Playlists > Classic Comedy Shows

Classic Comedy Shows
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A playlist of my favorite, classic comedy shows from various decades


Creator: Arcangel2020
Posted: 3 years ago
 
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TV Show: All in the Family ( 1971 )
All in the Family centered around the Bunker family who lived in a home located at 704 Houser Street in Queens, New York. Archie Bunker was the main character, and what a character he was. He was televisons most famous bigot, crass and down right rude. Yet he was loveable, with a soft side just beneath the surface. Edith Bunker was his somewhat dizzy wife whom he called "Dingbat". Edith put up with Archie and had qualities about her that made her one of television's most unforgetable characters. Also living in the Bunker household were Archie and Edith's daughter, Gloria, and her husband Mike, or "Meathead".
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TV Show: One Day at a Time ( 1975 )
The struggles of a 1970s single mother raising two teenage daughters gets its first TV slot with this instant hit sitcom.
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TV Show: Happy Days ( 1974 )
Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the 1950's, Happy Days revolves around Richie Cunningham and his family and friends. A "wholesome" young man, Richie is a Jefferson High School student who would do anything to get a date and he spends plenty of time with his friends at Arnold's, the local burger joint. Contrasting with his wholesome nature is Arthur Fonzarelli, best known as Fonzie, a rough-around-the-edges motorcycle riding high school dropout famous for his slicked hair, leather jacket, and the catchphrase "aaayyyy!" Fonzie is a regular around the Cunningham house, with Mrs. Cunningham doting on him and Richie turning to him for advice on how to attract girls.
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TV Show: Good Times ( 1974 )
Money was scare, but laughs and love were abundant for Florida, her hard-working husband James, and their three kids living in the projects of South Side Chicago. From the outrageous antics of budding artist J.J., to the romantic dramas of sister Thelma and pint-sized Michael's activist causes, these parents had their hands full.
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TV Show: Taxi ( 1978 )
The classic sitcom that zeros in on a group of New York City cab drivers. Lording over Alex, Bobby, Elaine, Tony, John, and Latka is the one and only Louie De Palma. The snide and surly taxi dispatcher, from the safety of his dispatcher's cage, barks orders, hurls insults, and mercilessly berates the diverse and eccentric characters who drive for him. Along the way, they form a special bond, becoming friends and helping each other navigate the sometimes crazy road called life.
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TV Show: The Jeffersons ( 1975 )
Set in a high-rise apartment building in the heart of New York City, the show spun around George, a classic character portrait of vanity, arrogance, and petty prejudice. Balanced by the more level-headed but just as strong-willed Weezy, George's self-serving abrasiveness struck comic gold, particularly in the second season, when the show's style had been set but was still fresh. Episodes tackled subjects trivial (George and Tom wear the same tacky dinner jacket to a party) and trenchant (a country club invites George to join, but only so that a newspaper reporter will think the club is open to minorities). The black and white mix of the cast allowed for a sharply satirical take on race relations, which managed to have a genuine sense of hope while never glossing over the complexity of racial tension--and was consistently funny. In fact, it's striking how well the show's humor holds up; The Jeffersons turned a series of half-hour farces into a sly examination of marriage, race, class, and the battle of the sexes; it's sad that so few contemporary sitcoms have this kind of intelligence, courage, and sheer talent.
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TV Show: The Young Ones ( 1982 )
Anarchic sitcom about degenerate North London students in the 80s.
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TV Show: Maude ( 1972 )
Maude was a sitcom with topical storylines created by producer Norman Lear. The program was a spin-off of All In the Family, on which Beatrice Arthur had made two appearances as the character of Maude, Edith Bunker's cousin.The show revolves around Maude Findlay, a very outspoken middle-class woman who wears her liberal politics on her sleeve and shares her home in suburban Tuckahoe, N.Y., with fourth husband Walter; her divorced daughter, Carol; and Carol's adolescent son, Phillip. Walter and Maude's best friends are next-door neighbors Dr. Arthur and Vivian Harmon. Among the domestic help that Maude helps "liberate" during the run of the show are Florida Evans and Mrs. Nell Naugatuck.
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TV Show: The Mary Tyler Moore Show ( 1970 )
The Mary Tyler Moore Show was one of the most literate, realistic, and enduring situation comedies of the 1970s. Mary Richards was the idealized single career woman. She had come to Minneapolis after breaking up with a man she had been dating for four years. Ambitious, and looking for new friends, she moved into an older apartment building and went to work as an assistant producer of the local news show on television station WJM-TV. In her early 30s, Mary symbolized the independent woman of the 1970s.
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TV Show: Rhoda ( 1974 )
In this spinoff of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary's friend Rhoda moves out on her own and gets her own show.
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TV Show: Three's Company ( 1977 )
Three's Company was a groundbreaking comedy series that tripped and jiggled through a world of slapstick pratfalls and some of the most scandalously titillating comedy America had ever seen, and hasn't seen since.
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TV Show: Laverne & Shirley ( 1976 )
This spin-off of the classic sitcom Happy Days focused on Milwaukee's Sweethearts, Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney, two lower class girls who shared an apartment and worked together at Shotz Brewery as bottle-cappers. The two girls were as different as night and day: Laverne was feisty, quick-tempered and man-hungry while Shirley was more naive and trusting and quite inexperienced when it came to romance. The two shared their apartment building with Leonard "Lenny" Kosnowski and Andrew "Squiggy" Squigman, two wannabe greasers who always visited at the most inconvenient times and drove the girls insane. The girls hung out at the Pizza Bowl, a local pizza restaurant/bowling alley owned by Laverne's boisterous father Frank. The characters moved to Burbank, California during the show's sixth season, and Cindy Williams departed the series as Shirley during its eighth. The show remains a popular staple of syndication.
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TV Show: Mork & Mindy ( 1978 )
Mork & Mindy is a spin-off from an episode of Happy Days seen in February 1978, in which an alien from the planet Ork lands on Earth and attempts to kidnap Richie. Mork is a misfit on his own planet because of his sense of humor, so the humorless Orkans send him off to study Earthlings, whose 'crazy' customs they had never been able to understand. Mork lands, in a giant eggshell, near Boulder, Colorado and is befriended by pretty Mindy McConnell, a clerk at a music store run by her father. Mork looks human, but his strange mixture of Orkan and Earthling customs leads most people to think of him as a nut.
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TV Show: Barney Miller ( 1975 )
Barney Miller is the kind of cop we'd all like to run into. He is always sensible. He maintains order over a squad room of detectives who gamble for a hobby, get hit on by anything in skirts, go to renaissance philosophy conventions for fun, and would really prefer to be writing.
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TV Show: Police Squad! ( 1982 )
Police Squad! was a parody of the Quinn Martin Productions' police dramas of the 1960s and 1970s, hence the use of "In Color" by the narrator. The show's main staple of entertainment came from sight gags (such as a tow truck being a truck in the shape of a big toe) and misunderstandings in dialogue, mostly from people taking things extremely literally. Several great routines came from these misunderstandings that left characters in the scene very confused, but left the audience with loads of humor.
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TV Show: Chico and the Man ( 1974 )
A short-lived comedic TV show from the 1970s, Chico and the Man followed the ups and downs of two guys from wildly different backgrounds as they worked in a gas station together.
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TV Show: The Brady Bunch ( 1969 )
The Brady Bunch tells the story of Carol, a single mother of three girls – Marcia, Jan and Cindy and architect Mike Brady, a single father of three boys – Greg, Peter and Bobby who get married and blend the two families into one. Added to the mix are housekeeper Alice and dog Tiger. The Bradys' experience the same obstacles as any family, from adjusting to their new extended family, to sibling rivalry.
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TV Show: The Facts of Life ( 1979 )
A group of girls attending a boarding school experience the joys and the trials of adolescence under the guiding hand of housemother Edna Garrett. Later in the series, Mrs. Garrett is promoted to school dietician, and four of the girls move into new quarters above the cafeteria. Eventually she leaves the school and opens her own business, with help from her girls.
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TV Show: Quark ( 1977 )
Quark is an American science fiction sitcom set on a United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser, an interstellar garbage scow operating out of United Galaxies Space Station Perma One in the year 2226. Adam Quark, the main character, works to clean up trash in space by collecting "space baggies" with his trusted and highly unusual crew.
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TV Show: Sanford and Son ( 1972 )
Sanford and Son is about the misadventures of a cantankerous old man and his son, partners in the family junk business in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood. While the role of Fred G. Sanford was known for his bigotry and cantankerousness, the role of Lamont Sanford was that of a conscientious peacemaker. At times, both characters would involve themselves in schemes. Known for its edgy racial humor, running gags and catch phrases, the series was adapted by Norman Lear and considered NBC's answer to CBS's All in the Family. Sanford and Son has been hailed as the precursor to many other African American sitcoms.
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TV Show: Too Close for Comfort ( 1980 )
Henry and Muriel Rush are owners of a two-family house in Mill Valley, California. Henry is a conservative cartoonist who authors a comic strip called Cosmic Cow. During scenes in which Henry draws in his bedroom, Knight used his earlier acquired ventriloquism talents for comical conversations with a hand-puppet version of "Cosmic Cow." Muriel is a laid back freelance photographer, having been a band singer in her earlier days. They have two grown children, older daughter brunette Jackie who works for a bank and younger daughter Sara, a blonde bombshell and a college student at San Francisco State University.
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TV Show: The Munsters ( 1964 )
The Munsters is just your typical American family of Monsters. Herman works for an undertaker. Lily is a homemaker. Marilyn is the daughter of Lily's sister who lives with them and has problems keeping boyfriends once they see her parents. Eddie is just a typical schoolboy with werewolf tenancies. Grandpa is hundreds of years old and the Count from Transylvania. They deal with the normal problems of a family in unique ways.
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TV Show: The Addams Family ( 1964 )
The Addams Family is the creation of American cartoonist Charles Addams. A satirical inversion of the ideal of the perfect American nuclear family, they are an eccentric wealthy family who delight in everything grotesque and macabre, and are never really aware that people find them bizarre or frightening. In fact, they themselves are often terrified by "normal" people.
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TV Show: Welcome Back, Kotter ( 1975 )
A compassionate teacher returns to his inner city high school of his youth to teach a new generation of trouble making kids.
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TV Show: Alice ( 1976 )
Alice was based on the 1975 film, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. After her husband, Donald, was killed in a truck accident, Alice Hyatt and her 12-year-old son, Tommy, moved out of their home in New Jersey and headed for Hollywood. Alice's dream was to become a singer but for the time being she got work as a waitress in a greasy spoon, Mel's Diner after her car breaks down in Phoenix. Mel was gruff and demanding and constantly bossing his three waitresses around. The other two waitresses, in the beginning were Flo and Vera. Flo was the man-hungry southern belle, who's favorite saying was "Kiss My Grits." The other waitress, Vera, was shy and quiet and somewhat, as Mel put it, "dingy." Flo left in 1980 for her own series and was replaced by Belle who was later replaced by Jolene.
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TV Show: The Golden Girls ( 1985 )
The Golden Girls follows four South Florida seniors sharing a house, their dreams, and a whole lot of cheesecake. Bright, promiscuous, clueless, and hilarious, these lovely mismatched ladies form the perfect circle of friends.
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TV Show: It's a Living ( 1980 )
It's a Living takes place at a posh restaurant, Above the Top which is located on the top floor of a California high rise hotel. This series originally began in October of 1980 on ABC and ran for one season. ABC must have had faith in the show for it returned the following season under a new title, Making a Living. After that everyone thought they had seen the last of it, but in 1985, It's a Living restarted production for an additional four seasons which ran in syndication. The stories revolved around the waitresses (who've included: Lois, Jan, Dot, Cassie, Vicki, Maggie, Amy and Ginger) their boss and hostess, Nancy, and the piano man Sonny.
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TV Show: Soap ( 1977 )
Soap is an outrageous comedy saga serializing the hilarious exploits of the characters in two unusual families. Meet the Tates and the Campbells, two families who have relationships as complex as those in a Russian novel. But the fun is in the unraveling.The well-to-do Tate family is comprised of Chester Tate the father, and Jessica, the mother, the parents of three children. Their two daughters, Corinne and Eunice, have distinctly different personalities. Their son, Billy, compared to the rest of the family, is the only sane member of the group, according to Benson, their hired employee who knows everything about everyone. The witty Benson does his best to hold the family together. Living with the Tate family is Jessica's father, referred to as the Major -- who doesn't quite believe that World War II is over.On the other side of town lives Mary Dallas Campbell, Jessica Tate's younger sister. Mary is wed to Burt Campbell who is not as prosperous a breadwinner as Chester. Mary's former husband, Johnny Dallas, has passed on, leaving her with two sons, Danny and Jodie. The older son, Danny, does not quite see eye-to-eye with his stepfather, and while the rest of the family knows Jodie is gay, Danny just thinks Jodie has a wonderful sense of humor.
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TV Show: ALF ( 1986 )
One starry night in 1986, the Tanner family get an unexpected houseguest - a furry, four-foot-high Alien Life Form they call ALF, who quickly becomes part of the family.
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TV Show: Love, American Style ( 1969 )
Love, American Style is a comedic television anthology. Each week, the show featured unrelated stories of romance, usually with a comedic spin. Episodes featured different characters, stories, and locations. The show often featured the same actors playing different characters in many episodes. In addition, a large, ornate brass bed was a recurring prop in many episodes. Charles Fox's delicate yet hip music score, featuring flutes, harp, and flugelhorn set to a contemporary pop beat, provided the "love" ambiance which tied the stories together as a multifaceted romantic comedy each week.
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TV Show: Get Smart ( 1965 )
In 1965 the cold war was made a little warmer and a lot funnier due in part to the efforts of an inept, underpaid, overzealous spy: Maxwell Smart, Agent 86. The hit comedy series Get Smart is the creation of comic geniuses Buck Henry and Mel Brooks.
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TV Show: I Dream of Jeannie ( 1965 )
I Dream of Jeannie is an American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show featured a 2,000-year-old genie and an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries.
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TV Show: The Monkees ( 1966 )
The Monkees follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers.
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TV Show: The Three Stooges ( 1934 )
Watch as Moe, Larry and Curly go through life the only way a stooge can, with laughs and a lot of mischief.
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TV Show: The Wonder Years ( 1988 )
Set in 1968-1973, the series tackles the social issues and historic events of that time through the eyes of main character Kevin Arnold. Kevin also deals with typical teenage social issues, including those prompted by his main love interest, Winnie Cooper, as well as typical family troubles. The story is narrated by an older, wiser Kevin, describing what is happening and what he learned from his experiences in an alternately nostalgic and ironic tone.
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TV Show: The Little Rascals ( 1922 )
Television syndication package of the classic 1929-1938 shorts from the "Our Gang Comedies" movie series.The Little Rascals, also known as "Our Gang", was an American comedy series about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they shared together. It began as a series of short films in the 1920s, and was brought to television in the 1950s. The first short aired 09/01/1922.The syndicated TV series package aired in 1955.The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection spans the years of 1929-1938. This collections contains all 80 of the original Little Rascals theatrical talkies.
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TV Show: The Partridge Family ( 1970 )
It's TV's favorite family of rock 'n 'rollers, who hit the road in their groovy bus and turn the world on to the catchy pop songs such as "I Think I Love You", "I Woke Up In Love This Morning", and "Somebody Wants to Love You". The Partridge Family's six members feature mom Shirley and her five kids: Keith, Laurie, Danny, Tracy and Chris. And who can forget the Partridge's frequently exasperated manager Reuben Kincaid, who would become an important member of their family whether he liked it or not?
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TV Show: Till Death Us Do Part ( 1966 )
Till Death Us Do Part is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. First airing as a Comedy Playhouse pilot, the show aired in seven series until 1975. Six years later, ITV continued the sitcom, calling it Till Death.... From 1985 to 1992, the BBC produced a sequel In Sickness and in Health.Created by Johnny Speight, Till Death Us Do Part centred on the East End Garnett family, led by patriarch Alf Garnett (Warren Mitchell), a reactionary white working-class man who holds racist and anti-socialist views. His long-suffering wife Else was played by Dandy Nichols, and his daughter Rita by Una Stubbs. Rita's husband Mike Rawlins (Anthony Booth) is a socialist layabout. The character Alf Garnett became a well known character inBritish culture, and Mitchell played him on stage and television up until 1998, when Speight died.
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TV Show: Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp ( 1970 )
A member of pop band Evolution Revolution, Lancelot Link is called upon by the Agency to Prevent Evil (APE), in their ongoing fight against CHUMP.
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TV Show: The Love Boat ( 1977 )
Each week, passengers looking for romance board the beautiful Pacific Princess cruise ship as it sails to tropical and exotic lands. Captain Stubing, Julie, Gopher, Dr. Adam, and Isaac help them to get the most out of their trips and do their best to help them fall in love.
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TV Show: The Odd Couple ( 1970 )
Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy? This TV adaptation of Neil Simon's classic play deserves its place among the best-known and funniest sitcoms of the 1970s.
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TV Show: The Beverly Hillbillies ( 1962 )
An instant hit, the rural comedy was the ultimate fish-out-of-water story. The Clampett family strikes it rich in oil and move from their mountain cabin in the Ozark Mountains to the upscale neighborhood of Beverly Hills. Each hilarious episode revolves around the culture clash between the "uncivilized" Clampetts and the "civilized" culture of their elitist neighbors.
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TV Show: Bewitched ( 1964 )
Bewitched starts off with a simple married couple; but what we soon find out is that Samantha, Darrin's wife, is a witch! Although they agree that Sam is not to use witchcraft now that they are married, a problem always seems to crop up and Samantha always resorts to spells. Things become even more complicated when Endora, Samantha's witch mother, starts to interfere.
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TV Show: Eight Is Enough ( 1977 )
The comedy-drama chronciled the lives of the Bradford family. Consisting of father Tom (a columnist for a Sacramento newspaper), mother Joan and their eight children: Mary, David, Joanie, Nancy, Elizabeth, Susan, Tommy and Nicholas. After Joan's death, Tom met teacher Abby, and they were married to make the family ten once more.
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TV Show: Benson ( 1979 )
Benson Dubois is the assistant to his state's governor in this "Soap" spinoff.
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TV Show: Green Acres ( 1965 )
New York lawyer Oliver Wendell Douglas longs for a simpler way of life. So he buys a farm, sight unseen, and moves there to live off the land, much to the chagrin of his socialite wife, Lisa. The collision of small-town life and Lisa's sophisticated ways -- she insists on wearing full-length gowns and ostentatious jewelry, even on the farm -- provide much of the humor in the show.
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TV Show: Hot Metal ( 1986 )
The Daily Crucible is facing its final edition; its straight-forward, totally-honest approach to reporting the news has won it much attention, but made it deadly dull and with ever-diminishing sales figures.Enter Twiggy Rathbone, tycoon owner of Rathouse International who's ready to turn the high-brow paper into a popular, sleazy, high-selling tabloid. He installs editor Russell Spam to do his bidding and 'promotes' the incumbent, Harry Stringer, to the role of 'managing editor' - a largely vanity role but holding what will become an increasingly difficult public face of respectability...
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TV Show: Murphy Brown ( 1988 )
Murphy Brown is the star reporter on a news magazine show called FYI. She lives in a townhouse that she is having repainted; Eldin the painter may never finish the job. Jim Dial is the uptight senior anchor, a seasoned veteran. Frank is a single guy and constantly looking for a girlfriend, he is also Murphy's best friend. Corky is a former Miss America turned newsperson, she covers all the "hard" news. 
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TV Show: Night Court ( 1984 )
A young and unusual judge arrives in Manhattan's Night Court and begins deciding cases in a most unusual manner, much to the horror of his court clerk and all else in the courtroom.
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TV Show: The Lucy Show ( 1962 )
The Lucy Show was an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962–68. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy.
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TV Show: Dear John... ( 1988 )
John Lacey joins a support group for divorced and widowed people.
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TV Show: SCTV Network 90 ( 1981 )
After a successful Canadian run as Second City TV on Global and SCTV on CBC, the cast packed up and moved to America (theoretically) when NBC offered them a timeslot under the title SCTV Network 90. With them, they brought their unique, quirky characters, their personalities, and the shows they had appeared on. Dick Blasucci had begun writing for the cast in their second series, SCTV, and joined them here, serving as a recurring straight man for the characters. Tony Rosato and Robin Duke wrote scripts at the beginning of the show as they had before, until quickly leaving to write and perform for Saturday Night Live. The appeal of SCTV Network 90, however, doesn't only come from the writing, but from the sheer wit of its legendary stars.
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TV Show: Kate & Allie ( 1984 )
Free-spirited Kate McArdle and her more traditional childhood friend, Allie Lowell, two divorced women with children, decide to live together in the same house.
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TV Show: That Girl ( 1966 )
A perky aspiring actress tries to start a career in New York, getting encouragement from her boyfriend, Don, and her family. For many young women, Ann Marie was an independent role model for the times (the late '60s) for having left the nest in pursuit of a career. She also inspired trends in fashion with her flipped-up hairdo and cute, mod clothes.
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TV Show: Petticoat Junction ( 1963 )
The small farming community of Hooterville provided the setting for this highly successful rural situation comedy. Kate Bradley was the widowed owner of the only transient housing in town, the Shady Rest Hotel. Helping her run the hotel were her three beautiful daughters, Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo. Also assisting was the girls' lazy Uncle Joe, who had assumed the title of manager. In addition to her involvement with the hotel, the romantic lives of her daughters, and her association with the townspeople, Kate was constantly at odds with Homer Bedlow, vice-president of the C.F. & W. Railroad. Homer was determined to close down the steam-driven branch of the railroad that ran through Hooterville, scrap its lone engine (the Cannonball), and put its two engineers (Charlie Pratt and Floyd Smoot) out of jobs.
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TV Show: Archie Bunker's Place ( 1979 )
Archie opens up a tavern in Queens complete with a liberal new business partner Murray Klein.
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TV Show: The Muppet Show ( 1976 )
The Muppet Show is a half-hour variety show in which Kermit the Frog and the Muppets put on a weekly musical/comedy revue at the Muppet Theater. Unfortunately for them, things never quite go according to plan, for the Muppets or their weekly guest stars.
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TV Show: The Banana Splits Adventure Hour ( 1968 )
The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was an hour-long, packaged television variety program featuring The Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four funny animal characters. The costumed hosts of the show were Fleegle (guitar), Bingo (drums), Drooper (bass) and Snorky (keyboards).