Carpenter's classic on television for the first time in October of 1981.THIS IS A NEW COLUMN HERE AT CAC. I was fixing the roof on one of my grandmother's storage buildings and I came across a few boxes of old TV Guides and other vintage magazines. My dad kept everything and when he died, my grandmother threw out lots of things including a bunch of boxes of said TV Guides and other collective paraphernalia. These few boxes survived and I brought them home and dusted them off. Browsing the pages and the antiquated ads within has brought back a handful of additional memories as well as provided a look back at a time when television was a much different place than it is today.
"Hey, Hey, Hey!" Remember these?Back then, Saturday mornings had the coolest cartoons, wrestling was on TV on the weekends at least six different times throughout the day, monster and kung fu flicks were on frequently during the entire week and TV stations "signed off" during after hours at around 2 in the morning backed by the National Anthem. The following are a slew of ads for various theatrical movies making their TV premiere (and maybe a repeat, or two), TV movie premieres, After School Specials (remember those?), Cartoons, Holiday Specials and various popular TV shows and a bunch of shows whose lifespan was terribly short-lived (and a bunch I scarcely remember at all).
1976 ad for three shows. Two I remember fondly and one I don't. You can probably guess the lesser of these three here. Needless to say, like every kid and adult male at the time, I had a serious crush on Lynda Carter most notably in her sexy attire decked out as WONDER WOMAN. I was nearing two years old at this time, but I vividly remember watching this show in the late 70s/early 80s.Movies on TV in October of 1976
THE BLACK TORMENT (1964)--British Gothic horror thriller.
DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN (1971)--Al Adamson's ultra cheesy Clash of the Horror Titans.
FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR (1968)--Naschy gnashes his fangs.
SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY (1973)--TV terror flick with Bette Davis.
NIGHTMARE IN WAX (1969)--Trashy Cameron Mitchell horror flick.
TWISTED BRAIN aka HORROR HIGH (1974)--Reviewed HERE!
BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE (1959)--Ishiro Honda's classic sci fi epic.
THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG (1939)--Karloff horror.
IT CAME BENEATH THE SEA (1955)--Giant octopus attacks San Fran!
THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1943)--Vintage Bela Lugosi vampire flick!
TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)--Corman Poe with Price.
NIGHT OF TERROR (1933)--Lugosi, spooky castle, family heirs bumped off...
HORROR AT 37,000 FEET (1973)--Chuck Connors, William Shatner, Buddy Ebsen aboard a plane with a demonic force in this TV horror flick.
DEATH WISH (1974) makes its network television premiere in November of 1976.
Remember Nell Carter in this TV hit? I liked it mainly because Kari Michaelsen from SATURDAY THE 14TH (1981) was in it.
I never watched THE FALL GUY, but looking at it now, it's a cool concept for a TV show. Late October, 1981.
"Believe it or not", I used to watch this one and even dug the catchy main theme song.
"Knock Three Times" if you remember Tony Orlando and Dawn! Check George Carlin bottom right!
I don't remember this movie, but it's Farrah Fawcett! The image above with her torn outfit strategically open just enough to show off a portion of one of her breasts is worth posting the image.
From 1976 comes this After School Special I never saw, but I do remember Lance Kerwin from SALEM'S LOT (1979).
The Network Television Premiere of the thriller THE STEPFORD WIVES (1975).
Charlie Brown was always on TV at some point or other throughout the year.
The Network Television Premiere for Mel Brooks' magnificently funny comedy, BLAZING SADDLES (1974). What's memorable about the airing of the film on TV is that there was a number of additional scenes put back in to make up for what had to be edited, or clipped out.
Remember these? I do. David Copperfield was cool back then and even more so to me after seeing him the same year in TERROR TRAIN (1980). Image from October 1981.
I vaguely remember seeing an episode or two of THE SONNY & CHER SHOW, but this was a nice ad with The Jackson Five during better days back in 1976.
The 1976 TV premiere for this John Travolta tearjerker, THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE.
The Network Television Premiere of this classic Made For TV horror film. I recall seeing it that Saturday night and me and my friends talking about it at school the following Monday. I also remember what I was doing the following year when this was repeated. My mom had taken me out trick r treating (I was decked out in a Cornelius PLANET OF THE APES costume) and I remember wanting to hurry up and rush home to see it again.Movies on TV in October 1981
Terror Out Of the Sky (1978)--TV movie sequel to the TV Movie hit, THE SAVAGE BEES (1976).
The Sentinel (1977)--Bizarre devil movie with all star cast.
Son of Frankenstein (1939)--Karloff, Rathbone, Lugosi, Atwill together.
Theater of Blood (1973)--Priceless Price horror spectacular.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)--Old B/W horror thriller starring Claude Rains.
Legacy of Horror (1978)--Andy Milligan trash.
Hold That Ghost (1941)--Abbott and Costello comedy caper.
I used to love Disney as a kid, but it's the one thing I've grown out of save for one or two of their movies. Still, this is a nice Halloween ad for some Disney spooky toons.
I never saw this TV movie sequel to Polanski's classic devil worshipper movie, nor do I recall seeing THE PAUL LYNDE COMEDY HOUR. More to come!UNTIL NEXT TIME.....