They actively marketed to women (and presumably gay men as well) with Bo & Luke. John Schneider said on an interview that in some episodes the pants they gave him were so tight they had to cut away when he jumped through the General Lee’s window because he couldn’t do it without a stoop.
An actor who had a similar problem though he’s not usually considered a sex symbol was Wil Wheaton. As he grew (physically) and became more and more a tweener heart throb they kept his Star Fleet uniform the same size. He said it got so tight he had to wear a jock strap rather than underwear. His agent and his mother (two different people) both had to complain to Gene Roddenberry before he got a more comfortable one.
I never liked Happy Days. The 30 year old high schoolers (Ron Howard), the show becoming “The Henry Winkler Show” or “The Fonzie Show” which took away the aspect of what the series should of been about, life in 1950’s America.
Everything took place either at home or Arnold’s Drive In. Everything happened at Arnold’s Drive In. High school dances (with the same 30 year old high school students), rock bands (including Weezer!) anything was from Arnold’s. When Fonzie got magical powers, the gig was up. Don’t get me started on the barf inducing Laverne and Shirley.
MASH is an excellent show, but I take umbrage at B.J.'s mustache. This would not be allowed in the service, not even one as laid back as the 4077. That funky ass hat wouldn’t be allowed either. Dude towards the end started to look like Jeffrey Lebowski. Then there was Hotlips 1975 Farrah Fawcett-esque hair. I never much cared for her anyway and wish Sally Kellerman would have done the role. Oh well.
I honestly think that I Love Lucy was so popular because there was nothing else to watch on TV.
I guess if I lived in 1951 USA on some farm in the middle of nowhere, I would rather go cowtipping than watch this shit.
I have a season of The Mary Tyler Moore show. I love that program, and it is interesting now that I am now the age of the people on the show. The clothes of that era was really fugley, but that was the early 1970’s. and that ugly polyester shit that Mary wore were actually very expensive.
I never understood why Rhoda could never find a date. Woman was gorgeous. Also, why did Georgette end up with Ted, who is 25 years older than her. I thought Georgia Engel was beautiful as a young woman, but she never married.
Sanford and Son was awesome. It was also very politically incorrect. An Asian man named Ah Chew (who owned Arnold’s before selling it to Al). The word nigger was also commonly used. As a matter of fact, one of the funniest scenes in the whole of Sanford and Son was when Lamont got a ticket and he and Fred went to court. Fred notices everyone is black and asks the cop, “Why don’t you arrest some white people?” Cop “I do” Fred “Where are they? They are enough niggers in here to make a Tarzan movie!” Now, Nick at Nite censors this.
I agree for the most part however I enjoyed the very first season when they used Rock Around the Clock as the opening theme. Then it was a show about kids in the fifties.
Unless you really, really, really loved Thundercats, don’t watch it. It’s best viewed through a haze of memory. The only reason I can watch the original Transformers cartoon is because I love the Transformers franchise enough to overcome the nostalgia effect.
Reboot holds up quite well, especially once the long-term arcs start kicking in.
Too late on 'Cats. I watched only the first-season end-of-story arc, with Lion-O going through the ascension rite, and I was fairly well pleased. As I recall that was not merely the best story of the show, but the last story of the show that did not suck, so I don’t intend to go any further.
ETA: And I agree about TRANSFORMERS, excepting the '85 movie and the first several episodes with Rodimus Prime. But I’d already reached that conclusion when watching BEAST WARS for the first time, fifteen years or so back.
Is this true? Can someone else confirm? Because I sure don’t remember it this way.
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Yeah, I remember that episode. It’s on YouTube uncut as well. I can remember a few times they dropped the N-bomb on the show-
-When Big Money Grip tells Esther Lamont is his son (“What did you say n-------?”)
-When Grady convinces a man Lamont has seizures just before Lamont does a karate cry and stance (“This n____'s crazy!”)
There was another time when Fred referred to a large group of party guests by the word as well.
Louise Jefferson used it at least once when George paid a fortune for a watch. (“N— please!”) That’s the only time I recall it though, save for when it was said by racist characters. It was used on Good Times a few times as well but never casually. (James to an uppity white girl who’s in a hurry to leave: “Yeah, hadn’t you heard, there’s n____s here!”.)
Today I can’t imagine it being used by a character who isn’t an ardent racist or in some way where it’s absolutely necessary. Same thing as when Archie Bunker referred to Hebes, Spics, Mics, Fruits, Fags, and others of the “new words you can’t say on television [at least not without catching hell]”.
I was too young to have seen Alice in first run, but I saw some repeats of it a few years ago and it was like 30 minutes of nails on chalkboard. This was ever considered funny?
Ron Howard was 20 when the show started, 27 when he left it. By that point, Richie had graduated High School and gotten several years of college in. He was ~5 years older than his character. Just about average.
Don Most, similarly, was 21 at the start, 28 when they left.
Lynda Goodfriend (who played Richie’s girlfriend Lori Beth) is the same age as Howard and Most.
Anson Williams was closer, being 25 (an ~10 year difference) when the show started, and 28 when the characters graduated high school.
Scott Baio and Erin Moran were both approximately their characters’ ages.
I haven’t seen it in many years because it doesn’t get syndicated much, but I remember liking the Flo episodes. After she left it went downhill fast. It was one of those shows like Wings or Drew Carey that many former fans didn’t even realize was still on the air- just kept going and going and going…
Alice was a good show, but they got somewhat pidgeonholed with writing a sitcom about three women working in a diner. It was also fairly unrealistic. The three waitresses wouldn’t be considered family, and would not bond with Mel, the boss. Then Alice kept the waitressing job for nine years. Linda Lavin, the woman who played the lead was supposedly someone who did not want to share the spotlight, with Polly Holliday (Flo) doing just that. Flo was cool. Alice was mostly a bitch. Vera was on meth (Vera is my grandmother’s name and is the only person I know besides grandma to have the name).
Somebody mentioned Three’s Company, which in my opinion was a crappy program. However, it really captured almost everything that was just wrong about the 1970’s (minus the cocaine).
I don’t think a landlord, especially in freaking Southern California would care that a man was living with two women as long as the rent was paid. Then they got better jobs than their living situation would dictate. Jack owned a Bistro. Terry (the lasy blonde) was a nurse. Janet I think owned a plant store. I doubt that they would of continued the same living arrangement.
The show had the same themes, there is some kind of misunderstanding, people getting the wrong idea with everyone laughing about it in the end. Week after week of this. Or Jack trying and failing to score with his roommate or other girls.
There was a lot of humor from the fact that both landlords thought Jack was homosexual and would kid him about it. Unfortunatly if this was on in 2010, all the homosexuals would be up in arms about it. This is another example of political correctness of our time.
I always thought Joyce Dewitt was much better looking than Suzanne Somers. I have recently seen the pilot episode and Janet in her little short shorts really woke me up. I like Italian-Latin, dark haired, brown eyed women and she fits the bill. Suzanne Somers just had her big tits and goofy face.
That is exactly why we watched I Love Lucy, because there was nothing else on…I think on Monday nights, early 1950’s.
It was a stupid show, but it was the best show on for that time slot. I cant even remember what was on the other channels in the same time slot opposite I Love Lucy.
It was a good reason to watch ILL back then, but why the heck do people watch it now?
By the late 1950’s, there were a whole bunch of shows Soooooo much better than ILL.
I dont know what you are talking about, Wally and esp Beaver were Soooooooooo stupid, it was mostly unwatchable, the show was totally unrealistic, at the time. I didnt know any other kids that were like Wally or Beaver, and Beaver never got anything right. Wally was kinda ok sometimes, Eddie Haskel and Lumpy were sorta normal, but Beaver was such a loser. Leave it to Beaver was too unrealistic, both now, and then.
On the other hand, at that time there were some really great family shows, and much more realistic shows that real people could identify with, show which are still good today: like Ozzie and Harriet, and My 3 Sons.
Yep, the last show with them getting convicted and going to prison is rather fitting.
That said, Seinfeld is entertaining, albeit totally unbelievable, and unendearing.
Guys like Jerry and Costsanza could never get such beautiful girls in real life, and certainly not a new pretty girl every week. Esp unbelievable was Costanza engaged to that VERY rich girl. George was unemployed, dumb, short, fat, bald, no self confidence, no money, and not interesting.
As far as Jerry, Jerry did not really “like” women except for sex.
