Newsday TV Book, May 6-12, 1979.

It's mid-spring, a time I don't mind because there are still cold, windy, overcast days when I can convince myself it's fall. Soon it will be getting hot and sunny, which I can do without. When I was a kid, however, warming weather meant the end of the school year was approaching, which was never a bad thing. Summer reruns were a drag, and consequently the Newsday TV Books tended to be less interesting too. May was a Nielsen "sweeps month," so hopefully this week's issue will prove to be exciting and eventful.

Belying that notion is the cover, with the stars of the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" historical drama The Rebels, which aired on WPIX (channel 11) in my neck of the Long Island woods. Don Johnson seems pissed that they gave him the same hairstyle as Caroline Ingalls.

(Click pics to ENLARGE, gran'pappy!)

In the TV Line Q&A, we learn that John and Dan were indeed Jake and Elwood, Marianne and Michael were still twins, and Lucy was still alive.

 The cover story is by Bill Kaufman. As I've mentioned here before, I had a very sporadic correspondence with Bill over a period of years, during which he teased me with a story about interviewing Michu, the world's smallest man. He didn't want to put it down in an email--he called it "not printable"--so he'd ask me to call him. For whatever reason, I'm not a big fan of talking on the phone, so despite my curiosity, I put it off again and again, and then he was dead. I kind of regret it, but at the same time, I really don't like talking on the phone.

Sunday morning brought, as always, religious programming, public affairs shows, second-tier cartoons, and Abbott & Costello, and on this day in the listings it also gave us an offer for free Mets tickets when adopting a furry pal from the North Shore Animal League in Port Washington.

Now I give you all day Monday, with a Viskupic illustration for the movie Rollercoaster and a Playboy special with Debra Jo Fondren and Candy Loving that was surely a ratings-grabber (and I'm equally certain that teenage boys from coast to coast with scant pornography access were grabbing something else).

Late Friday brought off-beat movies, which typically resulted in hilarious John Cashman reviews.

Here's another full day for ya, a Saturday filled with horror and sci-fi flicks, specials with Bugs Bunny and Paul Lynde, and many other delights. The Viskupic art is a bit of a nothing, but I do like the ad for Big "D" Fence Corp., because that's what I call a certain stomach ailment (as in, "Honey, is there any Pepto in the house? I got the "Big D" sump'n awful!")

Here are some ads, with many targeting the coming Mother's Day holiday, directly or indirectly.
Westrock Beef knew Moms want meat!

For the unimaginative, giving mom a break from cooking was a no-brainer--just make sure something was thawing for her to cook tomorrow.

I've posted this questionable Jolly Swagman Inn ad before, but once more can't hurt, right?

I'll close out this episode with some TV Book features: Off Camera, Cable TV Highlights, some trivia, and the week's kiddie mindrot (mostly) compiled in For Children.

The Cablevision Nobody Special features a brand-new comedian named Jackie Martling (probably spouting very old jokes even then) and Arnold Malaya, a train station violinist who is unrecalled by the internet.

Happy Mother's Day! Like that Dollar Shoe Outlet ad, I hope it's sandal-and-sneaker special!