TV Guided: The Golden Age of Sitcoms?

 

 Redartz: It wasn't too long ago that some folks claimed the sitcom to be dead. Turns out they were wrong; there are quite a few comedies on network tv worth the viewing in 2021. But as this is "Back in the Bronze Age" and not "Here in the Netflix Age", we're looking at some earlier programming (so as not to give the impression that I'm totally lost in the past, I think one could make a good argument that we are currently in a Golden Age of television drama, but that's another tale for another day).

Back to the sitcoms (or Situation Comedies, for those sticklers among us). Our title above mentions a Golden age; to what does that refer? Well, in my  humble opinion, to the 1970's. Granted, every decade has had it's share of enjoyable, popular, even classic comedies. You might well choose to argue that my claim for the 70's misses the mark. Well, that is the crux for our topic this week. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Consider the decade that opened with "The Brady Bunch", "The Partridge Family", and "The Odd Couple". 

 

 Basically played for laughs, and those were found in abundance. But as the decade progressed, the comedies got more...socially conscious. More introspective. More biting. Think of "All in the Family" and "Maude". 

 

 And the comedies got more diverse; with "The Jeffersons" and "Chico and the Man". 

 

But the world of 70's sitcoms also had it's lighter fare. Nostalgia was a big draw, with "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley". 

 

 So were 'urban comedies' such as "Taxi" and "Barney Miller". 

 

 And of course the decade ended with the sheer wackiness of Robin Williams in "Mork and Mindy".  Obviously the decade offered a wide choice of comic material...

 

As further evidence, I bring your attention to the CBS schedule for Saturday nights in the 1973 season. "All in the Family", "M*A*S*H", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "The Bob Newhart Show", and "The Carol Burnett Show" . Even granting that that last program was technically a variety show, that still must qualify as the greatest single night of televised comedy in broadcast history. Whatta lineup...

Anyway, the sheer abundance of strong comedies (and I have only scratched the surface here) in the 70's pretty much settles my case. Golden Age of Sitcoms? I'm going with the decade of Hawkeye Pierce, Rhoda Morganstern and the Fonz. 

You still disagree? Excellent; that's where our topic gets juicy. What decade, or era, would you say qualifies as a 'Golden Age' of comedy? If you agree with me, fine; why? And if you've other thoughts, then by all means convince us otherwise! 

And for our UK contingent: certainly don't intend to leave you out. Your BBC and ITV certainly offered some comic viewing, what were the best schedules? The best shows? Was there a particular era that stood out for you, programming-wise? The table is wide open to discuss the Greatest Eras of Comedy...

Animation Congregation: Borrowing from "Prime Time"...

Redartz:  Hello everyone! Time for another salute to Saturday mornings. Saturday morning - the traditional home of cartoons of all kinds. Many of these cartoons were new concepts, created especially for the young Saturday morning viewers.Some cartoons, however, owed their existence to Prime Time programming aimed at a generally older audience. The 1970's ( 1973 in particular, for some reason), and 80's, borrowed heavily from  evening network programming to fill those early weekend hours . In 1972, ABC debuted "The Saturday Superstar  Movie", which often featured characters familiar from nighttime television. But for this discussion, we'll focus on the specifically copied, regularly scheduled shows. 

As lighthearted fare was the rule in that era of parental watchdog groups, humor shows abounded. And many of those comic cartoons were spawned from popular evening comedies. Among them:

The Addams Family (1973)- It took something dramatic to keep me from watching "Scooby Doo Movies", but this did it. A great show with plenty of Addams oddity.

Martinex1:  Hiya Red, I had to just jump in quickly on this topic.   That Addams Family cartoon was my introduction to the characters.  I saw this when I was five-years-old and long before I saw the actual live action show.   I have to say I still remember the opening until this day.

I Dream of Jeannie- "Jeannie" (1973)- When "Star Trek" was a rerun, I'd catch this. As a longtime fan of Barbara Eden, I was disappointed that she wasn't involved. But it was a fun show, nonetheless. And I never could figure out what Babu's magic phrase was supposed to be.

 
Martinex1:  You mention Star Trek and we will get to that down the blog... but regarding "Jeannie," Babu's magic phrase was "Yapple Dapple."   Babu was voiced by none other than Joe Besser of The Three Stooges fame.  Another star to note, Mark Hamill (yes Luke Skywalker himself) voiced the male lead Corey.  He even sings a bit on the opening.




The Brady Bunch - "The Brady Kids" (1972)- Featured the Brady children and pets, sans parents. Never watched it, as I preferred "Josie and the Pussycats" on another channel...

Martinex1: I did watch this one when my sisters got to pick the show.   I did like Ping and Pong the pandas.  I think pandas must have been big in the 70s; wasn't there some big event with Nixon visiting China and the pandas at the zoo in 1973?  The stars of the original show actually voiced the kids in the first season; but there was some contractual dispute and only some of the kids' voices returned for the second season. 





 




The Partridge Family- "The Partridge Family: 2200 AD" (1974)- it had a few original cast members voicing their characters. No memories of the show, though- I was watching Gilligan...
Martinex1:  Not sure if I have my facts straight, but I believe Hanna-Barbera was looking at a Jetson's revival with a teenage Elroy (ala the popular Pebbles and Bamm Bamm morphing out of the Flintstones)  and through some sort of Hollywood boardroom magic the show warped into this Partridge Family version.   You can definitely see the Jetsons' influence.


 




Gilligan's Island- "The New Adventures of Gilligan" (1974) and "Gilligan's Planet" (1982)- "New Adventures" kept up the misadventures of the castaways, and the classic show's cast was mostly involved. My brother, sister and I almost never missed it, as fondly as we recalled the eternally rerun original series.




 



My Favorite Martian- "My Favorite Martians" (1973)- Another show I'd catch from time to time, despite the lack of Bill Bixby.
Martinex1:  I remember this show fondly.  It was one of my favorites. I liked the idea of people from other planets and I was in my Mars-loving phase.









 

Happy Days- "The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang" (1980)- Several members of the nostalgic series' cast lent their voices to this version. By the time this cartoon aired, though, I personally had lost interest in the old 'gang', and tuned in to Bugs Bunny instead.






 
Laverne and Shirley- "Laverne and Shirley in the Army" (1981)- a short-lived cartoon teaming of the brilliant Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams. 
Martinex1:  Can I just say, "Wow!"   I cannot believe this got made.  I cannot imagine many of my friends wanting to see this.






 


Mork and Mindy (1982)- packaged in an hour-long teamup with the Fonz and Laverne & Shirley. As much as I loved the Robin Williams/Pam Dawber comedy, I never saw this version. Perhaps one of you can give us a critique?


 




Prime Time drama shows weren't mined nearly to the extent the comedies were. There were several, however. All of these from the same season, coincidence? Who knows...

Emergency!- "Emergency Plus 4" (1973)- A must-see for me, as it featured "Emergency" cast members Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe in their paramedic roles, along with several precocious kids. Less gore than Saturday night's version, but plenty of adventure.

Star Trek- "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (1973)- A great adaptation, reuniting the original nighttime series' cast. I most fondly recall the "tribbles" episode.
Martinex1:  There was actually a "Star Trek: Animated Series" episode that scared me as a kid.  It had something to do with this creepy tentacled alien that disguised itself as a crewman.   It seemed like every time I turned the show on, that episode aired.   This was my first and only exposure to Star Trek for years.  As mentioned recently, I really did not watch the original series until a couple of years ago, so that animated episode was much of my Star Trek experience. 

Lassie- "Lassie's Rescue Rangers" (1973)- A fairly decent adventure series, I tried to watch fairly regularly. After all, it was Lassie...

Hope these bring back a few memories for some of you. Which shows did you watch? Were they worthy representatives of the shows from which they arose? Or were they best forgotten, left to the dregs of dvd collections and YouTube. Were there other examples I missed? Were there other shows that you feel would have been ideal Saturday Morning fare? Let your thoughts be heard! Oh, and many thanks, Marti! I've wondered for decades about Babu's magic phrase. One item off my bucket list...

BitBA Sunday Special: Mother's Day!

Martinex1: We interrupt our regularly scheduled Sunday break to wish all the Moms out there a Happy Mother's Day!   Enjoy time with the family today!   But since you are here at BitBA, take a look at some of our Mother's Day related material and share your favorite mother and grandmother memories.   Cheers all!

We have a special "Two Questions" lined up plus more....

QUESTION 1: Comic books don't often depict moms (or mother types) in their character lineup, but of those they do - who are the best?

QUESTION 2:   On the other hand, mothers seem omnipresent on television shows - who are the best TV moms?

 

 And here are a few newspaper comic strips that fit the theme of the day!   Enjoy!

Have a great day all!  And feel free to share what you are doing with your family today.