1980 You and Me and ABC

[LordChristan1]

everyone in this commercial is dead now

[galateasca]

The girl at 1:17 with Kopell is Jennifer Salt from Soap. Not sure about the rest although the one with Ted Knight looks like Lydia Cornell, but the shading makes it hard for me to tell. Danny Thomas finishes up wtih Marion Ross from Happy Days. Don't shoot the messenger. I tried.

[MrRevphil]

@galateasca Thanks so much for the help! About Gina Hecht, I don't remember her being that good-looking...one in front of Hal Linden at the first I'm pretty sure is Diana Canova from Soap...Marion Ross was with Roscoe Lee Browne at the first, don't think that's her at the end...once again, thanks!

[galateasca]

The girl behind John Davidson appears to be Gina Hecht from Mork and Mindy, but I'm not 100%. Fist pumper? Not sure. At :44 with Tom Poston looks to be Phyllis Davis, from Vegas. At :59, although the AA actress bears a small resemblance to Sheryl Lee Ralph from It's A Living, I don't think it is her. The three blonds with Tom Hanks are for sure Ann Jillian and Marion Mercer and I think the third is Donna Dixon.

[galateasca]

OK..from as best as I can figure, here are the answers to your questions. I have no idea who is next to Hal Linden. Dianne Kay from Eight is Enough is the girl at :10. Right after that is Inga Swenson with James Noble from Benson. The actress with Gavin McLeod is Cathryn Damon from Soap.

[phil83ish]

ID's please...actress in front of Hal Linden at 0:06...couple at 0:10, then actress with James Noble after that...actress with Gavin McLeod at 0:21...girl behind John Davidson at 0:38...girl pumping fists at 0:40...girl with Tom Poston at 0:44...A-A actress and actor at 0:59...two blondes flanking Tom Hanks at 1:06...actress with Bernie Kopell at 1:17..blonde at forefront at 1:27...girl with Ted Knight at 1:29..and lady to Danny Thomas' left at end...thanks!!!!

[phil83ish]

Love the shimmy by Cathy Lee Crosby at 0:29...mm hm...

[jamwithmates123]

You and 'I'

[1964nickel]

Man these were the days. Even if you just name three shows - Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Three's Company you are talkin' Television Legends. To have all these people on one stage and to see them NOW? Priceless.

[ForceMaximus84]

There is no way you could do this now....

[malletpropstudios]

The best part is the voice of doom at the end saying, "It's only the beginning", which should have been followed by, "May God have mercy on our souls".

[VBaskin2010]

@malletpropstudios That Voice Is None Other Than Texas Native And Voice Announcer/Radio DJ At 98 KZEW FM Mr. John B. Wells.

[DeviousTelevision]

This is so gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[ltrich50]

Tom Hanks sighting at 1:30.

[Baltimoreman78]

OK...Nobody else said it. So I will. "Remember when Joyce Dewitt was hot. Especially in those Jordash butt huggers"

[level242]

In dealing with the Beatles: a certain kinda woman liked George Harrison over John and Paul.Well a certain kind of fella preferred Mary-Ann over Ginger or Janet over Chrissy and Terri.I'm just saying.

[firtree1000]

This is so discofied and dated. I love it! LOL

[Boodledang]

okay...NOW think about trying to pull off a number like this nowadays...let's say, on ABC...Ed O'Neill, Patricia Heaton, Tom Bergeron, Felicity Huffman, Supernanny, John Quinones, Nathan Fillion, that g-d-mn Bachelor....could not be done.

[crappy4478]

Wow! Am I that damn old? You never see that sort of advertising anymore and never will again. And was that really Henry Winkler looking like Barry Gibb? Did anyone notice the very young future OSCAR winner in that group? Mr. Tom Hanks hamming it up with the likes of Ted Knight, Tom Bosley, and the guy who played Exidor on "Mork and MindY" (all 3 of them dead)

[rangerdave1973]

whos the guy with the beard who pops ina nd out and looks like one of the BeeGees or something

[hamursh]

Welcome to the 80's!

[rft1961]

was

that tom hanks?

[aftershock71]

@rft1961 Yes. That was Tom. For those born after 1980, many do not know that he started out in a sitcom called Bosom Buddies. He starred with a now, very unknown actor named Peter Scolari in this show. Tom's first movie was "Bachelor Party", and he just seemed to skyrocket from then on. A very talented man.

[TIPTON340]

@1:01 -- Henry Winkler.

[JerseyBob86]

@TIPTON340 I'm surprised they ABC allowed him to appear with that beard since Fonzie never had one. Great promo, though! The cast of "Benson" and Ted Knight!!

[frankietrent]

@JerseyBob86 - Actually, I just watched a later "Happy Days" episode recently and there was the Fonz with a beard! Well after he jumped the shark tank so anything went at that point.

[TIPTON340]

There's more production in the promo than the shows themselves.

[deangelomywayentfans]

"You and Me and Channel 6" WBRC-TV Birmingham

[drmagic]

i love DISCO!

[KRAFTWERK2K6]

was that from a BVU umatic recording or standard Umatic?

[earthweek]

@KRAFTWERK2K6 That was from a BVU unit

[KRAFTWERK2K6]

@earthweek Thanks :)

[james32746]

Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito at 0:52

[joejoewest]

That's not Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito. That's Al Molinaro (top) and Tom Bosley from Happy Days. Al played the dude at Arnold's and Tom was Mr. Cunningham.

[ultraback29]

This is when life seemed quite enjoyable back then, even though there was a lot of DUI, drugs, and crime going on.

[ultraback29]

This is pretty much the time I started watching TV on a regular basis.

I didn't quite watch these programs, but I very much remember their popularity. Therefore, I am able to converse with you folks who are 10-20 years older than me and it's fun when I do. :-)

[aftershock71]

OMG!! That is Tom Hanks there in the end!!!  Bosom Buddies Era, I guess

[NJTank]

@aftershock71

Yup 1980 was the year Bosom Buddies premiered

[ragger07]

I can't believe how brilliant this is. Thank you SO MUCH for posting!

[superjr69]

tv will never be the same as it was then when everyone worked together . you don;t see stars workin like this together. Today all about money.

[JeffreyBobAtAOL]

WTAE in Pittsburgh had a local version of this where the newscasters and other local tv people were dancing on a similar staircase with it cut into the ABC stars here and there. The song was the same but customized at the end, "you and me and channel 4 (hello Pittsburgh!)". It was genius...lol.

[newscaster13]

Did they mention Frank Gari's HELLO PITTSBURGH in the WTAE Version of the ABC 1980-81 promo?

[attagrrrl]

OMG, this is dorktastic! Thanks for posting.

[sre65ct]

The era of "jiggle TV".

[akear]

Network TV has never been that good. It is just more people watched it back then. They did right better jingles in those days.

[SueSnell]

OMG this is AWESOME! You'd have to pay each of those actors a million dollars to get them to do something like this today. Back then, they were a team - remember battle of the network stars? Memories....

[youngrebels75]

all that and tom hanks too ( 01:28 ) back when he was doing bosom buddies

[jupitr2]

Wow, you're right! I didn't even recognise him! Though, this had to be a choreographer's nightmare trying to get everyone on point at the right time. It would never happen today, their egos are too big.

[youngrebels75]

So true. Just the phone call alone to some actors would probably sound like, "You want me to do what? DANCE? for how much? ... @#!@ that. I'm not dancing for anybody or its mouse ears parent company. And why aren't you working to get me a new reality show?"

[level242]

Televison had actors and with that come comraderie.Nowadays tv has reality shows and with that comes a cutthroat mentality.What happened to America?

[anthonyAJR]

Was that Ted Knight at 1:31

[youngrebels75]

yup... the legend himself

[anthonyAJR]

Funny how many of these show were canned after the first season.

[AJ0880]

WXYZ-TV had a local version of the 1980 ABC campaign:

"You and Me and Channel 7"

[ONESORROW]

when did the Fonz made a movie where he had to grew a beard or did he had to use for disguise ?

[pastorkevin52]

@ONESORROW Actually Henry just liked growing a beard while on sabbatical. He did that for quiet a few years.

[zetina2010]

Why were they doing this?

[earthweek]

To show what a big, happy family the stars of ABC were. Listen to the lyrics.

[zetina2010]

Oh Thanks now it makes sense =) I now live in Dallas and love channel 8 News (ABC)

[VaultMasterDBT]

Obviously for the network's promotional campaign..like all networks have done throughout the anals of TV history.

[EwingOil]

I never saw this one, very 1980.

[thejyav]

That is just amazing. can you imagine how much those actors hated their lives in that moment? I would just love if ABC or one of the networks made their stars do something like that now. Also why has no one like Conan pulled that clip to show Hanks?

[earthweek]

You are sooo wrong, for the most part. All of those actors were proud to have their own shows on ABC in 1979 and knew this promo appearance was part of the deal. Plus, they got to run into colleagues they probably hardly ever got to see. ABC was a big family back then, unlike network TV now.

[barber747]

So I guess you're implying that today's TV sucks ass? I strongly agree w/ you. Today ain't got nothing on 1980.

[earthweek]

Anyone who has worked in the business, like me, for 35+ years will tell you that you're soooo wrong. Programming may have improved but the business hasn't. Sounds like you've got issues.

[barber747]

No i don't. It's not my fault that people today are bitching and complaining that today's TV sucks (esp. w/ these damn reality shows). It's just the popular opinion. I've even heard of people bitch and moan about the recent episodes of the Simpsons and Family Guy being inferior to much older episodes. So I dunno what the heck your talking about.

[barber747]

@earthweek

I ain't the only one, dude. Lots of ppl would agree w/ me.

[drmagic]

AMEN!!!

[AJ0880]

Do you have the local version WXYZ in Detroit used:

"You and Me and WXYZ"

WEWS in Cleveland and WLS in Chicago both had local versions of the 1980 ABC campaign as well.

[newscaster13]

When WEWS made their own version of "You and Me and TV5," didn't Channel 5 mention CATCH 5 from Frank Gari in the promo?

[AJ0880]

Yep, they did.

[donjabroni]

I remember the WLS one, though I'll admit, WXYZ sounds catchier.

[AJ0880]

The WLS (chicago) and WXYZ (detroit) versions were the same.

'You and Me and Channel 7'

[donjabroni]

Oh ok, so they didn't use the station name like they didn't in Chicago?

[crowatnoon]

I liked seeing tom hanks from bousom buddies.

[kfag101]

yeah I second gerkinstock please upload that one with dianne kay

[greg6363]

Look at Tom Hanks near the end of the sequence. Maybe Letterman can have a good laugh by showing this clip the next time Tom is a guest on The Late Show.

[barber747]

Niiiiice.

[nx01alpha]

Would you be willing to post that whole video here for us to enjoy?

[bhayes06]

I second that!

[Gerkinstock]

Do you remember the version that showed various stars dancing while a voiceover (the guy from The Love Boat, I think) did sort of a role call? I specifically remember Dianne Kay dancing and being introduced, while a different kind of song called "You and Me and ABC" played in the background.