TV Time Capsule

‘Kate & Allie’ on New Year’s Eve: Cold Pizza, Warm Booze

“New Years Week” continues.

On December 31, 1984, CBS aired “New Year’s Eve,” the “Kate & Allie” episode in which Kate and Allie (Susan Saint James, Jane Curtin) struggle to find something to do on the final night of the year.

The problems begin when they give teenage daughters Emma and Jennie (Ari Meyers, Allison Smith) permission to throw a New Year’s Eve party – and then are told they aren’t invited.

On the big night, Allie rejects all of Kate’s ideas – bowling, riding the Staten Island Ferry, shopping (“Bloomingdale’s was closed!” she whines) – so they sneak into their basement to eat cold pizza and drink warm champagne.

Allie recalls her many holiday disasters (“My Worst Birthday, by Allie Lowell;” “My Worst Christmas, by Allie Lowell”) and by the end of the night, she and Kate are drunk. “You know what? I’ve had a terrible life!” Allie says, laughing.

As midnight approaches, the women count their blessings: Allie is thankful for her kids, her wardrobe, her two pair of lizard shoes – and Kate.

Kate returns the favor: “I put you right behind Emma – and ahead of my calfskin luggage.”

See for yourself: “New Year’s Eve” is part of the “Kate & Allie: The Complete First and Second Seasons” DVD set.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Monday, December 31, 1984:

8: “Hardcastle and McCormick” (ABC), “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” (CBS), “King Orange Jamboree Parade” (NBC)

9: “The Big Red One”* (ABC), “Kate & Allie” (CBS), “Hard Knox”* (NBC)

9:30: “Newhart” (CBS)

10: “Cagney & Lacey” (CBS)

 

The Record

For the week of December 30, 1984:

Top novel: “The Talisman” by Stephen King and Peter Straub

Top song: “Like a Virgin” by Madonna

Top movie: “Beverly Hills Cop”

Top TV show: “Dallas” (CBS)

In the news: War raged in Afghanistan

 

Captions: Allie, played by Jane Curtin, drinks from a bottle of champagne while reminiscing with Kate, played by Susan Stain James in “New Year’s Eve” (top); Allie lays down the law for New Year’s Eve party planners Jennie, played by Allison Smith, and Emma, played by Ari Meyers (middle, bottom).

‘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).

‘Kate & Allie’ and Wendie Malick!

“Thanksgiving Week” continues.

On November 25, 1985, CBS aired “Thanksgiving,” the “Kate & Allie” episode in which Manhattan divorcee Allie Lowell finally meets Claire, her ex-husband Charles’s new wife.

The episode finds Allie (Jane Curtin) preparing a holiday feast for her family and friends, including best pal and roommate Kate McCardle (Susan Saint James). One by one, Allie’s guests cancel or are called away, leaving her alone with icy Claire (guest star Wendie Malick).

During their tense conversation, Allie realizes her volunteer work undermined her marriage as much as Charles’s medical career and his affair with Claire:

ALLIE: I always thought Charles left me. You say I left him. Maybe we’re both right. Maybe we needed the hospitals and the committees because we didn’t have each other to go home to. Maybe it wasn’t Charles’s fault or my fault or even – God help me – your fault. And maybe – just maybe – the happy ending I always wanted is just what I got.

CLAIRE: So now what do we do? Make friends?

ALLIE: Please. Let’s not push things too far.

“Thanksgiving” ends with everyone dining together peacefully.

See for yourself: “Thanksgiving” is part of the “Kate & Allie: The Complete Third Season” DVD set.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Monday, November 25, 1985:

8: “Hardcastle and McCormick” (ABC), “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” (CBS), “TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes” (NBC)

9: “Monday Night Football” (ABC), “Kate & Allie” (CBS), “Mussolini: The Untold Story, Part 2” (NBC)  

9:30: “Newhart” (CBS)

10: “Cagney & Lacey” (CBS)

 

The Record

For the week of November 24, 1985:

Top novel: “The Mammoth Hunters” by Jean M. Auel

Top song: “We Built This City” by Starship

Top movie: “Rocky IV”

Top TV show: “60 Minutes” (CBS)

In the news: Gay leaders began building a political platform

 

 

 

Captions: Kate, played by Susan Saint James, tastes the turkey that Allie, played by Jane Curtin, cooked with cleanser in “Thanksgiving” (top); Wendie Malick as Claire and Allie’s long-dreaded confrontation with her successor as Mrs. Dr. Charles Lowell (middle); CBS’s advertisement for the episode, from TV Guide’s November 23, 1985, issue (bottom). 

Hi Again! ‘The Bob Newhart Show,’ 19 Years Later

On November 23, 1991, CBS aired “The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special,” a one-hour retrospective of the 1972-78 sitcom.

The broadcast featured the show’s cast members returning – in character – to help Chicago psychologist Dr. Bob Hartley (Newhart) analyze a lengthy dream in which he was a Vermont innkeeper named “Dick Loudon.”

“Bob Newhart Show” clips were interspersed throughout the special, which ended when Bob spotted three elevator repairmen who resembled Larry (William Sanderson) and his brothers Darryl (Tony Papenfuss, John Voldstad) – the odd backwoodsmen who constantly befuddled poor Dick Loudon.

(TVSeriesFinale.com has a fuller synopsis.)

The Los Angeles Times’ Howard Rosenberg called the special a reminder of “just how funny, fresh and contemporary [‘The Bob Newhart Show’] remains.”

Too bad the “19th Anniversary Special” was a ratings bomb.

The broadcast drew viewers in just 6.7 million homes, finishing fourth in its time slot and ranking 79th out of 90 programs in the weekly ratings.

See for yourself: “The Bob Newhart 19th Anniversary Special” isn’t online or on video, but the first four seasons of “The Bob Newhart Show” and the first season of “Newhart” are on DVD.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Saturday, November 23, 1991:

8: “Who’s the Boss?” (ABC), “The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special” (CBS), “Cops” (Fox), “The Golden Girls” (NBC)

8:30: “Growing Pains” (ABC), “Walter and Emily” (NBC)

9: “Funny Farm” (ABC), “A Party for Richard Pryor” (CBS), “Charlie Hoover” (Fox), “Empty Nest” (NBC)

9:30: “Get a Life” (Fox), “Nurses” (NBC)

10: “Sisters” (NBC)

 

The Record

For the week of November 17, 1991:

Top novel: “Scarlett” by Alexandra Ripley

Top song: “Cream” by Prince and the New Power Generation

Top movie: “Cape Fear”

Top TV show: “60 Minutes” (CBS)

In the news: Massachusetts allowed bettors to play the lottery by telephone.

 

 

Captions: “The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special” reunited cast members, from left, Bill Daily, Suzanne Pleshette, Jack Riley, Newhart, Marcia Wallace and Peter Bonerz (top, photograph from TVSeriesFinale.com); CBS’s advertisement for the special, from TV Guide’s November 23, 1991, issue (bottom).

‘Fresno:’ The Grapes of Laugh

On November 16, 1986, CBS launched “Fresno,” a six-hour, five-night comedy miniseries that spoofed “Dallas” and the era’s other nighttime soap operas.

Carol Burnett starred as Charlotte Kensington, a widowed matriarch struggling to preserve her family’s shriveling raisin empire.

Other characters: Cane (Charles Grodin), Charlotte’s scheming son; Talon (Terri Garr), his unhappy wife; perpetually shirtless drifter Torch (Gregory Harrison); and Tyler Cane (Dabney Coleman), the Kensingtons’ ruthless archrival.

“Newhart” producer Barry Kemp was the creative force behind “Fresno,” which featured similar absurdist humor: The Kensingtons lived in a Southfork-sized mansion but were chauffeured around in a station wagon.

Critics were lukewarm: “How do you parody something that is already ridiculous?” asked the New York Times’ John J. O’Connor.

“[T]he story’s gimmick – an extended cheap joke mocking a genre that seems almost to mock itself – is too difficult to sustain,” wrote the Los Angeles Times’ Howard Rosenberg.

“Fresno” wasn’t a ratings hit, either.

Viewers in 17.2 million homes tuned into the first installment, a two-hour episode that ranked 13th for the week.

The audience dwindled as the series continued through the week, concluding on Nov. 20, 1986, with a one-hour episodes that was seen in 11 million households, ranking 51st.

See for yourself: “Fresno” isn’t online or on video; visit TVShowsonDVD.com and petition its release!

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Sunday, November 15, 1986:

7: “Disney Sunday Movie: The Leftovers” (ABC), “60 Minutes” (CBS), “Our House” (NBC)

8: “Easy Street” (NBC), “Murder, She Wrote” (CBS),

8:30: “Valerie” (NBC)

9: “Sudden Impact” (ABC), “Fresno” (CBS), “Terms of Endearment” (NBC)

 

The Record

For the week of November 15, 1986:

Top novel: “It” by Stephen King

Top song: “Amanda” by Boston

Top movie: “Crocodile Dundee”

Top TV show: “The Cosby Show” (NBC)

In the news: Congress wanted answers on President Reagan’s Iranian arms scheme

 

 

 

 

 

Captions, from top: “Fresno” cast members, clockwise from center, Carol Burnett, Charles Grodin, Teri Garr, Valerie Mahaffey, Gregory Harrison and Dabney Coleman, on TV Guide’s November 15, 1986, cover (photograph by Mario Casilli); Harrison’s character, Torch, lights up the Raisin Festival Masquerade Ball (photo by Christine Loss); Bobbi Jo Bobb performs (Loss); Burnett and Grodin’s characters, Charlotte Kensington and son Tyler (Loss); CBS’s advertisements for the miniseries, also from TV Guide’s November 15, 1986, issue.

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).

‘An Early Frost:’ A Breath of Fresh Air in the Era of AIDS

On November 11, 1985, NBC aired “An Early Frost,” the first TV movie about AIDS – although its greater historical significance may lie in its depiction of gay men, which was unusually honest for the time.

The two-hour film cast Aidan Quinn as Michael, a young Chicago lawyer who discovers he has AIDS – and that he probably contracted the mysterious disease from his live-in boyfriend Peter (D.W. Moffett), who confesses he’s been unfaithful.

Michael leaves Peter and heads home to New England, where he decides to tell his parents that he’s gay and has AIDS.

Michael’s mother Katherine (Gena Rowlands) is upset but supportive; his macho father Nick (Ben Gazzara) is seemingly as anguished to discover that his son is gay as he is to learn that Michael is dying.

Michael’s grandmother (Sylvia Sidney) is more compassionate, telling him he shouldn’t feel ashamed, but his pregnant sister (Sydney Walsh) is afraid to be in the same room with him and shouts him away when he tries to hug her young son.

Of course, Michael also experiences prejudice outside the home: When he suffers a seizure, the paramedics refuse to transport him to the hospital. Later, when a new friend dies of AIDS, Michael watches a nurse toss the man’s possessions into a garbage bag, fearing contamination.

“An Early Frost” doesn’t depict Michael’s death, but it offers viewers some closure: Before the movie ends, Michael and Peter reconcile, and Nick finally accepts his son’s homosexuality.

The final scene shows a smiling Michael telling his parents he loves them as he departs for Chicago, presumably to die at Peter’s side.

Out, Dated

“An Early Frost” – the title comes from a line of dialogue about rose blossoms being nipped prematurely – is typical of the era’s disease-of-the-week TV movies, with the on-screen doctors (including one played by “Lost’s” Terry O’Quinn) delivering dialogue that sounds like it was lifted from a waiting room brochure.

Inevitably, this dates the film: No one, for example, mentions “HIV,” which wasn’t identified as the virus that causes AIDS until six months after the broadcast.

“An Early Frost” also seems old-fashioned in its portrayal of Michael’s life in the closet: The fact that the filmmakers chose to make the character’s coming-out a major subplot underscores how being openly gay in the 1980s was the exception, not the rule.

Contrast this with contemporary series such as “Modern Family,” where another gay lawyer, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), is out to both his family and coworkers, and Kurt (Chris Colfer), “Glee’s” out-and-proud high school student.

TV’s First Gay Yuppies?

Not everything about “An Early Frost” is outdated; its depiction of Michael and Peter’s relationship was decidedly ahead of its time.

The couple may be prime time’s first gay yuppies: They share a stylish apartment, take expensive vacations and struggle to balance their personal and professional obligations (when Peter confesses his affair, he explains the indiscretion happened when Michael was busy with work).

Michael and Peter never kiss or appear together in bed, but they are affectionate.

As Steven Capsuto notes in “Alternate Channels: The Uncensored Story of Gay and Lesbian Images on Radio and Television,” the first time viewers see Peter, he is playfully waking Michael for work.

In another scene, the couple performs a variation on what Capsuto calls “one of TV’s classic spousal scenes”: Michael, half-naked, shaves, as Peter sits on the counter.

“The two do not just recite lines that say they are in love: they interact and talk like a couple. They smile spontaneously when they look into each other’s eyes,” Capsuto writes.

Michael and Peter show how far gay men have come in prime time since 1977, when television’s first regular homosexual character – “Soap’s” Jodie, played by Billy Crystal – planned a sex-change operation in order to be with his boyfriend.

The Washington Post’s Tom Shales seemed to hint at this in his review, describing Michael as being “so far removed from the stereotypical homosexual that … he is stereotypically unstereotypical.”

Post-Hudson Hysteria

“An Early Frost” aired six weeks after Rock Hudson became the first major celebrity to die of complications from AIDS.

As the Advocate noted in yesterday’s tribute to the movie, AIDS had claimed just 5,000 lives by 1985, but Hudson’s death sparked hysteria, stoked by nightly news reports on the epidemic.

“An Early Frost” demonstrated prime time entertainment’s ability to educate the public in ways that broadcast journalism couldn’t – or wouldn’t, as the New York Times’ John J. O’Connor noted at the time.

“The single moment of the grandmother’s insisting on kissing her troubled grandson makes an important point far more effectively than a month of breathless newscasts,” O’Connor wrote.

“An Early Frost” is also a reminder of a time when the broadcast networks embraced “prestige projects” that addressed the issues of the day.

Before the film aired, NBC sent viewers guide to hospitals and social services agencies and held advance screenings for science reporters and public health officials.

On the night of the broadcast, Tom Brokaw hosted a late-night special about AIDS, and several NBC stations set up hotlines to answer viewers’ questions about the disease.

An Enduring Legacy

The film was seen in 20 million homes, ranking sixth for the week, and won multiple Emmys and a Golden Globe, but its greatest legacy lies in the way it humanized gay men – not only as victims of AIDS, but also as everyday people.

See for yourself: “An Early Frost” is on DVD.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Monday, November 11, 1985:

8: “Hardcastle and McCormick” (ABC), “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” (CBS), “TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes” (NBC)

9: “Monday Night Football” (ABC), “Kate & Allie” (CBS), “An Early Frost” (NBC)

9:30: “Newhart” (CBS)

10: “Cagney & Lacey” (CBS)

 

The Record

For the week of November 10, 1985:

Top novel: “Texas” by James A. Michener

Top song: “Miami Vice” by Jay Hammer

Top movie: “Death Wish 3”

Top TV show: “The Cosby Show” (NBC)

In the news: Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited Washington

 

 

Captions: “An Early Frost” stars Ben Gazzara, Gena Rowlands and Aidan Quinn in an NBC publicity photograph (top, photographer unknown); the network’s advertisement for the movie, from TV Guide’s November 9, 1985, issue.

When Betty White Met ‘Bob’

“Betty, White Hot!” a series of periodic flashbacks to key moments in Betty White’s amazing television career, continues.

On October 22, 1993, CBS tried to save Bob Newhart’s struggling sitcom “Bob” by adding Betty White to the cast – a move the network ultimately bungled.

When “Bob” began in September 1992, Newhart’s character – greeting-card artist Bob McKay – quit his job to return to his first love: drawing the comic book superhero Mad Dog.

At work, Bob was surrounded by the usual eccentrics; his home life included sensible wife Kaye (Carlene Watkins) and flaky daughter Trisha (Cynthia Stevenson).

Viewers didn’t warm to the show the way they had with Newhart’s previous CBS sitcoms – “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart” – but the network renewed “Bob” anyway, announcing plans to add White to the cast.

The second season premiere introduced her character: Sly Sylvia Schmitt, the wife of Bob’s old boss, who had run off with another woman. Bob accepted Sylvia’s offer to assume the presidency of Schmitt Greetings – much to the chagrin of her son Pete (Jere Burns), an obnoxious salesman who thought he deserved the job.

CBS planned to air “Bob” on Friday nights at 9:30 – but days before the season premiere, the network decided to move the show a half-hour earlier.

In her 1995 memoir “Here We Go Again: My Life in Television,” White called it “the most baffling network move of all time. … It was not only too late to correct the listing in TV Guide, but every major newspaper across the country had us scheduled for 9:30!”

The result: Betty’s “Bob” debut was seen in just 6.9 million homes; the episode ranked 74th out of 86 prime-time broadcasts, finishing behind a “Perry Mason” rerun on NBC and “Step By Step” on ABC.

“Bob” limped along for a few more weeks and was then put on hiatus.

In her book, White blasted CBS for treating Newhart so shabbily:

[T]hey didn’t even give him a clean cancellation. They took him off the air and left him dangling with a lot of vague talk about possibly coming back later in the season. Shame on them. They could have handled Bob Newhart better than that. He had earned it.

Bam!

Don’t mess with Betty White.

The next “Betty, White Hot!” installment will be posted November 18.

 

On TV

Here’s the prime-time lineup for Friday, October 22, 1993:

8: “Family Matters” (ABC), “Rescue 911” (CBS), “Adventures of Brisco County Jr.” (Fox), “The Defense Rests: A Tribute to Raymond Burr” (NBC)

8:30: “Boy Meets World” (ABC)

9: “Step By Step” (ABC), “Bob” (CBS), “The X-Files” (Fox), “Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk-Show Host”* (NBC)

9:30: “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper” (ABC), “Good Advice” (CBS)

10: “20/20” (ABC), “Picket Fences” (CBS)

* Repeat

 

The Record

For the week of October 17, 1993:

Top novel: “The Bridges of Madison County” by Robert James Waller

Top song: “Dreamlover” by Mariah Carey

Top movie: “Demolition Man”

Top TV show: “Roseanne” (ABC)

In the news: President Clinton was criticized for acting human

 

Caption: CBS’s advertisement for “Bob,” from TV Guide’s October 16, 1993, issue.

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, May 21, 1990

Bobby Ewing’s return to “Dallas” and the series finales of “St. Elsewhere” and “Newhart” all turned on the same plot twist – it was all a dream! – yet only the latter is considered a classic.

Why?

For one thing, the “Newhart” revelation – which aired on this night in 1990 – linked that show to “The Bob Newhart Show,” making it a series finale and a reunion, all at once.

(Quick aside: The “Newhart” finale raises an interesting question. When Bob Hartley wakes up next to wife Emily in 1990 and reveals his dream about running a Vermont inn, the couple seems to be using the same bed linens they did when “The Bob Newhart Show” ended in 1978. Or maybe Bob and Emily simply have a thing for grid patterns?)

I think the real reason the “Newhart” finale is held in such high regard is because the dream revelation reflects the show’s kooky tenor.

“Newhart” was a precursor to absurdist sitcoms like “Seinfeld” and “30 Rock.” Consider how Bob explains his dream to Emily (transcribed with Newhart’s trademark stammering style):

I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont. … Nothing, nothing made sense in this place. I mean – the, the maid was an heiress. Her husband talked in alliteration. The, the handyman kept missing the, the point of things. And then there were these three woodsmen – but only, only one of them talked.

Of course, “Newhart” was a dream. How could any of this possibly be real – even by sitcom standards?

Contrast “Newhart” with the shows it satirizes.

“Dallas,” while never terribly serious, wasn’t known for flights of fancy – one reason  why its dream revelation came off like a cop out.

“St. Elsewhere” did exhibit a sense of whimsy, but its 1988 series finale – in which the show was revealed to be the dream of an autistic child – seemed too weird.

There’s another reason the “Newhart” finale didn’t leave fans feeling cheated.

Bob Hartley’s last line to Emily on this night in 1990 – “You know, you uh, you really should wear more sweaters” – was a nice tribute to dream wife Joanna Loudoun, played by the late Mary Frann.

Maybe the lovely Joanna existed only in Bob’s dream, but the good doctor – like “Newhart” fans – won’t soon forget her.

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for May 21, 1990:

SYNDICATED ARSENIO HALL; 60 min.

Scheduled: Dolly Parton.

11:30 NBC TONIGHT; 60 min.

Scheduled: Dudley Moore, singer Etta James and the Roots Band, comedian Jack Mayber. Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon. (Repeat)

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

From 1989: Director Rob Reiner. (Repeat)

 

For the Record

Also on May 21, 1990:

Madonna’s “Vogue” vamps to the top of the music chart. Stephen King’s “The Stand” stands atop the best sellers’ list. “Bird on a Wire” soars at the box office. And almost a decade after President Reagan promised to return power to the states, state officials say they have more expensive responsibilities and less federal money.