My Journey Through 1970s TV: Friday Nights, 1977

It's hard to believe that, being this far along in our review of the 1970s prime time schedules, we’d still be uncovering new milestones. But Friday in 1977 was the first night in which not a single program from any network ranked among the top 30 shows for the year.

That means they all had to be losers, right? Not quite, as you’ll see from the titles.

CBS
The New Adventures of Wonder Woman
Logan’s Run
Switch

This was the lineup I was watching, though I was disappointed (and still am) with almost every aspect of Wonder Woman outside of Lynda Carter’s comic book-perfect embodiment of Diana.

When the series returned for this season it ditched World War II-era stories for present day, subtracting another element that made it unique. What did we get instead? Episodes like “The Pied Piper” with Martin Mull as a flute-playing rock god. It’s one of the most pungent slices of ‘70s cheese ever unleashed on an unsuspecting public. But I still bought the DVDs and later the blu-rays, always hoping the series would somehow get better and that Carter would get the showcase she deserved.

Logan’s Run was…okay. An okay adaptation of an okay film best remembered for colorful visuals and its now quaint look at how the ‘70s envisioned the future. And, yes, for a certain scene featuring Jenny Agutter.

The 1976 movie was a hit, but the series owed it existence to Star Wars. After that 1977 film blew up at the box office all three networks began searching for sci-fi. Result? Shows like Fantastic Journey, Space Academy, The Man From Atlantis, Quark, and Future Cop. None of them lasted long and neither did Logan’s Run, which was canceled after just 11 episodes. But I liked it and still do. Gregory Harrison and Heather Menzies were engaging as Logan and Jessica, and episodes like “The Collectors” were memorable because of guest star Angela Cartwright. Where else could you see two Von Trapp kids still looking for sanctuary?

1977 was also the final year for Switch, a wonderful series that never got the credit it deserved. Thankfully, Robert Wagner would return to TV two years later on Hart to Hart, and Sharon Gless would be back in 1982 on Cagney & Lacey.


NBC
Sanford Arms
Chico and the Man
The Rockford Files
Quincy M.E.

Sanford Arms was the last gasp for Sanford & Son following a successful six-season run. A change in setting from junkyard to rundown boarding house did not spark renewed interest, so the series disappeared after just four episodes, to be replaced by Don Rickles in C.P.O. Sharkey – which didn’t fare much better.

You’d think the suicide of Freddie Prinze would have brought an abrupt end to Chico and the Man, but NBC tried to keep it going by saying Chico went back to Mexico, and pairing Ed (Jack Albertson) with a new Hispanic character played by 12-year-old Gabriel Melgar. It didn’t work.

The Rockford Files is one of those show that, like The Brady Bunch, you’d expect to have been highly rated based on its enduring popularity. Surprising that it wasn’t, but that’s not indicative of its quality.

After appearing alongside Columbo and McCloud as a rotating presentation of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie, Quincy was spun off into its own series, with Jack Klugman as a Los Angeles medical examiner. 

Klugman was one of those actors, like Robert Wagner and James Garner, that had a likability factor well-suited for television – certainly one reason why a series with such a grim premise would run for eight seasons.

ABC
Donny & Marie
The ABC Friday Night Movie

Not much to add here. I thought Donny & Marie was more popular than it apparently was based on ratings. In this, the third in its four-season run, the series moved (over network objections) from Los Angeles to the Osmond Studio in Orem, Utah. I’m not sure if that made it tougher to attract guests, but it may be one reason why only 18 episodes were shot.

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)