TV Guide 1976 Fall Preview. Did TV suck in 1976? 

Two (so far) post fixes. 1) Totally missed the US Bicentennial. I source my news from a history news list and it did not mention it. Plus I'm Canadian so I didn't notice. I'm used to American flybys over football games so I couldn't tell anything was different down there. Still, an omission. 2) The second time I referred to Robert Conrad, I said William Conrad. Apologies.

The thing I remember most about Quincy was him constantly telling his long-suffering assistant Sam that they needed to repeat an autopsy. As an actual pathologist I have never repeated an autopsy.

Years later in 1988 I was in the Air Force they sent me to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where I dished out codes for AWACS radio operators(CSO's). Right next to the hangar there was a very small wooden shack where we could get the bare minimum to eat. It was named Mel's after Mel's diner in Alice. A couple of guys ran it, they were super happy to be out of the Saudi heat they treated us like kings(haha). Hanging on the wall was a signed picture of Vic Tayback(Mel) that said "Stow it guys!". RIP Vic Tayback.

Wait--I love Leonard Nimoy's singing! I have all his albums and listen to them at least once a year. His "Bilbo Baggins" is the definitive version for sure!

Cool shirt. "stop shaking your eyes, you're always shaking your eyes!"

The one thing we learned from the Captain and Tennille show was that the backup singers were Toni's sisters. They were included in the cast and you could see why their vocals matched Toni's so perfectly in their music, especially in songs like, "Lonely Night (Angel Face). 70s pop culture was enamored of the 20s and 30s and Tennille's sisters had that perfect retro 30s sound.

These episodes always bring back memories shows I'd forgotten or those who I remember fondly

The Gemini Man wore a cool LCD watch. Seven-year-old me wanted that watch, as I'd never seen anything so space-aged, before. Mark my words, LCD digital watches are the future. 👍

I remember Black Sheep as a kid. Being an aviation nutter, I tuned in for Black Sheep and Tales of the Golden Monkey amongst others. I remember hearing at one point remaining members of the real squadron weren't pleased with Cannell's portrayal of them, making them out to be misfits and screwballs.

Hey Chato, as I was 14 in 1976, I definitely remember Charlie's Angels (of course), Quincy (which I loved) and I never missed Streets of San Francisco! By the next year, I was already more interested in boys than TV! 😂 Love these retro TV guide episodes, see you on the next Midnight's Edge Livestream! 👍

Ah, yes! We who grew up in 1970's Australia will never forget 'The Great Turning'- ;-)

Holmes and Yoyo was great for a 10-year-old me. Yoyo had a printer in his shirt pocket. Brilliant!

I remember Swine Flu, much less panic and scrambling to protect everyone than we saw recently. And yet we somehow survived. Red dye#4 was one of those huge news stories that no one ever understood just how it affected them. Pinky Tuscadero? This was Happy Days jumping the shark before they literally jumped the shark. Ron Carey joining Barney Miller was a high point for the season. Quincy was fantastic simply because you could never get enough of Jack Klugman ... but I was always disappointed that Tony Randall never made an appearance. Baa Baa Black sheep was a favorite simply because it starred the legendary Chance Vought F4U Corsair. Charlie's Angels was highly interesting after you invested in a lobotomy. Strangely enough, I was in London during 1981 and met a girl who was addicted to Delvecchio reruns...had to figure that the BBC counter programming was poor. I could go on, but the best thing in 1976 was that I graduated highschool and interminable boredom.

I loved Black Sheep Squadron. Besides Robert Conrad, the other big star was the Vought F4U Corsair fighter plane the squadron flew. Yeah, I’m a military history nut. I’ll show myself out.

Baa Baa Black Sheep was one of my favorite shows from childhood. I would have sworn it was on for more than 2 seasons. Quincy and Alice were two of my favorites for years. I watched Alice for most of its run but can't watch the reruns now. I remember enjoying Captain and Tennille. Delvecchio sounds familiar but I don't remember it at all.

I love reading TV Guides back then, the smell of the paper, the texture, and sound whenever I turn the page

W00t! I love these. As an old man (64) this take me back to a simpler time

My dad introduced me and my twin brother to Black Sheep and we loved it. I would watch it still if I ever passed a TV and it was playing.

The name "Holmes and Yoyo" didn't ring any bells, then you mentioned the HP calculator on the chest and John Schuck caught in a loop saying "Bunko Squad" and I instantly remembered that!

Wojeck/Quincy were the progenitors for all the modern day forensics shows... Klugman was such a loveable grouch

I remember my father raging when they cancelled Black Sheep. My Grandmother was obsessed with Alice mostly because she thought Beth Howland was a family member. She was big into genealogy. She wrote Howland and she wrote grandmother back several times. Life was so much simpler back then.

I love these episodes! Small correction: Red dye #2 was banned in 1976... red dye #4 was banned earlier, with a single exception for maraschino cherries; it was this exception that was also removed in 1976. Thanks!

I remember Charlie's Angels was considered part of ABC's trend for T&A or "jiggle" tv, courtesy of Fred Silverman.

I grew up in S. America, many of those one season losers were regulars on the 3 channels we had

I watched EVERY episode I could of Holmes and Yoyo!! But I was eleven years old. That guy John Schuck was also in McMillan & Wife and in a show where he changed bodies with Sharon Gless of Cagney and Lacey. Then later he played Herman on The Munsters Today LOL. I know too much about John Schuck and not enough about important things.

Oh, awesome! Let me get my popcorn to watch on my 65 inch TV! Thank you Chato 👍

Spun off from the film drama, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", the Alice sitcom had a catchy theme song and end credits vamping by Lavin. And there was Flo's fiesty southern catchphrase, _"KISS my GRITS!!"_ It was popular here in AZ because they would reference small Az towns in their jokes. Notable episodes was the lampoon of Close Encounters (a lot of shows were doing UFOs on account of that movie) and the tornado episode.

When everybody had to watch basically the same thing, life was simpler, not necessarily better. Now you can always see something good. Back the. If there wasn’t anything good, you could read a book, which today is simply unheard off among the youth.

YOU ARE A GENIUS! I BUY OLD TV GUIDES 📺 ALL THE TIMES! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH! THE GLORY DAYS OF THE BIG 3 NETWORKS. THANK YOU ❤️ 🥰 SO MUCH! WE L0VE YOUR CHANNEL! LET'S GO BRANDON

Bill Cosby seemed like he was always successful, as he had several hits. But I keep learning about other stuff he did in between, that we never knew existed. And then there's I Spy, which apparently was a big hit before I was even born.

I’ve never watched as much TV as I did as a kid in the mid-1970s, so I love this. Even if I don’t remember a lot of the shows. Too bad I wasn’t making better use of my time 🤣. That year McDs ran a game promotion based on the Olympics. And it seemed to be poorly conceived because we neighborhood kids won a ton of food throughout. And we had a neighborhood McDs around the corner we could walk to.

Two comments about the TV show Alice. It was based on the 1974 comedy/drama movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More" and, although I could not recall Linda Lavin's name as Alice, I certainly remembered Vic Tayback as Mel. He brilliantly reprised his role in Red Lobster TV commercials: "More Lard!"

What I have found fascinating about these videos is how you can chart the declining popularity of the variety show format.

But the Fall Preview came back the very next day The Fall Preview came back, they thought it was a goner But the Fall Preview came back; it just couldn't stay away

“Alice in Wonderland” is released in 1976, Roger Ebert gave it a good review.

Love how the Guide rips on "The Tony Randall Show" for being so proudly set in Philly while being shot, as usual, in L.A. That damn Hollywood magic; I actually thought "Dexter" was all about Miami until some party-pooper revealed that even the exterior locations were scattered around L.A.

In the first season of Quincy he lives on a houseboat with a beautiful blond lady half his age. She was always laying around in the sun. Asking him if they an go out to dinner and he's tearing through like, 'No!, I'm trying to solve a murder woman, get out of my way'. He used grumpiness to solve crimes. Very entertaining.

I once knew an oil spill from Nantucket ... forget how the rest of that goes ...

The thing about the old days is that even for the shows that didn't survive, lots of people remember them. Today, I couldn't tell you what's on TV most nights, nor do I care, nor will most shows be remembered next week.

God help me, I remember ALL of those shows - I watched WAY too much TV that year.

As a 6 -year old back in '76, I remembered Holmes and Yo-Yo. Loved whenever he malfunctioned. Also loved Baa Baa Black Sheep. Didn't remember Mr. T and Tina. Glad he made a great comeback and new look years later in Rocky III.

I think you could do a segment just on the print adverts...so much nostalgia, so little time.

Hi Chato. Dick Van Dyke, Andy Kaufman and Bob Einstein in a comedy show should've been a slam dunk....

“Barely got to seven episode before being roofied.” 😂😂 That shouldn’t have made me laugh. But I absolutely lol’d.

One of me and my sister's favorite things to do was get the old tv guide and make up funny captions for all the pictures. I'm surprised at how many I remembered. I had good laugh. Thank you for bringing up some great memories.

I remember when Magic Mountain used to be a great park in the 70s. Now it's more like living through Escape from New York.

This was the heart of the years I couldn't watch what was on TV because our TV had died in 1975 and we couldn't afford to replace it or (even more expensive: fix it). The shows I remember (because, occasionally I would be over at a friend's house on a Saturday morning) was Arc II and the Filmation Tarzan show. I remember my dad really liking Black Sheep and he loved Quincy - but the only times he could watch them were when we were visiting family (Sunday Supper at Grandmas) or those occasional years mom rented a TV for December so we could watch the Christmas specials. It wouldn't be until 1983-ish that we finally bought a TV - just in time for all the Transformers/GI Joe cartoons to hit the air. The deciding factor was that Mom wanted to watch Magnum PI.

Missed at least one, Spencer's Pilots, which also aired in 76 for 11 episodes. While forgotten in North America, this show may have been bigger in international markets (which is where I saw it dubbed into German).

The Bicentennial was the main thing I remember from 1976..Oh...and I remember vividly the peanut themed campaign buttons of Carter as my grandma was a big time supporter. I remember it was a brilliant autumn day, bright, dry and cool midwest weather, for the election.

I use to collect TV guides when I was a kid and The Fall Preview Guide was my favorite! Every Friday I would eagerly wait for the mail, grab my guide and read it cover to cover, memorizing everything that was on television the following week. My neighbors would actually call me up to ask what was on TV on a given night. I learned how to read thanks to the TV Guide. I had to find something to read that I was interested in or else I couldn't concentrate. Today, there are so many channels to chose from. I kind of miss the days when everything I watched was on like 20 channels!

Oh, Charlie's Angels was definitely my fav show as a very, very, early teen boy (my fav was Jaclyn Smith - uff)! And Baa Baa Black Sheep was right up there for the action side of things for a very, very, early teen boy...

The ones I remember: Quincy - A favorite in my family. We'd been living in the States when Wojak was on, so didn't know about the ripoff. Baa Baa Black Sheep - Another favorite. Later I read how much some real servicemen from that theatre hated the show. The real Boyington seems to have been a divisive character, and the show wasn't, apparently, an accurate portrayal of the man or events. We still liked it, despite it using T-6 trainers to represent Japanese Zeroes. Alice - Mom might have liked it if my Dad and two bothers and I would have let her watch it. The catch phrase, "Kiss my grits!" did make it into my consciousness. Charlie's Angels - Not even my burgeoning 13-17-year-old libido could get me to watch that dreck. Van Dyke & Company - We watched that. Running gags about Coronado, California wore thin. But it introduced us to Andy Kaufman, so I guess that's something. I don't remember The Quest, but Tim Matheson is a co-star in Virgin River, which films near Vancouver. He has an extensive body of acting and directing work, including Otter in Animal House and a bit part on Baa Baa Black Sheep. But my favorite is the recurring Burn Notice character, Larry, The Not-Dead Spy. He also directed a number of solid Burn Notice episodes. I didn't watched Serpico, probably because the Mad Magazine parody of the source movie made me realize that it wouldn't be my thing. But, it should be noted that Frank Serpico was a real cop, and the movie was based somewhat on his own experiences.

People in my circle of friends used to call me Quincy, mostly because I was a serious horror fan, and enjoyed morbid and necropositive material. I often wondered what would have happened if Quincy was hired as a guest lecturer at Miskatonic University, while Herbert West was attending. Those two would have clashed hard...although I would hope that Jack Klugman wouldn't have had to have a cast made of his head, so he could end up as a head in a tray with a stake up his throat.

I remember my family watching Alice and enjoying it, but I can't remember any of the episodes. I just remember Flo being somewhat loose, Vera jittery, and Mel yelling Alice's name. I also liked Quincy.

You have to keep things in historical perspective. What looks lame today was entertaining 46 years ago. I was 10 this year and remember it. We only had CBS, NBC, and ABC over antenna plus PBS, and 3-4 UHF stations. We didn't care much about TV then, we had other things to do like ride our bikes or just go outside and do something. Anything to be out of the house with our parents. It's funny the TV Guide was a must have at this time, everyone subscribed to it. If you didn't you had no idea what was on TV. Baa Baa Black Sheep was awesome at the time BTW. The whole family would watch Charlies Angels which me and my father appreciated I'm sure. Serpico was great too.

I love your sweater. "Always shaking your eyes! Always shaking your eyes!!!"

I can confirm without watching this video -- will later with a cuppa -- that yes, almost everything did indeed suck in the 1970s. P.S. That said, for an almost complete sampling of everything that did and didn't suck in the '70s, watch The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. The jokes are *chef's kiss* and Paul is nailing it shut. Every 70s reference that you can cram into an hour show.

How could you forget?! 1976 was the US Bicentennial year! For one year, everything was Red, White, and Blue! Granted, celebrations began to wind down after July 4.... Anyhow, I would've been 12 at this time. I didn't watch all these shows but I at least remember that they existed via commercials and TV Guide. All except for Executive Suite. Totally didn't ring a bell. I was fascinated by WWII so naturally I watched Baa Baa Black Sheep. (I also fondly remembered Robert Conrad from Wild, Wild West reruns.) I was a fan of Science Fiction and watched every disastrous American effort to get a sci fi series off the ground. I watched Invisible Man. I also watched Gemini Man. I don't have vivid memories of either show because they were rather lame...and short-lived. Much was made in the 1970s about there being no more Westerns after Bonanza and Gun Smoke went off the air. I watched The Quest but in the post-Bury My Heart in Wounded Knee era, it was hopelessly downbeat, depressing, and sanctomonious. When the show wasn't about the annihilation of the American Indian, it was on the mistreatment of Chinese Immigrants. "Abandon All Hope" should've been the show's motto. As always, I enjoyed the vid! I always bought the Fall Preview issues of TV Guide so these episodes are splendid time capsules of television past.

I wasn’t alive in ‘76, but enjoy hearing about these concepts that in retrospect, never would have panned out.

I love these TV Guide episodes. Thank you for the history recaps. This was my junior year in college, so I did not watch any TV., so I am learning about TV history that I missed. Thank you so much for the education.

I was 17 in 76'. I watched a few of these shows with my Mom, once in a while. I remember it best because I found a old 1966 Corvette and managed to get it for my very own.

I was 9 years old when Holmes & Yoyo aired. I looked forward to that show. It was my first time watching a tv show being filmed. One of the episodes was shot a couple of blocks from my house and got to watch the main stars. I therefore had to watch it. As a side story, as a demonstration of how odd a child I was I would pretend to be robot like Yoyo and would put things under my shirt to look like I was a robot (at least to my 9 years old minds). I was excited when John Shuck started as a Klingon in one of the Star Trek movies.

Great review..looking back this was when the bottom started falling out for NBC, they owned Friday Nights though with Sanford, Rockford, and Quincy. I think CBS's Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart were starting to lose steam on Sat nights. ABC was really starting to take over, Happy Days and Laverne/Shirley was top 10, so was Charlies Angels and 6 Million Dollar Man. Once they added Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Mork & Mindy in 77/78 they ruled the rest of the decade. How about Jack Klugman? He had just finished his 5 year stint on ABC's Odd Couple and he comes back with another hit in Quincy. Dude was a Network TV Superstar!

From Holmes and Yoyo to modern-day Westworld. What a world we live in. Charlie's Angels was a favorite of mine because I had a huge crush on Kate Jackson. My wife knows so I have to watch old episodes while she is asleep in the middle of the night. Don't even mention The Scarecrow and Mrs. King in my house. Whoo Boy.........my wife will go berserk. Great video.

I remember the hijacking (there were lots in the 70's), and Nadia's '10'. Quincy was 70's House

Main thing I remember about Alice, aside from Flo and her catchphrase, was that time Boss Hogg and Enos showed up at the diner. Always loved those weird crossovers as a kid, like when Simon & Simon had a crossover with Magnum. Those were the big events of my childhood (when Battle of the Network Stars, Circus of the Stars, or celebrity episodes of Family Feud weren't on). :P

Holy shit I need this.

I was born in the summer of '76, so it was interesting to see what was on TV that year. I grew up mostly on reruns. We were close enough to the border that we got a good CBC signal. It was one of 5 channels we had. I remember watching Taxi and WKRP in Cincinnati from a very young age.

Holmes and yo-yo was a favourite of mine, but then again, I was only 10 years old at the time.

Ahh, Charlie's Angels...I was 16 that year, so that was my show. Also, in the "events" prologue, no mention of the American Bicentennial? It was the biggest thing in the US that year, and it was all over TV (maybe not the series TV shows, but in commercials, the news and in variety shows.)

OMG! I couldn't remember the title of Holmes And Yoyo but I kept trying to ask friends and family if they remembered it. When I described it they just looked at me like I was crazy. I started to think I dreamt the whole thing. Thanks for the flash back. Love the videos and your channel, you truly are a Canadian national treasure.

Quincy I always remember the beginning….but never watched an entire episode. My favorite was definitely Baa baa Black sheep. I absolutely loved that show as a kid. Later in life I ended up with the real Black Sheep squadron on my ship in the Navy. The Marines in the current iteration were definitely not the rag tag bunch like in the show obviously, but It was pretty cool in my book.

I love these videos. I grew up in the 60s and 70s. We had TV.

I was born in the summer of 1976 so this is cool to see what was on the TV when I was a newborn. Love history like this.

I can't believe I actually remember that issue. . . awesome commentary and series! I so miss TV Guide. . .

Chato, it was great that you gave a run down of how many new shows each network put out, and their success ratio. Love those old fashioned tv guide fall previews.

These are my favorite vids, it is so fun seeing what was happening on TV when I was a little kid. And yes I remember too many of these "interesting" shows.

I was only five years old in the fall of 1976 but I remember such goofy stuff like Holmes and Yoyo. And the show Alice was appointment viewing in our house growing up.

Quincy and Charlie Angel's were famous in my country in the early 80s. Fine memories there...

Really enjoying this retrospective. I was 6 in 1976, but I remember Carter's election and Rocky - and surprisingly, Holmes and YoYo. Cheers Chato

Love The Big Snit pullover there, Chato. I was thinking of that little animation recently. I watched it so many times as a kid, and for some odd reason it keeps surfacing in my mind.

Thanks Chato. I was born in the Fall of 1976 so this is awesome.

Love the TV guide episodes

As soon as I recognized the drawing style on your sweatshirt, I had to go back and pause it to look more closely. I realize that your video is not an add for NFB animation studio related merch, but it was a pleasant surprise to recognize the characters from "The Cat Came Back" and "The Big Snit". I remember "Holmes and Yoyo" well enough that when John Schuck got a role in "Babylon5", I recognized him. "Baa, Baa, Black sheep" was based on the adventures of a real US Marine squadron in the Pacific Theater of Operations and Gregory "Pappy" Boyington actually had a cameo role as a senior officer.

Whatcha you talking bout Chato, Spock singing was a cultural gold mine.

I love these videos. I can remember, often vaguely, many of these shows when they were on. I was one of those that watched Alice. Still use Flo's endearing line - Kiss my Grits

I may have only been 6, but I remember Gemini Man and Baa Baa Black Sheep. Good stuff.

Baaba black sheep was my favorite TV show as a kid. It inspired me to get my pilots license and at the time I had my eye on a F4U Corsair which was $800,000 at the time fully restored. Now I have my eye on a FG-1D which is a mere 2 1/2 million dollars. The Corsair was one of the greatest planes ever made. It was powered by an 18 cylinder supercharged turbo prop engine. Had a ceiling of 41,500 feet and 1000 mile range. It also was the fastest single seat fighter plane of its time. In the Korean War a Corsair pilot shot down a MiG! I’ve never had enough money to own one but I’ve certainly flown some very cool planes. And it’s all because of that television show.

Been waiting for this to come out from the Holy Year (my birth year ;) ).

I was fresh from the womb when this issue came out....if that tells you antyhing. However, since Alice and Quincy lasted so long I remember them both being on. I'm like you, never got into Alice - I even tried watching an episode the other day and didn't laugh at all, all the jokes seemed forced. But Flo's "Kiss my grits!!" is probably the lasting pop culture affectation from the show. I watch Quincy whenever I happen to catch it. It has a very high rewatchability factor. And I forgot about Barnaby Jones adding a young detective helper. It used to air in the afternoons before Andy Griffith when I was in high school. I always though it was cool that Buddy Ebsen could still do all this tough detective work to be so old.

I can’t believe I didn’t have the all notifications option enabled for your channel, missed this by 2 hours. Fixed. You’re one of a half-dozen channels I actually want to know about posting. All I remember about ‘76 is going to see the Spirit of 76 train with my dad and seeing Rocky.

"Alice" was based on the movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore "; Beth Howland and Vic Tayback reprised their roles.

Wow, thanks for filling me in on '75 and '76. The first half of a four year enlistment, I didn't have a TV in the barracks. As Black Sheep Squadron is still being broadcast, I'll have to watch for that Holmes and Yoyo. Just finished a 30 year software career, and it's always great to have a good Command Line guy on the team.

Philistine! The Quest sounds bloody ace! Charlie's Angels.......what an iconic piece of pop culture that used to be...

Zoomer here (b. 1999). I hate that I was on the tail end of traditional television. It’s fascinating to learn about all these shows I’d have no other way of knowing about. Thanks, Mr. Canoehead!

Thanks Chato I enjoyed watching this. The only ones that I can recall are the shows that lasted over 1 season since I was stationed in West Germany all of 1976 and didn't watch a lot of American TV. 🤷‍♂️

Ah, I was 5/6 during the fall season of this year. As a kid I love the cop show with the robot, could never remember the name. Remember Quincy well. Used to watch Black Sheep, Alice, and Charlie’s Angels.

This video makes the second time today I found a reference to the 1976 Swine Flu outbreak in my RU-vid subscription feed.

Love these TV Guide videos. I just searched for 8 of the mentioned TV shows on my streaming services.... Found none. :-( Actually, Serpico was available, but I didn't want to pay for it.

I was 10 and saw my first colour telly!