All right, here's where I divert course with the rest of the pop culture blogonetisphereaverse. While I am saddened by the death of anyone, I'm not feeling all that nostalgic about the fact that Fred 'Rerun' Berry has died. I knew who he was (or his character at least), but only from the VH1's I Love the 70s and the recent Dickie Roberts movie. Other than that...clueless.
I just never watched What's Happening? much (if at all). Which got me wondering: What did I watch instead? So, I tracked down a site that has the prime time schedules from years gone-by, called Television History - The First 75 Years, and took a gander at 1977.
Guess I must have been watching The Waltons (or maybe CHiPs). My dad ruled the TV in those days. We were allowed our run of the dial--all 4 channels--on Saturday and after school, but TV in the evening was his domain. Period. My mother never stayed up past 8pm, so it was his TV and his shows.
Looking back at these program grids, I can pick out each night's viewing schedule like it was coming up this evening:
Saturday
8pm - The Bionic Woman
9pm - Starsky & Hutch
10pm - Carol Burnett
Sunday
7pm - 60 Minutes (we used to watch Disney when we were little)
8pm - The Six Million Dollar Man
9pm - whichever movie was better
Monday
8pm - Little House on the Prairie
9pm - Monday Night Football (or the movie)
Tuesday
8pm - Happy Days
8:30 - Laverne & Shirley
9pm - M*A*S*H
9:30 - One Day At A Time
10pm - Lou Grant (maybe)...more likely Police Woman
Wednesday
8pm - The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
9pm - Charlie's Angels
10pm - Baretta
Thursday
8pm - The Waltons
9pm - Hawaii Five-O
10pm - Barnaby Jones
Friday
8pm - Wonder Woman (or, Lord help me, Donnie & Marie)
9pm - The Rockford Files
10pm - Quincy
So, what was on your TV tray?
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
I was in high school and college through most of the '70s and didn't see all that much prime time TV - sort of missed that decade, though I did see a lot of the late night music and comedy shows and remember them fondly. Never even heard of this poor fellow.