Retro: "She-cogger," July 16, 1974

[Mike Stroud]

NOTE: This is the first of a (hopefully) marathon series of retros as a make-up to you all during this Christmas season, for what I didn't do in the past year or so. I'm going to try my darndest to get around to as many parts of the country as I have in my TVG collection. Keep a lookout for maybe your area. Here goes:

Programs for Tuesday, July 16, 1974

Chicago, Illinois:
(2) WBBM (CBS; now digital 12; PSIP 2)
(5) WMAQ (NBC; now digital 29; PSIP 5)
(7) WLS (ABC; now digital 44; PSIP 7)
(9) WGN (Independent--now CW affiliate and "superstation"; now digital 19; PSIP 9)
(11) WTTW (PBS; now digital 47; PSIP 11)
(20) WXXW (Independent--as listed in TVG; however, station info uncertain; according to some sources, station was affiliated with PBS, but on different license from the later WYCC, which took over channel 20 in 1983)
(26) WCIU (Independent; now digital 27; PSIP 26--NOTE: all programs broadcast in B&W)
(32) WFLD (Independent--now FOX O&O; now digital 31; PSIP 32)
(44) WSNS (Independent--now Telemundo O&O; now digital 45; PSIP 44)

MORNING
5:50 a.m.
(2) WBBM News
(9) WGN News

6:00
(2) Summer Semester--"The American Presidency: The Men and the Office" (quite a timely topic given what was going on in the White House)
(5) Knowledge--probably adult education

6:05
(9) Romper Room--first of almost a morning full of in-house WGN children's productions

6:30
(2) It's Worth Knowing (is it really?--!!)
(5) Town and Farm--probably local ag show
(7) Perspectives--almost certainly local public affairs

6:35
(5) Today in Chicago
(9) Top O' The Morning--probably local morning show (for adults)

6:55
(7) Earl Nightingale--motivational speaker's daily syndie feature

7:00
(2) CBS Morning News--Hughes Rudd, anchor
(5) Today Show--Jim Hartz, Barbara Walters
(7) Kennedy and Company--local morning show; later became "AM Chicago"
(9) Ray Rayner--one part of the great triumvirate of WGN kiddie shows back in the day; Rayner was something of a local Captain Kangaroo, with live animals, puppets and demonstrations of arts and crafts, all interspersed with Looney Tunes shorts; Rayner went back to 1953 in Chicago TV and the WGN show ran from 1962 to 1981

8:00
(2) Captain Kangaroo--not to be outdone by Rayner, the good Captain featured Persian kittens and a peahen on this day
(9) Garfield Goose and Friends--the second part of the trio was this long-running puppet show, helmed by WGN stalwart Frazier Thomas; Thomas and a bevy of puppets bantered about both fantasy and moral lessons for 21 years, 1955 to 1976; like the Rayner show, there were educational components at times

8:30
(7) Movie--"The Nun's Story," 1959
(9) BJ and Dirty Dragon--unlike its two predecessors on the schedule, this kids' offering was NOT a WGN original; puppeteer Bill Jackson began the show on WFLD in 1968 under the title "Cartoon Town;" it moved to WGN in 1973 for just a one-year run; in 1975, it resurfaced on WLS as a Sunday morning entry titled "Gigglesnort Hotel" that ran until 1978
(11) Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

9:00
(2) Joker's Wild--Jack Barry hosted and packaged this game, where "knowledge is king and lady luck is queen"
(5) Dinah's Place--country singer Mel Tillis, guest
(9) Hazel--rerun of 1961-66 sitcom
(11) Sesame Street
(26) Market Reports, News--probably stock ticker and wire service (would be curious to know how displayed on screen--any idea, anybody?)

9:30
(2) Gambit--Wink Martindale presiding over what then was probably the closest thing to real gambling on the boob tube
(5) Winning Streak--critics believe this was one of the worst daytime games NBC ever aired, despite Bill Cullen hosting
(9) Bewitched

10:00
(2) Now You See It--Goodson-Todman game based on the "Find-a-Word" puzzles; Jack Narz, host
(5) High Rollers--and, no, this wasn't a game show about marijuana (!!!)
(9) Phil Donahue (methinks he had already moved operations to WGN by then--anybody got info on that?)
(11) Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
(26) Market Reports, News (continued)
(32) Jack LaLanne Show

10:30
(2) Love of Life--one of the few soap operas that ran for any appreciable length of time in a morning slot; this did from 1969 to 1979
(5) Hollywood Squares
(7) Brady Bunch--ABC rerun
(11) Electric Company
(26) Ask An Expert--possibly call-in show (?)
(32) Newstalk--probably local public affairs
(44) 700 Club--Pat Robertson already at it, building his future empire

10:55
(2) CBS News--Douglas Edwards, anchor

11:00
(2) Young and the Restless--Chicago and WBBM connection: creator William J. Bell's wife was Lee Phillip, who hosted WBBM's noontime show (below); Phillip was also a co-creator of Y&R, as well
(5) Jackpot!--strangely, a Canadian version of this show over a decade later would prove the most successful version of this game; that was seen in the U.S. on the USA Network and was hosted by Mike Darow
(7) Password
(9) Dealer's Choice--the first game ever taped in Las Vegas, at a casino
(11) Yoga for Health
(26) Market Reports, News (resumed)
(32) New Zoo Revue

11:30
(2) Search for Tomorrow
(5) Celebrity Sweepstakes--cheap knockoff of "Hollywood Squares;" odds were the main gimmick on this game
(7) Split Second--one of the most fondly remembered daytime games of the 1970s; hard--and fast--quiz
(9) I Love Lucy
(32) Cartoon Circus--probably local, maybe with a host (?)

11:55
(5) NBC News--Edwin Newman, anchor

AFTERNOON
12:00
(2) Lee Phillip--as mentioned above, Phillip was a long-tenured daytime host, usually with one guest and topic per show; ran from 1952 to 1986
(5) WMAQ News
(7) All My Children (it is truly hard to wrap one's mind around the fact that this show, like some other soaps listed here, is now a memory)
(9) Bozo's Circus--and the third and most important part of the WGN triumvirate; the stories are too legendary and numerous to recall here, but Bob Bell dressed up every weekday as the world's most famous clown, with a cast of characters to back him up; the main reason for the show's overwhelming popularity was the fact that the city of Chicago, prior to about 1980, allowed kids to go home for lunch
(26) Market Reports, News (continued)
(32) Tennessee Tuxedo--captivity-themed cartoon from the Sixties that was Don Adams' second-most-famous role
(44) Esmeralda--apparently Venezuelan-produced telenovela, or soap (fitting, given that WSNS in later years would become entirely a Spanish-speaking station, as it is presently)

12:20
(26) Ask An Expert (must be a revolving door of 'em--!!)

12:30
(2) As the World Turns--checking in on the doings in Oakdale
(5) Jeopardy!--NBC throwing a perfectly good game down the drain in this timeslot
(7) Let's Make a Deal
(32) Banana Splits--rerun of 1968-70 live-action kiddie show

12:50
(26) Market Reports, News (resumed)

1:00
(2) Guiding Light
(5) Days of Our Lives
(7) Newlywed Game--eight-year-old game was starting to run out of steam and would be cancelled by year's end
(9) Father Knows Best--probably scheduled because of Robert Young's popularity on "Marcus Welby, M.D."
(11) Masterpiece Theatre--series not given
(26) Market Basket (what would this be about, wonder?)
(32) My Favorite Martian
(44) Galloping Gourmet--no recipe listed, sorry

1:30
(2) Edge of Night
(5) Doctors--probably TV's most-critically-acclaimed daytime drama running then
(7) Girl in My Life--basically an updated "Queen for a Day;" about as tacky as TV got at the time
(9) Movie--"Between Two Women," 1944
(26) Ask An Expert (oh, no, not again ...)
(32) Please Don't Eat the Daisies--rerun of 1965-67 NBC sitcom
(44) Wally's Workshop--the "Wally" was Wally Bruner, former host of "What's My Line?"

2:00
(2) Price is Right--yes, Virginia, "Price" once was only 30 minutes long and was actually seen in the afternoon, believe it or not
(5) Another World
(7) General Hospital
(26) Market Reports, News
(32) Flying Nun--sitcom rerun
(44) Not For Women Only--Barbara Walters

2:30
(2) Match Game
(5) How to Survive a Marriage--soap focused on divorce and widowhood (gotta get those young women to the tube, somehow ...)
(7) One Life to Live
(11) Maggie and the Beautiful Machine--PBS exercise show
(32) Jeff's Collie--reruns of the first three seasons of "Lassie," with Tommy Rettig as Jeff
(44) Movie--"The Love Lottery;" English, 1954

3:00
(2) Tattletales--billed as "the game of celebrity gossip;" actually, a knockoff of "Newlywed Game" more than anything else
(5) Somerset--P&G soap that couldn't find an audience, despite getting a seven-year run on daytime
(7) $10,000 Pyramid
(11) Lilias, Yoga, and You--noted as the only major production ever for PBS from Cincinnati's WCET
(26) Harambee--probably African-American public affairs (WCIU was in those days something of an ethnic station, with numerous local groups having programs aimed at them)
(32) Magilla Gorilla--one of the Hanna-Barbera also-rans

3:30
(2) Movie--"Red Mountain," 1951
(5) Mike Douglas (90-minute version)
(7) Movie--"Diamond Head," 1962
(9) Mister Ed
(11) Sesame Street
(32) Banana Splits

4:00
(9) Flintstones
(32) Munsters

4:30
(9) Cartoons (unspecified)
(11) Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
(26) Soul Train (this was different from the national version; Don Cornelius started on WCIU back in 1970 and then went national a year later; Clinton Ghent took over for him in Chicago)
(32) Little Rascals
(44) Prince Planet--early Japanese anime cartoon from the 1960s; in B&W

4:45
(9) WGN News (15 minutes; Jack Taylor, anchor)

5:00
(2) WBBM News (probably Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson anchoring)
(5) WMAQ News (probably Floyd Kalber at the desk; 60 minutes)
(7) WLS News (probably Joel Daly and Fahey Flynn helming)
(9) Bewitched
(11) Sesame Street
(32) Lucy Show (1962-68 version)
(44) Lafftime--possibly local children's show; hosted by a "Kennedy"

(network news info courtesy of Vanderbilt TV News Archive: http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/)

5:30
(2) CBS Evening News--Walter Cronkite
(7) ABC Evening News--Howard K. Smith (Harry Reasoner off)
(9) Hogan's Heroes
(26) Blacks' View of the News--this may have also aired on public TV; not sure
(32) Beverly Hillbillies
(44) Leave it to Beaver

5:45
(26) Me Rival--probably Spanish-language public affairs

EVENING
6:00
(2) WBBM News (60 minutes)
(5) NBC Nightly News--Garrick Utley (John Chancellor off)
(7) WLS News (60 minutes)
(9) Andy Griffith
(11) Electric Company
(32) Here Come the Brides--rerun of 1968-70 ABC comedy-Western hybrid
(44) F Troop

6:30
(5) Police Surgeon--Canadian-produced syndie crime drama
(9) Major League Baseball: Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves (Jack Brickhouse, Jim West commentators)
(11) Zoom--PBS kids' show with an emphasis on activities
(44) Bilko--apparently, syndicated episodes ran without the word "Sergeant"

6:45
(26) WCIU News

7:00
(2) Maude--rerun of 1973 Christmas episode
(5) Adam-12
(7) Happy Days--just a few months old, and already highly popular
(11) Man Builds, Man Destroys--PBS documentary about the environment (then termed "ecology")
(26) El Mundo de Carlos Agrelo--Spanish-language program
(32) Untouchables--rerun
(44) Country Place--one of the Nashville-based music shows; probably a Show Biz production

7:30
(2) Hawaii Five-O--"book 'em, Danno."
(5) Tenafly--originally part of the "NBC Mystery Movie;" this entry about a black gumshoe was intended as an antidote to "Shaft," then running as a TV series, and the "blaxploitation" films of the era; it didn't fly, though (do pardon the pun, please); James McEachin starred in the title role
(7) Movie--"Linda," 1973 TV-movie
(11) Nova--"Strange Sleep," about anesthesia
(44) Sports Spotlight--local

7:45
(44) On Deck--White Sox pregame show

8:00
(26) La Hora Continental--Spanish-language program
(32) Merv Griffin (90-minute version)
(44) Major League Baseball: Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit Tigers (Harry Caray, Bob Waller commentators)

8:30
(2) Hawkins--one of Jimmy Stewart's failed attempts to make a presence on the small screen
(11) Journey to Japan

9:00
(5) Police Story--anthology collaborated on by David Gerber and Joseph Wambaugh
(7) Marcus Welby, M.D.
(9) Perry Mason (time approximate after baseball, of course)
(11) Cities at War--documentary about World War II
(26) Los Polivoces--Spanish-language program

9:30
(26) Variedades in Espanol
(32) Travel World (syndicated?)

10:00
(2) WBBM News
(5) WMAQ News
(7) WLS News
(9) WGN News--Jack Taylor, anchor
(11) Electric Company--WHAT??? The kids have already gone to bed!!! (Boy, I would have loved to be in on WTTW scheduling meetings to find out how they came up with that one!)
(26) WCIU News
(32) Night Gallery--"Dark Boy"

10:30
(2) Movie--"Wind Across the Everglades," 1958
(5) Tonight Show--Jerry Van Dyke, guest
(7) Wide World Mystery--"The Next Scream You Hear"
(9) Movie--"Brute Force," 1947
(11) Movie--"Smiles of a Summer Night;" Swedish, 1955 (Ingmar Bergman)
(26) El Honorable Senor Valdez (in English, "The Honorable Mister Valdez"--!)
(32) Thriller--rerun of 1960-62 Boris Karloff anthology

11:00
(44) 700 Club

12:00 a.m.
(5) Tomorrow--topic, "Political conservatism in the U.S."
(7) Kennedy at Night--local talk show

12:20
(2) Bill Cosby--rerun of his 1969-71 NBC sitcom

12:25
(9) WGN News

12:30
(7) Passage to Adventure--probably travelogue

12:50
(2) WBBM News

12:55
(9) Movie--"Fantomas;" French, 1964

1:00
(5) This is the Life--syndie religious drama

1:05
(2) Movie--"Roger Tuohy, Gangster," 1944

2:35
(2) Movie--"The Great Sinner," 1949

 

[azumanga]

4:30
(26) Soul Train (this was different from the national version; Don Cornelius started on WCIU back in 1970 and then went national a year later; Clinton Ghent took over for him in Chicago)

First of all, I read that Don Cornelius hosted both versions for a couple of years or so, before giving Ghent the Chicago version. Secondly, when Soul Train went national, WBBM carried that version for at least the first few years, before moving to WGN.

10:00
(11) Electric Company--WHAT??? The kids have already gone to bed!!! (Boy, I would have loved to be in on WTTW scheduling meetings to find out how they came up with that one!)

Not the first time -- in the mid-1980s, when PBS presented "Color Sounds", a daily music video program that used on-screen lyrics to teach phonics to children, some stations presented "Color Sounds" in late-nights. I knew WEDU in Tampa carried the program in this matter, weeknights at 11PM (I think).

 

[Mike Stroud]

10:00
(11) Electric Company--WHAT??? The kids have already gone to bed!!! (Boy, I would have loved to be in on WTTW scheduling meetings to find out how they came up with that one!)

Not the first time -- in the mid-1980s, when PBS presented "Color Sounds", a daily music video program that used on-screen lyrics to teach phonics to children, some stations presented "Color Sounds" in late-nights. I knew WEDU in Tampa carried the program in this matter, weeknights at 11PM (I think).

Don't matter on this one, dude. When I was a young-'un in and around that time, bedtime was 8:30 sharp. I would guess around the time, or 9 was the rule of the house in most American homes back then. By the '80s, discipline was getting lax, with MTV and all that, so the "Color Sounds" case is plausible.

But not "Electric Company": I bet the main audience on that late-night showing was people who were plastered or high laughing it up at the antics of Fargo North, Decoder, ogling Jennifer of the Jungle (Judy Graubart dressed in a fairly provocative costume), or singing along with the Short Circus (the kids in the cast). I have heard stories about drunk and stoned adults amusing themselves with kiddle shows in those days, so it's not as far fetched as it seems.

 

[Mike Stroud]

10:00
(11) Electric Company--WHAT??? The kids have already gone to bed!!! (Boy, I would have loved to be in on WTTW scheduling meetings to find out how they came up with that one!)

Not the first time -- in the mid-1980s, when PBS presented "Color Sounds", a daily music video program that used on-screen lyrics to teach phonics to children, some stations presented "Color Sounds" in late-nights. I knew WEDU in Tampa carried the program in this matter, weeknights at 11PM (I think).

Don't matter on this one, dude. When I was a young-'un in and around that time, bedtime was 8:30 sharp. I would guess around the time, or 9 was the rule of the house in most American homes back then. By the '80s, discipline was getting lax, with MTV and all that, so the "Color Sounds" case is plausible.

But not "Electric Company": I bet the main audience on that late-night showing was people who were plastered or high laughing it up at the antics of Fargo North, Decoder, ogling Jennifer of the Jungle (Judy Graubart dressed in a fairly provocative costume), or singing along with the Short Circus (the kids in the cast). I have heard stories about drunk and stoned adults amusing themselves with kiddle shows in those days, so it's not as far fetched as it seems.

 

[KeithE4]

(20) WXXW (Independent--as listed in TVG; however, station info uncertain; according to some sources, station was affiliated with PBS, but on different license from the later WYCC, which took over channel 20 in 1983)

WXXW was strictly a classroom-instructional channel operated by WTTW from 1965 to 1974. I don't believe they ever ran PBS programming, nor did they ever broadcast in color. As there are no listings shown, it may have gone dark by this time (I don't know the exact date they signed off).

Between WXXW and WYCC there was WCME, owned by the Chicago Metropolitan Education Council which purchased WXXW in 1977. WCME never went on the air but the CP remained active. The CP was transferred to the City Colleges of Chicago in 1982, and became WYCC.

From what I've been able to research, the WXXW license was never returned to the FCC. Channel 20's call letters were shown as changed in Broadcasting Magazine (as opposed to new station assignments) from WXXW to WCME (1977) and WCME to WYCC (1982), so the WYCC license is the original one for WXXW. The CP probably goes back to the original one that Westinghouse got for WIND-TV in 1953 and donated to WTTW in 1964 since they never built it.

 

[Mike Stroud]

(20) WXXW (Independent--as listed in TVG; however, station info uncertain; according to some sources, station was affiliated with PBS, but on different license from the later WYCC, which took over channel 20 in 1983)

WXXW was strictly a classroom-instructional channel operated by WTTW from 1965 to 1974. I don't believe they ever ran PBS programming, nor did they ever broadcast in color. As there are no listings shown, it may have gone dark by this time (I don't know the exact date they signed off).

Between WXXW and WYCC there was WCME, owned by the Chicago Metropolitan Education Council which purchased WXXW in 1977. WCME never went on the air but the CP remained active. The CP was transferred to the City Colleges of Chicago in 1982, and became WYCC.

From what I've been able to research, the WXXW license was never returned to the FCC. Channel 20's call letters were shown as changed in Broadcasting Magazine (as opposed to new station assignments) from WXXW to WCME (1977) and WCME to WYCC (1982), so the WYCC license is the original one for WXXW. The CP probably goes back to the original one that Westinghouse got for WIND-TV in 1953 and donated to WTTW in 1964 since they never built it.

Thanks, KeithE4, glad to know that. I figured there was something fishy about channel 20. I bet you are 100% right about it having gone out of business, since the school year had already ended.

That brings up the question of how TVG determined when to remove a channel from its listings. My best bet would be that such would happen if the magazine didn't receive any program info from a station after a month's passing. Would that make sense? We know the standard that it took back then to get a station IN the listings; the channel had to cover at 15% or so of the market's area before making it--since few stations could announce for certain ahead of time on what day it would first sign on, it probably took several weeks or even a month to get in.

I would guess that by August, TVG dropped channel 20 when it got word that the station would not return for the 1974-75 school year. I would guess that the channel was a money pit for WTTW, but it seems that the city school system would have at least had a hand in its funding, since WXXW was aimed primarily at its classrooms. It seems from your account that the school board decided to try to simply run things itself with the 1977 effort, but couldn't afford the overhead. So CCC stepped in and finally got things back on track in 1982, a full eight years after the station originally went dark.

The only other places in the U.S. that I am aware of that had separate pub stations for adults and in-school programming were NYC and LA, which make sense as the, respectively, first and second largest markets in the nation. In Miami, though, there was a share-time agreement between the school system's WTHS for daytime and the NGO WPBT, which lasted until about 1978 when WPBT took over completely.

 

[azumanga]

In Miami, though, there was a share-time agreement between the school system's WTHS for daytime and the NGO WPBT, which lasted until about 1978 when WPBT took over completely.

It was around that time when the school board's other channel, WSEC, bolstered their facilities and programming, becoming WLRN channel 17, as well as adding closed-circuit channels for schools, making the need to share channel 2 with WPBT unnecessary.

 

[RALfan]

6:30

(9) Major League Baseball: Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves (Jack Brickhouse, Jim West commentators)

What was the normal schedule at that time?

 

[pqgeorge]

In Miami, though, there was a share-time agreement between the school system's WTHS for daytime and the NGO WPBT, which lasted until about 1978 when WPBT took over completely.

It was around that time when the school board's other channel, WSEC, bolstered their facilities and programming, becoming WLRN channel 17, as well as adding closed-circuit channels for schools, making the need to share channel 2 with WPBT unnecessary.

I actually saw a "hand-off" between WTHS and WPBT back in the summer of 1977 on e-skip up in Massachusetts (local WGBH-TV was off the air until later in the day). You could see the difference in video quality between WTHS and WPBT. WTHS looked like a cable access channel with pasted cut-up letters for their ID slide and then WPBT's more modern looking font "logo" ID. It also looked like WTHS was not in color yet WPBT was in color. But then again, the conditions were changing during that opening back in '77 so if WTHS was in color, it didn't register on my color set back then. WTHS kept the ID slide on the air for what seemed to be for many minutes until WPBT took over at the top-off-the-hour.

 

[wbhist]

9:30
(2) Gambit--Wink Martindale presiding over what then was probably the closest thing to real gambling on the boob tube

And the late ex-'50's starlet (remember her performance in The Bad and the Beautiful?) Elaine Stewart (a.k.a. Mrs. Merrill Heatter - given that Heatter/Quigley produced this show) dealing the cards as Martindale's "co-hostess."

I have to wonder, though: Would she have been in any way of any relation to $10,000 Pyramid producer Bob Stewart - since not only did they have the same stage surname, but also the same birth surname - or was it just a matter of coincidence?

 

[Mike Stroud]

9:30
(2) Gambit--Wink Martindale presiding over what then was probably the closest thing to real gambling on the boob tube

And the late ex-'50's starlet (remember her performance in The Bad and the Beautiful?) Elaine Stewart (a.k.a. Mrs. Merrill Heatter - given that Heatter/Quigley produced this show) dealing the cards as Martindale's "co-hostess."

I have to wonder, though: Would she have been in any way of any relation to $10,000 Pyramid producer Bob Stewart - since not only did they have the same stage surname, but also the same birth surname - or was it just a matter of coincidence?

Matter of coincidence. Bob Stewart (Steinberg) was born in Brooklyn in 1920, while Elaine was born in New Jersey in 1930, clean across the Hudson River. Another thing: you have to remember, of course, that Bob Stewart and Merrill Heatter were rivals in the biz. There is no way in you-know-where that Heatter would have allowed his missus to be on another packager's show. Had the Stewarts/Steinbergs actually been, say, brother or sister, Bob would likely have joined Heatter and Quigley in the partnership rather than go out on his own after leaving G-T. That's how things would have worked in those days.

I am sure people are aware that Elaine Stewart died back in June, at the age of 81. Bob Stewart, on the other hand, is still going at age 91.

 

[Mike Stroud]

6:30

(9) Major League Baseball: Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves (Jack Brickhouse, Jim West commentators)

What was the normal schedule at that time?

I was afraid someone was going to ask, and ordinarily I wouldn't do it, but it's Christmas time, so I'm a soft touch. Here's the weeknights on WGN for that week.

Monday:
6:30 Dick Van Dyke Show--rerun
7:00 Movie--"An Affair to Remember," 1957

Wednesday:
6:30 Cubs Baseball--versus Atlanta again

Thursday:
6:30 Dick Van Dyke
7:00 Tom Jones (his syndie variety show)
8:00 World Football League--Portland Storm vs. Memphis Southmen

Friday:
6:30 Dick Van Dyke
7:00 Cubs Baseball--versus Cincinnati Reds

And, in order to give equal time to Sox fans on the Southside, a look at WSNS:

weeknights at 7 were a checkerboard of syndie country music shows from Nashville (except for Wednesday, when "Johnny Mann's Stand Up and Cheer" aired)

Monday:
7:30 Chicago Wrestling (don't know the promotion on top of my head)
8:30 Movie--"Cardinal Richelieu," 1935
10:00 Boxing from the Olympic (local, perhaps?)

Wednesday:
7:30 Sports Spotlight
7:45 On Deck (I think you know what's next ...)
8:00 White Sox Baseball--versus Detroit again

Thursday:
7:30 Bob Luce Wrestling
8:30 Movie--"Twinkle in God's Eye," 1955
10:00 Porter Wagoner Show
10:30 F Troop

Friday:
7:30 Sports Spotlight
7:45 On Deck
8:00 White Sox Baseball--versus Milwaukee Brewers, then in the American League

 

[wbhist]

(9) BJ and Dirty Dragon--unlike its two predecessors on the schedule, this kids' offering was NOT a WGN original; puppeteer Bill Jackson began the show on WFLD in 1968 under the title "Cartoon Town;" it moved to WGN in 1973 for just a one-year run; in 1975, it resurfaced on WLS as a Sunday morning entry titled "Gigglesnort Hotel" that ran until 1978

At the same time Jackson was hosting the WGN incarnation of the Dirty Dragon show, he was also commuting to "Noo Yawk" to host a Saturday-afternoon kids' show, B.J.'s Bunch, on WNBC-TV 4. That only lasted to the end of 1974. His Gigglesnort Hotel would subsequently air in NYC on WPIX "11 Alive" (WGN's sister, ironically enough) for a few years beginning around 1977. B.T.W., his move to WGN was precipitated by WFLD's coming under Kaiser Broadcasting management for a four-year interregnum. (That management change also brought about the cancellation of Screaming Yellow Theatre and the end of Jerry G. Bishop's run as the original Svengoolie.)

(44) Esmeralda--apparently Venezuelan-produced telenovela, or soap (fitting, given that WSNS in later years would become entirely a Spanish-speaking station, as it is presently)

In a sense, WSNS as of 1974 was the Windy City's equivalent of New York's WOR-TV 9 circa 1971-73 - as that station also had a block of Spanish-language programming in the noon time slot (one show that aired on Channel 9 was the telenovela Los Hermanos Coraje). On top of it all, WSNS and WOR were both also-rans in the ratings, and top-heavy with sports.

It is indeed ironic that WSNS today is sister to WNJU-TV 47 - whilst WNJU's combo of Spanish-language programming with brokered and ethnic programming as of the '70's made it back then sort of equivalent to WCIU.

 

[JimNeibaur]

The show Lafftime which you assumed was a kids show hosted by a "Kennedy" was actually a program where they showed black and white two-reel comedies of the 1930s and 1940s featuring veteran comedian Edgar Kennedy. These were produced by RKO studios. Other RKO shorts featuring comedians Leon Errol, Clark and McCullough, etc, were also occasionally shown.

I never missed 'em.

Jim

 

[oldiesfan6479]

I noticed a number of off-network reruns. Did some or all of the Chi-town stations
have 35mm projection equipment?

 

[cwf1701]

10:00
(11) Electric Company--WHAT??? The kids have already gone to bed!!! (Boy, I would have loved to be in on WTTW scheduling meetings to find out how they came up with that one!)

Not the first time -- in the mid-1980s, when PBS presented "Color Sounds", a daily music video program that used on-screen lyrics to teach phonics to children, some stations presented "Color Sounds" in late-nights. I knew WEDU in Tampa carried the program in this matter, weeknights at 11PM (I think).

Don't matter on this one, dude. When I was a young-'un in and around that time, bedtime was 8:30 sharp. I would guess around the time, or 9 was the rule of the house in most American homes back then. By the '80s, discipline was getting lax, with MTV and all that, so the "Color Sounds" case is plausible.

But not "Electric Company": I bet the main audience on that late-night showing was people who were plastered or high laughing it up at the antics of Fargo North, Decoder, ogling Jennifer of the Jungle (Judy Graubart dressed in a fairly provocative costume), or singing along with the Short Circus (the kids in the cast). I have heard stories about drunk and stoned adults amusing themselves with kiddle shows in those days, so it's not as far fetched as it seems.

Or they needed a 30 minute filler before the 10:30 movie and they didn't have Doctor Who or some other British comedy in their library yet.

 

[JeeperOne]

It should also be noted that not long after this, Edge Of Night would move from CBS to ABC too

Cheers & 73

 

[Ultimajock]

(2) WBBM (CBS; now digital 12; PSIP 2)

3:00
(2) Tattletales--billed as "the game of celebrity gossip;" actually, a knockoff of "Newlywed Game" more than anything else

...TattleTales was actually a Hollywood-based CBS network revival of Goodson-Todman's New York-based syndicated game of about five years earlier, He Said, She Said...