Newsday TV Book, November 4-10, 1973.

We're a third of the way into November and man-oh-Manischewitz, we need a little Christmas, right this very minute! I always advocate easin' into the season, however, and since we are still two-and-a-half weeks from Thanksgiving, I'm gonna write up two TV Books from this month in 1973.

First up is this issue with a Bernie Cootner illustration on the cover, for the Public Broadcasting Service series "The Men Who Made the Movies," premiering locally on WNET channel 13.

Esteemed Newsday reviewer Joseph Gelmis wrote the accompanying story, with anecdotes about directors Raoul Walsh and Frank Capra, including one involving the abuse of John Barrymore's fresh corpse. Oh, you Tinseltown scamps! (This is part one, the rest is attached to the Saturday afternoon listings.)

The TV Line addresses such topics as Bea Arthur's face, Don Galloway's cars, and the song used on WCBS' reports on unclean eating establishments in New York City. By the way, that song, "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)," was not actually recorded by The T-Bones, which was a bunch of guys appearing as the band; the music on their albums was mostly performed by The Wrecking Crew.

I decided to scan all day Sunday, although now I forget why. Interesting to see King Kong vs. Godzilla on a Sunday afternoon, though. (Plus the John Cashman reviews are succinct and snarkilicious, as always.)

Monday afternoon's schedule has a Gary Viskupic drawing for a Louis Armstrong tribute airing that night. Satchmo died two years earlier.

Carroll O'Connor had a special on CBS called "Three for the Girls," a three-act appreciation of the various women in a man's life. Nowadays, this would undoubtedly get him called out as a woke beta male by the insufferably ubiquitous Bro-stocracy.

Here are Tuesday's evening and late listings, focusing of course on Election Day results.

Wednesday had a Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour close-up, showing Sonny Bono with his then-daughter, the deadnamed Chastity (later Chaz). This very photo is used on Chaz' Wikipedia page, erroneously dated 1974.

Thursday's late sched brings a close-up on The Graduate, with a scene from the film. Newsday would use a Viskupic illustration for the next broadcast a year later, and it's quite a bit more striking.

Now here's all day Saturday, including the late-morning liftoff of one of the Skylab missions (although the internet seems to disagree about the mission number and date). My aerospace engineer dad worked on Skylab, specifically the waste management system--or as he liked to humbly say, the toilet.

Here's an ad for Custom Meats (with my local-est location in Farmingdale), and an offer to harvest a free turkey for the upcoming holiday.

This full-color ad spread is nothing all that special, other than depicting a handy squirrel in carpenter coveralls. (Okay, I guess that's pretty special.)

Finally, the back cover for The Colonial Shoppes and their Election Day sale. This exact ensemble would be advertised six months later for forty-five bucks more--still a damn good price for biscuit-tufted furniture with hand-matched patchwork, IMHO...

Next week's issue, coming right up! Valerie Harper is on the cover, with more Chastity, more Viskupic, and the first Hicks Nurseries Christmas ad of the season! It really IS the most wonderful time of the year!