I've already taken a look at the Newsday TV Books of June 1974, but with just the covers and a couple of pages each. Here, now, for you, in your face, is a more comprehensive look at the fourth issue from that month.
Former Miss America and then-Buddy Ebsen co-star Lee Meriwether dishes to Emily Trautmann for this week's cover story.
(Click images to enlarge.)
The TV Line features a question about Merv Griffin's trumpeter Jack Sheldon, but unforgivably neglects to mention that he's the voice of the "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill" segments of Schoolhouse Rock! (Okay, I'll let it slide on the latter episode, since it hadn't actually been created yet.)
Sunday night is interesting to me for
Gary Viskupic's take on Playboy's "
Bunny of the Year" pageant on WNEW channel 5. The close-up says the guest stars are on hand for distraction, but I'm pretty sure even Burns & Schreiber wouldn't have drawn my eyes from the tig ol' bitties on that woman/rabbit hybrid. Rowrrr, Dr. Moreau's got a chubby!
Also of note, I want
John Cashman's four-word review of
Blackmail (WCBS 2, 1:10am) on a t-shirt.
Monday morning's schedule was accompanied by an ad for "All Method Working People Hair Center," but you'd be pardoned if you called it "Morrie's Wigs."
Tuesday's late listings are notable to me because I would later--say in fifth grade or so--become a fan of the Pilobolus dance company, although I was only five as of this airing of "
Pilobolus and Joan" (Joan being singer Joan McDermott, btw). It was a production of WNET 13's Television Laboratory (or just "TV Lab"), which allowed artists access to the prohibitively-expensive video equipment of the day. The program lasted from 1972 until 1984, and I've read that its demise was attributed to lack of funding, but I'd guess that better availability of workable technology was part of it. (You can
read about my fandom of the dance troupe in this post, look for the long bit between the ninth and tenth photos. My, what odd boys my friends and I were.)
This page is also notable for Pedro Armendariz Jr. fans. You know who you are.
Because you've been so patient, here are the pages covering all day Friday and Saturday, sans my stupid commentary! You deserve it!
Long before those dingleberry Coronet Brothers assured late-night viewers that their commercials would not include talking orangutans (for the unfamiliar, I'm not even kidding: "
No talking orangutans" was their allegedly humorous tagline), the print ads boasted that their family business was "a happy place to shop." Which is always a plus in a toy store, eye-roll emoji.
Finally, the back cover ad is a rare (in my collection, anyway, which is far from comprehensive, thus making my evaluation of its ubiquity completely meaningless) full-pager for Westrock Beef in color. (Well... red, anyway.) I dig that little cowboy mascot, with his slacks-sporting horse.
That's all for now. I'm Audra Lee. See you next time on KidsBeat!
(I love a reference that will literally be understood by two people: me and Audra Lee.)