TV Time Capsule

Happy New Year, ‘Laverne & Shirley’

“New Years Week” continues.

On December 27, 1977, ABC aired “New Year’s Eve 1960,” the “Laverne & Shirley” episode that showed how the girls spent the last night of the 1950s.

 

Ah, the “Laverne & Shirley” credits: Sadly, another example of a sitcom that doesn’t quite live up to its terrific theme song. And we’ll do it our way/Yes our way/Make all our dreaaams come truuue/For me and yooou.

The girls are counting the money they’ve collected for the New Year’s Eve party that Shirley (Cindy Williams) is throwing. Laverne (Penny Marshall) wants to go with Norman, the cop she’s been dating, but the “entire Milwaukee police force is on duty New Year’s Eve.” She’s narrowed her remaining options to Jake the Snake, Benny the Newspaper Guy and Herbie Schul.

SHIRLEY: Hmmm. A motorcycle hoodlum, a man with filthy hands and a guy who turns his eyelids inside out.

LAVERNE: Yeah, they’re really nice guys.

The girls learn Laverne’s childhood crush Pete has broken up with his latest squeeze, Beatrice. Shirley tells Laverne if she can lure Pete to their apartment, Shirley guarantees she can persuade him to ask Laverne to the party.

 

Scene change!

 

Pete (guest star Craig Littler) brings Laverne home. She puts on some make-out music, but the record she chooses – “Chances Are” – turns out to be Pete and Beatrice’s favorite. “Stupid song!” Laverne says as she rips the record off the phonograph player. Laverne and Pete get chummy when Shirley arrives and begins dropping hints that Laverne needs a date for New Year’s Eve. Before Pete departs, he asks Laverne if he can escort her to Shirley’s party. The plan worked!

 

Party time! Shirley’s boyfriend Carmine (Eddie Mekka) tries to teach Laverne’s dad Mr. DeFazio (Phil Foster) how to dance the twist: “Just pretend you’re drying your backside with a towel while putting cigarettes out with your feet.”

 

 Time lapse!

 

SHIRLEY: I’m telling you Laverne, this is the best New Year’s Eve party I’ve ever thrown!

LAVERNE: Yeah, being here with Pete is like a dream come true.

SHIRLEY: Well, would you look who’s dreaming?

LAVERNE: What? I dream. I just don’t like to talk about them. It don’t hurt so bad if they don’t work out.

SHIRLEY: Well, I’m glad this one’s working out. It’s nice to see you so happy.

Oh, this is going to end well.

 

Carmine gives Shirley a diary as a present. She opens it and finds the first page already filled in:

SHIRLEY [reading]: January 1, 1960. Dear Diary: Spent New Year’s Eve with Carmine as usual. This year’s midnight kiss was his best ever. After everybody left, Carmine stayed and told me that the nicest thing about the ’50s was me.

CARMINE: And you’re going to be the nicest thing about the ’60s, too.

That Big Ragu is so sweet!

 

Pete wants to kiss but there’s no mistletoe, so Laverne hangs some oregano. Then Pete’s ex Beatrice enters and plays “Chances Are” on the jukebox. Pete and Bea fall into each other’s arms and begin dancing; Laverne is crushed. Altogether now, studio audience: Awww!

 

Laverne returns to the apartment, where she mixes a bucket of her favorite drink: milk and Pepsi. Shirley arrives and tells her it’s not her fault Pete left her standing under the oregano.

“Yes it is. I just ain’t pretty enough for him,” Laverne says as a slow version of the “Laverne & Shirley” theme begins swelling in the background.

Shirley, take it away:

SHIRLEY: Don’t ever say that. I don’t ever want to hear you say that again.

LAVERNE: It’s true.

SHIRLEY: It’s not true. You’re very pretty. Very pretty. What’s more important, you’re pretty on the inside.

LAVERNE: Big deal, pretty inside. If they ever cut me open, maybe I’ll be Miss America. Pretty inside is what they say to people who ain’t pretty, Shirl.

SHIRLEY: Laverne, you’re pretty on the outside too, and you know it.

Shirley begins singing – Should auld acquaintance be forgot/And never brought to mind – and it’s so awful Laverne smiles.

 

The girls move to the front stoop, where everyone has gathered to witness the mysterious stunt goofball neighbors Lenny and Squiggy (Michael McKean, David L. Lander) have planned for midnight. A squad car arrives – it’s Norman, the cop Laverne had hoped to spend New Year’s Eve with in the first place!

 

It’s time for the big surprise: Lenny, dressed as Father Time, leads the countdown to midnight as Squiggy, dressed as Baby New Year, lowers himself down a rope from near the top of the building.

 

Ten, nine, eight …

 

… seven, six, five …

 

… four, three, two, one!

 

Happy New Year!

 

See for yourself: “New Year’s Eve 1960” is part of the “Laverne & Shirley: The Complete Third Season” DVD set.  

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Tuesday, December 27, 1977:

8: “Happy Days”* (ABC), “CBS Reports: Illegal Aliens in Los Angeles” (CBS), “Pine Canyon is Burning”* (NBC)

8:30: “Laverne & Shirley” (ABC)

9: “Three’s Company”* (ABC), “M*A*S*H”* (CBS)

9:30: “Soap” (ABC), “One Day at a Time” (CBS), “Terraces”* (NBC)

10: “Family”* (ABC), “Lou Grant”* (CBS)

 

The Record

For the week of December 25, 1977:

Top novel: “The Silmarillion” by J.R.R. Tolkein

Top song: “How Deep is Your Love” by Bee Gees

New at the movies: “High Anxiety”

Top TV show: “Laverne & Shirley” (ABC)

In the news: Sadat planned a visit to Sudan

‘Happy Days:’ Richie Cunningham, Tough Guy

On October 14, 1975, ABC aired “Richie Fights Back,” the “Happy Days” episode that TV Guide and TV Land have each declared the sitcom’s best.

The plot: Clean-cut teenager Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) is being terrorized by neighborhood bullies Rocko and Frankie (guest stars Jeff Conaway and Ken Lerner), so he enlists diner owner Arnold (Pat Morita) to teach him jujitsu.

When that fails, Richie’s cool, motorcycle-riding friend Fonzie (Henry Winkler) teaches him to act tough. “Of course, with that Howdy Doody face, you can only be so tough,” Fonz says.

The episode culminates with a showdown at Arnold’s, where Richie tries to throw Rocko but manages only to whip the thug’s leather jacket to the ground.

Finally, Richie resorts to acting like a madman – running around Arnold’s and leaping on tables – until Rocko becomes convinced he’s crazy and runs away.

“Richie Fights Back” finished 19th in the weekly ratings.

In 1997, TV Guide ranked the broadcast 88th on its list of television’s 100 greatest episodes; four years later, it placed 86th on TV Land’s list of the top 100 sitcom episodes.

It was the only “Happy Days” episode included on either list.

“Richie Fights Back” is part of the “Happy Days: The Third Season” DVD set.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Tuesday, October 14, 1975:

8: “Happy Days” (ABC), “Good Times” (CBS), World Series, Game 3 (NBC)

8:30: “Welcome Back, Kotter” (ABC), “Joe and Sons”  (CBS)

9: “The Rookies” (ABC), “Switch” (CBS)

10: “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (ABC), “Beacon Hill” (CBS)

 

The Record

For the week of October 12, 1975:

Top novel: “Ragtime” by E. L. Doctorow

Top song: “Bad Blood” by Neil Sedaka

Top TV show: World Series, Game 5 (NBC)

At the movies: “Let’s Do It Again”

In the news: Democrats were urged to nominate a woman for vice president

 

 

Caption: “Happy Days” cast members Ron Howard and Henry Winkler on TV Guide’s January 10, 1976, cover (photograph by Mindas).

‘Oh Madeline’? Oh Brother

On September 27, 1983, ABC introduced “Oh Madeline,” a sitcom that tried to establish Madeline Kahn as the Lucille Ball of the 1980s.

Kahn played Madeline Wayne, a bored housewife whose misadventures exasperated her romance-novelist husband Charlie (James Sloyan). There were two quarreling supporting characters: Robert Leone (Louis Giambalvo), Charlie’s best friend, and Doris (Jesse Welles), Robert’s ex-wife and Madeline’s sidekick.

The similarities to Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel were undoubtedly intentional.

In fact, ABC and producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner – who would later produce “The Cosby Show” and “Roseanne” – seemed to invite comparisons to “I Love Lucy.”

Like “Lucy,” “Madeline” relied on screwball plots and slapstick physical comedy, albeit with ’80s sensibilities.

In the first episode, Madeline gets trapped in Robert’s bathroom during a clandestine mission to retrieve Doris’s diary and winds up fleeing while wearing only a towel.

In another scene, Kahn mugs for the camera, Lucy-style, while using a treadmill.

Miami Herald critic Sandra Earley noted how Kahn even wore her red hair piled atop her head, a la Ball.

Earley wasn’t crazy about “Oh Madeline” but she liked Kahn, describing the actress as having “the kind of TV presence that requires ours.”

The Washington Post’s Tom Shales wrote the show “squanders Kahn’s singular broad-comic gifts on frazzled and tattered material. … The woman is funny. But no intriguing context is ever developed. It’s just Madeline thrown out into a sitcom like a child dropped in a sandbox and told to play.”

The Associated Press’s Fred Rothenberg described “Oh Madeline” as being “forgetfully funny, with characters you wouldn’t find in real life, or want to know anyway.”

Viewers agreed.

“Oh Madeline” was part of ABC’s fading Tuesday night lineup.

The debut was the week’s 21st most-watched prime-time broadcast, but ratings soon dipped and ABC cancelled the show after 18 episodes.

 

Also on TV

On September 27, 1983, ABC also aired a new episode of its hip-genie sitcom “Just Our Luck” and the final season premieres of “Happy Days” (Fonzie experiences a midlife crisis), “Three’s Company” (guest star Joanna Kerns wants to have Jack’s baby) and “Hart to Hart” (Jonathan and Jennifer recall how their romance began in London; when they met, it really was murder!); CBS broadcast the season premiere of the Ralph Waite legal drama “The Mississippi” and “One Cooks, the Other Doesn’t,” a comedic TV-movie starring Joseph Bologna as a man caught between ex-wife Suzanne Pleshette and young bride Rosanna Arquette; and NBC showed new episodes of “The A-Team” and “Remington Steele” and the first installment of “Live … And In Person,” a series of three variety hours – aired over consecutive evenings – hosted by Hollywood super-agent Sandy Gallin.

 

The Record

During the week of September 25, 1983, the number ones were James Michener’s “Poland” (novel), Billy Joel’s “Tell Her About It” (song) and “Mr. Mom” (movie). In Washington, pressure grew on Interior Secretary James Watt to resign after he described a federal commission as being comprised of “a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple.” Classy guy!

 

 

Captions: “Oh Madeline” cast members, from left, Francine Tacker, James Sloyan, Madeline Kahn and Louis Giambalvo in a photograph from TV Guide’s September 10, 1983, fall preview issue (top, photo by Mario Casilli); ABC’s advertisement for the series premiere from the magazine’s September 25, 1983, edition (bottom).

Sunday, March 5, 1972

“Gay Days” continues.

It’s no secret ’70s medical dramas have a crummy track record when it comes to casting gay people in a positive light.

In 1973, “Marcus Welby, M.D.” advised a closeted, married father that the man’s homosexuality was a “serious illness,” urging  him to resist his urges so that he could “deserve the respect” of his young son.

Later that year, on “Medical Center,” a gay psychiatrist urged a young girl that her lesbian feelings shouldn’t be taken seriously.

All of which makes “Discovery at Fourteen,” “The Bold Ones” installment that NBC aired on this night in 1972, so surprising.

The episode, which aired as part of “The New Doctors” medical series, cast Jane Wyman as Amanda Fallon, a pediatrician trying to determine why 14-year-old patient Cory Melino (Ron Howard) has a bleeding ulcer.

After some digging, Amanda learns Cory has secretly discovered his father Jack (Robert J. Hogan) – who long ago divorced the boy’s mother and moved away – is gay and is worried he’s going to grow up to be gay, too.

Amanda, with help from a young associate played by Mike Farrell, helps Cory understand that he won’t inherit his father’s homosexuality.

Quite remarkably, Amanda also shames Cory’s mother and Jack’s estranged father (Lynette Mettey, Jim Davis) for their prejudice against Hogan’s character. “We’re not going to get anyplace until you crawl out of your Victorian caves. These are enlightened times,” Amanda says.

(At the end of the episode, viewers learn Jack and his father are moving toward reconciliation.)

Of course, “Discovery at Fourteen” isn’t without its flaws. Amanda’s search for Jack takes her to a gay bar populated by homosexuals straight from Central Casting (pencil mustaches and ascots abound) and, despite Amanda’s counsel that homosexuality isn’t inherited, we know today there’s plenty of genetic evidence to the contrary.

But hey, let’s not quibble. This isn’t “Marcus Welby, M.D.”

Besides, how can you not appreciate a show in which Angela Channing (Wyman’s “Falcon Crest” character) treats Richie Cunningham’s ulcer, pals around with B.J. Hunnicutt (Farrell’s “M*A*S*H” alter ego) and lays the smackdown on Jock Ewing (Davis’s “Dallas” role)?

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for March 5, 1972:

9:00 NBC BONANZA (CC)

Roscoe Lee Browne, who has played everything from light comedy to heavy drama, stars as a crippled old man on an unlikely odyssey: nailing his grandson’s murderer. Written and directed by Michael Landon (Joe). Jamie: Mitch Vogel. (60 min.)

Guest Cast

Joshua …… Roscoe Lee Browne

Zack …………. William Watson

Clem …………… Robert Doyle

Jonah ……….. Edward Crawford

Hal ……………… Jeff Morris

Sheriff Tyson …….. Joseph Perry

 

For the Record

Also on March 5, 1972:

Herman Wouk’s “The Winds of War,” William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist” and John Updike’s “Rabbit Redux” are best sellers. Nilsson’s “Without You” tops the music chart. And freshmen entering Columbia University next fall will pay an average of $3,668 for tuition and housing, or $1,103 more than current seniors paid when they arrived in 1968.

Tuesday, February 24, 1976

“Challenging the Classics” reviews classic episodes to see how they stand the test of time.

The show: “M*A*S*H”

The episode: “The Interview,” which is presented as a black-and-white 1950s TV documentary about life in the 4077th. Clete   Roberts, a real-life Korean War correspondent, interviews the “M*A*S*H” actors, who appear in character and mostly improvise their answers.

The broadcast: 34 years ago tonight, from 9 to 9:30 on CBS.

Why it’s a classic: “The Interview” was the final episode of “M*A*S*H’s” wonderfully innovative fourth season. (Other installments that year included “The Bus,” which took place entirely outside the 4077th camp, and “Hawkeye,” which was essentially a half-hour monologue by Alan Alda.) “The Interview” won no awards, but it’s remembered fondly by fans and critics.

Does it hold up? Absolutely. In true “M*A*S*H” style, “The Interview” is alternately hilarious …

MAJOR FRANK BURNS (Larry Linville): I don’t see any harm in doctors being order to behave as patriotically as possible.

ROBERTS: Doesn’t patriotism have to come from the heart?

BURNS: I don’t have that problem.

… and heartbreaking:

 

FATHER FRANCIS MULCAHY (William Christopher): When the doctors cut into a patient and it’s cold – you know, the way it is now, today – steam rises from the body and the doctor will … will warm himself over the open wound. Could anyone look on that and not feel changed?

While it depicts a conflict from a half-century ago, “The Interview,” like all good classics, is resonant. When the buffoonish Burns shares his belief that “Korea will become a shining policy of benign military intervention,” you can hear the echo of Dick Cheney’s prediction that the United States would be greeted as liberators in Iraq.

“The Interview” is also a lovingly authentic tribute to early TV journalism: the edits are occasionally choppy, Roberts’ microphone is omnipresent – even the on-screen font used to identify the characters is done in utilitarian ’50s style.

Finally, it’s impossible to watch “The Interview” today and not think about “The Office,” “Modern Family” and other contemporary shows that employ the mockumentary format each week. Of course, “The Interview” turns out be much more satisfying than almost any installment from those shows.

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for February 24, 1976:

8:00 ABC HAPPY DAYS

Fonzie needs glasses but he would rather go blind than make a spectacle of himself. Jack Dobson plays Ralph’s father the optometrist. Fonzie: Henry Winkler. Howard: Tom Bosley. Ralph: Donny Most. Potsie: Anson Williams. Marion: Marion Ross. Joanie: Erin Moran. Richie: Ron Howard. Supporting cast … Betty: Joan Roberts.

 

… And in the News

New York Times excerpts from February 24, 1976:

SCHORR RELIEVED OF DUTIES BY CBS
The Network Acts Pending Resolution of Inquiry Into Leak of House Report

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 – CBS News formally relieved Daniel Schorr today of all duties as a Washington correspondent pending resolution of a Congressional investigation of his leak of a House committee’s intelligence report to The Village Voice.

Tuesday, February 14, 1978

“Be Mine Week” concludes with “Be My Valentine,” the “Happy Days” episode ABC broadcast 32 years ago tonight.

Sing! Valentine’s Day finds Joanie Cunningham (Erin Moran) daydreaming – in music! – about the couples in her life. The loveliest sequence stars her parents, Howard and Marion (Tom Bosley, Marion Ross):

HOWARD: We met at nine.

MARION: We met at eight.

HOWARD: I was on time.

MARION: No, you were late.

HOWARD: Oh yes, I remember it well. We dined with friends.

MARION: We dined alone.

HOWARD: A tenor sang.

 

MARION: A baritone!

HOWARD: Oh yes, I remember it well. That dazzling April moon.

MARION: There was none that night. And the month was June.

HOWARD: That’s right. That’s right!

MARION: It warms my heart, to know that you, remember still, the way you do.

HOWARD: Oh yes, I remember it well. That carriage ride.

MARION: You walked me home.

HOWARD: You lost a glove.

MARION: I lost a comb.

HOWARD: Ah yes, I remember it well. That brilliant sky.

MARION: We had some rain.

HOWARD: Those Russian songs.

MARION: From sunny Spain?

HOWARD: Ah yes, I remember it well. You wore a gown of gold.

MARION: I was all in blue!

HOWARD: Am I getting old?

MARION: Oh no! Not you. How strong you were, how young and gay. A prince of love, in every way.

HOWARD: Ah yes.

TOGETHER: I remember it well.

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for February 14, 1978:

8:30 ABC LAVERNE & SHIRLEY

The girls bus to a distant city for a rendezvous with two medical students, who meet – and strand – them in a deserted depot. Laverne: Penny Marshall. Shirley: Cindy Williams. Greg: Christopher Guest. Larry: Thomas Leopold. Bum: Peter Elbling. Station Master: Carl Gottlieb.

9:00 ABC THREE’S COMPANY

Janet and Chrissy are visited by a girl who says she’s looking for Jack because he has gotten her in trouble. Jack: John Ritter. Janet: Joyce DeWitt. Chrissy: Suzanne Somers. Larry: Richard Kline. Linda: Anne Schedeen. Sandra: Susan Blu.

9:30 ABC SOAP – Comedy

To save his skin, Danny (Ted Wass) must marry Lefkowitz’ daughter. Meanwhile, Mary (Cathryn Damon) decides to have Burt committed. Burt: Richard Mulligan. Elaine: Dinah Manoff. Lefkowitz: Sorrell Brooke. Franklin: Howard Hessman. Judge: Charles Lane. Eunice: Jennifer Salt. McCallam: Edward Winter. Chuck: Jay Johnson. Jodie: Billy Crystal.

10:00 ABC FAMILY

Willie (Gary Frank) has serious doubts about his future. He’s almost 21, a high-school dropout, and his first screenplay was rejected. Doug: James Broderick. Kate: Sada Thompson. Nancy: Meredith Baxter Birney. Buddy: Kristy McNichol. (60 min.)

Guest Cast

Bambi ……………. Shera Danese

Skipper Thor ……… Richard Masur

 

… And in the News

New York Times excerpts from February 14, 1978:

Experts Say This Winter Approaches 1977’s in Severity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 – Federal meteorologists today forecast sharply colder weather for the he eastern, central and southern parts of the country, and indicated … this winter, which so far has been warmer than last year’s, could end up about as cold.

Saturday, January 22, 1972 / Thursday, January 22, 2009

“Then/Now” compares TV classics to their modern-day counterparts.

At the end of “30 Rock’s” freshmen season, Entertainment Weekly compared the NBC comedy to CBS’s classic “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” noting each show’s use of similar character archetypes: the plucky career gal (“MTM’s” Mary Richards, “30 Rock’s” Liz Lemon), the gruff boss (Lou Grant, Jack Donaghy), the resident egomaniac (Ted Baxter, Tracy Jordan), the Jewish confidant (Rhoda Morgenstern, Pete Hornberger).

Now that we’ve gotten to know “30 Rock” a little better – the show is now in its fourth season – there’s a stronger basis for comparison: the similar relationships between Mary and Lou on “MTM” and Liz and Jack on “30 Rock.”

Each show depicts the career gal and her boss as more than colleagues and more than friends – but less than lovers.

Neither twosome’s flirtation is reduced to a simplistic “will-they-or-won’t-they?” cliché, allowing each series to explore other dynamics that occur in friendships between men and women.

In “Baby Sit-Com,” the “MTM” episode that aired 38 years ago tonight, Mary (Moore) is babysitting Bess (Lisa Gerritsen) – landlady Phyllis Lindstrom’s refreshingly un-smart-alecky 11-year-old daughter – when an old flame calls to ask her to dinner.

Mary declines (politely, of course). After some arm-twisting from Rhoda (Valerie Harper) and Bess, she changes her mind, then spends the rest of the afternoon trying to find a replacement sitter.

Finally, Mary calls Lou, who agrees to help out – but only because he wants to watch a big boxing match on her TV.

(When Lou arrives at Mary’s apartment, he explains he couldn’t watch the fight at home because his wife wanted to watch a documentary. “‘The Six Wives of Henry the VIII?’ ‘The Eight Wives of Henry the VI?’ I don’t know,” he huffs.)

Much of the rest of “Baby Sit-Com” is devoted to Lou’s scenes with Bess, revealing the crusty newsman’s softer side. Initially, the two struggle to connect, but they soon discover a mutual appreciation for freshly baked cookies and five-card stud.

It isn’t hard to imagine the “MTM” scriptwriters coming up with the episode’s concept – “Lou Grant, babysitter!” – and then working backward, engaging in the usual sitcom-narrative acrobatics (Rhoda can’t sit for Mary because she has the flu; Ted can’t do it because he’s out of town, etc.) to make an otherwise unlikely situation seem plausible.

And even though Mary and Lou share just two scenes – when he arrives at her apartment to sit with Bess and when Mary returns from her date and Lou departs – “Baby Sit-Com” offers insights into their relationship.

When Mary’s trying to line up a replacement sitter, “Mr. Grant” is her call of last resort, but there’s no hint of desperation in her voice when he answers; she knows she can count on him.

(How far Mary’s come from the “MTM” pilot, when Lou cows her with his famous “I hate spunk!” tirade.)

Meanwhile, Lou’s reason for taking the babysitting gig – he wants to watch a boxing match on Mary’s TV – rings a little hollow. Couldn’t he just as easily watch the fight in a neighborhood bar?

Maybe this is another sitcom plot convolution, or maybe the scriptwriters wanted to demonstrate Lou’s willingness to step outside his comfort zone – his initial interaction with Bess prove he’s uneasy around kids – to help Mary out of a bind.

Similar themes are explored in “Retreat to Move Forward,” the “30 Rock” episode that aired one year ago tonight.

In the storyline, Jack (Alec Baldwin) has been asked to give a speech at General Electric’s annual retreat but he’s nervous about attending because he’s had a rough year, including being implicated in a bungled corporate coup.

Liz (Tina Fey) is reluctant when Jack asks her to accompany him, but finally relents when he frames the request as a favor. “Ugh, fine, I’ll go – for you,” she says.

At the retreat, the executives Jack idolizes welcome him back into their inner circle. One expresses concern over Jack’s chumminess with Liz – an underling! – so Jack asks her to call him “Mr. Donaghy” for the duration of the retreat.

Liz is offended: “Friendship over!” she declares.

Before his speech, Jack retreats to the men’s room to give himself a pep talk in the mirror – unaware the microphone attached to his lapel is hot. The audience in the ballroom roars as they hear Jack tell himself, “It’s winning time, you magnificent son of a bitch!”

Liz races into the men’s room to alert Jack (“I’m ruined!” he says, collapsing to the floor), then swipes his mic and heads to the stage, where she tries to “outdo” him by performing bad impressions (Sling Blade, Mrs. Cunningham) and then finally ripping off her blouse and dancing.

The episode’s final scene finds Jack and Liz in his office, where he says her ploy worked. “A lot of people from the conference e-mailed me to ask if I was there when the bra lady went crazy” he says. “I can’t believe you did that for me.”

“That’s what friends do, Jack,” Liz responds.

Just as the relationship between Mary and Lou evolved after the “MTM” pilot, Liz and Jack have come a long way from the “30 Rock” premiere, when their first meeting went so badly Liz had to lay down, convinced she was having a bad dream.

Today, Liz and Jack’s friendship reminds us that, while “30 Rock’s” style of comedy is much broader than “MTM’s,” the relationships on each show are often equally warm.

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing January 22, 1972:

8:00 CBS ALL IN THE FAMILY

No night could be more frenzied than the one being shared by all in the family. Reason: a woman just dropped off her little boy, said he was Mike’s son – and left. Archie: Carroll O’Connor. Edith: Jean Stapleton. Mike: Rob Reiner. Gloria: Sally Struthers. Guest Cast … Marilyn Sanders: Marcia Rodd. Boy: Stephen Manley.

Also airing January 22, 2009:

9:00pm NBC The Office (CC): Michael and Dwight spy on a rival company. NEW

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1981

Twenty-eight years ago tonight, CBS aired “The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies,” a critically panned TV movie reuniting just three cast members from the 1960s sitcom.

The cast members: Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett, Donna Douglas as daughter Elly Mae and Nancy Kulp as Miss Jane Hathway.

Jethro is played by Ray Young, replacing Max Baer Jr., who chose – wisely, apparently – to not participate.

Also missing is the actress who played Granny – Irene Ryan, who died in 1973.

Filling in for her is the legendary Imogene Coca in the role of Granny’s Maw.

As the Associated Press’s Fred Rothenberg observed, “Miss Coca, once a TV comedy pioneer with Sid Caesar in ‘Your Show of Shows,’ is now relegated to hitting people with a stick and stamping up and down in some of the least amusing of many unamusing moments.”

The movie finds Miss Jane, now an Energy Department official, returning to Beverly Hills, hoping to use Granny’s moonshine as the answer to the energy crisis.

In 1993, CBS reunited the cast again for “The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies” clip show that was dismissed by critics but scored with viewers.

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing Oct. 6, 1981:

8 PM ABC HAPPY DAYS

The film rolls on the ninth season as Joanie shows home movies recapping the summer of ’62. Highlights include Lori Beth’s announcement that she’s pregnant, Howard’s sudden passion for baseball, Fonzie’s reunion with his old motorcycle gang and Joanie’s breakup with Chachi. Anson Williams (Potsie) sings “Every Time, Every Place.” Howard: Tom Bosley. Marion: Marion Ross. Fonzie: Henry Winkler. Joanie: Erin Moran. (60 min.)

8 PM CBS DUKES OF HAZZARD

The Dukes’ fourth season roars in with a motorcycle gang, affording Hogg the opportunity to set up a stolen-bike racket until a transient (Laurette Spang) discovers a scheme. Johnny Paycheck sings “Take This Job and Shove It.” (60 min.)

[An additional episode airs Friday.]

8 PM NBC BASEBALL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF
Special: The Los Angeles Dodgers vs. the second-half representative in Game 1 of the NL West playoff. (Live)

9 PM ABC THREE’S COMPANY (CC)

Jack and Janet (John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt) find a new roommate after Cindy (Jenilee Harrison) moves off to dormitory life at UCLA. She’s Teri Alden (Priscilla Barnes), an emergency-room nurse who starts off on the wrong foot with Jack in this sixth-season opener. Larry: Richard Kline. Furley: Don Knotts. (60 min.)

10 PM ABC HART TO HART (CC)

The Harts begin a third season of murder mystery when Max (Lionel Stander) enters his prize roses – under Jennifer’s name – in a contest whose finalists are being pruned one by one. Jonathan: Robert Wagner. Jennifer: Stefanie Powers. (60 min.)

Guest Cast

Stinton … Graham Jarvis

Sylvia Williams … Salome Jens

Eliot Knox … John Considine

Papadopoulos … Titos Vandis

Monday, Oct. 4, 1976

Thirty-three years ago tonight, Barbara Walters joined Harry Reasoner as co-anchor of the “ABC Evening News,” becoming the first woman to preside over a network newscast.

The pairing proved disastrous.

At the time, Walters was a daytime star, having spent 15 years co-hosting NBC’s “Today,” first with Hugh Downs, and later, Jim Hartz.

ABC lured her away with a then-record $1 million salary, triggering a media sensation.

The Washington Post’s headline: “Million Dollar Baby Handling 5-and-10 Cent News.” The Christian Science Monitor’s: “Barbara Leaves Jim for Harry.”

Reasoner resented having a co-anchor and was rude to Walters on-air.

In one notorious incident, she attempted to engage him in a little light anchor banter, noting Henry Kissinger’s newfound status as a sex symbol.

“You’d know more about that than I would,” Reasoner shot back.

ABC News chief Roone Arledge described watching Reasoner and Walters as being “like arriving for a dinner party at the house of a couple trying to maintain a truce in front of the world while waiting to claw each other’s eyes out.”

Arledge broke up the duo in 1978, replacing them with the trio of Peter Jennings, Max Robinson and Frank Reynolds and renaming the show “World News Tonight.”

Reasoner returned to CBS, where he remained until his 1991 death. Walters reunited with Downs on “20/20” and eventually returned to daytime on ABC’s “The View.”

Today, Walters is credited with blazing a trail for Katie Couric, another “Today” refugee who became the first woman solo anchor when she took over the “CBS Evening News” in 2006, and Diane Sawyer, who is slated to succeed Charlie Gibson at “World News” next year.

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing Oct. 4, 1976:

8:00 ABC CAPTAIN & TENNILLE – Variety

Gabriel Kaplan joins Toni and Daryl, along with “Happy Days” cast members Ron Howard, Erin Moran, Donny Most, Roz Kelly and the Pinkettes. Comedy spots include Ron as Prince Charming in a modern-day singles bar. Toni and Daryl as a moviegoing couple forced to sit separately in a crowded theater; and Gabe as a confused funeral director with a game-show fixation. The entire cast joins in a finale saluting the ’50s. (55 min.)

Musical Highlights

“Smile” … Toni

“Gimme Some Lovin’,” “How Sweet It is” … Toni, Daryl

8:00 CBS RHODA

Faced with the financial burden of renting separate apartments, Rhoda economizes by swapping places with her neighbor (Ron Silver), who views the trade as a prelude to a cozier arrangement. Rhoda: Valerie Harper. Joe: David Groh. Brenda: Julie Kavner. Carlton: Lorenzo Music.

8:00 NBC LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

Scheming Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim), knocked from her horse after an argument with Laura, pretends to be crippled so she can turn guilt-stricken Laura into her personal handmaiden. First of a two-part episode. Laura: Melissa Gilbert. Charles: Michael Landon. Mrs. Oleson: Katherine MacGregor. Oleson: Richard Bull. Dr. Baker: Kevin Hagen. Caroline: Karen Grassle. Jason: Eric Shea. (60 min.)