TV in the 1970s: attempts at Laughter
I've been steeped in the 1970s. We watch an episode of The Love Boat each night and are about halfway through season two. This iconic show is great because you can see many past actors. The guest stars are people you haven't seen in so long; all the well-known faces that make you nostalgic for the '70s. The Love Boat got high ratings in its time, and most people watched it every Friday at 9:00 pm. As I watch now, I see that it's both outdated and it stands the test of time. I should write a blog post on just The Love Boat because there are so many aspects of the show, the people, and the cultural norms that surprise me. But now I'd like to talk about the shows that didn't do well during that time. If people in the '70s thought that The Love Boat was the benchmark for TV shows, what storylines didn't make the grade and why?
(I found a website that posted lots of great stuff. I'll link her article when I quote the author, Glory Miller. You will find her full article at: https://reelrundown.com/tv/70s-short-lived-tv-series. I also found some great historical information about television technology at: https://www.britannica.com/technology/television-technology/Electronic-systems)
The science of television and the human imagination for technology began "As far back as 1880" (Britannica.com), but it was predicted that producing and using the technology wouldn't be worthwhile. After that, in an article in Scientific American, they indicated that there "might be some uses for television, but “entertainment” was not one of them" (Britannica.com). Boy, were they wrong. At the 1939 World's Fair in New York City, America's first regular electronic broadcasting moment was when they televised Franklin D. Roosevelt, giving him the honor of becoming the first U.S. president to be televised. Do you think that their vision for television was only for political purposes?
By the early 1950s, technology had progressed, and the family's television set became a standard piece of furniture. Television sets were first black and white (grayscale), with color being standardized and ready in 1953. It was during the 70s decade when color televisions outsold black and white. So, as I write about these shows, some are broadcast in black and white, and some are in color.
The first show on the list is "Adam's Rib." Glory Miller writes, "Adam's Rib was a situation comedy that began its run on ABC on September 14, 1973, and lasted until December 28, 1973." This show was a contemporary version of the movie, "Adam's Rib" (MGM, 1949), with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Within the first few seconds of the film, written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin and directed by George Cukor, it claims to be MGM's "Funniest Picture in 10 years!" It is about a married couple who "work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband" (imdb.com). The two bring their disagreements about the case into their home life, and laughter ensues.
The TV show, starring Ken Howard as Adam Bonner and Blythe Danner as Amanda, follows that storyline, and it, too, was considered a comedy. Even with such a fantastic cast which included: Ron Rifkin (Law and Order, Brothers and Sisters, ER, etc.), Dena Dietrich (Mother Nature in the Parkay margarine commercial, The Practice 1976-1977, Karen—another show that didn't last very long, etc.) Madeline Kahn (Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Clue, etc. etc.), Katherine Helmond (Who's the Boss, Coach, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc. etc.), Dick Van Patten (Happy Days, Chips, Eight is Not Enough, etc. etc.), it only lasted thirteen shows. One of the reviewers on IMDB felt like it was because the humor was stupid. There was a chance to look significantly at gender equality, and they fell right back into stereotypes. But maybe that's all that the '70s were ready for. You know? Because as I watch The Love Boat, I see a lot of gender stereotype humor attempts. Some of the humor is funny, not belly-laugh funny, but chuckle-worthy. Some simply are not funny, and some make me feel uncomfortable. What was okay to say back then, and even maybe amusing back then, isn't okay these days. (And it shouldn't have been okay in those days.) This tells me that Adam's Rib was poised to be great. It was probably funny for the 1970s crowd. But maybe it failed because it was on at a poorly chosen time or day, and the competition was so tough that ABC executives didn't give it a chance.
Picture this: It's Friday, September 14, 1973, and the new shows are just beginning. The reruns are done, and you get to see the new Friday Night lineup. It's getting dark earlier, you were just at school all week, and your fingers still smell like pencil lead from all the homework and schoolwork you've been doing. You just ate dinner and helped your mom with the dishes. And now it's 8:00 pm, and you're sitting on the couch, waiting for The Brady Bunch to begin. After you laugh at Marsha and Jan's shenanigans, it's time for The Odd Couple. The Partridge Family used to be next, but starting in the fall of 1973, ABC changed it to Saturday nights instead. So, you watch Oscar and Felix after The Brady Bunch this Friday night. You laugh and laugh at Neil Simon's humor. Then Room 222 comes on, and you enjoy Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes) teaching his students as Michael Constantine, the high school principal Mr. Kaufman, supports his favorite teacher at Walt Whitman High School in Los Angeles, CA. It's a beautiful show of tolerance and understanding, much like the movie To Sir with Love starring Sidney Poitier, and you enjoy watching as they work through the issue of the day. Then a new show, Adam's Rib, comes on, and you don't know what to expect. You know the other shows; you've been watching them for years. But Adam's Rib needs to catch your attention. And it does. Because it's at this time that Mom or Dad tells you it's bedtime. You go up and change into pajamas, then sneak back down and sit between your older siblings. You are still little enough to hide between them, and nobody is the wiser.
Adam's Rib is amusing, but a court scene for us in the TV room isn't as interesting as a classroom, a family, or Felix and Oscar arguing. So you watch because you know what's next. Love American Style, and you love it. The anthology series that "featured some of the earliest work of future stars Diane Keaton ("Love and the Pen Pals"), Sally Struthers ("Love and the Triangle"), Albert Brooks ("Love and Operational Model"), and Harrison Ford ("Love and the Former Marriage") is fun and entertaining. You laugh with your siblings, and your dad looks over at you. He smiles. He doesn't tell you to get back to bed, so you smile too. The short skits are fun, and laughing with your family is the best part of all. After the final note of Love American Style's theme song is played, you look around to make sure you're still incognito. Your dad gets up from the couch and goes into the kitchen for something, giving you the perfect opportunity to sneak upstairs and go to bed.
Who knows why Adam's Rib didn't last the full season? I imagine it's up to fate when dealing with Hollywood and TV shows and executives that need to see the Nielsen ratings high from the beginning. But I imagine people in the '70s just needed an outlet to escape the world's seriousness. The War in Vietnam (Date: 1954 – 1975) was hovering like an evil force over our heads, and we just wanted a reason to laugh.
After doing all this research, I will watch The Love Boat a little differently. I now realize that the laughs they created probably helped many people hide between their metaphorical brothers and sisters and away from the reality of what was actually happening around them.
