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Bonus video! ABC's Ratings Bloodbath, the Magoo Test, and Singing Cops (Patreon)

Published:
2021-10-10 17:01:02
Edited:
2023-06-21 15:33:52
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

A quick note about videos: Patreon tells me they're still working on finding a way to make the video embeds work better. In the mean time, if it's not working for you, try viewing it in a browser like Safari or Chrome, instead of in the Patreon app; or try viewing it at this link: https://youtu.be/F9YxbP1VcQ8 

Hello! Would you like to hear about some of the worst ideas for TV shows ever? In the mid 1970s, ABC was airing some truly hilariously bad shows (and a few good ones!), and in this bonus video I run through some of my favorites. Plus: The "Magoo Test" by which the network would test viewers to find out if they had "normal" senses of humor. Also please enjoy/laugh at a clip from Cop Rock, a truly jaw-dropping flop of a TV show in which very serious cops break out into song. And get a little sneak peek at my next video, all about Paul Lynde!

Thanks as always for making these bonus videos possible and giving me a reason to talk for fifteen minutes about failed sitcom pilots of the mid 1970s. Can't wait for you to see what I've got in the works for next weekend -- ohhh you're going to love it.

Matt

Files

Bonus video! ABC's Ratings Bloodbath, the Magoo Test, and Singing Cops

Would you like to hear about some of the worst ideas for TV shows ever? In the mid 1970s, ABC was airing some truly hilariously bad shows (and a few good ones!), and in this bonus video I run through some of my favorites. Plus: The "Magoo Test" by which the network would test viewers to find out if they had "normal" senses of humor. Also please enjoy/laugh at a clip from Cop Rock, a truly jaw-dropping flop of a TV show in which very serious cops break out into song. And get a little sneak peek at my next video, all about Paul Lynde!

Comments

Irisarc

Great video, Matt! In the mid-70s I was just at the age when adult tv shows were starting to make sense to me, and my parents got me a small portable TV for my room so I could decide for myself what I wanted to watch. Because of that there are so many things I want to comment on in this video, but I had to pick just one. "Kolchak" was doomed as a series it's true, mainly because of the stupid time slot it was scheduled in, but it was popular enough that most of the episodes were spaced out and aired as movies-of-the-week. I actually loved that show. If you're into kitschy, 70s style urban fantasy, it's worth a watch. Darren McGavin is a hilarious counterpoint to the "scary" subjects of each episode. And for me as a 9 year old they were pretty scary.

Matthew

I would love to hear more about Rock Hudson. :)

Matthew

Also, have you happened to have read When Women Invented Television? I listed to the audiobook and it was fascinating. Not really particularly queer, though Betty White is one of main women explored in it. I had no idea she was there when tv began, making it a success!

mattbaume

I remember Kolchak being in syndication when I was young -- around the late 80s. It was a little too grown-up for me then, but now I really want to give it a look!

mattbaume

I knew Betty has a long important history with TV but I didn't know about that book! I'll check it out.

Bryan Cybershaman(X) Logie

I would love to hear you talking about really bad 70s/80s TV shows! Shows from any era, really. 😉 As always, thank you for the work you do! 😀

Michael

Don’t know too much about Paul Lynde. Ben Dela Creme did a hysterical impersonation of him in the Snatch Game episode of Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 3 that is worth watching.

Michael

And thanks for reminding me that Cop Rock exists. I do need to watch that sometime lol

Bryan Cybershaman(X) Logie

I LOVED Kolchak when I was a kid! 😀 As a sort of monster of the week proto-X-Files-like show, I was endlessly fascinated. I always managed to watch it alone, so I could just let go and allow myself to languish in the creepiness. It's pretty dated now, but it's still fun and of course it's always a pleasure to see Darren McGavin perform. I am so thankful that my Fundamentalist parents were surprisingly generally clueless about what I watched and read, because sci-fi and fantasy almost singlehandedly saved me from the seemingly relentless indoctrination. However, shows like Night Gallery did occasionally get me a bit of side-eye from my mother. 😉

Lin Kibblemom

Great video (as always!). I was surprised at how many of the 70s show titles I remembered, at least vaguely. I really wish someone would post episodes of Hot L Baltimore, as I remember really liking it and would love to be able to see it again.

Steve McLean

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special is so bad but you just can't turn away. Bruce Vilanch was the head writer and even he marvels at how odd it is. Gilbert Gottfried, on his podcast, has many times referenced Paul Lynde. Gilbert did an iteration of Hollywood Squared long after Paul but there were still people working on the show from when Paul was on. There is one particular story of how drunk Paul was by the time of the lunch break and he launched into an anti-Semitic tirade about Jews being the reason he doesn't have a career.

Dan Maloney

Paul Lynde, from everything I have read, was a bitter, angry man who alienated every friend he ever had. But as a comic character in any show, he was matchless. Some of my brothers and I still occasionally mention his line "In your PAJAMAS???" from the Gidget episode I remember best where he played one of her friend's dad. He would never (the character) go into the San Fernando because a bad experience there and he said "I only give a valley one chance." ; another line I still occasionally quote. I would make every effort to watch any show he appeared in, and he pretty much delivered. He was the "center square" on Hollywood Squares for a time and he nearly always had some answers that were really, really funny. You can watch a lot of the H. Squares episodes on YouTube. He refused all openly gay roles, but turned every straight character he played into as close to a gay stereotype as could be done. He was one of the funniest men I have ever seen.

QueBijoux

My husband was a Kolchak fan as a kid, and he introduced me to it. It's definitely worth watching.

James Polk

Oh, I do hope how you’ll mention Lynde’s appearing in “Hugo the Hippo,” carrying one of the recurring gags of my life!

Ten Thousand Worlds

Just saw this. Thanks for diving deep again. FYI, the text link to the Vimeo video worked out great.

Ten Thousand Worlds

Kolchak the Night Stalker was … something else. I remember having nightmares after an episode where he trapped a vampire using a giant burning cross. Not one of TV’s finest moments.

Ten Thousand Worlds

… OK, no more late-night stream-of-consciousness nightmare posts from me.

Jimmy James

When I was growing up, I lived and went to school a few blocks from the Preview House on Sunset Blvd. We had a playground manger who used to hand out passes whenever they were testing young audiences. You had to be in the about it, the message was whispered, "Miss Kelly has tickets today," and then you'd be ready to spring at the door when the bell rang so you could run straight to Miss Kelly before she passed them all out. I remember the dials and the ushers and later found out there were cameras hidden all over to watch how we were watching.

Jimmy James

My husband and I LOVED COP ROCK! Music and lyrics by Randy Newman. It was so great. It was pretty much spawned in the wake of the success of Twin Peaks and the networks seemed latch onto the idea that they could do weird and get away with it. Mostly, they were wrong, but I won't hear anything against Cop Rock.

Dani Gould

I wasn't really into Calamity Jane, but I got the same vibes, made me think of going to school the day after my first time with a guy and the feeling of keeping this monumental secret from the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8P_p7dB2dw

Knights Who Say Sledge

Get Christy Love was AWESOME... it aired in reruns at some point because I saw it in the early 80s as a kid.