Lost Media Archive

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WFLD_Channel_32_-_"All_That_Glitters"_(Promo,_1977)

WFLD Channel 32 - "All That Glitters" (Promo, 1977)

A series promo from Chicago TV station WFLD.

All That Glitters is a 1977 syndicated soap opera parody (airing five times a week and with 65 episodes over 13 weeks) produced by Norman Lear, in a similar vein to his earlier Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (later Forever Fernwood). Its premise was a complete reversal of traditional gender views, in that the women were in power while the men were treated as sex objects. The cast included the likes of Eileen Brennan, Jessica Walter, Gary Sandy (later of WKRP in Cincinnati fame), and Linda Gray, who played television's first transsexual character, Linda Murkland. The show's theme song was planned to be the Alan & Marilyn Bergman composition "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", but it was abandoned in favor of "Genesis Revisited" by Kenny Rankin ("Flowers" was later given to Neil Diamond, who recorded it for his album I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight. It was re-recorded the next year as a duet with Barbra Streisand, which then became a #1 hit single from Diamond's album of the same name.)

Even before its April 18 debut, the series received mostly negative reception from critics mainly for its unusual depictions of men and women, and was cancelled after the July 15 installment. Although critics have warmed up to it in the decades since then, footage is nearly impossible to come across due to airing in the early days of the videotape era, and the only piece of the show to have turned up since those 13 weeks is a promo, uploaded to YouTube on December 30, 2007 as part of a commercial break from a Chicago, Illinois airing of Fernwood 2-Night (later made available separately on January 4, 2008) by The Museum of Classic Chicago Television. In addition, episodes from the very beginning and very end of the run can be viewed at the Library of Congress.

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