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Your Top 5 70's sitcoms

seatownmedia

seatownmedia

Just for fun, what are your top 5 sitcoms from the 70's? I will give you my top 10 just for some ideas...

1. All In The Family
2. Mary Tyler Moore
3. M.A.S.H.
4. Bob Newhart Show
5. Maude
6. Happy Days
7. Three's Company
8. Laverne & Shirley
9. The Brady Bunch
10. Sanford & Son

Honorable Mention: Good Times, The Jeffersons, Partridge Family, Taxi (only 2 seasons in 70's), Somewhat honorable mention: One Day At A Time

IMO, All In The Family was both most influential and funniest. MTM also offered both of these elements, plus great writing. MASH was just smart. Bob Newhart was deadpan, but still very funny. Maude was an extension of AITF, but was quirky funny.
 
1. AITF (but none of the spinoffs)
2. 3's Co.
3. Partridge Family (early)
4. Sanford & Son (occasional)
 
1. All in the Family
2. Sanford and Son
3. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
4. The Jeffersons
5. M*A*S*H (only before Alan Alda took over the show as "creative consultant")
 
In my part of the USA in the 70's:

1. Los García
2. Esto No Tiene Nombre
3. JaJaJiJiJoJo con Agrelot
4. Se Alquilan Habitaciones
5. La Pensión de doña Tere
 
All in the Family
Barney Miller (no love?)
Happy Days(it was made in the '70s, after all).
MASH
The Jeffersons (a GREAT show before Norman Lear stepped aside circa 1978, and it became just another sitcom).
The Bob Newhart Show (although I prefer Newhart's 80s show).
 
1. MASH
2. WKRP (I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned this yet.)
3. Taxi
4. Barney Miller
5. The Bob Newhart Show, although I'll agree I like the 80's show even better.
 
No ranking, because I love classic sitcoms so much my top 5 would all be equal in importance to me.

The Bob Newhart Show (bucking the trend, I liked the 70s one better than the 80s one, except for that classic final episode)
M*A*S*H (although I do agree, Alda got too heavy-handed in those later seasons and it suffered)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (although I really thought of it as the Ted Baxter Show)
Barney Miller (wouldn't change a thing about this classic)
The Odd Couple (did anyone ever have on-camera chemistry like Randall and Klugman?)
 
KeithE4 said:
If you want to nitpick, WKRP spent more time on-air in the '80s (2 yrs 3.5 months) than the '70s (1 yr 3.5 months).
Click to expand...

I didn't look up the broadcast dates but also felt WKRP was more an 80's show than 70's. I did watch it though, mostly because of Howard Hesseman (DJ Johnny Fever) being a favorite from his days doing improv down on Broadway in S.F. He was hysterical in person (on stage) and somewhat disappointing on the TV show. That was overcome by my infatuation with Bailey Quarters.
 
KeithE4 said:
If you want to nitpick, WKRP spent more time on-air in the '80s (2 yrs 3.5 months) than the '70s (1 yr 3.5 months).
Click to expand...

I counted it since it started in the 70's. The same applies for Taxi. And for that matter MASH and Barney Miller ran into the 80's, so could they be counted as 80's sitcoms?
 
anotherguy said:
I counted it since it started in the 70's. The same applies for Taxi. And for that matter MASH and Barney Miller ran into the 80's, so could they be counted as 80's sitcoms?
Click to expand...

M*A*S*H ran from 9/17/72 to 2/28/83, and by the time the '80s started, it had degenerated into a political-correctness-fest thanks to Alan Alda. In any case, most episodes originally aired in the '70s.

Barney Miller ran from 1/23/75 to 5/20/82, another one with most of its episodes originally run in the '70s.
 
All In The Family seems fairly common in the top 5, both here and on the internets. So, as a sidebar, your favorite AITF episode?

The two that stand out to me are "The Bunkers And The Swingers", and "Class Reunion", both from season 3.
 
seatownmedia said:
All In The Family seems fairly common in the top 5, both here and on the internets. So, as a sidebar, your favorite AITF episode?

The two that stand out to me are "The Bunkers And The Swingers", and "Class Reunion", both from season 3.
Click to expand...

I'll have to go with the one that guest-starred Sammy Davis Jr. in Season 2.
 
landtuna said:


I didn't look up the broadcast dates but also felt WKRP was more an 80's show than 70's. I did watch it though, mostly because of Howard Hesseman (DJ Johnny Fever) being a favorite from his days doing improv down on Broadway in S.F. He was hysterical in person (on stage) and somewhat disappointing on the TV show. That was overcome by my infatuation with Bailey Quarters.
Click to expand...

Jan Smithers. She's 67 now. (sigh...)
http://i.vimeocdn.com/video/509701838_1280x720.jpg
 
seatownmedia said:
All In The Family seems fairly common in the top 5, both here and on the internets. So, as a sidebar, your favorite AITF episode?

The two that stand out to me are "The Bunkers And The Swingers", and "Class Reunion", both from season 3.
Click to expand...

"All in the Family" is one of my all-time favorite sitcoms, and it's like appointment viewing when I get home from work every evening. One of my favorite episodes was when Archie and Mike were drunk and were locked in the basement of Archie's Place. It was one of those rare moments that we see Archie feeling vulnerable, and he and the Meathead finally come to more of an understanding about each other. I think another favorite of mine was a two-parter in which Edith finds out that Archie cheated on their marriage with a waitress; again, something rare happens...Edith was so furious with him, she kicks him out of the house. Hell, the episodes I enjoy the most now that I think about it are the ones where Edith shows a rare emotion of anger.

The 70s were a bit before my time (I was born in March 1980), but I've watched my share of '70s sitcoms reruns over the years. My other favorites include "The Jeffersons" (before they toned down the humor from the early seasons and became another formulaic sitcom once it crossed into the 80s), "Good Times", "Happy Days" (although my feelings have waned over the years, plus I almost thought the last season was a bit underrated), and "Sanford and Son".
 
As a suggestion to our *ahem* younger members who liked Happy Days - you might want to watch the movie that spawned the TV series, American Graffiti. Keep a sharp eye peeled for several soon-to-be huge stars.
 
ShawnHill1 said:
"All in the Family" is one of my all-time favorite sitcoms, and it's like appointment viewing when I get home from work every evening. One of my favorite episodes was when Archie and Mike were drunk and were locked in the basement of Archie's Place. It was one of those rare moments that we see Archie feeling vulnerable, and he and the Meathead finally come to more of an understanding about each other. I think another favorite of mine was a two-parter in which Edith finds out that Archie cheated on their marriage with a waitress; again, something rare happens...Edith was so furious with him, she kicks him out of the house. Hell, the episodes I enjoy the most now that I think about it are the ones where Edith shows a rare emotion of anger.

The 70s were a bit before my time (I was born in March 1980), but I've watched my share of '70s sitcoms reruns over the years. My other favorites include "The Jeffersons" (before they toned down the humor from the early seasons and became another formulaic sitcom once it crossed into the 80s), "Good Times", "Happy Days" (although my feelings have waned over the years, plus I almost thought the last season was a bit underrated), and "Sanford and Son".
Click to expand...

AITF offered many great moments even into the later years, though I am not entertained as much by the later years, that is just me. To me, it was seeing these great characters evolve into something different that made the series great in the first place. But that is open to debate. I think these later shows have tremendous merit, but they would not, or could not equal the first three seasons. OK, maybe the first four seasons.
 
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