Oh, Montana

And here's a route for discussion on nth Podcast.

U.S. History 1974-75: TV, M*A*S*H, Chapel Hill, Lorne Michaels and the Bicentennial

In the M*A*S*H episode "There Is Nothing Like a Nurse" (originally aired Nov. 19, 1974), the 4077 nurses are evacuated upon intelligence of a forthcoming air raid. It turns out to be a harmless pamphlet drop by so-called "5 O'clock Charlie," and the nurses return to much jubilation. The end.

Over the course of the episode, the show's makers appeared to have jammed in several very funny, probably leftover gags (trapping Major Burns in a latrine with a jeep, Hawkeye's riffing over a mailed-from-home wedding film, etc.) that were probably each too short to carry their own storyline. M*A*S*H was in its third season, and it had really found its stroke. The show is confident enough by this point to fly plot-light and play to its established base. This episode is probably unlikely to have won over any too many new converts to CBS at 7:30 p.m. Central Tuesdays, but it's a treat for fans who get to explore all sorts of little idiosyncrasies of their beloved characters through this highly amusing amalgamation of one- to three-minute, only loosely associated scenes.

In addition to the gags, there are three separate musical numbers led by guitar-toting Capt. Calvin Spalding, portrayed by Loudon Wainwright III. He's a pleasant enough troubador and, in real life, the dad of singer-songwriters Martha and Rufus Wainwright. According to Wikipedia, Loudon III is the 1946 yield of the union of a Life editor and yoga teacher. He's a native of Chapel Hill, N.C., a former "new Dylan" and still a frequent contributor to the scores and soundtracks of hit movies, such as Knocked Up.

Loudon III bubbles back up on TV in the Nov. 15, 1975, Saturday Night Live, performing his rousing preview of the now-near Bicentennial, “Bicentennial.”

1975: The new season (Saturdays)

 

This idea now seems so nuts--like some kind of SCTV skit. But Roone Arledge and Howard Cosell were right about a lot of things with regard to Americans and TV, and they--both at the zenith of their powers--obviously would've had zero interest in creating basically a parody of themselves. They bet big that this big show would be a big hit. 

And Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell just wasn't, and I would like to know more about why things turned out the way they did. There had to be something about a misread trend in relation to variety television (or it might've been that this flop basically started the trend away from variety television). Or it might've had to do with the genius of NBC's fledgling Saturday Night, which also would be debuting just three weeks after ABC's show, and the demographics of people who would stay up to watch that show versus the people who would tune in at 7 Central to watch this one. Or it might've been some problem with guest rebellion against Cosell or Arledge. Or it might've been an impossible time slot. Or it might've been that the mighty Cosell simply struck out.

But what does not seem to be sufficient explanation to me is to simply laugh off this show as nuts, something that would never work in a million years. Because in 1975, it must not have been so crazy at all.

Neither of Saturday's other two new shows grab me. 

Other than giving Cosell and the occasional NBC movie (excellent, excellent, 5-star, highly recommended Sugarland Express, for example) a whirl, I'm rolling with CBS's rock-solid lineup.

Previous dispatches:

-- Mondays

-- Tuesdays

-- Wednesdays

-- Thursdays

-- Fridays