CBS 1970-1 fall preview

 CBS' slogan for 1970 was, "We've put it all together". As we all know, that wasn't true. Of the freshman class, only 2 shows were renewed.

The Class of 1970:

Headmaster: Andy Griffith returns after 2 years away, this time running a school. Replaced by The New Andy Griffith Show in mid-season.

The Tim Conway Comedy Hour. After flopping with a self-titled sitcom that reunited him with McHale's Navy co-star Joe Flynn earlier in the year, Conway tries again, hoping to use the same formula as his friend, Carol Burnett.'

Arnie. Herschel Bernardi (ex-Peter Gunn) toplines this domestic comedy with Sue Ane Langdon, Roger Bowen, and, in the preview clip, Dick Van Patten. Lasted 2 seasons, and then, Bernardi kept busy shilling for Star-Kist as the voice behind Charlie the Tuna.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The crown jewel. 7 seasons, and a box of Emmys.

Storefront Lawyers. From Hawaii Five-O producer Leonard Freeman comes a courtroom drama that all but mirrored ABC's Young Lawyers. The title was changed to Men at Law at midseason, but its fate was sealed.

The Interns. What did in this Screen Gems entry was where it was placed, on Fridays, opposite studio stablemate The Partridge Family. With Broderick Crawford, Mike Farrell, Stephen Brooks, & Christopher Stone.

Dick Tufeld is our narrator.

Viewers would rather watch something new than regurgitated garbage. Unfortunately, the president doesn't get it

 So Donnie Diapers (Donald Trump to all the rest of y'all) gave his speech on Thursday night. CBS only carried a part of it before cutting away, and issuing a disclaimer that it was, as reported, full of tall tales. Fox & Fox News aired it. ABC & NBC didn't, but while ABC aired it on their streamer & radio network, NBC opted to air part of it on MS Now before cutting away, and aired the full speech on their streamer. CNN passed, as well, but because they're run now by friends of Dumb Donald, they got a free pass from the predictable criticism that followed.

"WAAAAAHHHH! I want ABC & NBC's licenses!! WAAAAHHHH!!"

No can do, strained spinach breath. The networks are within their rights not to air a speech full of propaganda and recycled lies. 

As expected, Trump whined about 2020, claiming it was stolen when it clearly wasn't, and blamed China for election interference that doesn't exist, and that was debunked rather easily. His tiny brain can't comprehend that he, and he alone, blew his reelection chances six years ago because of his pathetic response to the COVID pandemic, which exposed to the world how ill prepared he was, and still is. His ego refuses to allow him to accept the responsibility for that failure, so he projects, he deflects, and he lies. When he started downplaying the pandemic as less of a threat than it really was, his goose was cooked.

He wants his voter suppression bill, known as the SAVE America act, passed, but even Republicans are expressing doubts that it will take place. They just don't have the votes needed to pass it.

At the end of the day, Trump needs to finally put 2020 behind him, like the rest of us have. If he doesn't we'll still have this to look forward to........

The rarest of rarities: A presidential address no network wants to carry

 All week, the word has gone around that president Trump was planning to address the nation tonight, and it'd been leaked out that he was using this address to, again, whine about getting screwed in 2020, despite the fact that the case has been litigated so many times, with Trump losing every time.

Listen, fella, if that was true, you wouldn't be in the White House now.

Anyway, we just got this:

What this means, from this writer's perspective, is that Trump will only be able to get his message out if conservative networks like Newsmax agree to air the speech, or, he'll cancel, which will lead to more "TACO" (Trump Always Chickens Out) jokes.

And you know you're getting this:

"WAAAAAHHHHH! I'm being censored again! WAAAAAHHH!

No, Donald, you're not being censored. No one wants to listen to the same, tired garbage being spewed for the zillionth time since 2020. Most of us have better things to do.

Fred Sanford's favorite cop has gone to Heaven: Hal Williams (1934-2026)

 During the 70's, Hal Williams had the role of a lifetime as one of the most relatable cops on television, playing Officer Smith in 22 episodes of Sanford & Son, then returning for 5 more in the later Sanford series (1980-1).

Officer Smith, or, "Smitty", to friends like the Sanfords, often had to translate the misspeaking of his partners, whether it was Officer Swanhauser (Noam Pitlik) or Officer Hopkins (Howard Platt).

However, there was that time when Fred was at loggerheads with his dimwitted neighbor, Grady (Whitman Mayo), over a stolen TV....

Because it was a recurring role, Williams left Sanford & Son for a co-starring role in the ABC prison comedy, On The Rocks, which didn't last too long. After that, he appeared in both the movie and subsequent TV series, Private Benjamin, before scoring again with 227. Ironically, Williams also guest starred on the original S.W.A.T., and his last role was in the reimagining of Matlock.

Williams passed away on Wednesday at 91. Rest in peace.

Sports this 'n' that

 The finals of the FIFA World Cup are now set, after Argentina rallied to beat England, 2-1, earlier today. Lionel Messi & Argentina now will play Spain on Sunday (3 pm ET, Fox) at the Meadowlands. 

However, there are headlines away from the pitch, with reports that singer-talk show host Jennifer Hudson will sing the national anthem prior to the game Sunday, despite the fact that the US was eliminated 9 days ago. Figure FIFA head Gianni Infantino got that idea from his friend, president Trump, who, unfortunately, will hand out the championship trophy.

The National League was held to 2 hits as the American League won the All-Star Game, 4-0. The Yankees' Cody Bellinger drove in the game winners in the first inning, and the AL pitching & defense made it stand up, such that Bellinger was named game MVP.

St. Louis' Jordan Walker, who won the Home Run Derby by outpointing the Phillies' Kyle Schwarber, which made the partisans very unhappy, to the point where they booed Walker when he entered last night's game.

Talk about a tough crowd.

By the way, Netflix has taken over the Derby beginning with Monday's broadcast. The landscape of baseball on television continues to change.

While he's being used in a daffy sci-fi story arc on Smackdown with Danhausen, the Miz (Mike Mizanin) is very active away from the ring.

Miz is at the ESPY's tonight, and made an appearance on SportsCenter to promote SummerSlam, coming up August 1-2 in Minneapolis. Three days earlier, he was finishing up at the American Century celebrity golf championship, and may have gotten on ESPN's top 10 plays list with this shot:

We know some wrestlers like to play golf. We've seen Miz play softball during the All-Star break in the past. The dude has some skillz.

With ESPN now in charge of NFL Network programming, they've decided to end the syndicated version of Good Morning Football after 2 seasons.

Good Morning Football-Overtime is being bounced for the usual reason---low ratings, compared to the parent program. Well, it does get redundant over time (pun intended).

When MTV meant something: 120 Minutes (1986)

 After MTV jettisoned The Basement Tapes, the network decided to find another outlet for alternative music.

British producer-DJ Dave Kendall gave them 120 Minutes, and even spent 3 years as series host (1989-92) before moving back behind the camera. At first, the regular VJ's were rotating in the host position until they settled on Kevin Seal around 1988. Kendall took over the next year, and they were off and running. 

120 Minutes had its original run end around the turn of the century, then moved to MTV2 for a couple of years before being cut. One last go-round came a few years later with Matt Pinfield, who'd succeeded Kendall, returning as host.

Following is a sample episode from 1990.

In memory of Kendall, who has passed away according to media reports out this morning. Rest in peace.

Rockin' Funnies: Fire, ala Elmer Fudd via Robin Williams (1980's)

 Sometime in the early 80's, Robin Williams incorporated a brief excerpt of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire", which later became a hit for the Pointer Sisters, into his stand-up act. Less than a minute of pure bliss.