|
Post by intrepid37 on Jan 13, 2024 18:16:39 GMT
My favorite actor in Hill Street Blues was Kiel Martin. I'd first noticed Kiel in the early 70's when he starred in a couple of now obscure films (Trick Baby, Lolly-Madonna XXX) and always thought he should have had a more illustrious career than he did. In Lolly-Madonna he outshone a whole fleet of better-known actors, I thought. In the show's last two seasons, the new breakout star was Dennis Franz who played Detective Buntz...he was set up for a spinoff. Franz had made a huge impression back in the early seasons when he played the nasty and ill-fated Detective Benedetto. He was so popular as that villain with audiences that they brought him back as Buntz, still kinda unseemly and gruff, but not villainous anymore.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 13, 2024 18:28:20 GMT
In the show's last two seasons, the new breakout star was Dennis Franz who played Detective Buntz...he was set up for a spinoff. Franz had made a huge impression back in the early seasons when he played the nasty and ill-fated Detective Benedetto. He was so popular as that villain with audiences that they brought him back as Buntz, still kinda unseemly and gruff, but not villainous anymore. The spinoff was ludicrous, where his character and a previously recurring character (played by Peter Jurasik) were sent off to Beverly Hills. It ran for only 13 episodes. They should have just kept Buntz in the same city, but now transferred to a new precinct, or else opening up his own detective agency, where he might still bump into some of his old cronies.
Fortunately for us, Franz landed NYPD Blue a short time later and the rest is history!
|
|
|
Post by intrepid37 on Jan 13, 2024 18:55:08 GMT
Franz had made a huge impression back in the early seasons when he played the nasty and ill-fated Detective Benedetto. He was so popular as that villain with audiences that they brought him back as Buntz, still kinda unseemly and gruff, but not villainous anymore. The spinoff was ludicrous, where his character and a previously recurring character (played by Peter Jurasik) were sent off to Beverly Hills. It ran for only 13 episodes. They should have just kept Buntz in the same city, but now transferred to a new precinct, or else opening up his own detective agency, where he might still bump into some of his old cronies.
Ah, yes. I think that was called Beverly Hills Buntz or something silly like that.
Never watched it.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 15, 2024 14:31:28 GMT
NOVEMBER 1981
7 November 1981
The Two of Us: Mimi Kennedy & Peter Cook
Note: This short-lived CBS sitcom had two abbreviated seasons and produced a total of 20 episodes. It never caught on. Kennedy played a single working mom, with Cook on hand as her British butler and possible love interest.
14 November 1981
Loretta Lynn special
Note: Typically, country stars graced the cover of TV Guide when it was time for the Country Music Awards. But this was a unique occasion…on the heels of the hit movie about her life, Loretta Lynn was given her own TV special.
21 November 1981
John Lennon
Note: Sort of an odd time for them to be putting Lennon the cover. It wasn’t quite the one-year anniversary of his death. That wouldn’t be till December 8.
28 November 1981
Father Murphy: Merlin Olsen and friend
Note: Former pro football star Merlin Olsen had successfully transitioned to acting, in the role of a likable farmer on Little House on the Prairie. In 1981, Michael Landon “spun him off” on to his own show, playing a new character. In the beginning, this program was a modest hit with viewers. But when the writers decided a year later that Olsen’s character should not be a real priest, but a man posing as a priest (to facilitate romantic storylines with a female costar), people tuned out.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 16, 2024 13:34:04 GMT
DECEMBER 1981
5 December 1981
Private Benjamin: Lorna Patterson
Note: This short-lived sitcom was based on the hit 1980 movie starring Goldie Hawn. Patterson took over the title role. Eileen Brennan, who played the strict captain in the movie, reprised her role for this small screen version. However, Brennan would be severely injured when she was hit by a car in real life. She was replaced by Polly Holliday (after the cancelation of Flo), but the series quickly tanked without Brennan.
12 December 1981
Video games
Note: Clearly, this cover is a sign of the times…how massively popular video gaming had become, a craze that hit meteoric heights mid-decade.
19 December 1981
Holiday edition
Note: It was time for TV Guide’s annual edition covering holiday specials.
26 December 1981
Henry Fonda
Note: Fonda had experienced a career resurgence earlier in the year appearing in the motion picture On Golden Pond. Oscar nominations would not be announced until January (he did get nominated, and he did win). But this cover was probably commissioned because Fonda was starring in an ABC TV movie with Myrna Loy called Summer Solstice. It would be Fonda’s last screen role, as the actor passed away in August 1982.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 17, 2024 15:14:21 GMT
1982
JANUARY 1982
2 January 1982
Magnum P.I.: John Hillerman & Tom Sellek
Note: Magnum was in its second season and still riding a wave of popularity. Per the cover, there was an article inside the magazine that reviewed the best TV movies of the previous year.
9 January 1982
Little House on the Prairie: Michael Landon
Note: This cover focused on Michael Landon’s work behind the scenes as a creative force, responsible for writing and directing many of the series’ top episodes.
16 January 1982
Bending the Rules in Hollywood
Note: Every so often, the editors of TV Guide would examine business decisions in Hollywood that were affecting the TV trade.
23 January 1982
Super Bowl
Note: Super Bowl XVI took place on the 24th of January. The score was San Francisco 49ers 26 and Cincinnati Bengals 21.
30 January 1982
CHiPs: Robert Pine, Jon Wilcox & Erik Estrada
Note: This was the last cover to feature Jon Wilcox who quit at the end of the season, feeling that Estrada’s popularity had eclipsed his own. As for Estrada, he was battling the producers over profits from reruns. To ensure his demands were met, he went on strike this season and missed three episodes. He was temporarily replaced by Bruce Jenner.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 19, 2024 14:21:50 GMT
FEBRUARY 1982
6 February 1982
The Jeffersons: Sherman Hemsley
Note: Midway through the eighth season of The Jeffersons, Sherman Hemsley had become one of the show’s most recognizable and popular stars. An interview focused on his personal life, though I’m sure the more private aspects of his closeted sexuality were not included in the article.
13 February 1982
The Wall
Note: Eli Wallach, Tom Conti and Rachel Roberts starred in the holocaust drama The Wall, which was produced by Time-Life and aired on CBS. It told the story of a Ghetto Jewish uprising in Warsaw that occurred back in April 1943. Over 600 members of a Jewish fighting organization in Poland held off a Nazi force that numbered 3000.
20 February 1982
60 Minutes hosts
Note: This cover featured all the main hosts of CBS’ popular news magazine, including the show’s newest member Ed Bradley.
27 February 1982
Dynasty: Pamela Sue Martin, John Forsythe & Linda Evans
Note: This was the first cover on which John Forsythe appeared as his character Blake Carrington. Martin and Evans had already been on other covers promoting the show during the past year.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 20, 2024 13:40:54 GMT
MARCH 1982
6 March 1982
Love, Sydney: Swoosie Kurtz, Kaleena Kiff & Tony Randall
Note: This was the only cover for the NBC comedy Love, Sydney which was Tony Randall’s latest attempt at heading a sitcom after The Odd Couple. It only lasted two seasons. Kurtz would find her best role on Sisters in the 1990s, while Kiff would be cast as Tony Dow’s daughter in The New Leave It to Beaver.
13 March 1982
Three’s Company: Priscilla Barnes, John Ritter & Joyce DeWitt
Note: This was the first cover for the long-running show after Suzanne Somers’ firing at the end of the previous season. Barnes would continue to play the role of the blonde roommate until the program ended in 1984.
20 March 1982
Ronald Reagan
Note: The editors snagged an interview with the president. Of course, that would make the cover!
27 March 1982
Dallas: Larry Hagman
Note: Nearly two years after the ‘Who Shot J.R.?’ phenomenon, primetime soaps were still going strong and ruling the ratings. In this article Hagman discussed the less-than-angelic aspects of his popular Dallas character.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 21, 2024 13:08:16 GMT
APRIL 1982
3 April 1982
Baseball
Note: It was time for TV Guide’s annual spring training issue.
10 April 1982
NBC Nightly News: Tom Brokaw
Note: This was the beginning of the Brokaw era on NBC’s evening news program. Though never outperforming Dan Rather at CBS or Peter Jennings at ABC, Brokaw still managed to carve out a niche for himself.
17 April 1982
Happy Days: Scott Baio, Henry Winkler & Erin Moran
Note: No doubt this cover was meant to publicize the popularity of Baio & Moran whose characters were being spun off with their own weekly sitcom, Joanie Loves Chachi.
24 April 1982
A Woman Called Golda: Ingrid Bergman
Note: This telebiopic based on the life of Golda Meir was Ingrid Bergman’s last screen role. Produced by Paramount as a four-hour event, it aired as a syndicated special in U.S. markets. Overseas, it was broadcast in one-hour installments as a four-part miniseries. Bergman earned an Emmy for her performance, which was awarded posthumously one month after her passing. She also earned a Golden Globe. What a way to end a long and successful career!
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 23, 2024 10:24:04 GMT
MAY 1982
1 May 1982
The Dukes of Hazzard: John Schneider, Catherine Bach & Tom Wopat
Note: This cover marked the end of the series’ fourth season, and what would be the last episode (for a while at least) in which Schneider & Wopat appeared. The two lead actors were embroiled in a contract dispute with Warner Brothers over residual earnings and merchandising. They would sit out for most of the next season, before returning full-time for a few episodes at the end of season 5. The Dukes of Hazzard ended up running for 7 seasons, but took a tumble in the ratings during the fifth season, and the show had trouble recovering.
8 May 1982
Goldie Hawn special
Note: Goldie Hawn was now a full-fledged movie star, but TV viewers remembered her from her time on Laugh-In.
15 May 1982
Marco Polo: Ken Marshall
Note: NBC aired this big budget miniseries about the 13th century explorer at the end of the 1981-82 TV season. It was eight and a half hours long and was broadcast over four consecutive evenings.
22 May 1982
Falcon Crest: Billy Moses, Lorenzo Lamas & Jane Wyman
Note: As the 1981-82 season drew to a close, TV Guide gave Falcon Crest its first cover. Created by Earl Hamner (who was also responsible for The Waltons), this hit series benefited from a strong-lead in provided by Dallas. Though many cast members came and went, Jane Wyman would remain with the program all nine seasons. So did costar Lorenzo Lamas, who managed to appear in every single episode (the only person to do so).
22 May 1982
60 Minutes & General Westmoreland
Note: This cover reflected the year’s biggest story on 60 Minutes, a report involving U.S. Army General William Westmoreland that was broadcast back on January 23rd. It was called ‘The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception.’ Westmoreland was unhappy with how he was presented in the piece, and he brought a libel suit against CBS for $120 million. He also named Mike Wallace, the host/reporter of the feature, in the suit. At issue was Westmoreland’s claim that Wallace had asked biased and slanted questions, and that answers were edited to impugn Westmoreland’s integrity regarding his role in Vietnam between 1964 and 1968. Litigation continued until 1985, with Westmoreland eventually dropping his suit against CBS when it looked as if a jury was going to side with CBS.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 25, 2024 11:56:11 GMT
JUNE 1982
5 June 1982
The Love Boat: Lauren Tewes & Gavin MacLeod
Note: The show was at the peak of its success, and until Dynasty peaked in the mid-80s, this would be one of Aaron Spelling’s most successful primetime series. Behind the scenes, things were not all rosy, as Tewes was battling a drug addiction.
12 June 1982
Foreign Disinformation
Note: This cover and the accompanying article about the vulnerability of network news reporting is a perfect example of cold war paranoia.
19 June 1982
Hill Street Blues: Daniel Travanti & Veronica Hamel
Note: This was the second cover for Travanti as Hill Street’s Captain Frank Furillo. His onscreen romance with Hamel’s character was generating some attention.
26 June 1982
Knots Landing: Michele Lee
Note: Michele Lee will always be remembered for her signature role as Karen Fairgate Mackenzie. Lee was left a bit rudderless when costar Don Murray left the show after a dispute with the producers. Murray’s character was abruptly killed off, and Lee was forced to soldier on without him. But she created onscreen magic with a brash new love interest, played by Kevin Dobson.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 27, 2024 13:38:02 GMT
JULY 1982
3 July 1982
Too Close for Comfort: Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Lydia Cornell & Ted Knight
Note: Another cover for the Ted Knight sitcom which focuses on funny dad and sexy daughters, without including wife/mom Nancy Dussault.
10 July 1982
The Facts of Life: Mindy Cohn, Nancy McKeon, Charlotte Rae, Lisa Whelchel & Kim Fields
Note: The popular spinoff of Diff’rent Strokes was heading into its fourth season. It would outlast the parent series and by the time it ended its run in 1988, it was NBC’s oldest sitcom.
17 July 1982
General Hospital: Rick Springfield
Note: Not many TV Guide covers focused on a single actor appearing on a daytime soap. Rick Springfield’s popularity had received a boost a year earlier when his song Jessie’s Girl hit the top of the Billboard charts.
24 July 1982
The Greatest American Hero: William Katt
Note: This hit ABC series spawned a top 5 pop hit and made Katt a star. Katt was the son of Bill Williams and Barbara Hale. He would work with his mother in a bunch of Perry Mason TV movies later in the decade.
31 July 1982
Father Murphy: Katherine Cannon & Merlin Olsen
Note: The second cover for Olsen’s short-lived series played up the romantic nature of his character, who was not really a priest.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 28, 2024 15:04:13 GMT
AUGUST 1982
7 August 1982
Archie Bunker’s Place: Carroll O’Connor & Denise Miller
Note: To fill the void left by the departure of Jean Stapleton, who played Edith, the writers brought in an older sister for Danielle Brisebois’ character. She was portrayed by Denise Miller and clashed with Archie. The show was heading into its fourth and final season on CBS.
14 August 1982
T.J. Hooker: William Shatner
Note: The only cover for Shatner’s semi-popular cop show. The series was produced by Aaron Spelling and aired on ABC. Because of such an odd choice for the character’s last name, the writers were forced to refer to call girls as “prosties” instead of hookers.
21 August 1982
Gimme a Break!: Nell Carter & Dolph Sweet
Note: This was the only TV Guide cover for the long-running NBC sitcom. Sweet died from cancer at the end of the fourth season, and his death was written into the show as part of a special fifth season opener. After Sweet’s passing, the role of costar Telma Hopkins, who played Carter’s bestie, was beefed up and the focus switched to two women raising children together.
28 August 1982
Laverne & Shirley: Penny Marshall & Cindy Williams
Note: Behind the scenes, Williams was embroiled in a contract dispute with producers. After filming just two episodes for the eighth season, the actress walked off, never to return. Marshall was forced to go it alone during the last season, which surprisingly did not tank after Williams’ departure. Though the show was now only about Laverne, it retained the original title.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 29, 2024 14:23:50 GMT
SEPTEMBER 1982
4 September 1982
Miss America Pageant
Note: The 56th Miss America Pageant was broadcast on NBC on September 11th. Debra Maffett from California was the winner.
11 September 1982
Fall Preview
Note: The special fall edition was usually twice the size of regular editions. Two series had already begun earlier in the year: Cagney & Lacey and T.J. Hooker. Other series that debuted in the fall of 1982, which would become hits: Family Ties; Knight Rider; Cheers; Matt Houston; Newhart; Remington Steele; and Silver Spoons. Cheers would last the longest, running for 11 seasons and leading into a successful spinoff, Frasier.
18 September 1982
Dallas: Victoria Principal
Note: This is when TV Guide’s love affair with Victoria Principal begins. She’d previously been on a Dallas-related cover back in 1979. From this point forward, she becomes just as important as Larry Hagman. Even after she leaves the popular soap in 1986, TV Guide’s editors continue to find reasons to put her on the cover.
25 September 1982
TV Newspeople
Note: Interestingly, they use the word ‘newspeople’ instead of ‘newsmen.’ Yet they do not feature any female news reporters. And there were some— like Jane Pauley, Lesley Stahl and Connie Chung. Oh, and Barbara Walters had begun as a newsperson.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on Jan 30, 2024 13:54:01 GMT
OCTOBER 1982
2 October 1982
Bare Essence: Genie Francis
Note: Daytime soap star Genie Francis (Laura from Luke & Laura fame on General Hospital) was transitioning to primetime in a special miniseries. Bare Essence had a two-part airing on NBC the first week of October 1982. The network was sufficiently pleased with the results and ordered a regular series, which didn’t premiere until early 1983. The weekly show did not do well and was canceled after 11 episodes. During the run of Bare Essence, Francis met and fell in love with costar Jonathan Frakes. They were married in 1988.
9 October 1982
World Series
Note: The ’82 World Series saw the St. Louis Cardinals go up against the Milwaukee Brewers. This was the first time the Brewers had played in a World Series (Wisconsin’s previous team, the Braves, had been in the 1958 series but subsequently moved to Atlanta). The Cardinals won this face-off 4-3.
16 October 1982
Honeyboy: Erik Estrada & Morgan Fairchild
Note: Going into the final season of his hit cop show CHiPs, Estrada appeared in this TV movie. He played a Puerto Rican middleweight boxer. Made by Erik Estrada Productions, the telefilm aired on NBC.
23 October 1982
Dynasty: Linda Evans & Joan Collins
Note: This was Joan Collins’ first time on the cover of TV Guide in her well-known role of Alexis Carrington Colby. On the show, she and Evans played rivals battling for John Forsythe’s attention.
30 October 1982
Trapper John M.D.: Pernell Roberts
Note: The cover says Roberts was angry about something. But what was it?
|
|