The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams’ Dan Haggerty in 1977.

really wanting to battle against Adam-12. 'The stars from CBS really wanted to go against the stars from NBC. The stars 'all wanted to do it because there was a real rivalry between the shows,' producer Vin Di Bona says. Magnum P.I.’s Tom Selleck sat above a dunk tank in 1981. Not that there was an overabundance in the 1970s and mid-'80s, but certainly today, no network wants its stars promoting another network.' I don't think that could happen today because I don't think there's much cordiality between the networks. 'Not that there's anything wrong with being a second banana, but these were the key players in every major show. 'It was the crème de la crème of network stars - and I mean stars, not sub-stars or second-fiddle players,' says Vin Di Bona, who produced the final special, which aired in 1988.

Silver Spoons’ Ricky Schroder, 12, and Little House on the Prairie’s Melissa Gilbert, 18, in 1982. They saw it as a chance to get a little additional exposure to their shows and stars.' 'The competition started out at first as kind of light and frivolous, but as it went on, people really started getting into it,' showrunner/producer Bill Garnet says, adding: 'The networks were incredibly cooperative. Laverne & Shirley’s Penny Marshall (left) and Charlie’s Angels’ Jaclyn Smith in 1977. Trans World International (now part of IMG) produced the specials, reruns of which now air on ESPN Classic. Battle was a spinoff of ABC's Superstars, an idea that was developed by Olympic figure skating champion Dick Button. 'Basically if you were a star on television, you were pretty much going to be on Battle of the Network Stars,' says Bill Garnet, showrunner/producer on 18 of the 19 specials, which ran from 1976-88.ĭavid Letterman, a regular on Mary Tyler Moore’s variety show Mary, kayaked in 1978. The first Battle included Ron Howard, Farrah Fawcett, Penny Marshall, Gabe Kaplan and Hal Linden, while subsequent specials featured T ony Randall, Ed Asner, William Shatner, Mark Harmon, Heather Locklear, Sherman Hemsley, Lynn Redgrave, Blair Underwood, Scott Baio and Tom Selleck. The Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno lifted Soap’s Billy Crystal in 1978.

Dunk tank battle of the network stars