I never heard of Tales of Tomorrow until I saw it showing up on streaming channels. But it was definitely obscure.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Most obscure program you remember
- Thread starter installLSC
- Start date
The opening scene from Newhart, though it has no waterwheel, vaguely reminds me of the opening scene for Apple's Way. Similar bucolic setting, similar music.
Cute, but couldn't hold a candle to Melissa Sue Anderson.
80’s tv is a blur to me. But the 70’s are crystal clear. Such a big quality difference between decades, but will admit age has something to do with it. I turned 21 in 1980.
I remember "Apple's Way" and watched some of the first season. The show seemed to veer towards more dramatic storylines in the second season.
Some shows I thought could fall into the obscure category:
"Doc," (CBS)--a sit-com which starred Barnard Hughes as a general practitioner.
"Beacon Hill," (CBS)--a US version of "Upstairs/Downstairs."
"AKA Pablo," (ABC)--a Norman Lear sitcom which starred Paul Rodriguez.
"My Life And Times," (ABC)--a show set in 2035 with the lead character reminiscing about his life. Some story lines were set in the then-future. One of the actors in the show was Helen Hunt.
Does anyone recall the 1979 show "Supertrain?" It was on NBC, and went with the formula of shows like "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island."
There was "Pink Lady And Jeff" (NBC), a variety show with Jeff Altman and the Japanese singing duo Pink Lady.
Then there were shows like "The Montefuscos" and "Manimal." Both were on NBC. I bring these two shows up because, while canceled quickly, got more life as the butt of jokes. David Letterman beat up on "Manimal" even before its premiere, and Johnny Carson teed-off on "The Montefuscos" like Arnold Palmer at the US Open.
Oh, and "Man From Atlantis" (NBC), which starred Patrick Duffy a year before "Dallas." I remember him talking about this show on Carson after it was canceled. He was very funny talking about the things that didn't go quite right on that show.
Some shows I thought could fall into the obscure category:
"Doc," (CBS)--a sit-com which starred Barnard Hughes as a general practitioner.
"Beacon Hill," (CBS)--a US version of "Upstairs/Downstairs."
"AKA Pablo," (ABC)--a Norman Lear sitcom which starred Paul Rodriguez.
"My Life And Times," (ABC)--a show set in 2035 with the lead character reminiscing about his life. Some story lines were set in the then-future. One of the actors in the show was Helen Hunt.
Does anyone recall the 1979 show "Supertrain?" It was on NBC, and went with the formula of shows like "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island."
There was "Pink Lady And Jeff" (NBC), a variety show with Jeff Altman and the Japanese singing duo Pink Lady.
Then there were shows like "The Montefuscos" and "Manimal." Both were on NBC. I bring these two shows up because, while canceled quickly, got more life as the butt of jokes. David Letterman beat up on "Manimal" even before its premiere, and Johnny Carson teed-off on "The Montefuscos" like Arnold Palmer at the US Open.
Oh, and "Man From Atlantis" (NBC), which starred Patrick Duffy a year before "Dallas." I remember him talking about this show on Carson after it was canceled. He was very funny talking about the things that didn't go quite right on that show.
In my area (Greeneville-Spartanburg- Asheville), Hee Haw beat the heck out of She's The Sheriff and Marblehead Manor, so no wonder they didn't last.
Last edited:
I know in my area (Des Moines) Hee Haw aired at 6pm on ABC 5 and she's the sheriff aired at 9pm on fox 17 on Saturdays in the 1987-88 season, the following year she's the sheriff moved to Sunday nights after the fox primetime block.
Another short-lived NBC show from 1983(same year as 'Manimal') was 'Mr. Smith', about a talking orangutan that enters politics.
Two really obscure educational shows. Fins, Feathers, and Fur it was about a petshop and the people who worked in it that taught writing and grammar skills. I think it was produced by AIT. Had a really catchy theme song. This show from TV Ontario called Let Me See. It had a talking clock that was really a man madeup to look like a clock with clock hands on his nose. And he talked in a goofy voice.
Found an old reddit thread about it. Not my post.
Found an old reddit thread about it. Not my post.
I watched the Turn-On premiere-demise. It was perfect for the 11-year-old me, and still would be. It and the never-aired second episode are available for viewing at the Paley Museum, I believe.
FYI, ABC aired the premiere-demise in full. A myth surrounding the show has it being pulled by the network midway through. Not so. Perhaps an affiliate or two did. Chagrined ABC then got cold feet for a modern-day sitcom Norman Lear was pitching, fearing more affiliate rejections. He took it to CBS: All In The Family.
Last edited:
We're getting into thread drift territory now. A show that lasts at least two full seasons is hardly obscure. Forgotten or never heard of by most people 60 years later, sure. But a weekly program with a regular slot on a major network for all or parts of three years is not and was never obscure.
It had a good cast, including host David Frost (who also hosted the original BBC series), Henry Morgan, Alan Alda and Tom Lehrer, but it was probably too "high-brow" for the average viewer.
It was pre-empted frequently leading up to the 1964 election, as both the LBJ and Goldwater campaigns bought air time in that slot.
"Peyton Place" on ABC benefited from the fact that the LBJ and Goldwater campaigns bought airtime in that slot.
House of Buggin' which aired on Fox from January to April on Sunday nights in 1995. The series was similar in tone to In Living Color but wasn't as good and starred John Legiozimo who around the time played Lugi in the Super Mario Bros. Movie. Fox considered picking it up for a second season but recasting the entire cast with John Legiozimo refuzing and Fox canceling the series after one season of ten episodes.
I think WEWS-5 in Cleveland was one station that yanked "Turn-On" midway through the show, even though guest star Tim Conway was a Cleveland-area native.
There may have been one or two others.
Three and a half years later, then-ABC affiliate WKRC-12 in Cincinnati yanked the premiere episode of ABC's late-night rock music series "In Concert" after a performance by Alice Cooper (one of the first "shock rockers") so infuriated the station manager (who was watching) that he called the station's master control room and ordered the program yanked. Supposedly, WKRC filled the rest of the timeslot with a "Rawhide" rerun.
The station was bombarded with angry phone calls and even bomb threats.
When "TW3" finally returned after the election, that week's episode began with a clip of Barry Goldwater's concession speech with an off camera announcer saying "Due to circumstances beyond our control, tonight's paid political broadcast sponsored by Senator Barry Goldwater will not be seen. Stay tuned for 'That Was The Week That Was', here on NBC".
My late Mom was a big fan of "TW3" and became a confirmed David Frost fan for the rest of her life, watching any show he did or was in.
My late Mom was a big fan of "TW3" and became a confirmed David Frost fan for the rest of her life, watching any show he did or was in.
Cincinnati was a very conservative city in those days (and compared to many other cities, still is). Somehow I'm not surprised.
- Status