The Island of the Misfit Blog

"Forgotten again." (Dubious or questionable blogs may be blocked.)

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Anne Celeste Heche (May 25, 1969 - August 11, 2022) 

Rest in Peace

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From January 31, 1975:

Same Old Same Old

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Lawrence Samuel Storch (January 8, 1923 - July 8, 2022)

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Calvin and Hobbes

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A Tale of Two TV Channels 

When it came to watching Star Trek on TV in the 1970s, I had only two opportunities to see it during a given week: Saturday evenings at 6:30 p.m. on WKBN, Youngstown, and weekdays at 4:00 p.m. on WIIC, Pittsburgh (now WPXI). I rarely saw a complete episode because my father controlled the TV set, and this was always the case on Saturdays when I could only watch Star Trek for half an hour before it was mandatory to turn the dial to Hee Haw at 7:00 on WIIC. As for weekdays, any attempt to see Star Trek on WIIC was random as it was often “pre-empted” by The Money Movie on WKBN, which ran from 4-6 p.m. However, those setbacks never dampened my love for Star Trek. (Star Trek: The Next Generation was another story; “Encounter at Farpoint” wasn’t the best way to introduce the series, and I first saw it on... WKBN.) 

Watch a rare Star Trek promo from WIIC here.

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Come On Down the Yellow Brick Road! 

Johnny Olson hams it up as Elton John (sort of) for a showcase in an episode of The Price Is Right from February 2, 1976. (Johnny’s “Elton moment” begins at the 55:50 mark.)

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SPLAT! 

From 1983: Mills Watson in a promo for The BJ/Lobo Show, a syndication package from Universal Television that combined BJ and the Bear with The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (aka Lobo).

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Forgotten PBS: Frontline

In the premiere episode of the long-running documentary series, the National Football League’s connections to illegal gambling and the Mafia are investigated in An Unauthorized History of the NFL, broadcast thirteen days before Super Bowl XVII on January 17, 1983. Host Jessica Savitch (the first of two for Frontline) is also credited as a co-writer and contributed reporting to the story, including an interview with NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle. Watch it here. (WARNING: As Savitch says in the introduction, “There is one graphic sequence.”)

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“...the news station” 

Here’s a near-complete edition of 11 Newswatch from WIIC, Pittsburgh, for Friday, March 7, 1975, with anchors Bob Cochran and Eleanor Schano (pictured). Featured stories for the day include the latest US unemployment rate (8.2%) and “rent strikers at the Liberty Park Project out in East Liberty.” As for the weather forecast, it will be a cold one for early March.

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“What are we drinking, milords?” 

According to announcer Casey Kasem, the answer to Sir Greg Brady’s (Barry Williams) question in this medieval-themed Shasta commercial from 1977 is “Orange soda, just one of fourteen great Shasta flavors!” (As of 2022, they have thirty-two.)

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The $10 Rug on His Head Is Not Included 

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Jack Wild: Only Here for the Beer

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Sundaes With Dana and Dee 

This 1978 commercial for McDonald’s sundaes offers viewers a glimpse of two Hollywood stars before they hit it big. First, Dana Plato is seen enjoying a sundae with caramel sauce after another day at school is over (note the books on the table). Then, Dee Wallace is a mother watching her baby boy take a bite out of a sundae with chocolate sauce, possibly his first-ever sundae.

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Sticker Fun? 

I remember my mother giving me this 1973 Underdog Sticker Fun book when I was five. Most of the fun was gone after I put the stickers in their proper places, and it further plummeted when I attempted to color the pages with my underdeveloped crayon-holding skills. In particular, I love the cover because whoever painted it colored Underdog correctly. (He is NOT yellow or white.)

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Going-Out-Of-Business Sale 

On March 24, 1989, the last episode of the NBC game show Sale of the Century aired. This video features a rare recording of the original broadcast of the series finale, including the commercials. (Pictured: Sale hostess Summer Bartholomew.)

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Young Guy Christian (1979) 

I saw this failed TV pilot back in the day, which aired on Thursday, May 24, 1979, after Mork & Mindy. (ABC pre-empted Angie for it, the bastards.) Barry Bostwick plays the title character, a “run-of-the-mill billionaire playboy” who is also a spy. Beyond that, except for having Pat Morita and Shelley Long (pre-Diane Chambers) in the cast, the story adds nothing new to the spy spoof genre, including few laughs. In particular, fans of Long, Morita, and Bostwick will want to give it a look and then forget about it.

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“Do I have the right ... to hotwire the TARDIS?”