1978: What's on TV Monday Nights?

Once NFL78 finishes its regular season, Monday nights portend as a Channel 12 situation from prime-time wire to prime-time wire ...

However, football season is only now getting started and extends to 16 games for the first time, and so here's a coin (apparently created by or for a Lexington TV station, now offered by an eBay seller in Bagdad) embossed with the 1978 lineup of ABC's NFL Monday Night Football games in 1978 for us all to coordinate calendars accordingly ...

As for that 7-8 p.m. Central hour before kickoff, I was never that much of a Kotter guy, anyway, so I'm not going to be any too conflicted about giving WKRP ("a hilarious, new comedy with exceptionally strong youth appeal") a try. And I imagine I will stick right with Phyllis George, whom I love (and with whom I once rode on a helicopter from Barkley Regional to a field somewhere down in Graves, Fulton or Hickman counties), until time for Frank, Howard and Dandy Don on Monday nights this fall or M*A*S*H Season 7 and One Day at a Time Season 4 in the new year.

Finally, I want to send a special 1978 Desk shoutout to Lou Grant (and YouTube compiler "mtmepisodes2"). The show's 1977-78 Season 1 (TV78) was fantastic, and Season 2 episodes don't start until Sept. 25. So that leaves us all time to acquaint or re-acquaint ourselves with "Animal," Mrs. Pynchon, Billie, Joe and all of Lou's new friends around the Los Angeles Tribune newsroom.

The Best Made-for-TV Movie About TV of All Time

My favorite movies are made-for-TV movies about TV. The best one of all time (5 stars, highly recommend) is going to be the one that someone does about the night that Don and Kay Knotts play bridge at Pat and Marjorie Harrington's place in Westwood.

Trapper John, M.D.

I was watching some Battle of the Network Stars reruns on ESPN Classic the other night, and the CBS team featured several members of the Trapper John, M.D. cast. I was 11 when that show debuted Sept. 23, 1979, and it seems like I watched it pretty much every time it was on the air--at least for the first several seasons. Trapper got the One Day at a Time-Alice-Jeffersons lead-in, and I watched all of those CBS shows. Only ABC from 7 to 7:30 Central, with Mork & Mindy vs. CBS's Archie Bunker's Place, got me off of CBS during prime-time Sunday nights in fall 1979.

So, anyway, here's the pilot. I'll put stuff in the comments as I watch. But I'll go ahead and say thank you to all the people who take the time to post stuff on YouTube--I really appreciate your effort and its product.