My Journey Through 1970s TV: Thursday Nights, 1978

Thursdays in 1978 did not come to mind when I thought back on standout nights of television from my youth. But when I looked back at the schedule it was surprising how many shows that are still fondly recalled all aired on this same night. Nine of the 11 shows across all three networks would get DVD releases and are still streaming somewhere, a testament to their enduring popularity.

ABC
Mork & Mindy
What’s Happening
Barney Miller
Soap
Family

Mork & Mindy was a huge and immediate success following Robin Williams’ first appearance as Mork on Happy Days. Williams was fortunate in not becoming defined by that character, the way Henry Winkler couldn’t shake The Fonz for decades (he got there eventually). Not sure how well the show still holds up outside of Williams’ improv flourishes that forced poor Pam Dawber to keep up, but viewers loved it, propelling the series to #3 for the season.

This was the final go-round for What’s Happening, and a strong timeslot lead-in boosted the series to #28 for the year. Barney Miller was still going strong in season 5 (#15) but suffered the loss of cast member Jack Soo. Season two of Soap finished at #19, and with four shows in the top 30 ABC easily won another night.

Family should have been top 30 as well but couldn’t outdraw Barnaby Jones in the 10pm slot. They tried countering a show about an old guy by adding a new kid to the cast – Quinn Cummings as newly orphaned Annie. Thankfully, Cummings didn’t Cousin Oliver the whole series, but it’s debatable whether she added anything of consequence.

NBC
Project U.F.O.
Quincy M.E.
W.E.B.

Project U.F.O. limped through two seasons and 26 episodes bested by more popular competition, but it was a series that deserved a better fate.

Co-created and executive produced by Jack Webb, the show had all the hallmarks and distinct rhythm of a typical Webb procedural: no-nonsense public servants in the lead roles - William Jordan and Caskey Swaim as U.S. Air Force investigators – who engage in awkward attempts at light banter before starting each week’s case. They gather facts and question witnesses, but with UFO inquiries there’s always some doubt to their authenticity, so cases are never fully solved.

I’m a sucker for Webb’s shows so I was in from his opening narration:

"Ezekiel saw the wheel. This [UFO diagrams] is the wheel he said he saw. These are Unidentified Flying Objects that people say they are seeing now. Are they proof that we are being visited by civilizations from other stars? Or just what are they? The United States Air Force began an investigation of this high strangeness in a search for the truth. What you are about to see is part of that 20-year search."

I also enjoyed how there were frequent mentions of Project Blue Book, a real government program that would later play a prominent role in Twin Peaks lore as well. The full run of Project U.F.O. episodes was uploaded to YouTube years ago, and they’re worth checking out.

But you won’t find W.E.B. there, as it was canceled after just five episodes and will likely never see the light of day again. A pre-Dynasty Pamela Bellwood starred as a television network executive, in a series clearly modeled after the film Network.

CBS
The Waltons
Hawaii Five-O
Barnaby Jones

CBS counter-programmed ABC with more adult fare, with three quality series all showing signs of age. It was year seven of The Waltons, the first without Will Geer, and that would also see Michael Learned depart before season’s end. 

Season 11 for Hawaii Five-O would be its second-to-last, as would season 7 of Barnaby Jones, the only CBS offering to rank in the top 30 (at #24).

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)
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)
W.E.B. (1978)