As has become all too typical in reviewing these late 1970s schedules, ABC has once again mowed down its competition, which tonight seems mostly content with airing movies and not even trying to compete on the series front.
ABC
Eight is Enough
Charlie’s Angels
Vegas
All three of ABC’s Wednesday offering finished in the top 25, while CBS and NBC failed to land a single show that high in the ratings.
Looking back, I was a bit surprised that in its second season Eight is Enough (#11) ranked one spot higher than the third season of Charlie’s Angels (#12).
This was, after all, the only Angels season without any cast turnover. Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd all returned, as did Farrah Fawcett for two episodes. But the Bradford family proved slightly more popular, and the addition of Betty Buckley to the cast after the passing of Diana Hyland helped to ease what might have been a difficult transition for the audience.
This was year one for Vegas (or Vega$ as it was promoted), starring Robert Urich as Las Vegas private investigator Dan Tanna. It ranked #23 in its debut season, certainly an impressive start.
This was year one for Vegas (or Vega$ as it was promoted), starring Robert Urich as Las Vegas private investigator Dan Tanna. It ranked #23 in its debut season, certainly an impressive start.
It was not a favorite show of mine, but as someone who has lived in and around Las Vegas since 1982, I enjoy revisiting the series occasionally to remember what the town was like back when the mob was in charge and resorts didn’t nickel-and-dime every visitor with parking and resort fees.
We all know the McLean Stevenson story: left a hit series in M*A*S*H for top billing elsewhere, only to star in four consecutive bombs. This is the worst of the bunch - lousy writing, dreadful characters, stilted performances, and a seething enmity toward the Catholic church.
Stevenson plays shallow, conniving, materialistic Father Dan Cleary, who is transferred from a well-to-do parish into a ghetto, where he butts heads with streetwise Sister Agnes (Priscilla Lopez), whom he dubs “Sister Mary Jackass.” Viewers are clearly being urged to side with the plucky nun over the frustrated priest, even though she proudly rides on the Planned Parenthood float in the Thanksgiving parade.
Full disclosure: I’ve laughed at Louis CK routines about Christianity that were far more blasphemous than this. But I believe God has a sense of humor and appreciates clever material. In the Beginning was not clever or funny, despite the dialed-up-to-11 laugh track desperately trying to convince viewers otherwise. It was canceled after just five episodes, a fitting response to the arrogance of its creators.
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)
Faraday & Company (1973)
Kodiak (1974)
The New Land (1974)
McCoy (1975)
Joe and Sons (1975)
Beacon Hill (1975)
Mobile One (1975)
Big Eddie (1975)
Executive Suite (1976)
Ball Four (1976)
Young Dan’l Boone (1977)
Rafferty (1977)
Mulligan’s Stew (1977)
Big Hawaii (1977)
We’ve Got Each Other (1977)
Lifeline (1978)
NBC
Dick Clark’s Live Wednesday
NBC Wednesday Night Movie
Dick Clark had been a fixture on television since American Bandstand went national and was already serving as host of the $10,000 Pyramid when NBC brought him into prime time in this surprisingly short-lived variety series.
It was an ambitious attempt to bring live TV back and reading the guest lineups it sounds like a show that couldn’t miss – Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Melissa Manchester, Billy Crystal, Rodney Dangerfield, Connie Francis – but even that star power wasn’t enough to lure viewers away from Eight is Enough.
Moving a show with this much potential into a new day would have been the wise move, but NBC opted to cancel instead. The final episode aired on December 27, to be replaced in its timeslot by a new series called Supertrain, which ranked #20 in my book about the 100 Dumbest Events in Television History. Serves ‘em right.
CBS
The Jeffersons
In the Beginning
CBS Wednesday Night Movie
Every year in the classic TV era had its share of sitcoms that didn’t work, but many still had likeable stars and a good-natured quality that compensated for creative shortcomings. That cannot be said for In the Beginning, which is one of the most awful shows of the decade. Looking back, probably even worse than Supertrain.
Dick Clark’s Live Wednesday
NBC Wednesday Night Movie
Dick Clark had been a fixture on television since American Bandstand went national and was already serving as host of the $10,000 Pyramid when NBC brought him into prime time in this surprisingly short-lived variety series.
It was an ambitious attempt to bring live TV back and reading the guest lineups it sounds like a show that couldn’t miss – Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Melissa Manchester, Billy Crystal, Rodney Dangerfield, Connie Francis – but even that star power wasn’t enough to lure viewers away from Eight is Enough.
Moving a show with this much potential into a new day would have been the wise move, but NBC opted to cancel instead. The final episode aired on December 27, to be replaced in its timeslot by a new series called Supertrain, which ranked #20 in my book about the 100 Dumbest Events in Television History. Serves ‘em right.
CBS
The Jeffersons
In the Beginning
CBS Wednesday Night Movie
Every year in the classic TV era had its share of sitcoms that didn’t work, but many still had likeable stars and a good-natured quality that compensated for creative shortcomings. That cannot be said for In the Beginning, which is one of the most awful shows of the decade. Looking back, probably even worse than Supertrain.
Stevenson plays shallow, conniving, materialistic Father Dan Cleary, who is transferred from a well-to-do parish into a ghetto, where he butts heads with streetwise Sister Agnes (Priscilla Lopez), whom he dubs “Sister Mary Jackass.” Viewers are clearly being urged to side with the plucky nun over the frustrated priest, even though she proudly rides on the Planned Parenthood float in the Thanksgiving parade.
Full disclosure: I’ve laughed at Louis CK routines about Christianity that were far more blasphemous than this. But I believe God has a sense of humor and appreciates clever material. In the Beginning was not clever or funny, despite the dialed-up-to-11 laugh track desperately trying to convince viewers otherwise. It was canceled after just five episodes, a fitting response to the arrogance of its creators.
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)
Faraday & Company (1973)
Kodiak (1974)
The New Land (1974)
McCoy (1975)
Joe and Sons (1975)
Beacon Hill (1975)
Mobile One (1975)
Big Eddie (1975)
Executive Suite (1976)
Ball Four (1976)
Young Dan’l Boone (1977)
Rafferty (1977)
Mulligan’s Stew (1977)
Big Hawaii (1977)
We’ve Got Each Other (1977)
Lifeline (1978)
I thought The BIonic Woman aired on Wednesday nights on NBC it's final season, was it through before 1978? Anyway, just reading this schedule brought me back to these times like nothing else. Audrey Landers in those silk shorts--whew! Meanwhile, I miss Robert Urich. And I remember how disappointed I was in Supertrain, expected so much more. PS. I refused to watch 'Eight is Enough' in 78 (I was 17 years old) but I did just watch the series to completion last summer on Tubi.
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