What are your top 5 favorite shows of the 1970s? (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

I was just watching an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show where they said that The Alan Brady Show (which Rob/Van Dyke works for) was seen by 40 million people. I'm going to guess that was a pretty good sized audience back in the early 60's but if a show averaged 40 million viewers today, it would be the biggest hit in decades.

In the early 60s there were roughly 50 million households with TV. A top 10 show would see numbers in the 13-20 million household range. That could easily compute to 40+ million viewers for the #1 show if you assume 2 people watching every set. But ratings are more about the percentage of households watching than raw numbers. In the 90s there were still shows that got ratings in the 18-20 million houshold range but the number of households had risen to almost 100 million. The networks haven't seen increases in total households for decades as their audience has been fragmented by other entertainment venues. Because of that their share of the audience has shrunk even though they've kept relatively the same number of physical viewers. 40 million viewers in the early 60s could have meant a share of 50% or higher. If what was meant on that episode was *households* and not *viewers* then it would have been a 80% or higher share, huge even for that decade. Yes, any network show that could pull that off today would be a huge hit.

 

[JohnMor]

In terms of shows from the 1970s on blu-ray, so far we have very few titles.

Now that The Dick van Dyke Show has had some success on blu-ray, is The Mary Tyler Moore Show worthy of similar treatment?

More than worthy. But it won't happen. Fox very nearly didn't complete it on dvd due to the "extremely disappointing" sales (their words).

 

[TravisR]

More than worthy. But it won't happen. Fox very nearly didn't complete it on dvd due to the "extremely disappointing" sales (their words).

It seems even more bleak when you consider that Fox won't even release Blu-rays of earlier seasons of some of their biggest DVD hits like 24 or The Simpsons (although The X-Files is coming).

 

[Tory]

Wonder Woman
Bionic Woman
Charlie's Angels
Doctor Who
Soap

 

[moviebuff75]

1. The Brady Bunch
2. Wonder Woman
3. All in the Family
4. The Muppet Show
5. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Honorable Mention: Charlie's Angels

 

[Wvtvguy]

I was a child then but this is probably my favorite tv decade. I'm a huge fan of the crime dramas then. I've bought several DVD sets of shows I never watched & they've become favorites of mine. 1 Kojak2 Six Million Dollar Man3 Medical Center4 Adam-125 Hawaii 5-0Honorable: Mannix, Police Story, Streets of San Francisco, & Police Story. No comedies simply because I have watched them in year's. I loved All in the Family & later Happy Days & Laverne & Shirley.

 

[upperco]

THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1970-1977, CBS)
THE ODD COUPLE (1970-1975, ABC)
ALL IN THE FAMILY (1971-1979, CBS)
THE BOB NEWHART SHOW (1972-1978, CBS)
TAXI (1978-1983, ABC/NBC)

 

[Brian Himes]

I totally forgot two of my very favorites: Soap and The Rockford Files.

 

[Guy Foulard]

This is the first TV decade I experienced first-hand, but I'm going to go with my favorites in 2014, not from when I was 8 years old:

American TV
Hawaii Five-O
Mannix
Mary Tyler Moore ShowStreets of San Francisco
Newhart
(probably missing something I really love here, but keeping it to five)

British TV
Upstairs, Downstairs
Public Eye
Whatever Became of the Likely Lads
When the Boat Comes In
Hadleigh

 

[kingfish]

i almost forgot:

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN.

the episodes with andre the giant as bigfoot were my favorite.

 

[kingfish]

quincy deserves a mention as well. jack klugman was priceless as the doctor. imho this show lead to many of the csi/forensic shows we are watching today such as bones and crossing jordan.

 

[benbess]

I only watched about a dozen episodes of Hawaii 5-0 back in the 1970s. I sort of liked the show and the setting, but could never quite get into it. But for a few years now, it's been available in near-stunning HD quality on Netflix, for all 12 seasons. And now that I'm getting into Mannix, I'm thinking about giving crime dramas from this era another try.

My questions for fans of 5-0 are: Do you think it's best to just start with the first episode of the first season, or does it get significantly better in the 2nd or 3rd season?

My next question is maybe trickier: what are some things you like best about the show? I know it has a beautiful setting, the satisfaction of book em Danno etc. But what else? My vague memory of the show, probably not accurate, is that the episodes that I saw all seemed very similar. Was I wrong about that?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Jack P]

Even though the part of Danno was recast from pilot to series, I think its necessary viewing since it established Wo Fat as McGarrett's long-running nemesis over the course of the series.

 

[Steve...O]

I agree with those who have stated that the 70s era shows are a letdown from the 60s. Still, there are some gems (not in any order):

Mary Tyler Moore Show
Bob Newhart Show
Carol Burnett Show
Rockford Files
Hawaii Five-O

Honorable mention to Ellery Queen which is a terrific series in my opinion and a darn shame it didn't last longer.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

I only watched about a dozen episodes of Hawaii 5-0 back in the 1970s. I sort of liked the show and the setting, but could never quite get into it. But for a few years now, it's been available in near-stunning HD quality on Netflix, for all 12 seasons. And now that I'm getting into Mannix, I'm thinking about giving crime dramas from this era another try.

My questions for fans of 5-0 are: Do you think it's best to just start with the first episode of the first season, or does it get significantly better in the 2nd or 3rd season?

My next question is maybe trickier: what are some things you like best about the show? I know it has a beautiful setting, the satisfaction of book em Danno etc. But what else? My vague memory of the show, probably not accurate, is that the episodes that I saw all seemed very similar. Was I wrong about that?

Thanks in advance...

I'm pretty much coming from the same place as you, benbess. I had passing familiarity with Hawaii Five-0 as a kid when it was on in the 1970s, but took it for granted and never really watched it, though I liked the location, the theme music/opening titles and that it promised action... but I was drawn to the more fanciful stuff, like The Incredible Hulk, Battlestar Galactica, Cliffhangers and reruns of Star Trek, The Outer Limits and The Wild Wild West back then, so any cop show got pushed to the back burner.

I'd say start from the very beginning with Hawaii Five-0. It launches very strongly with the 2-part pilot, "Cocoon", which not only introduces Wo Fat, but is like a mini James Bond type adventure, except with an elite team of police detectives in place of a superspy. The show maintains high quality from there, onward. I'm early into Season 3 right now, and it's equally as good as the previous two seasons. I picked up several seasons via online sales, and after doing some research at a fan site or two, decided to stop at Season 6, since it begins with an intriguing and highly-regarded episode, "Hookman", plus has some other reportedly good ones. I might eventually spring for Seasons 7 and 8, if the overall quality of the stories doesn't falter, and it doesn't get too repetitive by that point.

A few things I like about the show are that it uses location work almost exclusively, so takes full advantage of Hawaii, it has a good mix of stories that straddle the line between normal police procedurals and slightly larger-than-life espionage plots, strong leads, and a very good selection of guest stars. The show seems to hold onto that "1960s TV" vibe a lot longer than other series that stretched into the 1970s. Also, while the show sometimes touches on contemporary themes like drug abuse and such, it doesn't (so far) succumb so much to the deadly "relevance" syndrome that affected so much of 1970s television. It seems content to be a taut entertainment, with just a touch more realism than might've been allowed five or ten years earlier.

 

[Roy Wall]

I completely forgot to mention "The New Avengers". I have the 1st season in my cabinet and there's some jewels in there. "Sleeper", "Targets" and "The White Rat" are definitely classics.

 

[benbess]

Peter: Thanks. That's quite helpful. I was confused at first, because Netflix lists the first episode of the first season as being Full Fathom Five. At first I was wondering if the movie-length pilot Cocoon that you mentioned was missing. But no, it's there, but seemingly misplaced as the last 2 episodes for the first season finale. Strange. Anyway, now I can at least start at the right place....

 

[Jeff Willis]

I agree with those who have stated that the 70s era shows are a letdown from the 60s. Still, there are some gems (not in any order):

When I read your post, I looked at my collection by decade. The results are about what I'd expected but I hadn't realized the # of shows that I have from the 60's.

50's 44
60's 71
70's 42
80's 34
90's 15
00's 11
10's 0

70's are a close 2nd to the 50's. That gap used to be larger but after discovering the large amount of 50's shows that I'd never seen before DVD, the gap closed fast.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

When I read your post, I looked at my collection by decade. The results are about what I'd expected but I hadn't realized the # of shows that I have from the 60's.

50's 44
60's 71
70's 42
80's 34
90's 15
00's 11
10's 0

70's are a close 2nd to the 50's. That gap used to be larger but after discovering the large amount of 50's shows that I'd never seen before DVD, the gap closed fast.

Interesting... the 1960s also overwhelmingly dominate my collection, too:

50s 33
60s 64
70s 22
80s 16
90s 9
00s 17*
10s 4

* This number is skewed a bit, since 5 of these are sample seasons of series from 'Adult Swim in a Box', which I actually got mainly for an unsold pilot that couldn't otherwise be had on legit physical media.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Kolchak, The Night Stalker
Columbo
Brady Bunch
Hawaii Five-0
WKRP
McCloud

Honorable Mentions: Scooby Doo, Where Are You, Hong Kong Phooey