the changing of television

[Will and Grace Fanatic]

Name 10 shows you think were groundbreaking tv shows.

My list is:

Roseanne
All In The Family
Mary Tyler Moore
Ellen
All In The Family
Maude

I'll think of 4 more shows later

[Czas na Zywiec]

Originally posted by Will and Grace Fanatic
Name 10 shows you think were groundbreaking tv shows.

Can you like explain a little more about what you mean? And you should have added an other choice if anyone else wanted to vote for a show not on the list.

[°Bubbly Blonde°]

I definitely have to go with All in the Family first off, because it was the first show to deal with sex, race, homosexuality, etc. and bigotry! Mary Tyler Moore was the first show about a woman who wasn't stuck in the house doing dishes, and she wasn't desperatley trying to get a man to take care of her. Ellen, the first homosexual with her comedy....but I also think The Cosby Show was kind of groundbreaking, which wasn't on the list....
Neways, heres my list of top 10:
All in the Family
Mary Tyler Moore
Sex and the City
Will and Grace
Ellen
The Sopranos
The Cosby Show
Laugh In
Three's Company

[Mijada]

I would have to say All in the Family

[DarleneIllyria]

Yeah, I would have to say All in the Family because of the fact it was on top of getting out controversial stuff.

[Montana Ponine]

Originally posted by Jenny
Yeah, I would have to say All in the Family because of the fact it was on top of getting out controversial stuff.

Ditto. I agree 100%.

[~Tropical Punch 19~]

MARRIED WITH CHILDREN. That definatley. Also, All in the Family.

[LucyFan]

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
Mary Tyler Moore was the first show about a woman who wasn't stuck in the house doing dishes, and she wasn't desperatley trying to get a man to take care of her.
That is untrue. From what I have seen it was The Lucy Show (1962-1968) that was first show featuring a woman working outside of the home. As I recall, the main character called Lucy Carmichael was working as a secretary at a bank. With that information it totally contradicts the Mary Tyler Moore theory . .

[°Bubbly Blonde°]

Originally posted by LucyFan

That is untrue. From what I have seen it was The Lucy Show (1962-1968) that was first show featuring a woman working outside of the home. As I recall, the main character called Lucy Carmichael was working as a secretary at a bank. With that information it totally contradicts the Mary Tyler Moore theory . . Okay....well then MTM was one of the first women to be independent on t.v, my point is, the show was really groundbreaking for women and television.

[TibbyTibby2]

I agree with what every said!

[Will and Grace Fanatic]

Originally posted by Ricky Ricardo


Can you like explain a little more about what you mean? And you should have added an other choice if anyone else wanted to vote for a show not on the list.

ok what I mean is shows that changed the face of television by putting on topics that were taboo that no one wanted to talk about such as racisim, homosexuals, and hatred of women.

I personally think that Roseanne is the show that did the most groundbreaking things. The wife was the boss of the house and took care of most of the problems, homosexual characters had reaccuring roles such as Nancy and Leon. The children were not the perfect children, they had sex as teens got pregnant out of wedlock, ran away.

[Superbatboy]

Actually, I Love Lucy was probably the first groudbreaking series because it was the first show on Television to show an interracial couple.

But MANY series were groundbreaking for one reason or another:

All In the Family-First show to target the many biggots in America

Maude: First to have a VERY strong woman who was interested in civil rights and politics in the lead. Also dealt with many things not discussed on TV before, like abortion, homosexuality, plastic surgery, adultery etc;

The Cosby Show: The first show with an all black cast who weren't buffonish or poor. It was also the first and ONLY all black show to be #1 in the nielsen ratings.

Seinfeld: The first show to have intense sarcasm, and strange situations figure into many of the plots. Now MOST sitcoms today use Seinfeld's humor in one way or another.

Roseanne: First TV show to showcase blue-collar family life and make it funny.

Mary Tyler Moore: While MTM wasn't the first sitcom to show a woman on her own, it DID however have some racy scripts and adult humor previously not displayed on TV.

[JT]

Actually in my opinion, I think That Girl (1966-71) was the first show to really feature a woman who was independant. In the TG TV-Ography, Marlo Thomas said that her show was the first to feature just the girl. She before then it was always somebody's daughter, somebody's wife, somebody's sister, somebody's secretary, but Ann Marie was the somebody on her show.

[James]

I wonder what was the first show to "look back" on years past. My best guess would be "The Waltons" (1972-1981), which was designed to take place in the 1930s and 1940s. Then came "Happy Days" (1974-1984), "Little House on the Prairie" (1974-1983), "Laverne & Shirley" (1976-1983), and "The Wonder Years" (1988-1993), just to name four more. Five wonderful shows if you ask me!

"Looking back"--that's groundbreaking enough in my opinion! Personally I never cared for political themes or any of those other "firsts" mentioned in the other shows.

[LILFACE23]

I voted for All In The Family. It was the first show to deal with all the topics most people were afraid to come forward with. Definitely put a bookmark in history with that one.

[James]

:sleep2:

[dandelion wine]

All in the Family

[Stuck In The '70's]

All In The Family

[barwars]

All in The Family
(although Im not a fan)

[Jrnygrl]

All in the Family!

[Brent88]

All in the Family-first to touch very controversial issues
Roseanne-tackled Controversial issues

[Christopher]

All in The Family mostly. Ellen also because she was brave to have come out on her show like that. I just don't get what made fans so pissed at her for doing that. She did what was right imo. I don't think any show had a lead character who was gay before her show. I think she helped start shows like Will & Grace and It's All Relative.

[dawsongirl]

Originally posted by Superbatboy
Actually, I Love Lucy was probably the first groudbreaking series because it was the first show on Television to show an interracial couple.


I know some people consider that interracial, but I don't. I don't see Latinos as a different "race" as Caucasians. Different nationality, but similar features to the Caucasians. Blacks or Orientals are different races because many of their features differ a lot from Whites.

[dawsongirl]

Originally posted by James
:sleep2:

And your point?

[James]

Originally posted by dawsongirl
And your point?

I personally thought all those shows were boring, Dawsongirl. I tried watching at least some of those shows, but the laughs just never came.

[vashti1999]

All In The Family

[B&W fan]

All in the Family. But it wasn't the first show to target bigots. It was the first show to target Christians from a secular humanist's (Norman Lear) point of view. He wanted to ram his agenda (yes he had one) down America's throat, and he did a great job of helping to change the moral landscape of America - for the worse!

Lear only used the vehicle of comedy television to get his worldview out to the unsuspecting public so he could influence people to his way of thinking. To him, Archie Bunker was a caricature of all sincere Christians! He mocked Christianity and Biblical morals thru his show. And that's what made "All in the Family" the biggest groundbreaker of all time.

B&W "it really had nothing to do with bigotry, but instead was about ridiculing Christianity by attempting to paint all Christians as bigots and idiots, which is why I can't watch that show without getting sick to my stomach" fan

P.S. Sorry for the rant, but his shows were really anti-Christian at their core.

[treky]

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
I definitely have to go with All in the Family first off, because it was the first show to deal with sex, race, homosexuality, etc. and bigotry! Mary Tyler Moore was the first show about a woman who wasn't stuck in the house doing dishes, and she wasn't desperatley trying to get a man to take care of her. Ellen, the first homosexual with her comedy....but I also think The Cosby Show was kind of groundbreaking, which wasn't on the list....
Neways, heres my list of top 10:
All in the Family
Mary Tyler Moore
Sex and the City
Will and Grace
Ellen
The Sopranos
The Cosby Show
Laugh In
Three's Company "The Mary Tyler Moore show" wasn't the first show about a woman living and working on her own. That honor belongs to "That Girl" w/Marlo Thomas, in the 60s. But, you're right about it being the first show to have her not trying to get a man to take care of her.

[treky]

"I just don't get what made fans so pissed at her for doing that"

It's not that people were pissed at her for that. It's because she made it sound like being gay was her obsession, instead of just her lifestylye. Every episode in the last season of "Ellen" dealt with the fact that she's gay, and what was a very funny sitcom became a weekly lecture on lesbianism.
That's why she's so funny on her talk show. Because she doesn't mention that.

[JT]

The first lookback show would probably have been a western since they were set in the late 1800s.

Another show that was VERY GROUNDBREAKING and UNDERRATED was the GREAT "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" (1976-1978). It dealed with murder, racism, STDs, May-December romances, and it gave country music a person to be proud of: Loretta Haggers

[W.J. Griffin]

Originally posted by James
I wonder what was the first show to "look back" on years past. My best guess would be "The Waltons" (1972-1981), which was designed to take place in the 1930s and 1940s. Then came "Happy Days" (1974-1984), "Little House on the Prairie" (1974-1983), "Laverne & Shirley" (1976-1983), and "The Wonder Years" (1988-1993), just to name four more. Five wonderful shows if you ask me!

"Looking back"--that's groundbreaking enough in my opinion! Personally I never cared for political themes or any of those other "firsts" mentioned in the other shows.

Actually, one of the first shows to "look back" on years past was "Mama" (not to be confused with "Mama's Family" which featured Vicki Lawrence), which premiered on tv back in 1949, and dealt with the life of a Swedish-American family during the 1910s. Another show was "Life With Father"(1954), which dealt with family life in the early 1900s.

And let's not forget "The Untouchables" (1959) and "The Roaring Twenties" (1961),either. Or "Combat" (1962), "Twelve O'Clock High" (1962) and "McHale's Navy" (1964), which were all set during World War Two.

Indeed, discounting the westerns, of course ("Hopalong Cassidy", The Lone Ranger", "The Cisco Kid", "Gunsmoke", etc., etc., etc....), there were quite a few tv programs that were period pieces that pre-date "The Waltons" by quite a few years.

[W.J. Griffin]

Now, as to the "most groundbreaking series of all time"...why, it's "All In The Family" of course, for having the courage to attempt to show a truthful representation of modern affairs. (plus, the loud off-screen toilet flushing was a hoot!):lol:

Another groundbreaking tv show, which was based on a long-running (and equally groundbreaking) radio series was "The Amos 'n' Andy Show" (1951-1953), which, for the first time gave us an all-Black cast and and an intimate (if somewhat distorted) look into the Black community of the time. Although the show enraged (and contiues to enrage to this day) many African-Americans, many more African American viewers loved the show, and for the many White American viewers who had never met a Black American, it was an introduction to that (still somewhat distorted) world. (Plus, the radio version had invented the dual concepts of the continuing daily serial {we call them 'soap operas' today} and syndication. In its heyday {late 1920s/early 1930s} A&A was the most popular program on the air and EVERYBODY listened to "Amos 'n' Andy"!)

[treky]

and, unfortunately, "A & A" hasn't been seen since 1966? because it generated a lot of complaints from blacks.

[treky]

Originally posted by W.J. Griffin
Actually, one of the first shows to "look back" on years past was "Mama" (not to be confused with "Mama's Family" which featured Vicki Lawrence), which premiered on tv back in 1949, and dealt with the life of a Swedish-American family during the 1910s. Another show was "Life With Father"(1954), which dealt with family life in the early 1900s.

And let's not forget "The Untouchables" (1959) and "The Roaring Twenties" (1961),either. Or "Combat" (1962), "Twelve O'Clock High" (1962) and "McHale's Navy" (1964), which were all set during World War Two.

Indeed, discounting the westerns, of course ("Hopalong Cassidy", The Lone Ranger", "The Cisco Kid", "Gunsmoke", etc., etc., etc....), there were quite a few tv programs that were period pieces that pre-date "The Waltons" by quite a few years. don't forget "Hogans Heroes" which ran from 1965 to 1971 and was also set during World War 2. Also "M*A*S*H" which ran from 1972 to 1983 and was set during the Korean war (1950-53) then the spinoff "After MASH" which ran from 1983 to 84.

[W.J. Griffin]

Originally posted by treky
and, unfortunately, "A & A" hasn't been seen since 1966? because it generated a lot of complaints from blacks.

Yes, but "Amos 'n' Andy" is readily availiable on VHS and DVD and has been for years. If you type in a search for "Amos 'n' Andy", you will be led to quite a few sites that sell videos, ahnd you can see for yourself what all the shouting was about. At least 71 of the 78 episodes made are availiable.

[treky]

it has? I never knew that!

[vze3t9q9]

Gee I would like to see some of those "period piece" shows. It may be fun to Mama and see young Dick van Patten. GOsh maybe the film so bad my eyes would strain.

[vze3t9q9]

In my mind the first 20 years just about all the shows were westerns, fluff type shows, or varity shows. The seventies came and with Norman Lear shows took a turn. And they kept on a turning. Now kids today wouldn't think of watching the Donna Reed show and I wouldn;t think of watching NYpd. HOw many murders or killings do you hear about on show in the 50's and 60's.?
The average 8 year old knows more about life than I did at age 16

[B&W fan]

Originally posted by vze3t9q9
In my mind the first 20 years just about all the shows were westerns, fluff type shows, or varity shows. The seventies came and with Norman Lear shows took a turn. And they kept on a turning. Now kids today wouldn't think of watching the Donna Reed show and I wouldn;t think of watching NYpd. HOw many murders or killings do you hear about on show in the 50's and 60's.?
The average 8 year old knows more about life than I did at age 16

You've done a great job at outlining all that is bad and wrong with TV and the world in general. I couldn't agree more with you!

B&W "the only reason kids won't watch Donna Reed today is because they are desensitized by all the garbage on tv - let them grow up with solid moral principles and they'll hate NYPD and love the shows from the 50's and 60's" fan

[treky]

YEA!! RIGHT ON!!! COULDN'T SAY IT ANY BETTER!!! :clap: :clap: :notworthy :notworthy :thumbsup: :yourock:

[vze3t9q9]

Well I will admit many shows of the first 3o years were a bit corny but I like of like them. I wasn't a shame to see them with my parents. Today some of the kids seems flip and talk about the things you would only mentioned behind close doors.

[Steve M.]

Originally posted by Superbatboy
Mary Tyler Moore: While MTM wasn't the first sitcom to show a woman on her own, it DID however have some racy scripts and adult humor previously not displayed on TV.

And, as a sitcom set in a television newsroom, it was a TV show that occasionally made fun of TV! Also, it had the funniest sitcome episode anyone's ever done: "Chuckles Bites the Dust."

"Chuckles the Clown is dead. It was a freak accident. He went to the circus parade dressed as Peter Peanut and an elephant tried to shell him!"