1978

Here's the American Top 40 from today in 1978: Saturday, March 11. Maybe we can squeeze this in before sitting down for some intriguing first-round NCAA-tournament action on Channel 6 this afternoon.

10 Mar 1978, Fri The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

Hello again, and welcome to American Top 40. I'm Casey Kasem, and this is our weekly countdown of the 40 most popular songs in the country. Well, falling out of the survey this week are Randy Newman, Player, Foreigner, Odyssey and Rod Stewart, and moving into the Top 40 are debut hits by Rod Stewart, Enchantment, England Dan and John Ford Coley, Van Halen (a new group) and ELO. Let's get it started right here ...

1975: khsfb Update

 

17 Aug 1975, Sun The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

Here are previous and future 1975 reports.

Not Working This Morning

I think this or this probably was the "small Hilton" in Seattle where Bob Newhart, coming off The Bob Newhart Show, thought of Newhart, per this fun and interesting conversation with a skilled, unnamed interviewer with The Paley Center for Media ...

Here are a couple of facts I wrote down from a book I read that might well have been Great Quarterbacks of Pro Football by Steve and Rita Golden Gelman:

-- Len Dawson was a fifth-string quarterback as a sophomore for his high-school football team in Alliance, Ohio. He was the starter in his junior year.

-- At the half of Super Bowl I, the Packers lead the Chiefs 14-10, and Dawson has completed 11 of 15 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. On his first pass of the second half, Dawson throws toward tight end Fred Arbanas under the duress of converging Green Bay linebackers Lee Roy Caffey and Dave Robinson. Packer safety Willie Wood intercepts and returns to the Kansas City 5. Dawson finishes the game 16-of-27 for 211 yards.

Super Wikipedia on prolific-children's-and-travel-writer Golden Gorman, originally of Bridgeport, Connecticut: "In 1987, on the verge of divorce, Gelman decided that it was time to live her dream of traveling the world and living among people in other cultures. It's been 24 years and she still has no permanent home; her new passion is to bring the concept of a 'Gap Year' to teens in the U.S. Her organization, Let's Get Global, is dedicated to encouraging and assisting recent high school graduates to have international experiences before they begin the next phase of their lives. The ultimate goal of LGG is to create a cultural norm in the United States that will make it a common practice to extend education beyond U.S. borders. Let's Get Global suggests that graduating high school seniors defer college or the job world for a year while they immerse themselves in other cultures and discover the common humanity of mankind."

April 17, 2006

Back at the Madisonville Community College, which I love. On the UK-blue couches in the student center, I’m listening to the pleasant, purposeful chatter of the snack-bar couple at work.

“What are you cooking?”

“We’re going to need more eggs.” 

And, “do you want me to toast your Pop Tarts?”

There’s also the low murmur of a Law & Order or some sort of crime-investigation drama rerun on TNT. On my left, a buzzcut in work boots reads over geometry text and nurses a 20-ounce Diet Mountain Dew. On my right, a 19-year-old piddles with a video game on a public-access PC.

Al Stewart is playing here Friday. And Saturday. 

COFFEEHOUSE PERFOMRANCE TWO NIGHTS! 
FOLK AND POP LEGEND KNOWN FOR HIS HITS

‘TIME PASSAGES’ AND ‘THE YEAR OF THE CAT 

There are two portraits of Stewart on the poster. Under a heading “Then …” is a black-and-white photo of Stewart in poofy, shoulder-length hair. He’s looking pensively away from the camera, wearing a paisley shirt and silver-studded leather jacket – hands lodged loosely in front dungaree pockets. Next to the heading “and now,” it’s Stewart in a white, collarless shirt and gray sport coat. His hair is short, thinning, wiry and brown. His hands are clutched around an acoustic guitar neck. 

“Now, we’re going to pull out their barbecue separate, right? … Great. … OK, I’m going for a smoke.”

Also among the Madisonville Community College student-center placards are handbills for First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Earlington:

We offer an old-fashioned style of worship in a relaxed manner. Dress as you desire. Some dress up in their ‘Sunday best.’ Others wear jeans and a tee shirt. God looks at the heart. So do we. … We are a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This means we partake of the Lord’s Supper each Sunday. Everyone is invited to participate. The only ‘requirement’ is a confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. You are encouraged to think for yourself. Nobody will tell you what to think. You are asked to give that same freedom to others.

Before I flush the last remnants of Christmas73 from my YouTube "Watch Later" feed, here are a couple of last gems ...

Phil Elderkin in the April 5, 1969, Sporting News offered in his Page 71 "NBA Basketball" column these well-earned observations about some of the league's coaches:

-- The Knicks' Red Holzman is "firm but soft sell" Strong on defense, teaching and matchups.

-- The 76ers' Jack Ramsey is a "very intense person who takes defeats home with him but never really seems discouraged." His gambling defense "requires a collegian dedication."

-- The Celtics' Bill Russell is "guilty of running soft practices," and sometimes the "crisis of the moment takes precedence over the whole picture."

-- The Bullets' Gene Shue is "expert at spotting a cold shooter quickly and hopefully replacing him with a hot one."

-- The Lakers' Bill van Breda Kolf is "outspoken, outgoing and often out of breath."

Rest in peace, Mr. Elderkin, newspaper journalist of 65 years, attendee at every Celtics playoff game 1957-69 and Baseball Writers' Association of America Member 5.

The Freakin' Weekend (1973)

So much to address here on this Nov. 23-25, 1973, #freakinweekend: the Kings Island Brady Bunch, No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 8 vs. No. 9 in college football, the debut of the HP's International House of Pancakes National Football League e-Magnetic Team Standings Board and more!

Friday

After a run of seasons in which the networks turned out new series that became some of the most iconic programs of our lives, TV73 came up a clunker. Good Times and Happy Days are going to turn up this winter, but nothing much at all took from the fall debuts. Kojak was the lone new fall 1973 series to qualify for the Nielsen top 30 for the season.

The writers had struck, and there wasn't a single week crammed with debuts, so that the new series might market for each other. Plus, it appears to me that so many highly popular series were still so early in their runs that the brand-new series couldn't peel away viewers. Take Calucci's Department, a pretty compelling setup for Broadway's James Coco in a New York unemployment office. From the little bit of it I've seen, there's no reason for me to think that this show couldn't've found the quirky, low-burn stroke that Barney Miller ultimately found ...

But it was pitted against NBC's red-hot Sanford and Son at 7 Central on Friday nights, and Calucci's Department is going to be finito after 11 episodes. By the way, ABC's 7 p.m. Central Friday entry, The Brady Bunch, is nearing the end, too. The Bradys are all going to Kings Island on Nov. 23, 1973, which is one of my very favorite episodes of this show ...

Indeed, I'm sticking with Channel 3 the rest of this Friday night: The Odd Couple, a Julie Andrews variety special with Perry Como and the Muppets and then a Love American Style ...

Saturday

Here's the current Associated Press Top 20 in college football:

1. Ohio State 9-0

2. Alabama 10-0 (after beating Louisiana State on Thanksgiving, Nov. 22)

3. Oklahoma 8-0-1

4. Michigan 10-0

5. Notre Dame 9-0

6. Penn State 10-0

7. LSU 9-1 (after losing to Alabama on Thursday)

8. UCLA 9-1

9. Southern California 8-1-1

10. Nebraska 8-1-1

11. Texas 7-2

12. Texas Tech 9-1

13. Arizona State 9-1

14. Houston 8-1

15. Miami (Ohio) 10-0

16. North Carolina State 7-3

17. Tulane 8-1

18. Oklahoma State 5-2-2

19. Missouri 7-3

T20. Kansas 6-3-1

T20. Pittsburgh 6-3-1

So, as you can see, we've got ourselves a pretty compelling Saturday afternoon in front of Channel 3 to look forward to ...

I'm not sure on which Saturday this little Hee Haw snippet aired on Channel 12, but I think Nov. 24, 1973, is a pretty good bet because it was on Nov. 11, 1973, that Louis "Grandpa" Jones of Niagara, Kentucky, had discovered the corpse of his Nashville-suburbs neighbor, David "Stringbean" Akeman of Annville, Kentucky ...

Now on to happier Saturday-night fare ...

Sunday

NBC's got a pretty good noon Central kickoff in 8-2 Steelers at 6-3-1 Browns ...

But we're not seeing that. Channel 12's got the double-header this afternoon: 3-6-1 Cardinals at 6-4 Bengals at noon and then 7-3 Falcons at 3-7 Jets at 3. Channel 6 is holding fire until 6-3-1 Chiefs at 5-3-2 Broncos at 3. 

Here's where things stand in Week 11 of NFL73, after the 8-3 Redskins beat the 4-6-1 Lions, 20-0, and then the 10-1 Dolphins beat the 7-4 Cowboys, 14-7, on a very happy Thanksgiving ...

@NFL72 Update

Rookie Bobby Moore hauls in a Jim Hart pass at Yankee Stadium against the #NYGiants in 1972. @NBATVAhmad pic.twitter.com/AcHEMV8zrs

— St. Louis Football Cardinals (@BigRed_STL) November 19, 2016

Meanwhile, after yesterday's games in NFL72, ... 

And tonight, ...

What's On TV Tonight (1972)?

Debuting Saturday, Sept. 16, 1972, my all-time-favorite show ...

1975: Happy 46th birthday, Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart turns 46 today 1975 (Friday, Sept. 5), and CBS will celebrate tomorrow with the airing of a rerun, "The New Look," from the third and most recent season of The Bob Newhart Show.

Raquel Welch, meanwhile, turns 35 today 1975. I'll bet by 1975 Bob Newhart had noted that he and Raquel Welch shared a birthday.

1975: Rest in Peace, Mary Frann

I was saddened this morning to learn that Mary Frann died in September 1998. The Associated Press reported that year that an autopsy concluded Frann, who died in her sleep, suffered a heart attack associated with "an existing but undiagnosed scarring of heart-muscle tissue." She was 55. 

On Jan. 16, 1975, Suzanne Pleshette had been a Hollywood Square, and, on Jan. 18, 1975, she's in another episode of the hit Bob Newhart Show. Pleshette is a bonafide TV star as of today 1975. 

Not Mary Frann. Not yet. 

Things are looking up, however. Mary Frann turns up for a guest spot on the Jan. 17, 1975, episode of Rockford Files, much as the 1961 "America's Junior Miss" has been turning up on shows here and there for much of the last decade. Her TV career is really starting to take off, in fact. Just last year, in 1974, Frann had finally secured her first regular part--as Amanda Howard, on Days of Our Lives. Mary Frann's 15th Nerinx Hall High School reunion is coming up in 1976, and it's beginning to look like there's going to be a lot of fun stuff to talk about when the girls get back together after all those years in Webster Groves, Mo. 

If they only knew. It won't be until 1982 that Mary Frann lands the role for which she will be primarily remembered. Mary Frances Luecke is going to be bonafide Network Star in her own right (even if, after 184 episodes and eight years as Joanna Loudon, she never exactly convinced us that she was Bob Newhart's wife). 

And, then, not many years later, Mary Frann will be gone. What a sad and odd conversation that must've been when the Nerinx Hall Marker alumnae of '61 reconvened for their 50th last year.

1974 (1975-preview edition)

Well, "Tech Note" fans, I today want to apologize for 2011's 1974 indulgence.

I also today want to announce plans for a 1975 indulgence--beginning in 2012. I think i've figured out how I want to do this--in terms of setting up YouTube and eBay searches, Google alerts and my Christmas list--and I think 1975 is going to end up being a much more satisfying endeavor. For me. So I'm very excited.

Another big deal is that I am going to forgive myself in advance for falling behind. I'm constantly falling behind in my now world, so it's unreasonable for me to hold myself accountable to being on time in my then world. So, I forgive you, me.

In this spirit, here's what has happened in the 1974 World Series as of Oct. 16, 1974.



And here are what were the current football standings.







I'm pretending like, sometimes, my TV set goes on the fritz or things get busy down at the office.

I have managed to keep up with the third Bob Newhart Show season. Episode 5, which originally aired on Oct. 12, 1974, delivered at least a half-dozen out-loud laughs--none louder than the "Foster child" gag between Dr. Hartley and his sister.

1974

I wouldn't say that I have given up on the baseball season, but, man, ... football.

Dallas Cowboys 24 at Atlanta Falcons 0. Warns Joe Marshall in Sports Illustrated's Sept. 16, 1974, NFL-preview edition, "Dallas must still be considered the favorite, but a morale problem endangers that status. Traditionally, the Cowboys have been a triumph of speed and power over emotionalism. They have never been a happy group. 'If they were a close-knit team, no one would ever touch them,' says one veteran Redskin. Now Dallas may have more internal problems than it can suppress." Monday-Sept. 17-morning quarterback Tom Brooksheier scoffs. (Love the Cliff Harris-Ken Burrow tussle in the early going of that clip. It was so strange that the NFL had wide receivers named Ken Burrow and Ken Burrough in the 1970s.) Has any No. 1 overall choice had a stronger NFL regular-season debut than Ed "Too Tall" Jones? Five sacks to lead a defense that shut out its home-standing opponent? Also, in that YouTube clip, it appears for a little while that he killed poor Pat Sullivan. This is a brutal start to the season for the Falcons, who've been on a steady climb under Norm Van Brocklin (2-9 in 1968, 6-8 in '69, 4-8-2 in '70, 7-6-1 in '71, 7-7 in '72 and 9-5 last season). This is going to be a rough week of practice for the Falcons under the old Hall-of-Famer.

Miami Dolphins 24 at New England Patriots 34. The young, exciting Patriots look like the darling team of NFL '74. While it was Miami's offense that the World Football League raided, it's a time of transition for the Dolphins' defense, as well. Vince Costello is the new coordinator, replacing Arnsparger, and Miami was playing in this game without middle linebacker Nick Buoniconti, who was injured in the preseason.

Philadelphia Eagles 3 at St. Louis Cardinals 7. This almost certainly was KFVS's noon Central game on Sept. 16, 1974, and, if Channel 6 wasn't showing the Dolphins-Patriots, I might've even chosen to watch after Joe Marshall raved in SI, "That's right, fans! Watch out for the Eagles!" Philadelphia fielded a high-flying aerial attack in 1973, but the opening performance of Mike McCormack's second season as Philadelphia head coach was a dud after Tom Dempsey's 44-yard field goal in the first quarter. And though St. Louis won, it's not like Cardinals fans can be too excited about the opening game of Don Coryell's second year as their head coach. Jim Hart's four-yard touchdown pass to Donny Anderson in the second quarter was enough to stop the Eagles, but Hart--in and out of the starting-quarterback job for his eight years since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois University in 1966--was just 13 of 27 for 192 yards and one interception on the day. The Cardinals picked a quarterback, Texas-El Paso's Gary Keithley in the second round of the 1973 draft, but he's not even on the 1974 roster after getting two quarterback starts and punting in Coryell's first, 4-9-1 season as head coach. St. Louis chose no college quarterbacks this spring, so, Cardinals fans, you're rolling with Coryell and Hart.

San Francisco 49ers 17 at New Orleans Saints 13. This is a tough loss for the Saints, who in 1973, in John North's second season as head coach, recorded as many as five wins for only the second time in franchise history.

Cleveland Browns 7 at Cincinnati Bengals 33. This game really does look like a Paul Brown intrasquad scrimmage, but the truth is that the difference between Brown's new and old bags is growing. The Bengals, impressive here in opening just their seventh season in the league, are coming off their first AFC Central Division championship and second playoffs appearance.

Minnesota Vikings 32 at Green Bay Packers 17. Dan Devine has gone 4-8-2, 10-4 and 5-7-2 in his three years with the Packers, and now this?

Los Angeles Rams 17 at Denver Broncos 10. Los Angeles lost two games in 1973 by a total of three points. Chuck Knox is back for his second season as head coach. NFC Player of the Year John Hadl is back at quarterback. The Rams added the Heisman Trophy winner, John Cappelletti of Penn State, to the league's second-best rushing attack. And everybody's back on the NFL's best defense of 1973. Then, in the preseason, Los Angeles walloped the Dolphins, 31-13, and, now, the Rams have opened the 1974 regular season by winning at Mile High Stadium.

Washington Redskins 13 at New York Giants 10. Bill Arnsparger, native of Paris, Ky., starts Doug Kotar, an undrafted rookie from UK at halfback. And now we know the origin of some signature George Allen footage.

Baltimore Colts 0 at Pittsburgh Steelers 30. Louisvillian Howard Schnellenberger's second season as Colts head coach is off to an ominous start. The Steelers, meanwhile, appear to have finally put together a solid passing attack to go along with their excellent defense and very good run offense. "Jefferson Street" Joe Gilliam beat out incumbent Terry Bradshaw and veteran Terry Hanratty for the starting quarterback job in the preseason, and he was solid in the opener (17 of 31 for 271 yards, two touchdowns and one interception). Nine Steeler receivers shared Gilliam's completions, and rookie wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth had two catches each. Joe Marshall reported on Pittsburgh's wide-receiver draft haul in the Sept. 16 Sports Illustrated: "In the first round they chose USC's Lynn Swann and in the fourth round they got what may be the real steal: John Stallworth from little Alabama A&M. When Pittsburgh received a film on Stallworth from his school, it carried instructions to pass it on to the other teams in the BLESTO-VIII scouting combine. The Steelers took one look and conveniently lost the film, which helps explain why Stallworth was still available in the fourth round. Pittsburgh might have used its first-round choice for him had Swann not been available."

New York Jets 16 at Kansas City Chiefs 24. After an injury-plagued 1973, Joe Namath is back! But so is Lenny Dawson, and so are the Chiefs!

Detroit Lions 9 at Chicago Bears 17. If you've never seen the NFL Films feature on the Bears' early '70s mascot (pictured at the end of the game highlight), I implore you to keep an eye out for it. It does not appear to be available on YouTube. The opening episode of the third season of The Bob Newhart Show, which aired Sept. 14, 1974, is on Hulu.com, however.

San Diego Chargers 14 at Houston Oilers 21. Sid Gillman had gotten rid of all but one of his picks before the 1974 draft, but he might've uncovered a gem in running back Ronnie Coleman. Gillman is reportedly unpopular among the Oilers, but his team is already halfway to its 1973 win total. Rough start, meanwhile, for new Chargers coach Tommy Prothro.

Oakland Raiders 20 at Buffalo Bills 21. What an episode of Monday Night Football this turned out to be Sept. 17, 1974, pitting "Pro Football's Dynamic Organization" and "The Juice." In fact, Buffalo handed the ball to O.J. Simpson only 12 times (his fullback, Jim Braxton, had 19 rushing attempts), and all three Bills touchdowns came on Joe Ferguson passes.

Based on Week 1 action, here's how I expect the playoffs to go:

-- Washington loses at Minnesota
-- Kansas City loses at Cincinnati
-- Dallas loses at Los Angeles
-- Pittsburgh wins at Buffalo
-- Pittsburgh loses at Cincinnati
-- Los Angeles loses at Minnesota
-- Minnesota beats Cincinnati in the Super Bowl

At this point, I expect coaching changes in Baltimore, New York, San Diego and Green Bay before next season, and I'll bet the Chargers get the first choice in next year's draft.

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)