What Was On Local Nashville TV 45 Years Ago...Andre the Giant as Bigfoot!

I know what I was watching 45 years ago. It was the beginning of February sweeps and the networks were pulling out the stops to attract viewers. Here's the local Nashville guide for February 1, 1976. It was a Sunday and I was 9 years old. My dial was probably tuned to WNGE 2 ABC for most of the day. The Three Stooges at 9AM was a must watch. The Superstars sports competition came on at 1PM and I really enjoyed that show too. The big show for me on Sunday nights was The Six Million Dollar Man and the episode airing on February 1, 1976 was a huge part one of a two-part arc that would conclude on Wednesday February 4, 1976. I was really surprised to see no advertisement for this first of the Bigfoot episodes. There was a really nice ad for Rich Man, Poor Man which was premiering on this night. My father would watch all of that mini-series. Monty Python's Flying Circus came on local public television at 10PM. 

Rich Man, Poor Man was a sensational hit, but it wasn't popular with me. Since it had adult themes I wasn't allowed to watch it. It was also pre-empting some shows I liked. I know my father enjoyed it. I wouldn't see the tale of the two Jordache brothers until many decades later as I caught it without commercials on some cable station. It was good television, but it still can't compare to Steve Austin battling Bigfoot. 

Here is the synopsis for the first part of The Six Million Dollar Man "The Secret of Bigfoot: Part 1" which featured the great Andre the Giant as the giant hairy beast. Every boy I knew in grade school wanted to be Colonel Steve Austin and most of us were also obsessed with Bigfoot. The tabloids would feature Bigfoot sightings in them with some of them even originating in Tennessee. The Patterson film of Bigfoot was something I had seen on a TV special and it fascinated and frightened me. The only nightmare I can ever remember that made me run to my parents room was one in which I dreamed Bigfoot was on our front stoop trying to get into the house. That had happened a few years before and I was determined to not let Bigfoot scare me away from one of my favorite television shows. Colonel Steve Austin would easily win this battle...or would he?

YouTuber Dave Sundstrom shares his memories of the episode and about how he was scared of Bigfoot just like I was back then. I think it's a pretty common thing with the Generation X cohort. He has the official TV Guide print ad too!

Do You Remember...

The two-part episode inspired a Bigfoot action figure from Kenner. Here's a great look at the toy.

Here's all of the music extracted from the Secret of Bigfoot two-parter. Lots of bongos and bionics!

The Six Million Dollar Man Secret of Bigfoot music

The Six Million Dollar Man and Bigfoot would become fodder for parody/homage on The Venture Bros. decades later. It's a brilliant combination of irreverence mixed with reverence. Strange yet delightful.

The Venture Bros.

So that's what I was watching 45 years ago. The global satellite in my mind swoops in for a closeup of a tiny yellow house at 405 Lynn Street. The high temperature that day had been 49 and it would drop to 13 overnight so the little wall heat unit would have been glowing orange that night. I think there was also one in the master bedroom and a small one in the bathroom. There may have been one in my bedroom, but I don't remember. I do remember having a tiny black and white television and Peanuts characters on my curtains (the curtains had been left by the previous owners). I got to watch The Six Million Dollar Man on the color TV in the living room. I probably watched it from under a blanket on the couch. The same couch with a blanket draped over it would become the tunnel which led to Bigfoot's hideout. I never had any of The Six Million Dollar Man action figures as they were too expensive, but it never stopped my imagination. What would you have been watching on this date 45 years ago?