1975: The new season (Fridays)

Now this is some rock-'em, sock-'em/capital-T, capital-V TV, baby!

With Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man, Nielsen's second- and third-rated shows of last season, respectively, one would think NBC would have locked down the 7 p.m. Central hour. But CBS has No. 5 M*A*S*H right there in the 7:30 rearview, and this season it leads off with rookie Big Eddie, which is led by no newcomer. Producer and director of The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show, Sheldon Leonard gets back in the acting game (I'd forgotten he was in It's a Wonderful Life).

But what about ABC? They're giving brilliant Jack Webb a new go. I'll definitely have to give Mobile One a try, too, as I love both Jack Webb and TV shows about media.

It's a solid night at 8 and beyond, too. TV Guide tells us that The Sound of Music and Sounder are among the titles planned for The ABC Friday Night Movie. For me to tune in, however, it will have to be a proven, stellar commodity like one of those two. I am totally in the tank for Rockford Files, and I will happily enjoy a 9 p.m. nightcap with either sultry Angie Dickinson in Police Woman or steady Buddy Ebsen in Barnaby Jones.

What a night--Friday nights in 1975. This is the kind of night that encouraged my dad to write in his American history, The Death of Democracy, "Television continued to provide the working man with dependable and affordable entertainment."

Previous dispatches:

-- Mondays

-- Tuesdays

-- Wednesdays

-- Thursdays