Newsday TV Book, July 31-August 6, 1977.

What, another post so soon? Must be summer, cos I'm burning up!
(Actually, the weather is pretty mild here, so that's nice. Too nice, certainly, to be in my basement Nerd Room editing and writing a bunch of nonsense, but there ya go.)

The only other 1977 issue that I've done so far is from January, so I thought I'd scan this one from deep in the doldrums (whatever that means) of the long, hot months. The next '77 edition I have is from the end of September, so the fall schedules should be quite different from what you'll find in the others.

This time out, Jane Pauley shows up on the cover, no longer a rookie at Today.

In the TV Line, once again an inquisitive Long Islander demands to know the height and weight of a particular actress. (For what it’s worth, Fat Sam gets the same treatment.) Deirdre Hall's identical twin sister went from teaching retarded kids to entertaining soap opera viewers, a lateral move at best.

I never dug Abbott & Costello all that much, and the Bowery Boys even less so. And Sunday morning religion and public affairs shows--forget it! But I still enjoy seeing the schedules. Go figure.

What the heck, here's the rest of Sunday. The hair replacement process from Marsha & Johns [sic] Men's Hair Center defied detection (unless, like Colorado Rockies LD Steve Durbano, your big bald noggin was right there in the ad).

Young up-and-coming comics Dave Letterman and Jeff Altman contributed a few yuks to the Starland Vocal Band Show, along with some Firesign Theatre guys and, theoretically, Mark Russell.

Some interesting John Cashman reviews in the wee hours. For those keeping typo score, the word "best" was left out of the Tarzan review. Not that I would notice a piddling detail like that.

Since I put some Tuesday listings into the aforelinked January issue post, here's all of Tuesday, just to give you an idea of a typical summer weekday's offerings.

This ad for Executive Hair Centers was part of a plagiarism case, albeit one that only I noticed. Read about it here at the Facebook page that goes along with this blog (and take a look around while yer there, lots of fun time-wasting to be savored there...).

I only include this page for the close-up, depicting the summer series The Kallikaks. Bonnie Ebsen, who looks all of her 26 years in this photo (and then some), played the teenage daughter of Edie McClurg--who was only six years older!

Thursday evening featured an ABC News Closeup which got the Viskupic treatment, an illustration that I guess references the story on hyperactive kiddies (and looks an awful lot like my Pius pal Chris).

Here's all the stuff you weren't watching on Saturday because you were at the beach or whatever.

Finally, a page of ads just because of the one for Williams Cyclery, in my hometown. They also sold toys and pool stuff, so to this day the smell of inflatable vinyl floats and/or bike tires takes me back to buying Star Wars figures there. (Also, the name "Scappy Peck" makes me laugh, even after searches revealed it was really "Scappy & Peck" and not some guy by that name. Oh well.)

That's it for this time--keep an eye out for that late September issue!
Even if I forget to do it, keep watching! Do it!

Newsday TV Book, July 30-August 5, 1978.

Here's another issue from 1978, coming into the dog days of August. The next issue I have (with Battlestar Galactica featured on the cover, and an article within by Isaac Asimov explaining why BG is a bunch of vapid mind-rot) is from mid-September, so the daily schedules should change quite a bit in-between. My childhood crush, Kristy McNichol, smiles reluctantly from the cover.

In the cover story, Kristy says she digs disco dancing, can't relate to freaky groups like KISS, and thinks of the time her dog was killed when she is required to cry on demand. She also mentions rejecting scripts with sex in them, some eight months before "Little Darlings" began shooting. (She must have preferred the edited-for-TV version.)

In the TV Line, S.S. of Hempstead was hoping for devils but got wingwalking starlets instead. Also, Charo's nombre de realidad is revealed, as well as celebrity daughters, sisters and wives.

Ah, the offbeat offerings of the early days of Cable TV Highlights.

I love any old ad with clip art, particularly if there are wieners involved.

Sunday morning (and some afternoon).

I mainly include this page of ads for the "fashion pacesetter in Nassau," Lillettes Bridals of Baldwin, and their love affair with Long Island brides.

Here's all day Monday.

Record World (and the Record Shops at TSS) invited readers to "meet Cheryl Ladd, the singer." It was their way of announcing the release of her album, but I suspect more than one lonely LI fella with poor reading comprehension showed up expecting to find her there in person, wrapped in a satin jacket. In fact, all they were getting was a measly chance to win a poster too big to hold up with one hand. What a gyp!

I include the early Thursday listings just for the close-up on a PBS airing of an old Edward R. Murrow interview with Groucho Marx, around the first anniversary of his death. I have this episode of Person to Person on a DVD set (I think).

Reinhard's in Bayville sure sounds like a neat place to spend the day, even lacking a seafood restaurant as it did at this time...

Friday night's late sched has a Sudduth drawing of Woody Allen, and the usual selection of illuminating John Cashman movie reviews.

S, A, T-U-R, D-A-Y... Night! (And morning, and afternoon, and evening.)

Stay tuned for the next issue, so you can compare and contrast the changes in broadcast schedules. Provided, of course, that you are a complete lunatic. (I'm looking forward to it, m'self! Coo-coo!)