Tag Archives: 1970s

‘Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom’: Thrilling & educational, Marlon Perkins paves way for ecology & conservation

Hey―we care about the planet here at the DrunkTV HQ. But we don’t wear diapers and tampons about it, that’s all. We don’t want to get taxed for it, or eat ground-up bugs so cows won’t fart, or drive an electric lawn mower instead of a kick-ass V-8. We like the Earth…we’re just not pussies about it. That’s why we like ultimate outdoor chad Marlin Perkins and his Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom series.

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‘Greatest Heroes of the Bible (Vol. 3) – God’s Power’: Your Easter Sunday viewing is here, and it’s…good enough!

Forgive them, Father, for they know not this is Schick Sunn Classic entertainment.

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‘The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case’ (1976): Anthony Hopkins hams it up in shallow true crime performance

So, wait: Lindbergh willingly sacrificed his kid to Nobel Prize-winning biologist Alexis Carrel in some Abrahamic gesture to provide Carrel a body for eugenics experimentation that went wrong…and then covered it up? That promotion for a new whack-job book conspiracy theory came over my news feed the other day, and sucker though I am for any and all looney conspiracy theories, it immediately reminded me of NBC’s 1976 long, long telemovie, The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, where the real crime wasn’t the kidnapping, but Anthony Hopkins deliciously awful Emmy-winning performance.

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‘Seventh Avenue’ (1977): Third ‘Best Sellers’ miniseries really moves!

Oy vey iz mir did I get myself into something.

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Thanksgiving ’71 on TV: Cricket on the Hearth, Laurel & Hardy, Yogi & Marine Boy – a look back

This holiday TV season, let’s go back…waaaaaaaay back, to a Thanksgiving in a more innocent time, a more gentle time, a kinder time.

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‘Crawlspace’ (1972): Excellent TV thriller a reminder to not invite strangers into your home

As with any kid—whether it’s your own or some crazed Manson hippie living and crapping in your crawlspace—you eventually just want them gone.

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‘Once an Eagle’ (1976): NBC’s second ‘Best Sellers’ mini a sprawling epic across two world wars

Back when “the Big Three” were the only game in town, do you remember how exciting Septembers were, you vintage TV-crazed viewer? Sure you do. How exciting the prospect was for the upcoming slew of new TV shows, thoughtfully brought to you by your friendly networks, entirely free of charge? It was as if you had this whole new group of friends who were waiting to entertain you, and all you had to do was turn on the TV to see them, to welcome them into your home.

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‘Captains and the Kings’ (1976): Kennedyesque mini was the the first of NBC’s ‘Best Sellers’ series

Hot creepers are they really trying to foist another Kennedy on us for the White House? As a VP replacement for Madame Word Salad? That family of bootlegging, pill-popping, ballot box-stuffing, movie star- shagging poon-hounds? Incrapitable!

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‘Sweet Hostage’ (1975): Martin Sheen kidnaps Linda Blair in TV exploiter

A must-have primer for every would-be romantic kidnapper out there…although the only way Sweet Hostage would be remade today is if Bradley Cooper kidnapped Dylan Mulvaney.

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‘Greatest Heroes of the Bible (Vol. 2) – God’s Chosen Ones’: More good lovin’ from the Good Book

Oy gevalt what’s with this meshugganah Easter season? The last time I put something out specifically for Easter (the Shick Sunn Classic TV epic Greatest Heroes of the Bible: Volume One review), we were in the middle of a deliberately manufactured global lockdown that was designed by our elitist overlords as a dry run for who-knows what’s to come…and God didn’t do anything about it (or them). To say I was in a snit with His rather, shall we say, casual attitude about the whole thing is an understatement, and it convinced me not write any more about Him or his people.

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‘Perry Como’s Christmas Show’ (1974): The Carpenters join Como for a look back on a world long gone

Despite my wife’s adamant aversion to Karen and Richard, for me it just doesn’t seem like Christmas without the mellifluous strains of The Carpenters warbling out some beloved carol (Donna’s a Quaker, but “smash them in their stupid smiling faces” seems to be her default comment whenever they come on the radio). So why not ditch the stress and strain of today’s world and cool out with not one but two mellow masters of easy listening: The Carpenters and Perry Como?    

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‘The U.F.O. Incident’ (1975): Fact, fiction, or Hollywood entertainment?

Can’t some bug-eyed outer space piece of sh*t abduct me the hell out of what passes for America today? Oh, well…one can dream. 

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‘Frankenstein: The True Story’ (1973): Miniseries brings Mary Shelley’s classic monster to life

It’s Shock-tober, everyone! That’s right—time to take out a second mortgage to pay for your groceries this week. So, let’s lighten our loads by doing what I’ve been since I was in a playpen: escaping reality by obsessively watching TV. And what better way to block out the possibility of six more years of the Didy-in-Chief, than to watch one terrifying horror movie after another until one’s senses are completely numb.

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‘The Roller Derby Chronicles’: 2 documentaries & tons of vintage game footage!

You know what sports I played as a kid? My TV, that’s what. And my favorite of all time was catching Big Time Wrestling coming out WXYZ, Detroit’s Channel 7. When Bobo Brazil, after breaking free of The Sheik’s camel-clutch hold, would give his skull-crushing “Coco Butt” to lay the Sheik out, well…why the hell would I want to go outside and toss around a ball and maybe miss that?

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‘The California Kid’ (1974): A spare, surprisingly grim little suspenser

A clean, trim, hard-boiled little gem of a suspenser, from the golden days of network made-for-TV movies.

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‘Satan’s Triangle’ (1975): Decades later, occult thriller is still a winner

You know what would be the perfect vacation for this particular Fourth of July, Independence Day? In today’s America, I mean?  Cruise to the Devil’s Triangle. But you say you just can’t let Beelzebub see your bikini bod this year? Well…you could check out Satan’s Triangle, the 1975 made-for-TV occult classic starring Kim Novak and Doug McClure, that originally appeared on the beloved anthology series, ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week (there’s a nice print streaming on Prime right now).

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‘Breaking Up is Hard to Do’ (1979): Forgotten TV movie is a true gem

Worthwhile, even remarkable-at-times, made-for-TV drama; perfect viewing for post-football withdrawal…if you’re a real man.

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‘The Deadly Tower’ (1975): Questionable—but suspenseful—re-telling of real-life Texas killings

In a post-holiday mood for something light, I happened upon an older Warner Bros. Archive Collection disc of The Deadly Tower, NBC’s 1975 made-for-TV movie with Disney alumnus Kurt Russell starring as infamous University of Texas sniper, Charles Whitman.

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‘A Christmas Story’ (1972): Hanna-Barbera special is a sweet, nostalgic time capsule

Hey, listen, readers: if we have to change our name from DrunkTV to All Hanna-Barbera! All the Time!, we will, particularly with the insane number of hits we’ve been clocking lately off that brand.

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