Based on the famous books, The Hardy Boys-Nancy Drew Mysteries TV series debuted in 1977, starring Parker Stevenson & Shaun Cassidy as the brothers Frank & Joe, and Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy.
Bad News Bears, about a drunken ex-pitcher who transforms a bedraggled group of kids into a winning little-league baseball team, won raves for showing kids as real people.
M*A*S*H debuted on TV in 1972, and centered around a team of doctors during the Korean War in the early ’50s. M*A*S*H was a huge success, lasting for 11 seasons, and broke records on its way out.
Larry Hagman has a juicy, lip-smacking role, and he plays it to campy perfection. His J.R. Ewing on Dallas is rotten to the core. If he had a redeeming feature, he’d probably swap it for cash.
Few people thought Bonanza would last long, but the mythical Ponderosa, the larger-than-life inhabitants and the horseback morality plays will glow on tubes around the world for years to come.
Who had one of these ‘My Name Records’ when they were kids? We found a few vintage covers from personalized 45 RPM record singles featuring kids’ television star Captain Kangaroo.
Donna Summer burst onto the disco scene in the 1970s with a bang – her four #1 singles all reached the top chart spot within 13 months of each other – including ‘I Feel Love.’
For 7 seasons, the original Fantasy Island TV show featured Ricardo Montalban as the mysterious Mr Roarke, the overseer of a mystical island where people could live out their fantasies,
Through vintage interviews, meet Theodor Geisel – aka Dr Seuss – the man behind The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, Green Eggs and Ham and many more classic books for children.
There were only 17 episodes made of H. R. Pufnstuf, but the kitschy kiddie TV show earned its cult status through reruns that aired through the ’70s and into the ’80s. Here’s a look back!
Gilligan’s Island was the hit sitcom that ran for a total of 98 episodes over three seasons – from 1964 to 1967. Find out more about the show and sing along to the theme song here!
Each episode of Adam-12 portrayed a day in the life of an LAPD ‘policeman’ as realistically as possible, with officers Malloy and Reed facing the tragic and amusing events of life in a big city.
The first film to exploit the latest disco craze, it stared a hot TV personality, John Travolta, and features a soundtrack overcrowded with highly pluggable Bee Gees songs.
When Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! originally aired in December 1966 no one expected the cartoon to become a part of American pop culture legend.
Eight Is Enough premiered on March 15, 1977, and ran for five seasons before wrapping up in August of 1981. Starring Dick Van Patten, the show focused on Tom Bradford and his eight children.
“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” became an unexpected – and unforgettable – classic. It combines the story of a boy who wins a lifetime supply of chocolate and a colorful musical with intricate sets and wild visual effects.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show stars Mary in the role of Mary Richards, a small-town single girl who moves to the big city and lands a job as associate producer of a news program on a local TV station.
In the ’70s & ’80s, many parents didn’t mind Saturday mornings at home with the kids. One reason was “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” one of the best examples of how television had improved for children.
Many TV critics were surprised that Emergency! was a success. One factor for sure: actors Randy Mantooth and Kevin Tighe, who played paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto, made indelible impressions on viewers.
Let’s look back at the popular sitcom The Facts of Life – meet the actresses, hear that catchy theme song one more time, and get the lyrics for the hit show’s opening credits!
“Star Wars” takes off by Jerry Buck – Abilene Reporter-News (Texas) June 26, 1977 Star Wars is a dazzling galactic swashbuckler, a smashing movie and
Here Come The Brides was an hour-long comedy/Western TV series set in Seattle in the 1870s about a family of loggers in the new West who had to bring in 100 women as potential brides. While the show was set in the past, it impacted the present – like launching Bobby Sherman and David Soul as teen idols.
In 1971, the latest and greatest addition to Walt Disney’s empire of imagination opened: Disney World. See what the theme park originally looked like here!
Back in the ’70s, Broadway couldn’t miss with Annie – especially when starring actress Andrea McArdle, the spunky, talented 13-year-old who played the title role.
The new comedy series is a story of a mountain family who suddenly finds itself with $25 million after oil is found on its property, and then moves to Beverly Hills, California. See the opening credits, hear the theme song, and get the lyrics here!
For nearly 30 years, Captain Kangaroo said good morning to kids across the country. Here, meet Bob Keeshan, the man behind the beloved character!
Disco dancing was characterized by a casual, controlled, rhythmic movement of the whole body, with a pulsing vertical motion through the knees. Try some of the top moves!
Judging by audience response to PBS new children’s show, Zoom may turn into the kind if household word television hasn’t heard since the halcyon days of Uncle Milty.
Find out about the classic TV sitcom Rhoda, and meet the star, Valerie Harper, in two different vintage interviews!
If you took an informal survey, you’d probably be hard-pressed to find anyone between the ages of 25 and 50 who didn’t watch Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood at some point while growing up.
Cheap store-bought vintage Halloween costumes like these were all the rage in the ’70s. But how did the finished product compare to their TV show inspiration? We took a look, and the results were nothing short of scary.
In the early ’70s, Sonny and Cher turned to television, and to everyone’s surprise, became the hit of the 1971 season, paving the way for many other successful musical variety shows on TV.
‘Let’s Make a Deal’ is the most successful audience participation show in television history. It has lasted for more than 10 years on ABC, always at or near the top in daytime ratings.
Between Saturday morning cartoon shows, animated Schoolhouse Rock was on TV from 1973-1985. Here’s a Grammar Rock classic, A Noun Is a Person, Place or Thing!
‘Our computer will write a story starring your child!” said the ads for these personalized vintage ME BOOKS. Some titles included My Friendly Giraffe, My Birthday Land Adventure, My Special Christmas & My Jungle Holiday.
Do you remember these groovy TV catchphrases of the ’70s? Are there any that you still find yourself saying every now and then?
Sid & Marty Krofft didn’t just create TV shows like ‘Land of the Lost’ and ‘HR PufNStuf’ – they also created a fantastical indoor amusement park in Atlanta.
Considering it spawned two revival series, a movie, books and comic books, it’s hard to believe that Battlestar Galactica had such a humble beginning.
Get a blast from the past with this 1978 article about the popular TV sitcom, “What’s Happening!!”, which soared past expectations and entertained millions.
Millions know ‘Say, Say, Oh Playmate’ – also known as ‘Playmate’ – but few today know much about the rhyming song & hand clapping game. Find out more here!
Ask Bea Arthur how she resembles ‘Maude,’ the female chauvinist she plays on TV, and the stately, gray-haired actress lays it on the line – just like Maude.
Vintage View-Master reels offered a trip into another dimension – ‘with stereo color pictures so real, you’ll feel you are actually part of the scene!’
The popular and highly-acclaimed ‘Little House on the Prairie’ TV series was based on the beloved books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, about the pioneer days.
The ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ bottle was magical – from the pretty painted outside to the plush, jeweled interior. Find out about the wizardry that made it work!
Dick Van Dyke has never loved giving interviews or making personal appearances, but we found a few time the talented man talked about his life and career.
Good Times aired from February 1974 through August 1979. Developed by Norman Lear, it was a spin-off of Maude, which was an All in the Family offshoot.
In Disney’s 1975 movie Escape to Witch Mountain, Tia and Tony, siblings with very special powers, try to find out who they are after their foster parents die.
Since 1952, Mad Magazine has poked fun at everything from Superman to Yoda, M*A*S*H to the hippie movement. But the mag has been about more than humor – it’s big business, too.
By the time A Game of Thrones was published, George R R Martin had written millions of words over thousands of hours. Here, see where his long career began.
The Flintstones TV cartoon sitcom ran for 6 seasons in the ’60s. Find out how the story began, plus see the opening credits & the catchy theme song lyrics!
Remember vintage Disney book/record combos you could get through a mail-order club? Each set included a vinyl record with the story so kids could read along.
Check out these vintage Tiger Beat magazines to see who teens were screaming about and obsessing over back in the seventies – decades before there were Kardashians and BTS.
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Note: ClickAmericana.com features authentic historical information, and is not intended to represent current best practices on any topic. Material on this site is provided for education, criticism, commentary, cultural reporting, entertainment, historical reference, and news reporting/analysis.
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