TV Time Capsule

‘Frank’s Place:’ Hanukkah in the Big Easy

“Eight Crazy Nights,” a celebration of Hanukkah-themed episodes, continues.

Night No. 5: December 14, 1987, when CBS aired the “Season’s Greetings” episode of its much-too-short-lived comedy-drama “Frank’s Place.” 

In the story, when college-professor-turned-New-Orleans-restaurateur Frank Parrish (Tim Reid) expresses his fascination with Jewish holiday customs, his friend Bubba Weisberger (Robert Harper) invites him to accompany him to his mother’s home for a Shabbat dinner.

“There’ll be the traditional prayers, the lighting of the candle, the meal. Then we’ll all sit around and talk about why I’m not married. That, too, is an ancient ritual,” Bubba jokes.

Sure enough, Bubba’s mother (guest star Nan Martin) spends dinner berating him for not settling down. Frustrated, Bubba announces that he and Frank are lovers, practically sending her – and Frank – into cardiac arrest.

Gregory Itzin – “24’s” weaselly President Logan – plays Bubba’s brother-in-law.

In a touching subplot, John Witherspoon, known for his buffoonish roles on “The Wayans Bros.” and in Ice Cube’s “Friday” movies, appears as Frank’s worldly Uncle Ray, whose life isn’t as glamorous as it seems.

“Season’s Greetings” was seen in 11.3 million homes, ranking 44th in the weekly ratings.

See for yourself: Sadly, “Frank’s Place” isn’t online or on video. “Eight Crazy Nights” will continue tomorrow.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Monday, December 14, 1987:

8: “MacGyver” (ABC), “Kate & Allie” (CBS), “ALF” (NBC)

8:30: “Frank’s Place” (CBS)

9: “Monday Night Football” (ABC), “Newhart” (CBS), “Motown Merry Christmas” (NBC)

9:30: “Designing Women” (CBS)

10: “Cagney & Lacey” (CBS), “Secrets Women Never Share” (NBC)

 

The Record

For the week of December 13, 1987:

Top novel: “The Tommyknockers” by Stephen King

Top song: “Faith” by George Michael

Top movie: “Throw Momma From the Train”

Top TV show: “The Cosby Show” (NBC) 

In the news: NBC considered leaving Rockefeller Center for New Jersey!

 

Captions: “Frank’s Place” cast members, from left, Robert Harper, Tim Reid, Frances E. Williams, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Tony Burton and Francesca P. Roberts in a photograph from TV Guide’s September 12, 1987, fall preview issue (top, photo by Mario Casilli); CBS’s advertisement for the “Season’s Greetings” episode, from the magazine’s December 12, 1987, edition (bottom).

Meet ‘Murphy Brown’

On November 14, 1988, CBS introduced “Murphy Brown,” the sitcom that starred Candice Bergen in the title role – a network television investigative reporter, recovering alcoholic and Motown devotee.

In “Respect,” the first episode, Murphy returns from a month-long stay in rehab and scores an interview with a man who claims to have slept with a married woman running for vice president.

Diane English created “Murphy Brown” as a star vehicle for JoBeth Williams, who ultimately decided she didn’t want to do a sitcom. English landed Bergen, a major film star who was required by skeptical CBS executives to read for the role. 

Critics seemed to like the star better than the show; Newsweek’s Harry F. Waters wrote the “ferociously intense Bergen doesn’t suggest Diane Sawyer so much as Sam Donaldson in drag.”

“Respect” was seen in 13.2 million homes, ranking 32nd in the weekly ratings.

“Murphy Brown” grew steadily, peaking at No. 3 during the 1991-92 season, which ended with Murphy giving birth to a son out-of-wedlock – a storyline famously criticized by Vice President Dan Quayle for undermining traditional “family values.”

See for yourself: “Respect” is part of the  “Murphy Brown: The Complete First Season” DVD set.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Monday, November 14, 1988:

8: “Kenny Rogers” (ABC), “ALF” (NBC), “Newhart” (CBS

8:30: “Coming of Age” (CBS), “The Hogan Family” (NBC)

9: “Monday Night Football” (ABC), “Murphy Brown” (CBS), “Too Good to Be True” (NBC)  

9:30: “Designing Women” (CBS)

10: “People Magazine on TV” (CBS)

 

The Record

For the week of November 13, 1988:

Top novel: “The Queen of the Damned” by Anne Rice

Top song: “Wild, Wild West” by the Escape Club

Top movie: Child’s Play”

Top TV show: The Cosby Show” (NBC)

In the news: Congressional Democrats vowed to work with President-elect Bush

 

 

Captions: “Murphy Brown” costar Candice Bergen in a photograph from TV Guide’s October 1, 1988, fall preview issue (top, photographer unknown); CBS’s advertisement for the series premiere, from the November 12, 1988, edition (bottom).

When ‘Murphy Brown’ Met Kelly Green

On October 16, 1989, CBS aired “TV or Not TV?,” a “Murphy Brown” episode that satirized the blurring line between journalism and entertainment.

The plot: Murphy (Candice Bergen), one of the stars of the TV newsmagazine “FYI,” becomes the reluctant role model for Julia St. John (guest star Morgan Fairchild), an actress researching her starring role on the sitcom “Kelly Green.”

Or as Tom Hill described it in his 2001 book “TV Land to Go:”

It’s an episode of a TV series (“Murphy Brown”) about a TV series (“FYI”) becoming an episode of a TV series (“Kelly Green”).

When Murphy tapes a cameo on “Kelly Green,” Connie Chung – who had recently made a much-publicized move from NBC to CBS – visits the “FYI” newsroom to chastise her friend.

“It’s wrong for a journalist of your stature to do a sitcom,” Chung says. “Once you cross that line, you undermine your credibility. I feel so strongly about that.”

Hill ranked “TV or Not TV?” 39th on his book’s list of the 100 best sitcom episodes.

The episode was seen in 12.7 million homes, ranking 26th among the week’s 81 prime-time broadcasts.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Monday, October 16, 1989:

8: “MacGyver” (ABC), “Major Dad” (CBS), “21 Jump Street,” “ALF” (NBC)

8:30 “The People Next Door” (CBS), “The Hogan Family” (NBC)

9: “Monday Night Football” (ABC), “Murphy Brown” (CBS), “Alien Nation” (Fox), “Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer” (NBC)

9:30: “The Famous Teddy Z” (CBS)

10: “Designing Women” (CBS)

10:30: “Newhart” (CBS)

 

The Record

For the week of October 15, 1989:

Top novel: “Clear and Present Danger” by Tom Clancy

Top song: “Miss You Much” by Janet Jackson

Top TV show: “Cheers” (NBC)

At the movies: “Look Who’s Talking”

In the news: A group of newly released South African political prisoners called for Nelson Mandela’s release

 

 

Caption: CBS’s advertisement for the “TV or Not TV?” episode of “Murphy Brown,” from TV Guide’s October 14, 1989, issue.

Monday, February 6, 1989

Let’s say it’s the late ’80s and you’re Brandon Tartikoff, programming chief for NBC, television’s top-rated network.

The first Monday of the February “sweep” – one of four annual periods when broadcasters try to goose their ratings so they can charge more for airtime – finds your competition bringing out their biggest guns.

CBS is airing the second installment of its critically lauded “Lonesome Dove” miniseries; ABC has scheduled Peter Falk’s first “Columbo” movie in more than a decade.

What do you do?

Why, you stunt like crazy, of course!

So on this night 21 years ago, with CBS showing “Lonesome Dove” and ABC airing “Columbo’s” comeback, NBC counterprogrammed with “Night of 1,000 Laughs” – five new episodes of “The Cosby Show,” “ALF,” “The Golden Girls,” “Empty Nest” and “Cheers,” followed by a “Night Court” rerun.

The result?

An average 18 million homes tuned into NBC’s all-comedy night, compared to 15 million for CBS’s lineup (which also included new episodes of “Newhart” and “Kate & Allie”) and 13 million for ABC (which also showed a new “MacGyver”).

NBC aired a second “Night of 1,000 Laughs” on February 12, 1990, but the stakes were lower (the competition that night: ABC’s premiere of “The Jewel of the Nile” and a “Love Boat” reunion movie on CBS), and the ratings were smaller.

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for February 6, 1989:

11:30 ABC NIGHTLINE (CC) – Ted Koppel

11:30 CBS PAT SAJAK; 90 min.

Scheduled: Actor John Goodman (“Roseanne”), author Joseph Wambaugh.

11:30 NBC TONIGHT; 60 min.

Scheduled: Guest host Jay Leno, violinist Itzhak Perlman. Doc Severinsen orchestra.

 

… And in the News

New York Times excerpts from February 6, 1989:

MOSCOW REPORTS EXIT OF ‘LAST SOVIET SOLDIER’ FROM AFGHAN CAPITAL

Soviet troops completed their withdrawal from the Afghan capital of Kabul yesterday, Moscow radio reported, and the last columns of Soviet soldiers were expected to cross into their homeland shortly, ending the Kremlin’s nine-year military intervention in Afghanistan.

For ’88 Returns, ’86 Tax Cuts Are All in Place

As taxpayers begin filling out their 1988 returns in the next few weeks, many will be paying at the lowest rates since World War II. The reason is that 1988 was the first year in which the rate reductions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 were fully effective.

Fury Over Lawmakers’ Raise Finds an Outlet on the Radio

Across the country the airwaves have buzzed for six weeks with the voices of Americans venting their fury over a proposed 51 percent pay increase for members of Congress. …

Roy Fox, a disc jockey on Detroit station WXYT, where some listeners have called in with their own rap songs and musical parodies protesting the raise.

Mr. Fox started the “Tea Bag Revolution” in mid-December by asking listeners to mail their representatives in Washington tea bags bearing the slogan “Read my tea bag, no pay raise.”

Monday, January 9, 1989

Introducing the “Lists & Giggles” periodic trivia series. First up: A quiz about “The Pat Sajak Show,” which CBS introduced 21 years ago tonight. The answers will be posted tomorrow.

1. “The Pat Sajak Show” was CBS’s third late-night talk show, following “The Merv Griffin Show,” which aired from 1969 until 1972, and a 1950s news-oriented interview series. Name it.

2. To prepare for his CBS show, Sajak  studied tapes of another famous late-night host. Name him.

3. How did Sajak respond when the Washington Post’s Tom Shales asked him to say something bad about Johnny Carson?

A. “I don’t think he flosses as often as he could.”

B. “He’s a little past his prime.”

C. “He’s the master. He’s my hero.”

4. “The Pat Sajak Show” won its first Nielsen showdown with NBC’s “Tonight Show,” which featured substitute host Jay Leno. What ABC sitcom star was Leno’s guest?

5. True or false: Sajak’s bandleader, Tom Scott, also conducted the band on Fox’s 1993 “Chevy Chase Show.”

6. True or false: Sajak’s sidekick, former news anchor Dan Miller, previously worked with him at WTVF in Nashville, where Sajak was the weather forecaster.

7. True or false: Vanna White never appeared on “The Pat Sajak Show.”

8. To join CBS, Sajak stopped hosting NBC’s daytime version of “Wheel of Fortune.” Who replaced him?

9. In February 1990, three months before CBS cancelled “The Pat Sajak Show,” the network began auditioning possible replacements for him on air. What radio star was given a tryout?

A. Don Imus

B. Rush Limbaugh

C. Laura Schlessinger

10. Whose late-night talk show debuted six days before Sajak’s and proved far more successful?

    

From the Pages of TV Guide

 

Also airing January 9, 1989:

8 PM NBC ALF (CC)

ALF patrols the grounds after Willie (Max Wright) brings home a pushy guest (Todd Susman) who’s in a witness-protection program. Doug: Jesse D. Goins. John: Ron Steel. Trevor: John La Motta.

8:30 NBC HOGAN FAMILY (CC)

Sandy (Sandy Duncan) thinks she’s hired “Robo-Secretary” after Mrs. Poole (Edie McClurg) whips the entire school into tiptop shape. Meanwhile, Michael (Josh Taylor) fends off the amorous advances of an admirer (Cristine Rose). Directed by Jason Bateman, who plays David.

9 PM CBS MURPHY BROWN (CC) – Comedy

Guess who’s not invited to the Inaugural Ball and can’t find anyone to take her and can’t get over her swift descent in Washington society? Murphy: Candice Bergen. Murray: Lou Willis. Lillian: Edith Fields. Secretary No. 10: Annabelle Gurwitch. Jackie: Suzie Plakson. Miles: Grant Shaud. Corky: Faith Ford. Phil: Pat Corley. Frank: Joe Regalbuto.

9:30 CBS DESIGNING WOMEN (CC)

A wilderness outing designed to build leadership finds Julia and Mary Jo (Dixie Carter, Annie Potts) striking out on their own after a dispute with two “urban cowgirls” in their group, while first-time camper Bernice (Alice Ghostley) surprises everyone with her energetic command. Big Edie: Denny Dillon. Mickey Jr.: Doris Hess. Connie: Sharon Madden. Corrine: Maggie Murphy. Dorothy: Meg Wyllie. 

Monday, Nov. 30, 1987

Twenty-two years ago tonight, NBC aired “Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery,” a two-hour TV movie that doubled as a pilot for the 1989-91 “Father Dowling Mysteries” series.

“Fatal Confession” starred Tom Bosley as Father Frank Dowling, a Chicago priest and fan of detective novels who suspects one of his parishioners – a man whose death police ruled a suicide – was actually murdered.

Helping Dowling prove his theory: Sister Steve (Tracy Nelson), a streetwise nun who’s also an ace pool hustler and card shark.

Their investigation brings them into contact with all manner of unsavory characters, including the deceased’s scheming business partner (Peter Scolari), a pompous senator (Leslie Nielsen), the senator’s devious daughter (Susan Blakely) and a mob family’s intimidating matriarch (Sada Thompson).

“Fatal Confession” was one of the sound-alike titles the networks slapped onto TV movies in the months after the success of the 1987 Glenn Close/Michael Douglas theatrical flick “Fatal Attraction.” (See also CBS’s “Fatal Judgment” and NBC’s “Dangerous Affection”).

Father Dowling’s first adventure didn’t wow critics – “Do we really need a priest fighting crime along with everyone else in prime time?” Ray Richmond asked in the Orange County Register – and “Fatal Confession” finished third in its time slot behind a Los Angeles Raiders/Seattle Seahawks game on ABC’s “Monday Night Football” and “The Secret Garden,” a “Hallmark Hall of Fame” movie on CBS.

Nevertheless, NBC ordered a “Father Dowling Mysteries” series, airing seven hour-long episodes in the winter of 1989 and then dropping the show. In January 1990, “Father Dowling Mysteries” returned with new episodes, but this time on ABC, where it aired for another season and a half.

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing Nov. 30, 1987:

8 PM NBC ALF (CC)

ALF gets a crash course in civics from Kate (Anne Schedeen), who has a dream that ALF crashes the political scene as a Presidential candidate. Political interviewer John McLaughlin appears as himself. Sen. Hossenfeffer: Louis Felder. Rep. Pearl: John O’Connell.

8:30 CBS KATE & ALLIE (CC)

From last season: In a toast to “I Love Lucy” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Allie (Jane Curtin) receives a letter for Charles and her desire to read it is acted bout in her dreams: first as Lucy with Kate (Susan Saint James) as her cohort Ethel, then as Rhoda to Kate’s Mary. Mr. Harris: Paul Austin. (Repeat)

[Beginning next week, “Kate & Allie” airs a half hour earlier.]

11 PM FOX WILTON NORTH REPORT – Comedy; 60 min.

Debut: Straight news with a comedy approach anchors this weeknight offering. Producer Barry Sand plans an offbeat look at the day’s events with hosts Phil Cowan and Paul Robins; a talk with a newsmaker; and a follow-up discussion with interviewers Nancy Collins and Greg Jackson.

11:30 NBC TONIGHT; 60 min.

Guest host Jay Leno and actor Vincent Price. Doc Severinesen and the Tommy Newsom orchestra.

12:30 NBC LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN; 60 min.

Scheduled: Tom Brokaw. (Repeat)

Tuesday, Oct. 25, 1988

Twenty-one years ago tonight, television standards plunged further when NBC aired “Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground,” a two-hour “documentary” from “journalist” Geraldo Rivera.

The network touted the special as an investigation into crimes and a correlation between heavy metal music and Satanism, but the Washington Post’s Tom Shales had a different description, calling it “dirty-minded teleporn,” filled with “talk about butchered babies, dismembered corpses, cannibal cults and sex orgies.”

He noted the networks had cut their departments of standards and practices, attributing the whittling to “hyped competitiveness fostered by the Reagan administration’s sweeping deregulation” of broadcasting.

NBC began “Devil Worship” at 8 p.m. – the slot it reserved for “ALF,” “The Cosby Show” and “Family Ties” on other nights – requiring frequent interruptions for disclaimers and parental advisories.

As Shales reported, Rivera himself addressed parents during the broadcast: “I am begging you. This subject is just too upsetting for your young children. Please, get them out of the room or change the station!”

NBC’s entertainment division produced “Devil Worship,” triggering much strife within the network.

The news division refused to allow Rivera on “Today” to promote “Devil Worship,” and “Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw told the Los Angeles Times “quasi-news programs cheapens the genuine news product.”

In the days before broadcast, with negative publicity mounting, NBC was forced to sell some commercials at half price.

The Los Angeles Times reported KNBC’s “Devil Worship” broadcast carried just 14 commercials, including two for the National Enquirer and three for new horror movies.

An NBC spokeswoman told the Times the network’s switchboards received 331 complaints in New York and Burbank. (A secretary at the NBC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said it received just one call – from a viewer whose home lost power as the broadcast began and wanted a rerun.)

“Devil Worship” finished fifth in the weekly ratings, with viewers in almost 20 million homes. Only NBC’s “Cosby,” “Cheers” and “A Different World” and CBS’s “60 Minutes” ranked higher.

In his 1992 memoir “The Last Great Ride,” NBC entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff recalled hiring Rivera after he scored big ratings opening Al Capone’s vault in a live syndicated special in 1986.

Another concession: “Devil Worship” was conceived as a “blunting weapon” to counter the second episode of ABC’s “Roseanne,” which ended up ranking eighth.

Although Tartikoff was apologetic in the days after the “Devil Worship” broadcast, he struck a somewhat defensive tone in his book, noting affiliates received calls and letters from viewers thanking NBC for “exposing this very real problem … infecting their communities.”

Still, Tartikoff wrote, “If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t.”

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing Oct. 25, 1988:

8:30 ABC ROSEANNE (CC) – Comedy

The Conners are in the money after Dan’s new job brings in a $500 advance, but Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) could end up in the doghouse if she treats herself to that special perfume she really can’t afford. Dan: John Goodman. Jackie: Laurie Metcalf.

Monday, Oct. 12, 1987

Twenty-two years ago tonight, NBC aired “Right to Die,” one of many TV movies from the era that attempted to mimic the success of “The Burning Bed.”

Like “Bed,” “Die” cast a beautiful actress best known for lighter roles (Farrah Fawcett in “Bed,” Raquel Welch in “Die”) in a story about a serious disease or social issue (domestic violence in “Bed,” euthanasia in “Die”).

Both movies put their leading ladies through the wringer – Fawcett appears bloodied in “Bed;” Welch – as a woman stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease – suffers severe physical deterioration.

And, of course, “Bed” and “Die” are both “based on a true story” – a TV movie requisite.

Other films that followed this formula include “Stone Pillow,” which cast Lucille Ball as a homeless woman; “Nobody’s Child” (Marlo Thomas in a mental institution), Ann Jillian (recreating her real-life battle against breast cancer in “The Ann Jillian Story”) and “Wild Texas Wind” (Dolly Parton as another battered woman).

None of the movies achieved the same level of success as “The Burning Bed.”

Reviews for “Right to Die” were lukewarm.

“The film attempts to rationalize a patently immoral act and fails,” the Washington Post’s Tom Shales observed.

“For all the promotional mileage that NBC has gotten out of Raquel Welch leaving her makeup kit behind to tackle ‘serious’ drama … the truth of ‘Right To Die’ is she merely trades in her mascara and blush for a different kind of mask,” wrote the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lloyd Sachs.

Another difference between “Right to Die” and “The Burning Bed:” the latter stands as the fourth most-watched TV movie of all time; the former drew just 15 million households, finishing 25th in the weekly ratings.

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing Oct. 12, 1987:

8 PM CBS FRANK’S PLACE – Comedy-Drama

Frank’s introduction to the men’s social clubs begins with a wild night with Tiger (Charles Lampkin) and his friends, followed by lunch with a fellow Brown alumnus (Ron O’Neal), whose own club is a little more reserved – and restricted. Broussard: Jay Flash Riley. Grand Driver: Jay Brooks. Anna-May: Francesca P. Roberts. Big Arthur: Tony Burton.

8 PM NBC ALF (CC)

ALF, upset by a lie his parents told him, becomes the hairiest monk in history in order to “contemplate life’s vicissitudes.” Brother Ed: John M. Miranda. Willie: Max Wright.

8:30 NBC VALERIE’S FAMILY (CC)

There’s a hitch in the twins’ school project on marriage when Willie goes after Mark’s wife, while David (Jason Bateman) tries to best Sandy … at anything. Sandy: Sandy Duncan. Tracy Nash: Kellie Martin. Janice Sommers: Aimee Brooks. Willie: Danny Ponce.

9 PM ABC TO BE ANNOUNCED; 2 hrs.

9 PM CBS NEWHART (CC)
Pressed to come up with an idea for a new TV show, Michael (Peter Scholari) steals one from a student in the TV-production class he’s teaching. Neal: John Zarchen. Bill Coder: John Putch. Dick: Bob Newhart. Bev: Linda Carlson. George: Tom Poston.