My Journey Through 1970s TV: Saturday Nights, 1977

The Saturday night supremacy of CBS in the seventies has finally ceased (how’s that for alliteration?). This would be the final year for both The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Show, classics that once dominated in the ratings but had now dropped out of the top 30. Only one series ranked that high on this night, and it belonged to the network that would reign supreme throughout the second half of the decade. Come aboard – they’re expecting you…ABCFishOperation PetticoatStarsky & HutchThe Love BoatAs I wrote in my book When Television Brought Us Together (revised and expanded edition coming soon!) escapism was always one of The Love Boat’s selling points, even if viewers were escaping something as mundane as winter. From 1977 to 1987, the show embarked on each new season as autumn leaves began to fall and sailed through the months when days were shorter and weather forecasts promised blizzards and cold, bleak temperatures. To someone growing up outside of Chicago, those virtual…