Retro: Eastern Virginia Saturday, December 19, 1970

[bpatrick]

From TV Guide, Eastern Virginia Edition:

WTAR (WTKR) Ch. 3 Norfolk (CBS)

6:30 Sunrise Semester: "Renaissance Art"
7 AM Flibbertigibbet
8 AM Bugs Bunny/Road Runner
9 AM Sabrina And The Groovie Goolies
10 AM Josie And The Pussycats
10:30 Harlem Globetrotters (animated)
11 AM Archie's Funhouse
12 N Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
12:30 Monkees
1 PM Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech-Texas Tech
(from El Paso)
4 PM NFL Game Of The Week (time approximate)
4:30 This Week In The NFL
5:30 Call Of The West (selected "Death Valley Days"
reruns)
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 CBS News (Roger Mudd)
7 PM Dick Van Dyke (the original--his series where he
played Phoenix talk-show host Dick Preston would
debut on Saturday nights in fall 1971)
7:30 Mission: Impossible
8:30 My Three Sons
9 PM Arnie (Herschel Bernardi)
9:30 Mary Tyler Moore
10 PM Mannix
11 PM News, Weather, Sports
11:30 Tackle Box (fishing--and if you know where Norfolk
is and the coverage area of Ch. 3, you'll know that
this show was a perfect fit for the market)
11:40 Movie: "To Kill A Mockingbird"

WSVA (WHSV) Ch. 3 Harrisonburg (NBC/ABC)

8 AM Reluctant Dragon And Mr. Toad
8:30 Motor Mouse
9 AM Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
10 AM Will The Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?
10:30 Here Come The Doubledeckers
11 AM Hot Wheels
11:30 Sky Hawks
12 N Hardy Boys (animated)
12:30 American Bandstand (a Christmas show with
Jose Feliciano and the Brady kids)
1:30 Something Else (John Hartford in Nashville with
Conway Twitty, Doug Kershaw, and Earl Scruggs)
2 PM Silent Service
2:30 The Messiah
3 PM NFL Football: Jets-Baltimore Colts
6 PM Wide World Of Sports (time approximate, joined in
progress): figure-skating exhibition and International
Toboggan Championships
6:30 Christmas Special (Jimmy Wakely, Johnny Tillotson, Homer
and Jethro, Norma Jean--Dolly Parton's predecessor on
Porter Wagoner's show--and the Johnson Sisters)
7:30 Let's Make A Deal
8 PM Newlywed Game
8:30 Lawrence Welk (the Music Makers' kids and grandkids
join in for a Christmas show)
9:30 The Most Deadly Game
10:30 Movie: "Glory Alley"

WTVR Ch. 6 Richmond (CBS)

6 AM Wonderama
8 AM Bugs Bunny/Road Runner
9 AM Sabrina And The Groovie Goolies
10 AM Josie And The Pussycats
10:30 Harlem Globetrotters
11 AM Archie's Funhouse
12 N Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
12:30 Monkees
1 PM Sun Bowl
4 PM Outdoors With Jim Thomas (time approximate)
4:30 Something Else
5 PM Wrestling (I think this is the show taped at
WRAL Raleigh)
6 PM Death Valley Days
6:30 CBS News
7 PM News, Weather, Sports
7:30 Mission: Impossible
8:30 My Three Sons
9 PM Arnie
9:30 Mary Tyler Moore
10 PM Mannix
11 PM News, Weather, Sports
11:30 Movie: "Tammy And The Bachelor"
1 AM Movie: "Invisible Creature"

WXEX (WRIC) Ch. 8 Petersburg-Richmond (ABC)

7 AM Town And Country
7:30 Fort Lee Hi-Lites
7:45 College Round-Up
8 AM Reluctant Dragon And Mr. Toad
8:30 Motor Mouse
9 AM Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
10 AM Will The Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?
10:30 Here Come The Doubledeckers
11 AM Hot Wheels
11:30 Sky Hawks
12 N Hardy Boys
12:30 American Bandstand
1:30 Country Hayride
2:30 Movie: "Special Correspondent"
4 PM Navy Christmas (Jonathan Winters hosts a
Christmas party for the children of Navy
personnel; the kids get to speak with their
fathers serving overseas.)
4:30 The Killy Challenge (repeat of a show that
aired on CBS the previous March)
5 PM Wide World Of Sports
6:30 That Good Ole Nashville Music
7 PM Wilburn Brothers
7:30 Let's Make A Deal
8 PM Newlywed Game
8:30 Lawrence Welk
9:30 The Most Deadly Game
10:30 Dan August (delay from Wed 10 PM)
11:30 Movie: "Son Of Jesse James"
1:15 ABC News (anchor not given)

WAVY Ch. 10 Norfolk (NBC)

6:30 Farm Show
7 AM World Tomorrow
7:30 Saturday Party
8 AM Heckle And Jeckle
8:30 Woody Woodpecker
9 AM Tomfoolery
9:30 Bugaloos
10 AM Further Adventures Of Dr. Dolittle
10:30 Pink Panther
11 AM H.R. Pufnstuf
11:30 Here Comes The Grump
12 N Hot Dog
12:30 Jambo
1 PM Saturday Party
1:30 Wild Kingdom (delay from Sun 7 PM)
2 PM Eyewitness Report
2:30 That Good Ole Nashville Music
3 PM NFL Football: Jets-Baltimore Colts
6 PM News, Weather, Sports (time approximate)
6:30 Wrestling (I know this was from Raleigh)
7:30 Andy Williams (Bob Keeshan and John Astin
join Andy's Christmas show)
8:30 Adam-12
9 PM NBC Movie: "The Love God?" (Don Knotts in
an unusual role, the front for a porno publisher)
11 PM News, Weather, Sports
11:30 Greatest Fights
11:45 Hugh Hefner (Playboy After Dark--guests include
Tommy Smothers, Louis Nye, and Alan Sues--frankly,
I'm surprised this show ever aired in Pat Robertson country)
1:45 News, Weather, Sports

WWBT Ch. 12 Richmond (NBC)

7 AM Cartoon Carnival
8 AM Heckle And Jeckle
8:30 Woody Woodpecker
9 AM Tomfoolery
9:30 Bugaloos
10 AM Further Adventures Of Dr. Dolittle
10:30 Pink Panther
11 AM H.R. Pufnstuf
11:30 Here Comes The Grump
12 N Hot Dog
12:30 Movie: "Odongo"
2 PM Roller Derby
3 PM NFL Football: Jets-Baltimore Colts (it just
occurred to me that this is a rematch of
Super Bowl III--when the Jets surprised
everyone except Joe Namath by winning 16-7)
6 PM Bill Anderson (time approximate)
6:30 NBC News (anchor not given)
7 PM Petticoat Junction
7:30 Andy Williams
8:30 Adam-12
9 PM Movie: "The Bramble Bush" (I don't know if
Ch. 12 normally pre-empted NBC's Saturday movie,
or if management had issues with that week's network
feature.)
11 PM Movie: "Miracle On 34th Street"

WVEC Ch. 13 Norfolk (ABC)

7 AM Golden Years
7:30 Comedy Time
8 AM Reluctant Dragon And Mr. Toad
8:30 Motor Mouse
9 AM Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
10 AM Will The Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?
10:30 Here Come The Doubledeckers
11 AM Hot Wheels
11:30 Sky Hawks
12 N Hardy Boys
12:30 American Bandstand
1:30 Ensign O'Toole (WVEC seemed to vie with WBRC
Birmingham to see which could find the oldest
programs.)
2 PM Supernational Drag Races
4 PM Film
4:15 Film
4:30 Killy Challenge
5 PM Wide World Of Sports
6:30 Hawaiian Eye
7:30 Let's Make A Deal
8 PM Newlywed Game
8:30 Lawrence Welk
9:30 The Most Deadly Game
10:30 Movie: "Holiday Inn"
12:30 ABC News
12:45 News, Sports, Weather

For some reason, WHRO/15 Norfolk is not listed in that
week's issue at all. It may have been down for technical
reasons.

WCVE Ch. 23 Richmond (PBS)

7:30 College Basketball: University of Akron-Virginia
Commonwealth
sign off after the game

WYAH (WGNT) Ch. 27 Portsmouth (Ind.)
(somebody correct me on the current calls)

5 PM Treehouse Club
5:30 Jim And Tammy
6:30 Jubilee
7 PM Christmas Music: Cradock High School,
Chesapeake, VA
8 PM The Deaf Hear
8:30 The Ministers
9 PM Call To Obedience
9:30 Tomorrow's Lesson
10 PM Film

 

[mleach]

WAVY Ch. 10 Norfolk (NBC)

11:45 Hugh Hefner (Playboy After Dark--guests include
Tommy Smothers, Louis Nye, and Alan Sues--frankly,
I'm surprised this show ever aired in Pat Robertson country)

Why would Hugh and his bunnies be "taboo" in Hampton Roads? After all in 1970 Norfolk and Virginia Beach had more of their fair share of adult book stores & theatres and topless bars just like most of major cities had at the time, well after all Norfolk is a Navy town ;D . But as far Pat Robertson goes in 1970 he was well into his own TV station WYAH to really care about what had aired on WAVY, WTAR or WVEC or what was heard on WGH or WNOR radio in those days, actually it wouldn't surprise me if Pat even at this point had ever watched WAVY in the first place much less checking out the rock sounds over WGH.

Now..had Pat Robertson NOT own WYAH at the time of these listings......

 

[bpatrick]

I lived in Virginia Beach from 1966-68 and while I don't
know that Pat had the clout then that he later did, he
had a following; our preacher used to chastise the congregation
for giving to "The 700 Club" instead of our church; I also know
that (a) Norfolk was, at one time, a pretty wide-open town re
prostitution, and (b) Hugh Hefner's show wasn't carried anywhere
else in the South except Atlanta (unless some Florida markets ran
it and I don't know about it).

I just somehow suspect that Pat would have raised a ruckus if he
had been aware of Hef's show being on; somehow I can imagine him
castigating WAVY's management on "The 700 Club," although apparently
he didn't (and Hefner was off the air before Pat got his Atlanta station on).
But maybe, as you say, he was too busy with Ch. 27 in 1970 to notice.
(I also think that the show WAVY carried late Saturday nights when I lived
there, Joe Pyne, would have been a hit with Pat.)

 

[mleach]

Hugh Hefner's show wasn't carried anywhere
else in the South except Atlanta (unless some Florida markets ran
it and I don't know about it).

I wonder if the then-strict anti-porn laws that existed in the south had played a part as to why outside of Atlanta & Norfolk for the lack of "Playboy After Dark"? And oddly some of those "laws" still exist today as Seth Rogen had found out when he wanted to shoot his film "Observe & Report" at a mall in Alabama only the find out he couldn't use the "F" word in the movie unless he wanted to be fined by Alabama for each use of that...word thanks to some law that was still on the books there/was. Seth ended up taking his business to New Mexico instead. When I saw this on IMDB..I was like "WTF..sorry bout that.

 

[bpatrick]

I don't know if "anti-porn" laws had anything to do with it;
Southern stations were pretty conservative, however. But
to show how times changed, ten years later Benny Hill was
getting clearances all over the South at 11 PM or later (I
worked for an ABC affiliate that carried him on Saturday nights
at 11:30) with little or no negative reaction. And despite a
few pre-emptions of "Saturday Night Live" in the beginning
(Chattanooga and Greenville, SC come to mind) it, too, was
running nearly everywhere in the South by the end of the '70s.

 

[Markd]

WYAH still seemed to be nearly all religious and was only on the air about 8 hours a day even in 1970. I know by 1974, that this station was on by 6:30 AM daily and off the air like at 2 AM. By 1974, they had shows like The Flintstones, Little Rascals, Popeye, Casper, Leave It To Beaver, Munsters, Star Trek, Dennis The menace, father Knows Best, and others. I wonder what their schedules were in 1971, 1972, and 1973? Would love to see some of those

 

[bpatrick]

WYAH still seemed to be nearly all religious and was only on the air about 8 hours a day even in 1970. I know by 1974, that this station was on by 6:30 AM daily and off the air like at 2 AM. By 1974, they had shows like The Flintstones, Little Rascals, Popeye, Casper, Leave It To Beaver, Munsters, Star Trek, Dennis The menace, father Knows Best, and others. I wonder what their schedules were in 1971, 1972, and 1973? Would love to see some of those

Right now I don't have anything later than March 1971 but hope to get my hands on some later ones after the holidays. You can, however, look at some of my Atlanta schedule postings from 1973 on and see how Robertson was increasingly mainstreaming his programming as the '70s progressed; I remember in 1976 I wouldn't go to bed until I'd seen Groucho and the Honeymooners every night, and I'm no particular fan of Robertson or his view of the world--I just like Groucho and Gleason (and Art Carney) and didn't care what Atlanta station they were on.

Back to Hugh Hefner's show for a minute, I don't think "porn laws" were an issue; since I never saw the show I can only assume that the combination of Hefner's name, Playboy magazine, and Playboy bunnies might have scared away more conservative stations, although from the looks of his guest list it doesn't look any raunchier than Johnny Carson might have had. I'm sure there were no nude centerfolds. And I notice that no one mentions Ch. 12 in Richmond pre-empting "The Love God?" on the same night; it's a rarity for Don Knotts, a satire of the porno industry that was his first movie not to get a "G" rating.

It's also notable that Hefner had already tried this about ten years earlier with a show called "Playboy's Penthouse," which wasn't much more successful.

 

[mleach]

Back to Hugh Hefner's show for a minute, I don't think "porn laws" were an issue; since I never saw the show I can only assume that the combination of Hefner's name, Playboy magazine, and Playboy bunnies might have scared away more conservative stations, although from the looks of his guest list it doesn't look any raunchier than Johnny Carson might have had. I'm sure there were no nude centerfolds.

It's also notable that Hefner had already tried this about ten years earlier with a show called "Playboy's Penthouse," which wasn't much more successful.

I have seen clips of Playboy After Dark on You Tube. Actually the show had more in common with those famous Playboy Clubs than the magazine itself. Pretty much a cocktail party of the average Joes mixing with the famous and lots of women in their bunny gear. Miami and New Orleans had Playboy Clubs, I would imagine Playboy After Dark would had aired there.

I am curious to know if Playboy After Dark had aired in Denver considering what happened at that city's infamous Playboy Club. The Denver Playboy Club was a very popular hangout of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate's. In the summer of 1969 two "bunnies" had died at the club as a result of an LSD overdose, then came Sharon's murder...all of this made Hugh Hefner to suddenly close down the Denver Playboy Club and the story I heard was that Hef didn't want his show to be seen in Denver either. Wonder if he got his wish?