Fun Finds: PreVIEW Magazine, January 1979

Ah, my loves, I've been holding out on you...! When I bought the prior issue of PreView (presented in an earlier edition of Fun Finds), I didn't let on that there was another one I bought at the same time, but which is from a couple of years later. So now I've gotten around to sharing it with you as well. This era of entertainment was "mine," as I was almost twelve and very much tuned into the people who were then "hot" in TV and movies. I think this will be a fun, nostalgic trip down memory lane for some of you as this magazine is chock full of all sorts of pictures of personalities. Let's go!

Hmmm... There are worse ways to start a magazine than with luscious Brad Davis in a bathtub! Suzanne Somers' streak of good fortune wasn't going to last forever... MAJOR issues at Three's Company were on the horizon and her career went through some serious trauma as a result. I honestly thought out of the corner of my eye that the lower right pic was of One Day at a Time's Bonnie Franklin until I looked more closely! LOL Lou Ferrigno's wife Sue was soon to be his ex.

I like Charles Frank, but Young Maverick only ran for 8 episodes before hitting the TV junk pile. And I have to concur with Helen Rose about Diane Keaton's style choices! I adored burly, hunky Dan Haggerty.

At this time, Tommy Lee Jones had costarred in The Betsy and Eyes of Laura Mars (both 1978) and Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) would be on the horizon. Leo Sayer's marriage ended in 1985 after a dozen years. Sorry Fanilows, but I have never understood Barry's hair...!

God bless the publishers of this magazine for publishing - in color! - that hooty promo shot of Miss Bette Davis (from Death on the Nile, 1978!) Ron Palillo was quite clearly on the set of The Love Boat during a guest appearance which aired in January of '79. Anna Kashfi never did return to the screen. A 1963 TV appearance was her swan song.

Bill Royce, who wrote the blurb on John Travolta, needs a terminology check. "Honey Wagons" were port-a-potties, not catering trucks! Check out slim, young Steve Guttenberg. After the career speed-bump of Can't Stop the Music (1980), he finally gained some footing with Police Academy (1984), Cocoon (1985) and 3 Men and a Baby (1987.)

The movie Karen Black refers to is the crazed Killer Fish (1979!) Maybe Jacqueline Bisset has finally cleared up whatever was going on during the giggling scenes with Paul Newman in the tepid When Time Ran Out... (1980.)

As a kid I was GOBSMACKED by Maren Jensen. But, you know, she never had anything whatsoever to do on Battlestar Galactica. Totally thankless "role."

I always thought Richard Hatch was dreamy... Did you know that in all the years that Little House was on TV, Melissa Sue Anderson was the only actor ever to receive an Emmy nomination?! That it was as Leading Actress in a Drama Series (when Mary went blind) must have really burnt Melissa Gilbert's butter, too! LOL She lost to Sada Thompson of Family.

I was never able to warm up much to Pam Dawber, but Dirk Benedict was a huge favorite of mine back then! He has an early tribute right here.

Jill Clayburgh went on to marry playwright David Rabe and they proceeded to have two children. (Lily Rabe, an actress in her own right, was born when Clayburgh was thirty-eight. Michael Rabe, also an actor, came when she was forty-one!) Roy Scheider's marital methods only worked until the mid-1980s when he and Cynthia divorced. He re-wed in 1989 for a second time.

I can remember going to see I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) with my little sister and thinking, "One of these people is Paul Newman's daughter??!" She segued behind the scenes after this and, thus, assured herself the anonymity she desired. By the way, the use of O.D. in the headline is in hideously poor taste since her brother Scott Newman did so in November of '78, but perhaps this "January 1979" issue went to press before that.

When I was a kid, it seemed like Marsha Mason was an omnipresent, important actress, but it wasn't long before she seemed to fall off the face of the earth! I remember noting that she had a part in one of Johnny Depp's early efforts, Nick of Time (1995), and in fact she still acts, but not as prominently as she once did.

I loved reading this account of George Nader and Joan Crawford! (Though she was never alleged to have treated all four children badly...just the bad ones!) Jan-Michael Vincent was a handsome, talented actor, but even then he was showing signs of being a hot mess...

Stalk much?? I wonder if things like this, which were QUITE prevalent back in the day, still exist in our new culture of obsession, break-ins, etc...

This feature cracked me up, with all these mall-browsing fashionistas weighing in on whose clothes suck...! (Because a "CAT Diesel Power" ball cap is apparently on trend.)

I really wasn't expecting a preview of a movie like The Deer Hunter (1978) to turn up in a publication like this!

I've only seen this movie once, on home video in the 1980s and that was enough. It's a movie I felt was important to see, but not one I need to see again.

Maybe I'll revisit it someday, though I found it pretty disturbing the first time. John Cazale died of cancer after making only five films, but WHAT a collection! (The Godfather, 1972, The Godfather: Part II and The Conversation, both 1974, Dog Day Afternoon, 1975, and The Deer Hunter!)

We loved Sunrise (1927) when we saw it in a theater and it made us a lifelong George O'Brien fan. There was always (futile) talk of a Doris Day comeback.

BIG error here... Joan Crawford never worked on My Forbidden Past (1951.) Ava Gardner did and, in fact, that's a picture of her. So the author's attempt to be cutesy-catty was a fail... In other news, we adore Don Grady.

Shaun Cassidy actually wound up marrying Ann Pennington in 1979 and they were together till 1993. This is the first time I ever saw The Bee Gees' father and I can really see a resemblance between them (and Andy Gibb.)

Likewise I can see some of Jaclyn Smith in her mother's face here. Amusing anecdote about Cary Grant offering a female fan his "number."

Dolly barely resembles herself in this shot.

Mr. Shortridge (who I recall as one of "Toni's Boys" in an episode of Charlie's Angels) left acting in 1989 to pursue painting full time. He later wrote a book about reconciling Christian faith & doubt.

We still hear about this charity today.

An interesting assortment of folks on hand...

Eek! I wonder what Steve Allen said to irk one of The King's fans...

I'm one of the heathens who actually LOVES the renditions of the Beatles songs that The Bee Gees performed in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978.) Those harmonies are sweet...

Once more, I'm quite stunned to see a movie like this one being given a tribute in PreVIEW!

I can't imagine Tinsel Town making a movie this stark and introspective now. My big takeaway when seeing it in the 1980s was that Geraldine Page's character reminded me so much of my mother's new mother-in-law, who drove her nuts!

I just loved these two back in the day. And for a brief while they were white-hot. Benedict, of course, went on to more lasting success with The A-Team.

I really got an education here when it comes to Stephen Bishop. I recognize some of his songs, but his name and face meant nothing to me until I looked him up! (He also sang "It Might Be You" from Tootsie, 1982.)

Can you tell I have a LOT less to say about musical performers than I do other celebs?

Sunburn (1979) turned out to be a discombobulated MESS. Whatever Eleanor Parker's contribution was, I'd guess that 95% of it was cut from the final print. We all know what a debacle Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) turned out to be. Yet we love it like the wounded animal it is. "The Hamster of Happiness (!)" didn't see the light of day until 1981 when it was released as Second-Hand Hearts. "Two of a Kind" became Just You and Me, Kid (1979.) God only knows what order those birthdays are in (and none of them are "January!")

The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank (1978) is a Carol Burnett film that you almost never hear about! I never see it on TV or mentioned anywhere.

Wow... talk about obscure! Living Legend: The King of Rock and Roll (1980!) I had no idea Ginger Alden did that. Priscilla Barnes' show The American Girls was done and gone after seven episodes.

I don't think we tended to see a whole lot of Linda Evans at this point. She was still a good two years away from Dynasty. I almost didn't recognize Stella Stevens with that dark hair! (On a salacious note, I once heard that the reason Kate Jackson and Andrew Stevens' marriage blew apart was because he caught his wife and his mother in bed together...! Crazy if it happened.)

Robert Stack's autobiography (which I didn't even know existed!) was actually called "Straight Shooting," not the title referred to here. No trace of "Sex in America" either, unless it saw the light of day as Something Short of Paradise (1979), which was not directed or written by Steinberg, but did star him.

I can recall being so disconcerted as a kid whenever I spotted "Fonzie" with a mustache! Sally Struthers' (only) marriage broke apart in 1983. It's true that Karen Lynn Gorney's career hit the skids after Saturday Night Fever (1977.) John Travolta vaulted to superstardom while she was off-screen until 1991 playing "Woman in Subway" in The Hard Way! In the meantime she taught acting and dance for a while and released a very obscure album based on her Fever character. But she's been acting again with relative success since 2005, too. And I'm sorry, but did sixteen year-old Leif Garrett and fifteen year-old Kristy McNichol really need to be at the Playboy mansion for a party...??

Whether due to his confident C.H.i.P.s character or the sexist douche he played in Airport 1975, Erik Estrada always seemed to me to have ego for days, but he was certainly handsome and his uniform was eye-popping at times.

Estrada married for the first time in 1979, but not to the woman shown here. He wed Joyce Miller, but it was over within one year.

I refuse to believe that Susan Sullivan went out with Erik Estrada! I think they were just photographed at an industry event.

My God! Another unexpected film being profiled in this magazine. This one I'd never even heard of before.

This served as one-time Warner Brothers' leading man George Brent's final film. He played the judge in the case against Charles Colson. Colson proceeded to a life of Evangelism, prison reform and the occasional political tangle with this person or that.

This same year, Andress would make Clash of the Titans with Harry Hamlin and pursue a relationship with him (resulting in a son at age forty-four.) They were kaput by 1983 however. Not sure what Hugh O'Brian was doing with Albert Schweitzer, but maybe it ultimately led to or enhanced his youth charity HOBY.

Steven Keats wound up co-starring with Suzanne Somers in Zuma Beach (1978.)

Note that there aren't any quotes from Kate Jackson about how she finally took to the new girl Cheryl Ladd...! As for Chevy Chase, he was paid $3 million in 1993 to finally headline his own late night talk show on Fox. It lasted five weeks and was listed by TV Guide as the 16th worst TV show of all time!

Erik Estrada did wind up with three children by two of his three wives. Whenever I happen upon an old episode of Little House, which was indeed considered corny and old fashioned at the time, I am struck by how good it actually was, especially the earlier seasons. One time not long ago, I caught myself welling up and all it was was a recap of the prior episode! LOL

I'm sorry, but they were just an odd couple. They had to cut and paste them together for this cover! (Or maybe they just felt they had to go with a shirtless Andrew, which I can understand...)

One can only imagine the horror that Tony Randall would have felt over today's network television!

In between Maude and The Golden Girls, Rue McClanahan did the ill-fated Apple Pie and spent one unhappy season on Mama's Family.

A shot of some of the soap stars of the era. My, things have changed...!

Laurette Spang married John McCook (of The Bold and the Beautiful) in 1980 and quit acting by 1984, though she has recently been announced as part of an upcoming partially-animated sci-fi project with Gil Gerard and Walter Koenig.

Ruth Buzzi wound up marrying Kent Perkins in 1978 and they are still together today! Um... Liza Minnelli and David Bowie?!?!? Sandy Duncan divorced the husband with her here in 1979 and wed again in 1980 to a man with whom she had two children and is still with now.

Bianca Jagger did in fact divorce Mick in 1978 amid his affair with Jerry Hall, though he was never faithful during the union. 

As I've noted before, I love it when the back cover of a magazine continues with the blurbs and photos. But I had to laugh at Jon Peters saying that his then-gal Barbra Streisand has "no ego as a performer." Jimmy Osmond's movie The Great Brain (1978) made $68.00 in two days at a San Francisco theater!! Oh dear...

Oh, just one more thing...