The Friday Link for 7/29/22

TV is great but TV today is a far cry from TV in my youth.  

Not because it was better.  No, not at all.  A lot of TV back then was absolute garbage.  Just in the last month, I've watched 'Obi-Wan Kenobi,' 'Stranger Things,' 'Umbrella Academy,' 'The Boys,' 'Ms. Marvel,' and 'The Only Murders in the Building.'  Point, modern TV!

TV in the 1970s and 1980s was still BIG time entertainment.  There were three networks and PBS (this in the days before FOX came about). The TV season kicked off in September with all the new and returning shows having their premiers.  Trying to explain this to a kid today is impossible ('Why did they release everything in September and only one episode at a time?  That's stupid!').

The TV Networks would buy five-page spreads in magazines and newspapers to advertise their new lineup.  There was panache! There was style!  There was a real Hollywood feel to the new TV schedules you don't get today. 

There was a promo!

Each year the networks would put out a promotional video for their upcoming season.  A lot of times on CBS and NBC there were just clips from the upcoming shows to get you enticed, but ABC put together a special video that was a call back to the glory days of Hollywood, where a studio would pull together their biggest stars for a photo op or quick video, just because they could!

The Friday Link for tonight is revisiting these new network season promos, and nothing is better than the 1980 ABC promotional video for the 80/81 season. All the stars from 'Happy Days,' 'Lavern and Shirley,' 'Threes Company,' 'Fantasy Island,' 'Benson, 'The Love Boat,' 'Barney Miller,' and Ted Freaking Knight were there, but keep an eye out.  Danny Thomas is there, Debbie Reynolds is there, Burgess Meredith is there, and see if you can spot a young Tom Hanks, whose show 'Bosom Buddies' debuted in 1980.  

OUTSTANDING!  The 1981 version was not nearly as good, but you do get to see a young Scott Baio before he became a loon, and Greatest American Hero and Hart to Hart shows up.

And here is a clip-heavy NBC promo video from the 1982 season. Speaking of pre-loon ball loon balls, Ricky Schroder shows up, and how young do Pierce Brosnan and David Letterman look?  JUST WATCH US NOW!!!

Finally tonight, in commemoration of Comic-Con wrapping up, here are the trailers they released at the event.  There are some good-looking ones in there. 

Please get vaccinated and wear a mask in any crowded area, especially indoors.  I don't want you dead, sick, or bankrupt for life.

Have a good weekend everyone.