It's not just my foggy memory on the subject -- I was watching some old 1970s TV shows and they were really really corny.
The 1960s were campy --
The 1980s were fun but sort of shallow & materialistic --
The 1970s were corny.
Case in point: this Paul Lynde Halloween Special from 1976. My God, where to begin? This show makes the Star Wars Christmas special seem like The Sopranos.
Lynde as The Rhinestone Trucker?
Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf?
Florence Henderson singing a disco cover of "That Old Black Magic?"
Pinky Tuscadero from "Happy Days" as the love interest?
This wasn't just children's entertainment -- this was the sort of stuff that was made for viewers of all ages in the 1970s. And variety shows were the absolute worst. Even a lot of the children's animation was treacle.
Only two really cool things about the Paul Lynde Halloween Special:
1) KISS performs!
2) I'm sort of on a Paul Lynde kick. This dude was fascinating.
But the 1970s still sort of sucked on TV.
Don't forget that The Muppet Show was from the 70's. And so was All in the Family. And Good Times. And M.A.S.H. And The Incredible Hulk. And Saturday Night Live had its greatest ever cast (the first one).
ReplyDeleteThere were also tons of corny greats, like BJ & the Bear, Columbo, and the greatest of all...Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
You wanted the best and you got the best, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD! KISS!
ReplyDeleteAw... don't be too hard on the '70s.
ReplyDeleteWe also got Wonder Woman and the 6-Million Dollar Man on TV during that time.
Well, we also got the Donny & Marie Show so yeah.. you're right. It was pretty corny back then.
I thought Paul Lynde was the great. I loved him as Uncle Arthur on "Bewitched" when I was just a little tyke.
But this show? Yeesh! That's still frightening today.
Sadly, Paul Lynde doensn't get nearly as much love as he should these days. On special occasions I pull out my Paul Lynde impression just to make everyone else in the room uncomfortable.
ReplyDeletePaul Lynde is my favorite human:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKsGu1dxKcE
--KC
Ah... I was born in 1969, so the 70s, well, perfect for young boy. "Holmes & YoYo" "The Invisible Man" "Battlestar Galactica" (Ah...Laurette Sprang...) "ABC Sunday Night Movie" That swirling circle that preceeded the CBS animated specials. "Schoolhouse Rock" "Evil Knieval" (remember those Ideal ads on the back of comicbooks?) And yes... I was a big fan of "Donnie & Marie"...but I was six at the time. (Busted a gut when I read the MAD satire years later!)
ReplyDeleteAlso, probably the greatest variety show of all time was on during the Seventies... Carol Burnett. (Although Tracey Ullman comes close...)
Ah, to relive those days when there were only four channels on TV (NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS)! Where you had to watch, because nobody had a VCR. And TV Guide had great covers, and those wonderful highlights each week, I actually made a small scrapbook.
OH! The best thing ever? The Friday night specials each network showed to premiere their Saturday Morning lineup! (If you thumb through old Marvel Comics, you can find two-page spreads which advertise the Fall shows.) The 70's were the GOLDEN AGE of Saturday Morning! Live action shows like Land of the Lost, Jason of Star Command, Ark II, Monster Squad, the Lost Saucer (with Ruth Buzzi and Jim Nabors!), Shazam, Harlem Globetrotters, The Kroft Supershow! And almost every show had a musical element, like Archie, Fat Albert, Pebbles and Bamm Bamm!
MMMmmm.... media tie-ins, like Partridge Family 2200 AD.
Ah, just go over to TVSquad.com! You yunguns won't believe until you see it! We were sugarbombed boobtubers, and it was GLORIOUS!
hehe they even worked in some CB radio and trucker jokes. Topical!
ReplyDeleteOver here in the UK, '70s television actually won a poll conducted by BBC4 (the BBC's "upmarket" and "intellectual" channel) to find "television's best decade." We may not have gotten that Lynde/KISS special, though.
ReplyDelete"I'm sort of on a Paul Lynde kick."
ReplyDeleteLove some Uncle Arthur. Have you taken a look at the Penelope Pitstop DVD set? The surviving voice cast tell a couple of stories about their sessions with Paul Lynde when he was voicing the Purple Claw.
I'm with you, Torsten. I remember watching and *enjoying* this Paul Lynde special as a kid. I also had the wind up Evel Knievel motorcycle toy. I built some insane ramps and got some serious air with that thing.
ReplyDelete