Fall Preview Reviews

Every year since the late 1950s, the networks have put together a half-hour (or so) show spotlighting clips of its new and returning series for the fall. The UCLA library has ABC’s 1958 and 1960 fall previews that were done shown on closed circuit TV strictly to their affiliates. However, many since that time have aired on local stations at their choosing as well as appeared among TV collectors. Not all previews are alike, though, and if you want to save money and time, why not check out my personal reviews of them here? All are graded on a scale of one star (horrible) to four stars (fantastic), with two-and-a-half stars being average. Reviews are arranged by network in chronological order.

ABC
1962-63
**1/2

Theme: None listed

The cast of The Donna Reed Show checked out the new shows on ABC’s lineup, which judging from the clips alone, the best one appeared to be I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster. But like all but two of the 10 series introduced this season, it went off after a year. The two survivors were oddly both set in World War II, Combat and McHale’s Navy. A lot of others went off this season as well - ABC was heading towards one of its perpetual slumps where it was a third-place network with fourth-place ratings. Overall an enjoyable presentation of the best of what they were going to show, but I docked it to midway status because it only ran 15 minutes (at least on the prints I saw) and thus cannot be compared fairly with longer versions.

1963-64
**

Theme: “What’s New on ABC!”

This season was bad for ABC, and unfortunately the preview generally was too. After a corny opening with a man and a woman wondering what’s flickering on their TV set followed by an explosion of mostly unimpressive graphics, Edie Adams sang a tune. Then the clips started, interrupted occasionally and inanely by voiceovers from our unseen man and woman again. Example: During The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, the woman asked, “Who’s the fellow with the high hat? He looks familiar.” “It’s Dan O’Herlihy,” said the man. “Oh, I like him,” responded the woman. The dopiness continued throughout, though thankfully it took a break when The Fugitive ran unspoiled. As bad as the narration was, the worst part of this presentation was a laugh-free skit from Jerry Lewis, a precursor to the mess that would be his two-hour live show that fall. The two stars are for rather generous pieces of the new shows, which included some with decent runs despite ABC’s overall low performance like Burke’s Law, The Jimmy Dean Show and The Patty Duke Show, and for Sid Caesar’s bit, which was funny even if his show ran just six months. Incredibly, the writer of this was Mel Brooks!

1964-65
**

Theme: None listed, but some sources say “The Year of the Week”

An irritating male and female chorale (the syrupy Johnny Mann Singers) sang introductions to the new shows, accompanied with even cheesier and more annoying graphics than ABC used in 1963-64. This preview even had the audacity to pass off the previous season as a winner too. Anyway, what saves it from complete disaster is that several of the stars speak directly to the camera about their new projects, and I mean stars like Bing Crosby and Walter Brennan, and there were actually a few big hits here too - Peyton Place and Bewitched came off pretty nicely. As with last season’s effort, it presented a sizable chunk of each show to review as well. It also tried valiantly but failed in telling viewers that its news division was on the rise - it even promoted Bob Young’s 15-minute roundup at 11 p.m. that did not get heavy clearance nationally. Most impressive was its movie lineup - The Birdman of Alcatraz, Judgment at Nuremberg, Some Like It Hot and The Misfits were pretty decent entries to promote and showed ABC’s lineup on Sundays would start to challenge CBS considerably. But ABC, why so much bad, omnipresent music?!

1965-66
**1/2 

Theme: None listed, but could be “Seven Wonderful Opening Nights”

This started with a somewhat amusing sketch with Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York from “Bewitched” talking about the upcoming lineup (with York looking furtively at a calendar of scantily clad women - how did that get by the censor), then came those *!# Johnny Mann Singers to tell us how ABC improved last year and would do better this one too (it didn’t - the only newcomers that lasted more than one year were F Troop, The Big Valley and The F.B.I.). Taking a cue from CBS, this had stars host each night’s schedule - Inger Stevens from The Farmer’s Daughter Monday (where it ended this season), Forrest Tucker from F Troop Tuesday, Sally Field from the flop Gidget Wednesday (with a disturbing end scene where the near-twice-as-old Gene Barry of Burke’s Law has a romantic dinner with her), Burl Ives from O.K. Crackerby Thursday (where ABC went to the expense of filming him when he was in the Caribbean), Anne Francis of Honey West Friday, Yvonne King of and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. for The F.B.I. Sunday. Also discussed are news (with a young Peter Jennings showing his Canadian roots in how he says “schedule” with a soft “c”). For an hour show, it’s slightly more tolerable than its predecessor, but should’ve been better.

1966-67,
*** 

Theme: “7 Nights to Remember”

Our leads in the hit Batman (Adam West and Burt Ward) discover that ABC is missing a new show from its fall lineup, so they hightail it from the Batcave to Commissioner Gordon’s office to locate it. The preview takes its campy cue from the series in look (fast pop-art bumpers between shows, dynamic colors) and tone (Batman reminding Robin that he normally does not let him look at TV until he has done his homework). Admittedly most of these shows bombed, except for ones on Monday that really weren’t big hits (e.g., The Rat Patrol), but the clips were tolerable except for The Tammy Grimes Show - the strained comedy shows up badly even in this small dose. There was That Girl too, with the original pilot idea of Ted Bessell playing Ann’s agent instead of boyfriend. It also was nice to have Tom Moore, ABC’s programming president, narrate ABC Stage 67 in his southern drawl. SPOILER ALERT: The missing series is The Milton Berle Show. Berle is found hiding in the commissioner’s office, for some reason. After his show ended, Berle wound up guest starring on Batman as villain Louie the Lilac in 1967. That’s TV for you.

1969-70
**1/2

Theme: “Meet Us in September”

Judging from the 1969-70 ratings, where Marcus Welby, M.D. and The Johnny Cash Show were the only ones to make the top 20, not too many viewers took ABC up on its slogan’s offer. The series’ clips did not give much to chew on, as they averaged 30 seconds each. Then again, with 11 new shows to promote, including the transfer of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir from NBC, they did have to limit them somewhat to fit into a half-hour show. But they spent more time promoting the TV-movies on The Movie of the Week (nearly three minutes) than on the individual series, an odd treatment given the fair number of new series that prospered beyond this season, such as The Brady Bunch, Room 222 and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. They also spent too much time on the dreary theatrical movie premieres - Hombre, Walk Don’t Run and Fathom are hardly the type of titles that were going to win big audiences. As for the series, there are no real stinkers here, and ABC was proud of its strongest daytime lineup ever, as it said, plus a mention of Joey Bishop, so I’ll give an average overall rating.

1970-71
**1/2 

Theme: “Let’s Get Together”

This set the rather irritating pattern for many early to mid 1970s ABC previews by opening with shots of real people as a mushy middle-of-the-road theme song from a vocal group played over them. Among the 12 new shows, The Young Lawyers clip is unintentionally amusing today as one of the defendants is Richard Pryor, looking like he wanted to be somewhere else; Dan August noted it was a Quinn Martin production and thus spotlighted his hits on ABC which included The New Breed from 1962-63 (?); and The Odd Couple apparently had no footage ready except for the title shots, so this preview faked it poorly with hands of unseen men arguing over living together. The Movie of the Week receives more than two minutes, again longer than what the new series received. Returning shows ran the gamut from the great joy in watching Donald propose to Ann Marie in That Girl to enduring Joe Feeney’s extended falsetto in The Lawrence Welk Show. The movies stunk - Lord Jim and Luv were among the top offerings - and there was no mention this time of daytime or late night. In short, another hit-or-miss affair, and ABC needed more than that to come out of third place.

1971-72
**1/2 

Theme: “This is the Place to Be”

With the Prime Time Access Rule in the fall of 1971 taking away the 7:30-8 p.m. slot Mondays through Saturdays (with an exception on Tuesdays, but we won’t get into that), ABC only added six shows in 1971-72, yet only one (Owen Marshall Counselor at Law) went to a second season, and it was far from a hit. With that in mind, this one started with a review of returning favorites. Two points of interest emerged: The Smith Family starring Henry Fonda came off as the most bizarre combo of family sitcom crossed with police action/adventure, and ABC embarrassed itself by having an actor extol the virtues of Monday Night Football while acting like a goofball. (Did ABC think all NFL viewers were clods?!) Movies came next, with True Grit, Cleopatra and South Pacific top billed - not exactly stellar stuff. After more graphics to illustrate the news, the new shows came, and most seemed gimmicky and/or clichéd. Only The Man and the City, a drama starring Anthony Quinn as mayor of a southwestern metropolis, even remotely interested me. As with most other early 1970s ABC previews, this ended at a somewhat unsatisfying level like the programs it was promoting.

1972-73
**1/2 

Theme: “This is the Place to Be” one more time (either the publicity department just give up on doing a new slogan this year, or even worse, they thought last year’s worked just fine, so why not use it again?)

Returning shows were up first, including an incredibly cheesy cartoon for Monday Night Football - ABC should have used stills or new footage of Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Frank Gifford instead. Other clips generally were better than that. Next was The Movie of the Week, which ran three minutes this time. It did seem enticing to see Divorce His/Divorce Hers, a drama from the male viewpoint one night and the female the next starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The theatrical movie lineup was tops, such as Goldfinger, The Odd Couple and Lawrence of Arabia (but why promote the disastrous The Adventurers in front of it?). For new series, The Paul Lynde Show looked great (alas, it really wasn’t), James Wainwright was miscast as the hero in The Delphi Bureau, Assignment Vienna had no footage, The Streets of San Francisco looked to be the best new drama, and The Julie Andrews Show had an awkwardly edited song (shades of how it would bomb that season). It ended with a streaming roll of the weeknight lineup that went too quickly in showing stills without identification and made no sense unless you could freeze frame it. Once again, ABC could’ve done better.

1974-75
** 

Theme: “What You See on ABC This Fall You’ll Be Talking About Tomorrow!” (you have got to be kidding)

I have never seen such a smoothly edited show of material that in no way deserved that treatment. ABC only had three shows in the top 30 for 1974-75, and the only new shows renewed another season, That’s My Mama and Harry-O, ended in 1975-76. The producers must have recognized the low quality on tap, as they spotlighted daytime shows, the Saturday morning lineup, sports, news, late night and specials before the new series. Kicking off awkwardly with a gooey mellow theme song by a chorale along with shots of happy people, this used idiotic sketches with little-known comic actors (e.g., Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall) to set up bits of shows cut as tight as possible to make things like Nakia appear better than they really were. This was such a jumble, it included two series that never made the fall lineup - Where’s the Fire? and Good Heavens (the latter revived in 1976 with Carl Reiner replacing original star Jose Ferrer as an angel). The only encouraging part was the movie slate - The Poseidon Adventure, The Last Picture Show, Thunderball and more were impressive. This one almost screams, “Bring Fred Silverman over to our network to save us!”

1975-76
**1/2 

Theme: “Welcome to the Bright New World of ABC”

ABC staff announcer Ernie Anderson brought his compelling tones to this entry, which started with specials, a few of which did not make it on air this season (e.g., Roots, which ran in 1977 instead). Movies were next, and they were an imposing lineup -The Sound of Music, Cabaret, Jeremiah Johnson and Diamonds Are Forever helped ABC to get its Sunday and Monday movie nights into the top 15. Following them were more specials, returning show highlights, news, sports (we finally get to see Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Alex Karras plus game footage for Monday Night Football - yes!) before we reach the halfway point and finally get to see the nine new shows. Fred Silverman had been named programming head after the schedule was announced, so he can’t be blamed that most of these are stinkers like Swiss Family Robinson and The Barbary Coast (both of which coincidentally had villains in their clips played by John Vernon). Among the two hits here, Welcome Back Kotter came off well, Starsky & Hutch less so. This was a slight step up from the previous year’s effort, but then again, almost anything else would have been that way.

1978-79
*** 

Theme: “We’re the One You Can Turn To”

With returning shows divided into three or four boxes, each with individual scenes, this preview was a little cluttered and overwhelming. It does disprove the idea that ABC switched Mork & Mindy from Mondays to Thursdays at the last minute over fears about WKRP in Cincinnati on CBS beating it - here it is the leading light for Thursdays (and includes a great deal of footage from when Mork visited Happy Days). Among the losers, Apple Pie looked underdone (star Rue McClanahan even “broke the fourth wall” and delivered a joke directly at the camera, which simply did not work) and Battlestar Galactica is so obviously a ripoff of Star Wars. Vegas looked flat too, but the other clips were solid, showing why ABC was #1 at the time. The movies were boffo -The Sting, Shampoo and Taxi Driver were among those mentioned. Ernie Anderson narrated the overview of the schedule, but all major actors of new and returning ABC series appeared on three rows of facing risers to sing (well, mouth actually) the theme song. It was depressing to see the black actors were put in one corner for this, however - why such segregation, and in 1978 no less?

1979-80
**1/2

Theme: “Still the One”

Taking its cue from the 1978 hit by Orleans, ABC vowed to remain at the top by moving some established hits to different nights. The strategy backfired (e.g., many viewers did not follow Laverne & Shirley to Thursday), and despite returning the favorites to their original slots, ABC wound up #2 to CBS. That didn’t keep ABC from playing commercials incessantly in 1979-80 using “Still the One” as their theme, but let’s concentrate on this preview. Opening with panoramic shots of America before Ernie Anderson narrated highlights (both tired conceits ABC overdid in the 1970s), this showed no clips of ABC’s best new comedy The Associates, bits of Out of the Blue and A New Kind of Family that stunk, and a glimpse of Ron Moody from Nobody’s Perfect without mentioning the show - ABC disliked what it saw and moved the planned fall entry to the summer of 1980, where it lasted two months. The new dramas were all mediocre at best, including the hit Hart to Hart. News, sports, specials and movies followed, and all were fine enough, yet you couldn’t shake the overriding feeling you had from the rest of the preview, namely “Haven’t I seen this already?” 

1980-81
**1/2

Theme: “We’re One Big Family”

Apparently inspired by the 1979 movie All That Jazz (which in turn owed a debt to the Broadway hit A Chorus Line), this opened with ABC’s new and returning stars pretending to rehearse for a big musical number. Most wisely just mugged for the camera, but Cathy Lee Crosby acted as if she was auditioning for her own aerobics show and tried way too hard to impress with her moves. Anyway, this preview emphasized returning shows first, and you couldn’t escape the feeling they were trying to stress them over the lousy new lineup (when Too Close for Comfort is your biggest hit, you know you are in trouble). Speaking of the latter, the pilot even ripped off a joke from The Mary Tyler Moore Show - just pathetic. As for the others, the TV adaptation of Breaking Away looks promising, Bosom Buddies obviously focused on the guys in drag angle too much, and the rest looked just so-so. The news, sports, specials and movies segments looked particularly well here, but the unimpressive new series and cheesy finale (yes, they dance - for lack of a better word - and lip sync to the theme song down a shiny stairway) set it back.

1985-86
**1/2 

Theme: “You’ll Love It”

This was the Eighties to the excess - break dancers, gaudy outfits and a theme song based on Randy Newman’s overplayed paean to Southern California, “I Love L.A.” Some things never change though - we have “ordinary” people excited to watch ABC’s lineup again, as well as Ernie Anderson narrating the clips by night. The new hits were two sitcoms I hate, Who’s the Boss? and Growing Pains, and two dramas, MacGyver and Spenser: For Hire, which I like better, though both were not classics. The misses include The Insiders and Hollywood Beat, both obvious ripoffs of Miami Vice; Lady Blue, perhaps the worst female detective ever on TV (she kills and sleeps around a lot - big deal); and Lime Street, with Robert Wagner as a rich playboy (some stretch, eh?). There are signs too of how ABC would finish at #3 this season (only six shows in the top 30), with Dynasty staggering from its ridiculous “Moldavia Massacre” wedding and The Love Boat, The Fall Guy and several others looking tired and ready to be canned. And why did ABC bring the aging Diff’rent Strokes over from NBC?! In all, a typical ABC preview, which means equally appealing and appalling.

 1989-90
**1/2

Theme: “Something’s Happening!”

With a theme song based on the old hits “Shout!” and “Mockingbird,” the opening had several stars say “Yeah!” into the camera while mugging for it as well. This shaky start segued into news & sports (grouped together) and then each night’s offerings starting with Mondays. The new hits were all over the place - goodies such as Doogie Howser, M.D. along with bores like Chicken Soup (Jackie Mason paired with Lynn Redgrave for zero chemistry, which forced it off the air after a year even though it finished in the top 20) and Family Matters (before Urkel joined). Indeed, schizophrenia was the air for the whole schedule - what really lingers is how stupid most of the sitcoms were (Mr. Belvedere, Just the Ten of Us) particularly in contrast to the intelligence of the dramas (thirtysomething, China Beach and even newcomer Life Goes On). The promo for Primetime Live wherein Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer addressed an affiliates’ convention is unintentionally hilarious in them espousing the high standards the show would have. And in subject matter and presentation, the TV-movies, miniseries and specials seemed like retreads. Once again, inconsistency is the best way to describe ABC’s preview as well as overall lineup.

 CBS

1961-62
**1/2 

Theme: “Seven Wonderful Nights”

With a fair as a framing device, this preview offered stars hosting segments tailored for overviews of individual nights of programs. They were Andy Griffith (Mondays), Garry Moore with an uncredited Carol Burnett and Durward Kirby (Tuesdays), Sebastian Cabot (Wednesdays, where his previous season’s deserving hit Checkmate died), Bob Cummings (Thursdays - his new show there flopped), Rod Serling (Fridays), Raymond Burr with an uncredited Barbara Hale (Saturdays) and Ed Sullivan (Sundays). Balloons with the CBS eye on them escape the fair and go to the stars, providing a rough connecting device. It is obvious that the two new hits in the lineup are The Defenders and The Dick Van Dyke Show - the former is better acted and scripted than the other dramas, while the latter had Van Dyke’s great animated drunk routine pantomime. The other new shows, like the hosts’ introductions, receive a decent share of time but make little favorable impression except The Alvin Show (the memorable opening was used) and The Gertrude Berg Show. Two items of note: the Sunday listings started with G.E. College Bowl at 5:30 p.m., and the Tuesday and Saturday segments appeared as a bonus on the Gunsmoke 50th Anniversary DVD.

1963-64
*** 

Theme: “CBS The Stars’ Address”

We had a postal theme this go-round, with each night’s segment hosted by a familiar CBS personality, starting with Lucille Ball and an unbilled Vivian Vance (Monday), Jack Benny (Tuesday), the cast of The Beverly Hillbillies (Wednesday), Clint Eastwood, Eric Fleming and the unbilled rest of Rawhide (Thursday), Alfred Hitchcock (Friday), Phil Silvers (Saturday, in a failed comeback show) and Ed Sullivan (Sunday). Ball, Benny and Hitchcock are almost always worth watching, and while their material was not “boffo,” it was easy to take. The others did a respectable job too. Too bad the new series were shown not to be up to their level. Of the three that lasted more than a year, there were no snippets available for The Danny Kaye Show, Petticoat Junction was as stupid as always, and My Favorite Martian ran less than 30 seconds. The clips of previous CBS hits made a comparison even less favorable to the newcomers. Notes of interest: the George C. Scott series had the title Eastside, Westside (it was four words when it made it to air), the Sunday lineup started with The 20th Century at 6 p.m. and Walter Cronkite appeared near the end to promote the news.

1964-65
**1/2 

Theme: “Seven Wonderful Nights”

Buddy Ebsen lit a series of firecrackers with successive TV seasons listed on each stick, starting with the 1955-56 season, to represent how long CBS had been #1 in the ratings. The 1964-65 one explodes, and Buddy reappears absent his previous Jed Clampett garb now clad in a tuxedo, dancing to individual columns that rotate showing one night’s lineup. CBS previously started on Mondays - this one began on Sundays with The 20th Century at 6 p.m. This one is downgraded from the last one because there are only bits from the new shows, and many of them were disasters that James Aubrey put on the schedule that led to the controversial CBS president’s ouster in 1965, and their general lousiness showed in the clips presented here. (Out of 13 new series introduced, only four lasted more than one season, and those were the unimpressive Slattery’s People, The Munsters, Gilligan’s Island and Gomer Pyle.) This preview even earned a review in Variety, and it was lot more harsh on this than I was. Then again, the reviewer probably had not seen as many as them as me, so who are you going to trust, hmmm?

1966-67
** 

Theme: None listed, but it looks to be “Seven Wonderful Nights” (again?!)

Garry Moore’s back and CBS has got him! Only this time, he’s up against Bonanza, so his show will end in midseason. We’re in color now, and Garry supposedly uses a projector to display highlights (?) of seven other new entries, with only Family Affair and Mission: Impossible surviving for renewal out of the bunch. This is a truly mind-numbing bunch here, offering extended portions of some of the most brain-dead, unappealing sitcoms ever presented (specifically It’s About Time, Run, Buddy, Run, and Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats). The network mostly coasted on previous successes to stay at #1 this year instead. It also was confusing and unnecessary for each clip to end on a freeze frame giving the title of the series - all that did was make this presentation feel choppy. It was interesting to see Jericho, the network’s late and ultimately failed entry into the World War II action adventure genre tried several times by ABC and NBC in the 1960s, with only Combat! being a success in it. And the movies offered for Thursday and Friday nights had a few winners - Psycho, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Music Man. Otherwise, this is a forgettable half hour of your time.

1968-69

***

Theme: “The Winner’s Circle”

A pretty strong lineup of newcomers here (Mayberry R.F.D., The Doris Day Show, Hawaii Five-O) and even the failures The Good Guys and Lancer, both of which ran more than one season, have their moments.  The only outright loser is the lame Blondie adaptation, which went off after 13 weeks. This could have been even better had there been a host for this special and a few better clips (the Mayberry R.F.D. ones were from the last episode of The Andy Griffith Show, for example). Still, this was an encouraging roundup.

1970-71
*1/2 

Theme: “We’ve Put It All Together”

Were I a CBS affiliate in 1970, this promo would have made me fear that the network would finish in second or even third in the ratings that year. With no celebrity host (unusual for CBS then), this displayed mostly blah clips from mostly blah six new shows, like Storefront Lawyers, a “hip” legal firm supposedly helping the downtrodden yet guest star Dean Jagger showed up in a snazzy suit to solicit their help. For Andy Griffith’s show The Headmaster there was just Andy talking about what a great show it would be. (Apology accepted, Andy.) Even this season’s hit, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, comes off horribly because the bit with Mary being interviewed at Lou Grant’s office was filmed before the show’s pilot was done with a different set under a director whom Moore later said had no affinity for the material, and it shows. The show that led into it, Arnie, did make me smile a few times in its bits, however. If it were not for that and a wonderful montage of programs returning to CBS - the ones which reminded you what was great about the network - this pathetic offering would have rated a single star.

1972-73
*** 

Theme: “Have We Got a Fall for You!”

They certainly did. Four of their eight new shows became big hits (M*A*S*H, The Waltons, The Bob Newhart Show and Maude), and another one was a hit that was canceled due to protests by Catholics and Jewish viewers (Bridget Loves Bernie). Of the remaining three - The Sandy Duncan Show, The New Bill Cosby Show and Anna and the King - only the latter came across as a dud right out of the gate. Each new series received a good chunk of time, about two minutes apiece. Then there were montages of most the returning series that lasted about 30 seconds each, plus previews of new movies, none really impressive except for Around the World in 80 Days. There was no host, but people from each of the new shows (and some returning ones) did speak into the camera briefly (except for Yul Brynner - maybe he had an inkling about how bad Anna and the King was). That does not keep it from four stars so much as the fact that CBS insisted on playing its “Have We Got a Fall for You!” music under every introduction as well as the montages for each returning series. That’s called overkill, folks.

1973-74
***1/2 

Theme: “The Best is Right Here”

This is basically a tribute to the acumen of CBS President Bob Wood and programming head Fred Silverman in modernizing the network’s appeal to younger, more educated and upscale audiences than it had in the late 1960s. With a dynamic electronic-tinged score, it rightly salutes its successes in dramas and comedies, including a montage of the latter from All in the Family to The Carol Burnett Show that is astounding in displaying its great depth and breadth, especially in comparison with today’s schedules. There was only one hit from the new shows - Kojak - but it didn’t really matter. The upcoming movie lineup was stellar - The Graduate, Planet of the Apes, and Bonnie and Clyde, among others - and even new show misses like Calucci’s Department and Roll Out! showed considerable potential here. The only reason I don’t give it four stars is because of the ridiculous, condescending framing of new segments featuring people shocked that CBS has been #1 for 17 years. Otherwise, this is well worth a viewing to see why people held Silverman and CBS in such admiration this season, when CBS set a record with the number of Emmys it won as well.

1974-75
**1/2 

Theme: “See the Best”

A definite letdown from the previous effort, this preview began with a so-so assortment of clips from hit CBS shows “comically” answering new setups from Ted Baxter of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It then goes to the new shows and intersperses portions of them with comments from the producers (and sometimes a couple of actors) about what they are trying to do with them - a great boon to TV historians, sure, but not the optimal way to present them to a casual viewer. Some of them tended towards pretentiousness as well, making you feel like yelling, “Hey, bud, c’mon, you know it’s just a TV show!” Also, based on what is show here, the new dramas Sons and Daughters, The Manhunter and Planet of the Apes were very questionable picks for the schedule, certainly when compared to what CBS tried in the genre in 1973-74. (The new comedies Rhoda and Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers came off much better, even though the latter ended in December.) The movies took a step back as well - the only big critical and commercial hit being promised was M*A*S*H. At least the specials and sports looked strong. Oh well, I’ve seen worse …

NBC

1965-66
**1/2 

Theme (according to the show card): “A Clear Case of Mind Over Mata Hari”

While attending a concert, the shoe phone of Agent Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) rings, causing him to scram to a closet to answer it. He accidentally locks himself inside but has a home viewing audience with him, so why not show clips? This preview is arranged oddly, with the new shows coming after features on entertainment specials, sports and news. More unfortunate is the fact that there is little to hear from most of the clips, as Adams narrates what they are about in a sometimes snarky tone - for example, there are only clips and no singing nor comedy from The Dean Martin Show. This does give the viewer a fine example of what sort of comedy Get Smart would be offering in the fall, but as far as enticing people to watch what was coming, the presentation provides precious little to savor from actual audio of most of the shows except sitcoms, a major shortcoming. It is interesting to watch the preview change from black-and-white to color once he describes the new shows to emphasize NBC leading the field, but overall this one could have - and should have - been better.

1966-67
**

Theme: “Two in a Taxi”

Jack Burns and Avery Schreiber, a comedy duo whose appeal I never really understood, show up here as a talkative passenger going to the airport from Manhattan and his driver respectively. Burns has Schreiber go on an out-of-the-way route with images like the Eiffel Tower presented along the way - oh, how clever. Meanwhile, the two make some quips about NBC’s new lineup that Burns has seen, including Tarzan, The Monkees and Star Trek (the only ones running into the next season), and the inane dialogue makes you angry at how they are being flip rather than respectful to these offerings. Amid this irritating atmosphere, the clips among flops that stand out are The Road West (because George C. Scott does a guest shot as a villain) and Hey Landlord (because it looks amusing and generated some laughter from the studio audience). Otherwise, this is a long half hour to endure, but there is a cameo by Johnny Carson if you feel like doing so.

1967-68
** 

Theme: “Remember Next Year?”

Philip Minoff, who wrote last season’s unfunny preview, is unfortunately back again for another subpar effort. Set in Hollywood in 1987, it has Danny Thomas, joined by Jan Murray as his agent, recalling to a reporter from the moon what NBC’s lineup was like 20 years earlier, when he had his own (unsuccessful) anthology hour that year. The ones to make it beyond this year were The High Chapparal, The Mothers-In-Law, The Kraft Music Hall and Ironside. Don Adams makes a cameo at the end, and the series’ clips are treated more respectfully than before, but unless the shows involved interested you, this is easy to skip.

1969-70
** 

Theme: “NBC’s New Ones for ‘69-‘70″

From their Today show set, hosts Hugh Downs and Joe Garagiola say they are excited about the new shows coming up on NBC, but their body language, flaccid commentary and general tone of voice indicate they are rather calm about it all. Oh well, there is still some amusement in their segments. For one, hearing them wax rhapsodically about The Debbie Reynolds Show tickled me to no end. While NBC’s returning shows like Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, Bonanza, Ironside and The Dean Martin Show, among others, helped it finish a close second to CBS in 1969-70, the new ones except for The Bill Cosby Show made little impact, even though that one and The Bold Ones, Bracken’s World and the revamped Andy Williams Show made it past their first year. The latter show comes off best, with guest shots by top musicians of the time such as Aretha Franklin. The worst are virtually all the other new hour-long shows, which come off as bad, often dated melodramas. This could have used bits of the hit returning shows to enliven the proceedings, not to mention Today co-host Barbara Walters, who wisely (or luckily) avoided participated in this unimpressive preview.

1974-75
**

Theme: None listed, but I guess it’s just “NBC Fall Preview,” since that appears on one of the posters on the set

NBC opted for a no-nonsense approach here, albeit with an unconventional opening. A scene from its new show Lucas Tanner started the presentation before cutting to its star, David Hartman, who served as host for the preview. Hartman presented the 12 shows as if lecturing to students in a rather dry manner, starting with a panel with Monday’s lineup and walking to our right to successive panels for the rest of the week. NBC overdid dramas this year (only one new comedy arrived, the hit Chico and the Man), and the few that lasted more than two years do stand out in different ways - The Rockford Files made the best impression, Police Woman had Bert Convy as Angie Dickinson’s boss (Earl Holliman replaced him in the series), and this presentation put a “The” front of Little House on the Prairie. To the preview’s credit, there are plenty of moments from each show to review - too bad it’s usually dull stuff like Sierra. The big irony was that Lucas Tanner bombed yet Hartman became a hit a year later hosting Good Morning America on ABC while NBC sunk to third in 1975-76 - thanks in part to what flopped this season.

1975-76

**

Theme: “Superseason”

Lloyd Bridges, star of the new disaster, er, cop series Joe Forrester, has to walk through life-sized panels either redone or recreated from last season’s preview to reveal an even more disastrous lineup than last season, with none - that’s right, none - of the new series previewed here lasting into the next season. All look rather unimpressive except for Fay, a sitcom starring Lee Grant in San Francisco that seemed the antithesis of The Doris Day Show set in the same city, and the stylish remake of Ellery Queen. That doesn’t stop the special from saying things like Doctors’ Hospital stars “George Peppard in the most demanding role of his career.” Even the movie lineups weren’t much to enjoy - the only notable title previewed was Dr. Zhivago.  The only other thing of note was that The Family Holvak was titled Holvak in this special, rather odd as a last-minute change at this point. Otherwise, forget this along with NBC’s season here.