Glen

Moderator
Now with five responses we see the number of unanymous top tens shrink to three - city,mirror, an tribbles. There are two that almost everyone put in the top save one - Balance and Amok. Only Falkenburg has all of these in his top five. Brainbin, Glen, and Falkenburg have all these in their top ten. There ar three that a majority have in the top ten - doomsday, babel, devil. Brainbin and phx have these three in their top ten. Only Brainbin has all the fives, fours, and threes in his top ten. Brainbin is also the only on to have a non unanimous choice as his number one with doomsday. There are three episodes to get two people placing in their top ten - Space seed, Enterprse incident, A piece of the action. Only Glen, phx, Chuck X have at least two of these.
 
All right, one last round of responses before the next update ;)

But that is why I like it.
Well, more power to you, being able to appreciate an episode I really dislike. (We're definitely talking Bottom 10 here.) I have to say, I find that Kirk reciting the preamble to the Constitution does go over the line, especially since (as others have observed) he really should have been reading the preamble to the Declaration of Independence instead - it much more strongly ties into the themes of the episode.

Really, it wasn't that common an occurence. They ran into parallel Earths, what, three times out of 79 (892-IV, Miri's Homeworld, Omega IV)? Neither Ekos nor Sigma Iota II were actually parallel to Earth, they'd just been culturally contaminated by Earth influences, and Amerind had been influenced and possibly transplanted by some other space-faring culture.
Welcome aboard, LordInsane! Glad to know that you're reading along. The grievance you're airing is a good example of the double-edged sword of popular culture: the Never Live It Down phenomenon.

:eek::confused::confused: (OK, I know, humor is a difficult concept. And very personal.)
Oh, believe me, I am laughing at that episode. And I certainly don't like it as much as the deliberately comedic shows they did.

But come on. "Brain and brain! What is brain?!" :D It sure beats "But what... of Lazarus?" any day of the week.

phx1138 said:
Only speaking for me. After my "top 5", there were 3 or 4 not bad ones, & a couple of "maybe"s.
Oh no, I definitely have a clear continuum. But I'm certainly more passionate about episodes that rank higher.

phx1138 said:
You've have given Justman a stroke, had you been in charge.:eek::eek::p
Luckily for him, there were plenty of landing parties ITTL. What would Star Trek be without redshirts dying to prove that the situation is serious? And Bones leaning over their dead bodies, scanning them with a tricorder, before solemnly announcing: "He's dead, Jim."

phx1138 said:
I'd agree, except he was too atypical Romulan for the era IMO.
The Romulans appeared so infrequently on the series IOTL, that such an assertion is tough to verify. Besides, based on what we see of various other Starfleet Captains, I would argue that Kirk is rather atypical of the Federation; wouldn't you? :)

phx1138 said:
I'm not, needless to say, an acolyte of that cult.
Not really my kind of music anyway. But they have memorable lyrics! That always helps with making references.

My top 10 list:
Thank you for participating, Chuck :) A fine list, too. No blah, blah, blah! :cool:

Now with five responses we see the number of unanymous top tens shrink to three - city,mirror, an tribbles.
We're building an increasingly representative profile here, which is good to see. Remember, every additional sample helps! :)

The next update should be ready tomorrow.
 

Falkenburg

Monthly Donor
Now with five responses we see the number of unanymous top tens shrink to three - city,mirror, an tribbles. There are two that almost everyone put in the top save one - Balance and Amok. Only Falkenburg has all of these in his top five. Brainbin, Glen, and Falkenburg have all these in their top ten. There ar three that a majority have in the top ten - doomsday, babel, devil. Brainbin and phx have these three in their top ten. Only Brainbin has all the fives, fours, and threes in his top ten. Brainbin is also the only on to have a non unanimous choice as his number one with doomsday. There are three episodes to get two people placing in their top ten - Space seed, Enterprse incident, A piece of the action. Only Glen, phx, Chuck X have at least two of these.

For some reason this prompted memories of 'Verbal Reasoning' tests for the "11 Plus" exams I took long (long) ago. :D

Is the answer "30mph at 14:30"? :p

Falkenburg
 
Welcome aboard, LordInsane! Glad to know that you're reading along. The grievance you're airing is a good example of the double-edged sword of popular culture: the Never Live It Down phenomenon.
Glad to be reading it. I really should comment more often on the timelines and stories I read, given my own annoyance when no comments come...:eek:

It would seem to be a good example of never living it down: an overall uncommon scenario that is often thought to be a rather common scenario (in this case, partly by including episodes where a plot point is that they aren't actually examples).
 
Brainbin said:
the double-edged sword of popular culture: the Never Live It Down phenomenon
Also, I suggest, "the writers can't find other ideas".:rolleyes:
Brainbin said:
Oh, believe me, I am laughing at that episode.
Count me relieved.;) Now, at least, it makes sense.
Brainbin said:
"Brain and brain! What is brain?!" :D It sure beats "But what... of Lazarus?" any day of the week.
I'll reserve comment, since the concept of "so bad it's good" has always been oxymoronic to me. (Or, as Gerry Carroll once wrote, "Like military intelligence, without the "oxy-".:p)
Brainbin said:
Oh no, I definitely have a clear continuum. But I'm certainly more passionate about episodes that rank higher.
I'd agree there, only my real passion doesn't go much past 3 before it cools quite noticeably. (Hmm, that sounds really kinky, doesn't it?:p)
Brainbin said:
redshirts dying to prove that the situation is serious
I never got that connection. It always made me think, "Are they stupid?" Or does Kirk just get low-grade security people? Or is that Starfleet training & equipment? Or what? 'cause if you got a cop killed every other show in "Dragnet" or "Adam-12", you'd look like a moron.:eek::rolleyes: (Or you'd be on "Tel Aviv Blue".:p) Of course, if you got slugged & taken prisoner so much in any other show, you'd have the audience think you were a nitwit who should have his ship taken away.:rolleyes: ("Scotty, save my ass!":rolleyes:)

And, 30yr later, the writers on "Sliders" are still doing it...:rolleyes::confused: Do you wonder why I have a low opinion of SF on TV?:rolleyes:
Brainbin said:
And Bones leaning over their dead bodies, scanning them with a tricorder, before solemnly announcing: "He's dead, Jim."
Yep, an iconic quote. Ever notice how little medical magic he ever did, compared to Crusher?:confused: (TBH, while the show was airing, & before TNG, I didn't either...:rolleyes:)
Brainbin said:
The Romulans appeared so infrequently on the series IOTL, that such an assertion is tough to verify. Besides, based on what we see of various other Starfleet Captains, I would argue that Kirk is rather atypical of the Federation; wouldn't you? :)
I had the idea Kirk & The Gang were supposed to represent the usual, & Dekker (Decker?) & Garth & the rest the aberrations. (If the universe needed saving so much, tho...:eek::eek::eek:) The same way, Lenard's approach to the character, & the clear copying from "Enemy Below", makes it obvious (to me, anyhow) he wasn't meant to be the usual.

That said, I'd have liked it better (tho this requires some foresight by the writers that wasn't likely, or some greater depth the the TOS Klingons that wasn't in evidence): instead of just watching Kang beam off, Kirk (advised by an extra who's head of the Klingon Psychology department of the ship's Sciences section) wishes him, "Die well." (The writers would've needed to make up the word, which I can't spell.:eek:) Which makes Kang think...& more or less forces him to say the same, & tell the tale & honestly, since Kirk has done what a Klingon would, & they fought an enemy together, & won. (Yes, a subtlety not remotely likely in TOS.:rolleyes:)

(Also, the connection of the Doomsday Machine to the white whale I don't get. "Obsession" & Moby-Dick, yes.)
Brainbin said:
Not really my kind of music anyway.
Hmm... Active dislike? Or just indifference? I'm in the "really don't care" camp, with one or two exceptions.
Brainbin said:
But they have memorable lyrics! That always helps with making references.
They do, & I'll concede that makes them useful. (For attaching other musicians to the songs, too, sometimes, should a TL call for it.;))
Brainbin said:
We're building an increasingly representative profile here, which is good to see. Remember, every additional sample helps! :)
Why am I beginning to feel like you're Starling & I'm Lecter?:eek::p (Tho TBH, I liked Ally Walker a lot. And Kate Todd. {Not this one.})
 
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Night and Day
Night and Day

"A fortune in fabulous prizes may go to these people today if they know when The Price is Right!"

- Johnny Olson, Announcer for The New Price is Right

For all the care and attention devoted to those few precious hours of primetime, all three networks were an all-day operation. Though most of those other hours were reserved for the personal use and discretion of the various affiliates, the networks did produce additional programming for these off hours – in a wide range of formats and styles – which most affiliates chose to broadcast, in lieu of having to spend their own money to produce original programming, or to purchase syndicated shows.

Three genres of programming predominated during the standard workday of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, during the week: Game shows, which allowed contestants to compete for prizes; talk shows, which consisted of a host interviewing various guests; and soap operas, which were serialized melodramas. All three of these tended to appeal to the older, female audiences who were expected to be watching television during these hours; the Women's Liberation Movement was driving younger women out of the house to seek employment and equality, and housewives were becoming a slowly dying breed. But this was a demographic collapse that would become a problem in the medium-to-long-term; in the early 1970s, these daytime audiences remained plentiful, and highly lucrative.

The early 1970s were seeing game shows – infamously hobbled by the Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950s – reach new heights of popularity. New shows were being developed that involved increasingly elaborate sets and lavish gameplay concepts. It was this new philosophy that prompted the idea for a frenetic and boisterous reincarnation of a previously staid and refined series
Veteran game show producer Mark Goodson sought to bring a revival of his bidding game show, The Price is Right, to network television. The enactment of the Prime Time Access Rule provided a golden opportunity, as it created the new "access hour" of 7:00 to 8:00 PM Eastern in which to air a nighttime version of the show, which would be syndicated, airing once weekly. [1] However, an accompanying daytime version would require the resources of one of the three networks. CBS, which had been reorganizing their daytime schedule on a fairly consistent basis ever since Fred Silverman had taken over as VP Programming, was naturally the first network to come calling.

The content of the original game show was based almost entirely on auction-style bidding for various household goods; the revival would be re-oriented to focus on fun and exciting pricing games, all of which demanded audience participation, and many of which would require considerable physical exertion on the part of the contestant – or the host. It was for this reason that the original version's moderator, prolific game show host Bill Cullen, was ultimately not chosen to resurrect The Price is Right, for he had been crippled by polio and would not be able to meet such strenuous demands. Goodson chose another experienced moderator, Dennis James, for the role, and had him set to host the nighttime version. CBS brass, on the other hand, preferred "Truth or Consequences" host Bob Barker for the daytime version, and were insistent on his casting; however, in the end, Goodson won out, and James would host both versions. [2]

One of the already established game shows popular in the era was "The Hollywood Squares", a tic-tac-toe trivia game in which celebrities would provide answers to questions, and contestants would then have to decide whether or not to agree with them. Most of the celebrity guests were chosen for their wit (or at least their ability to seem witty, as their responses were rehearsed), but none were more notorious than the Center Square, Paul Lynde. Known for his catty spontaneity, Lynde would rarely let an opportunity pass without unleashing his arsenal of double entendres; many of these referenced his homosexuality, an open secret in Hollywood. To the extent that a person's fame could be judged by how often he was parodied, Lynde was one of the most famous people in America. [3] Like The Price is Right, "Hollywood Squares" aired as the daytime version (on NBC), and as a weekly syndicated version; both were hosted by Peter Marshall.

One of the few shows to continue to fully embrace the old Quiz Show tradition was Jeopardy!, which aired at 12:00 Noon on NBC. Devised, created, and produced by Merv Griffin, the show took the established question-and-answer paradigm, and turned it on its head: answers would be given, and the contestant would then have to match them with the appropriate questions. The program, hosted by Art Fleming, was the rare daytime show to be popular with college students and professionals, partly due to its plum noon timeslot, allowing it to be watched after morning courses or during a lunch break. Money would accumulate with correct answers, and be lost for incorrect answers, for the first two rounds of play (the second of which was naturally called Double Jeopardy, wherein clues were worth twice the amount from the first round); this was followed by a final round, in which contestants would wager their winnings on one last clue.

Merv Griffin was something of a Renaissance Man within the entertainment industry. Having started out as a big band singer, he became an actor in movie musicals for Warner Bros. in the 1950s, before finally turning to television in 1958. It was his stint hosting game shows that eventually resulted in his ultimate destiny: producing game shows, with his major success being Jeopardy! in 1964; and, more personally, hosting his own talk show. A warm and genial presence, he followed in the footsteps of other musical performers such as Mike Douglas and Dinah Shore in transitioning to interviewing. Griffin was one of three people to occupy a late night berth (90 minutes, from 11:30 PM to 1:00 AM) on weekday nights: he on CBS, the more cerebral and highbrow Dick Cavett on ABC, and, of course, Johnny Carson on NBC.

When primetime ended at 11:00 PM, so too did the network feed; the airwaves were returned to affiliates for the local nightly news, which lasted for half an hour. Then late night programming would commence, and carry on until the end of the broadcast day. The Tonight Show had aired on NBC since 1954, originally hosted by Steve Allen. Jack Paar had taken over in 1957, and after five tumultuous years at the helm, he finally departed for good, replaced by Johnny Carson in 1962. It was during Carson's tenure that the show fully matured into its iconic form: half-talk show, half-variety show. Carson would open the show with a lengthy, rapid-fire monologue. Interviews with guests, usually celebrities working in the entertainment industry, would predominate the body of the show. Sometimes these guests would perform (usually if they were musicians or comedians), and comedic sketches would often serve as interstitial material in between interviews.

Nobody could beat Johnny Carson, though no small number of people had tried: Griffin and Cavett were only the most recent of these. Cavett had replaced Rat Packer Joey Bishop, an old friend of Carson's, who had guest-hosted the Tonight Show more times than any other. Carson, who was thoroughly professional, and never one to let his work interfere with his personal life, was on very good terms with both of his rivals. [4] The crime rate in New York City, which was rampant, and continued to rise without any signs of slowing, was dissuading potential guests from visiting The Tonight Show, based at Rockefeller Center. The program, which had occasionally broadcast from "Beautiful Downtown" Burbank, California, in the past, finally made the official move for good in 1972.

1:00 AM, following the conclusion of late night programming, marked the end of the broadcast day, at which time most stations would sign off with any special announcements, a religious sermonette, station identification, and finally the national anthem, before going off the air, to sign on again later in the morning. [5] The precise timing of the sign-on would vary depending on the affiliate and the market served; core urban markets and rural ones tended to come back on the earliest, given the hours kept by their respective viewers, and usually had local news programming starting at approximately 5:00, following the sign-on process (which was essentially the sign-off, done in reverse). The hours in between, naturally, marked the least-watched period of the day: those who were at home were usually asleep; those who were awake were usually out working the "graveyard shift". Every station was on the air again by 7:00.

Just as the Tonight Show dominated late-night, the Today Show, also on NBC, ever since 1952, dominated weekday mornings, with little substantial competition from the other two networks. In the early 1970s, Today was primarily known for Baba Wawa, a panelist who had long sought greater recognition. Her desperation to be judged as a serious news anchor was matched only by her utter fixation on both the trivial and the frivolous. She was also adamant that co-anchor Frank McGee was thwarting her at every turn, which was technically true; [6] it never occurred to her, however, that there were entirely valid reasons that people were unable to take her seriously. People tended to tread lightly around Wawa, mindful of her sterling reputation; though certainly, if there were anyone ripe for parody, it was her. Perhaps someday, someone might have the opportunity… As to the content of the show itself, it was, like the Tonight Show, a blend of styles. It was partly hard national news, delivered by established anchors at the network's news division; but this shared space with light-hearted, coffee table-style conversations about the minutiae of daily life. It ran for two hours each weekday morning: 7:00 to 9:00.

Last, but certainly not least, were soap operas, which typically aired from 12:30 to 3:00 PM on weekday afternoons, after the local News at Noon; a few soaps aired in late morning timeslots, however. Soap operas were a legacy dating back to the Golden Age of Radio: melodramatic presentations generally dramatizing the lives of wealthy families, consisting of professionals and socialites, and their tawdry escapades. They appealed to an overwhelmingly female audience, and advertisers responded accordingly, with most shows sponsored by household products, especially all kinds of soap. This, coupled with their melodramatic themes, resulted in the familiar term of "soap opera".

Seventeen were on the air during the 1972-73 season; two of these were cancelled, and a third saw its debut. Some soap operas had been on television for many years: Search for Tomorrow, the longest-running television soap, had premiered in September, 1951, with Love of Life first airing just a few weeks later. The Guiding Light, though it had started running on television in June, 1952, had been a radio serial for 15 years beforehand, making it the longest-running dramatic series of any kind. [7] In terms of plot, soaps would often dramatize controversial events of the day, though always in a highly sensationalistic and scandalous fashion. But in terms of presentation, they were hopelessly behind the times. They had been the last to switch to colour; many still continued to film live-on-the-air, a technique that had largely been abandoned elsewhere after the 1950s; and the use of maudlin organ-based soundtracks – though these were gradually being phased out by this time – would not be out of place in programming from the 1930s.

Many programs aired during the day or late at night naturally appealed to adults, given that children were expected to be at school, or asleep, depending on the timeslot. Primetime shows, though certainly more accessible to children, rarely went out of their way to accommodate them. On weekday afternoons, when kids were coming home from school, they were usually able to find programming that they found appealing; as stations presumably believed that breadwinners were still at work, and homemakers were now obliged to start preparing dinner or perform other household chores. The 1972-73 season marked the debut of the Afterschool Special, an educational anthology series. [8] Befitting the atmosphere of the era, the initial batch of specials covered the topic of environmentalism. But even during this time of day, children's shows had to share space with talk shows, game shows, and syndicated reruns.

The one time of the week that was indisputably their province was Saturday Morning, which since the 1960s had been largely occupied by cartoon shows; indeed, in the minds of most children, the two were inextricably linked. Limited animation techniques – pioneered by Hanna-Barbera Productions, perfected by Filmation Associates, and practiced by virtually all of the other studios – enabled companies to produce cartoons inexpensively, often at just a few frames per second. This was certainly a steep decline from the lavish feature animation of Disney and Warner Bros., which was also seen on Saturday mornings, but children were deemed unable to notice the difference – or, indeed, even able to appreciate the need for quality control.
[9] This, combined with their shorter attention spans, resulted in cheaply-made, poorly-written shows with very brief runs, churned out in assembly line fashion by most of the animation studios of the era. Curiously popular were adaptations, or continuations, of primetime series, past and present. [10]

The highest aspiration of those in television industry, something to measure against their lust for fame and fortune, was the desire to always have something worth watching on the air. And though their resources were disproportionately concentrated on those precious few primetime hours, many of them tried their best to liven up the rest of their programming schedules, and the resulting track record was replete with just as many highs and lows as there were between 8:00 and 11:00 PM


---

[1] The "Access Hour", of course, is home to reruns of Star Trek, which utterly dominated the timeslot in 1971-72. Given the arrangement with Desilu, the show is usually seen on NBC affiliates; therefore, the nighttime Price is Right is most often seen on CBS affiliates.

[2] CBS is in a worse position relative to OTL, and thus producers are more confident in not backing down from their demands (and executives are, perhaps, a little less sure of themselves, not that they would never actually admit that). This means, of course, that Barker will not be hosting The Price is Right ITTL. James hosting the syndicated version is per OTL; Barker took over from him in 1977 (which he will also not be doing here) before that version was cancelled entirely in 1980.

[3] Animators and voice actors, in particular, seem very fond of Lynde; many cartoons made even to the present day IOTL will usually feature at least one character whose voice and mannerisms strongly resemble his own. (Lynde himself had a fruitful voice acting career.)

[4] Carson was known for inviting all of those who challenged his late-night supremacy onto the Tonight Show and wishing them luck; later, after their shows inevitably failed, he would then invite them back to commiserate. He was a firm believer in fair play.

[5] The sermonette – usually a benign, fairly uncontroversial message – would be pre-recorded, and delivered by a religious authority figure (invariably Christian, reflecting the demographic realities of the era). The national anthem would usually come at the very end, immediately followed by the test card. The same process holds true for Canadian stations, which usually played two anthems, in alternating order: "God Save the Queen" and "O Canada" (not the official national anthem until 1980, IOTL).

[6] Among other things, McGee insisted that he, and not Wawa, ask the first three questions of any guest if they were conducting a joint interview; presumably he wanted to minimize the risk of Wawa asking what kind of tree the guest would be.

[7] A record that it would continue to extend IOTL until its cancellation in 2009, when it ended after 72 years and more than 18,000 episodes on the air. (It was renamed simply Guiding Light in 1975, just over halfway through its run.)

[8] As it did IOTL. The specials aired irregularly on ABC, usually several times a season. One effect of Moonshot Lunacy that's otherwise little-mentioned ITTL is that environmentalism is even stronger here than it is IOTL in this era; hence the coverage.

[9] This era, sadly, is primarily responsible for the Animation Age Ghetto; children are indeed more willing to tolerate lower quality, though obviously they don't deserve it any more than people who know better. However, people were rallying against this stigma even this early on: 1972, remember, marks the release of the first X-rated animated film, Fritz the Cat.

[10] IOTL, Star Trek returned to television in animated form on Saturday morning, starting in 1973, for a 22-episode, two-season run, under the auspices of Filmation. D.C. Fontana served as showrunner for the first season, which produced many scripts that were instead used (in modified form) for the series proper ITTL. There is no interest or desire on the part of anyone involved in the show's production to produce an animated spinoff, nor do the fans particularly hunger for any sort of continuation.

---

And now you have a more comprehensive picture of all that was available to American (and Canadian) television audiences in the early 1970s! This was definitely more of an informational update, because I felt the need to compensate for my narrow, laser-like focus on primetime, to the exclusion of the rest of the schedule. There have been very few changes from OTL, the two major exceptions being the absence of the animated Star Trek series, and the casting of someone other than Bob Barker as host of The (New) Price is Right.

I thought that this would be the perfect time to take stock of the daytime and late night shows on the air because of the introduction of several landmark programs in this era, many of which have had incredible staying power. The daytime version of The Price is Right, IOTL, remains on the air, 40 years later. Also, the 1972-73 season marks the premiere of The Young and the Restless, one of only four surviving soap operas IOTL. Only two other soaps from this era (Days of our Lives and General Hospital) survive.

A few production notes to prevent confusion: the original "Hollywood Squares" ended in 1980; there were several revivals, the most recent of which aired from 1998 to 2004. The version of Jeopardy! with which we are all familiar started airing in syndication in 1984, with Alex Trebek as the host and Johnny Gilbert as the announcer from the outset; the original Jeopardy! was cancelled by NBC in 1975, and was replaced by another Merv Griffin production called Wheel of Fortune, which may be familiar to some of you.

Also, we finally see the return of Baba Wawa! Whether we like it or not, we'll be following her escapades throughout this timeline
 
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This will be interesting to see...will the absence of Bob Barker have any effect upon the longevity of The (New) Price Is Right? Going into the 2000's, it was just about the only game show surviving in what used to be the morning block for that genre. I'd like to see Jeopardy go on more or less as OTL; I've seen both versions (with Art Fleming/Jack Pardo and Alex Trebek) and I'm hard put to it to say which one is better. I do know that Jeopardy is one of the few game shows I've ever watched which presented a real intellectual challenge to me; like a lot of other people, I've tried to guess the questions to the answers (and I once had the home version of the game). You didn't mention Concentration, which was still running in the early 1970's, and which I had the home-game version of in my childhood as well. I never got into Hollywood Squares, but that was certainly because, being hard of hearing, I found it just about impossible to follow the repartee in those pre-closed-captioning days.

Speaking of which, aren't the first substantial experiments in CC supposed to be getting underway about now? Remember, OTL, closed-captioning will roll out about 4 or 5 years from the current point in this TL. For those who don't remember, I got one of the first CC units, which was, as might be expected from the late 1970's, a comparatively bulky - about the same size as the average late-1980's VCR - unit which was, of course, controlled via analog switches and dials. My mother always used to drive me crazy with jokes about how she got that unit so I could watch Three's Company, which I considered then, and still consider, one of the lamest series in the history of American TV. And I didn't even think Suzanne Somers was that hot, either; I've never been particularly enamored of the dumb-blonde archetype.

And, even though it now seems to have expanded to occupy virtually the entire morning, The Today Show's basic format really hasn't changed that much...Was Good Morning America on at that time? And will CBS be able to develop a decent challenger to the Peacock Network's morning behemoth TTL?
 

Glen

Moderator
A question - when and for how long do local and national tv news run in the evenings in this era?

A comment - I would suggest backing off in the WaWa stuff - it comes across as taunting people with speech impediments and is a jarring note in an otherwise excellent timeline. Feel free to critique thew journalist/tv personality but do not dwell so much on her pronounciation. Of course this is up to you.
 

Glen

Moderator
On another subject an n of one observation. A few years back my family went through in order all Doctor Who disks available through Netflix. Since then several more have become available. We just watched the First Doctor episodes of The Gunfighters and The Ark. They are quite dated, but here is the surprising part - my media saturated 8 year old sat through all four episodes in a row for each and enjoyed them. This is very anecdotal but makes me think that children of the early seventies might just enjoy these too.
 
A comment - I would suggest backing off in the WaWa stuff - it comes across as taunting people with speech impediments and is a jarring note in an otherwise excellent timeline. Feel free to critique thew journalist/tv personality but do not dwell so much on her pronounciation. Of course this is up to you.

You obviously have no vewy gweat fwiends in Wome ...

Speaking of which, any differences with Monty Python so far?

Tb-EI
 
With "Star Trek" pushing the acceptance of sci-fi forward, would we see any difference with the supernatural soap opera "Dark Shadows?"

Loving this timeline so far. I've passed it to a few no-AH friends who are also enjoying it. Keep up the good work! Your dedication to detail is astounding.
 
Brainbin said:
All three of these tended to appeal to the older, female audiences
CBS is in a worse position relative to OTL, and thus producers are more confident in not backing down from their demands
I'm wondering, does this offer more opportunities for women hosts? AFAIK, only Betty White has ever hosted a game show.
Brainbin said:
Jeopardy!, ...the rare daytime show to be popular with college students and professionals, partly due to its plum noon timeslot
Also, IMO, because its target audience tends to be better-educated. (Is saying I've been a fan of the new version since it started a humble brag?:p)
Brainbin said:
Money would accumulate with correct answers, and be lost for incorrect answers
IIRC, losing money for a wrong answer was unusual at the time.:eek:
Brainbin said:
The crime rate in New York City, which was rampant, and continued to rise without any signs of slowing, was dissuading potential guests from visiting The Tonight Show, based at Rockefeller Center.
:eek:
Brainbin said:
They had been the last to switch to colour; many still continued to film live-on-the-air, a technique that had largely been abandoned elsewhere after the 1950s; and the use of maudlin organ-based soundtracks – though these were gradually being phased out by this time – would not be out of place in programming from the 1930s.
:eek: Which only goes to show the power of the advertiser...
Brainbin said:
Jeopardy! was cancelled by NBC in 1975, and was replaced by another Merv Griffin production called Wheel of Fortune
Any prospect of it being more like "Definition", instead?:cool: (A much more interesting show, IMO. {BTW, skoal.:p})

One aside: I've never noticed the "sewiouswy"...tho TBH, I don't recall every paying really careful attention to her interviews, since her voice alone irritates me.:rolleyes:
joea64 said:
being hard of hearing, I found it just about impossible to follow the repartee in those pre-closed-captioning days.
Can I ask if you find the captioning bad? I don't need it, but I've turned it on a few times, & it's been frequently terrible... (I recall in particular a doc on the air war over Europe which was damn near incomprehensible...:eek: Some of the captioned names or words were pure nonsense.:confused: And the captioning, being a few seconds behind the sound, just cut off when the show went to commercial, so the ends of sentences disappeared.:eek:)
joea64 said:
Three's Company, which I considered then, and still consider, one of the lamest series in the history of American TV.
Word. How this got on the air remains a mystery to me.:confused:
joea64 said:
And I didn't even think Suzanne Somers was that hot, either; I've never been particularly enamored of the dumb-blonde archetype.
Even had she been smart, I'd have no use for Somers. (Tho I did like her cameo, in the pool in "Magnum Force".:p Which tends to get cut out for TV broadcast.;))
 
Thank you all for your many lovely comments in response to my latest update! And now, as always, for my response to your responses...

Glad to be reading it. I really should comment more often on the timelines and stories I read, given my own annoyance when no comments come...:eek:
Thanks for the compliment :) I always appreciate comments from new people. All of my regulars started out as new people, after all!

LordInsane said:
It would seem to be a good example of never living it down: an overall uncommon scenario that is often thought to be a rather common scenario (in this case, partly by including episodes where a plot point is that they aren't actually examples).
Star Trek, being such a bulwark of popular culture, is laden with these, actually.

Count me relieved.;) Now, at least, it makes sense.
I defy you not to laugh at this. I defy you, good sir! :D

phx1138 said:
Yep, an iconic quote. Ever notice how little medical magic he ever did, compared to [inferior CMO character, who also mothered an inhuman abomination]?:confused: (TBH, while the show was airing, & before [verboten], I didn't either...:rolleyes:)
I would advise you to tread very lightly, for you are disparaging my absolute favourite character in the series :mad:

phx1138 said:
I had the idea Kirk & The Gang were supposed to represent the usual, & Dekker (Decker?) & Garth & the rest the aberrations. (If the universe needed saving so much, tho...:eek::eek::eek:)
That may have been the intention, but as far as we know from the canon, Kirk may be the Only Sane Man in all of Starfleet - along with his crew, of course, whose consistent competency really is a sheer delight. Especially in comparison to certain later starship crews...

phx1138 said:
(Also, the connection of the Doomsday Machine to the white whale I don't get. "Obsession" & Moby-Dick, yes.)
Decker is Ahab, the planet killer is the white whale, and his crew and ship represent the lost leg and his thirst for vengeance (with the ironic twist that his ship, left for dead, instead becomes the instrument of the planet killer's destruction; doubling as a MAD allegory).

phx1138 said:
Hmm... Active dislike? Or just indifference? I'm in the "really don't care" camp, with one or two exceptions.
I do like some of their music, from the early years especially. But once they go psychedelic, I definitely lose interest.

This will be interesting to see...will the absence of Bob Barker have any effect upon the longevity of The (New) Price Is Right? Going into the 2000's, it was just about the only game show surviving in what used to be the morning block for that genre.
And that is the proverbial $64,000 Question ;) And definitely one that will take time to answer...

joea64 said:
I'd like to see Jeopardy go on more or less as OTL; I've seen both versions (with Art Fleming/Jack Pardo and Alex Trebek) and I'm hard put to it to say which one is better. I do know that Jeopardy is one of the few game shows I've ever watched which presented a real intellectual challenge to me; like a lot of other people, I've tried to guess the questions to the answers (and I once had the home version of the game).
I'm very fond of Jeopardy! as well, and like everyone of my generation, I find it almost impossible to imagine a format different from that of the present incarnation (however much those in charge insist on removing every last thing that made it so beloved and iconic in the first place - and I blame Sony, because of my eternal loathing for that company, and all its works). But you, like many of my readers, are in fact old enough to remember the Fleming version, obviously with fondness in your case. And you're still requesting that it be cancelled and (eventually) replaced with the syndicated version, as IOTL? We'll just have to see about that.

As far as I know, my only reader old enough to have clear memories of the original Bill Cullen version of The Price is Right would be Chuck, and I'm curious as to what he - or anyone else who might have seen it - thought of the show. From my understanding, it was a far more sedate, conservative affair than the modern version - as different as night and day :cool:

joea64 said:
You didn't mention Concentration, which was still running in the early 1970's, and which I had the home-game version of in my childhood as well.
I decided to stick to a "Greatest Hits" format for both game shows and soaps, or else the post would have been more than twice as long, and would probably have taken several more days to write. One that very nearly made it in was The Dating Game. I love that Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass soundtrack! But I do like to maintain at least the illusion of narrative flow, so it was cut for pacing.

joea64 said:
I never got into Hollywood Squares, but that was certainly because, being hard of hearing, I found it just about impossible to follow the repartee in those pre-closed-captioning days.
I'm just now noticing that I'm discussing a lot of the personalities in this timeline from a hearing person's perspective: Shatner, Cosell, Lynde, and of course Wawa all have very distinctive voices, and I'm taking the reader's ability to recognize them (or at least discover them) for granted. I'm glad that you're able to appreciate this timeline despite that :)

Also, since we're on the topic of reader accommodation, I also want to address any colour-blind readers who might be having trouble reading my colour-coded annotations. I would be happy to produce different versions for anyone who asks; please feel free to PM me about it, if you don't feel like mentioning it out in the open.

joea64 said:
Speaking of which, aren't the first substantial experiments in CC supposed to be getting underway about now? Remember, OTL, closed-captioning will roll out about 4 or 5 years from the current point in this TL. For those who don't remember, I got one of the first CC units, which was, as might be expected from the late 1970's, a comparatively bulky - about the same size as the average late-1980's VCR - unit which was, of course, controlled via analog switches and dials.
I tend to write about new concepts when they culminate into a definitive event (or product, in this case), as we'll soon see when we get to the space program update in the next few weeks. I've now officially inserted the closed-captioning post into my master list, so I can promise you that we will get to it in due time :)

joea64 said:
And, even though it now seems to have expanded to occupy virtually the entire morning, The Today Show's basic format really hasn't changed that much...Was Good Morning America on at that time? And will CBS be able to develop a decent challenger to the Peacock Network's morning behemoth TTL?
For those who are not aware, The Today Show is now twice as long as it was in the 1970s; it runs from 6 to 10 AM weekdays (with a weekend version as well, having ultimately replaced our beloved Saturday Morning Cartoons). To answer your question, though, Good Morning America did not debut IOTL until 1975. And as for CBS... well, they certainly can't do much worse than IOTL.

All those pets will go unspayed and unneutered!
And all those models, announcers, and other staffers will go unmolested and undisparaged! It's a double-edged sword ;)

But seriously, I don't really watch game shows that often, so I can't really offer any specific comments or critiques, but I can say this was a great update!:)
Really? Aren't you a college student? Aren't all television sets on all college campuses permanently tuned to The Price is Right? :p

But thanks for the compliment, all the same :)

A question - when and for how long do local and national tv news run in the evenings in this era?
Excellent question. Local news usually airs four times a day in this era - at Sign-On, 12:00 Noon, 6:00 PM, and 11:00 PM - generally for half an hour. National news, hosted by Walter Cronkite at CBS, John Chancellor at NBC, and Howard K. Smith at ABC, airs at 6:30 PM, following the local evening news, for another half-hour. In other words, the scheduling is broadly similar to that of the present day IOTL.

Glen said:
A comment - I would suggest backing off in the WaWa stuff - it comes across as taunting people with speech impediments and is a jarring note in an otherwise excellent timeline. Feel free to critique thew journalist/tv personality but do not dwell so much on her pronounciation. Of course this is up to you.
Because it's been a while since we've seen Wawa, I may have gone a little overboard there to compensate. I'll revise the post, taking your criticism into consideration. For the official record: there are many reasons to disparage Walters as a journalist that have nothing to do with her speech impediment. I've already alluded to some of these over the course of this timeline, and more is yet to come.

They are quite dated, but here is the surprising part - my media saturated 8 year old sat through all four episodes in a row for each and enjoyed them. This is very anecdotal but makes me think that children of the early seventies might just enjoy these too.
That's not at all surprising, considering that, in the UK, Doctor Who was very much a children's program during its original run - hence the "Behind the Sofa" phenomenon. And indeed, ITTL, children on both sides of the pond adore Doctor Who.

You obviously have no vewy gweat fwiends in Wome...
I tend to prefer Great American Hunters to Imperial Roman Prefects: Be vewwy quiet... I'm hunting wabbits! Heh heh heh heh...

The Blue-Eyed Infidel said:
Speaking of which, any differences with Monty Python so far?
(Insert stock Monty Python reference here)

We'll hear about Connie Booth's husband and his comedy troupe in due time, I can promise you that much.

With "Star Trek" pushing the acceptance of sci-fi forward, would we see any difference with the supernatural soap opera "Dark Shadows?"
Another excellent question. I decided not to save "Dark Shadows", because the series has strong fantastic elements, with a gothic, romantic tone; whereas Star Trek and Moonshot Lunacy in general would disproportionately benefit science-fiction alone (hence the Saturns being created solely to recognize that genre ITTL). And, therefore, any changes were mostly negligible.

CobiWann said:
Loving this timeline so far. I've passed it to a few no-AH friends who are also enjoying it. Keep up the good work! Your dedication to detail is astounding.
Welcome aboard, CobiWann! And thank you very much for your very warm compliments :eek: I really appreciate that you find my work good enough to pass on to "outsiders". And hello to all of you! Thanks for reading along.

I'm wondering, does this offer more opportunities for women hosts? AFAIK, only Betty White has ever hosted a game show.
Which, ironically enough, was called "Just Men!" She won an Emmy for it, too. As for other women? Only one way to find out!

phx1138 said:
Also, IMO, because its target audience tends to be better-educated. (Is saying I've been a fan of the new version since it started a humble brag?:p)
So you remember when everything about it was awesome. That is definitely worth a little bragging :cool:

phx1138 said:
Any prospect of it being more like "Definition", instead?:cool: (A much more interesting show, IMO. {BTW, skoal.:p})
I beg your pardon? The word is intriguing, thank you very much :rolleyes: And no, Wheel of Fortune, by definition, has to have a wheel. Otherwise, it's just Definition. And what does Definition have, IOTL, that Wheel doesn't? Just three little words: Soul Bossa Nova! :D

phx1138 said:
One aside: I've never noticed the "sewiouswy"...tho TBH, I don't recall every paying really careful attention to her interviews, since her voice alone irritates me.:rolleyes:
To be fair, her speech impediment is not that pronounced, and most parodists exaggerate it for comic effect (as is their wont).

This latest update has produced some really thought-provoking questions, which I always like to see. That's part of the reason why I generally err on the side of not sharing too much information in my updates, because you've all gotten so good at filling in any blanks yourselves. One additional reason why I decided to post a comprehensive overview of the situation as of 1972-73 is because, as I've implied previously, we're on the precipice of some big changes in popular culture. This is very much a time of transition. Moonshot Lunacy is finally on its way out, and a new craze is slated to replace it, and take the First World by storm...
 
Can I ask if you find the captioning bad? I don't need it, but I've turned it on a few times, & it's been frequently terrible... (I recall in particular a doc on the air war over Europe which was damn near incomprehensible...:eek: Some of the captioned names or words were pure nonsense.:confused: And the captioning, being a few seconds behind the sound, just cut off when the show went to commercial, so the ends of sentences disappeared.:eek:)

I think when problems with captioning happen, it has to do with either technical glitches, as in a problem in transmission, or when the event being captioned in question is a live event. The captioners have to listen to what the people are saying like everyone else, and if they don't have an advance copy of the script - like a Presidential speech, maybe, or the emcee's monologue at an award ceremony - then they'd just better hope the speaker talks clearly. I'm sure you've seen how often, when a live event is being captioned, the caption track will backspace and then retype because the captioner transcribed something incorrectly and has to fix it on the fly.
 
I think when problems with captioning happen, it has to do with either technical glitches, as in a problem in transmission, or when the event being captioned in question is a live event. The captioners have to listen to what the people are saying like everyone else, and if they don't have an advance copy of the script - like a Presidential speech, maybe, or the emcee's monologue at an award ceremony - then they'd just better hope the speaker talks clearly. I'm sure you've seen how often, when a live event is being captioned, the caption track will backspace and then retype because the captioner transcribed something incorrectly and has to fix it on the fly.
I've seen that. The examples I've seen weren't glitching (tho there was some 'garble' in the transmission, too, besides), just screwed up.:rolleyes: Not live, either, so I'd have thought they'd have a script.:rolleyes::confused:
 

Falkenburg

Monthly Donor
For those who are not aware, The Today Show is now twice as long as it was in the 1970s; it runs from 6 to 10 AM weekdays.

:eek: Good Lord! :eek:

Is it any wonder some Americans are wont to resort to inflicting recreational mayhem upon each other.

Falkenburg
 
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