The beauty of syndicated programming was that stations could program shows on any night they chose. In the case of our next subject, it wasn't confined to the weekends, unlike the show it was created to be a contemporary of.
Time-Life Television began making inroads into syndication with 1973's Wild, Wild World of Animals. The series lasted five seasons (1973-8) as a weeknight answer to Wild Kingdom, which had itself moved to syndication a couple of years earlier after ending a run on NBC.
William Conrad (Cannon) narrated the series, while the show was filmed on location. Unlike Kingdom's Marlin Perkins, Conrad never left the studio, recording his voice-overs during breaks in filming Cannon.
After the series ended, reruns would air on USA Network, WTBS, and elsewhere during the 80's. Warner Bros Discovery currently owns the rights to the series, but is in no hurry to release it on DVD, when it can still be used in schools.
Here's the intro:
No comments:
Post a Comment