I was a teenager from 1970-1978, and I loved this era of television.
Of course, there was Dark Shadows, a show that went beyond creative. There are quite a few writers, actors, and other creative people, including ME, who credit Dark Shadows for helping them to develop their imaginations.
I loved all the shows featuring black people. My favorite was Good Times, but I also loved The Jeffersons. I think these shows did much to help white people like me to begin to see black people as just people, not “black people.” Also, the shows introduced us to the issues that black people had to face. And the music–someone on American Idol recently auditioned using “Movin’ On Up!” and the judges (including Harry Connick, Jr–someone who truly knows music!) called it a great song! I’ve always loved “Movin’ On Up!”
I loved family shows like The Brady Bunch, Here Come The Brides, and The Partridge Family. Many of these shows featured a cute “teen idol.” I was a little old for Barry Williams, Bobby Sherman, and David Cassidy, but it created a lovely wholesome atmosphere for teens.
And of course, that era was the Age of some of the GREATEST comedies ever–The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and The Carol Burnett Show. We used to gather in the college dorms to watch these three Saturday night staples–wonderful.
And there was The Muppet Show–funny but edgy.
And there were still some excellent Westerns on during the 1970s. I believe that both Gunsmoke and Bonanza were still being made, and those were great shows.
And some of the cop shows were great–I loved Policewoman with Angie Dickinson. My brother and I both loved Streets of San Francisco and Kojak. Great characters on these shows–people still remember them! And the shows had good stories without resorting to the kind of sick realism that is featured on so many cop shows today. I hate those shows that seem to be playing “Top That Shocker!” every week, especially those that feature graphic details of violent rapes and murders. No wonder our society is so violent.
I think that during the 70s, a lot of television shows featured huge amounts of unbridled “creativity.” Think about the show, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. This show was sweet, touching, and well-acted by veteran actors. Nowadays, it would never even get to a point where a producer would be willing to hear a pitch for it. And if it DID get on the air, it would be sexualized and violent and probably the two actors would be about 20 years old.
Then along came the “mini-series,” and IMO, that’s when TV started to decline. It got trashier and trashier, as the night-time soaps tried to find ways to compete against each other. And it took a commitment to watch TV–that’s one of the things I hate about modern TV shows like Lost and Once Upon A Time–they are all “continued” plotlines, and you not only have to watch the show, you have to go online and watch the supplemental episodes to find out what’s really going on. Too much sitting around.
Finally, one more comment. I remember even back in the “Golden Age” of Television, all those actors were involved in scandals in their real lives. Does anyone remember gossip columnists like Rona Barrett? These people didn’t get famous writing about saintly good works of stars like Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The stars gave the columnists plenty of dirt to write about. Entertainment has never been a “wholesome” industry. I can remember my mother refusing to watch certain shows because she didn’t want to see actors who lived trashy lives.
made him the subject of lots of parodies. Another variety show was Red Skelton. He had all these crazy characters he would do. My favorite was “These two seagulls, Gertrude and Heathcliff!” And he would tell some joke in the character of the seagulls
:blush: But that Wallace & Ladmo must have been quite the program to last for 35 years!