Here's another collection of openings from TV shows of the seventies. The folk(s) who compiled it called these shows "mostly mediocre" and I don't know that that's an apt description except that at any given time, most of what doesn't last long on TV kind of naturally appears to have been mostly mediocre. A couple of these might have evolved into pretty good programs if they'd been given more of a chance to live. I suspect that if M*A*S*H had been axed after thirteen weeks — not inconceivable given its early ratings — it would be remembered by many as a mediocre flop.
When I see clips like these, here is where my mind wanders: I see names and faces I've seen, before and after, on more successful and memorable projects. What went wrong this time? In some cases, it may be that the network just gave up too soon on something that, like M**A*S*H and other shows we could name, took a little while to get its bearings and find an audience. At other times, I suspect, the problem calls to mind Stephen Sondheim's great advice about Broadway productions: "The most important thing is to make sure everyone involved is working on the same show."
Sometimes, I think it's a matter of the buyers — the folks at the networks — just being impressed by premises that turned out to be unworkable…and there are other reasons. It's fun in a way, especially after the fact, to say "Well, that stunk," but that's easy and doesn't explain much. I was always that way with comic books, too: "Hmmm…that writer and artist did such great comics elsewhere, why didn't it all come together on this one?"
Clearly, some of these short-lived TV offerings were loaded with talent — Norman Lear, Bernadette Peters, Michael Keaton, others — so what happened this time? We all know Raymond Burr had two very successful shows in Perry Mason and Ironsides but can you name the 1977 series that lasted thirteen weeks in which he played a big publishing magnate who used that position to investigate crimes? I couldn't…but it's the last show in this collection…