One of my favorite of all the 70s shows actually begin its run in 1965 and ended up in 1974, 264 episodes later, The Dean Martin Variety Show. Dean was his cool, casual self and soon built up a huge following of adoring fans as well as his peers, who longed to be on his show.
The following clip is from a 1970 episode, including Dom DeLuise, who convinces Dean to be his assistant in a knife-throwing routine. Needless to say, ad libs, hilarity and laughter ensue. Please enjoy!
McLean Stevenson - Hello, Larry - 1979
After McLean Stevenson left M*A*S*H he had his own show, which had a nice, but short run. Then he guest starred on several others and had some parts in movies.
In 1979, he got another chance at being the lead in a sitcom. This time it was “Hello, Larry”.
In Hello, Larry, McLean plays the father of two teenage girls and is a talk show host on a Portland, Oregon radio station. This show also had a short run – January 1979 through April 1980.
It wasn’t one of the best 70s shows nor was it one of the funniest. In the clip you are about to see, there are four or five fat jokes in the first couple of minutes, then a fairly long, maudlin stretch where he talks about his divorce with his daughters.
This is just part one (I admit, I watched all three parts!) of the episode, so if you want to watch the entire episode, just wait until this clip’s done and you’ll go to part 2.
70s Shows – Hello, Larry – The Final Papers – 1979
Fantasy Island Opening Theme - 1978
The 70s were packed with all sorts of wild and fantastical shows, mostly dramas and adventures. Among them was an icon of a show – Fantasy Island – with two iconic characters, Mr. Rourke and Tattoo.
The show ran from January 1978 through May 1984. The video you are about to watch is the opening theme song to the 1978 – 1979 season, complete with cheesy, melancholy music and Tattoo’s trademark saying, “The plane! The plane!”
Herve Villeschez, who played Tattoo, and Ricardo Montelban, who starred as Mr. Rourke, are sadly, no longer with us, but their memories remain, especially in clips like this one.
Fantasy Island was a fun and fascinating show with plenty of great guest stars, as you see in the opening credits of this one, Bill Bixby and Peter Lawford. I hope you enjoy this throw back to the late 70s as much as I did!
70s Shows – Fantasy Island – Opening Theme Song – 1978
Pete Duel's Childhood Home - Penfield, NY
One of my favorite 70s shows had a very short run, because of some very unusual circumstances. Alias Smith & Jones was a Western-Comedy starring Peter Duel and Ben Murphy as leaders of a gang.
The pilot, which you are about to see Part 1 of, is one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen and aired on January 5, 1971. It garnered much attention from the fans and the Alias Smith and Jones became and instant fan favorite.
Unfortunately, on New Year’s Eve of 1971, Peter Duel took his own life. The show stayed in production and continued to run through January 13, 1973, but was cancelled due to poor ratings. It never was the same after Pete Duel died.
I hope you enjoy this funny, suspenseful and very well-written clip you are about to see.
70s Shows – Alias Smith and Jones – The Pilot – 1971
The Carol Burnett Show - "No Frills Airline" - 1975
The 1970s featured a slew of great variety shows, and one of the most-beloved of all was The Carol Burnett Show, which actually debuted in 1967 but enjoyed great popularity and success all the way through to the final episode in 1978.
The skit you are about to watch premiered on September 20, 1975 and is entitled No Frills Airline. Tim Conway and Harvey Korman are passengers on an airplane, with Conway sitting just one seat behind Korman, the first row of the no-frills section.
Carol Burnett plays the stewardess who… well, it’s just best if you watch for yourself!
70s Shows – The Carol Burnett Show – No Frills Airline – 1975
The Six Million Dollar Man vs. Bigfoot!
The Six Million Dollar Man was a show I didn’t watch religiously when it originally aired, but I probably saw about half of the episodes.
The clip you are about to see is when Steve Austin, perfectly played by Lee Majors, is forced to fight Bigfoot. He tries to reason with him, but Old Biggy Boy doesn’t want a Six Million Dollar Chit Chat!
A couple of minutes into the “fight”, Bigfoot jumps off a small cliff and, when he lands, you can see his costume ruffle! Good times. No, Six Million Dollar Man! Boy, you just can’t make a mistake when you’re talking about 70s shows!
The Six Million Dollar Man vs. Bigfoot
Fat Albert Halloween Special - 1977
Hey, hey, hey! How could I possibly begin a post about one of the most-iconic cartoon characters of the 70s – Fat Albert any other way?!
Bill Cosby flourished in the 70s with his stand-up comedy going gangbusters and his sitcoms and movies doing equally as well, but one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons was Fat Albert!
The clip you are about to watch is Part One of the Halloween special from 1977. You can only imagine what kind of trouble Albert and his pals are going to get into!
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Halloween Special – 1977
The Hot l Baltimore - 1975
Back In 1975, a sitcom called “Hot L Baltimore” hit the airwaves. It was Norman Lear production based on a play by same name by Lanford Wilson.
How could it fail? Lear had already brought us All in the Family, now America’s number one show, after all. But fail it did. I think it was probably a bit, no, a lot too progressive for the time. The setting was an old hotel in Baltimore with an eclectic mix of characters. The ‘e’ in ‘hotel’ on the neon sign keeps flashing out, hence the title.
What you about to see is the trailer. It’s short, but there’s a pretty tense, yet funny moment in it. I hope you enjoy it. If you find any full, or even partial, episodes, please let me know, I’d love to see them.
70s Shows – Hot l Baltimore – Norman Lear
70s Shows - Kojak
“Who loves you, Baby?” was one of the most popular phrases from the 70s shows, and there were a lot of them!
Telly Salavas, the lovable and bald, Greek guy, played Kojak, a tough, gritty New York City Police detective for several years in the 70s, with an unusually great last season.
Short clips don’t seem to exist, so I’ll let you enjoy the soulful, brassy theme song. “Who loves you, Baby?!”
70s Shows – Kojak
70s Shows - All in the Family - Those Were the Days
All in the Family was one of the highest-rated 70s shows for most of the decade. However, there is a lost pilot episode, not unlike many TV shows, especially sitcoms.
This version of the pilot starred different actors as Mike and Gloria. What you are about to see is the lost pilot’s theme song. Same song, but a bit rougher around the edges.
As you will see in the credits is the title of the show – “Those Were the Days” – the same name as the theme song. It took me years to figure out the line, “Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.” Yes, those were the days. Please enjoy responsibly.
70s Shows – All in the Family or “Those Were the Days”
