TV Time Capsule
Each month, Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum will update views of TV station listings as they appear in either the local publication of TV Guide or regional newspapers. The examples will include the TV station's published listings from central Illinois TV stations with explanations of any points of interest in those listings. PLEASE NOTE: THIS PAGE IS BEST VIEWED ON A FULL-SIZE MONITOR. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THIS PAGE AS INTENDED ON YOUR PHONE!
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Flip Spiceland WICS
The Week of June 5-11, 1976
(Saturday-Friday)
An Explanation: The Back Story
Sonny and Cher were natives of Los Angeles, California, who gained popularity as a singing duo in the mid-1960s. They began as backup singers for the renowned or notorious record producer Phil Spector.
In 1965, Sonny and Cher recorded their first two hits, "Baby Don't Go" and "I Got You Babe." Along with the singles, the couple also released three albums during the late 1960s, which were produced by Sonny Bono and recorded with "The Wrecking Crew," the renowned group of Southern California musicians who worked with numerous other artists from the late 1950s to the 1970s. The albums were "Look at Us," "The Wondrous World of Sonny and Cher," and "In Case You're in Love."
The couple toured Britain in 1965, followed by numerous TV appearances, including "The Ed Sullivan Show," "American Bandstand," "Where the Action Is," "Hollywood Palace," "Hullabaloo," and "Shindig!" among others. They even included a performance in the theatrical movie, "Wild on the Beach."
At one time, Sonny and Cher had five songs in the Billboard Top 50, the first time any artist had achieved that since Elvis and The Beatles. They also produced and appeared in two anti-drug use films, which were distributed to churches and schools in the late 1960s. Due to those films, their popularity declined throughout the rest of the 1960s.
CBS programming executive Fred Silverman spotted them as the couple were guest-hosting on "The Merv Griffin Show" in 1970. That week-long stint with Merv Griffin resulted in being picked for a summer replacement series on CBS called "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" in 1971. It was so popular that it returned to prime time later in 1971 and quickly became one of the top 10 TV shows of the year. It also received 15 Emmy Award nominations during its run on CBS.
Their recording career was also rejuvenated in 1972 with hits like "All I Ever Need Is You" and "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done."
By the third season in 1974, the couple's marriage began to weaken under the strain. They separated in late 1974, which was followed by a highly publicized divorce, effectively ending the original show. In late 1974, Sonny hosted "The Sonny Comedy Revue" on ABC, featuring the same writers and supporting players, but without Cher. Later, the network canceled that effort.
Meanwhile, Cher hosted four installments of a solo variety comedy show, "Cher," for CBS from February 16, 1975, through January 4, 1976. It was one of the top 25 shows of the year.
With her relationship with Gregg Allman, which was on, then off, and then on again, CBS in 1976 developed a plan to reteam the duo of Sonny and Cher, attempting to revive their original show, "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour." Cher admittedly conceived the idea. She told TV Guide in the article included with this issue that she wasn't having any fun doing a solo show because of the pressure of being "in charge." Something that Sonny did for her in the past.
The new "Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" premiered in February 1976 and aired on CBS through August 1977. During the run of this final show, they were pictured in this June edition of TV Guide.
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (CBS)
This edition of the "Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" is from their second stint, which aired from February 1976 through August 1977. This installment aired on January 20, 1977. The guests were Betty White, Ken Barry, and Flip Wilson.
(YouTube)
Nothing else is notable in the early morning Saturday listings other than the fact that the three networks broadcast what was then their regular children's programming.
The picture on the left shows the former antenna of the WAND translator in Danville, located atop the Brezee Tower Building at the corner of Main and Vermilion, Downtown. The tower consists of two antennas. The first red and white structure is the original Channel 68 antenna; the four bays mounted at the right are the newer antenna for Channel 31, W-31-BX, which operated until the transmitter was relocated just east of Kickapoo State Park and moved to UHF channel 23. See TV Today, WAND.
(Picture from the Doug Quick collection)
Points of Interest, Saturday, June 5, 1976, Page A-10
The channels listed in the Eastern Illinois Edition of TV Guide that week include all the same stations viewable today, minus ones that went on the air later. It only consists of the markets of Champaign, Springfield, and Decatur, as well as Peoria and Terre Haute.
Earlier editions of TV Guide also included the Hannibal-Quincy, Ottumwa, IA, Kirksville, MO, and Quad Cities markets. All those omitted stations, along with the Peoria stations, would be split into a western Illinois edition in the late 1960s. Peoria would also continue to be listed in the Central Illinois edition.
Some area cable systems of that era included out-of-market stations, such as the Chicago broadcast of WGN-TV, Channel 9, and the Chicago independent station WSNS-TV, Channel 44. Some cities also included KPLR-TV, Channel 11, in their station lineup.
When my wife and I lived briefly in Decatur in 1979, I remember watching KPLR on cable. United Video relayed it to the Decatur cable company using a series of microwave repeater towers /microwave antennas across central Illinois. As I remember, one of those relay towers was located just east of Lake Taylorville.
Some local stations were still using translators to rebroadcast the live signal from their respective mother stations. WCIA was using the low-powered Channel 49 to rebroadcast Channel 3 to the Springfield area. WMBD-TV was using Channel 71 in LaSalle-Peru to extend the coverage for Channel 31. Plus, WAND utilized Channel 68 to rebroadcast Channel 17 to the Danville area from a short tower/antenna atop the now-being- demolished Brezee tower in downtown Danville.
Points of Interest, Saturday, June 5, 1976, Page A-11
The Saturday morning kids' shows continued on the three major networks. At the same time, the imported independent stations aired various off-network syndicated shows with an appeal to the young, nature shows, farm programming, and even a live pet parade from La Grange, Illinois. From this point forward, I'll ignore the WGN, WSNS, and KPRL listings in my "Points of Interest" comments.
WAND replaced ABC's "Oddball Couple" with a half-hour syndicated feature from the 1950s, the "Jungle Jim" TV series. That was an attempt to air nationally placed commercials for kids (probably cereals, toys, etc.) into their schedule to maximize ad revenue.
Dick Clark's American Bandstand aired on all of the ABC stations listed.
Jungle Jim TV Episode (1955) Syndicated
This episode is from the syndicated series "Jungle Jim," as shown on WAND at 1030 am.
Visit the YouTube Channel by clicking here:
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Points of Interest, Saturday, June 5, 1976, Pages A-12, A-13
At Noon, WICS/WICD aired their respective public affair show commitments. The WICD show was named "Profile," and WICS aired "Pulse." A paid religious program followed that. Peoria's WEEK aired a syndicated wrestling show. Both NBC affiliates took the network at 1 pm for a baseball game.
WAND gave their audience whiplash with "American Bandstand" followed by "Gospel Jubilee." The rest of Channel 17's afternoon consisted of off-network runs of "The Lucy Show" and "The Virginian."
WRAU began the afternoon with a syndicated nature study show, "World of Survival," followed by off-network syndicated shows, "Daniel Boone" and "I Dream of Jeannie." A women's bowling tournament followed.
Throughout the afternoon, WIIL, Channel 38, aired movies from the 1950s.
WCIA stayed with CBS at Noon for "The Children's Film Festival." Did anyone really watch this series? At 1 pm, they broadcast the country music syndicated show "Country 90." That was followed by "Wrestling."
WMBD-TV aired the off-network syndicated "Lost in Space," followed by syndicated country music shows, "The Porter Wagner Show," and "Pop! Goes the Country."
WTHI-TV aired a kid show, "Dr. Hopp and Friends," which was probably locally produced and recorded for playback. An Indiana State University-produced public affairs program followed the kids' show, "ISU Spectrum." Then, "Wrestling" followed the ISU P.A. show.
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Points of Interest, Saturday, June 5, 1976, Pages A-14, A-15
The CBS stations were all on board for "Sports Spectacular," followed by the "Belmont Stakes" at 4 pm. The ABC stations also aired "The Wide World of Sports" at 4 pm on the network.
The NBC stations were on their own at 4 pm as WICS/WICD aired the off-network syndicated "Mission: Impossible." That was followed by "The Beverly Hillbillies." WEEK aired a public affairs program, "Governmental Process: State Legislature," followed by "Nashville on the Road," a country music show, and WTWO aired a syndicated tennis tournament.
At 5:30 pm, all NBC, CBS, and ABC stations broadcast national news. The only exception was with WRAU, as Channel 19 broadcast its local newscast.
WICS/WICD skipped its local newscast on Saturdays, so, along with WRAU, it broadcast the first run syndicated "Hee Haw" country music, comedy, and variety show.
WAND skipped its local newscast to air the off-network syndicated "Star Trek." In the mid-1970s, following its network TV run in the late 1960s, "Star Trek" reached its pinnacle of popularity. During this time, I attended a lecture featuring Gene Roddenberry, the creator of "Star Trek," at Western Illinois University. I always claim this is the high point of my college career!
WTWO, WCIA, WTHI-TV, WEEK, and WMBD-TV aired a local newscast at 6 pm.
By this time, prime time had been pushed back to 7 pm (CT), so the stations filled the prime time access time slot at 6:30 pm locally.
WCIA and sister station WMBD-TV preempted their regular schedule to air the paid religious program at 6:30 pm. Many stations would preempt network programming for paid programs right after the ratings period. In this case, it was just after the May ratings sweeps, which ended on the preceding Wednesday.
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Points of Interest, Saturday, June 5, 1976, Pages A-16, A-17
WCIA and WMBD-TV preempted the "The Jeffersons" rerun for a paid religious program, but the regular CBS show was shown on WTHI-TV.
WTWO preempted the rerun of "Emergency" for "Hee Haw."
It was June, and prime time was filled with (Repeat).
Good Heavens (1976) ABC Carl Reiner
The video above shows the opening credits for "Good Heavens," which starred Carl Reiner. An episode of this short-lived series was broadcast on Saturday evening, June 5, 1976, at 7 pm (CT) on WAND, WRAU, and WIIL.
(YouTube)
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Points of Interest, Saturday, June 5, 1976, Page A-18
It was June, and prime time was filled with (Repeat).
The only first-run programs of the entire night were "Bert D'Angelo," the crime drama on ABC that aired on WAND and WIIL, and CBS presented the first run of "Dinah and Her Friends" at 9 pm.
WRAU aired a paid religious program at 9 pm.
Bert D'Angelo Superstar (1976) ABC Paul Sorvino
Here is a black-and-white 16mm film of an episode of "Bert D'Angelo Superstar." The film appears to have been projected on the wall, as it was recorded on video. The quality isn't excellent, but having a recording like this is better than not having a recording at all.
This series was produced by Quinn Martin and aired on the ABC network. The episode described that night doesn't match the episode shown in this video.
From YouTube and the Brian Schaefer Channel
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Points of Interest the Saturday, June 5, 1976, Page A-20 A-21
WRAU aired a paid religious program at 9 pm.
All of the network affiliates aired a late-night newscast except WIIL, which aired a 1960s movie, "The Chase."
The late-night schedule featured a variety of movies, network specials, and off-network and first-run syndicated shows.
The late-night movies were pretty good, though. "Coogan's Bluff" (with lots of editing for TV, I'm sure), "Cry Wolf" with Errol Flynn and Barbara Stanwyck, "With a Song in My Heart" with Susan Hayward and Rory Calhoun (see the ad for the movie on the page), "Nine Hours to Rama" with Horst Buchholz, and "Summer and Smoke," a Tennessee Williams story, were the film choices.
"Star Trek" and "Space: 1999" were two sci-fi offerings on WAND, while NBC aired a news special on WTWO and WEEK.
Space: 1999 (1976) Syndicated
This episode aired on Saturday, June 5, 1976, at 11:30 p.m. (CT) on WAND. From YouTube: "The Alphans' joy turns to horror when the first child born on the Alpha matures into a five-year-old in hours. This storyline is only a prelude to the arrival of formless alien fugitives, who plan to inhabit Alpha's population."
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Points of Interest, Wednesday, June 9, 1976, Page A-57
The most notable aspect I observed was the morning schedule on WAND. By then, the "A.M. America" morning show was canceled and replaced by "Good Morning America" with David Hartman and Joan Lunden. Although it aired on the network from 7 to 9 am and was broadcast on WRAU and WIIL, WAND delayed the show to air from 8 am to 10 am.
WAND, after signing on with a religious program at 6:50 am, at 7 am, Channel 17 aired the nationally syndicated version of "Bozo's Circus" for kids, followed by the off-network syndicated "Lassie" at 7:30 am.
WCIA signed on at 6:50 with "Loving Free" (unknown format), followed by Farm News at 6:55 am, then the CBS lineup at 7 am. That included "CBS News" and "Captain Kangaroo" at 8 am.
At 9 am, WCIA and WRAU aired the syndicated "Phil Donahue" talk show. WCIA did not air the popular CBS daytime entry of "The Price is Right" at 9 am. WMBD-TV and WTHI-TV both aired the long-running game show hosted by Bob Barker.
WICS, WICD, and WEEK all aired the NBC daytime lineup at least through 11 am.
WAND aired a delayed broadcast (from the preceding day) of "The Edge of Night" at 10 am (after it moved from CBS). WRAU aired the off-network syndicated "Hazel" at 10 am.
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Points of Interest Wednesday, June 9, 1976, Pages A-58 A-59
ABC was airing "Happy Days" reruns during the daytime at 10:30 am. All of the ABC affiliates wisely aired the popular sitcom.
At 11 am, WICS and WICD broke from the NBC game show "Marble Machine" and the talk show "Take My Advice" to air the first run syndicated talk, music, and variety show "Dinah," hosted by Dinah Shore. WEEK and WTWO both aired the NBC offerings.
Surprisingly, at noon, WICS/WICD aired "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," the first syndicated satirical soap meant for "mature" audiences at the time. See the ad on the lower right-hand side of page A-59.
The ABC affiliates, WRAU and WIIL, continued with the network until 3:30 pm. WAND left the network at 3 pm for "The Mike Douglas Show." WAND engineers would videotape "The Edge of Night" to air the following weekday morning. WRAU would air "The Lucy Show" at 3:30 pm, followed by "Petticoat Junction" at 4 pm. WIIL aired a movie at 3:30 pm.
The NBC affiliates, WEEK, would break from the network at 3 pm to air cartoons (unknown), then "Gilligan's Island" at 3:30 pm, and "Maverick" at 4 pm. WTWO aired "Batman" at 3 pm, followed by "The Brady Bunch" at 3:30 and "Bonanza" at 4 pm.
WICS/WICD would break from the network at 3:30 pm after the NBC soap, "Somerset." The stations would air "Hazel" at 3:30 pm, then "Mission: Impossible" at 4 pm.
WCIA continued with CBS through 3 pm, when it would air a movie at 3 pm. WMBD-TV and WTHI-TV aired "TattleTales" at 3 pm from CBS. Then, at 3:30 pm, WMBD-TV aired "Dinah". WTHI aired "I Dream of Jeannie" at 3:30 pm, followed by "The Partridge Family" at 4 pm.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976) First Run Syndication
"Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" was part satire, part soap. The show was created by Norman Lear and premiered on January 5, 1976. It starred Louis Lasser as an Ohio homemaker who took TV commercials seriously while other events were taking place around her that would overwhelm anyone else. For example, her daughter was taken hostage by a mass murderer, her husband couldn't perform and was stuck reliving his high school days, her father was missing, and her best friend became paralyzed.
Others in the cast included Greg Mullavey as her husband, Dody Goodman as Mary's mother, Philip Bruns as Mary's father, and Debralee Scott as Mary's younger sister. Others in the cast included Claudia Lamb, Victor Kilian, Dabney Coleman, Raymond Larkin, Bruce Solomon, Mary Kay Place, and Graham Jarvis.
Many station managers were uneasy about much of the subject matter included in the series. WICS/WICD aired it at Noon on weekdays. WRAU aired it at 10:30 pm on weeknights. The show continued for 325 episodes and ended the following year. It hasn't been seen since.
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Points of Interest, Wednesday, June 9, 1976, Pages A-60 A-61
This continuation of the previous page shows WAND with "Family Affair" at 4:30 pm, followed by ABC News at 5 pm. WRAU and WTHI-TV aired "Bewitched" at 4:30 pm.
At 5 pm, WCIA aired "The Addams Family." WICD and WMBD-TV aired a local newscast. WTHI-TV ran "Hogan's Heroes."
This edition was published at a time in which WICS and WICD were airing different newscasts, both produced at WICS for each station at 5 and 6 pm and simulcasting the NBC News at 5:30. At 5 pm WICD aired its newscast presumably from WICS while WICS aired "Bewitched." Then, at 6 pm, WICD would air a different episode of "Bewitched" while WICS aired its local news.
Both WAND and WRAU aired their respective local newscast at 5:30 pm. That was followed by "Bonanza" on WAND at 6 pm and "Truth or Consequences" on WRAU.
WTWO, WCIA, WTHI-TV, WICS, WEEK, and WMBD-TV aired local newscasts at 6 pm (CT).
The ad for the "Herb Alpert and the TJB" special was syndicated and sponsored by Pepsi, Arby's, and the local IGA Stores. WCIA would preempt "Tony Orlando and Dawn" scheduled on CBS.
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1966) Syndicated from BBC?
"Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass" starred in a TV special for Great Britain on the BBC in 1967, which could have been from the special aired on WCIA on June 9, 1968. The video here is a shortened, edited version that removes the guest stars listed in the TV Guide ad from what could have been seen in the original broadcast, which aired in June 1968.
This video is a black-and-white filmed version (or kinescope) of the show broadcast on British TV. (PAL broadcast system in Britain, NTSC in the US)
If this wasn't the 1968 syndicated special, it was very close to that, as he played virtually all of his hits and then some.
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Points of Interest, Wednesday, June 9, 1976, Page A-62 A-63
The prime-time access time slot was meant for the production of local programming, allowing local stations to better serve their viewers with public affairs, educational, or extended newscasts. However, it didn't turn out that way. It became a dumping ground for off-network syndicated programming and first-run syndicated game or quiz shows.
That's what we're seeing here. I won't detail what each station is airing because it's plainly shown in the listings.
As mentioned, this was after the sweeps month in May and amid the rerun season. Network preemptions for paid religious or syndicated programming, which allowed for selling more profitable local prime commercials, were common. This evening included the "Herb Alpert" special broadcast on WCIA (portions of which are seen in the above video) and at WEEK, where "Sanford and Son" was preempted for a news and public affairs special that met the FCC requirements at the time. But at the same time, you must know that in early June, nighttime viewing was just a fraction of what it would have been like in the winter months.
The rest of the prime time schedule went as expected.
Points of Interest From
Friday, September 17, 1954
Page A-30, A-31
At 6:25 pm, WTVH featured a sports update with Tony Parker. Tony was a sportscaster with WTVP from August 1953 to February 1954 but resigned during a controversial event in early 1954. Read about that event on the History of WTVP.
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Points of Interest, Wednesday, June 9, 1976, Pages A-64 A-65
One interesting note is the listing of "Hawk," which appears on the preceding page and continues at the top of this one. "Hawk starred Burt Reynolds, but this week, the guest star was Burt Convy. They would go on to form a production company in 1987 and create and develop a parlor game into a TV game show, "Win, Lose, or Draw."
All produced late newscasts but one network affiliate. WIIL, Channel 38, Terre Haute did not air local news but did air "Paul Harvey" commentary syndicated feature, followed by a country music show, "Country Place" (unknown format). WIIL, Channel 38, almost went out of business during this period, being the only UHF station in a VHF station market. That was similar to what WJJY-TV went through six years earlier in western Illinois.
The NBC affiliates followed the news with "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."
WCIA and WMBD-TV followed the late news with the off-network syndicated "Ironside." WTHI-TV aired a late movie at 10:30 pm.
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Points of Interest, Wednesday, June 9, 1976, Page A-66
WAND aired "American Lifestyle," a syndicated documentary series narrated by E.G. Marshall. A late-night movie at 11 pm followed that. At 1 am, it was a replay of their 10 pm newscast, followed by a late-late movie at 1:30 am. Decatur was an industrial city with many employees working around the clock, so airing a late-late movie made sense.
On WICS/WICD at midnight, "Tomorrow" with Tom Snyder aired. "Today's Woman" aired at 1 am, followed by a replay of its late newscast.
WCIA followed "Ironside" with "The Untouchables" and "Loving Free" once again (see the morning hours). WMBD-TV, after "Ironside" aired, showed a late movie at 11:30 pm.
WIIL aired a late movie at 10:30 pm and signed off around midnight.
WRAU aired "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" at 10:30 pm, then followed that with a replay of "Phil Donahue," and at midnight, a network syndicated series, "The FBI."
Images from 1976
RCA TV Ad from 1976
This RCA ad featured a real, portable, battery-powered television in attractive colors, despite being a black and white model. Did you or someone you know have one of these?
