My Journey Through 1970s TV: Thursday Nights, 1975

Welcome back to my journey through the 1970s prime time schedules. In looking at Thursday nights in 1975, what I found most interesting is how one network introduced four new shows, two of which had potential, but all of which did not last beyond one season. Let’s start there.

NBC
The Montefuscos
Fay
Ellery Queen
Medical Story

One of these short-lived shows deserved to be a hit and run for several years. 

Ellery Queen was a delightful adaptation of the whodunit books penned by different writers beginning in the 1920s. After creating one of TV’s greatest detectives in Columbo, Richard Levinson and William Link brought Queen to television in the genial presence of star Jim Hutton. 

Set in the 1940s, the series revolved around Ellery assisting his police detective father (David Wayne) on baffling murder mysteries. The high point of each episode had Hutton turning to the camera and addressing the audience at home, just after he cracked the case. “Have you figured it out?” he’d ask, before reminding us of the suspects and the most important clues. Rarely has it been more fun to match wits with the characters on screen – and I’m embarrassed to confess that, out of 22 episodes, I only figured it out once. 

In addition to Hutton, who had a likable Jimmy Stewart quality, and the irascible David Wayne, the series had a great supporting cast: John Hillerman as Simon Brimmer, a supercilious radio personality and amateur sleuth who guessed wrong as often as I did, and Ken Swofford as bulldog journalist Frank Flannigan. I wish I could have spent more time in their company. Thankfully, a DVD release offers a chance to revisit these wonderful episodes again and again. 

The Montefuscos I remember because, among my circle of 11-year-old friends at the time, the title became a running joke (“We could go bowling tonight, but The Montefuscos are on!”). 

The concept came from Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, creators of That Girl and the writing team behind many classic Dick Van Dyke Show episodes. That’s blue-chip TV stock, but they missed on this one.

It was a series about a large Italian family, and most of the stories revolved around conversations at Sunday dinners. The Montefuscos overindulged on all the stereotypes of Italian families that would have seemed simplistic then and would likely be viewed as offensive now. Television critic Gary Deeb wrote, "If you grew up in a real Italian family, this shameful piece of burlesque will have you writhing in disbelief." Just eight episodes were made. 

Next up was Fay, which had visions of continuing the genre of “You’re going to make it after all” shows about women doing it for themselves. That Girl gave us a young woman in her 20s on her own for the first time. The Mary Tyler Moore Show featured a working woman in her 30s balancing a work life and social life. Fay starred Lee Grant as a 40-ish woman, divorced, still working and playing the field once again. 

In her Television Academy interview Grant still seemed bitter about the series getting pulled after ten episodes. She blamed the time slot, and going up against The Waltons was certainly one factor in its unimpressive (by comparison) viewer numbers. But I would also add that her character did not have the same charm and likability as Ann Marie and Mary Richards. In fact, she came off as shrill in most episodes, and it was hard to believe she would have ever married a doofus like Jack (Joe Silver). 

With Police Story already a hit, Medical Story was a noble attempt at another anthology series, with each story exploring a new facet of medicine and patient care in a different setting with different stars. 

Only 12 episodes were made, but surprisingly a few of them are now on YouTube. I watched one with Shelley Fabares, cause why not. Good story, about factory workers getting sick from chemical exposure and the company trying to cover it up. I look forward to watching more of them. 

CBS

The Waltons
CBS Thursday Night Movie

Nothing new to report here. The Waltons remains the evening’s most popular series, finishing the season at #14. 

ABC

Barney Miller
On the Rocks
The Streets of San Francisco
Harry-O

“Funny cops and funny robbers.” That’s how ABC promoted the two new sitcoms that kicked off its Thursday lineup. Audiences responded well to the funny cops – Barney Miller would run eight seasons. On the Rocks did not fare as well. There were familiar TV faces among its cast of convicts – Hal Williams, Rick Hurst, Tom Poston, Mel Stewart – but this adaptation of the British sitcom Porridge was paroled from the schedule after one season. 

The Streets of San Francisco was ABC’s highest-rated offering, finishing at #26. I wish more of that audience had stuck around for Harry-O, now with Farrah Fawcett-Majors making occasional appearances as Harry’s next-door neighbor. 

But Harry would be gone the following year, while Farrah would become one of the most famous women in America. Stay tuned. 

Shows Missed:
The Don Knotts Show (1970)
San Francisco International Airport (1970)
Nancy (1970)
The Headmaster (1970)
The Man and the City (1971)
Search (1972)
Assignment: Vienna (1972)
The Delphi Bureau (1972)
Jigsaw (1972)
The Little People (1972)
The Sixth Sense (1972)
Tenafly (1973)
Faraday & Company (1973)
Kodiak (1974)
The New Land (1974)
McCoy (1975)
Joe and Sons (1975)
Beacon Hill (1975)