Three Anniversaries in TV History Coming Up!

[RALfan]

40 years ago at 9:30 EST on January 12, a nervous CBS network aired a daring new midseason sitcom entry which, according to the opening disclaimer, sought "to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices and concerns." All in the Family would go on to be one of the most influential programs in television history.

Ten years later on the same day, ABC introduced the mammoth 3-hour debut of a new prime-time soap from Aaron Spelling with a lot of fanfare but not a large audience. By the fall, the program that was originally set to be titled Oil started to see its audience grow; it too became one of the most popular programs of the 1980s - Dynasty.

Three days later, NBC introduced, to the same tune of low ratings but a lot of critical acclaim, a gritty police drama from MTM which was co-created by an unknown producer with the last name of Bochco. Hill Street Blues would go on to win eight Emmys and a Peabody award and gain a devoted following enough to make it one of the small stepping stones to the Peacock network 1980s Nielsen comeback.

The latter two were debuting around the time that the hostages were freed and the Reagan era in America was beginning.

Any thoughts?

 

[FreddyE1977]

yeah, what idiot passed these shows over in favor of whatever they put on the fall schedule
that obviously failed and allowed these spots to open up?

 

[landtuna]

All In The Family was influential because it successfully broke the mold of the "happy 1950's" comedies that were then in vogue and perhaps also because it introduced a grumpy bigot as a central character. It wore thin very quickly - at least in my house.

 

[Limp73]

I still consider this series relavent in certain ways. At a time when Joe Pyne was still alive with his ranting and talking down to his guests on TV (with a condensed version for radio) it wouldn't surprise me today with today's right wing ranters banging their own drum on the airwaves there still may be a few Bunker types out there today.

BTW...(reolitical vitriol in light of Tucson massacre)
When I hear people like Pailin say something along the lines of "...don't retreat.....instead,reload" that creeps me out big time!

Prejudice is not inherited....it is taught.

 

[radiorob2.0]

40 years ago at 9:30 EST on January 12, a nervous CBS network aired a daring new midseason sitcom entry which, according to the opening disclaimer, sought "to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices and concerns." All in the Family would go on to be one of the most influential programs in television history.

Any thoughts?

I can't find the actual video but here was the script of a disclaimer airing before the first few episodes....

"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."

 

[cklw800]

All In The Family a very cool show. I caught it about the third season on, but saw afternoon reruns in college. In our campus center black and white students packed the TV room and watched it. In the episodes we watched, absolutely everyone watching took a shot, and whoever took the shot in that episode fired back. The two Irish people and Jewish people were the frequent targets. Jewish and Irish classmates were laughing along. So were black students who laughed with us (and made up half the audience in the room) even when they took a shot in the show. Whites got shots too. We all left the room totally entertained, especially after episodes with Archie and George the black next door neighbor going head to head. With the current racial climate in the country I yearn to have the fun of those shows back. I think the anniversary of this great show will probably go by with only a whisper because of what's happening today, but I will be looking for it. There were two bigots, one black, one white and they made their idiotic points in a very entertaining non-hurtful way. You never felt bad unless you were extremely sensitive and couldn't take any kind of criticism. Both bigots often got a lesson learned at the end of the show. The show wasn't the answer to the problem of race, but they sure brought a lot of people together for more fruitful dialogue about it.

 

[WPPCProductions]

Wow.reading this really makes me feal old.I like all these shows.Today if All in the Family premiered.I can see Archie calling Edith some of the 7 bad words that can be said on tv instead of dingbat.that era was good ole tv.Now with hightech dtv we got crap programming to waste time to watch.

 

[firepoint525]

BTW...(reolitical vitriol in light of Tucson massacre)
When I hear people like Pailin say something along the lines of "...don't retreat.....instead,reload" that creeps me out big time!

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/01/palin_and_tea_party_rhetoric_w.php

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/01/jared_loughner_alleged_shooter.php

 

[radiorob2.0]

Three days later, NBC introduced, to the same tune of low ratings but a lot of critical acclaim, a gritty police drama from MTM which was co-created by an unknown producer with the last name of Bochco. Hill Street Blues would go on to win eight Emmys and a Peabody award and gain a devoted following enough to make it one of the small stepping stones to the Peacock network 1980s Nielsen comeback.

Hill Street was to cop shows what All In The Family was to situation comedy, each changed the paradigm.

 

[firepoint525]

BTW...(reolitical vitriol in light of Tucson massacre)
When I hear people like Pailin say something along the lines of "...don't retreat.....instead,reload" that creeps me out big time!

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/06/14/obama-if-they-bring-a-knife-to-the-fight-we-bring-a-gun/tab/article/

 

[mleach]

Ten years later on the same day, ABC introduced the mammoth 3-hour debut of a new prime-time soap from Aaron Spelling with a lot of fanfare but not a large audience. By the fall, the program that was originally set to be titled Oil started to see its audience grow; it too became one of the most popular programs of the 1980s - Dynasty.

Any thoughts?

Funny thing about Dynasty...the show of course was set in Denver and the Denver of today isn't like the Denver back in the day of Dynasty. For starters..the great oil bust of the late 80s which put Denver ( and most of Colorado ) into a severe recession so it comes as no surprise that for a good many of people who lived in Denver at the time and lost a lot, Dynasty does leave a bitter after taste in their mouths.

Also the opening of Dynasty that shows downtown Denver..watching it today is like watching a whole different city. Denver doesn't look like that now.

 

[BRNout]

BTW...(reolitical vitriol in light of Tucson massacre)
When I hear people like Pailin say something along the lines of "...don't retreat.....instead,reload" that creeps me out big time!

Prejudice is not inherited....it is taught.

That comment has nothing to with Tucson and even less to do with prejudice. Palin was referring to fighting for your point of view and never giving up. Somewhat like our president's comment during the 2008 campaign when he referred to bringing a gun to a knife fight (paraphrasing, of course). Neither comment was dangerous, nor were they offensive. They're called (follow me closely now).....metaphors.

The only people who can't grasp that are either those who wish to use any excuse to shamelessly tear down their political enemies and those who are too stupid to tell the difference.

 

[LKellerIII]

BTW...(reolitical vitriol in light of Tucson massacre)
When I hear people like Pailin say something along the lines of "...don't retreat.....instead,reload" that creeps me out big time!

Prejudice is not inherited....it is taught.

That comment has nothing to with Tucson and even less to do with prejudice. Palin was referring to fighting for your point of view and never giving up. Somewhat like our president's comment during the 2008 campaign when he referred to bringing a gun to a knife fight (paraphrasing, of course). Neither comment was dangerous, nor were they offensive. They're called (follow me closely now).....metaphors.

The only people who can't grasp that are either those who wish to use any excuse to shamelessly tear down their political enemies and those who are too stupid to tell the difference.

As much as I hate to agree with you BRNout ( ;D), I do. Even Jon Stewart said last night in his opening segment that he'd love to be able to draw a straight line between today's overheated political rhetoric and the violence in Tucson - but it just wasn't right to do so.

Was the shooter in Tucson encouraged by right-wing rhetoric? Sure - it's possible. Wasn't Son of Sam "encouraged" by a barking dog that lived next door? I recall a case in the 70s: a mentally ill man had copied an episode of Kojak, and murdered somebody. The victim's family sued the producers of the show (and CBS probably - can't remember). The suit was thrown out of court.

If we eliminated all free speech and dramatic fiction that might enourage crazies, we'd have no freedoms left, and disturbed people would find encouragement from some other source.

Unfortunately, there's probably no way to stop mentally ill and violent people from comitting these acts, other than trying to identify them ahead of time, and treating their illness in a locked-down environment.

 

[cklw800]

Looks like my fear for All In The Family was realized, seeing the posts that followed. Glad to have had Archie and George while when had them. Happy anniversay January 12. "Those were the days".

 

[bpatrick]

"All In The Family" and "Hill Street Blues" were groundbreakers;
AITF because it was willing to deal with the real world in a sitcom
environment, one that had been dominated by hillbillies, witches,
and genies for years; "Hill Street" because it got away from the
Jack Webb/Quinn Martin school and showed you what the cops
did after hours, too (think back to Frank Furillo and Joyce Davenport).

"Dynasty" didn't really explode until Joan Collins appeared as Alexis;
remember her fights with Linda Evans? By about 1983 it was neck-and-
neck with "Dallas" (becoming number one in 1984-85) before "The Cosby Show"
transformed the whole nature of primetime for the second half of the '80s.

BTW, there's another anniversary tomorrow: the premiere of "Batman" in 1966.
OK, maybe it's not in the same league with the shows we're talking about but
it was a fad (if short-lived), and I think it gets funnier the older I get. Unfortunately,
there are no plans to rerun its sister show, "The Green Hornet" (both were produced
by William Dozier), with the movie coming out. For those who aren't aware, "Hornet"
was "Batman" done straight, the way Dozier might have done "Batman" if he hadn't
bought a stack of Batman comic books to familiarize himself with the characters, then
decided there was no way to do it straight. That would have to wait some 25 years
on the big screen.

 

[azumanga]

I can't find the actual video but here was the script of a disclaimer airing before the first few episodes....

"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."

At least on the first episode, this would be followed by the sound of a toilet flushing.

 

[bpatrick]

I have to make a correction since I found out about it
only about an hour ago: The SyFy Channel has been
running a "Green Hornet" marathon today and it runs until
(I believe) 11 PM (ET) (may be 10). If you get a chance,
check out at least one episode just to see Bruce Lee, and
to see how "Batman" might have been done (although it
might not have become the hit it was).