70 Fun Facts About 70s TV

All in the Family, which premiered on CBS in January 1971, was based on which British sitcom?

Till Death Us Do Part, Johnny Speight's BBC sitcom about bigoted Alf Garnett, was Norman Lear's model; he moved the patriarch from London's East End to Queens.

All in the Family became the first series to top the yearly Nielsen ratings for how many consecutive years?

Five: All in the Family was the top-rated series for five straight seasons, 1971-72 through 1975-76, a streak no earlier show had managed.

What was the Bunkers' address in Astoria, Queens?

704 Hauser Street was the Bunkers' Astoria address; Norman Lear's 1994 spin-off 704 Hauser took its title from it, with a new family in the house.

Which 1972 NBC sitcom about a Watts junk dealer was adapted from a British series?

Sanford and Son transplanted the BBC's Steptoe and Son to Watts, with Redd Foxx as junk dealer Fred Sanford, forever faking heart attacks for his late wife Elizabeth.

The Jeffersons, who moved 'on up' to Manhattan, made their money from what business?

A chain of dry cleaners: George Jefferson's Jefferson Cleaners stores funded the move from Queens to a deluxe Manhattan apartment; the show ran eleven seasons, 1975-85.

Good Times was a spin-off of which show, itself a spin-off of All in the Family?

Maude: Florida Evans, played by Esther Rolle, had been Maude Findlay's housekeeper before Good Times gave the Evans family its own show in 1974.

The Evans family in Good Times lived in a project implied to be which Chicago development?

Cabrini-Green was never named on air, but the opening titles showed its Near North Side high-rises, placing the Evans family in Chicago's best-known project.

Bea Arthur's 1972-78 CBS sitcom was set in which New York suburb?

Tuckahoe, a village in Westchester County, was the show's setting; across six seasons it tackled abortion, alcoholism and domestic violence, and one episode had Arthur alone on screen.

The final episode of M*A*S*H aired in February of which year?

1983: 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen' aired on 28 February 1983, closing eleven seasons of a Korean War that in reality lasted about three years.

How much did CBS charge for a 30-second ad during the M*A*S*H finale, more than that year's Super Bowl?

$450,000 per 30 seconds, against about $400,000 for Super Bowl XVII a month earlier; roughly 106 million viewers watched, a record for any US broadcast until 2010.

Which four M*A*S*H characters appeared in all eleven seasons?

Hawkeye, Mulcahy, Houlihan and Klinger were there for all eleven seasons; Trapper, Henry Blake, Frank Burns and Radar left along the way, while Potter, B.J. and Winchester arrived later.

The instrumental theme of M*A*S*H is a version of which song from the 1970 film?

Suicide Is Painless, written by Johnny Mandel with lyrics by 14-year-old Mike Altman, the director's son, plays instrumentally over the TV titles; the film version had the words.

Mary Richards worked as an associate producer at which fictional Minneapolis TV station?

WJM-TV was the perennial last-place Minneapolis station where Mary worked under gruff news director Lou Grant, beside vain anchorman Ted Baxter.

How many Primetime Emmy Awards did The Mary Tyler Moore Show win?

29 Primetime Emmys, a comedy record that stood until Frasier passed it; the show took Outstanding Comedy Series three years running, 1975-77.

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

Julie Kavner, later the voice of Marge Simpson, played Rhoda's sister Brenda.

Bob Newhart's character in The Bob Newhart Show had what profession?

Psychologist: Dr. Robert Hartley ran a Chicago group-therapy practice; Suzanne Pleshette played his wife Emily, and neighbour Howard Borden was an airline navigator.

Happy Days began life as an unsold pilot shown on which ABC anthology series in 1972?

Love, American Style aired the segment 'Love and the Television Set' in February 1972, with Ron Howard already playing Richie Cunningham; ABC ordered the series after American Graffiti hit.

In which city was Happy Days set?

Milwaukee: the Cunninghams' house stood at 565 North Clinton Drive, and Arnold's drive-in was modelled on the Milky Way in suburban Glendale, Wisconsin.

Little House on the Prairie was set in which Minnesota town?

Walnut Grove, Minnesota, was the Ingalls' hometown on Little House on the Prairie, which ran nine seasons from 1974 with Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls.

Laverne and Shirley capped bottles at which brewery?

Shotz Brewery employed Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney on its bottling line; Penny Marshall's brother Garry created the show, which premiered in January 1976 and topped the Nielsen ratings in 1977-78.

Robin Williams first appeared as Mork in a 1978 episode of Happy Days that riffed on which 1960s sitcom?

My Favorite Martian: the episode was titled 'My Favorite Orkan'; Mork tries to take Richie to Ork as a specimen and is foiled by Fonzie.

Which producer created both The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island?

Sherwood Schwartz created both shows; The Brady Bunch was never a ratings hit in its 1969-74 run, and it never said whether Carol was divorced or widowed.

What was the name of the Brady boys' dog?

Tiger, the Bradys' shaggy dog, was quietly written out after the first season, though his doghouse stayed on the set; Fluffy the cat appeared only in the pilot.

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

The Cowsills, a Rhode Island family of singing siblings and their mother, inspired the show; the Partridges' tour bus was a 1957 Chevrolet school bus painted in Mondrian-style blocks.

Who provided the voice of the never-seen Charlie Townsend on Charlie's Angels?

John Forsythe, later Blake Carrington on Dynasty, voiced Charlie over a speakerphone and was never seen; David Doyle's Bosley did the legwork.

Who replaced Farrah Fawcett on Charlie's Angels after she left at the end of season one?

Cheryl Ladd joined as Kris Munroe, Jill's younger sister, for season two; Shelley Hack later replaced Kate Jackson and Tanya Roberts replaced Hack.

Three's Company was adapted from which British sitcom?

Its spin-offs The Ropers and Three's a Crowd mirrored the British George and Mildred and Robin's Nest.

Which former Andy Griffith Show star joined Three's Company in 1979 as building manager Ralph Furley?

Don Knotts, Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, arrived as Ralph Furley when the Ropers left for their own spin-off; he stayed until the series ended in 1984.

The Six Million Dollar Man was based on the 1972 novel Cyborg by which author?

Martin Caidin, an aviation writer, published Cyborg in 1972; its astronaut Steve Austin, rebuilt with bionic implants after a test-flight crash, became the TV hero in 1973.

Before her skydiving accident, what was Jaime Sommers' profession in The Bionic Woman?

Tennis player: Jaime Sommers was a professional tennis pro and Steve Austin's childhood sweetheart; Lindsay Wagner's spin-off ran on ABC and then NBC from 1976 to 1978.

Telly Savalas's Kojak took up lollipops as a substitute for what?

Cigarettes: the lollipop first appeared in the season-one episode 'Dark Sunday' as Kojak's way of cutting down on smoking; it became his trademark alongside 'Who loves ya, baby?'

Which battered French car did Peter Falk's Columbo drive?

Peugeot 403: Columbo drove a battered 1959 Peugeot 403 convertible; his other trademarks were a rumpled raincoat, a cigar, chili and a frequently mentioned, never seen wife.

Columbo popularised which whodunit format, in which the audience sees the crime first?

The inverted detective story, nicknamed a 'howcatchem', opens by showing the murderer at work; R. Austin Freeman pioneered it in 1912, and Falk won four Emmys as Columbo.

Starsky and Hutch patrolled which fictional Southern California locale?

Bay City was the fictional stand-in for Los Angeles, where the Gran Torino-driving pair answered to call sign Zebra Three under Captain Dobey.

Where did James Garner's Jim Rockford live and work?

A trailer in Malibu: Rockford's mobile home sat at Paradise Cove beach for most of the run, beside a pier and a restaurant, serving as home and office.

The Waltons was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on which of his books?

Spencer's Mountain, Hamner's 1961 novel about his Virginia boyhood, became a 1963 Henry Fonda film before the 1971 TV special The Homecoming launched the series.

Who hosted the very first episode of NBC's Saturday Night, later Saturday Night Live, on 11 October 1975?

George Carlin hosted the premiere on 11 October 1975, performing stand-up between sketches; Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner were among the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players.

The Love Boat's Captain Merrill Stubing was played by which former Mary Tyler Moore Show cast member?

Gavin MacLeod had been newswriter Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show before captaining the Pacific Princess for nine seasons from 1977.

On Fantasy Island, Ricardo Montalbán's Mr. Roarke was assisted by Tattoo, played by whom?

Hervé Villechaize, who cried 'De plane! De plane!' each week, played Tattoo for six seasons and left before the final one; two TV movies had introduced the island in 1977 and 1978.

What was the Dallas episode revealing who shot J.R. called?

'Who Done It' aired on 21 November 1980 and revealed Kristin Shepard as the shooter; its 53.3 Nielsen rating was second only to the M*A*S*H finale among series episodes.

The Taxi drivers worked the night shift at which fictional New York cab company?

Sunshine Cab Company's garage was where Danny DeVito's dispatcher Louie De Palma tormented the drivers from his cage; the show won 18 Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series three years running.

Which British TV mogul agreed to co-produce The Muppet Show after US networks turned Jim Henson down?

Lew Grade, boss of ATV, backed the show after the US networks passed; it was recorded at ATV's Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire and premiered in September 1976.

The miniseries Roots aired on ABC in January 1977 over how many consecutive nights?

Eight: ABC ran Roots on eight consecutive nights, 23-30 January 1977, and the finale drew roughly 100 million viewers; the miniseries won nine Emmys.

Who played Sergeant Joe Getraer, Ponch and Jon's boss on CHiPs?

Robert Pine played Sergeant Joe Getraer, the squad's by-the-book boss, for all six seasons of CHiPs; his son Chris Pine later captained the Enterprise.

The Duke boys' car, the General Lee, was a customised model of what?

1969 Dodge Charger: the orange General Lee, numbered 01 with welded-shut doors, was the Dukes' ride; on probation and banned from guns, the cousins used bows and arrows.

The Dukes of Hazzard was inspired by which 1975 film about a bootlegging family?

Moonrunners, written and directed by Gy Waldron, introduced Uncle Jesse and narrator Waylon Jennings; Waldron reused the names and the balladeer when he created The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.

The 1977 sitcom Soap opened each episode with which line?

'This is the story of two sisters' introduced Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell in announcer Rod Roddy's opening narration; Billy Crystal played Jodie, one of TV's first openly gay regulars.

Barney Miller was set in which fictional Greenwich Village police precinct?

The 12th Precinct's single squad-room set in Greenwich Village housed nearly the whole show from 1975 to 1982; its spin-off Fish followed Abe Vigoda's detective for two seasons.

Welcome Back, Kotter's Sweathogs attended James Buchanan High in which Brooklyn neighbourhood?

Bensonhurst: creator Gabe Kaplan drew on his own Brooklyn schooldays for James Buchanan High; the show gave John Travolta his breakthrough as Vinnie Barbarino.

Freddie Prinze's Chico worked in a run-down garage in which part of LA on Chico and the Man?

East LA barrio: Ed Brown's run-down garage sat in the Mexican-American neighbourhood of East Los Angeles; Jack Albertson played the cantankerous owner, and Prinze died by suicide during the third season.

The Carol Burnett Show ran from 1967 to 1978 and won how many primetime Emmys?

25 Primetime Emmys: Harvey Korman and Vicki Lawrence were regulars from the 1967 start, and Tim Conway joined full-time in 1975 after Lyle Waggoner left.

On Diff'rent Strokes, Arnold and Willis were taken in by a widower living on which Manhattan street?

Park Avenue: widowed millionaire Phillip Drummond brought the Jackson brothers from Harlem to his Park Avenue penthouse; housekeeper Edna Garrett spun off into The Facts of Life in 1979.

The Gong Show, launched in 1976, was created and hosted by whom?

Chuck Barris, who also created The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, hosted the NBC daytime Gong Show from its June 1976 debut; three celebrity judges could gong an act off the stage.

'Three Is a Magic Number' was written to help an ad executive's son learn what?

Multiplication tables: David McCall's son could memorise Rolling Stones lyrics but not his times tables, so McCall commissioned Bob Dorough, launching Schoolhouse Rock in 1973.

The first season of Wonder Woman, starring Lynda Carter, was set in which period?

World War II: the 1976 ABC season had Wonder Woman fighting Nazis alongside Steve Trevor; when it moved to CBS it jumped to the present day as The New Adventures of Wonder Woman.

In the 1978 Battlestar Galactica, humanity flees which robot enemy?

The Cylons, chrome robot warriors with a sweeping red eye, destroyed the Twelve Colonies; Lorne Greene's Commander Adama led the survivors in a single-season series.

Angie Dickinson played Sergeant Pepper Anderson on which 1974-78 NBC police drama?

Police Woman starred Angie Dickinson as undercover LAPD sergeant Suzanne 'Pepper' Anderson; it spun off from the anthology Police Story and ran four seasons on NBC.

Which tabloid reporter obsessively pursues David Banner in The Incredible Hulk (1977)?

Jack McGee, played by Jack Colvin, was the National Register reporter chasing the Hulk; Bill Bixby was Banner and Lou Ferrigno the green-skinned creature.

Baretta (1975-78) was a retooled version of which short-lived ABC series about a real New Jersey cop?

Tony Musante left Toma after one season, so the concept was revised for Robert Blake, complete with Fred the cockatoo.

Who sang Baretta's theme, 'Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow'?

Sammy Davis Jr. sang the vocal version from season two; Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames wrote it, and Rhythm Heritage's instrumental cover reached the US top 20 in 1976.

How many seasons did Hawaii Five-O run on CBS before ending in April 1980?

12 seasons: the show ran from September 1968 to April 1980, the longest run of any US police drama at the time, a record later passed by Law & Order.

In Emergency!, Squad 51's paramedics work with the staff of which fictional hospital?

Rampart General Hospital's emergency room, run by Robert Fuller's Dr. Brackett with Julie London and Bobby Troup, backed up Squad 51; Jack Webb produced the series.

Eight Is Enough was modelled on the life of which syndicated newspaper columnist?

Braden really had eight children and wrote a book with the same title; Dick Van Patten played his fictional counterpart.

In which California city was Eight Is Enough set?

Tom Bradford wrote a column for the fictional Sacramento Register.

Which producing team made the 1974 Saturday-morning series Land of the Lost?

Sid and Marty Krofft, the puppeteer brothers behind H.R. Pufnstuf, produced it for NBC; the Marshall family faced stop-motion dinosaurs and lizard-like Sleestak.

In Kung Fu, Kwai Chang Caine roams the Old West searching for whom?

His half-brother Danny: Caine, a Shaolin monk played by David Carradine, searched the American West for Danny Caine, his American father's other son, while fleeing Chinese imperial agents.

WKRP in Cincinnati creator Hugh Wilson based the station on which real Atlanta Top 40 outlet?

WQXI, Atlanta's 'Quixie in Dixie', was where Hugh Wilson's advertising job put him among the DJs and salesmen he later turned into the WKRP staff.

Which 1976-85 CBS sitcom set at Mel's Diner was based on a Martin Scorsese film?

Alice, adapted from Scorsese's 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, starred Linda Lavin as widow Alice Hyatt waiting tables at Mel's Diner in Phoenix for nine seasons.

How many Primetime Emmys did the drama Lou Grant win during its 1977-82 run?

13 Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series in 1979 and 1980; Ed Asner became the first person to win Emmys for the same character in both comedy and drama.

Who replaced Michael Douglas for the final season of The Streets of San Francisco?

Richard Hatch, later Apollo on Battlestar Galactica, joined as Inspector Dan Robbins in 1976; Karl Malden stayed on through the 1976-77 final season of the Quinn Martin series.