My Life As A TV Fan [Primetime] Part II
Continuing on to the middle of the Seventies...
Seventy-Four/Seventy-Five was a year heavy on the adaptations, Planet of the Apes, Born Free, Paper Moon, and so on. The best of these, and arguably one of the best drama shows of the whole decade, was Little House On The Prarie, which, while a hit, was very low-key compared to other hits of the era. I personally didn't watch a lot of it till it hit syndication, tho' I did see some when it was new.
I could probably waste a whole post on why I preferred Chico & The Man to The Jeffersons, both of which premiered that year. But I can be much more succinct: Norman Lear's shows BORED me. I got into Chico & The Man when NBC Daytime ran it as a lead-in to the soap operas the following years; Mom was addicted to NBC's soaps and so on time off of school I saw that often.
The Rockford Files also came that year, tho' I didn't start watching that till a few years in, I remember.
1974-'75 Season
*Favorites At-The-Time: Emergency!, Happy Days, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Wonderful World Of Disney
*Eventual Favorites: M*A*S*H, The Rockford Files, Chico & The Man
Seventy-Five/Seventy-Six continued the theme of adaptations to television, which included The Swiss Family Robinson (which broke my habit of following The Wonderful World Of Disney), Rich Man, Poor Man, Ellery Queen, and The Invisible Man.
When Things Were Rotten and The Bionic Woman were my two favorite new shows of that year. We also liked Welcome Back, Kotter--but who didn't? Later on in the season, we got Laverne & Shirley, and perhaps the show that not only set the trend for variety shows for the rest of the decade, but wore out the genre for a generation, Donny & Marie.
1975-'76 Season
*Favorites At-The-Time: Emergency!, Happy Days, The Six Million Dollar Man, When Things Were Rotten, The Bionic Woman, Welcome Back Kotter, Chico & The Man
*Eventual Favorites: M*A*S*H, The Rockford Files
MORE TO COME.
Seventy-Four/Seventy-Five was a year heavy on the adaptations, Planet of the Apes, Born Free, Paper Moon, and so on. The best of these, and arguably one of the best drama shows of the whole decade, was Little House On The Prarie, which, while a hit, was very low-key compared to other hits of the era. I personally didn't watch a lot of it till it hit syndication, tho' I did see some when it was new.
I could probably waste a whole post on why I preferred Chico & The Man to The Jeffersons, both of which premiered that year. But I can be much more succinct: Norman Lear's shows BORED me. I got into Chico & The Man when NBC Daytime ran it as a lead-in to the soap operas the following years; Mom was addicted to NBC's soaps and so on time off of school I saw that often.
The Rockford Files also came that year, tho' I didn't start watching that till a few years in, I remember.
1974-'75 Season
*Favorites At-The-Time: Emergency!, Happy Days, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Wonderful World Of Disney
*Eventual Favorites: M*A*S*H, The Rockford Files, Chico & The Man
Seventy-Five/Seventy-Six continued the theme of adaptations to television, which included The Swiss Family Robinson (which broke my habit of following The Wonderful World Of Disney), Rich Man, Poor Man, Ellery Queen, and The Invisible Man.
When Things Were Rotten and The Bionic Woman were my two favorite new shows of that year. We also liked Welcome Back, Kotter--but who didn't? Later on in the season, we got Laverne & Shirley, and perhaps the show that not only set the trend for variety shows for the rest of the decade, but wore out the genre for a generation, Donny & Marie.
1975-'76 Season
*Favorites At-The-Time: Emergency!, Happy Days, The Six Million Dollar Man, When Things Were Rotten, The Bionic Woman, Welcome Back Kotter, Chico & The Man
*Eventual Favorites: M*A*S*H, The Rockford Files
MORE TO COME.