Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Here's the complete broadcast of an episode of Mr. Merlin, "Alex Goes Popless" (S01E14), as transmitted over WTVT Channel 13 (then a CBS affiliate, now with FOX) in Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL. Mr. Merlin only lasted one season. Then he disappeared - forever.

In this installment, Alex (everybody's favorite '70's game show panelist, Elaine Joyce) loses her ability to 'pop,' or transport herself anywhere, and in attempting to restore it, Merlin (Barnard Hughes) ends up accidentally giving it to Leo (Jonathan Prince). Guest starring Woodrow Parfrey, Mel Stewart and Andrew Bloch.

A bonus will follow.

Includes:

Opening title sequence (first few seconds missing)

Commercials for:

Maxwell House Master Blend Coffee (voiceover by Peter Thomas)

Hershey's - "The Great American Chocolate Bar"

Act I

Commercials for:

Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup - "Soup Is Good Food" (part of which is plagued by video dropouts and tracking issues) (voiceover by Victor Caroli)

Love My Carpet rug and room deodorizer - in regular, floral fresh and citrus fresh

Promos for Simon & Simon and "The Cat from Outer Space" on Walt Disney (voiceover by Mark Elliott?)

Act II

Commercials for:

Dristan Long-Lasting Nasal Mist

Advanced Formula Crest Great-Tasting Gel

Promo for Private Benjamin (voiceover by Rick Dees)

Promo for M*A*S*H, House Calls and Lou Grant (voiceover by Mark Elliott?)

Closing credits (with voiceover promo for Simon & Simon and Private Benjamin by Lee Jordan), followed by 'sunburst' logo bumper for Columbia Pictures Television (before The Coca-Cola Company bought it)

Promo for "Tom Horn" (voiceover by Brad Crandall)

CBS "Eye-D" (voiceover by Lee Jordan)

Commercial: Farm Stores - "The Fastest Freshest Stores in Town"

Station ID / promo for Pulse at 11:00pm (featuring anchor John Nicholson) (voiceover by ??)

Bonus: Opening titles for Private Benjamin

Commercials for:

Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum

Chevrolet Celebrity (incomplete; recording ends 10 seconds or so into this ad)

This aired on local Tampa-St. Petersburg TV on Monday, January 25th 1982 during the 8:00pm to 8:31pm (Eastern) timeframe.

About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:

The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv We preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help!