TV Shows - Decades - 1970s, a list by Ryan Keast

8.3

/46876/

81

/1688/

81

/786/

age 12+

Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.

75

7.5

/29771/

73

/656/

79

/953/

age 7+

When the big woods of Wisconsin becomes a difficult spot for hunting, Charles Ingalls reluctantly decides to move his family, pioneering west. Their life on the farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s is full of adventure, tragedy, and triumph. Based on the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

79

8.5

/68492/

83

/2769/

79

/709/

72

/12/

age 13+

The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stuck in the middle of the Korean war. With little help from the circumstances they find themselves in, they are forced to make their own fun. Fond of practical jokes and revenge, the doctors, nurses, administrators, and soldiers often find ways of making wartime life bearable.

79

8.4

/20663/

77

/456/

78

/171/

age 12+

Archie Bunker, a working class bigot, constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day.

74

7.4

/22781/

72

/517/

76

/289/

age 7+

In 1950s Milwaukee the Cunningham family must contend with Fonzie, a motorcycle riding Casanova.

78

61

7.9

/6954/

77

/118/

78

/46/

The crew of Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 51, particularly the paramedic team, and Rampart Hospital respond to emergencies in their operating area.

89

8.8

/110392/

86

/3161/

83

/768/

100

/14/

92

age 13+

Owner Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, a chambermaid Polly, and Spanish waiter Manuel attempt to run their hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding guests.

71

6.8

/31596/

68

/815/

68

/515/

3.3

/42232/

82

/6/

Ben Mears has returned to his hometown to write a book about the supposedly haunted Marsten House. When people around the Marsten House start dying mysteriously, Mears discovers that the owner of the mansion is actually a vampire who is turning them into an army of undead slaves.

68

7.2

/18931/

74

/975/

70

/262/

43

/30/

81

age 15+

When the 12 Colonies of Man are wiped out by a cybernetic race called the Cylons, Commander Adama and the crew of the battlestar Galactica lead a ragtag fleet of human survivors in search of a "mythical planet" called Earth.

58

53

6.3

/15169/

66

/259/

62

/186/

43

/9/

age 13+

Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.

57

54

6.6

/15751/

67

/308/

67

/219/

30

/22/

age 11+

Beautiful, intelligent, and ultra-sophisticated, Charlie's Angels are everything a man could dream of... and way more than they could ever handle! Receiving their orders via speaker phone from their never seen boss, Charlie, the Angels employ their incomparable sleuthing and combat skills, as well as their lethal feminine charm, to crack even the most seemingly insurmountable of cases.

74

72

7.7

/17393/

73

/365/

72

/164/

77

/17/

age 13+

Louie De Palma is a cantankerous, acerbic taxi dispatcher in New York City. He tries to maintain order over a collection of varied and strange characters who drive for him. As he bullies and insults them from the safety of his “cage,” they form a special bond among themselves, becoming friends and supporting each other through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life.

75

74

7.6

/18908/

74

/446/

76

/167/

age 10+

When two single girls, Janet and Chrissy, need a roommate to share their Santa Monica apartment, they decide to offer a room to Jack, a man they find passed out in the bathtub after the going-away party for their last roommate. However, hijinks ensure when Jack must pretend to be gay in order to throw off the scent of the trio's conservative landlady.

78

71

8.2

/12405/

75

/267/

76

/118/

age 12+

Cranky but likable L.A. PI Jim Rockford pulls no punches (but takes plenty of them). An ex-con sent to the slammer for a crime he didn't commit, Rockford takes on cases others don't want, aided by his tough old man, his lawyer girlfriend and some shady associates from his past.

87

9.2

/36846/

88

/536/

83

/163/

4.5

/4185/

A documentary series that gives a historical account of the events of World War II, from its roots in the 1920s to the aftermath and the lives it profoundly influenced.

86

79

8.4

/10551/

79

/204/

75

/123/

4.2

/3652/

100

/14/

92

age 14+

George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.

75

?

8.4

/4932/

74

/125/

77

/45/

The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.

73

61

7.6

/10098/

72

/169/

72

/100/

age 7+

The Waltons live their life in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II.

88

85

8.8

/21954/

83

/321/

78

/126/

4.3

/3935/

100

/24/

93

Acclaimed blackly comic historical drama series. Set amidst a web of power, corruption and lies, it chronicles the reigns of the Roman emperors - Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and finally Claudius.

76

61

8.3

/8269/

74

/131/

73

/55/

Barney Miller is an American situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker. Noam Pitlik directed the majority of the episodes.

72

7.1

/17515/

74

/463/

73

/326/

age 10+

Cousins Bo and Luke Duke and their car "General Lee", assisted by Cousin Daisy and Uncle Jesse, have a running battle with the authorities of Hazzard County (Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane), plus a string of ne'er-do-wells often backed by the scheming Hogg.

71

?

6.9

/9395/

71

/170/

71

/98/

age 11+

Mrs. Edna Garrett, housemother and dietitian at the Eastland School, teaches a group of girls in her charge how to solve those problems that every teenager has to face.

68

62

6.5

/12833/

71

/285/

68

/135/

age 10+

Lighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main characters are Jon Baker and Frank Poncherello, two motorcycle officers always on the street to save lives.

72

27

7.8

/1412/

62

/22/

77

/20/

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series; and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The cast were reunited in 1975 for a BBC radio adaptation of series 1, transmitted on Radio 4 from July to October that year. In 1976, a feature film spin-off was made. Around the time of its release, however, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam fell out over a misunderstanding involving the press and have not spoken since. This long-suspected situation was finally confirmed by Bewes while promoting his autobiography in 2005. Unlike Bewes, Bolam is consistently reluctant to talk about the show, and has vetoed any attempt to revive his character.

66

?

6.6

/9827/

68

/171/

64

/115/

age 14+

A magical island hosted by Mr Roarke and Tattoo where weekly guests learn valuable life lessons in their pursuit of fulfilling their dreams. Not all dreams are fulfilled as expected.

68

57

6.7

/9746/

70

/167/

69

/125/

Wealthy couple Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a self-made millionaire and his journalist wife, moonlight as amateur detectives.

81

65

8.3

/7408/

79

/141/

81

/52/

Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film also titled Porridge. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. "Doing porridge" is British slang for serving a prison sentence, porridge once being the traditional breakfast in UK prisons. The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, which established that Fletcher would not be going back to prison again. Porridge was voted number seven in a 2004 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British sitcoms.

76

75

8.4

/19954/

80

/392/

74

/237/

4.1

/4804/

77

/35/

67

The epic tale of celebrated Pulitzer-prize winning author Alex Haley's ancestors as portrayed in the acclaimed twelve hour mini-series Roots, was first told in his 1976 bestseller Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The docu-drama covers a period of history that begins in mid-1700s Gambia, West Africa and concludes during post-Civil War United States, over 100 years later. This 1977 miniseries eventually won 9 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, and a Peabody award, and still stands as the most watched miniseries in U.S. history.

67

44

6.6

/5350/

67

/62/

68

/30/

age 7+

The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom series about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career.

65

48

6.6

/5702/

63

/70/

67

/60/

age 12+

The misadventures of a divorced mother, two teenage daughters, and new building superintendent in Indianapolis.

77

66

8.0

/12447/

77

/200/

76

/85/

age 12+

When a Cincinnati radio station switches from sedate music to top-40 rock 'n' roll, its staff of oddball characters is forced to switch gears quickly. New programming director Andy Travis brings in a new DJ named Venus Flytrap to work with the station's burned-out veteran, Dr. Johnny Fever. Neurotic newsman Les Nessman, eager beaver Bailey Quarters, sleazy salesman Herb Tarlek, blonde bombshell Jennifer Marlowe, who serves as the station's ultra-capable receptionist, and station manager Arthur Carlson, whose domineering mother owns WKRP, round out the eccentric bunch.

71

58

7.1

/9924/

73

/159/

70

/130/

age 13+

A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City.

71

67

7.1

/14392/

71

/309/

72

/418/

Follow the adventures of Steve Austin, cybernetically enhanced astronaut turned secret agent, employed by the OSI, under the command of Oscar Goldman and supervised by the scientist who created his cybernetics, Rudy Wells. Steve uses the superior strength and speed provided by his bionic arm and legs, and the enhanced vision provided by his artificial eye, to fight enemy agents, aliens, mad scientists, and a wide variety of other villains.

69

62

6.7

/13404/

71

/258/

70

/286/

age 10+

The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two African American boys from Harlem who are taken in by a rich white Park Avenue businessman named Phillip Drummond and his daughter Kimberly, for whom their deceased mother previously worked. During the first season and first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred as the Drummonds' housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett.

74

72

7.3

/10314/

72

/338/

70

/146/

66

/18/

90

The crew of Moonbase Alpha must struggle to survive when a massive explosion throws the Moon from orbit into deep space.

79

71

8.5

/26962/

77

/238/

77

/542/

3.7

/10088/

Dramatizes the Birth, Life, Ministry, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, largely according to the Holy Bible's New Testament Gospels.

76

66

8.3

/11109/

72

/190/

75

/78/

age 11+

30-year-old single Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis to start a new life after a romantic break-up. There she reacquaints with Phyllis who rents her a room, and meets her upstairs neighbor and new best friend Rhoda. Mary unexpectedly lands a job as associate producer at the TV station WJM, where she works alongside her bristly boss, Lou; the comical newswriter, Murray; and the newscast's often-incompetent anchor, Ted.

64

36

6.4

/1709/

62

/41/

65

/20/

66

/18/

Archie Bunker's Place is an American sitcom originally broadcast on the CBS network, conceived in 1979 as a spin-off and continuation of All in the Family. While not as popular as its predecessor, the show maintained a large enough audience to last for four seasons, until its cancellation in 1983. In its first season, the show performed so well that it knocked Mork & Mindy out of its new Sunday night time slot.

60

58

6.9

/11324/

70

/314/

70

/126/

38

/16/

56

age 14+

20th-century astronaut Buck Rogers awakens in the 25th century after a freak accident puts him in suspended animation for 500 years. Upon returning to Earth and discovering the planet is recovering from a nuclear war, Buck uses his combat skills and ingenuity to protect Earth and fight evil throughout the galaxy alongside starfighter pilot Colonel Wilma Deering and robot companion Twiki.

77

70

8.0

/10108/

79

/276/

72

/89/

age 13+

This comedy series, which follows the exploits of employees at London's fictional "Grace Brothers" department store, is full of sexual innuendo, slapstick, visual gags, and double entendres. Much of the show's humor parodies Britain's class system, and many of the show's characters are based on stereotypes of the period, including the effeminate Mr. Humphries and the rich, but stingy, store owner.

71

46

7.1

/4624/

70

/56/

74

/27/

age 10+

What's Happening!! is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979. The show premiered as a summer series. With good ratings and reviews, and after the failure of several other shows on the network, What's Happening!! returned in November 1976 as a weekly series. It remained a regular show until 1979; ratings were modest. What's Happening!! was loosely based on the motion picture Cooley High, also written by Eric Monte.

70

69

7.0

/17695/

69

/444/

72

/486/

age 8+

During an experiment gone bad, radiation turns a scientist into a raging green behemoth whenever he becomes agitated. Unable to control his transformations, David Banner searches for a cure as he crosses the country, fugitive-style, with a dogged tabloid reporter on his trail.

78

75

7.0

/11198/

69

/288/

70

/479/

100

/14/

81

age 7+

With the strength of Hercules, the wisdom of Athena, the speed of Mercury and the beauty of Aphrodite, she’s Wonder Woman. Beautiful Amazon princess Wonder Woman travels to 1940s America disguised as Diana Prince, assistant to handsome but trouble-prone Major Steve Trevor. Using her golden belt, which imbues her with astonishing strength, her bullet-deflecting bracelets, a golden lasso that dispels dishonesty and an invisible supersonic plane, Wonder Woman combats evil.

70

40

7.8

/3104/

Trakt

65

/41/

68

/25/

Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.

73

66

7.5

/11739/

74

/248/

72

/117/

age 11+

Sitcom following a successful African-American couple, George and Louise “Weezyö Jefferson as they “move on up” from working-class Queens to a ritzy Manhattan apartment. A spin-off of All in the Family.

70

54

7.1

/8230/

68

/98/

72

/53/

age 14+

Welcome Back, Kotter is an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta. Videotaped in front of a live studio audience, it originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975, to June 8, 1979.

64

20

8.0

/1057/

58

/26/

58

/22/

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

77

70

7.9

/11852/

78

/261/

74

/91/