It’s 1969 on “Mad Men” as the acclaimed AMC series continues airing the first half

It’s 1969 on “Mad Men” as the acclaimed AMC series continues airing the first half of its final season. And 1969 was the year many of us saw these five shows for the first time:

v “Room 222” (premiered Sept. 17): One of TV’s first attempts at being “relevant” was this drama about an idealistic black history teacher (Lloyd Haynes) at Walt Whitman High School in Los Angeles.

v “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (Sept. 23): Robert Young, who played the kind, all-knowing dad on “Father Knows Best,” ended a seven-year retirement to return to TV as this drama’s title character, a kind, all-knowing general practitioner. James Brolin played his younger, less-kind, less-all-knowing associate, Dr. Steven Kiley.

v “Medical Center” (Sept. 24): This medical drama, set at a large hospital complex, also focused on an older and younger duo of MDs: James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as the motorcycle-riding Dr. Joe Gannon. In the first episode, O.J. Simpson played a college football star who ignores his failing health. Really.

v “The Brady Bunch” (Sept. 24): The first episode featured the chaotic wedding of a lovely lady (who was bringing up three very lovely girls) and a man named Brady (who was busy with three boys of his own).

v “Love, American Style” (Sept. 29): Eight years before “The Love Boat” set sail, this comedy anthology featured three playlets about every conceivable permutation of love, featuring a mix of A-list and D-list performers. Typical was this one from the show’s debut: Bob Cummings and Jane Wyatt starred in “Love and the Pill,” as parents concerned about their daughter’s plan to go on a “swinger’s tour” of Europe with her boyfriend.

“Playing house” (10 p.m. USA): On the new sitcom “Playing House,” an expectant mother (Lennon Parham) kicks out her husband after learning he has been cheating, and invites her BFF (Jessica St. Clair) to move in and help raise the baby. We assume that it gets funnier from there.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

2 to receive YSU Heritage Award

YOUNGSTOWN

Two longtime faculty members will receive the Heritage Award at Youngstown State University’s annual Faculty and Staff Awards Banquet on Friday in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center.

The recipients are Al Bright, an internationally renowned artist, African- American educator and founder of the Black Studies (Africana Studies) Program at YSU, and the late John White, a professor and chair emeritus of anthropology and a writer and researcher whose local archeological digs spanned from Mill Creek Park in Youngstown to Israel. White died in 2009.

The Heritage Award, started in 1981, recognizes former YSU faculty and professional/administrative staff who have made major contributions to the university during their years of service. Nominees are reviewed by a 16-person Heritage Award Committee composed of representatives from each college, the administration, alumni and the YSU Retirees Association. Award recipients are honored with plaques mounted on the wall of the concourse of Maag Library.