SEVENTIES SITCOMS: 1970-1971: A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM

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"The program you are about to see is All in the Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter, we hope to show -- in a mature fashion -- just how absurd they are."



JANUARY 12, 1971

The warning was clear. You, the viewer, are about to witness frank sexuality, profanity, overt racism, loud political discussions, and the sound of a toilet flushing. And also the wholesale revamp of the American sitcom.

Norman Lear and his partner Bud Yorkin worked in the early years of television as comedy writers. In the sixties they wrote, produced and directed various feature films, mostly social satires touching on subject matter that pushed the borders of what was--at the time--mainstream star-driven product. “All in the Family” was based on the British sitcom “Til Death Do Us Part” and Lear and Yorkin formed Tandem Productions to Americanize the dysfunctional Garnett family: racist, close-minded dad; dimwitted good-hearted wife; lay-a-bout yet socially progressive son in law; and devoted yet sexually liberated daughter. They are now the Bunkers from Queens NY: Archie, Edith, Mike and Gloria. Originally taped as a few pilots (with some different casting), ABC turned down the program. After being reworked a third time, CBS bought it and placed it in a mid season time-slot. Fred Silverman, head of programming for CBS, was in the process of a “rural purge”-- he was going to remove still-popular hillbilly farces and gentle rural family sitcoms with more urban, sophisticated and topical programs. “Cutting down the trees," as Pat Buttram (Mr. Haney) put it.

In the 1970-1971 season, Americans saw the final seasons of so many beloved sitcoms from Mayberry to Hooterville. And, when the Bunkers--premiering to uninterested viewer numbers despite the controversy--showed up in summer reruns to stellar ratings, the die was cast.

Combined with the premiere of what many believe to be the best sitcom of all time, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"--with its smart writing, sharp character development, and replacement of the nuclear family with workplace alliances--the revolution had begun.

IN TANDEM: LEAR AND YORKIN

Lear and Yorkin would develop most sitcoms throughout the coming decade. Many were spin offs of "All in the Family". Or even spin offs of spin offs. Lear and Yorkin would split up around 1974 with Yorkin forming his own company. Between the two of them, they owned the decade when it came to sheer quantity--if not necessarily quality. Lear’s content was topical in that movie-of-the-week way. Continuing story lines were not uncommon. His actors came mostly from Broadway as opposed to the stock sitcom actors of year’s past. Recalling the immediacy of a Broadway play (or early live TV) Lear’s programs were shot on three cameras in front of a studio audience on Hollywood sound stages. The difference between his programs and those of say, Desi Arnaz or Sheldon Leonard, is that he shot on videotape rather than film. Oftentimes the acting seemed stagy with the stage-trained actors in tightly framed close-ups. The sets looked like sets with the overly-bright flat lighting. Studio audiences were encouraged to hoot, clap, ooh and aaah, which they did with very little prompting. The audience almost became part of the show: witnessing, along with you-- the home viewer--a laugh-filled but somewhat frightening expose of ourselves and our society. Warts and all.

And those first episodes covered almost everything: racial prejudice, unemployment, the politics of Richard Nixon, homosexuality, women’s lib, and religion-- all with that flushing toilet, lots of yelling and lots of cussing! But it was extremely funny. The acting was top-notch and the best writers and directors (from the previous sitcom era actually) were on board for this experiment. The characters were broadly drawn, yet complex. The humor was fast, furious, bombastic and sometimes vulgar. The situations were dramatic and life-changing. The audience howled and gasped. Sophistication and wit were left to someone else, starting out on her own.

COMES THE KITTY: MTM AND MR. TINKER

James L. Brooks, who worked in the broadcast news industry and developed and wrote for network television (most recently the critically acclaimed “Room 222”) teamed up with many of the best writers in TV to give birth to Mary Richards. Grant Tinker and his wife Mary Tyler Moore formed a production company, MTM, and hired Brooks to make TV history. When Moore teamed up with former TV husband Dick Van Dyke in a variety show reunion, her comedic timing was as sharp as ever. CBS bought the idea of her own show as a newly divorced woman on her own with the caveat that she cannot be divorced. Rob and Laura Petrie could NOT be divorced as audiences (being given little intellectual credit by studio execs) would turn away in droves. So, in the same season that Archie Bunker single-handedly broke most taboos at the time, Mary Richards had to be “left at the altar” rather than suffer the D word. But she wasn’t Doris Day or Ann Marie or Gidget. Mary had a few “experiences” and the show was written well enough that audiences didn’t have that fact hit them over their head. Well, audiences, that is, that could have handled the dreaded divorce scenario.

MTM’s sitcoms were very different in tone and appearance from Lear's. They hewed more closely to the Desi Arnaz model, filmed with three cameras before a studio audience. The audience was tamer but savvy. Musical transitions and location shots added to the classiness of the productions. The writing was solid and the direction was on par with the acting: superb. Sadly, MTM would veer into videotape usage (probably to save costs) in the latter part of the decade to ill effect.

The third most prevalent 70's sitcom creator, Garry Marshall, would also premiere “The Odd Couple” this season. But his style would not become signature until his teammates at Paramount were churning out a multitude of series for ABC, mostly of the nostalgic bent, formatted much like the MTM shows, but without the quality and with the hooting and applause of the Lear shows sans the controversy.

In this series of articles by season, each year I will start by listing the shows in order of ratings for that year. I feel it is better to reveal the tastes at that time in order to reflect the true nature of the audiences on their path to sitcom maturation in the 70’s. It is more interesting, for instance, that The Brady Bunch was never a top-30 show at the time but would live on in nostalgic reverie through reruns and pop culture. I’ll follow up the top rated sitcoms with the returning series and notable premieres each year.

The previous two seasons had seen the end of many long-running escapist 60's sitcoms: I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, The Flying Nun and Petticoat Junction. Gomer Pyle USMC, still at the top of the ratings when it was cancelled in 1969 reverted to a variety format, The Jim Nabors Hour" to showcase the star's singing ability. Although the previous sitcom's actors returned for a silly recurring skit "The Brother In Law" which was a bit more contemporary and the ratings still in the top 30, the purge took hold as this newer series was also cancelled at the end of the 1970 season. The accent must have done it. The variety show "Hee Haw" also fell victim to the CBS cancellations but flourished in syndication for decades to come.