Last night, the movie being shown on TV was “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle”. I don’t know if you’ve seen this movie or not but if you liked it, you might want to move on to another site because I’m about to trash the hell out of it…
Let me start by saying I didn’t watch it last night because I’d already seen it. I know why I watched it before because I didn’t like the first one. The first one was really bad, but at least you had that one scene where Cameron Diaz dances around in her Spiderman underwear to the tune of Tavarez’ “Heaven (Must be Missing an Angel)”, one of my all time favorite songs. That one scene saved an otherwise dismal movie. But if the first one was bad, the second was embarrassingly bad. It was an affront to the Charlie’s Angels classic TV show that I loved so much as a kid. Farrah Fawcett would be rolling over in her grave (if she were dead that is…) if she saw what a mockery they’ve made of some of her best work. Thank God none of the original Angels did a cheesy cameo. That would have been the coup de grace.
So that got me thinking about 70’s TV shows in general. We didn’t have cable back then, so there were really only a handful of popular shows. I was born in 1971 so I only remember the latter half of the 70’s. And of course, many of the shows I watched were because my mother watched them. Here’s a short list of most of the 70’s shows that I watched frequently growing up:
Dallas – My mom was addicted to this show and since it was on Friday nights, she usually let us stay up late and watch it with her. By the way, Kristen Shepard shot J.R. in case you were wondering.
Alice – Another of mom’s shows. "Kiss my grits!"
Eight is Enough – I loved this one. I had a slight crush on Elizabeth.
Chips – What adolescent boy didn’t watch this show? Ponch and Jon had game.
Happy Days – This one goes without saying. The Fonz was probably the most popular TV character in the 70’s. Fabumundo. Admit it - you once tried to turn on a jukebox by punching it. Aayyyyyyyy…
Laverne and Shirley – Another of mom’s favorites.
The Six Million Dollar Man – “We can rebuild him. We have the technology”.
Mork and Mindy – I remember my dad used to watch this show with us and say how stupid it was. But I also remember that he used to laugh quite a bit at it.
The Love Boat – Another mom favorite. The theme song still makes me happy every time I hear it. “Love…exciting and new…”
The Jeffersons – This and “Good Times” were my first introduction to Black culture.
Little House on the Prairie – Now you just KNOW this was one of mom’s favorites.
Taxi – We would only get to watch this one in the summer because it came on late.
Three’s Company – Same with this one. Summer only. It was pretty racy for the 70’s.
Oddly enough, I never watched one of my all time favorite shows of the 70’s until it came on reruns in the 80’s; “WKRP in Cincinnati”. There sure was some good TV in the 70’s now that I think about it…
Rik
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7 comments:
Ah, the 70s...who can forget the greatest decade of all? Just the thought of the 70s gives me so much fond and happy memories. It was the time when everybody had a happy look on their faces, everybody gets to know the latest dance craze, the latest fashion hip, even the latest slang word. And would forget those nights when I would sneak out of the house to meet my friends to attend a dance party? It was the time when I would always hear the word "Stay-in" when attendees would hang around the joint until the early morning only to get whacked (ouch!) by the parents as soon as they reach the doorstep. It was also pretty tough when you have very conservative and traditional parents as it is inevitable to make excuses and lie a lot to them just to succumb to peer pressure and be "in". But I tell you, IT'S ALL WORTH IT! I have a website link where you can find anything and everything about the 70's(worth checking 50's,60's,80's and 90's as well) - http://www.teacheroz.com/retro.htm
I love visiting this site because it's like travelling back in time. Yipeee...!
SUANNIE - While I'll agree that the 70's did indeed rock, I'd vote for the 80's as my favorite decade. But I certainly do have a lot of fond memories from the 70's. TV shows are definitely near the top of the list. I should probably do another 70's TV shows entry about the kids shows I used to watch. Yes, I think I shall...
Rik
Don't forget some of the other classic shows - All in the Family (Meathead!) Bob Newhart, the Brady Bunch (what girl didn't have a crush on Greg!), the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Sanford and Son and Welcome Back Kotter (Vinnie Barbarino and the rest of the sweat hogs!).
One of my favorite WKRP episodes was #77:
Mama Carlson hires a professional radio consultant to evaluate WKRP. The man she's hired, Norris Breeze, is an old friend of Andy's who also runs a radio programming service. Andy soon realizes that Breeze intends to give the station a bad report unless it subscribes to the service.
This is the episode in which everyone acts just the opposite of their true personality. Herb becomes a workaholic; Jennifer becomes a bubblehead; etc. I have it on tape!
Tara - I was waiting for someone to make a comment listing a bunch of other shows. Congrats, you're the first! There's always one...
Kitty - The funniest one was the one where Herb got pink paint on his daughter's frog. My God did I laugh! When are they releasing the series on DVD? Every other freaking show is already out.
DL - No, those are 80's shows. I'll do an entry on 80's show later on.
Rik
Rik,
I am 1 year older than ya!
My favorites are the following, Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman, Charlies Angels, Love Boat, Voltes V, Mazinger Z, Moby Dick
On the EU side (british TV shows), I like Fawlty Towers, Mr. Bean, and Alo Alo.
My parents were crazy with:
Hawaii Five-O, Starsk & Hutch, Chips, Donny & Marie Osmond show and Saturday Night Fever
DP - I used to love Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter in that outfit was my boyhood fantasy. -Shiver- Later on she started doing cheesy contact lense commercials, but I'l lalways remember her in that outfit. -Shiver-
And how could I have forgotten the Donnie and Marie Show? Another one of my mom's favorites. I even remember a few of the skits. And Donny with his purple socks. Thanks mom, you've scarred me for life...
Rik
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