I remember when Sammy Davis, Jr. turned and kissed Archie when it first aired! It was one of the funniest moments on TV, and of course, my dad was not amused! :-D
They actually had to stop filming because the audience couldn't stop laughing. Sammy Davis Jr did that on his own. The kiss wasn't scripted so Archie's expression on his face was real.... 😀😂....
The same with my racist father. My father thought Archie Bunker was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sliced white bread. He was crushed when I told him the actor Carroll O'Connor was actually a New York liberal and was nothing like Archie.
@@ldchappell1 Well to his credit, my dad did know that Carol O'Connor was actually a liberal. He agreed with most of Archie's views but hated that fact that Lear portrayed him as stupid. My father was a mechanical engineer who designed power plants for a living and oversaw their construction, with a high IQ. I still would call him Meat Head at times though for a laugh. He had a good sense of humor, for the most part. :-)
Susanne Somers getting herself fired from Three's Company was the biggest bone-headed move by a tv star until McLean Stevenson left M*A*S*H and then Shelly Long left Cheers for "better things."
Farrah never signed a contract that's why they weren't able to sue her. She made a deal to do 6 shows at 150 000 each episode. She wasn't given a pink slip, she chose to leave. Suzanne was talked into her performance by her husband Alan who thought very highly of her. Maybe too highly. She wasn't even allowed back on set after being escorted off for pulling a few stunts. She was absolutely fired.
@@lorimiller4301 I had read articles in that said Farrah was only making $5k or so per episode, with Kate, a more experienced actress, getting double at $10K per episode, so Farrah was perhaps $150K for the entire season. She wanted to renegotiate to $150K per episode...
This video was a complete surprise: instead of the usual droning countdown of insipid facts, it's an actual documentary. Thank you for this well done story!
And I thought I was the only living human who remembers (nostalgically) Hot L Baltimore! I was too young to understand that two characters were gay, two were ladies of the night, and one was an illegal alien, but I adored the personalities and their interaction. I fell in love with Conchata Ferrell and have been a rabid fan ever since. One of the most underrated actors in my lifetime. I hate it that she wasn't cast in starring roles because producers and directors thought the public wouldn't accept a fat actress, and I loved her for refusing to slim down. Dear Ms. Ferrell, I adored you every day for 50 years while you lived and I have adored you every day since you passed. You had a loving, laughing spirit that shone through every part you played.
Hey Creepy old if you were that young when Hot L Baltimore was on TV 📺 then you don't qualify as old 🧓 like I do having turned 72years old on Friday July 15th, 2022and and I can call you a young lady and tell you they were called ladies of the evening even,on TV 📺 cause God, forbid someone's young 🧒 kid might be watching 📺 at the moment the "ladies" might be called prostitutes which I've always thought 💭 ifa kid 🧒 is going to ask questions explaining what a prostitute is would be easier to explain instead of all the time and effort spent trying to say what a lady of the evening is without saying she's a prostitute
I was only going to watch part of this video now and then watch the rest of it at another time. However, I was enjoying so much that I watched all the way through. Very informative and very well done! Having said this, I gave it a GREAT, BIG, HUMONGOUS "thumb's up"!!!
As a kid I remember watching Fred stack assorted reading glasses on top of each other for more magnification. I always thought that was a silly joke and unrealistic🤔 ...until I tried it last year myself!🤓
I was a 70’s tv hound too; Benny Hill, Sanford & Son, Three’s Company, Mash, All in the Family was my Dad’s favorite. I remember sitting down as a family watching these shows; something unheard of today! Everybody has their head stuck in their Iphone,Ipad, Iwhatever, so that’s something I miss. We even sat at a dining table for dinner and discussed days events. My bunch don’t even sit in the same room Only hello/ goodnite!
Not only that, it was the whole country. Everyone was watching the same few shows. The MASH finale is the most viewed scripted show in history. I don't think it can ever be beaten because people don't watch TV like this anymore. 3 minutes after the show ended... 150 million gallons were dumped into the New Yorker sewer. 1 million people went to the bathroom at the same time!
Aside from being reliably hilarious, All in the Family was so great because it was so evenhanded. Though Archie was generally the butt of the joke, and the show had an obvious liberal spin, Mike was insufferably self-righteous and a mooch. Mike had all the right ideas, but Archie consistently did the right thing: work and take care of his family.
And Lear anted up with Maude, who was the exact copy of Archie, but liberal. That's why she killed when she appeared on AITF, and why the network thought a show about her would play well off that giant hit. (They were right.)
@@RobMacKendrick And Fred Sanford, and later George Jefferson, were black Archies. It really took genius for Lear to preach all his liberal nostrums through these bigoted vehicles without demonizing them.
@@nicholasschroeder3678 Well, that was his point. 'Course, the Right was a great deal less demonic then. I remember an episode where Archie met this young guy at the bar and was really impressed with his political opinions... until the guy revealed he was a neo-Nazi and Archie visibly gagged. WWII-vet Archie was a lot more liberal than the rightwingers we have today.
@@RobMacKendrick That's true. And he balked at the KKK as well. In all honesty, Archie was a warm and fuzzy conservative that was mostly scared and ignorant--he wasn't actively set on hurting anyone. His was an entirely defensive bigotry, which allowed us to basically love him, and really sugar-coated the reality. Whenever he did do something nasty, he seemed more pathetic than threatening. He was basically traditional, which included all the systemic racism which he unthinkingly accepted as just the way it is. Benighted and cowardly, but not out and out evil.
@@nicholasschroeder3678 I agree on all points. It's well to remember that Archie was heavily based on Lear's own dad. His attitudes, his accent, which Lear coached Carol O'Connor to do, his expressions (stifle yaself, whoopedy-doo, pronouncing toilet "turlet", etc), all that came from Lear senior. So we audience members ended up having the same complex emotional relationship with the character that Lear did.
Excellent. Lots of great details. I really liked the interesting and relevant tangents. Thank you. Btw, I think "Married...with Children" (1987-1997) was the next really controversial sitcom.
It was not only quite controversial but a major gamechanger in the type of characters and themes seen in sitcoms. 13 other countries did their own version of Married because they didn't have anything like it either.
If like me, you were a big fan of Married With Children, I think you might like this one I just added. Let me know what you think: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i3X1Sh0OJeE.html
I was surprised to learn as a young child that our neighbor, Louis, a WWII vet of the USMC, had dated Bernice Frankel (Bea Arthur) for a short time in the 1940s before he met and married his wife Edna. Edna happened to mention it while I was watching "Maude" as a kid around 1973. At the time, I was amazed.
It is kind of cool, when you think about it. The closest brush I've had with celebrity was turning away John Cusack from a private function at a restaurant. And waiting on Farrah Fawcett at another restaurant.
Soap is still one of my favorite shows of all time. A talented ensemble cast where every character was extremely funny. Never heard of “Hot L Baltimore,” but now I want to track it down.
55 years old and a complete admirer of Norman Lear. Also, add the amazing Ron Glass and Barney Miller was fantastic! Thank you for your time and effort making this fine video.I will subscribe and like.
I remember speaking to Redd Foxx from time to time. In his later years he lived on the east side of Las Vegas. At that time Las Vegas had a smaller population. It wasn't uncommon to find him. He was a generous kind man. Local news channels reported that Redd Foxx ( sometimes referred to as John) was losing his house. It was hard to watch. And didn't need to be reported ! A short time later it was mentioned that he had moved to Studio City
I remember seeing those news stories when he was going thru those financial troubles, and I felt so bad for him, even though I didn't know at the time just how kind and generous a person he really was, as you mentioned. He helped a lot of people when they were struggling, including mentoring a young Pat Morita (who he got a small role on the show). Redd even helped him to buy his first house.
Mr. Roper hearing Jack and Chrissy trying to cut off a wart on her finger and he thinks she is pregnant and considering an abortion. "All we need are fingernail clippers and a BandAid."
I was born in 1955, so I watched all these shows. So many great performances and story lines! But All In The Family changed everything.... of the most important shows in TV history! Brave and brilliant!
My mom hated Edith Bunkers' singing so much that if I wanted to watch the show I had to run to the tv and turn the sound off before she began singing :D
She actually sang very well. She was a Broadway actress. Look up The Tony Awards for 1977. She did Climb E'vry Mountain from the Sound of Music. Amazing.
@@pennythomas9305 I know, it's just one part of the opening theme song to the show she couldn't stand, which is badly sung and off-key (and you know where you were then) had to be turned off before it played or I didn't get to watch the show.
I was 14 in 1988. My brother would come up and play chess. We would watch these shows. Sanford and Archie. They were new to me but reruns for him. I learned a lot from these shows. These old great shows had good life lessons. “What’s Happening”. 🤪
Ahhh, yes the 70's, my childhood. Watch all of these except Hot L Baltimore. I miss when tv was good. One missing from this list is the Jefferson's, loved that show.
Three's Company was the only TV show my parents didn't let me watch; I only saw it later in syndication. The funny thing is, most of the jokes were double-entendre and would have gone right over my head anyway.
The shows with Grady were the highest ranked of the season because more fans were tuning in each week hoping, anticipating and not wanting to miss it if Fred Sanford returned to the show after his hiatus.
Suzanne Somers was one of my first childhood celeb crushes (the other being Lynda Carter). Adrienne Barbeau was a knockout too! When I was a kid I only knew Redd Foxx from Sanford & Son and had no idea about his stand up comedy act till I hit my teens. Boy was I surprised when I heard it! Lol Soap was a pretty unique idea for a sitcom. Hasn't been anything like it since at least to my knowledge. I loved Benson too which it spun off. I still watch reruns of All In The Family all the time. Thankful for that show especially since it spun off my all time favorite sitcom, The Jeffersons.
Soap was the greatest soap opera of all time. It was really something at the time. Surprisingly funny at every turn and so unique. The Jeffersons was hilarious too thanks mostly to George. The Bob Newheart show was great and everyone one on it was fabulous. As well as the Mary Tyler Moore show, where everyone was a winner. The Love Boat was a little racy but mostly in innuendo only, the humour took a little of the salacious edge off.
We have a lot of the same likes. Threes Company was one of my top faves and as a teen I also enjoyed Benson. His dry sense of sarcasm was great❗Suzanne is still a beauty.
This was much better than I expected it to be - granted you have some of the best shows in history to work with but the presentation wasn't annoying like a lot of these countdown shows can be
Hey J J this is Jeff Yoder the ol' broke down scooter tramp, exbiker, and I agree with you 💯 percent about this video and I can think 🤔 of quite a few of those boring countdown videos that you might be talking about
The British progenitor of 'All In The Family', 'Till Death Us Do Part', had the same problem of people not understanding that it was satire. Warren Mitchell, the Oxford-educated, left-wing atheist who played the bigoted, right-wing paterfamilias, 'Alf Garnett', talked about London cab drivers congratulating him on his racist and xenophobic tirades and then becoming hostile when he explained that he played that character as a way of holding up such views to public ridicule. In an amusing example of life imitating art, the left-wing son-in-law - an enthusiastic supporter of the 1960s Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson - was played by Tony Booth, whose real-life son-in-law, Tony Blair, went on to become Harold Wilson's successor as the Labour Prime Minister!
@@billkeithchannel Where did THAT come from? Do you analyze EVERYTHING through the lens of the Second Amendment? Without wishing to get embroiled in a debate about the benefits of the Wild West, with everyone carrying a six-gun to protect their rights, might I suggest that the best way to prevent hijackings is the combination of pre-flight security checks and on-board security personnel practiced by El Al? They've had one hijacking in 74 years, so clearly they're doing something right.
@@billkeithchannel And that's been PROVEN to be 'right'... how, exactly? You do know The Second Amendment was drafted in the 18th century - as in, THREE WHOLE CENTURIES AGO - don't you? Back when the only 'arms' you guys had the 'right to bear' were musket rifles and flintlock pistols? Do you honestly think Ben Franklin and his buddies would look at the semi-automatics and AK-51s of today and say "Nope, don't think that Amendment needs looking at, it's still good?" Or are you of that same Second Amendment Fanboy ilk that thinks being able to buy 'only' TWELVE GUNS A YEAR is too stingy? WHY? Because guns aren't supposed to last longer than your monthly phone data package??
I thought I was the only living person at 65 yrs old that remembered the tv show Hot L Baltimore, but knowing you do too, Creepy Old Lady, makes me surprised pleasantly!!! I am an old actual Hippie, still look and act and think as an old Hippie and I am proud!!! Was great to walk down most people's forgotten memory lane with the classic short lived comedy, Hot L Baltimore!!! Thanks for the reaffirmation of my memory!!!
Nope. The whole point was to satirize the small minded bigot, something this country was founded by and remains replete with. Bigots are in control of the corporations with very few being truly equal in their approach to anything. They also seem to have produced stupid children who get butt hurt over everything and expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter for free. Exactly the kind of people that need to be harshly lampooned in a sitcom but, sadly, so-called "reality" television and other cringe-worthy programming dominates the air on regular television. Honestly, television has become a wasteland of shabby art, crappy writers and witless producers.
On "All In The Family", Rob Reiner did not want Sally Struthers to play Gloria. He wanted his real (At The Time) wife Penny Marshall to be Gloria. Also, Charlotte Rae made a guest appearence on the show when Edith hosts a Tupperware party. That was during the time Carroll O'Conner was having contract disputes in the 3 part episode "Archie Is Missing"
As he already mentioned it with 2 other shows (Three's Company and Sandford and Son), it's strange he forgot to mention that "All In The Family" was also based on a British tv sit-com "Till Death Us Do Part" which started in 1965.
Three's company, Sanford and Son, All in the Family - all remakes of originally British series and they are still tame by comparison with the British originals!
As a kid growing up in the 80s, I always watched threes company reruns. I always remember that Jack would act “funny” when Mr. Furley came in, but I didn’t understand what was happening and I had no idea he was pretending to be gay. Funny the things you miss when you’re a kid.
That Hotel Baltimore show was VERY much progressive for the time. I was a YOUNG kid in the 70's, an infant for a good bit of it, so, seeing this is a bit new to me. Maude is now in reruns now though. And, I do kind of recall that she had been spoken about negatively in my house, by my parents. Maude's characters at least most had been star's in other tv shows. Rue Mc Clanahan had been here on Maude, and on "Mama's family" with Betty White who was on Golden girls with Rue and Bea. Susan Harris had another show ( she produced or wrote for Golden Girls) in which somebody connected to Golden Girls starred in. Three's company was labeled as "Jiggle Tv" for obvious reason's. I loved "Sanford Son", so funny and down to earth. And it was so funny when old man Sanford got into it with his sister in law. Him being so generous to is friends, shows that he was a good guy, too bad it went too far and left him broke. Soap had also been a Susan Harris show, and a character that is shown at the 19:18 point of this video had played Blanches (Golden Girls) sister in a guest part on The Golden Girls. The guy in the tub with her also played on "Empty Nest" a possible Susan Harris show, and a guest on Golden Girls too for a show or 2. All in the family WAS really a controversial show and so was "The Jefferson's', BUT, not as much as All in thew family was. The Jefferson's was a spinoff of "All in the family" though.
I was very Young when the Show was on. I don't remember the show that well, but I thought it was a good, Funny Show. I wish the show was on Reruns. so I could watch it now.,
@@HoldenNY22 Many of them are, not Hotel Baltimore though that I have seen. I see Maude, Golden girls, Soap, The Jefferson's, All in the family, Threes company, even The Ropers once in a while. Good Times has come on now and then. Mama's family too. Watching Golden Girls, although I've seen em all, makes me feel like it's back in time (sorta comforting) and at a time when several family members were still alive and well.
Back in the day people where not offended by EVERYTHING. They had the 4 things you never discussed, Race, Religion, Politics, Military. They didnt get upset if someone looked in their direction , today anything goes to become upset about
I was a kid when Sanford & Son aired. I thought it was hilarious. At about that time, color TVs were becoming quite popular. They had a bit of a problem in that the color would vary from show to show. A friend of mine commented that, when Sanford & Son was on the air, you had to change the channel just to adjust the color.
The title says “Controversial shows of the 70’s.” These weren’t really so much controversial, as we knew what, “HUMOR” was and is…We didn’t take things about one another so serious and could understand and actually laugh at one another, taking this as it was meant to be, comedy and funny. No harm was meant nor purposely used to be derogatory in any way.
We? We saw this as more than funny people making us laugh. We were going through a serious social change. These shows, especially All in the Family, pissed a lot of people off. They didn't offend people, they raged against the status quo, which always scares large segments of the population. Teachers are being prohibited from talking about some of the things in these shows today. The right wasn't happy about it then either. Imagine what comparable shows would look like today, and the tantrums Tucker Carlson would be throwing. This was not lightweight fluff material. This was marginalized groups claiming their place in America. That's an even more unpopular thing to do today than it was in the 70s.
@@beenaplumber8379 Perfectly stated and true! It makes you realize that while we’ve taken 10 steps forward on some subjects, we’ve taken 100 steps backwards on others! Thank you for the comment. I hope the people that NEED to see it do!👍
Hambone571, you're so wrong it's not even funny. This stuff was so controversial at the time there were Congressional hearings about it. Networks were deluged with angry letters and calls from ignorant nitwits pissed off about everything from "race-mixing" and women in the workplace to gay people existing in public. There is nothing more butthurt and snowflakey than a bigoted conservative who's terrified of anything slightly different than their own narrow view, and that's still true today.
There's a vast difference between controversial and offensive. I may not have agreed with every line that any actor said... but I was never offended. If you want to talk about TV shows that would never air today, let's start with Beverly Hillbillies, then Gomer Pyle, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres... possibly even Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. I'm not referring to any "quality of episode" issue, merely the premise of the shows would prevent them from seeing the light of day.
Then theres Benny Hill, Kingswood Country, The Paul Hogan Show, The Kenny Everett Show, on the busses, love thy neighbour. I think the difference between now and then is that most adults acted like adults back then. If they didn’t like it they didn’t watch it, and the networks paid more attention to the number of people watching than those complaining. Today there are a lot of people being offended because they think they have too, and then they get on the web and then the show you like gets canceled. But a load of woke crap that you can’t stand gets to stay on.
@@python27au I think you are confusing being adult back in the 60s and 70s with being blind to racisim, sexism and every other 'ism' there is. Lets not forget that during those easy going times people like jimmy saville were allowed to do what they did because of society's attitude toward women and sex.
@@bopmathews . I don’t know who the saville person is but if he was some kind of sex offender then not much has changed. They existed then and some got away with it. They exist now and still get away with it. In fact there are probably more sex offences now than then, theres more people for one thing. Apparently a large proportion of rapes don’t get reported or they are reported a long time after the fact when there is no evidence. If you are raped go to the hospital have the incident documented and the DNA evidence taken. Then when they catch him he has no defence or you at least have a strong case. While were on this subject what about crimes against men? I know a school teacher who lost his job because a student cried rape, he didn’t go to gaol because the student admitted that she lied to hurt him. He was a brilliant maths/computer teacher who is never allowed to teach again. Another bloke had sex with a woman. It happened behind a shed, at night, they were both drunk, the next day she reported him for rape. Apparently she was screaming for him to leave her alone and rape and the like. Thing is there were three people working in that shed at the time who heard nothing, I and about twenty or so other people were less than fifty meters away and we heard nothing. Was she telling the truth? It didn’t matter the bloke was sacked for “conduct unbecoming” and the matter was handed to the police, but she didn’t get so much as a stern talking too. The thing is, for words to offend you, you have to want to be offended. I haven’t really been offend by anything I don’t even really know what it means. I’ve been disappointed, upset, angry, shocked, elated, surprised these are all normal and mostly welcome responses to outside stimuli. The first time i heard jimmy carr i was shocked, not at what he said but that he could say it in public. Laughed and laughed and laughed. The reason i laughed is because it was untrue, it was a joke. If he was actually being serious and telling me facts about my mum i would be disappointed in my mum and angry at him, might even punch him in the nose. Context is the key. I find it funny, in an upsetting kind of way, that all the manners, morals, and little pieces of etiquette that i was taught as a kid are more or less dead, but you can have your life destroyed because of a persons feelings. But only certain peoples feelings. People hardly say please or thank you any more but a colleague was sacked for calling someone “sir”. He had to check someones ID. This person was masculine in appearance, wearing a uniform, and the presented ID had “male” written on it. My colleague said “thank you sir, have a nice day”, well, all hell broke loose, the manager was called, my colleague was replaced with in the hour and has never been seen since. Apparently this person was so deeply hurt that my colleague didn’t appreciate the thousands of dollars spent on life altering surgery that he had to have him sacked. Or like the DJ that was sacked for making fun of the royals, who aren’t. The not princess was in labour and the DJ posted a pic on facebook or something with the caption “the royals with their new baby”, it was a posh couple and a monkey. It was obviously a joke because it wasn’t the royals and the monkey was too old to be a new born. I found it funny because all new borns look like monkeys to me including my own. But apparently he was called a racist because she was african, news to me, she doesn’t look african or black, to me anyway, and I’ve seen loads of them. But his network was flooded with emails from “offended” people called for the racist bastard to be sacked and the network complied. I find it ridiculous that a random person off the street can be in charge of a companies hiring and firing department. That no matter how good your record is, one word from joe bloggs and thats it goodbye. Fifty years ago a man would never swear in front of a lady, today you’d be hard pressed to find a lady. Most women i know spear more than your average docker. I was standing near a woman in a shopping centre, she was complaining about something and every second word was an F or a C and this apparently is normal. But she got mightily offended when i referred to my, less than masculine, friend as “the poof”. He’s not but he looks like the stereotype. He wasn’t there and she didn’t know him from adam but she was offended that i called him that. Is this really how we want to live?
Not true at all. People just make up stuff in their heads and think it's fact. You can find recent sitcoms with similar themes. Compare Will and Grace with Three's Company as just one example.
First gay character on prime time tv was on "All in the Family" in 1971, character named Steve who was played by Philip Carey. The funny thing is, he was friends with Archie who didn't know he was gay and actually hated gays!
I have no better memories in my entire life than sitting on grandpa's lap and watching All In The Family. Oh how he laughed. He died before the show ended. I, like a ton of people my age was raised by the WWII generation and our mothers - our dad's were otherwise occupied 10 thousand miles away. The shows today aren't controversial they're disgusting. The intimation of a thing is far funnier and more entertaining than the PORN that is on TV now.
Got to meet Sherman Hemsley a few years ago. He was quite the character, even off stage. The interesting part of this meeting was him being in Jamaica to shoot a movie that was never released. (with Judy Tenuta, the female comic) He worked up a short skit as part of the evening stage show at the resort where we were staying.
It had to have been MUCH longer than a few years ago, he died back in 2012. But, he was a funny guy anyways. Great as George Jefferson on BOTH of the shows he played him in, the Bunker's ( I forget the shows real name) and The Jefferson's.
@@juliegogola4647 ... by George, it must have been QUITE a few years ago. Recalling someone said he was 68 at the time, so yeah, probably 2006 or there abouts. Guess time files when you are having fun!
@@juliegogola4647 Sherman Hemsley passed away on July 24, 2012 at the age of 74 ( born in 1938), his Jefferson's wife "Weezy" played by Isabelle Sanford, was almost 21 years older than Mr. Hemsley in real life.
@@davidcobb2693 Yeah, He has been gone much longer than it seems like he has been. He is still on TV a LOT though in reruns of The Jefferson's and Amen. Yeah, isn't that something that Isabelle Sanford had been that much older than Sherman? You couldn't tell. I've only seen Isabelle on The Jefferson's, besides a vocal part on The Simpson's from way back when. As far as I know, The Jefferson's cast have all died BUT the actress who played "Florence". Unless, the actor who played Tom (wife of Helen) is still alive. Helen's playing actress is Lenny Kraviz's mom who died a while ago from breast cancer. Maybe the actor who played the annoying British neighbor is still kicking too? I enjoy watching reruns every now and then. Has anybody seen Isabel Sanford starring in anything else but "The Jeffersons?"
There was a short-lived show called FAY with LEE GRANT as a divorcee which raised some eyebrows for its risible subject matter. It was well written, and deserved a longer life.
Nope. It would be considered racist by all the white people who don't want to be identified as racist but are. Same with The Jeffersons and Good Times.
I thought All in the Family was the first sitcom to feature a gay male. He wasn't a regular, but had a recurring role on the show, and All in the began in 1971 , a year prior to 1972
Yeah that's for sure. I'm an 80's teen and the late 70's and 80's were the highlight of SNL. Tried watching it a few years ago and it was just embarrassingly pathetic. Their "comics" are about as funny as a train wreck as Fred G. Sanford would put it LOL:) MadTV was MUCH better while it lasted. OL J R :)
Remember their ripoff of the first "round the clock" coverage of a news event, with Ted Koppel covering the Reagan assassination attempt?? "Buckwheat has been shot-- let's take a look... (for the 937th time)." LOL:) Back when Eddie Murphy was on SNL. OL J R :)
It’s interesting how the numerical accident of being in a particular decade (arbitrary by definition) can come to characterize TV shows that happened to occur then.
I disagree that it was arbitrary. My main takeaway from this video was that all the shows mentioned could have only happened in the 1970's America. And to be honest, I remember watching a few episodes of most of these shows when I was still a child(born in '76), and again watching them in my adult years not thinking they were particularly funny. And this video made me realize why. It seems that there was a current through all of these sitcoms that they were all sort of a "forced comedy"(a term that I just came up with while watching this) that relied and played upon the fact that the '70s was a time of change unlike any other in modern American history.🤷♂️
This may be one of the dumbest opinions I've ever seen shared as the late 60s Early 70s counterculture movement is the only reason these shows came to pass. Before then nothing controversial like them would be allowed on air and by the 80s most of America didn't want to hear it anymore.
I was sure Soap would be on the list and not just as an honorable mention. The 70's were full of comedies like Alice, Chico and the Man, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, One Day at a Time, etc. Never heard of Hot l Baltimore.
I watched all the shows mentioned on this video as well as M.A.S.H., Chico and the Man, One Day At A Time, Alice, What's Happenin', Welcome Back Kotter, Mary Tyler Moore, Barney Miller, Bewitched, That Girl, The Flying Nun (actually 1960s, not 70s), Green Acres, The Odd Couple, Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, The Bob Newhart Show, Diff'rent Strokes, Taxi, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Rhoda and Mork and Mindy. In a way, they all had some influence on me but M.A.S.H., All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Welcome Back Kotter, Sanford & Son, and Good Times were the most influential. My mother also watched various game shows like Hollywood Squares, The Price Is Right, Let's Make A Deal and Jeopardy!. Television just isn't what it once was. There just isn't the writing, talent, direction and producing these days that's anywhere near equal to the task.
I loved Soap. It's the first American show I remember finding really funny as a 15-year-old growing up in England. Many years later, I was lucky enough to bump into the brilliant Richard Mulligan (who played Burt) in Santa Fe, NM while I was travelling across the US by Greyhound bus, and he was gracious enough to let me take his photo. I wish I'd asked the beautiful Asian woman he was with to take a photo of both of us!
A lot of those shows in the 70s and 80s were edgy, and we liked them that way. Sanford and Son still is an all time fav. For those that don't remember; many of those shows were very multicultural. Within those shows, there was always a hidden lesson about how we are all the same regardless of race, color, creed, gender or sexual orientation. They played on typical stereotypes of all types of people for the laughs and to also prove that hidden lesson to us. I'm GenX, and I don't care what the generations before or after us say... GenX was and still is the most open generation when it comes to the difference in people. We don't care who you are as long as you're not an asshole, pretty simple. We were "woke".. excuse me.. We were socially aware long before it was trendy and a battle cry of people trying to prove themselves. I think the term is "we were/are just cool like that". GenX also doesn't like anyone in our business. We had boomers calling us "slackers" and looking down on us for liking Metal, Hip Hop, skateboarding and other wild stuff. And that was while working shit jobs for $3.25 an hour (min wage back then) and dealing with a mini depression due to the stock market fart in the Fall of 1987. I'm sorry, GenX ate more shit sandwiches and guess what, we're still here. We honestly don't care about this boomer vs. millennials stuff going on, both generations are overrated. We were the first generation to do "PC Support" and "VCR Clock Management" for our parents and older people. We went from old school analog to full digital, we've seen it all and guess what, we know how to use it all. For millenials and Z's that wish they grew up in the 70s and 80s, well you don't. Most of you would have had your ass kicked or made fun of, plus without the tech, what ya gonna do!?!? GenX had a hard upbringing and that made us stronger, more resilient, and also gave us a great work ethic that most don't have these days. Seriously, when the trophy generation crap started, that's when it all went downhill and kids became super soft... and now they're soft adults. So back to Sanford and Son; my favorite lines from Julio and Fred. Julio: Buenos Dias, Mr. Sanford. Fred Sanford: And beans and disease to you too... Quit taking everything so serious and freaking out, live and let live, and play rugby. Yes Rugby, that is the key to life and happiness, Rugby! LOL... I'm Out! Audi 5 G, Word!
Agree 100%. My favorite Fred line (He won a free trip to Hawaii, and he's on the plane when the stewardess offers him something). "Do you care for macadamians?"..."Long as they don't live next door!"
well said.im sick of being considered racist when im far from it and believe in personal accountability,not the blame game,the race card or "oh,im a victim woe is me"
Oh the sweaty night fantasies of the likes of Adrienne Barbeau. There were rumors of nude photos in some magazine, that turned out to be completely true. The great thing was these images didn't bother Adrienne one bit, she seemed like she sort of revelled in the recognition. As she should have, she's terrific!
I was only a kid when All the Family was on TV.. but man do I miss it still. The things you couldn't get past the writing table now were some of the best things that were on then..
I 'm so glad i grew up in the 60"s & 70's After school wouldn't wait to see these TV shows or getting the new LP from favorite band with poster inside.
Kudos to this video for correctly citing Vincent Schiaveli's character on The Corner Bar as TV's first explicitly gay character. The show was so short-lived, this is often forgotten and The Nancy Walker Show or even Soap (!) are given that credit. I was only 8 years old, but I understood there was something about that character that was relevant to me, but I didn't totally understand just what. My parents watched the show and found that character a hoot.
The Sanford And Son courtroom scene was written by Paul Mooney, although it was not a sitcom a show called Sons And Daughters was highly controversial which was good for its ratings
I remember when "One Day at a Time" with Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips, and a very young Valerie Bertinelli came on in the very late 70's or very early 80's... it was fairly controversial at first because she was a divorced mother who moved with her daughters to Indianapolis. Course it settled down fairly quickly. Later! OL J R :)
The problem with your theory is the character never self-identified as being gay ! It was just very tongue and cheek . And even in this video he doesn't claim that soap had the first reoccurring gay character he mentions a different television series that only lasted one season and even I didn't know what it was . But I love Mr Humphreys he was a great character and at least it was some representation .
