Tuesday, July 19, 2011

More Random TV GUIDE Ads - Bonnie and the Franklins

In the grand tradition of the Lennon Sisters, the King Family and Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters - TV's Bonnie Franklin and her family starred in this hour-long variety special. Other non-Franklin guests included KNOTS LANDING'S Michelle Lee and former football icon Joe Namath. This NEW special (FIRST TIME ON TELEVISION!) never led to any kind of a follow-up or weekly variety hour for Bonnie, forcing her to deal with life's "hard knocks" ONE DAY A TIME.

2 comments:

R.A.M.'67 said...

Having picked up season 1 of One Day at a Time recently (as part of that Norman Lear box set), I was quickly reacquainted with the highs and lows of Bonnie Franklin's appeal. I forgot about the singing and dancing part until I saw this ad. (Never saw it, needless to say!)

Back in the day, she could be grating and sexy at the same time! (Wow! How that lady looked great braless on quite a few ODaaT episodes!)

I'm guessing somebody felt bad about Joe Namath losing his sitcom (The Waverly Wonders), so they threw him the proverbial bone.

For all of Franklin's talents, I still think Lola Falana didn't lose any sleep over her!

Fun post, Doug!

Writer said...

I was about to say how these kinds of shows seem like such a "freak" of the past, but then I remembered I'm looking forward to watching Steven Retchless poledance tonight on America's Got Talent. LOL