SEVENTIES SITCOMS: 1977-1978. THE RAUNCH REVOLUTION AND THE FIRST SHARK JUMP

[TMC]

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The 1977 fall season could be considered "the beginning of the end" in regards to the quality sitcom programming of the era. But it depends on how one defines "quality." If you define it by a respect for the viewing public, you will bemoan the previous loss of the Mary Richards, the impending demise of "Bob Newhart Show," relish in the ratings resurgence of "Barney Miller," or feel redeemed by the resurrection of James L. Brooks into the three camera sitcom world the next season ("Taxi"), you may be lacking with a glimpse of hope for the future. If you define "quality" by prurient content, sappy resolutions, pandering catchphrases and audience-pleasing contrivances then you will be satiated by the immediate popularity of "Three's Company," the comfortable safety of Gary Marshall's 50's world, and the fading repetitive topicality in the Norman Lear universe and thusly witness the pinnacle of prime-time network comedy achievement. And then there's "Soap."

THE SILVERMAN SPOON

A history of seventies sitcoms is a history of Fred Silverman. As a programmer for daytime TV for CBS in the late sixties, Silverman championed the "superhero/mystery solver/breakfast cereal" tropes of Saturday morning kid's TV. After being promoted to programming chief in 1970, he proceeded to "cut down the trees," cancelling many old rural favorites and replacing them with sophisticated and daring urban fare. As we saw at the beginning of this blog series, that resulted in the MTM and Lear blockbusters. He also pioneered the concept of "spin-offs," creating even more ratings gold for CBS. For example, "Good Times" was a twice removed spin off of "All in the Family" and it knocked Marshall's sweet, nostalgic homage "Happy Days" off the ratings map in it's second season. So when he moved to ABC in 1975 (a move covered mightily by the press), not only did he bring "Scooby Doo" with him, he changed the dynamic (again) to focus on sensationalism, reliability and star power. It is unfair to focus on the "T and A" aspect of Silverman's strategy: he was responsible for the mini-series format--namely "Roots"--and for trying to launch a new vehicle for critical darling Nancy Walker. But when he made the bra-less Farrah Fawcett a worldwide poster child for, well, posters, he found his new strength: youth, excitement, and sex. And with a safely-neutered (figuratively speaking of course) street punk being highlighted along with a manic studio audience, "Happy Days" retook the Tuesday night crown from the pseudo-reality of ghetto life in "Good Times."

SHAKE AND AWE: THE NEW TWIN PEAKS OF ABC COMEDY.

By 1977, Silverman had cemented the Fonz, Laverne and Shirley and Vinnie Barbarino in pop culture iconography. In doing so, he wrapped up the family/youth market leaving only JJ and the Cooper girls for CBS's teen fandom. But in 1976, producer Aaron Spelling brought Fawcett and "Charlie's Angels" to ABC, altering the tastes of discerning viewers and pre-teen males (like myself). It wasn't good enough to be on the cover of TV Guide. The stars of the new programs must also grace the front of "Time," "Teen Beat," and "Playboy."



Don Nicholl, Bernie West and Michael Ross Americanized the saucy British sitcom "Man About the House" much as Norman Lear had done with "Til Death Do Us Part": "All in the Family" which the three writers had worked on previously to conceiving "Three's Company."



Unlike Lear's offerings, one will never find a dramatic moment or pregnant pause in the antics of Jack, Crissy and Janet. The "nervous breakdown" of the decade was taking hold: Vietnam and Watergate were fading from the headlines; civil rights studies were moving off the book shelves to make way for in-depth studies of the "me" generation and the resulting disco craze. And five years earlier, "Deep Throat" broke box-office records and ushered in the middle-class fascination for pornography. This new lifestyle phenomenon, part of the swinger culture, ushered in "porno chic." "Normal" citizens were now experimenting with mind-opening drugs, pot being the least controversial. Soon in 1978 "Debbie Does Dallas" would create more buzz for this new liberated art form. "Three's Company," with no nudity, no overt sex and no pulsing techno soundtrack gave audiences a safe outlet for their opening libidos and pharmaceutical experimentation through innuendo and Suzanne Somer's bouncing assets and tight shorts. Has anyone examined the subtle hints through the characters names? John Ritter as Jack "Tripper." Somers as Chrissy "Snow" (a missed opportunity for an excellent porn star name). Joyce Dewitt as Janet "Wood." And to make the show more relatable to the poor schlubs at home--after all, who gets to live in a swinging Santa Monica apartment complex during the era of free love?--the landlords, Mr. and Mrs. Roper (Norman Fell and
Audra Lindlay) are a sexually frustrated wife with her "non-interested" husband. And in order for the extremely heterosexual Jack to co-habitate with sensible Janet and ditzy but hot Crissy, he has to convince the Ropers that he is gay. A modern parlour comedy. Allowing audiences to feel as they are watching "adult" material even though the sophistication and intellectual stimulation was, well, lacking.

I can remember the controversy this season when the "surging" ratings (sorry) allowed "Three's Company" to be paired with a new show that was being condemned by pretty much every special interest group, especially the Moral Majority. When a sitcom is criticized by both gays and Catholics you know you've reached the mother lode of satire. Writer Susan Harris ("All in the Family") teamed up with Tony Thomas and Paul Junger-Witt (her husband) to create "Soap." Although their previous collaboration, "Fay," was controversial in it's own right, it failed to capture any attention in 1975. But that wasn't the case with "Soap." The take-off on soap operas, what with the multiple story lines dealing with mostly sex and murder, outdid Lear's "Mary Hartman" in terms of public outrage and private outrageousness. And it was a hell of lot funnier. Actually, it was pretty much the funniest show on TV at the time. And that was it's saving grace. So after the "adult content" warnings (one of the few since "All in the Family" did it six years earlier) and the local ABC affiliate's relocation to the 9:30 (C) time-slot right before the nightly news (if not outright refusal to air) and the protests about inaccurate portrayals of homosexuality and offensive portraits of Catholic priests, the show settled into it's audience to become an extremely well-acted, well-written comedy appointment. All four seasons saw a continuing serial format with the announcer reviewing the previous week's events and commenting on next week: "What will happen to...?" "Well, find out on next week's episode of ..."Soap!"

A comedy goldmine: Two sisters--Jessica Tate (Katherine Hellmond) and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon). The Tates: philandering husband Chester (soap vet Robert Mandan), daughters Corinne (Diana Canova--offspring of Judy) and Eunice (Jennifer Salt--offspring of Waldo), son Billy (Jimmy Baio) and sardonic butler Benson (Robert Guillame). The Campbells: insane husband Bert (Richard Mulligan), mobbed-up son (Ted Wass), ventriloquist step-son with extremely sarcastic dummy (Jay Johnson) and, in his first major television role, Billy Crystal as gay son Jody.

[ClarenceAlabama]

Fred Silverman produced a Three's Company clone in 1983 for NBC. It was called "We Got it Made" and it was 2 guys living with a girl. I thought it was funny, but it only lasted 2 seasons. Here is the 1st episode...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJjavCkjyAg