After enjoying this week's discussion of short-lived but compelling series Tucker's Witch on the podcast, check out our video playist for the show! Click below to see original promos! Catherine Hicks for the U.S. Treasury! Glimpses of more of Tim Matheson's TV work! And we hope you can handle more Art Hindle!
And remember to visit our official YouTube channel for all of our past episodes plus video playlists like this for each one of them!
*Tucker's Witch aired on CBS October 6, 1982 to November 10, 1982, before returning at the end of the season for a brief run. There are a total of 12 episodes plus the unaired pilot.
*All episodes are now available again on Amazon Prime Video and on this YouTube channel as well as the FilmRise Roku channel.
*The official broadcast version of the pilot premiered Wednesday, October 6, 1982 at 10:00 P.M. It followed Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Alice, and Filthy Rich. Oddly, the latter is the name of a new series on Fox starring...Kim Cattrall from the unaired pilot.
ABC showed Game 2 of the American League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the (then) California Angels.
NBC's lineup consisted of Real People, Facts of Life, Family Ties, and Quincy.
*Porky's with Kim Cattrall (born 1956 in Liverpool) and Art Hindle (born 1948) had a wide release in March 1982 and went on to become the #5 box office hit of the year.
*Genre fans may be miffed we don't mention Hindle's roles in Black Christmas and the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and he is very well known in Canada, so consider this props!
*The age difference between Cahterine Hicks (1951) and Tim Matheson (1947) is less than 4 years.
*Ted Danson (just for the record, born 1947 and older than all of the other actors we have mentioned) starred in the premiere of Cheers September 30, 1982, so this episode aired a week later!
*Bill Morey went on to become a regular on The John Laroquette Show. He also had a recurring role on Dallas and did voices on G.I. Joe.
*The series' stars talk about the name of the show in this vintage interview from several months before the premiere. Check how Matheson gets past the awkwardness of the lack of a title and right into explaining the premise/
*Here is Cinema Cats' profile of the inimitable feline actor Dickens.
*Hear more about the great Heinrich of Midvale in this episode!
*Does anyone prefer the unaired pilot to the aired version? Let us know!
In short-lived detective series "Tucker's Witch," a married couple solves crimes with a little help from the wife's extra psychic abilities. In a twist, Ted Danson plays the villain. In another twist, producers recast the leads and refilmed the pilot for air. In another twist...we talk about both.
In fact, I have never seen Barnaby Jones and Gary Collins promoted at the same time, period. This recently uploaded clip leaves me speechless:
A natural combination: The soulful yearning of the Motown classic "My Guy" with Barnaby and Hour Magazine.
40 years ago on this day, Archie Bunker dealt with the off-camera death of his beloved wife Edith:
The two-part season premiere of Archie Bunker's Place featured this scene and more as the show dealt with the absence of Jean Stapleton. The actress expressed the desire to quit playing Edith several years earlier, but appeared in a handful of episodes of this series' first season before the character was killed off before the next.
This episode is the clear highlight of Sunday, November 2, 1980, as the networks still dug out from the delays caused by the strike (as we discussed here). ABC had the 1976 movie A Star Is Born while ABC had The Apple Dumpling Gang and The Gauntlet.
1) Poor Devil: What more can we say about this forgotten 1973 TV movie/failed pilot? Frankly, I think we did a good job of doing 45 minutes on it on this week's podcast!
2) Chuck Brown's Pumpkin Time: Treasure the old shows while you can, folks, because they may not be around forever.
3) Sammy Davis Jr.: Let me tell you something about this guy, man. This talented cat is one of the most extraordinary performers in the business and one of the most extraordinary cats I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
4) Jack Klugman: The Klugger wasn't the most dynamic part of poor Devil, but he got the job done. We have to give credit to his loyal wife Fences, though.
5) Cheers, "Fairy Tales Can Come True": The Bar Wars episodes may come to mind first, especially the explicit Halloween theme of "The Final Judgment," but here's a nod to the third season's charming tale of Cliff finding the possible woman of his dreams in costume at the bar.
6) Fruit Brute: We gave space to Count Chocula last week, so here's the first appearance of the short-lived werewolf cereal:
7) The Brady Bunch: Who can forget the Bradys' foray into horror--sort of--with "Fright Night"?
8) Halloween II: I think these movies lose a little something on broadcast TV, but maybe that's not always a bad thing! I still thought it was weird whenever something like this showed up on "regular" TV:
9) James Randi: R.I.P. to the noted skeptic and frequent Carson guest:
10) Yogi's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper: Ok, we've been celebrating Halloween, but let's mention that the beloved holiday classic premieres on HBO Max this weekend! Click here to listen to us break it down on the podcast!
