SEVENTIES SITCOMS 1974-1975: THE BIRTH OF MUST-SEE TV

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When Rhoda Morgenstern left Mary Richards and Minneapolis to visit her family in the Bronx, little did she know it would result in her own series, a marriage, a divorce, and the second highest rated episode of weekly television up to that time. When an actor turned producer tried to create a TV series for Cheech and Chong, little did he know it would become about an old white man taking in a half-Hungarian Chicano and make TV history. When a simple pilot about the domestic life of a cop aired, the parent network had no clue that it would turn into one of the most heralded ensemble set pieces of the decade. When the neighbors of the most-followed family on TV moved “on up” to a new neighborhood, little did they know they would be around for over ten years.

Such is the 1974-1975 season. The first season where the seventies stood on its own with no remnants of the innocent and naive comedies of the past. And there were many “sitcoms” airing without laugh tracks or audiences and many would wish that the doctors of “M*A*S*H” had followed suit in that department.

BIG NOT-SO-FAT JEWISH WEDDING

James L. Brooks decided to give Mary Tyler Moore’s best friend Rhoda her own series. Rhoda, always the schlumpy sidekick as played by Valerie Harper was growing into her own as a svelte and sassy sex symbol. When she joined her kvetching mother Ida and tolerant father Max(Nancy Walker and Harold Gould) in the Bronx, she also paired up with her neurotic frumpy sister Brenda (Julie Kavner) allowing her to be the “Mary” to Brenda’s “Rhoda.” “Rhoda” had a more episodic feel to it as the arc of the first season involved Rhoda meeting Joe Gerard (David Groh),--owner of a wrecking ball company--falling in love and marrying him. Just like that. And the wedding episode mid-season, with the old MTM gang stopping by, garnered the highest ratings for a single episode since Lucy had baby Ricky on “I Love Lucy.” Viewers had parties celebrating the nuptials. This was “Must See TV” before the "Friends" cast was even in first grade.



With the steady hand of Brooks at the controls and, much like "MTM"--utilizing the services of the best female comedy writers in the business--“Rhoda” was held in high regard during it’s premiere season. "Rhoda" was the first sitcom headlining a Jewish family since “The Goldbergs” in 1949. The humor was a lot more gentle and the dialogue a bit more laid-back than the parent MTM show, although the unseen and often drunk doorman Carlton (heard through the intercom and voiced by writer Lorenzo Music) provided some good belly laughs. The setting was quite urban compared to MTM and Bob Newhart, the other creations from the studio, but never veered into the coarseness of a Lear program. Many may not know much about Rhoda’s wedding these days but , at the time, it defined water cooler television. And not far from Rhoda in the Bronx were some cops:

A BADGE OF HONOR, A BARRAGE OF LAUGHS

As ABC was still coping with it's giving up of Archie Bunker and the Lear juggernaut, it tried again this season to emulate the videotaped, urban milieu that it entailed. January of this season saw two attempts.

First, ABC actually snagged Lear with the highly publicized "Hot L Baltimore" with it's on air warning and menagerie of stock controversial oddballs and malcontents. By now, as you will see later with "Fay," audiences were not interested in shock.

Then ABC snagged John Rich, the veteran sitcom director who helmed most episodes of "All in the Family" to recreate his magic. He worked with Danny Arnold, producer of "That Girl" to come up with the perfect urban nightmare-comedy to complement the dysfunctional Bunker household. The domestic life of a Brooklyn cop--gritty and topical. And a Jewish cop at that just to add to the flavor. There was a lot of testing and lots of opinions about this show and it was almost never to be. But Arnold persisted (Rich left after the first episode--see "On the Rocks" next season) and created the perfect tapestry for the angsty humor of 1970's New York. It didn't take long for the aforementioned captain Barney Miller (Hal Linden) to ditch the "family with kids" element and focus on his fellow cops and collars in the 12th precinct. Much like Lear, the characters were richly drawn and acted, the situations topical and outrageous. But more like the MTM output most of the humor--even amidst bombastic deliberations and catastrophes--was subtle and full of humanity. The gentle and nuanced performance of Linden--no stereotypical Jewish caricature typical in film and theater--was the perfect antidote to his quirky fellow cops and the criminally neurotic visitors to the squadroom. It was almost like "Green Acres" moved to the city and got hooked on quaaludes.

Arnold was a perfectionist, often keeping the cast working through late hours doing script rewrites up to the final shot. Thus the studio audience was eventually shelved and each finely sculpted episode would be screened to an appreciative audience. Thus the show would seem twice removed from the audience in it's later years--the immediacy lessened. But not the quality. And also to avoid the bright fake look of a taped studio set, Arnold hired a master cameraman to filter the image and manipulate the set colors--grimy and green--to add authenticity to that squad room. And the series hardly left that squad room. With the exception of a few episodes, the series was basically a weekly three act play on the same stage--but without the staginess. Sort of a precursor to MTM's groundbreaking "Hill Street Blues" in terms of dark humor in the world of law and order, this series was often referenced by law enforcement personnel as the most realistic cop show of all. Quite high praise.

For some reason, this series would never capture many awards at Emmy time. It was a perfect example of a unheralded gem. It would ride on the coat-tales of ABC’s ratings bonanza in later years but you ask anyone who remembers the show and they will smile and nod in recognition of a long-ago era of quality understated programming.

BREAKING DOWN BARRIOS

Actor and producer James Komack (“Courtship of Eddie’s Father"), trying to conceive a program for the West-LA stylings of comedy duo Cheech and Chong, settled for a different kind of team. Melding nightclub comic Freddie Prinz with veteran character actor Jack Albertson was a stroke of unexpected brilliance. The perfect followup to “Sanford and Son” on Friday nights, the spectacle of cantankerous and alcoholic garage owner Ed Brown sparring with the smart-aleck Latino lothario Chico (found living in a van in the shop) was an instant success with audiences.

Although there were Latino characters represented in the ethnic soup of the New Sitcom, this was the first series to actually headline such a archetype. Chico was not quite as stereotyped as Fred Sanford’s neighbor Julio with his goat and thick accent. Prinz, actually half Hungarian and half Puerto Rican, portrayed his character as a suave and stylish wiseacre albeit with no place to live and no job and no parents that he knew of. Yet despite the realistic background of the barrios of East Los Angeles, adding veteran character actors such as Scatman Crothers as Ed’s best friend Louie often left the series feeling like an old-time vaudeville act with Ed as the straight man to Chico’s zaniness aided and abetted by a hyped-up studio audience at NBC studios videotaping sessions. But there was no mistaking that Chico Esquella was the first major Latino character on network television. And, surprisingly, there would not be many others throughout the decade.

“Rhoda” and “Chico and the Man” were both relatively short-lived as ratings winners and neither are as revisited or remembered as much as two other series that premiered mid-season. Both with enduring runs and much-loved characters, “The Jeffersons” and “Barney Miller” would represent longevity / popularity and quality / timelessness respectively.

But, as usual, everything starts with the Bunkers…at number one for the final time in it’s broadcast history this season.

RATINGS WINNERS 1974-1975

6) Rhoda (CBS) This first hit season was highlighted by the record-setting audience for the wedding episode. Along with the courtship and eventual marriage to Joe, this first year entailed story lines involving Joe’s financial problems with his wrecking-ball company, the couple’s dealing with past relationships, Rhoda’s tribulations at suddenly becoming intertwined with her overbearing mother and neurotic sister, and her eventual decision to start a window-dressing company. There were many characters crammed into the series this year---this would be a problem with the show: too many divergent and changing characters leading to a lack of core relationships so vital to other MTM-produced sitcoms--such as Rhoda’s childhood girlfriends, Joe’s co-workers, and Brenda’s strange boyfriends (including Nick Lobo, the accordion player). Along with film actor Allen Garfield, guests this season included many future sitcom stars such as Linda Lavin, John Ritter, Norman Fell and, of course, Henry Winkler.

Valerie Harper would win another Emmy, this time for Lead Actress. As I write this, Ms. Harper is bravely facing the effects of terminal brain cancer. She recently appeared on a talk show with the other women of the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and her graciousness and humor in the face of her situation was remarkable and awe-inspiring.