Here’s a sixty second promotional spot for ABC’s The Persuaders, which ran from 1971 to 1972, first on Saturdays from 10-11PM and later on Wednesdays from 9:30-10:30PM. Produced in the United Kingdom, the series starred Tony Curtis and Roger Moore as millionaire playboys who, despite vastly different backgrounds and personalities, are persuaded to work together to fight crime and solve mysteries. Television critic Harry Harris of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that the series “hardly persuades that the British are masters of merry melodrama” while Bernie Harrison of the Washington Star called it “slick, souped-up melodrama with glittering girls, action, repartee that passes for wit, and far gone, if not foregone, conclusions” [1]. The series premiere, broadcast on Saturday, September 18th (apparently just a day after it bowed in the United Kingdom), ranked 56th out of 68 programs for the week in the Nielsens [2].

Some sources (chiefly Wikipedia) indicate that ABC pulled the series before all 24 episodes were broadcast. I’ve actually had trouble finding an episode guide that gives the ABC air dates rather than those for the United Kingdom. Several episodes were later edited into made-for-TV movies.

Works Cited:

This is truly fascinating. Richard Portnoy shot the following footage in August of 1975 at the Star Trek Chicago ’75 Convention with an 8mm camera. It was the first time the entire cast of Star Trek had reunited in front of fans. Between 15,000 and 16,000 were on hand for the convention, held from August 22nd to August 24th. Portnoy provides narration over the silent footage, which runs roughly three minutes.

Courtesy of TrekMovie and BroadBarn.com.

During the 1963-1964 season ABC’s Saturday line-up consisted of Hootennany, The Lawrence Welk Show and The Jerry Lewis Show, which ran for two hours. This promotional spot features both Hootennany, The Lawrence Welk Show but not The Jerry Lewis Show, suggesting perhaps that it was not used during the start of the season but later. The Jerry Lewis Show was canned after thirteen episodes, the last of which aired on December 21st, 1963. It was replaced by The Hollywood Palace on January 4th, 1964. Hootennanny, although popular at first, soon faded in the Nielsens and went off the air at the end of the 1963-1964 season. But The Lawrence Welk Show would remain with ABC until 1971; it continued in syndication until 1982.

Here’s a promotional spot for ABC’s The Flintstones, referencing the introduction of The Gruesomes during the show’s fifth season (they first appeared in the November 12th, 1964 episode). Although always produced in color, for its first two seasons (from 1960 to 1962) The Flintstones was broadcast in black and white. Thus, by the time this particular spot was shown the show had been aired in color for several years. Nevertheless, the copy I have is in black and white.

Twenty years ago today — on Sunday, December 18th, 1989 — The Simpsons debuted on FOX with a half-hour Christmas special (the series proper began airing on Sunday, January 14th, 1990). The series is currently in its 21st season and this past Sunday aired its 449th episode. I fully expect to still be watching new episodes of The Simpsons in another twenty years. Here are two promotional spots for the premiere:

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t often post commercials that don’t have a famous face attached. But occasionally I like to showcase commercials that I personally find interesting, amusing or strange. So here’s a commercial for 5th Avenue candy bars from the 1960s.

Here’s a very short promotional spot for ABC’s That Girl featuring that girl herself, Marlo Thomas. This is a black and white version of what would have been seen by many viewers in vibrant color.

Saturday, December 12th, 2009 Update: In the comments, Barry suggests that this is a sponsor ID rather than a promotional short, which makes a lot of sense given its short length.

Here’s a promotional spot for Cowboy in Africa, which ran on ABC from 1967 to 1968. I wrote about the show in a Q & A back in May. The spot is in black and white but the show was broadcast in color.