Baretta 1975-1978 When Tony Musante decided not to return for another season of his one-season cop show 'Toma', producer Jo Swerling, Jr. signed former kid star Robert Blake for the role. But Blake was such a unique personality, they decided to revamp the show a bit and call the character 'Baretta'. It was an immediate hit, and Blake immediately began to battle for more intelligent scripts, leading to original producer Swerling's ousting. Robert Blake's off-camera battles and excesses led to a relatively short run for the series. Because of his outlandish on-set behavior (reported to have been alcohol/drug related), Blake found subsequent work difficult to find, and he hasn't made many appearances on television since. "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time."

Room 222 1969-1974 Changed the nature of television - a hit show that tackled problems relevant to the times. Busing, prejudice and drugs were the focus of typical episodes. Pretty soon, the network schedules were crowded with 'relevant' shows, but none lasted as long or had half the impact of 'Room 222'. Lloyd Haynes, Michael Constantine, Denise Nicholas and Karen Valentine star as the faculty. Valentine's character Alice Johnson started out as an inept student teacher that eventually graduated to full teacher status. None of the regulars found another successful TV series in their future, except Denise Nicholas who appeared on 'In The Heat Of The Night' from 1989-1994.

Make A Wish 1971-1976 "I have been searching all over the WWW for something, anything, regarding "Make A Wish". The host was a guy that was kind of laid back in a Cat Stevens (pre-Islam) - James Taylor sort of way. It was only thirty minutes long and would only air Sunday mornings on ABC. The show would take one word, like fish, and then literally take it around the world! "I wish I were a fish then I would swim in the ocean that is created by rain, that came from the clouds etc, etc". Total stream of consciousness stuff. If you can find anything on this show it would be appreciated. I somehow got stranded on this parallel Earth and have forgotten how to get back to my own world - where this show is revered as the classic children show it is." - safravael "Make A Wish" was a Sunday morning series starring Tom Chapin, produced, written and directed by Lester Cooper. Educational in nature, this show is fondly remembered for the original folksy tunes, written and sung by Tom Chapin (singer Harry Chapin's bother). Different subjects were explored each week, but in 1975 the show's focus shifted to bicentienial themes. 'Make A Wish' was one of those rare educational shows that kids actually liked and parent groups lauded with awards. The premier episode of the Bicentienial season (on September 7, 1975) looked back at the first trans-continental railway.

  Jeff Vilencia's
ABC FALL SEASON
PROMOS OF THE 70s

ABC went from last place to first place in the ratings during the Seventies. Superior program promos was one reason.

Wide World Of Sports 1970 ABC decided to update the look of their sports anthology series with this new promo song in the Seventies - it was hard to top the excitement of the original "thrill of victory, agony of defeat" theme, but they succeeded.

THE F.B.I. This series, loosely based on real stories from the FBI, ran from 1965-1974. At the end of most episodes, one of the FBI's ten most wanted criminals would be profiled. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr (as Agent Lewis Erskine) and Phillip Abbott (as Agent Arthur Ward) were the only two regulars to last the run of the series.

The Courtship Of Eddie's Father 1969-1972 Starring Bill Bixby as single dad Tom Corbett and Brandon Cruz as his son Eddie. Miyoshi Umeki plays Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper and James Komack is Tom's kooky boss Norman Tinker. When the series shifted focus to the Norman Tinker character in 1971, ratings and storylines went south. Komack was later to produce several hit shows including 'Welcome Back Kotter'. Jodie Foster was a frequent guest as Eddie's pal Joey Kelly.

Owen Marshall, Counselor At Law Dramatic series with Arthur Hill and Lee Majors as high-powered Santa Barbara attorneys, seen on ABC from 1971-1974. When Lee Majors left the series in 1973, he was replaced by Reni Santoni, and then HE was replaced midseason by David Soul ('Starsky and Hutch') before the show itself was sacked.

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