My Journey Through 1970s TV: Saturday Nights, 1975

What’s surprising, at least from our half-century in the future perspective, was if you look at the rundowns of what happened on nearly every episode of Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, the show sounds like must-see TV. 

With its eclectic lineups of comedy and music performances, some beamed in via satellite from remote corners of the world before such technological feats became commonplace, there was bound to be something for every viewer to enjoy. Any variety series featuring appearances from Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali, John Wayne and the Bay City Rollers certainly couldn’t be dull. 

But somehow when all its disparate pieces came together, it didn’t work. Cosell got the lion’s share of the blame, not surprising given how he was equally loved and hated among sports fans. He could have stuck to just introducing his guests like Ed Sullivan, but too often he was a participant in the festivities – one low point was a musical duet with Barbara Walters. 

Critics couldn’t argue with the entertainment value of watching the original cast of The Wiz performing “Ease on Down the Road,” or a live from Las Vegas performance from John Denver (“That poet of the mountains,” Cosell proclaimed). But following up a Shirley Bassey song with an interview with Senator Lowell Weicker, or watching Siegfried and Roy perform magic, then listening to John Wayne suggesting that the attempted assassins of President Gerald Ford be “bloodied up a bit” before their fate was decided by frontier justice – it was all just too awkward. Still, if a show misses the mark from being too ambitious, at least that’s a noble way to fail. 

I’m still bitter over the fate of SWAT. How could a show featuring characters with such cool names as Hondo, Street, Deacon and Luca, who raced into action to one of the most pulse-quickening theme songs ever, disappear as quickly as it did? And who could hate a show that brought together three of the decade’s most stunning blondes – Farrah Fawcett, Loni Anderson, and Lara Parker, in one episode (“The Steel-Plated Security Blanket”)? 

Violence was the culprit, and admittedly this was a show where the guns were blazing and the perps were more likely to be carried out than read their rights. It was too much firepower for ABC, which lost its nerve to a finger-wagging press and a few sensitive but vocal viewers. 

Matt Helm was next up, which was like following a sumptuous and spicy firecracker chicken entrée with a bland vanilla wafer. Anyone expecting the type of tongue-in-cheek adventures from the Helm films starring Dean Martin was sure to be disappointed by this standard private eye series with Tony Franciosa in the title role. 

The paramedics of Emergency rolled out of Squad 51 for another season, back when Los Angeles still had sufficient funding for its fire and rescue services. 

CBS

Saturday nights still belonged to CBS, but the shows that once ranked in the top ten had dropped into the teens and 20s as they neared the end of their storied runs. 

In its penultimate season The Mary Tyler Moore Show remained the night’s highest-rated series at #19, with The Jeffersons at #22 and The Bob Newhart Show at #26. The Carol Burnett Show (#29), which anchored the network’s Saturday lineup for much of the decade, would be moved to Sunday nights next season. 

The one new entry, Doc, fared about as well as previous attempts to add another hit to the night, which is to say not very well.