TV by the Decade :: December 13•19

Universal Television

Only two new series premiered during this week through the decades, both of them in 1970. One had a very short run while the other went for three seasons, becoming a cult classic today, even though it’s difficult to see the episodes as they were originally broadcast outside of the DVD release. Let’s take a look and see if you remember either one of these shows. And be sure to visit our Shop page and check out our affiliates for your holiday shopping.

1950

No new shows premiered this week in 1950.

1960

No new shows premiered this week in 1960.

1970

December 14 – The Psychiatrist

Cast: Roy Thinnes, Luther Adler
Guest Cast: Pete Duel, John Rubenstein, Norman Alden, Marion Ross, Jere Burns, Jeff Corey, Pamelyn Ferdin, Clu Gulager, Jim Hutton, Kiel Martin, Reni Santoni, Jay Silverheels, Brenda Vaccaro
Synopsis: Dr. James Whitman (Thinnes) is a psychiatrist at a major LA facility who shakes things up with newer techniques, like group therapy. Dr. Altman (Adler) is his sometime mentor who helps him evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment.
Network: NBC
Broadcast History: One season, seven episodes, last broadcast on March 10, 1971
Trivia: The series pilot, The Psychiatrist: God Bless the Children, aired as a made-for-TV movie on December 14, 1970. The regular series debuted on February 3, 1971. The show was part of NBC’s wheel series Four in One which also included McCloud, Night Gallery and San Francisco International. Steven Spielberg directed two of the series episodes, ‘The Private World of Martin Dalton’ and ‘Par for the Course’.

December 16 – Night Gallery

Host: Rod Serling
Guest Cast: Joanna Pettet, Gary Collins, Susan Strasberg, Geraldine Page, John Astin, Alan Napier, Sandra Dee, Ross Martin, Stuart Whitman, James Farentino, William Windom, Steve Forrest, Cameron Mitchell, Victor Buono, Bill Bixby, Burgess Meredith, Louise Sorel, Raymond Massey, Vincent Price, Tom Bosley, Leslie Nielsen, Jeanette Nolan, Roger E. Mosely, Lindsay Wagner, James Sikking, Pernell Roberts, Jeff Corey, John Saxon, Agnes Moorehead, Joan Crawford, Carl Betz, Marty Allen, Dana Andrews, Godfrey Cambridge, Michael Constantine, Alex Cord, Phyllis Diller, Bradford Dillman, Patty Duke, Patrick Macnee, E.G. Marshall, David McCallum, Patrick O’Neal, Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Rush, Orson Welles, Jack Albertson, Joe Flynn, Joel Grey, Sondra Locke, Gary Lockwood, Harry Morgan, Ed Nelson, Ozzie Nelson, Lois Nettleton, Leonard Nimoy, Mickey Rooney, Cornel Wilde, Dean Stockwell, Ossie Davis, Diane Keaton, Desi Arnaz Jr., Rene Auberjonois, Henry Darrow, Clint Howard, Yaphet Kotto, Michele Lee, Monica Lewis, Jared Martin, Virginia Mayo, Brock Peters, Laurie Prange, Gale Sondergaard, Kim Stanley, Fritz Weaver, Jo Anne Worley, Julie Adams, Bobby Darin, Howard Duff, Lorraine Gary, James Gregory, Kim Hunter, Jill Ireland, Burl Ives, Werner Klemperer, Elsa Lanchester, Norman Lloyd, Carol Lynley, Harriet Nelson, Susan Oliver, Richard Thomas, Joan Van Ark, Sally Field, Lesley Ann Warren, Jack Bannon, David Carradine, Imogene Coca, John Colicos, Bert Convey, Wally Cox, Jonathan Harris, Steve Lawrence, Denise Nicholas, Tony Roberts, Jackie Vernon, David Wayne, Hermoine Baddeley, Chuck Connors, Ellen Corby, Jim Davis, Roger Davis, Donna Douglas, Michael Dunn, Randy Quaid, Ruth Roman, Lou Antonio, Dina Merrill, Roddy McDowall, Barbara Babcock, Sue Lyon, Tim Matheson, Robert Morse, Cesar Romero, Forrest Tucker, Cloris Leachman, Michael Lerner, Kenneth Tobey, Fernando Lamas, Larry Hagman, Chill Wills, Jack Cassidy, Murray Hamilton, Harvey Lembeck, George Maharis, Ford Rainey, Rudy Vallee, Adam West, Broderick Crawford, Buddy Ebsen, Mark Hamill, Grayson Hall, Martine Beswick, John Carradine, Zara Cully, Brandon De Wilde, Pamelyn Ferdin, Arte Johnson, Ray Milland, Donald Moffat, Lana Wood, Barbara Rhodes, Rachel Roberts, Pat Boone, Bernard Fox, Herbert Jefferson Jr., Carl Reiner, Sam Jaffe, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Bernie Kopell, Al Lewis, Henry Silva, Arthur O’Connell, Cesare Danova, Richard Deacon, Rosemary DeCamp, Gerald McRaney, Johnny Brown, Larry Linville, Barbara Steele, Rance Howard, Henry Jones, Randolph Mantooth, Severn Darden, Deidre Hall, Vincent Van Patten, Martin E. Brooks, Ruth Buzzi, David Huddleston, John Karlen, Will Geer, Slim Pickens, Mel Blanc, James Daughton, Felix Silla
Synopsis: Serling hosted from an art gallery setting as the curator, introducing the macabre tales that made up each episode by unveiling paintings (by artists Thomas J. Wright and Jaroslav ‘Jerry’ Gebr) that depicted the stories.
Network: NBC
Broadcast History: Three seasons, 43 episodes (plus pilot), last broadcast on May 27, 1973
Trivia: The show adapted stories from well-known authors like H.P. Lovecraft, as well as presenting originals, many of which were by Serling himself. The second and third season included short, blackout comedic sketches which Serling vehemently opposed. The pilot TV movie aired on November 8, 1969 and included a segment featuring Joan Crawford in one of her last performances directed by newcomer Steven Spielberg. The show was part of the wheel series Four in One, and became a stand-alone series with its second season. Night Gallery received one Emmy Award nomination for its first season episode ‘They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar’ as Outstanding Single Program. It earned a second nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for the second season episode ‘Pickman’s Model’. To increase the number of episodes for syndication, the 60-minute show was edited down to 30-minute episodes which were severely edited or altered with previously discarded footage. 39 of 98 segments were identified as ‘severely altered’ for syndication. 25 episodes of the unrelated The Sixth Sense were incorporated into the syndicated version with Serling recording new openings for those episodes. As each episodes was one hour in length, all were altered to fit into a 30-minute time slot. Syfy announced in 2018 that it had plans to revive the series.