TV Guide Covers Throughout the Years
From 1981-2006, I was a collector of TV Guides. Although I discontinued collecting them (for space reasons), I still have most of the ones I saved. In 2006, "TV Guide the Official Collectors Guide" was released. Along with other fun and fascinating facts, the book contains (in chronological order) photos of every TV Guide cover from the launch of the magazine (April 1953) to October 2005.
As I did last week, I struggled to come up with a topic for my T13. While looking at one of my bookshelves, "it" came to me and I began to thumb through "TV Guide the Official Collectors Guide". As I took a trip through the history of TV Guide, I knew that my search for this week's T13 topic was over (cue the cheesy Survivor tune). Below are 13 of my favorite TV Guide covers from over the years. Because there were so many covers that I liked, expect a sequel to this list some time in the future.
1. Members of the cast of The A-Team: March 10, 1984
2. Cast of the Bernie Mac Show (Oct 9, 2005) in a recreation of the Dec. 14, 1974 cover featuring members of the cast of Good Times.
3. Greg Evigan and Sam of B.J. and the Bear: July 21, 1979
4. Keshia Knight-Pulliam and Bill Cosby of The Cosby Show: Oct. 13, 1984
5. Fred Flinstone of The Flintstones: June 13, 1964
6. William Katt of The Greatest American Hero: July 24, 1982
7. Maggie and Bart Simpson of The Simpsons; John Ritter and Markie Post of Heart's Afire: Nov. 28, 1992
8. Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, and Bryan Cranston of Malcolm In the Middle: March 18, 2000
9. Martha Raye of The Martha Raye Show: Nov. 26, 1955
10. Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton, and Clarence Williams III of The Mod Squad: July 3, 1971
11. The cast of Please Don't Eat the Daisies: Jan. 29, 1966
12. Redd Foxx, unidentified woman, and Demond Wilson of Sanford and Son: Oct. 5, 1974
13. Brooke Shields of Suddenly Susan: Oct. 19, 1996
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32 comments:
I loved "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" and I'm glad they made it!
I would be impressed if you had showed the original Star Trek (classic) cover, which I have somewhere.
SJR
The Pink Flamingo
P. S. Good List!
Wow, great covers. I actually remember some of these shows. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Great TT!
I know some of those shows. Seeing the cast of Good Times brings back memories. Whatever happened to Jimmie Walker?
Great catch for TT! Mine's up too... Hope you can drop by!
What strikes me is how consistent the style of these covers is given the range of decades. My favorite though is #2 with the recreated cover.
Wow, you have some classics on your hands, Malcolm. I hope you've framed some of these or attempted to preserve them some kind of way.
These were qawesome. I always remember the cover with Bob Dylan. Do you get TV Guide? I haven't had a copy in years...but this post makes me want to pick them up.
Here is my TT list:
http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2008/09/13-things-about-fosterpartners.html
I loved so many of those like PDETD John Ritter etc That was a fun memory walk
What a great list! I loved the relationship that Keshia Knight-Pulliam and Bill Cosby had. They were just so cute!
Happy TT, Malcolm
How fun! I had no idea Fred Flintsone had landed the cover in the day. Thanks!
Do they still sell TV guides? Remember when every house HAD to have one?? How funny. Great list. Happy TT:)
Awesome covers! The A-Team, wow, I can't remember the last time I've seen them.
Great TT theme :)
Some great memories here! Please don't eat the daisys, the MOD SQUAD!
This was so nostalgic. I loved the greatest american heroe.
Maribeth")
aExcellent TT! Pop Art Diva is going to love this.
BJ and the Bear and The Greatest American Hero - now that's nostalgia!
I so love the Fred Flintstone one and Malcolm in the Middle, we have a few that we collected specifically. Great TT
Please visit me at The Cafe & The Library
Did you know that Brooke Shields is a man?
Those are all great! I especially love the Cosby Show and The Greatest American Hero covers. The first is just too adorable for words and the second is just kinda cool looking. :-)
You always have the most fun TT's.
These are some good memories! I particularly liked #2--how clever!
Nice covers. I even remember some of them. I loved The Cosby Show and my Dad loved The A-Team. Did you know they are making a movie out of The Greatest American Hero? I've only heard that recently.
Happy TT!
They are all wonderful but 5 and 13 are my favs.
My TT this is week is about the 13 Myths of Sarah Palin
The Martha Raye cover kinda scared me. On the other end of the spectrum, the Brooke Shields cover couldn't be sweeter. And Please Don't Eat the Daisies was a great show. Thanks for the reminder (and thanks for visiting my TT)
I didn't realize that the cover for Bernie Mac was an Ode to the Good Times cover, how cool is that?
I loved The Bernie Mac Show.
Tell the Pink Flamingo I have the original Star Trek TV guide cover and every one since - packed away in storage. Yes, I was a Trekkie (Trekkor to you hard cores out there.)
Wonderful TV Guide covers, Malcolm! Brings back a lot of memories. We didn't subscribe to TV Guide, but my grandparents did, and I always used to read it as soon as I got to their house.
My TT is about TV as well. I noticed your comment about Lisa Douglas on another TT...coincidentally, Lisa is on my list too!
Have a great weekend!
Sandy: I hadn't thought of "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" in years. That TV Guide cover feat. the cast was too good for me to pass up.
SJ: The first TV Guide cover to feat. Star Trek wasn't really that eye catching to me. However, some of the later covers were and one might be included in a future T13 of mine. Thanks!
Michelle: It's amazing looking at some of the covers of shows that have largely been forgotten. I'm glad I brought back some memories for you.
Nicholas: Jimmie Walker is still doing stand-up and occasional TV appearances.
Pussreboots: TV Guide did some other cool recreations too. I'll definitely be including one on a future TV Guide related T13.
Lori: I had to destroy some of them due to water damage (although they were in boxes, a basement flood still got to some of them). However, I still have most of them in boxes. If you know of anyone who is looking to buy old TV Guides, let me know because mine are on the market.
Candy: I remember that Bob Dylan cover too (from 1976). Your mentioning of him gave me an idea for a future TV Guide related T13... thank you!
Marcia: That cover of John Ritter sucking on Markie Post's finger is sexy as hell.
Open Grove Claudia: The Bill/Keshia cover was the first one I selected for this T13. Their chemistry was definitely a key to the success of the show.
Meju: I thought it was very creative of the artist to have Fred chiseling out the TV Guide logo. Great stuff.
Lori: Yes, they still do sell TV Guide. However, with on screen programming guides now the norm, it isn't as popular as it used to be. I even let my subscription run out last year.
Vera Bear: If you are interested, they have episodes of The A-Team available for viewing at Hulu.com. That's a great site to watch old and new programming for free.
Barbara: Because The Mod Squad appeared on several covers of TV Guide, it was a toss up as to which one was my fave.
Marnini: I bought season one of The Greatest American Hero on DVD a couple of years ago. It still holds up after all this time.
Pjazzy: Thanks!
Robin: It's been over 25 years since I've seen BJ and the Bear. Do you also remember the show that spun off from it... The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo with Claude Akins?
Sassy Mama Bear: I'm surprised that they didn't put Frankie Muniz in the middle of the TV Guide cover photo. Maybe they figured that would have been too obvious. :-)
If and when I sell my TV Guide collection, I will hold on to some of the special editions.
Bryan: I sure did. Entertainment Tonight did an expose' on Brooke Shields' "secret" back in 1982.
Lori: Just the look on William Katt's face as he's flying out of control is priceless. By the way, it's always nice to hear from someone who appreciates the T13s I put together... thanks!
Darla: Another one of my favorites is when members of the cast of "Scrubs" recreated a M*A*S*H TV Guide cover. I will probably include that on a future T13.
Denise: No, I hadn't heard about a GAH movie... thanks for the tip. I just read the news story and the movie looks promising. I can't wait to see it!
Bernie: Brooke looks very stylish with her curly hair and plaid skirt/umbrella.
The Gal Herself: Martha Raye's facial expression on the cover kinda look likes she's about to ask if she can borrow some Poli-Grip. That PDETD cover is so funny because the only ones you can make out are Patricia Crowley, Mark Miller, and Ladadog.
Pop Art Diva: I used to watch The Bernie Mac Show regularly during its first season. I then lost track when FOX bounced it around the schedule. However, I have been checking it out in reruns as of late. In case SJ didn't check the box to receive follow-up comments via email, I will be sure to let her know about the Star Trek cover you have.
Cindy: One of the highlights of my week would be reading the new issue of TV Guide. I briefly checked out your T13, but couldn't finish because I had to get back to work. I will definitely be back today.
Those are all really fun covers.
But I really don't like Brooke Shields very much, not that anyone cares.
Around the time that Cameron was born, she was all over the TV whining about post partum depression, and I just found her extremely annoying. We were dealing with a ton of health issues with our son at the time, and she really pissed me off b/c I thought, "you don't even have any real problems. Poor you..."
But looking back, I think that sharing her story probably helped some women get help for PPD.
It's just that at the time you could have caught me saying, "Cry me a river, Brooke."
What a great collection. I began collecting TV guides way back in 1967. I was able to find Issues of each year prior beginning with the first issue from 1953. I kept collecting till 1977 when I lost them all in a Flood. I miss the small edition. Hate the new larger magazine style. My favorite feature in the old Days was the column by Isaac Asimov That appeared in the back of the book. Don't Remember the name of it but it was a semi regular feature.
Thriving at 30: Sorry for responding so late. I'm glad you enjoyed the covers.
The complaining by celebs can be annoying at times. Especially when us normal folk are struggling to pay bills, put food on the table, etc.
R.K.: Thanks for stopping by! I cringed when I read about your TV Guide collection being lost in a flood. Several of my TV Guides suffered water damage due to a basement flood.
I too liked the smaller "digest" style of TV Guide more than its current version. Something else I don't like about TV Guide is how it's changed over the years in regards to who makes the cover. One thing I liked about looking through the "TV Guide the Official Collectors Guide" is that cast members of short-lived, largely forgotten series (Tightrope, Garrison's Gorillas, The Associates, etc.) were featured on the cover. Over the past 20 years or so, TV Guide cover only features the biggest hit shows or is doing some type of collectible issue with multiple covers.
Hey If you Like pop Culture here is a Link to a site that I think you might find interesting and fun.
www.Ga3ry.com. It is Devoted to a show that Was on in the early 70s in the San Francisco Bay area. I remember Staying up late when I was a kid to watch it. It was Hilarious and being as it was on late night and on a UHF station they got away with a lot. Check it out. I hope you enjoy
When I was a kid I had an original "Star Trek" Pin Ball Machine made by Bali. Had I known then what Star Trek Memorabilia would be worth today, I would have never sold it.
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