"Another Network"

[Stanislav]

You older guys may remember that in the days when the "Big Three" predominated the U.S. airwaves, it was forbidden to even mention a competitor's network on a talk or variety show. That is why, for example, you might have heard a Carson or other host say that a guest's new show "premieres this Thursday at 9 pm on 'another network.'" I wonder, was this taboo set in stone (contractually) or just a time-honored convention? And when did the mentioning of the competition's acronym cease to be verboten?

 

[bpatrick]

Right offhand, I can't answer any of your questions but
I do know that Jerry Lewis, on his two-hour Saturday-night
variety/talk show on ABC in 1963, once spent in the neighborhood
of a half-hour ranting on this very subject (a good example--of
many--of why his show tanked in thirteen weeks).

 

[MHB]

Don't know the answer, either, but I remember a game show host in the 1970s saying that they could give "two of the three" bits of information (e.g. "Saturday nights at 9" or "Saturday nights on CBS").

 

[genius]

The best answe I can think of would be the 90s. I know when Search For Tomorrow went from CBS to NBC they weren't allowed to say NBC, just "find us in your local listings". As it turned out, they didn't.

 

[easttxtv]

The best answe I can think of would be the 90s. I know when Search For Tomorrow went from CBS to NBC they weren't allowed to say NBC, just "find us in your local listings". As it turned out, they didn't.

It didn't help that NBC put Search up against Young and the Restless (which pretty much mowed down anything NBC tried to put in that hour, soap or otherwise).

 

[LKellerIII]

It was probably a written network policy (at least at NBC) to say your guests show was "Thursday night on another network" - but after awhile the hosts would play around with it..."on another network that starts with the letter C" - or whatever. After that, the rule just seemed silly. And what could the networks possibly do to punish a big time host like Johnny Carson - give him a day off without pay?

 

[bk77]

The best answe I can think of would be the 90s. I know when Search For Tomorrow went from CBS to NBC they weren't allowed to say NBC, just "find us in your local listings". As it turned out, they didn't.

Same thing back in 82 when TAXI left ABC for NBC. When that happened, NBC was airing promos that said "same time, better network" and/or "same time. better station".

The rule about can't mentioning another network, well there were exceptions. Those Battle of the Network stars specials were one.

I guess this policy was strictly on the network level since I can recall back in the 70s and 80s when there were a few local stations that not only did mention the competiton on air ( network and the other station ) but sometimes even bashed them on air as well.

When Jessica Savitch did that infamous newsbreak in 83, I seem to recall hearing about some local station was going to actually bring this incident in one of their news promos. Something like "...if Jessica Savitch worked for us and did to us what she did on NBC then we would fire her. You don't need trash !!".

I am sure Savitch's death not long after that newscast put a stop to those plans.

 

[Stanislav]

Same thing back in 82 when TAXI left ABC for NBC. When that happened, NBC was airing promos that said "same time, better network" and/or "same time. better station".

And yet, I remember a cute promo they did that showed a shot of the garage with two legs protuding from under a cab. The announcer asks viewers to watch "Taxi" this fall on NBC. The legs move, and Latka emerges to ask the announcer, "Not...A...B...C?" No, says the announcer, NBC. "Oh. Tenk you veddy much" and he goes back under the cab.

When Jessica Savitch did that infamous newsbreak in 83, I seem to recall hearing about some local station was going to actually bring this incident in one of their news promos. Something like "...if Jessica Savitch worked for us and did to us what she did on NBC then we would fire her. You don't need trash !!".

I am sure Savitch's death not long after that newscast put a stop to those plans.

Or, more likely, even before her death, the station's lawyers said, "Um.....n-n-n-n-o-o-o-o."

 

[Corky Marlowe]

I do remember "another network" being used commonly on Carson...As far as being able to mention other networks, Letterman used to have a running bit in the NBC days called "What's On Other Channels", with the Paul Shaffer-sung theme song that began, "There's CBS, and ABC, and a little thing called Fox", so by the late 80's, maybe it was OK.

 

[azumanga]

As far as being able to mention other networks, Letterman used to have a running bit in the NBC days called "What's On Other Channels", with the Paul Shaffer-sung theme song that began, "There's CBS, and ABC, and a little thing called Fox", so by the late 80's, maybe it was OK.

But were they fake shows that were used for the comedy bit, or were they real programs? Fake titles of TV shows may be one thing, but actual shows might be another.

 

[ShawnHill1]

I can think of a couple of examples...

Back in the day, the then-World Wrestling Federation would never mention (even so now, to a certain extent) the name of whatever network was carrying one of their shows or shows featuring one of their personalities. Big example was whenever you watched one of their syndicated shows (Wrestling Challenge or Superstars of Wrestling), and an upcoming episode of Saturday Night's Main Event was to air, they never mention it being on NBC, but either "National Television" or "Check Your Local Listings".

Also, on the original nighttime Family Feud with Richard Dawson, they made sure never to really mention the daytime version and referencing ABC. This was probably due to the fact that this version of Feud was under the standards and practices of NBC, since their O&Os and several affiliates carried the show.

 

[Markxxx]

As I've said on other thread Lucille Ball said the CBS censors always killed any references to other other non-CBS shows. She said even Elizabeth Taylor's line of "Very interesting" was cut, (she said it like Artie Johnson of "Laugh-In.")

I recall reading in newspapers how "Seinfeld" was so unique because Kramer went to Hollywood and got a part on "Murphy Brown" NOT an NBC series. And Candice Bergen was even shown as Murphy on "Seinfeld."

 

[Stanislav]

As I've said on other thread Lucille Ball said the CBS censors always killed any references to other other non-CBS shows. She said even Elizabeth Taylor's line of "Very interesting" was cut, (she said it like Artie Johnson of "Laugh-In.")

Interesting, as Johnson's "German soldier" character would often appear in the extended "good night" clips at the end of the show and say goodnight to Lucy (whose show was on opposite "Laugh-In").

 

[mleach]

Back in the late 70s, Baltimore's then CBS affiliate WMAR channel 2 ran a promo that opened up with the question, what station do Baltimore viewers watch more often?

It started showing the logs for both NBC and WBAL's, only to have them being x'ed out with the announcer saying "NOOOOOOOO" !!. Then came the logo for both WJZ and ABC. Same thing "NOOOOOOOO"!!

Then finally the CBS logo and WMAR's. "WHY YESSSSSS" !!!!

Even though WMAR may have very well been the most watched station in that city at the time, the promo I think only aired a few times. Not sure why that promo didn't last, my guess is that WJZ and WBAL ( maybe even NBC and ABC ) had a hand in that.

 

[mleach]

Same thing back in

When Jessica Savitch did that infamous newsbreak in 83, I seem to recall hearing about some local station was going to actually bring this incident in one of their news promos. Something like "...if Jessica Savitch worked for us and did to us what she did on NBC then we would fire her. You don't need trash !!".

I am sure Savitch's death not long after that newscast put a stop to those plans.

Or, more likely, even before her death, the station's lawyers said, "Um.....n-n-n-n-o-o-o-o."

Even more likely, I bet whoever wanted to do such a promo got "cold feet" and even had Savitch lived, I highly doubt this would ever seen the light. Imagine the backlash from viewers. Calling your competition "trash" isn't exactly a smart thing to do. However from a legal standpoint, I doubt there would be anything Savitch or NBC could have done to stop it. Actually the result may had ended up being in Savitch's ( and NBC's ) favor.

 

[overalls]

I remember a 1985 episode of "The $25,000 Pyramid" (which was on CBS then) where celebrity guest Richard Moll was plugging "Night Court" and said "Thursday Nights. 9:30. Let's All Be There.". Dick Clark quickly told him that he's not supposed to mention that slogan on a CBS program.

 

[johnnya2k6]

I seem to remember a 1996 ABC promo which said, "This fall, ABC wants you to watch FOX!" Of course, they would refer to Michael J. Fox starring in "Spin City."

Jonathan Allen

 

[Tim L]

I have several tapes of the Ford Motor Company sponsored Tennessee Ernie Ford NBC Show (Thursday nights, 9:30 PM) Ford Sponsored another show during the week.. After the Ford Show credits, the announcer invited you to watch a certain show "On another network"

OT:some of the episodes I have feature the "Peanuts" Characters in animated form at the opening of the show and doing Ford Car commercials. This would be about 1960-61 or so..Five years before a "Charlie Brown Christmas"

 

[Stanislav]

Even more likely, I bet whoever wanted to do such a promo got "cold feet" and even had Savitch lived, I highly doubt this would ever seen the light. Imagine the backlash from viewers. Calling your competition "trash" isn't exactly a smart thing to do. However from a legal standpoint, I doubt there would be anything Savitch or NBC could have done to stop it. Actually the result may had ended up being in Savitch's ( and NBC's ) favor.

I disagree. To use that footage without permission would be inviting legal action, especially such a notorious clip. Even if the local station were an NBC affiliate and had general permission to use network footage for their promos, why would they want to diss their own network? NBC was VERY upset about that incident, and they quickly "impounded" the tape and expunged it from the archives. Of course, anyone who happened to be taping NBC that night (or unofficially taping the live feed in-house at NBC) would have it, and it eventually did see the light of day. (I only recently saw it for the first time when someone posted an edited version to their blog.)

There's another Savitch moment I'd love to see. When she was a local Philly anchor (forget whether she was at KYW or WCAU -- one of the two) one day during a local newscast she went ballistic during a break over some technical faux pas. Supposedly the in-house tape shows her ranting and raving like a madwoman until the moment when they did a brief live "bump" between commercials (showing the news set with the anchors). With flawless timing, she cut her rant off a second before they went live, suddenly looking serious and studious as she perused her script. The second the red light went off, she switched gears and went right back into bitch mode, picking up her tirade where she had left off. Someone at the station later set the clip to music -- Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" -- and the music perfectly complimented the action, with the raucous brass and kettle drum bombast subsiding to a calm, quiet passage during the bump, then picking up again when she resumed her rant. ;D

 

[bpatrick]

Back in the late 70s, Baltimore's then CBS affiliate WMAR channel 2 ran a promo that opened up with the question, what station do Baltimore viewers watch more often?

It started showing the logs for both NBC and WBAL's, only to have them being x'ed out with the announcer saying "NOOOOOOOO" !!. Then came the logo for both WJZ and ABC. Same thing "NOOOOOOOO"!!

Then finally the CBS logo and WMAR's. "WHY YESSSSSS" !!!!

Even though WMAR may have very well been the most watched station in that city at the time, the promo I think only aired a few times. Not sure why that promo didn't last, my guess is that WJZ and WBAL ( maybe even NBC and ABC ) had a hand in that.

WMAR may have been the most-watched station in Baltimore, but it didn't keep CBS from moving to WBAL in 1981 (WMAR's frequent pre-emptions of CBS programs in favor of Orioles games probably didn't help).