divided," the Dallas third-season finale in which J.R. Ewing was shot by [spoiler redacted] aired March 21, 1980, meaning viewers had to wait 7 1/2 months for season 4 opener "No Mr. Nice Guy," which aired as part 1 on Friday, November 7, and part 2 on Sunday, November 9, to see if he would pull through. 

However, the series didn't answer the true mystery, the identity of the would-be assassin, until November 21's "Who Done It?" That was the highest-rated series TV episode in the USA until the MASH finale in 1983.

Is anyone interested in us doing a full episode on Dallas?

*Shogun, the NBC miniseries based on James Clavell's 1975 novel, premiered on each of 5 nights from September 15-19 and was a huge ratings success.

*Roots aired on ABC in 1977, and sequel Roots: The Next Generation premiered in 1979.

*Mount St. Helens erupted May 18, 1980.

*In fairness to Jean Doumanian, she had a tough job, taking on Saturday Night Live with little time to build it after the departure of many of the show's creative and behind-the-scenes talent as well as its cast. She also faced resistance from many who stayed on the series.

*The short-lived Foul Play TV series did indeed star Barry Bostwick and Deborah Raffin.

*Here's a closer look at Those Amazing Animals:

*Freebie and the Bean starred HECTOR Elizondo as "Bean" Delgado and Tom Mason as "Freebie" Walker.

*CBS' House Calls with Wayne Rogers and Lynn Redgrave lasted 3 seasons, 1979-1982.

*Click here for our season 6 look at the Donahue episode spotlighting the "Clean Up TV campaign."

*Lily Tomlin: Sold Out premiered February 2, 1981 on CBS. It's a meta special based on Tomlin taking her Broadway show to Vegas and debating about whether to change the act for the different audience. Co-stars include Paul Anka, Liberace, and Joan Rivers.

*Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown premiered on October 24, 1980 and is on DVD; in fact, I bought the collection it's in for my son several years ago and should have watched it by now!

*The American Music Awards actually premiered in 1974!

*Ryan's Hope (1975-1989) was about an irish-American family in New York, and "Ryan's" was the name of the bar the patriarch ran.

*Over Easy with Hugh Downs may have had eggcentric segments, but the PBS series was about aging.

*Our print resources, as we mention on the show, include the following:

-Watching TV by Harry Castleman and Wally Podrazik
-Total Television by Alex McNeil
-The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television by Wesley Hyatt
-The Emmys by Thomas O'Neil
-The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh
-TV Guide

Episode 8-2: Back to the Egg--1980-81 TV Season 40th Anniversary

This week, we take a broader approach than normal as we celebrate the--oof--40th anniversary of the troubled 1980-81 TV season. Strikes, Olympic boycotts, elections, "Shogun," "Who Shot J.R.?" and more--we try to cover it all. Plus, a surprising amount of egg talk.

Check out this episode!