Stumbled across this after the work database went down tonight (at its scheduled time to do so)...The Nashua Telegraph wasn't a great paper, but it was available for my folks' perusal at breakfast, which The Boston Globe might not be, and the Manchester Union-Leader was beserkly right-wing (as rabidly so as any daily in the U.S. at the time), even as they were mildly left-leaning...somewhat to the left of the Globe, much less the Telegraph. The Loeb paper was out of the question.
I note that in the summer of 1977, I would've been catching either the CBS sitcom repeats or, at least as likely, what WENH, the New Hapmshire PBS station, was pumping out on that Saturday night: The International Animation Festival at 8p, Wodehouse Playhouse at 8:30p, The Goodies at 9p (I might well've opted for All in the Family's repeat, as I was rather less a fan of The Goodies), Python at 9:30p. I don't remember catching Casqe d'Or on what Channel 11 labeled PBS Theater that night, though I was a loyal viewer of the film package. (And I haven't thought of Once Upon a Classic nor Piccadilly Circus, both PBS offers, for dogs' years...)
Interesting to see how much more programming aimed at minority communities was in evidence even on the commercial stations in Boston at the time than one might see now, even if it was mostly low-budget discussion programming in fringe time-periods, on the weekend...but, then, WHDH had lost a license to broadcast only a few years before in a challenge, and I suspect the corporate interests in the Hub were making damned sure they covered at least a few bases to keep it from happening to them as well...
Todd, in spite of being Wodehouse fans, my wife and I have never listened to or watched any audio/video programmes based on his books and I'm hoping to download some from internet sources. ALL IN THE FAMILY sounds familiar, more so after I saw a few images of the sitcom, though I'm not sure. We were more exposed to British sitcoms in the 70s and 80s. If I were in charge of the comics page of a newspaper, it would look like the one pictured in your post. Frank & Ernest, Joe Palooka, Zoonies, and Jackson Twins brought back memories of forgotten comic strips. I'd probably have added Mutt & Jeff, Andy Capp, Agatha Crumm, Fred Basset, and Crumb's Fritz the Cat too.
ReplyDeleteThe TELEGRAPH was not a wealthy paper, so I suspect the selection of comics was restricted pretty heavily by budget. Happily, my parents took the Sunday BOSTON GLOBE, so the range of comics I was able to see was a bit wider (aside from what I could read in the school library, where I might pick up the daily GLOBE).
ReplyDeleteFRITZ THE CAT was not a strip you'd find in a non-"underground" or "alternate" newspaper in those years...it's always fascinating, Prashant, to read what you've come across in American culture, either through general osmosis or your special efforts (and I'm only sorry that so little of India's cultural product has been as common here, though odd bits certainly have in one medium or another).
ALL IN THE FAMILY was the most popular and one of the most controversial series on US television in the years before 1977, when it was starting to go into a mild popular decline (its artistic decline was held off for another couple of years). It was loosely based on the UK sitcom 'TIl DEATH DO US PART, which I've yet to see. WODEHOUSE PLAYHOUSE was rather charming, and I believe it was the first UK series to be devoted exclusively to Wodehouse dramatization...JEEVES AND WOOSTER was certainly at least a decade later...and the married couple at the center of the series also did another sitcom I enjoyed at the time, NO, HONESTLY.
Todd, the urban Indian is by and large clued into American politics, economy, culture, and entertainment, the latter marked by the craze for Hollywood films and music. This isn't surprising as the US is in the forefront of just about everything. Following US presidential elections is as popular as following our own and the one election that India (and, indeed, the rest of the world) watched with great interest was Bill Clinton's ascendancy to the White House in 1993. I remember the time well: my family was at this hill station for a holiday and around nine o'clock in the evening all the guests were huddled around the television set waiting for Clinton to be declared winner (or loser) and when the news was announced, a loud cheer went up in the room. We rarely receive our own president- or prime minister-elect with such enthusiasm!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I read a lot about what's happening in America, across diverse areas, that sometimes include trips to the websites of NASA and various US universities for some fascinating news.
The quality of comic-strips in Indian newspapers has declined. Most of the strips are American and are mostly new and fare poorly in both character(s) and humour. Besides, the space devoted to their publication now is so small that you'd need a magnifying glass to read the strip. It has become a ritual. I have been reading comic strips and comic books since I was a kid though it was much later that I read about their origins via the Katzenjammer Kids and the Yellow Kid. The internet has, of course, opened up a new world of comics for me.
Prashant's comment on Clinton's election brought back memories of those days. A friend of my sister was rooting vociferously for Clinton and berating (equally vocally) George Bush. Finally her (fed-up) father said: "Yes! Yes! We all know he is a very handsome man."
ReplyDeleteSo yes, that election was keenly watched.
Here's my contribution for this week's FFB:
Night Screams by Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg
http://inkquilletc.blogspot.in/2013/05/ffb-night-screams-by-bill-pronzini-and.html
You had some very good telly mate - and I used to love THE GOODIES!
ReplyDeleteAh, though, Prashant, your personal choices in the cafeteria of US culture are often interesting juxtapositions...there aren't Too many Americans who would, for example, mention FRED BASSETT and FRITZ THE CAT in the same breath, even though they are both about sentient companion animals (though the cats are living in a feline world). Or the same paragraph, even as both were reasonably prominent cartoons in the 1960s and '70s.
ReplyDeleteAs you note, the state of US newspaper strips is pretty tough at the moment, with few gaining the kind of attention and financial reward that many strips could depend upon in the '70s...though the web does make gaining audiences for a wider range of strips easier than it once was. I still enjoy DOONESBURY, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, TANK McNAMARA, ZIPPY, Lynda Barry's strip, Gahan Wilson's panels and some others when I see them, and certainly still miss the likes of CALVIN AND HOBBES, BLOOM COUNTY, Jules Feiffer's strip (which the VILLAGE VOICE called SICK, SICK, SICK for a while), LIFE IN HELL, DYKES TO WATCH OUT FOR and a number of others (not least POGO).
I wish I could've been remotely as enthusiastic about the Clinton election or, certainly, administration as some of his Indian fans were...but neoliberalism of his stripe is not my politics, and probably will never be (in 1992, there was no one on the Presidential ballot in Virginia too close to my positions (I might've considered voting for the Socialist or the Peace and Freedom tickets had I been able to), so I voted for the Libertarian candidate, Andre Marrou. Looks did not play into this, even though Marrou did cultivate a vaguely villainous look. (Of course, Clinton's large-headed reported sexiness didn't register for me, even as much as John Kennedy's similar melon-headed appeal, but I could see slightly more readily with JFK why others might think him handsome.) Though, Neer and Prashant, 1992 was certainly a lively presidential year, with Pat Buchanan trying to neutralize the Klan-affiliated David Duke on the GOP side, Ross Perot and his contempt for George H.W. Bush (probably for the wrong reasons), and the rest. Over here, there are those who will watch, say, the tussles between Congress and the BJP but most of us lack a particularly informed context to place them in.
Thanks, Neer, for the pointer.
I agree, Sergio...while the late '70s/earliest '80s were a pretty bad time for programming on the large commercial tv networks in the US (with some bright spots), there were alternatives in larger markets such as Boston. And you're not alone in GOODIES fandom, over here...Brian Arnold and Kate Laity were both fans, as I recall...but I did prefer PYTHON and much else that was making its way over (though certainly THE GOODIES ahead of BENNY HILL or the likes of ARE YOU BEING SERVED?--and have liked FAWLTY TOWERS only a tad more than THE GOODIES--while, say, RIPPING YARNS, while uneven, was at its best nearly as good as PYTHON at its best...and the likes of NO, HONESTLY and BUTTERFLIES were favorites of mine).
ReplyDeleteFRED BASSET (to spell it correctly, as you did, Prashant) is also notable as one of only two British newspaper comic strips to make much headway in the US, ANDY CAPP being the other...I can't remember a third...and, unlike CAPP, BASSET never flaunted its Englishness...which might've helped its reception here.
ReplyDeleteTV schedule? I went right to the comics.
ReplyDeleteNo crime there!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely wrong, above...WODEHOUSE PLAYHOUSE was at least the fourth tv series devoted entirely to Wodehouse adaptations, that IMDb is aware of, after:
ReplyDeleteThe World of Wooster (1966)
Blandings Castle (1967)
Ukridge (1968)...
and JEEVES AND WOOSTER was a decade and a half later...
And, final dull tv note...the Sunday run might've been when I saw the tv edit of VANISHING POINT...but I thought I was younger and more likely to be impressed than newly 13...the US tv edit would've eliminated, I think, some of the more annoying aspects of the film along with, alas, the nudity.
ReplyDeleteTodd, thanks for the engaging political roundtable. I remember that period well though I'm not all that familiar with other independents/parties with the exception of Perot and the Green Party and, of course, the lampooning of Dan Quayle around the time.
ReplyDeleteBarring DOONESBURY, I haven't come across any of the comic strips you mentioned, so I have a lot of catching up to do, at least in terms of modern strips online or otherwise. FRED BASSET has been an old favourite with Indian newspapers and even now some papers still have the loveable pet on their comics page. I like his outlook on life. GARFIELD and CALVIN & HOBBES came later. BLONDIE, MARMADUKE, DENNIS THE MENACE, PIRANHA CLUB (ERNIE), and THE FAR SIDE are some of my other favoured strips. AXA and MODESTY BLAISE were also quite popular in the 70s. There's really no end to this subject!