1980s
Moonlighting: Bruce Willis & Cybill Shepherd’s TV comedy/drama was a surprising success
Moonlighting was a hit TV comedy/detective drama in the ’80s, starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd as an unlikely private investigator duo.
Moonlighting was a hit TV comedy/detective drama in the ’80s, starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd as an unlikely private investigator duo.
On the original ’60s version of the ‘Lost in Space’ TV show, somewhere the universe, a family is marooned while on a voyage to colonize a new world.
Set in New York, the popular TV sitcom Taxi brought viewers into the lives of the folks at the Sunshine Cab Company – cabbies until they can get the careers they want.
While television hardly needed another cop series, ‘Starsky and Hutch’ was one of the better reasons to turn on a TV back in the ’70s. Here’s why.
Find out about The Muppet Show, an all-family comedy-musical-variety TV series from the ’70s & ’80s, and see the opening credits and theme song lyrics here!
Happy Days starred Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham and Henry Winkler as Fonzie, and showed life in 1956 – or at least the 1956 some like to believe existed.
The original Hawaii Five-O TV show hit the airwaves in the ’60s, and the Aloha State would never be the same again. Here’s a look back.
The first ‘children’s liberation’ album, ‘Free To Be… You And Me’ – featuring stars like Marlo Thomas, Mel Brooks, Harry Belafonte, Alan Alda, Diana Ross and Shirley Jones – was catchy, upbeat, and like nothing else, and by 1976, had sold half a million copies.
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.
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,
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!
Like most basically nice – and occasionally nutty – youngsters, The Monkees are in the throes of that ‘we-have-opinions-too’ age. What follows is an exclusive interview granted, under rather mad-cap conditions, on the set.
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.
On this 1982 sitcom, the square pegs were Patty Greene (a young Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren Hutchinson (Amy Linker). Patty’s the smart, skinny, nearsighted one; Lauren’s the one with baby fat and braces. The round hole is Weemawee High, which they’ve just entered.
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!
In the popular ’80s sitcom Silver Spoons, a child-like millionaire meets the son he never knew – and that kid (Ricky Schroder) teaches his newfound dad how to be a grown-up.
On the ’80s TV show The Greatest American Hero, an average guy got a suit that gave him superpowers… but then he loses the instruction book. Believe it or not, the show was a hit.
After ‘That Girl’ proved a comedy success for the actress who played the title role, TV executives suggested the series be called ‘The Marlo Thomas Show.’
‘The Cosby Show’ enters millions of American living rooms precisely because it so well mirrors those living rooms. Sure, the Huxtable family is funnier, wealthier and more idealized than most.
The original Gilligan’s Island pilot had three actors who were cut before the series began, and a completely different theme song. Hear it here!
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.
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.
Spooky sitcom stars Fred Gwynne & Yvonne De Carlo talked about their lives & what it was like to film The Munsters TV show in these classic cast interviews!
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.
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!
CHiPS, a light-hearted one-hour action-adventure series, follows the exploits of a pair of young California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers on the busy Los Angeles freeways, and their encounters with the infinite variety of people who drive there.
“All in the Family” was a huge hit TV show that aired on CBS from January 12, 1971 to April 8, 1979, and was number 1 in the Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976. Find out more here!
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.
The Betty White Show was a snappy, well-executed 1970s comedy TV show that was meant to appeal to anyone who likes to laugh at real humor – witty, cerebral humor.
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.
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!
‘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.
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.
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.
Nominated for 7 Oscars, ‘Love Story’ starred Ali MacGraw as Jenny, the romantic-tragic girl, and Ryan O’Neal as the rich college boy who won her heart.
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.
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.
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!)
The Jeffersons is another hit from Norman Lear, and it has made stars out of its leading players — including Sherman Hemsley, who plays George Jefferson.
The Andy Griffith Show ran for eight seasons on CBS between 1960 and 1968 — more than enough time to establish itself as an American icon, generate a spin-off and a sequel series, and introduced the world to Jim Nabors’ singin
Mork & Mindy was a sitcom that ran for 90 episodes, from 1978 until 1982. The ABC series starred a young Robin Williams as alien visitor Mork, and Pam Dawber co-starred as Mindy McConnell.
First appearing on TV in 1975, Welcome Back, Kotter would go on to become one of America’s best-loved sitcoms. Most notably, it starred a young John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino.
“Once upon a time, there were three beautiful girls who went to the police academy, and they were each assigned very hazardous duties. But I
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 | © 2011-2020
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.
