Bob Jones

Growing up, Bob Jones was a major local TV personality. He was somewhat intellectual and clearly more literate than most  local TV folks. He had a talk show called KALEIDOSCOPE but, like many others in regional TV, he multi-tasked. Sometimes he did the news, the weather, spot announcements or, as seen here, hosted the MONEY MOVIE! George Clooney's Dad, Nick, himself the host of AMC movies at the time, told me once that Bob Jones knew more about movies than anyone. When I started at Waldenbooks in 1982, Bob was a frequent customer at the downtown store where I worked. His "square" personality perhaps led to his leaving TV during the "ANCHORMAN" era of the late seventies. I'm not certain whatever happened to Bob Jones but I've always remembered him fondly.  

Dale Robertson Passes

Star of TV's TALES OF WELLS FARGO (one of my favorite childhood westerns) and THE IRON HORSE (one of my mother's favorites), Dale passed early on the morning of February 26th...exactly one day after I was surprised to discover that he was still alive. Sigh...

Go to our sister blog for a major tribute in rarer than rare photos.

http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com/2013/02/rip-dale-robertson.html

The Avengers in Fable Land

Here's a delightful 1969 UK text story with lovely illustrations featuring British TV's THE AVENGERS, in this case starring John Steed and Tara King. 

NBC: The First 50 Years

THE BIG EVENT-November 21st, 1976

A Friday in 1970

Friday, September 10th, 1970

Well it's the end of the TV GUIDE week. Let's see what was worth watching nearly 43 years ago.

As always, school, DARK SHADOWS, dinner, etc, etc. all leading up to Friday night TV.



7:30 presented some tough choices for a change--the final CBS episode of GET SMART (a rerun), a late episode of Sally Field's THE FLYING NUN (a much better show then folks might think without seeing it) and one of my parents' favorites and mine, THE HIGH CHAPARRAL, a western starring Leif Erickson, Cameron Mitchell, Henry Darrow and Mark Slade. This episode guest-starred Steve Forrest and Kurt Russell, already a TV veteran and just about to become a movie star in Disney flicks. How to cook Jamaican Cod Fritters on NET's INTERNATIONAL COOKBOOK wasn't even in the running.

I'm going to guess that we watched THE FLYING NUN. That would leave us open for HE & SHE at 8, one of my all-time favorite sitcoms to this very day! The Paula Prentiss/Richard Benjamin/Jack Cassidy series had originally aired in 1967. Said to be ahead of its time, CBS revived it as a summer series in 1970 and tonight was its very last network appearance. As I recall, we watched HE & SHE rather than a BRADY BUNCH rerun. That now-classic series was still relatively new and I hadn't watched early episodes at all. Then one night I was at a friend's house and her family watched it. After that, I got my family to watch it as well.

At 8:30, another conundrum. One of MY favorites, HOGAN'S HEROES (in its final Friday night appearance before moving to Sundays for its last season) or THE GHOST & MRS MUIR, one of my Mother's (and years later my wife's) favorites. Pretty sure we watched one of them rather than DIXON SAN, a locally produced special with Paul Dixon in the orient preempting the network's THE NAME OF THE GAME on both Cincinnati and Dayton channels. It would be 4 decades before I would enjoy THE NAME OF THE GAME in reruns.

With HERE COME THE BRIDES regularly preempted by Channel 12, we were then left with lousy looking movies starring the likes of Ralph Meeker, John Payne and two--count 'em two!--with Louis Jourdan.

Nothing to speak of after that before bedtime. The late night shows that went on whilst I was unconscious included John Cassavettes, Cab Calloway and the then-ubiquitous Jack Douglas and Reiko.

The end of another week for 11 year old me. I was looking forward to the new TV season coming up the following week.

A Thursday in 1970

Thursday, September 10th, 1970

Once again at school all day, followed by the usual after school daily routines and shows before primetime.

At 7:30, Billy Graham once again preempted ABC's feed on Channel 12 but I have no idea what I missed this time as Oral Roberts cut it off on the Dayton ABC channel as well! Oh, well. More than likely we would have watched FAMILY AFFAIR no matter what, in spite of a highly touted NBC science special, THE ICE PEOPLE.

At 8, Glenn Ford hosted a one hour musical (!!) salute to America with guests that included Lou Rawls, John Hartford, Connie Stevens, Mac Davis, Bill Medley (from the Righteous Brothers) and Mark Lindsay (then briefly estranged from Paul Revere and the Raiders). Don't know if we would have watched that but of we did, we probably tuned out halfway through to catch BEWITCHED, a family favorite.

In retrospect, I wish I had watched MIDSUMMER ROCK, a 90 minute NBC special that had been filmed in Cincinnati in July of 1970. My dad worked at the Post Office at the time that was just down the street from the Reds' by-then abandoned Crosley Field where the Midsummer Rock Festival had been held. He came home complaining of long-haired hippies and loud motorcycles and tons of trash everywhere throughout the whole neighborhood.

Ultimately, it became an important bit of rock history as the first time Iggy Pop had done his geek act--cutting himself, smearing himself with peanut butter and then spontaneously walking out across the top of the crowd on the hands of concert goers. In the TV coverage, one can hear staid veteran announcer Jack Lescoulie wondering just what the heck was happening!

Besides the Stooges, the groups appearing briefly on air--edited down from 15 hours of he Festival--included Traffic, Mountain, Alice Cooper and Grand Funk Railroad. At 11 and having just discovered AM radio not long before, I had, I'm certain, never heard of any of them except Grand Funk Railroad.
 
Legendary MGM musical star Gene Kelly had a variety special on at 9 that we probably saw. His major guests were Barbara Eden and James Garner. Based on the ad, though, its main reason to exist was to introduce the brand new Chevrolet Vega! Other than the skipped rock concert, Gene and Chevy's only competition consisted of three old movies--a Rock Hudson Western, a Robert Ryan spy flick and a Betty Grable musical.

THE GOLDDIGGERS London variety series with Marty Feldman aired its final episode at 10 and then I'd have gone to sleep, missing that evening's chat show guests that included Rich Little and Glenn Ford.

A Wednesday in 1970

Wednesday, September 9th, 1970

Again I was in school but our school had no cafateria so I either ate at an uptown restaurant or ran the three and a half blocks home for a quick lunch. On those occasions when I ran home, I'd generally catch a few minutes of Bob Braun and Nick Clooney's mid-day shows before I had to race back.

DARK SHADOWS at 4, as usual. After that, the routine generally followed yesterday's until primetime.

At 7:30. Billy Graham usurped ABC broadcasts on Channel 12 again. THE VIRGINIAN presented a rerun from 7 full years earlier, all because it featured Robert Redford who, in 1970, had just achieved superstardom with BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. That wouldn't have mattered to me yet, though, so I probably watched the final episode of the Hanna-Barbera animated sitcom WHERE'S HUDDLES? instead.

At 8 PM, channel 9 offered what appears to have been a syndicated special of black music starring BB King and Sly and the Family Stone. Once again, my tastes had not yet reached that level. I probably tuned out for a while and let my parents watch whatever.

At 8:30, my choice would have been between ROOM 222 and THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES. In its 8th season I believe by that point, the TV GUIDE didn't even bother to list the show's whole title--just...HILLBILLIES.

Not to be one-upped by rival evangelist Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, at the time a favorite of my friend Doug and his family, cut off network programming on Channel 12 at 9. Specifically, an episode of THE EVERLY BROTHERS variety series.

Broadway Diva Carol Channing had a musical comedy network special on NBC featuring an unlikely guest list that included Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir John Gielgud, Art Carney and MY THREE SONS' Fred MacMurray. I'd be willing to bet, though, that we opted for the rerun of Chad Everett's MEDICAL CENTER that featured the acting debut of football star and future infamous celebrity OJ Simpson.

At 10 PM, President Nixon interrupted everything on every channel (as he often did!) with a brief message on behalf of "The United Community Fund."The only ting not affected was NET which presented a controversial documentary, HOMOSEXUALITY IN MEN AND WOMEN.

Still, Nixon was gone by 10:05 and we were left with the choice of HAWAII 5-0, The Americas Cup boat races or, from ABC, a rerun of the CBS episode of THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR that had aired during the 1968 musicians strike. George harrison, Donovan and Jennifer Warnes (Warren then) appear along with Howard Hesseman's comedy group, The Committee. That would probably have been what we watched as we weren't boating enthusiasts and didn't normally catch  Jack Lord's now-classic (and revived) cop show.

Off to bed for me, missing the late night talk show guests Joel Grey, Bernadette Peters (whom I didn't even hear of until a couple of years later), George Maharis, Totie Fields, Karen Valentine and Mickey Rooney.

Had I been aware of how cool it was, I might have begged to stay up to catch the great Clifton Webb in his signature role in MISTER BELVEDERE RINGS THE BELL. As it is, it would be another dozen years before I discovered Webb.