Did you ever see 77 Sunset Strip in prime time or in syndication on Cable TV?

[samclem]

@TriPolar

I’m positiive I saw it first on WTTG, I wouldn’t have been able to see it in primetime. I think you’re older than me, but do you remember Pic Temple on in the morning for kids?

Remember? Hell. I had a birthday party on set on Sat morning when I was about 10.

[TriPolar]

@samclem

Remember? Hell. I had a birthday party on set on Sat morning when I was about 10.

That is soooo cool!

[TreacherousCretin]

@ftg

… I was surprised that Connie Stevens wasn’t a regular. I thought she (or one of the blonde clones of that era*) had been on it. Guess it was Hawaiian Eye bleeding over in my brain.

Same here.
Speaking of Hawaiian Eye, my recollection is that 77SS was the parent series, Hawaiian Eye was the spinoff, and Surfside 6 was a competitor rip-off of HE. SS6 even had a female character named “Cupcake” (as opposed to HE’s “Cricket”).
Am I mistaken about who copied who? I know I could consult Google but I’d rather ask human people.

[Rick_Kitchen]

There was also “Bourbon Street Beat”, set in New Orleans.

[NDP]

@samclem

Remember? Hell. I had a birthday party on set on Sat morning when I was about 10.

That sounds interesting. How did that come about?

[terentii]

@bibliophage

Peter Gunn, Route 66, Rawhide, The Virginian, Maverick, My Mother the Car, My Favorite Martian, The Many Loves of Doby Gillis, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Our Miss Brooks, Father Knows Best, The Ed Sullivan Show, Medical Center, and Marcus Welby.

Again, I remember seeing some of these on TV back in the '80s, mostly on KXLI 41 (St Cloud, MN) and KITN 29 (Mps/StP, MN). They were start-up UHF channels, and old B&W shows were about all they could afford. (Plus, they were better than most of the new shows on the networks at the time.)

Some of them are available on-line as full episodes. There are a lot of them just on YouTube.

BTW, Gillis’s first name was “Dobie.”

[terentii]

@NDP

That sounds interesting. How did that come about?

Many kid shows of the period would celebrate birthdays of the youngsters in the studio audience. Hell, I was on WTCN 11’s (Mps/StP, MN) Popeye and Pete with Dave Lee on my 12th birthday. (I was the biggest kid there; I had to wait six or seven years for the tickets, the show was that popular!)

[Chefguy]

@terentii

BTW, Gillis’s first name was “Dobie.”

Now Maynard G. Krebs was cool. By the way, the “G” stood for Walter.

[PastTense]

If anyone wants to view it there are a few scattered episodes on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?filters=long&search_query=77+sunset+strip&lclk=long

To also include a few other fragments:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=77+sunset+strip&search=Search

[Just_Asking_Questions]

77SS was never syndicated in my market when I was young (or, at least, not when I was awake). I have no idea what it was about. Cop show? Spies that worked out of a niteclub? All I now was Kookie’s car, which seems to be second in popularity only to Milner’s 32 in TV and movie cardom. I know way more about the car than the show. I didn’t even know Efram Zimbalist Jr was in it!

Since we now have this whole internet-thing, I guess I am off to read about it and find out.

[ftg]

As far as PI shows of the era, I consider Checkmate to be better than 77. More cerebral and noir.

It had a really cool opening. There’s an episode on YouTube with the opening starting around 3:30. Reran for some time on Sunday afternoons in our town.

For more info about 77 Sunset Strip, read here.

I never cared much for the Kookie character. That “Kookie, lend me your comb” song was pretty weird and inspired a lot of jokes (even for a novelty record).

[TreacherousCretin]

@Chefguy

Now Maynard G. Krebs was cool. By the way, the “G” stood for Walter.

Correct. The “G” is silent.