1978: What's on TV Thursday Nights?

Mom pitched camp in the kitchen Thursday nights in 1978. Her portable was absolutely locked in all prime time to Channel 12.  

But, for me, it's more 7-9 p.m. Central sitcom domination by ABC.

The new show (a last-second shift from Monday nights) is the stud of the Channel 3 Thursday bunch. I found both Mindy and Mork to be adorable in their own ways.

And I'm satisfied to roll the next 90 minutes with What's Happening!! Season 3, Barney Miller Season 5 and Soap Season 2. Mom's Waltons/Hawaii Five-O/Barnaby Jones bender is helpful in this regard, as it is likely to keep her distracted from helicoptering the Channel 3 storylines on the portable in my bedroom.

As for 9 p.m., the new NBC show about broadcasting doesn't sound like nearly as much fun as the new CBS show about broadcasting. 

I might opt for a Season 4 Quincy, M.E. on SelectaVision. Or, every other Thursday night, I might expand my horizons with some public broadcasting, as PBS is bringing to its national audience an appealing creation germinating from its Chicago affiliate.

1975

Well, I certainly don't remember having heard of this twist ... 

Fri, Mar 21, 1975 – 1 · The Lexington Herald (Lexington, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com I did, however, know that UK won its second-round game in the 1975 NCAA men's basketball tournament ...

Fri, Mar 21, 1975 – 1 · The Lexington Herald (Lexington, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

Note to self: Don't forget to say in the comments what you want to say about this picture ...

Fri, Mar 21, 1975 – 25 · The Lexington Herald (Lexington, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

And now No. 1 IU ...

Meanwhile, in Louisville, the action is hot and heavy in the state tournament ...

Fri, Mar 21, 1975 – Page 41 · The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

The 1970s Paducah Sun-Democrat Channel Selector is one of my all-time-favorite periodicals ...

Fri, Mar 14, 1975 – 29 · The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

Fri, Mar 14, 1975 – 30 · The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

Fri, Mar 21, 1975 – 27 · The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

Fri, Mar 21, 1975 – 28 · The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

Fri, Mar 21, 1975 – 29 · The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

Fri, Mar 21, 1975 – 30 · The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

1975: The new season (Thursdays)

Thursday nights 1975 look a little more promising than most of the daily prime-time lineups. 

I'm a Waltons fan, and I thought last season ended with one of the strongest stories in the show's three-years-so-far run. Even still, I'm going to have a hard time keeping away from ABC's returning Barney Miller and an intriguing new sitcom, On the Rocks. 

NBC, meanwhile, is taking its chances with a couple of new entrants, The Montefuscos, which sounds none too appealing, and Fay, which I'm absolutely certain I would've loved.

I'm not much into murder mysteries or crime or hospital dramas, so ABC and NBC pretty much lose me at 8 p.m. Central.

So, that leaves me with The CBS Thursday Night Movies, which I'm thrilled to learn is scheduled to include a re-airing of the fantastic Bob Newhart/Dick Van Dyke delight, Cold Turkey, one of America's all-time-great films.

Previous dispatches:

-- Mondays

-- Tuesdays

-- Wednesdays

1975: Meet Barney Miller

There's a new ABC sitcom starting tonight 1975, and it appears it's going to be a delightfully romantic romp about an Erma Bombeckish housewife and her droll police-officer husband.

Here are my favorite 13 take-me-to-a-time-and-place TV shows to have aired before 2002

1. The Andy Griffith Show (1960s North Carolina)
2. Seinfeld (1990s New York)
3. Gilmore Girls (2000s Stars Hollow, Conn.)
4. The Bob Newhart Show (1970s Chicago)
5. WKRP in Cincinnati (1970s Cincinnati)
6. Newhart (1980s Vermont)
7. The Simpsons (1990s Springfield)
8. The Dick Van Dyke Show (1960s New York and New Rochelle, N.Y.)
9. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970s Minneapolis)
10. White Shadow (1970s Los Angeles)
11. Roseanne (1980s Lanford, Ill.)
12. Barney Miller (1970s New York)
13. Happy Days (1950s Milwaukee)