Holy shit, a blast from the past.

[spatch]

Hands up, who here remembers Kresky? Super-cool cop from the 70s who fights crime in LA, partnered with some cowboy from West Virginia? For years I've been trying to remember the full details of the show, and only now I come across this page.

I can't remember watching the shows first-run, cause I was only 5 when it got cancelled and it was on way past my bedtime then. But around 1986 or so, one of the really fuzzy UHF stations we picked up from Connecticut showed Kresky every weekday afternoon. It was WHCT, Channel 18, and we could only get it on days when we couldn't pick up Channel 19 out of Albany (19's signal was usually strong enough that it bled over onto 18, rendering it unwatchable.) Channel 18 was really low-rent, and showed a ton of old 70s shit cause those syndication packages were all it could afford. I think the afternoon schedule in 1986 was like McMillan and Wife at 2 (which I never really got to see except on Wednesdays, which were half days), Kresky at 3, Chico & The Man at 4 and -- this was the fucking coolest -- SCTV at 4:30. I didn't get to watch it much cause of Channel 19, and even if I could pick it up, I had to watch on the small TV in the computer room, because Ryan would insist on watching He-Man on Channel 20 at 3. The computer room TV couldn't pick anything up visually, really. I have memories of listening to television shows while I plonked away on our Apple //c, instead of watching them. (I "saw" Marblehead Manor this way, Beth.)

Even with as little influence as possible, I distinctly remember some of Kresky's lingo working its way into playing around the backyard. I remember pretending to be a cop in the barn, hiding behind the bales of hay and watching for the criminals who were stalking our sheep, and saying things like "Save some funk for Sunday" as I got the drop on another vicious villian (who usually turned out to be either one of the cats, or Ryan's good-natured big-eared lop Flopper.) I hated the episodes with the monkey, though. But overall the show was gritty, but stylish, and it had a kick-ass theme song. It was the coolest song. Anybody who remembers it can instantly sing it for you, I bet. I can't find it anywhere, though, -- and the biggest mystery of all is why the show hasn't turned up on IMDB yet. Someone needs to try and submit it -- and keep trying, dammit. Apparently IMDB is a bitch to get anything done with.

I wonder how hard it would be to get this show out on DVD someday. If you never watched it, you really don't know what you're missing. Holy cats.

Comments

OH SNAP!

[mcscaredofbees.livejournal.com]

Dude!

In Lincoln, Nebraska, long before decent cable, there was a channel, channel 8, that was paid for out of UNL's athletics budget (IIRC). So, you know, we got three-hour blocks of Gilligan's Island and Gomer Pyls, U.S.M.C. and so on. Really early in the morning, right before they signed off for the night, there was this KICKASS cop show, and I swear this was it. It had, uh, what'shername... The cute chick, Summer, right? And that annoying coked-up monkey (who is my soul brother, according to that site - grrrr)?

Oh, I want this on DVD. Seriously.

Also, I will SWEAR that I saw Ted McGinley on more than one episode. I know, I know, I just mentioned the illustrious Mr. McGinley in another post in your LJ here, but this one is serious. Can anyone back me up on this? That site has nothing, but like you said, good information is hard to come by. I'm glad you found that page.

Thanks. :)

[betweenstations.livejournal.com]

The Kresky Foundation supports a lot of MPR/NPR stuff. I wonder about the connection.