In November 1969, my bedtime changed from 8:00 to 9:00, and I felt terribly grownup as I watched Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-0, It Takes a Thief -- and Love American Style.
It was an anthology show. Every episode had 3 vignettes about heterosexuals interested in having sex with each other. Bosses chased secretaries around the office. A plumber seduced a coed. A wrong number turned into romance.
Sex was on everyone's mind, the unspoken impetus to every action. No one ever had any, but they often planned to, as Hollywood mirrored the sexual revolution. In the end the traditional "no particulars until your wedding night" was affirmed.
Yet it was familiar and comfortable, due to the endless parade of guest stars that I knew and liked from other programs: Davy Jones, Bill Bixby, Don Grady, Ted Bessell, Tony Randall (left), Barry Gordon (below).
And I found:
1. Beautifully decorated apartments, groovy threads, a world of light and color.
3. Buddies. While the protagonist quested after girls, his quiet, loving best friend stayed home and waited. So wherever I went in life, at the end of the day there would be a man waiting.
See also: Love Boat/Fantasy Island
I remember being surprised while watching old episodes of LAS to see an episode titled something like "Love And The Happy Days," which was the pilot to Happy Days Ron Howard, Marion Ross, and I think, Anson Williams were the only ones who carried over into the series. You know, I'm addicted. I check this site almost every day to see if you've done a new posting. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYes, "Happy Days" was a direct spinoff of that episode combined with "American Graffiti." When it premiered in 1974, the 1950s were not very long ago, but the culture had changed dramatically, so anyone over 30 would look back on them with nostagia.
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