1976-77 Short-Lived TV Shows 

In the 1970s I was lucky enough to find a job being an on call extra on The Streets of San Francisco & mostly only worked on the weekends. My rent was $100 a month, food was cheap & I loved the show because I liked Karl Malden and working as an extra paid my bills for the month. I did not have ANY credit cards when the show started. I should have stayed away from the evil credit cards. I worked on the show for years.

Judd Hirsch almost didn't do Taxi because of Delvecchio. After that show's failure, he swore off doing television shows. Luckily, his agent convinced him to change his mind.

I worked on "Serpico" as a 20 yr old Lighting Tech. Except for establishing shots, all shot in Los Angeles. Based at Paramount Studios.

I think what’s most fun about seeing these is the reminder that we only had three to four stations of ABC, CBS and NBC and the reasons I say four is PBS was around to. If you look up the ratings numbers for even the cancelled series compared to now there numbers were very healthy. I think that’s why so many of us remember these series because we only had so much to choose from.

The Delveccio ad was hilarious! Just always have someone trip the suspect as they are fleeing

The TV show Delvecchio had Charles Haid and Michael Conrad, who would appear in the series Hill Street Blues.

Wow, Sirota's Court was basically Night Court before Night Court. Interesting.

I don't think anyone's face could match their name better than John Shuck

Rich Man Poor Man Book II was fantastic. Absolutely riveting.

I was 17 in 1977,but I don’t remember any of these sit-coms at all… My mom loved the Capt and Tenelle show. She liked Tony Orlando,Carol Burnett, Cher etc. Actually all of the variety shows that were on,she liked.

Beverly Archer kept plugging along. Thank God "Mama's Family" and "Major Dad" came along, giving her the comedy successes she deserved.

I had a Captain and Tenille record album. I played it all the time. I loved this song on it. Something about a Butterscoth Castle with a " Big old dog in the front yard; And an old Gray cat on the Back Porch" But my favorite songs were Muscrat Love, The Wedding Song and a song with " Lonely Nights I cry myself to sleep tell me what am I gonna do?"

“Ball Four”….Good lord what fever nightmare am I looking at!

I remember using Body-on-tap shampoo!!!!

I would say that a Brady Bunch variety show is the most '70s thing to have ever been '70ed.

Poor Gemini Man. If I wore that denim outfit I'd want to be invisible too.

“Nashville 99“ was made while I was a senior in college in Nashville, and one of my friends got cast in the part in one of the episodes. Unfortunately, for him, his name was Richard Burton, and they claimed they could not get in touch with him to choose a different name in the credits, therefore they cut all of his lines and he was only seen as a glorified extra. On a different note, a few years ago I was in the cast of a production of “12 Angry Men” with John Schuck, Yoyo in “Holmes and Yoyo.” That may have been a pretty silly show, but he is actually a fine actor and was terrific in the production I was in.

I remember watching Holmes and Yoyo. It was so corny😂

This was a lot of fun to watch! Thanks for putting it together. The only show I watched as a kid out of all of these shows was The Captain & Tennille show. I don't remember any of the other shows.

This is really well done and researched. It's amazing to think that we really only see the tip of the iceberg as far as TV shows go. A lot of time, work and talent goes into making these "flops'.

I watched Feather & Father because I loved Stephanie Powers & still do. Also Dellvechio & Art Carney as I read all the Rabbi books.

Some shows deserve to last one season or less. On the other hand, every season, some shows are critically acclaimed and/or receive strong word-of-mouth but still get canceled by a network for many other reasons, not only for low Nielsen ratings. You've done a great job with these videos. It's entertaining and informative.

Thanks for the memories! My favorite short-lived show of this time frame? The Press Your Luck predecessor, SECOND CHANCE. Certainly not perfect, but a technical marvel for 1977. Ran on ABC from March to July.

I just recently watched The Fantastic Journey on RU-vid and some of the commercials, but many of the shows I didn’t know about. Many of the actors I do recognize from other movies and shows.

“The CAPTAIN & TENNILLE !!!!”

The Captain and Tennille! Haven't thought about them in years. They were very popular, so much so that one of my daughter's little friends was named Tennille. Shannon called her "Te-needle".

I would love to have an old 70s Toy Toyota !!

Man, sooo many memories. Thanks for this!

1:10 If I hadn't actually seen this show as an 11-year-old in 1976, I would've thought "The Starland Vocal Band Show" was an SNL sketch poking fun at the 70s. (It would be like poking fun at the 90s with "The Lou Bega Hour"!)

"Cos!" Why didn't it last? Well... Cos!

I remember wondering what blackmail info Nancy Walker had to keep getting series?

Holy cow, seeing these shows brings back bad memories from the 70's. No wonder why I worked in the office until 22:00 hrs. Didn't have a social life, but neither did anyone who sat at home to watch these.

I was 9 during the TV season and I remember our family watching "The Feather & Father Gang," "Van Dyke and Company," I had to do extra chores Saturday afternoon so I could watch "Holmes & Yoyo" Saturday night since my parents hated the show and we only had one television, so I had to earn the privilege to watch "Holmes & Yoyo." I guess we did not watch too Short-Lived television shows during the 1976-77 season. Once again, many thanks for the wonderful memories!

I was in the Army in Korea during this time so I don't remember any of these shows. Looks like I didn't miss much.

That show Hunter with James Franciscus looks just as good if not better than Quincy. I remember Quincy of course, while the first thing I saw Franciscus in was Killer Fish with Lee Majors. Some of the others are O.K., although seeing what they were up against, I understand why they failed. Then again, Blansky's Beauties and Holmes and Yoyo looked awful!!

Thanks Mom and Dad for making my bedtime 8pm on school nights! Saved me from alot of terrible shows and a few good ones!

Delvecchio’s theme song lasted longer than the show. 🤷🏾‍♂️. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

It's weird Michael Keaton wasn't listed in the credits for, 'Alls Fair.'

A Toyota Corolla got 49 miles per gallon on the highway and 36mpg in the city and this was 47 years ago - what kind of mpg do they get nowadays? Ok I checked, they get UP TO 41/32mpg, technology is supposed to evolve and get better over time... theoretically. Cars/trucks should be getting a minimum of 100mpg or better, NO EXCUSES!

Why does Three Girls Three stick in my head to this very day? It was our intro to Debbie Allen and Mimi Kennedy. Those were the days. We had three major networks and September was the beginning of the new TV show seasons. It’s all we had when cooped up during the cold weather.

Wow! That Robert Stack theme music was really something. Don't quite know what to make of it.

I think Charlie's Angels should have been nicknamed "The Grim Reaper" for all the shows it bumped off during the 1976-77 season!

I don't remember 3 Girls 3, but back during its time, it was a television show I most certainly would have watched had it survived. And probably not for its story lines. Back in '76-'77, I was a typical teenage boy, growing up in suburban Chicago, complete with the classic Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Ladd posters adorning my bedroom's wall. At 16, I was mesmerized with the beauty, style, and maturity of "older" women that were "out of my league". It's said that we always want what we cannot have, and the trio of Allen, Foley, and Kennedy would have been exactly the type of girls of my dreams during that most awkward time of my life. 3 Girls 3 would have been a "must-watch" television show for me back then.

I couldn't see Judd Hirsch as a dramatic actor, but he was of course a brilliant comedic actor. He had a mobile face that was made for comedy.

Great job on your presentation !

You had my attention when the thumbnail used for the Brady Bunch Variety Hour was a picture of the family on the cover of Dynamite magazine. Who remembers Dynamite magazine? Oh man, its one of my better memories of being in grade school. Dynamite was published once a month and could only be ordered through Scholastic which the teacher passed around once a month. The magazine wasn't very expensive and was packed with all kinds of groovy stories, games, posters, cards, and jokes. One issue showed how to make a pinhole camera out of cardboard and aluminum foil which actually worked! Being a kid in the early to mid 1970s was a lot of fun. With only one television in the home and only three channels you had to watch what the folks watched or find something else to do, like read. My wife is a 4th grade teacher, she has said that if Dynamite were published today, very few kids, if any, would order it. Kids today don't do much reading of printed material unless they have to. That's kind of sad

Thanks for these. I didn't know that Susan Dey was on Loves Me Loves Me Not. I used to watch the McLean Stevenson Show.

Delvecchio may be considered a prequel of sorts for Hill Street Blues. The connection includes writer/producer Steven Bochco, along with actors Charles Haid, Michael Conrad and James B Sikking.

TRIVIA: High School: me and this "friend" of mine had a HUGE argument one day after Rich Man Poor Man was on the air; My friend thought the villain was called FALCON EDDY ! I was all NO: it's Falconetti .

I remember as a kid a show called Lucan about a boy raised by wolves it didn't last long 🤔

Thanks for bringing back my junior year of high school memories…😊! It seems allot of the new medical dramas needed to be put on life support that year. I remember “Gemini Man” and “The Fantastic Journey “ fondly but remember them both having to do the “Network Juggle “ so never knew which time slot they landed. I remember some because my parents or sister would watch them. Good to see future stars in their 1st roles…some that they would rather forget…😊! Have a great day!

Sirota's Court, the show that kept Night Court from being a Barney Miller spinoff when ABC got cold feet.

The only show from this list I watched was "Spencer's Pilots". Loved it. Of course I was only 9 and I loved airplanes. For me,they were the stars. Was crushed when it was canceled. Didn't know it came in dead last in the Nielsen ratings!

Boy that Norman Lear could sure pick 'em

Thanks for this, I'm loving these installments. I remember maybe one third of these shows...was still a "kid" at the time (about 13). My favorite of these was "Blansky's Beauties" and was sad to see it leave the airwaves back then.

Mr. T and Tina was so bad that our ABC affiliate in Buffalo refused to show it. I heard it was pretty much canceled as soon as it hit the air.

I absolutely adored Harold Gould!.I really loved him as Mr Morgenstern on Rhoda and also Ida and Brenda. And Valerie too Plus Joe.

Ordinarily, I might have a few tidbits about some of these shows. But this was a real dud of a year for TV, and to be honest I was in high school and wasn't watching much TV. A few real stinkers here too. (Holmes & Yoyo? Mr. T and Tina? Sheesh!)

The Brady Bunch and Starland Vocal Band receiving variety shows this season was proof that the format was starting to wane.

Thank you for posting all these shows. Your channel is good for the brain! I remember some of these shows, Not so much with the others. Must be a regional thing.

Anyone else notice the stark similarities between "Sirotas Court" and "Night Court"? Creepily similar. They even had a midg---....er, a "little person". 😂😂😂

Let's create an interesting new show with an interesting new concept and then put it up against the biggest established hits on television so that it has no chance of survival whatsoever.

I must have been a TV junkie when I was 13, I remember just about all of them!

Major-league pitcher Jim Bouton wrote the book "Ball Four", and also starred in the sitcom. I can't think of too many writers who starred in their own works.

I just looked up “ Black Jack “ the Great Dane from Blansky’s Beauties on a lark and he has an IMDB page lol

Other fantastic video. I loved Fantastic Journey it was crying shame it only lasted 10 episodes. I saw in 1977 on my school hoildays when l was 11 . I Also remember the Gemini man that was a big favourite in my household . I Just loved his watch . I love your videos 📺

A bit of proto-Letterman there! Then some proto- _Hill Street Blues_ ! And proto-Data!

The Toyota Corolla commercial was hilarious. Used car lots are still selling that year and model for more than what it originally cost. (sarcasm). And it featured Thorton Melon's secretary Marge Sweetwater......LOL

I've never heard of Sirota's Court or whatever it was called but it certainly seems like Night Court before Night Court!

Have to admit. That theme song to The McLean Stevenson Show is quite catchy😊.

Bernadette Peters is my favorite Broadway actress of all-time...and she was a TERRIBLE fit for a television sitcom! Granted, it didn't help All's Fair went against Monday Night Football and NBC's Monday Night Movie.

Wow. $2895 for a car. That's the tax now.

That Hunter series looked interesting. I would like to have seen that one!😳

"The Brady Bunch Hour", the most "cringe" thing ever on TV. Its only redeemable trait was that it killed male perms forever. I can't believe anybody proposed this show and it actually got to production.

Nancy Walker sure was busy that year. Starring in two shows, Bounty commercials, and wasn't she also playing Ida Morgenstern on Rhoda during this time? Busy lady! I notice Pat Morita also has two shows here. Not sure if they overlapped with his time on Happy Days though.

There were lots of variety shows in the 70's. I loved to watch the Carol Burnett and Sonny and Cher shows. I also remember watching Flip Wilson, Glen Campbell and Donny & Marie. I don't remember The Captain and Tenille show.

Bill Cosby failed as a variety-show host, but was a huge hit in a situation comedy. For some others (Redd Foxx. Mary Tyler Moore, others), it was the opposite--hit sitcom, flop variety series.

A show wouldn't have a chance going up against Police Woman and Mash!

I was overseas from early 1977 until the middle of 1978. Most of these shows I never heard of.

Gemini Man was shown on television in The Netherlands in 1977. They aired it as a kind of sequel to the invisible man series with David McCallum. Spencer's Pilots and Holmes & YoYo were aired on television in Germany. Spencer's Pilots even got rerun a few years later.

2 Nancy Walker shows . Gibbsville was a quality show that had quality writing and performances. Sirota's court looked an early inspiration for night court. Serpico never had a chance turning it into a conventional cop show.

28:49 I actually had that MAC: Mobil Action Command toy when I was a kid. Fun toy for the 1st week. Then, there wasn't anything you could do with it except the same thing every time. Fly the helicopter around, rescue other MAC characters. Eventually I destroyed it a year later with my toy bazooka gun.

That Kurt Russell ever had a failure in anything seems weird.

38:57 The best theme song of all time !

I've seen a few of these videos of shows cancelled in one season. One thing hit me, so many actors that made it to be a lead in a network TV show, get cancelled and I don't recall ever seeing them ever again, in anything! What it must feel like to be so close to 'stardom" the rich and famous, and soon be asking "would you like fries with that order"

Great work!

At 34:00, we see a pilot that never aired for a show called Hunter. The whole premise of a man out of prison fighting for justice got dropped and instead James Franciscus's character of James Hunter became a bookstore owner and a retired spy who gets called back into the field. That was the show that actually aired.

As soon as I saw the Excedrin commercial, the next show would be my second favorite Variety show that year "3 Girls 3". My favorite was "The Jacksons" because of little Janet.

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. The worst of the worst!

"The Nancy Walker Show" is pretty much "Granny Takes A Trip."

Thanks For Sharing!

I remember watching Delvecchio with my parents. Judd Hirsch and Charles Haid had a good rapport. And All’s Fair was pretty funny. I watched the Keane Brothers Show - every single minute. They were extremely talented and charming. Even though I’m no longer an 11 year old girl, I still believe that. ❤️

Waiting for 1978-1979 season (NBC's SUPERTRAIN - the biggest most expensive flop ever !)

The shows that were on the longest would find new life on the nostalgia channels that are on now (GetTv, MeTv, RewindTV, etc.). After nothing but reality shows and cooking shows, the public need to realize that once upon a time we could watch TV and not see backsides encased in jeans and painted on bathing suits.

Before he drove a hack on TAXI, Judd Hirsch was a detective in Delvecchio.

Delvecchio was a good police show unlike today's trash!

Remember watching Spencer's Pilots in the late 70s,quite enjoyed it surprised it wasa failure Auckland New Zealand 2024

I hate to say it, being female, but All That Glitters seems the most sexist and feminist thing, and I've seen and lived through a LOT of male authority being sexist and macho. It was last and certainly least of all shows shown. Otherwise, another stellar showing of series I missed out on because I wasn't even born yet. Well done!

Thank you!😊

Michael COnrad and Charles Haid were both on Delvecchio? Wow...then they both showed up on Hill Street Blues 5 years later.