If only I’d seen THIS on my parents’ 19” Magnavox (with the broken tuner knob)

 

If only I’d seen THIS on my parents’ 19” Magnavox (with the broken power knob)

Lucan turned out to be the pilot for a 12-episode series on ABC. It aired May 22, 1977, and starred Kevin Brophy as the wolf boy. The pilot has a stunningly high rating of 7.7 on IMDb and I can only imagine how good it would have looked on that box. Good Against Evil hasn’t aged as well—its 3.8 IMDb rating from a whopping 599 people is probably generous—but it stars a guy named Dack Rambo, and how can you go wrong with a Rambo in the house? But hey, it was written by Jimmy “Touchfeather” Sangster so how bad could it be? It aired on ABC right after Lucan.

Skag. Karl Malden waited his entire career for this role, but no one else had since it lasted only 6 episodes. But 51 people on IMDb gave the pilot episode a smashing 7.3 rating. It aired on January 6, 1980, on NBC.

Amber Waves. That shirtless hunk’a man isn’t Pooty-poot without his horse. Nope, it’s the post-Disney Kurt Russell with a pre-Brat Pack Mare Winningham. And frankly, you can’t go wrong with Dennis Weaver in any role. It aired on March 9, 1980, on ABC and its rating a 7.3 on IMDb, which means it is likely easier to watch than Good Against Evil.

Deadly Encounter. This CBS Sunday Night movie—staring Major Nelson from Bewitched—has everything: a helicopter, a suitcase, and a dashing damsel. Well, everything except Genie and a good IMDb rating since it clocked in at only 5.7. But I’m betting it would have been a slam dunk on my parents’ Magnavox when it aired on December 18, 1982, on CBS.