The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns

Theme song: “Love Is All Around” written and performed by Sonny Curtis. 

• 001. Love Is All Around – 9/19/1970
  • 30-year old Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) moves from her hometown of Roseburg, Minnesota to Minneapolis after breaking it off with her fiancé who has not moved forward with getting married after two years together. She moves into a studio apartment on the third floor of a house owned by her friend Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman), who lives below her with her husband Lars and daughter Bess (Lisa Gerritsen). Her upstairs neighborhood Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) at first clashes with Mary because she wants this apartment, even hiring a locksmith (Dave Morick), to change Mary’s locks, but they eventually become friends. Mary applies for a job as secretary in the newsroom of WJM, but the irascible producer Lou Grant (Ed Asner) hires her to be the executive producer, a role in which she doesn’t know what to do at first. Her fellow associates are head writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod) and buffoonish anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Mary receives a visit from a drunk Lou and assumes that he is making a pass at her, but actually only wants her help to type a letter to his wife, who has gone out of town and he misses. Mary also accepts a date with her ex-fiancé Bill (Angus Duncan), but it goes nowhere since it becomes obvious that he still has no desire to marry Mary. 3/24/17

Read the rest of this entry »

SEASON 1 – NBC

Created by Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett

Theme music composed by Alf Clausen and Tom Kramer

• 000. Pilot – UNAIRED
  • At dinner in the Tanner household, Lynn asks to borrow Willie’s car since her boyfriend Lash doesn’t have a license, to which he refuses. This leads to an argument about Lash’s merits, and Lynn storms off. Later that night in his observatory, Willie picks up some strange satellite communications that are followed by a bright light, and a crash of spaceship into his roof. Willie carries the unconscious A.L.F. – Alien Life Form – into the living room, and the family debates whether they should call the authorities on the creature. When ALF wakes up, they find he can converse in English. Kate is mostly irritated by having him there, especially when he wakes up next to her in bed. ALF also doesn’t seem to care whether Willie can fix his spaceship, and doesn’t go to any lengths to hide himself from the neighbors the Ochmoneks. He bonds with the children, and Kate and Willie are able to make up and come to an understanding about her driving privileges. ALF tells Kate and Brian that his planet has exploded and there really isn’t anywhere for him to go. An officer named Darnell Valentine (Blackie Dammett) from the alien task force, and Kate quickly volunteers that they are not harboring any aliens. ALF acclimates to being part of the family and is the center of attention telling jokes at the dinner table. Everyone is amused… except for Kate. 11/15/20  

  Read the rest of this entry »

SEASON 1  – CBS

Created  by Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy

Theme song composed by Jerry Fielding

• 001. The Informer – 9/17/1965
  • In 1942 Germany, a World War 2 prison camp Stalag 13 serves as a base of Allied operations right under the nose of the camp Kommandant Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer) and Sergeant of the Guard Sgt. Hans Georg Shultz (John Banner), who turns a blind eye to the resistance activities for fear of being sent to the German front. Heading up the resistance is American Air Force Colonel Robert E. Hogan (Bob Crane), who is joined by Staff Sergeant James “Kinch” Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon), French Air Force Corporal Louis LaBeau (Robert Clary), and Royal Air Force Corporal Peter Newkirk (Richard Dawson). One of the prisoners , Olsen (Stewart Moss), escapes and switches places with Lieutenant Andrew Carter (Larry Hovis), with the intention of giving him the identity of a German civilian in order to allow him to escape. Following that Olsen will return to keep the head count always the same, and the process will repeat. Hogan tests any incoming prisoner to make sure they are not a German ringer, and one prisoner, Wagner (Noam Pitlik), fails the test. Hogan pretends to have full trust in Wagner and takes him to show the underground operation that includes a prisoner steam room, a counterfeiting ring, and manufacturing of German novelty cigarette lighters. However he fills him with a series of lies, that makes his claims sound outlandish when he reports the camp to SS Gestapo officer Col. Burkhalter (Leon Askin), and thus causing Wagner to be sent to the front. Leonid Kinskey plays Russian POW Vladimir Minsk. Cynthia Lynn is Klink’s secretary Helga. Walter Janovitz is Oscar Schnitzer. Richard Sinatra is Sergeant Riley. Jon Cedar is Corporal Langenscheidt. NOTE: Although Carter escapes the camp in this pilot, his character would become Technical Sergeant and a series regular. This is the only episode to be filmed in black and white. 3/25/17

  Read the rest of this entry »

SEASON 1 – ABC

Created by Sidney Sheldon and William Asher

Theme song written by Sid Ramin and Robert Wells. Performed by the Skip-Jacks.

• 000. Pilot – UNAIRED 1963
  • Editor Martin Lane is irritated with his San Francisco Express newspaper publisher J.R. Castle for changing his editorials, and he makes an off-the-cuff statement to the secretary that he intends to quit and move to Europe. The Lane family stuck in traffic late for work trying to meet his niece Cathy upon her arrival at the airport from Scotland. Cathy has given up on waiting for them and has gone to Martin’s office, where everyone thinks she is Patty. When she is asked where her father is, she replies that he is in Scotland. This causes Mr. Castle to assume he has quit and immediately replace him with Albert Marcus. Cathy then heads to the Lane house, where she meets Patty’s new boyfriend Richard who attempts to kiss her and gets a smack in the face. He tells her that he plans to give his ring to Sue Ellen, and dumps Patty the next time he sees her. Finally Cathy meets her new family, and everyone is astounded how much they look alike, including Patty herself, who wants to use her to see if they can pass for each other. After they practice the ‘mirror routine’ together, Patty pretends to be Cathy in front of her family but becomes upset and resentful of Cathy when they tell her how much they hope she will be a big influence on Patty, who is in need of guidance and can be very selfish. Cathy then poses as Patty in order to find out what was said. Everyone falls for it, except for Patty’s brother Ross (Charles Herbert), who can tell them apart immediately. Cathy feels horrible, so she arranges it to get Richard back for Patty, who is all too happy to be dating ‘twins’… or so he thinks. When Mr. Castle gets a look at the paper under the editorship of Marcus, he finds it too flat and demands that the secretary get Martin back. Martin happens to call in to clear the air and gets a treat when he hears Mr. Castle groveling… and promising never to touch his editorials again. Evan Nord is the stewardess. NOTE: Much of the footage from the pilot was later used as flashback sequences in the Season 1 episode The Cousins. 5/30/21

Read the rest of this entry »

SEASON 1 – Syndicated

Created by Gail Parent, Ann Marcus, Jerry Adelman, and Daniel Gregory Browne. Developed by Norman Lear.

Opening theme by Earle Hagen. Theme voice-over by Dody Goodman

• 001. Episode #1.1 – 1/5/1976
  • In the town of Fernwood, Ohio, housewife Mary Hartman (Louise Lasser) has a discussion with her sister Cathy Shumway (Debralee Scott) and friend Loretta Haggers (Mary Kay Place) about the mass murder of their neighbors, the Buck Lombardi family… and their goats and chicken. Reporter Harold Clemens (Archie Hahn) from The Fernwood Currier, who was in town covering the “Fernwood Flasher”, stops by talk to the ladies about the murder. Mary’s husband Tom (Greg Mullavey) works in construction with Loretta’s husband Charlie (Graham Jarvis) and Mary’s father George (Philip Bruns). They discuss the murder, and Tom and Charlie discuss how many times they make love to their wives each week. Tom buys a gun in light of the recent murder. He also rebukes the advances of his wife, saying that he only likes to make love when he initiates it… even though it has been five weeks. Charlie and Loretta have a healthier relationship even though he 43 and she is 22. He is trying to save money so that Loretta can afford to make a demo record of her country-western music. Charlie loads his shotgun and tells Loretta to keep it handy as well. Mary gets a call from police Sgt. Dennis Foley (Bruce Soloman) letting her know that her grandfather Raymond Larkin (Victor Kilian) has been arrested as the “Fernwood Flasher.” Dody Goodman appears in a preview for the next episode as Mary’s mother Martha Shumway. 3/26/15

  Read the rest of this entry »