Originally published at: A great moments in 1970s TV history
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What you see at the end of the kaplan/conrad race is why we are all so thankful for the invention of the high-five. Because in the 70’s, before the high-five was accepted, we didn’t know what to do with our hands and we somewhat hugged, or patted, or just awkwardly stood around the person who accomplished something.
Thank you for this time machine moment. 
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Kotter doesn’t even react when getting kissed 3x by Wonder Woman at 3:56. I would’ve reacted!
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It’s rare to see a celebrity lose his cool, but especially in the 1970s when there was no social media; you rarely saw actors out of character, and then only on carefully controlled publicity appearances.
The show was the closest thing there was to “reality TV” at the time.
Kids, this is the stuff that 10s of millions of Americans got excited about when there were only three major broadcast networks that produced original scripted content.
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“Battle of the Network Stars” was fantastic TV, and it’s a shame we don’t do stuff like that anymore.
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I loved watching that stuff every year. Circus of the stars was another must see tv show.
The thing is, they were all the superstars of that generation and they all got together for this serious silliness. I can’t imagine the superstars of today getting together to play around to entertain the people they make their money off of.
They tried it in 2017 but it wasn’t the same.
Side note: Robert Conrad was always super competitive and kind of stuck on himself.
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Oh, I definitely watched this stuff as well when I was a kid, and I would have been all on the side of ABC, given that they had Wonder Woman AND Battlestar Galactica AND Charlie’s Angels actors all on the same team.
Also, give it up for Kaplan, who remained cool and collected, never really seemed to get ruffled by any of it, while Conrad seemed like just a jerk.
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Yeah, we tease him a lot
'Cause we got him on the spot.
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coincidentally, i learned over the weekend that the high five was much, MUCH older than i thought – i mean, it was in 1942 when the Andrew Sisters sang about it, so it had to be around well before that:
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Just watched that whole video looking for the ‘high-five’ only to be ‘given some skin.’
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you mean the term? because the action is what i thought was the important part.
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Conrad had a fun appearance of Just Shoot Me as himself in an argument with Jack Gallo (George Segal) in a prolonged back and forth which devolved as they tried to fit “fight me” into their schedules. I’ll just cut and paste that from IMDB:
Robert Conrad: Don’t worry, I’ll be back.
Jack Gallo: You wanna pick a date?
Robert Conrad: Sure.
[they pull out their agendas]
Jack Gallo: How about Thursday?
Robert Conrad: No good. I’m picking apples upstate. How about the third?
Jack Gallo: No, I’m seeing my urologist.
Robert Conrad: Who do you go to?
Jack Gallo: Friedman, up on 54th.
Robert Conrad: Is he good?
Jack Gallo: Great. Light touch.
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I guess the closest we have today is Dancing With the Stars and the Masked Singer? Not the same sort of team effort vibe.
This thread sent me on a hunt for Robert Urich’s turn on SNL portraying Robert Conrad in the latter’s “Knock it off, I dare ya” Eveready ads, and getting his ass handed to him. It doesn’t seem to be readily available online. Or maybe I’m misremembering some crucial detail (was it really Urich?).
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Kaplan’s ability to remain calm under pressure probably contributed to his success as a poker player.
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That’s not the high five though, that’s the older hand slap, the “gimme five.” I’m sure the high five derived from it, though.
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It doesn’t get major tv coverage, other than a recap on the news, but the Big Slick in Kansas City every year attracts a lot of celebrities.
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splitting hairs, in my mind, but ok. one couple did do an up-high slap during the dance scene, but either way i’m willing to bet it didn’t take 30 years for someone to think to go up higher and call it a high five.
- First appeared in the dictionary around 1980. May have originated earlier than that, but no other proof exists.
That’s um… about thirty years actually, if I’m dating the Landers sisters correctly. There’s likely no doubt some folks probably did the “gimme five” up high from time to time, but to call it specifically the high five and tie it to that gesture seems to have occurred in the 70’s.
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That was Johnny Carson:
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That’s the spirit for sure but I’m pretty sure no pie in the one I saw. Rather, Urich runs away and comes back with his father to defend him. One bully creeps on all fours behind the father so that another bully can knock him down. I don’t remember the denouement.
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