Memorable TV Line-Up’s:CBS Monday Night (Fall 1998)

Let’s go back to CBS, and about twenty-five years after our last time, for the lineup that surprised me with how much I liked it. I thought I was getting tired of TV and wouldn’t find a new night of shows I’d love. Course Must See TV was still around but I thought that would be it. Then CBS Monday Night’s came around, and suddenly I had a second favorite night of TV.

  It started with this show I kinda liked:

8:00pm
Cosby

This was Bill Cosby’s other show and was only ok. But thanks to a crossover stunt I started watching the other shows on that night and was hooked. This show was about a retired Hilton who was cranky,,,,and stuff I don’t remember. Madeline Khan was in it, that ruled!

Memorable TV Line-Up’s:ABC Friday Night (Fall 1989/1993)

 

So I discussed the most memorable line-ups from NBC and CBS. Time to give ABC a turn. And it only makes sense to discuss one of the best remembered and best loved program blocks from that network-TGIF!! Yes I’m sure there were better line up’s especially in the 70’s, but this is the one that really stands the test of time (the concept even being revived recently). This year also happens to be the 30th anniversary!

 

Around 1988 ABC had discovered putting kid friendly shows on Friday was a smart idea. This made sense, usually Friday was a black hole for TV viewership since people often go out. Except younger kids. So we had Benson, Webster, Mr.Belvedere..to name a few. This peaked in 1988 while also at that time ABC had success branding its Tuesday lineup “Terrific Tuesday”. So much success they did the same thing on Friday’s, thus TGIF (Thank Goodness it’s Funny) was born. The premiere of the block featured an animated mouse and even a theme song, but we’ll get back to that in a bit. For now, here are the inaugural shows that launched TGIF in 1989.

8:00
Full House

This show’s legacy amazes me. It isn’t smart or sophisticated, and everyone no know’s! It was cute, and I guess that’s what people love about it. The show knew it was corny and silly so it just went and had fun with it.

Memorable TV Line-Up’s:CBS Saturday Night (Fall 1973)

 

Welcome back my friends as I look at some of the best TV line-up’s ever. Last time I discussed 1994. Twenty years earlier, CBS was the one with the killer line up. The amazing part? It was on Saturday! Saturday is notorious for being hard to program since many people go out. NBC did it successfully (we’ll cover that another day) for a brief time, but it’s the CBS one everyone remembers. Let’s take a look at a lineup which is considered by many to be one the best prime time line-ups’ EVER

CBS had been having trouble making it’s Saturday line-up solid. A comedy called Bridget Loves Bernie just wasn’t making the grade, neither was Mission:Impossible at 10:00. So in 1973 CBS took another show called MASH and put it in the slot. Then swapped in a little variety shows you may have heard of at 10:00. The result? Magic!

8:00
All in the Family

This was the classic Norman Lear comedy which broke all the rules. And I mean, ALL the rules. It’s amazing to me that people loved Archie Bunker, who was bigoted and prejudiced as they come. But that was the magic of Carroll O’Connor. Of course the supporting cast weren’t bad either, especially the always adorable Jean Stapleton as Edith. One thing I loved this show for were all the barriers they broke, from showing a toilet (gasp!) to Archie changing a babies diaper on screen.

Five Horrible “Guardian Angel” Sitcoms

There are tons of movies about ghosts coming back from the dead and haunting the living. Sometimes it’s to terrorize them, but others take a different approach and will have the ghost return as a spirit guide, angel or “guardian” angel. They help another person, and even themselves, to be better with wise advise and guidance. There are so many movies about ghosts I could list them all day.

Doing these kind of stories as a TV show, however, is not as easy. A movie always has a set run time so you can get the jokes and gags out before the whole movie gets boring. Sitcoms go on for episodes. Episodes and episodes, of basically the same joke. The character is dead. Oh sure you can do a single episode and probably get away with it (Benson did this very effectively in an episode starring Katherine Helmond as her character from Soap), but a whole series? It almost never works. In fact, some of the worst sitcoms ever made focus on “guardian angels”



I very briefly touched on these before, but what were these shows about? Let’s take a closer look:


The Ghost and Mrs Muir

Carolyn Muire moves into a cottage in Maine with her to kids. The cottage is haunted by the ghost of its former owner, Daniel Gregg a 19 century sea captain. Hi jinks ensue. This was based on a movie which focused on the fantasy element. The series went for comedy, and barely lasted two seasons. To be fair, Hope Lange was the star an won two Emmy’s for her role.

Memorable TV Line-Up’s:NBC Thursday Night (Fall 1994)

Seven years ago I did a did an article on my favorite “program blocks”. These are the time’s when every show on a certain day and network is so great you just sit the remote down and enjoy, with no changing channels. However there were some problems with that article. One, it was very abbreviated with no pics or even videos of the shows. And 2, it was a top 5. 5??? I bet there are a dozen line up’s I could go over and spotlight over the last several decades!

So, that’s exactly what I decided to do. Take a specific network lineup and just go over it, the good and the bad. Prime time, day time, fall, spring…whatever. I feel this is an important thing to discuss because in today’s world of binge watching and streaming services, the concept of just enjoying an evening lineup on any regular network is quickly disappearing. Watching TV just isn’t the communal thing it was for years. Oh sure people in the 80;s didn’t come over to watch with friends the same way they did in the Uncle Miltie days, but there was still a feeling that you were watching the show with a million others. Course you would literally watch together whether it be my family or friends or even wife later on. Then we just talked about it the next day (hence, water cooler show) at work or school, or wherever. This doesn’t happen as much anymore, people watch wherever and whenever they want. The Big Bang Theory may in fact be the very last event finale of a TV show we ever see. I’m sad to see this, but it is what it is and I can’t deny that services like Netflix are doing some real quality. Habits change, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun and remember how it used to be.

 

Now this is an experiment to see if I like this idea so I an starting with an obvious one. I promise if I do more I will get more obscure and/or nostalgic (which will give me a chance to cover shows I always seem to ignore). For today, let’s go back to NBC’s fall lineup in 1994. And I am using the posted starting line up’s for these blocks I know they tend to be shuffled as the year goes on.

I’ll come back to 1984 some other time, today I wanted to focus in 1994. What in the world was in the water at NBC that year? I mean this line up was so rock solid and phenomenal that it boggles the mind. This was back when NBC was, well, good!

8:00
Mad About You

This was sort of the Seinfeld spin-off that never was. It was basically the same idea, just with a married couple instead of a group of friends. And while the would lose its way, it was at its best this season.

Top 10 TV Hangout’s (Diners/Bars)

I talked awhile back about my favorite waiters, waitress’s and bartenders at our favorite TV diner’s and restaurants. But one thing I never discussed was the places themselves. It’s true that in some shows the hangout’s don’t have much personality, like Nemo's on Everybody Loves Raymond, or “The Touchdown Club” on Coach. The characters were always there, but who remembers that place?

 
But in other shows, the hangout becomes so popular that it almost qualifies as a character in of itself. Here my favorites:





#10.The Simpsons

One of the amazing things about this show is how fleshed out the town and community of Springfield are. And one of the first places we learned to love was Moe’s Tavern. Whether it was Homer getting some advice or Bart playing yet another prank, we all loved this place. Hey, wasn’t there a Simpsons article I was supposed to be doing…..

Top 10 Favorite Batman Designs

Two months ago I discussed my favorite super hero costumes. You know, the costumes that are just aesthetic pleasing to me with no regard for character or anything else like that. And on that list was Batman. But the thing is, Batman’s design has changed a lot over the years. Oh sure the basic design is always the same, but as the character as grown as did his outfit. I kinda illustrated this a couple weeks ago in my rundown of Detective Comics over the last 80 years. But which of these are my
favorites?

So since we’re still celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Caped Crusader, it seemed only fair to go over them. Here are my ten favorite Batman designs. These come from comics, cartoons, and live media. But no video games, I had to draw the line somewhere! Also no crazy variations either like Elsewords stories or that awful 90’s heavy metal version.

#10.Superfriends Batman

I had to put this on here because I grew up with this version. This was the version I knew best as a kid. And looking back, yeah it’s kinda silly looking. They have the design down but there’s just something about the way it’s drawn that I just can’t see this Batman striking fear into much of anything.

Five Things I Liked in “Return of the Jedi”

It’s been almost twenty years since “The Phantom Menace” came out. I still can’t believe how long it took us all to accept how awful that movie was. So I thought today it would be fun to pretend it was twenty years ago, and we still live in a world with only three Star Wars movies. If you recall this simpler time, you may recall that of those three “Return of the Jedi” was considered the “bad one”. Where it ranks today is another discussion for another day. Instead I wanted to talk about this movie, which was my favorite of the three.

 

Released in 1983, this movie did not wow critics or fans. And I get that, I mean another death star battle? I give then credit for using Lando at least but it was still dull. Also I will admit as I have aged that the Ewok’s beating the empire’s best troops like that is kinda…stupid. True Vader’s redemption could be considered too easy. And don’t get me started on that revised ending I will always prefer the original. So ok it wasn’t the strongest movie, but I still love it. Here are five reasons why, aside from the fact that it was  the first Star Wars movie I was old enough to really appreciate in theaters.

Obi Wan’s Cameo


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 I loved Obi Wan’s cameo with Luke after Yoda dies. By the way it was well done, but why did Yoda have to die in this movie? Anyway the scene with Obi Wan talking to Luke is great. I always thought it was such well written and delivered bit of exposition. It;s good to finally find out who Vader is and that, yes Luke has to defeat him. Yeah I know the continuity is a tad off. Whatever, I’m sure there’s a novel that clears it up somewhere put there.

Overrated Trek:The Trouble with Tribbles

Welcome back to overrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I hate…which may be popular or even loved by most. This has been a long time coming as I wanted to do this for awhile. Today let’s talk about an “classic” episode that is just plain lame. This is :

 

So is this episode really the classic that people claim? I mean it does focus on the critical issue of protecting grain shipments. I mean What’s… quadro-triticale? I think it’s wheat, so what?   Let’s see: