1960s
Sock it to me: Flash back to Laugh In, the wacky TV show that made a star of Goldie Hawn
“Laugh-In” got people talking about television again. Its rapid-fire gags, many of them dreadful, were repeated by millions every Tuesday morning.
“Laugh-In” got people talking about television again. Its rapid-fire gags, many of them dreadful, were repeated by millions every Tuesday morning.
For six years, the NBC series St Elsewhere literally set the standard for network programming, offering a consistently high level of realistic writing, ensemble acting, narrative experimentation and outrageous humor.
Young Jason Bateman’s life sounds like an 18-year-old’s dream an apartment in Brentwood, a Jeep Cherokee, and a private dressing room with a color TV.
In a spangled vest and elbow-length gloves, black bikini, black opera hose and steep ankle-strap wedgies, Tim Curry as Dr Frank N Furter, makes his grand entrance in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, an outrageous camp musical based on the stage hit.
The show’s unorthodox theme: A family of youngsters ages 5-17 makes the big-time in rock ‘n’ roll, and, led by their mother — in real life, series star David Cassidy’s stepmother — Shirley Jones, tour club dates as the Partridge Family aboard a psychedelic bus.
Forever Krystle & Carrington were his and hers fragrances created to capitalize on the popularity of the TV show Dynasty.
NBC TV’s midseason situation comedy series, ‘Sanford and Son,’ about an aging black Los Angeles junk dealer, appears to be an instant, impressive hit.
Laverne & Shirley ran on ABC from January 27, 1976 to May 10, 1983. The comedy starred Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio, Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, as well as Michael McKean and David L Lander as Lenny & Squiggy.
Find out about the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, get some behind-the-scenes from the actual jewelry store, and hear from Audrey Hepburn herself in this collection of articles from the 1960s.
Anyone who remembers Frankenstein and his monster might think the actors’ favorite recipe would have wolfbane and batwings, but no. Here’s Boris Karloff’s guacamole recipe.
You can create new fashions from old clothing! Here, see how a moth-eaten bathrobe and skirt, an outgrown blouse, knee-worn slacks were converted into sparkling new accessories.
Revisit the picture-perfect view of the ’50s with the Cleaver family, and their oh-so-retro daily ups and downs on the classic TV show, ‘Leave it to Beaver.’ You’ll also find out how Alfred Hitchcock was involved with this success story!
Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid,’ based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, is a movie with the richest colors, the brightest melodies, and the most vivid illustrations.
“I Love Lucy,” a domestic comedy TV series, reduces the role of husband to roughly that of the male spider, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, at the end of the season, Miss Ball ate him.
Silent movies were not part of a primitive style of filmmaking, but an alternate form of storytelling – with artistic triumphs equivalent to or greater than those of the sound films that followed.
If you haven’t heard of ‘Rocky’ or Sylvester Stallone, welcome back from Mars – about the only place where you could not see or hear about this movie about a boxer, and the rags-to-riches story of the guy who wrote it.
Mickey Rooney, an actor at the age of 11 months, veteran trooper at 10, and screen star at 16, writes his autobiography.
You liked the side action upstairs in the bedroom during the wedding from the book The Godfather? In the movie, you got it. Liked the horse-head bit? You got it. The restaurant caper with the crooked police captain? You got it, you got it.
‘Family Ties’ has the most enviable time slot in network TV, following ‘The Cosby Show.’ But the four-year-old sitcom has managed to create its own following, and now clocks in at #2.
For two years, Tom Hanks pounded the streets of the city searching for a job. Then he was flown to LA, screen tested, and finally selected for the role of Kip Wilson in ‘Bosom Buddies.’ And so a star was born.
There’s a lot of magic and humor practiced in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Written and directed by John Hughes, this energetic and offbeat comedy captures the best feelings about being young.
Michael Landon’s ‘Big House in Beverly Hills’ is a far cry from the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ featured in his hit TV series.
In this sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati was a struggling radio station. Then someone new turns the station into a top-40 rock music outlet, and things get interesting.
‘Superman’ star Reeve paralyzed in fall from horse Charlottesville, Va — Actor Christopher Reeve, star of “Superman” movies, was paralyzed and breathing with the help
Gary Coleman stars as Arnold, a street-wise youth from Harlem, who is adopted by a white millionaire and becomes confused and suspicious about his sudden change of fortune on the comedy series, Diff’rent Strokes.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the 1985 TV season is the success of ABC’s “Growing Pains,” a family sitcom starring former talk-show host Alan Thicke as psychiatrist Jason Seaver.
Bob Crane, a breezy, articulate ex-drummer and recent disc jockey-turned-actor, stars in Hogan’s Heroes, a CBS comedy series which has Col. Hogan (Crane) as the leader of Allied prisoners in a German POW camp in World War II.
Panic followed an Orson Welles radio broadcast of the book ‘War of the Worlds’, during which armies and navies were wiped out right and left and the real radio audience was frightened as the actors pretended to be.
It is useless to deny that motion picture stars have been getting the best of it (as to immunity from draft). Some have been given special deferments and choice assignments and have been allowed extra months to finish pictures before having to report for active duty.
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father was a TV sitcom about a widower and his son, Eddie that debuted in 1969. The memorable theme song was by Harry Nilsson.
The television sitcom Cheers ran on NBC from September 30, 1982 until May 20, 1993 — that’s 11 seasons, and a total of 275 half-hour episodes. Here, see the Cheers theme song from the opening credits, plus the song lyrics, along with a little look back to 1993, at the end of the show’s run.
Airplane! uses disaster movie conventions as platforms to interject humor at every turn. Like a streamlined club act, it’s all over before the welcome gets worn. Stars Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Julie Hagerty, Robert Hayes. Also: See the Airplane movie trailer!
“Green Acres” debuts on CBS (1965) Eddie Albert, eager actor who says he never turns down any role, will star in his first television comedy
In her first special, “Diana!” on ABC. Sunday. April 18th, Diana Ross displays not only her exciting singing talent, but a flair for comedy and impersonation. And in her choice of guest stars — Danny Thomas, Bill Cosby and the Jackson Five — she demonstrates sound judgment as well,
Bewitched ‘is for viewers who want to have the fun of losing themselves in fantasy. Our witches, Samantha and Endora, are believable. The audience can identify with them. They are treated as much as possible as humans with special gifts.’
Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow grew up in somewhat of a fairytale world on television’s ‘Leave It to Beaver.’ 20 years later, in 1977, both actors talked about what it was like to be childhood stars who had to grow up and cope with the adult world.
James Garner and producer-creator Roy Huggins are having another try at a wry, tongue-in-cheek series, ‘The Rockford Files.’ Jim Rockford is a modern-day private eye, money-hungry, and a man who gets heroic only if he’s forced into it.
Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, with their progeny David and Rick, are synonymous with the American family image both on and off television. The Nelson boys are perhaps the only people who have literally grown up before the eyes of millions of weekly viewers.
Safety Last! was one of the best-known movies of the silent film era, and gave us the iconic image of Harold Lloyd, dangling off a huge clock.
Catchphrases have a way of enlivening our lives. Catchphrases become code words for some not-so-secret organization of people whom the catch-phrases have hooked.
Do you remember these classic TV catchphrases of the ’60s — and are there any that you still find yourself saying sometimes?
Do you remember these totally awesome TV catchphrases of the ’80s? Which of these lines from the eighties do you still find yourself saying every now and then?
What do you get when you mix equal parts Mel Brooks and James Bond? Get Smart – one of the most hilarious spoofs on spies and private eyes ever to be presented on television or in any other medium. (Also see the memorable opening credits!)
Andy Griffith, who stars as a slow-talking, story-telling jack-of-all-trades with a sly Southern sense of humor in the new ‘Andy Griffith Show,’ is very much like the character he plays. The only difference is that Griffith is famous.
Ronnie Howard, the red-haired moppet of “The Andy Griffith Show,” is that rare child actor without guile and a Hollywood head.
A 20-year-old newcomer to show business and a 40-year veteran made it to the top of the ratings charts recently as NBC’s “Chico and the Man” took the No. 1 spot.
The life of young Elvis Presley Excerpted from an article by Tina McElroy, The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) August 27, 1977 In 1933, a 13-dollar-a-week
In the cautious movie business where everyone is looking for sure-fire hits, “Grease” is one of the surest. lt cashes in on two fads — nostalgia and John Travolta.
Shaun Cassidy has a show-business tradition to follow. His mother is Shirley Jones, an Oscar-winning actress-singer, and his father is the late Jack Cassidy, star of Broadway musicals and TV performer. And his brother is David Cassidy.
‘The Sound of Music,’ thanks to superior handling and affectionate care, has made the tricky transition from stage to screen with all its virtues intact. If anything, there is an extra glow of magic to this operetta in its movie offspring.
Who were the top TV stars of 1979? America’s teens had favorite television programs and favorite stars, but those two categories had surprisingly little to do with each other, according to a national survey.
What were the top movies of 1970? Here’s a list of the top ten films released in 1970, ranked by their box office gross earnings in North America. Below this list, you will also find the Academy Award nominees and the year’s Oscar winners.
Women: Do you have the ideal figure? Here’s what ‘they’ thought in 1950 
About the classic Kojak TV show & opening credits: Who loves ya, baby? (1970s) 
Flapper slang dictionary: 120 words to help you talk like they did back in the ’20s 
45 most popular vintage perfumes from the ’80s 
The famous Bacardi rum cake recipe Want to remember to remember? Our weekly newsletter shows you the latest vintage, old-fashioned & historic stuff that we have published or refreshed during the past seven days. Sign up here.
ClickAmericana.com is made with ★ and ♥ by Synchronista LLC | © 2011-2021
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.
Don’t miss out on the latest and greatest vintage stuff!
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.
