Television from the 70’s and 80’s

There are few things that I enjoy as much as nostalgia from my youth.  Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s there are literally thousands of cultural icons, I can look to and truly appreciate as part of my experience of life.   Here are some of the examples, mostly from the classic TV shows we watched and talked about at school the next day.

Happy Days

Tuesday nights at 8, this was a must see for all kids in the 70’s.  We all wanted to be as cool as the Fonz, but were usually as awkward as Richie Cunningham.  Set in the midwestern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the series revolves around teenager Richie Cunningham(Ron Howard) and his family: his father, Howard (Tom Bosley), who owns a hardware store; mother Marion (Marion Ross); younger sister Joanie (Erin Moran); and high school dropout, biker and suave ladies man Arthur “Fonzie or The Fonz” Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), who would eventually become the Cunninghams’ upstairs tenant. The earlier episodes revolve around Richie and his friends, Warren “Potsie” Weber (Anson Williams),Ralph Malph (Donny Most) with Fonzarelli as a secondary character. As the series progressed, Fonzarelli proved to be a favorite with viewers and soon more story lines were written to reflect his growing popularity. Fonzie befriends Richie and the Cunningham family, and when ‘Richie’ (Ron Howard) left the series following his character’s

wedding to his long-time college sweetheart, Winkler’s Fonzie became the central figure of the show. In later seasons, other characters were introduced including Fonzie’s young cousin, Charles “Chachi” Arcola(Scott Baio), who (finally) became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham after Joanie initially resisted his charms.

Sha Na Na TV Show

Sha Na Na hosted the Sha Na Na syndicated variety series that ran from 1977 to 1981. It was among the most watched programs in syndication during its run.The show was produced by Pierre Cossette and originally distributed by LBS Communications.

The show featured the group performing hits from the 1950s and 1960s, along with comedy skits. The “tough guys” road act from their original road shows was adapted for TV and the group moved to a comedy and self-deprecating routine. The mainstay continued to be the 1950s song and dance routines. The show opened in a typical concert scene, and then moved through various street and ice cream parlor scenes where they and their guests performed several songs. That was followed by a comedy-oriented song (“Alley Oop”, “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”) and closed with a slow song, again in their concert format.

 

Among the supporting members featured in the series were Avery Schreiber, Kenneth Mars and Phillp Roth (all of them in the first season); Pamela Myers and actress Jane Dulo (who played the crabby Lady in the Window, who watched over the street scenes from the window of her apartment with undisguised disdain) (Both throughout the show’s run), June Gable and Soupy Sales (Seasons 2 to 4); Michael Sklar (Season 2); and Karen Hartman (Season 4).

Guests included Jan & Dean, Fabian, Chubby Checker, the Ramones, Ethel Merman, Frank Gorshin, Billy Crystal, Danny and the Juniors, and others

The members of Sha Na Na during the TV series were Jon ‘Bowzer’ Bauman (vocals), Lennie Baker (sax), Johnny Contardo (vocals), Frederick ‘Dennis’ Greene (vocals), ‘Dirty Dan’ McBride (guitar) (left after third season), John ‘Jocko’ Marcellino (drums), Dave ‘Chico’ Ryan (bass), ‘Screamin’ Scott Simon’ (piano), Scott ‘Santini’ Powell (vocals), Donald ‘Donny’ York (vocals). Each was introduced only by his nickname or his first name in a voice-over by Myers at the beginning of each show.

Schoolhouse Rock!

An American series of animated musical educational short films that aired during the Saturday morning children’s programming on the U.S. television network ABC. The topics covered included grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics. The series’ original run lasted from 1973 to 1985, and was later revived with both old and new episodes airing from 1993 to 1999.  What better way to learn about Adverbs, counting, the Constitution, conjunctions or America?

 

 

The Six Million Dollar Man

The Six Million Dollar Man was an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI (which was usually referred to as the Office of Scientific Intelligence, the Office of Scientific Investigation or the Office of Strategic Intelligence. The show was based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin, and during pre-production, that was the proposed title of the series. It aired on the ABC network as a regular series from 1974 to 1978, following three television movies aired in 1973. The title role of Steve Austin was played by Lee Majors, who subsequently became a pop culture icon of the 1970s. A spin-off of the show was produced, The Bionic Woman, as well as several television movies featuring both eponymous characters.  

“Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive.” Richard Anderson, in character as Oscar Goldman, then intones off-camera, “Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better…stronger…faster.”

WKRP In Cincinnati

WKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI (AM) in Atlanta. The ensemble cast consisted of Gary Sandy, Howard Hesseman, Gordon Jump, Loni Anderson, Tim Reid, Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders andFrank Bonner.

WKRP premiered September 18, 1978, on the CBS television network and aired for four seasons and 88 episodes (90 in syndication) through September 20, 1982. During the third and fourth seasons, CBS repeatedly moved the show around its schedule, contributing to its eventual cancellation.

When WKRP went into syndication, it became an unexpected blockbuster. For the next decade, it was one of the most popular sitcoms in syndication, outperforming many much bigger prime time hits, including all the other MTM Enterprises sitcoms.

Baby, if you’ve ever wondered, Wondered whatever became of me,
I’m living on the air in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, WKRP.
Got kind of tired packing and unpacking,
Town to town and up and down the dial
Maybe you and me were never meant to be,
But baby think of me once in awhile.
I’m at WKRP in Cincinnati.

The Love Boat

The sitcom was usually set aboard a cruise liner called the Pacific Princess, whose passengers and crew had romantic and funny adventures every week. Other ships used were twin sister Island Princess, the Stella Solaris (for a Mediterranean cruise), Pearl of Scandinavia (for a Chinese cruise), the Royal Viking Sky (for European cruises) and the Royal Princess and Sun Princess (for Caribbean cruises). In 1981 P&O Cruises’ MV Sea Princess was also used for a special feature length episode called ‘Julie’s Wedding’, set in and around Australia, and guesting Lloyd Bridges, Katherine Helmond, Harry Morgan, Patrick Duffy and Anthony Andrews, among others.

Series stars MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, and Ted Lange are the only cast members to appear in every episode of the regular series, including the last three 2 hour made-for-TV movies, and stayed throughout the entire run. MacLeod was not the captain in the first two TV movies, however.

The long-running TV series was finally canceled in 1986, because of low ratings. After the show’s cancellation, the show became immensely-popular in reruns, both in syndication and on TV Land.

Love, exciting and new. Come Aboard. We’re expecting you. Love, life’s sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.   Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone, Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.   Love won’t hurt anymore
It’s an open smile on a friendly shore.
Yes LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! (hey-ah!)
Love Boat soon will be making another run.   The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure, Your mind on a new romance.

Love won’t hurt anymore.  It’s an open smile on a friendly shore.
It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It’s
LOOOOOOOOOOOVE!      It’s the Love Boat-ah! It’s the Love Boat-ah!