TV Time Capsule

Betty White, Professional Talk Show Guest

 

 

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

On October 19, 2005, Betty White made her first visit to CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” opening a new chapter in the actress’ other career: professional talk show guest.

White has seemingly sat on every TV talker’s couch, beginning in the 1950s, when she became a regular guest on Jack Paar’s “Tonight Show” on NBC.

When Paar left, White wasn’t seen much on “Tonight,” even though she was friends with his successor, Johnny Carson.

Of course, this is Betty White, so there were no hard feelings.

“It made perfect show-business sense for Johnny to avoid using people were too closely associated with the Paar show,” she wrote in her 1995 memoir, “Here We Go Again: My Life in Television.”

During the ’70s, White was a regular on Dinah Shore’s daytime shows, as well as “The Merv Griffin Show,” which she described in her book as “the only one I actually enjoyed, as opposed to grinning and bearing.”

Once Carson had put his own stamp on “Tonight,” he began poking fun at White and Allen Ludden’s wholesome marriage during his nightly monologue. Sample: “Betty and Allen threw a wife-swapping party and nobody showed up.”

Carson also began inviting White to appear in his “Mighty Carson Art Players” sketches; memorable bits had the two playing California Governor Jerry Brown and his girlfriend at the time, Linda Ronstadt, as well as middle-aged versions of Adam and Eve and Tarzan and Jane.

These days, White regularly visits the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” but her favorite host is Ferguson, with whom she worked on ABC’s 1995-96 sitcom “Maybe This Time.”

On Ferguson’s “Late Late Show,” White often appears in sketches that find her taking odd jobs to pay the bills.

She has portrayed a speechwriter for John McCain (White on Sarah Palin: “One crazy bitch”) and – in the clips seen here – an accountant with a briefcase full of cocaine and a nurse who received her medical license in El Salvador.

White told Starpulse.com her “Late Late Show” appearances are “the most fun of anything I’ve done. [Ferguson] is just incredible. … The only thing is we can’t ever dare make eye contact when we’re working together or we both crack up.”

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

 

On TV

Here’s the late-night lineup for Wednesday, October 19, 2005:

11:35: “Nightline” (ABC), Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS), “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (NBC)

12:05: “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC)

12:35: “Late Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS), “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” (NBC)

 

The Record

For the week of October 16, 2005:

Top novel: “A Breath of Snow and Ashes” by Diana Gabaldon

Top song: “Gold Digger” by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx

Top movie: “The Fog”           

Top TV show: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (CBS)

In the news: Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers was engulfed in controversy 

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. 

Tuesday, February 22, 2000

To the list of reasons to be bummed about Jay Leno’s return to NBC’s “Tonight Show,” add this: It probably means guest hosts won’t be returning to the franchise anytime soon.

Leno never used substitute hosts during his 1992-2009 run on “Tonight.” The notorious workaholic rarely took a night off; when he did, NBC simply repeated one of his older shows.

Archrival David Letterman avoided subs for years, too, but in the past decade, he’s tried to revive the tradition.

Ten years ago tonight, Bill Cosby guest-hosted Letterman’s “Late Show,” filling in for the CBS star while he recovered from quadruple bypass surgery. It was the first time Letterman, whose talk-show career began on NBC in 1980, ever used a substitute. (In a show of respect for Letterman, Cosby refused to sit at his desk the night he guest-hosted.)

Letterman’s convalescence continued for the next few weeks; other seat-warmers included Kathie Lee Gifford, Nathan Lane and David Brenner.

Letterman used guest hosts again in the spring of 2003, when he was ill with shingles. That summer, he also experimented with substitute hosts on Friday nights, but ratings dipped and CBS ended the trial.

Fans of Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” will recognize the short-sightedness of that decision.

During Carson’s heyday in the ’70s and ’80s, when NBC helped keep him happy by rewarding him with loads of vacation time, he used substitutes to keep his show fresh and ensure its nightly monologue remained topical.

“Tonight” became a testing ground for new talent, including Letterman and Leno, each of whom got their big break subbing for Carson, as well as Joan Rivers and Brenner, who also went on to host their own shows.

Letterman’s experiments with substitutes were short-lived, but they did produce one new talk-show star: Jimmy Fallon, a Letterman pinch-hitter in 2003, now hosts Letterman’s old show, NBC’s “Late Night.”

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for February 22, 2000:

9 PM FOX Party of Five (CC) – Drama 1:00

This fanciful episode speculates on what the Salingers’ lives would be like if their parents hadn’t died. The hour is centered around plans to celebrate Mom and Dad’s 31st wedding anniversary, an occasion sparking various uncertainties among family members. Julia plans to announce her engagement to Justin, but meeting a mechanic named Griffin gives her second thoughts. A similar pause plagues Bailey (Scott Wolf), as he and Will set out to hit the road – as roadies. Meanwhile, Claudia wants off the road, experiencing burnout as a big-time touring violinist, with a sex life that stuns Julia. And Charlie (Matthew Fox) wrestles with his responsibilities to his pregnant girlfriend.

 

… And in the News

New York Times excerpts from February 22, 2000:

Vowing to Restore Confidence, Nader Joins Race

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 – Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate, announced today that he would make a second run for the presidency as a Green Party candidate and vowed, as he did in 1996, to take on big business and its influence on government.

Tuesday, February 10, 1981

“Be Mine Week” continues with “Hart-Shaped Murder,” the “Hart to Hart” episode ABC broadcast 29 years ago tonight.

Sinful! To thank her friends for their help with her charity work, rich socialite Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers) purchases Valentine’s Day chocolates from grandmotherly confectioner  Mrs. Bittersweet (Nedra Volz), unaware one of the candies conceals a tiny, valuable bird sculpture. Mrs. Bittersweet’s son, chocolatier/smuggler Mr. Krump (Dick Davalos), sends his goon Oscar to retrieve the candy from Jennifer; when Oscar fails, Krump feeds him a poisoned nougat. “Oscar seems to have eaten something that disagrees with him,” Krump says as the toady croaks. “Mwahahaha.”

Sticky! For no good reason, Krump sends Jennifer poisoned chocolates, but since she and hubby Jonathan (Robert Wagner) are dieting, the box sits unopened in their kitchen. Meanwhile, Krump’s minions break into the homes of Jennifer’s friends, looking for the bird sculpture. “Our Hart problem could become terminal,” Krump says when the henchmen come back empty-handed. One goon wonders if Jennifer has tasted her Valentine candy. Responds Krump: “If she has, she’ll be giving up chocolate – permanently. Mwahahaha.”

Sweet! Jonathan and Jennifer become suspicious when they learn someone is breaking into their friends’ homes and smashing their chocolates to pieces. Finally, the Harts discover the bird sculpture and take it to the candy shop, where they determine it activates a cuckoo clock that controls an espionage messaging service. (Don’t ask.) Krump and Mrs. Bittersweet are spies! “More bitter than sweet,” Jennifer observes. The spies discover the Harts snooping around, a fight ensues and Krump winds up on a conveyer belt, covered in chocolate. “Well, if it isn’t a chocolate-covered nut,” says Jonathan.

“Hart-Shaped Murder” can be streamed at Hulu and purchased at iTunes. It’s also part of the “Hart to Hart: The Complete Second Season” DVD set.

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for February 10, 1981:

7 AM NBC TODAY – Tom Brokaw

Paul Newman and Jack Klugman are interviewed. (2 hrs.)

SYNDICATED MERV GRIFFIN

Guests: Jack Klugman, Elke Sommar, John Huston and Judith Krantz (“Princess Daisy”). (90 min.)

11:30 NBC TONIGHT

Scheduled: Bill Cosby, Jack Klugman. Johnny Carson. (60 min.)

 

… And in the News

New York Times excerpts from February 10, 1981:

G.A.O. PREDICTS ELECTRONIC MAIL WILL REDUCE POSTAL SERVICE ROLE

The General Accounting Office said in a report today that an increasing use of electronic mail would dramatically change the United States Postal Service in the next two decades, sharply reducing the volume of conventional mail and cutting postal employment by two-thirds.

U.S. TO DELAY REQUIREMENT FOR AIRBAGS AND AUTOMATIC PROTECTION IN CARS

The Reagan Administration proposed today to change Federal automobile safety rules so that manufacturers could postpone installing airbags or other automatic crash protection for at least one year. The proposed change, which is subject to public comment before it becomes official, was eagerly sought by the industry and looked upon with dread by auto safety advocates, who say that delays may cause unnecessary deaths on the highways.

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, February 4, 1974

“Oddities & Obscurities” reviews shows you forgot – and some you never knew existed.

The legend of my birth – and really, what about me isn’t legendary at this point? – goes like this: 36 years ago tonight, with my brother Ricky breaking out with chickenpox, Mom’s water broke, forcing her to leave him in the care of my grandmother and sister as Dad whisked her to the hospital.

Mom cried, the story goes, as she walked out the door and saw 5-year-old Ricky planted in front of the living room TV, scratching furiously as he watched his favorite show, the ABC cop drama “The Rookies.”

Growing up, you can imagine which part of this story intrigued me most.

Yes, yes, Ricky suffered horribly the night I was born. But this “Rookies” of which you speak – tell me more.

The show has always been a mystery to me. It ran just three years and never aired in syndication when I was a kid, so for me, it’s existed primarily as a piece of family lore.

This year, I decided to change that.

The first season of “The Rookies” was released on DVD a few years ago, but I wanted to see the episode Ricky watched on this night in 1974, during the show’s second season. Last month, I tracked down a homemade copy; this afternoon, I slid it into the DVD player, hoping to see if it’s worth its mystique.

It isn’t.

“The Rookies” – an Aaron Spelling/Leonard Goldberg production about three fresh-from-the-academy patrol officers – turns out to be another formulaic ’70s cop show.

In “The Teacher,” the February 4, 1974, episode, an ex-con shows three young hoodlums how to commit all manner of mischief, including raiding a munitions factory and robbing a convenience store. Playing the protégés: a young Nick Nolte, an even younger Don Johnson and an actor named Damon Douglas as Nolte’s character’s younger brother.

The story climaxes with a shootout atop a parking garage, where Nolte’s character is killed. The poetry of it all – some TV thug losing a brother as Ricky was about to gain one – wasn’t lost on me. Did it occur to Ricky?

“The Teacher” left me wishing I had entered the world on a more memorable night in TV history. (Just two days earlier and I would have arrived during CBS’s classic Saturday lineup!)

Alas, timing has never been my strong suit.

Then again, I was born during sweeps.

 

Elsewhere on Television

TV Guide listings for February 4, 1974:

11:30 NBC JOHNNY CARSON

Guest host Joey Bishop and Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown. Ed McMahon; Doc Severiensen conducts the orchestra. (90 min.)

 

… And in the News

New York Times excerpts from February 4, 1974:

ELIZABETH STARTS FUEL RATION PLAN
Mayor Restricts Gasoline Sales to Any One Car to Alternate Days of Week

The mayor of Elizabeth, N.J., a city surrounded by oil refineries, yesterday proclaimed a “state of emergency” and ordered service stations, starting today, to sell gasoline to vehicles with even-numbered license plates on even-numbered dates and odd-numbered plates on odd-numbered dates.

Monday, January 10, 1994

Sixteen years ago tonight, William Shatner portrayed a radio talk show host who kills his daughter’s friend in “Butterfly in Shades of Grey,” a “Columbo” movie that aired on ABC.

In 1976, Shatner portrayed a TV cop show actor who murder his producer in “Fade in to Murder,” an installmet in the original “Columbo” series. Shatner joins George Hamilton as the only actors to twice play killers on “Columbo.” (Patrick McGoohan holds the record with four appearances as a “Columbo” villain.)

“Butterfly in Shades of Grey” was seen in 14 million homes, ranking 14th among the week’s 95 prime-time broadcasts.

 

It’s Pat

The answers to yesterday’s “Pat Sajak Show” quiz:

1. “Chronoscope” was CBS’s first late-night talk show. It aired weeknights at 11 from 1951 to 1955.

2. To prepare for his CBS show, Sajak visited Jack Paar at home in Connecticut and watched old tapes of Paar’s “Tonight Show.” “They were a little show-bizzy,” Sajak told the New York Times. “But what impressed me was, I remember wondering what was going through Jack’s mind, and he turned to me and said, ‘This is really kind of boring, isn’t it?’”

3. When the Washington Post’s Tom Shales asked Sajak to say something bad about Johnn Carson, Sajak said, “I don’t think he flosses as often as he could.”

4. The debut of “The Pat Sajak Show” beat NBC’s “Tonight Show” in the ratings. Jay Leno was Carson’s substitute host; Judith Light of ABC’s “Who’s the Boss?” was a guest.

5. True – Tom Scott, Sajak’s bandleader, went on to conduct the band on Fox’s “Chevy Chase Show.” Interestingly, Chase was Sajak’s first guest.

6. False. Sajak’s sidekick, Dan Miller, did work with Sajak at a local TV station in Nashville, but it wasn’t WTVF, it was WSM.

7. False. Vanna White did appear on “The Pat Sajak Show” on January 23, 1989 – the same night Barry Goldwater appeared. “We think that’s a good pairing,” Sajak told the Post.

8. To join CBS, Sajak stopped hosting NBC’s daytime version of “Wheel of Fortune,” where he was replaced by Rolf Benirschke, formerly a placekicker for the San Diego Chargers.

9. In February 1990, three months before CBS cancelled “The Pat Sajak Show,” the network began auditioning possible replacements for him on air. One of the tryouts was given to Rush Limbaugh.

10. The syndicated “Arsenio Hall Show” debuted six days before Sajak’s and proved far more successful, concluding its run in May 1994.

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing January 10, 1994:

8 PM CBS EVENING SHADE (CC)
There’s not a lot of pomp and circumstance when Wood’s ex-con cousin (Jerry Reed) comes to town to get his high-school diploma and wants the Newtons to tutor him. Ralph: John Allsopp. Wood: Burt Reynolds.

9 PM CBS MURPHY BROWN (CC)

Miles (Grant Shaud) tries to entice Peter (Scott Bakula) to return to “FYI,” but it’s really Murphy who’s enticing to Peter. Murphy: Candice Bergen. Frank: Joe Regalbuto.

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. 

Thursday, Jan. 1, 1987

“New Years Week” continues with “New Year’s Daze,” the “Designing Women” episode CBS broadcast 23 years ago tonight.

Should old acquaintance be forgot? The women of the Sugarbaker & Associates interior design firm are waiting for their New Year’s Eve dates to arrive. Sisters Julia and Suzanne Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter, Delta Burke) bicker while Mary Joe Shively (Annie Potts) frets over her 13-year-old daughter Claudia, who’s attending her first “co-ed” party.

SUZANNE: I remember my first New Year’s Eve party. There I was with Tommy Garson – ringing out the old, kissing in the new. That was the year I first learned about the bases.

JULIA: Forgive my ignorance, Suzanne, but I don’t believe they covered “the bases” in my edition of the Masters and Johnson’s manual.

SUZANNE: Oh you know: First base is French kissing, second base is breasts, third base. …

JULIA: Alright, Suzanne.

MARY JO: You can spare us third and sliding into home.

And never brought to mind? Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart) is stood up by her date, Shadow. The gang ends up watching the Times Square countdown on TV.

CHARLENE: Oh it’s just not the same without Guy Lombardo.

SUZANNE: Oh I know what you mean. It’s just like in the Miss America pageant. I mean, they can have all the dimpled pretty boys they want emcee it, it’s just not the same without that smiling Bert Parks looking down those girls’ dresses.

Take a cup of kindness yet: The Times Square coverage is interrupted by a news bulletin: Peter “Shadow” Wallis has escaped from the Atlanta federal prison.

JULIA: Let. Me. Get. This. Straight. You had a date with an escaped convict?

CHARLENE: All he wrote me was that he’d be … getting out for New Year’s. I kinda assumed he meant parole.

The police call to report Shadow’s been caught – then an anchorman announces he’s still at large. “You know how slow these news people are to find anything out,” Charlene says. “I mean, Dan Rather doesn’t know anything ’til 7 o’clock.”

For auld lang syne: The girls distract themselves by making resolutions. Julia promises to be less judgmental (“Suzanne, I won’t automatically assume you won’t date a man whose net worth doesn’t exceed J.R. Ewing’s”), while Charlene vows to be less trusting.

Everyone agrees that would be mistake – including Shadow (Thomas Callaway), who arrives to bid Charlene farewell. Turns out he’s an undercover agent; the prison break was staged so he could begin his next assignment. “Don’t ever change,” he tells Charlene before departing.

The girls gather for a toast: “To 1987!”

“New York Daze” is part of the “Designing Women: The Complete First Season” DVD set.

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing Jan. 1, 1987:

11 PM FOX LATE SHOW – Joan Rivers; 60 min.

Scheduled: Lisa Hartman, Gloria Loring. Mark Hudson, the Party Boys and the Tramp. (Live)

11:30 NBC TONIGHT; 60 min.

Scheduled: Burt Reynolds, Sonia Braga, singer Paul Young. Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon.

Friday, Dec. 7, 1979

Thirty years ago tonight, ABC aired “Valentine,” a TV movie starring Jack Albertson and Mary Martin as septuagenarians in love.

Martin portrayed Gracie Schwartz, a terminally ill widow who lives at the Sunset Villa retirement community in Venice, California, and falls for Albertson’s character, roguishly charming fellow resident Pete Ferguson.

A TV Guide Close Up described the plot:

Flouting convention, the couple carry on an unabashed affair that culminates in a fulfilling adventure: an auto trip to the Colorado Rockies that includes a stopover at an adults-only motel, a sing-along session with the Aspen ski set and an encounter with a young couple determined to have their baby in the wilds.

Complicating matters: Gracie’s daughter Emily (Loretta Swit) disapproves of the romance and tries to stop it, while Emily’s daughter Lindy (Linda Grovenor) is delighted her grandmother has a boyfriend.

TV Guide described “Valentine” as tending “to tug too hard on the heartstrings,” but added the movie was “desentimentalized by the conviction of Martin and Albertson’s performances – and by its life-affirming conclusion.”

Albertson told the Associated Press he hoped “Valentine” would spark a revival in films about older people.

“There is new interest in the problems of elderly people,” he said. “I think we’ll see more films because there’s obviously an audience for it. We’re one of the fastest-growing minorities in this country.”

Although the film went on to win a Peabody, television’s most prestigious honor, “Valentine” bombed with viewers, ranking 62nd for the week.

CBS’s “My Old Man,” a Kristy McNichol TV movie that pre-empted “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Dallas” (which starred Martin’s son, Larry Hagman) and aired opposite “Valentine,” landed in the week’s top 20.

 

From the Pages of TV Guide

Also airing Dec. 7, 1979:

8 PM ABC FROSTY’S WINTER WONDERLAND – Cartoon

Special: Frosty the Snowman gets married in this animated tale featuring the voices of Andy Griffith, Shelley Winters, Jackie Vernon and Dennis Day. (Repeat)

8 PM CBS INCREDIBLE HULK

In a plot that recalls Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game,” a hunter who craves a greater challenge lures David to his isolated Caribbean island. David: Bill Bixby. Hulk: Lou Ferrigno. (60 min.)

Guest Cast

Michael Sutton … Bradford Dillman

Pilot … Bob Boyd

9 PM NBC ROCKFORD FILES – Crime Drama

A reporter writing an expose of a union crook is murdered after mailing a package to Rockford, who now becomes the killers’ target. Rockford: James Garner. Chapman: James Luisi. Becker: Joe Santos. Rocky: Noah Beery. (60 min.)

Guest Cast

Sally … Constance Towers

Chuck Ryan … Alan Manson

George Neff … George Pentecost

11:30 CBS NIGHT STALKER

A caped killer reminiscent of Jack the Ripper is terrorizing Chicago. Darren McGavin. (70 min.)

11:30 NBC TONIGHT

Scheduled: Guest host Richard Dawson, William Shatner. (90 min.)

1 AM NBC MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

Doc Severinsen, Bonnie Pointer and Bette Midler (performing songs from “The Rose”). David Steinberg is the host of a new weekly segment featuring a company of improvisational players. (90 min.)