Forgotten TV

Rare 1976 ABC promo alert! 📺 Found inside a Charo special from one week before the premiere of Viva Valdez, narrated by Ernie Anderson. Pepe thinks he was an accident. "What's wrong, son?" "I'm having hot flushes!" 😳😂

#OnThisDay 1986: The Last Precinct ended its run on NBC. This one-hour comedy starred Adam West and a precinct full of oddballs, stereotypes, fourth-wall breaks, and general chaos. It lasted just two months before getting flattened by Dallas.

#OnThisDay 1987: Scarecrow and Mrs. King ended its 4-season run on CBS. Admit it: your mom watched. 😄 This 87 promo promised spies, drug syndicates, Dallas revenge, and a completely unhinged Falcon Crest: "Somebody kidnapped my baby!" "Give me the scissors!" Friday night TV was a different world.

#OnThisDay 1986: T.J. Hooker ended its run. 🚔 William Shatner spent 5 seasons in car chases, yelling at dirtbags to FREEZE!! followed by freeze-frame laughs. Absolutely ridiculous. Absolutely glorious.

📺CBS, Summer 1980. A rerun of WKRP in Cincinnati… followed by “a hot new comedy” about a Soviet athlete defecting to America for love.💕 CBS in 1980 tried this Cold War sitcom called Phyl & Mikhy during the same summer the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Oops...

40 years ago, ABC unveiled its 1986 Saturday morning lineup, later revealed to viewers with this Ghostbusters-themed promo. 📺 The new arrivals viewers were told to 'call on': 🐻 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 🗿 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙙𝙨 👻 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙂𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 🐶 𝙋𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙋𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙨 @satmornpod.bsky.social might like this

40 years ago, NBC announced its 1986 Saturday morning lineup. That fall, ALF and Brian Tanner hosted. To promote the new Monday night show, they put him EVERYWHERE. 📺 New cartoons that fall included: 🦊 Kissyfur 🐕 Foofur 💫 Lazer Tag Academy

Just 3 weeks after its controversial pilot, ABC’s forgotten 1986 drama 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙮 tackled another taboo topic: Teenage Robin (young Christina Applegate) wanting birth control pills. That dad had his hands FULL, and having it all announced by Ernie Anderson. 😆

CBS’s 1986 “Share the Spirit” campaign. The new lineup of shows: 𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙀𝙡𝙢 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙆𝙖𝙮 𝙊’𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣: 𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘿𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 Can you name the titles they ended up using?

40 years ago: NBC’s 1986 “Come Home” campaign already felt like a televised revival meeting… but then they got Michael Landon from Highway to Heaven to personally invite viewers home to NBC. 😇📺 It was like a divine command to watch Thursday night television.

🎼 Composer Sylvester Levay at full synth power—before the aliens (and the budget) vanished. Also brought us themes for 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘈𝘪𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧, 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧, and 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘦.

They promised something out there… and NBC delivered— at first. 👽 A hit miniseries with aliens, killer effects, and a cop/ET team-up turned into a very different show once the series hit the air. Watch the original NBC promo and see the version audiences signed up for...

NBC Feb 1978 promos for: 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙤-"Make Me a Perfect Murder", 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙐.𝙁.𝙊., and 𝙌𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙠!