Sunday, April 5, 2026

Flopcast 726: Television of 1976 - Lousy With Detectives

Say, what was on TV fifty years ago this week? Let's check our local listings and find out. Okay, the answer is: Lots of sitcoms, lots of variety shows, and about 6,000 detective shows. But as we go through the week, we'll also find: Weird cartoons about Noah's Ark and the Easter Bunny! Carl Reiner as an angel who grants wishes! Joanie loves Potsie! Gerald Ford loves truckers! A pilot about pilots! Helen Hunt is shipwrecked! Tony Orlando meets the cast of Hee Haw! Gilbert Gottfried meets Bea Arthur! Bob Newhart meets the Winter Warlock! And much more Bicentennial television weirdness! If your all-time favorite shows are Jigsaw John, The Blue Knight, and Bronk, this was your week.

---

Show Notes

Follow along with us at Ultimate70s.com!

---

Here's a list of police/detective dramas airing this week in 1976 on just 3 networks. Did you watch any of them?

• Joe Forrester
• Jigsaw John
• The Rookies
• Police Woman
• Switch
• Cannon
• Baretta
• The Blue Knight
• Hawaii Five-O
• Barnaby Jones
• Harry O
• The Streets of San Francisco
• Hazard's People
• The Rockford Files
• S.W.A.T.
• Kojak
• Bronk
• Ellery Queen
• McCloud

---

A very Paul Coker-style little girl with her beloved stuffed rabbit, which is tragically ripped away from her.

Whether snowman or rabbit, Burl Ives always wears a waistcoat...and no pants.