by Herbie J Pilato
Sunday night with Mannix and Barnaby Jones.
Monday night with Gunsmoke, Here’s Lucy, The Doris Day Show and Medical Center.
Tuesday night Maude and Marcus Welby, M.D.
Wednesday night with Sonny & Cher, Cannon and Kojak.
Thursday Night with The Waltons
Friday Night with The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, The Odd Couple, Room 222 and Love, American Style.
Saturday night with All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Show.
Seriously…what else are you supposed to want in life – or in TV writing?
Class. Sophistication. Fun. Humor. Adventure. Knowledge. Wisdom. Diversity. Family. Surrealism. Music. Flawed characters. Likable performances. Sweet writing.
Take a lesson, 2014 Television.
EDITOR’S NOTE BY LB: I found the pic at the top of this article fascinating. Not only does it show the entire season (as compared to Herbie J’s snapshot in time), but it also reminded me of all the shows of that era – well, hell, that year – that I wrote as either freelancer or as part of what would’ve been, in those days, the very small staff. God, no wonder I had so much fun.
Oh, the shows? Here they are:
- BARNABY JONES
- THE ROOKIES
- MEDICAL CENTER
- HAWAII FIVE-0
- CANNON
- THE MAGICIAN
- THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO
- IRONSIDE
Good times. (No, not the show, just the feeling. Although the show wasn’t bad either, was it?)
In 1973 I was being tortured at school every day by a group of bullies. TV-wise, it was that year or the one before when my father finally relented and let us get a TV. He banished it to the basement, and the TV I remember best is Dr. Who and Monty Python on Sunday nights.
I guess I can’t edit, so I will revise here. I misremembered my years. I started high school in ’72. The high school was so big that the bullies disappeared as far as I was concerned. I saw them once in a while but the were never a problem again. Except that at 56 I am still fearful and distrust everyone.
My favorites from that era was He & She a CBS comedy that had a spectacular ensemble cast with sophisticated humor in an era with shows like Green Acres. The cast with Richard Benjamin,Paula Prentiss and Kenneth Mars. The same people went on to do the Mary Tyler Moore show. Also the Outcasts, a Western with attitude, Smother s Brothers and Here come the Brides. i was a TV maven with many favorite shows. I also liked the hard boiled detective shows like Mannix.