60 Fun Facts About 70s Sitcoms

All in the Family was based on which British sitcom?

All in the Family was adapted from Till Death Us Do Part, the BBC sitcom whose bigot Alf Garnett became Archie Bunker; the US version topped the Nielsen ratings five straight seasons, 1971 to 1976.

In which New York City borough do Archie and Edith Bunker live?

The Bunkers live in Astoria, Queens; their neighbours the Jeffersons eventually 'move on up' from there to a Manhattan high-rise.

What disparaging nickname does Archie Bunker use for his wife Edith?

Archie calls Edith 'Dingbat' and tells her to 'stifle'; 'Meathead' was reserved for his son-in-law Mike, played by Rob Reiner.

Which continuation series picked up where All in the Family left off in 1979?

Archie Bunker's Place continued the story at Archie's bar and ran four seasons, from 1979 to 1983.

M*A*S*H's 4077th is stationed near which South Korean town?

The 4077th MASH is set near Uijeongbu, north of Seoul; the show ran 11 seasons, 1972 to 1983, far longer than the three-year Korean War.

Who developed M*A*S*H for television from the 1970 film?

Larry Gelbart wrote the pilot and developed the series with producer Gene Reynolds; Gelbart left the show in 1976.

Which actor replaced Henry Blake as commander of the 4077th, playing Colonel Sherman Potter?

Harry Morgan joined as Colonel Sherman Potter in 1975; Mike Farrell and David Ogden Stiers were the other big replacements, for Trapper John and Frank Burns.

What is the title of the M*A*S*H theme, heard as an instrumental over the opening credits?

The theme is 'Suicide Is Painless', written for the 1970 film by Johnny Mandel with lyrics by director Robert Altman's 14-year-old son Mike; the series used it as an instrumental.

Happy Days is set in which Midwestern city?

Happy Days is set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the mid-1950s; Richie Cunningham and his friends hang out at Arnold's drive-in there.

Happy Days began as an unsold pilot shown as a segment of which ABC anthology series?

The pilot aired in 1972 as a segment of Love, American Style; George Lucas saw it and cast Ron Howard in American Graffiti, which revived ABC's interest.

What business does Richie Cunningham's father Howard own on Happy Days?

A hardware store is Howard Cunningham's business, Cunningham Hardware; Richie's older brother Chuck simply vanished from the show after season two.

Which Happy Days character became the show's breakout star and one of the decade's most merchandised figures?

Fonzie, Henry Winkler's leather-jacketed Arthur Fonzarelli, became the breakout star; the show hit number one in 1976-77 after Garry Marshall retooled it around him.

Laverne and Shirley work as bottle-cappers at which fictional brewery?

Laverne and Shirley cap bottles at the fictional Shotz Brewery; from season six the show relocated them to mid-1960s Burbank, California.

Michael McKean and David Lander played which duo of Laverne & Shirley's oddball neighbours?

McKean was Lenny Kosnowski and Lander was Andrew 'Squiggy' Squiggman, the upstairs pair Lenny and Squiggy; McKean went on to Spinal Tap and Better Call Saul.

Three's Company was adapted from which British sitcom?

Three's Company was adapted from Man About the House, the 1973-76 ITV sitcom; its spin-offs The Ropers and Three's a Crowd mirrored the British show's own spin-offs.

Why does landlord Stanley Roper allow Jack Tripper to live with Janet and Chrissy?

He is told the new tenant is gay, Janet's fib to Mr Roper, who would never let a straight man room with two women; Mrs Roper knows the truth and keeps it from him.

In which California city is the Three's Company apartment building?

The Ropers' apartment building is in Santa Monica, California; Jack was a culinary student who otherwise faced living at the YMCA.

Sanford and Son was adapted from which British sitcom about rag-and-bone men?

Sanford and Son was adapted from Steptoe and Son, the BBC sitcom about a rag-and-bone father and son; it was seen as NBC's answer to CBS's All in the Family.

What is the first name of Fred Sanford's long-suffering son?

Fred's son is Lamont, played by Demond Wilson; Grady and Bubba were Fred's friends, Rollo was Lamont's, and Aunt Esther was Fred's Bible-thumping nemesis.

George Jefferson made his money with a chain of what?

Dry cleaners made George's fortune; his chain of Jefferson Cleaners paid for the 'deluxe apartment in the sky' on Manhattan's East Side.

How did Sherman Hemsley say he learned The Jeffersons had been cancelled in 1985?

By reading it in the newspaper, Hemsley said; CBS ended the show abruptly in 1985 after 11 seasons and the cast never got a proper finale.

Good Times broke ground as television's first sitcom centred on what?

A two-parent Black family, the Evanses, made Good Times a first; it ran six seasons on CBS, 1974 to 1979, and tackled gang warfare, evictions and drug addiction.

Taxi's cabbies work the night shift at which fictional New York garage?

The cabbies drive for the Sunshine Cab Company; Taxi's creators, including James L. Brooks, had all just come off The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ended in 1977.

Who played the burnt-out hippie 'Reverend' Jim Ignatowski on Taxi?

Christopher Lloyd played Jim Ignatowski and won two Emmys for the role; Taxi won three straight Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys, 1979 to 1981.

Andy Kaufman's Latka Gravas held what job at the garage on Taxi?

Mechanic: that was Latka's job, keeping the garage's cabs running; Danny DeVito's Louie De Palma was the tyrannical dispatcher.

Creator Hugh Wilson said he picked the call letters WKRP to stand for what?

C-R-A-P was Wilson's joke for the call letters; he based the station on WQXI in Atlanta, where he had observed the staff.

Which WKRP in Cincinnati character was played by Howard Hesseman?

Howard Hesseman played the burnt-out morning DJ Dr. Johnny Fever; Loni Anderson's receptionist Jennifer Marlowe was the show's other breakout.

Barney Miller is set in the squad room of which fictional NYPD precinct?

Barney Miller's squad room is The 12th Precinct in Greenwich Village; its detectives spawned the short-lived spin-off Fish, about Abe Vigoda's Phil Fish.

Mary Richards works at which fictional Minneapolis TV station?

Mary is associate producer of the six o'clock news at WJM-TV; she applied for a secretary's job and Lou Grant offered her the producer post instead.

How many Primetime Emmys did The Mary Tyler Moore Show win?

Its 29 Primetime Emmys were the most for any comedy until Frasier passed it; it won Outstanding Comedy Series three years running and spun off Rhoda, Phyllis and Lou Grant.

Who played Baxter, the buffoonish anchorman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show?

Ted Knight won two Emmys as the vain anchorman; Ed Asner's Lou Grant got a drama spin-off, a rare comedy-to-drama jump.

What is Bob Hartley's profession on The Bob Newhart Show?

Psychologist Bob Hartley runs a group-therapy practice; neighbour Howard Borden was the airline navigator and Jerry Robinson the orthodontist down the hall.

Which city is The Bob Newhart Show set in?

The Bob Newhart Show is set in Chicago, Newhart's hometown; Suzanne Pleshette played wife Emily, and her surprise cameo ended the later series Newhart in 1990.

What did the remedial students in Welcome Back, Kotter call themselves?

They called themselves The Sweathogs; Kotter had been a founding Sweathog at the same school a decade earlier.

Which future movie star got his breakthrough role on Welcome Back, Kotter?

John Travolta played Vinnie Barbarino before Saturday Night Fever and Grease made him a film star.

Kotter's fictional James Buchanan High is based on which real Brooklyn school that Gabe Kaplan attended?

New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst, Kaplan's alma mater, stood in for Buchanan High and appears in the opening credits.

Mork first appeared in which Happy Days episode before getting his own show?

Mork debuted in the 1978 episode 'My Favorite Orkan', its title spoofing My Favorite Martian; Garry Marshall wanted a spaceman to cash in on Star Wars.

What did Robin Williams do at his audition that made Garry Marshall cast him as Mork on the spot?

Sat on his head: asked to take a seat, Williams sat upside down in the chair; Marshall later joked that Williams was the only alien who auditioned.

One Day at a Time, starring Bonnie Franklin as a divorced mother, is set in which city?

It is set in Indianapolis; co-creator Whitney Blake drew on her own life as a single mother raising future actress Meredith Baxter.

Maude Findlay lives in which suburban New York town?

Maude lives in Tuckahoe, Westchester County; Bea Arthur's character was Edith Bunker's cousin, and her two-part 1972 abortion episode 'Maude's Dilemma' drew a storm of protest.

Walter is Maude's husband number what?

Fourth: Maude had divorced three times before marrying Walter Findlay; Bea Arthur won the Lead Actress Emmy for the role in 1977.

Who played the fussy Felix Unger in the 1970 TV version of The Odd Couple?

Tony Randall played Felix for five seasons, 1970 to 1975, winning the 1975 Lead Actor Emmy; Jack Klugman was Oscar.

Soap, the 1977 parody of daytime serials, was created and written by whom?

Susan Harris created and wrote Soap and later created The Golden Girls; Soap's storylines included alien abduction and demonic possession.

Linda Lavin's sitcom set at Mel's Diner in Phoenix was based on which Martin Scorsese film?

Linda Lavin's sitcom was adapted from Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Scorsese's 1974 film; Alfred Lutter reprised his film role as son Tommy in the pilot only.

Which real-life family band was The Partridge Family loosely based on?

The Cowsills, a real singing family from Rhode Island, were the loose model; David Cassidy's Keith and Danny Bonaduce's Danny became teen idols.

What is the name of the Brady family's live-in housekeeper?

Alice Nelson, played by Ann B. Davis, ran the Brady house; the show only became a hit in syndication after its 1974 cancellation.

Which Brady Bunch episode ranked number 37 on TV Guide's 1997 list of the 100 greatest episodes?

In 'Getting Davy Jones' Marcia lands the Monkee for the school dance; the episode aired in 1971, in season three.

Which Diff'rent Strokes housekeeper was spun off into her own show, The Facts of Life?

Mrs. Edna Garrett, played by Charlotte Rae, left the Drummonds in 1979 to become housemother at the Eastland School on The Facts of Life.

Chico and the Man was the first US series set in what kind of neighbourhood?

A Mexican-American barrio in East Los Angeles was the setting, a first for a US series; Freddie Prinze played Chico to Jack Albertson's grumpy garage owner Ed Brown.

Rhoda Morgenstern's rarely seen doorman Carlton was voiced by which Mary Tyler Moore Show writer?

Lorenzo Music, an MTM writer-producer, voiced the never-seen Carlton the Doorman and later became the voice of Garfield.

What's Happening!! was loosely based on which 1975 coming-of-age film?

What's Happening!! was loosely based on Cooley High, the 1975 film written by Eric Monte, who also co-created Good Times.

Which producer was behind All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times and The Jeffersons?

Norman Lear produced all five, most through Tandem Productions, the company he co-founded with Bud Yorkin; Lear also co-created All in the Family.

Fawlty Towers is set in a dysfunctional hotel in which English seaside town?

Torquay, Devon, is the setting; John Cleese modelled Basil on Donald Sinclair, owner of the town's Gleneagles Hotel, where the Pythons stayed in 1970.

How many episodes of Fawlty Towers were made in total across its 1975 and 1979 series?

12 in all: two series of six, 1975 and 1979, written by Cleese and Connie Booth, who also played the waitress Polly.

In Porridge, Fletcher and Godber serve their sentences at which fictional prison?

HMP Slade is the fictional Cumberland prison; the title is slang for a jail term, 'doing porridge', after the breakfast once served in British prisons.

What was the 1992 spin-off that reunited the main cast of Are You Being Served?

Grace & Favour moved the staff to a country manor in 1992; the original department-store comedy ran for 69 episodes between 1972 and 1985 and spawned a 1977 film.

In The Good Life, Tom and Barbara Good pursue self-sufficiency in which suburb?

Surbiton, in suburban Surrey, is where the Goods dig up their garden; Tom quits his plastics-design job at 40, and the show aired in the US as Good Neighbors.

Eric Chappell adapted Rising Damp from which 1973 stage play of his own?

The Banana Box, staged in 1973 with Leonard Rossiter as the landlord, became Rising Damp; the sitcom won the 1978 BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy.

In the 1975 spin-off Phyllis, Cloris Leachman's widowed Phyllis Lindstrom moves from Minneapolis to which city?

Phyllis moves to San Francisco to live with her late husband Lars's mother and stepfather; it was the second Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off, after Rhoda.

The Ropers (1979), a Three's Company spin-off, was loosely based on which British sitcom?

George and Mildred followed the landlords of the British original into a new home, just as The Ropers did for Stanley and Helen; it ran on ITV from 1976 to 1979.