Our Least Favorite TV Shows From The 70s
Television shows are supposed to take the edge off and allow you to relax after a long and stressful day. They’re not supposed to make you cringe because of the bad humor and questionable hosts. Although the 1970s were full of some critically-acclaimed shows, there are some that didn’t make it past one season, with some not even making it as far as five episodes!
Trust us when we say these shows are going to bring back memories you wish you kept buried. There’s a good reason you forgot about these 1970s television shows!
Another Day
Another Day was an American sitcom starring David Groth and Joan Hackett. The plot revolved around Groth’s character, a typical middle-class man who is the sole provider for his family. That is, until the family realizes they’re broke and Hackett’s character, Ginny, gets a job. It’s not hard to believe that the show was canceled after four episodes.
The premise sounds like something out of the play “Death of a Salesman.” Which is saying something considering that play was set in the 1940s while this show is in the ’70s. The series, if we can call it that, drew very low ratings and CBS canceled it.
Dog And Cat
Dog and Cat is noted as the first lead role Kim Basinger had after her modeling career. She played the character of J.Z Kane, a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department who winds up partnering with Sargent Jack Ramsey, played by Lou Antonio.
The show is widely remembered for the car Basinger’s character drove, a souped-up Volkswagon Bettle with a Porsche engine. If a car is the best thing a TV show is known for, then it’s kind of obvious why it went off the air in 1977. Dog and Cat, a slang term for a male and female cop partnership, ran for a total of six episodes.
Flatbush
The American sitcom Flatbush, only ran for three weeks because the ethnic stereotypes in the show were so offensive. Six episodes were produced for the initial season but only three aired before it was pulled. The series followed five recent high school graduates living in Flatbush, a section of Brooklyn, NY, figuring out their new positions in the workforce.
Joseph Cali, Adrian Zmed, Vincent Bufano, Randy Stumpf, and Sandy Helberg starred in the show. Their characters called themselves the “Fungos” as they roamed around their neighborhood in search of fun and excitement.
Flying High
Another show trying to play off of the success fo Charlies Angels fell flat. Flying High was meant to “follow the lives of three sexy flight attendants who work for Sun West Airlines in Low Angeles.” The show starred Kathyrn Witt, Connie Sellecca, and Pat Klous, three women who were recruited from a New York Modeling agency.
Poor reviews and stereotypical writing for female characters doomed this show from the very first episode. The comedy-drama aired on CBS from August 28, 1978, to January 23, 1979, showcasing 18 episodes and one TV movie.
Gemini Man
Gemini Man was an action-adventure drama that aired on NBC in 1976. The premise of the show was based on H.G. Wells’ science fiction novel, The Invisible Man, and it was supposed to replace the previous season of a show with that same title. What’s sad, is that the plot of the show is actually quite interesting.
It follows secret agent Sam Casey who was exposed to radiation in an underwater explosion, making him invisible. It was not well received by audience viewers. And even though they had produced 11 episodes, only five aired before the show was ultimately canceled.
Get Christie Love!
Even though people think the show received major backlash primarily due to the portrayal of an African-American heroine detective, the show did not get good reviews overall. One reviewer said, “Despite some fight scenes and car chases that attract some attention, the pace seemed mostly dreary and I almost fell asleep before the end.”
The show was based on Dorothy Uhnak’s crime-thriller novel The Ledger, starring Teresa Graves as detective Christie Love. Unfortunately, even with a killer catchphrase like “You’re under arrest, sugha,” the show was canceled after one season of 23 episodes.
Holmes And Yoyo
It might have been a bad idea to name a show Holmes and Yoyo and not have Holmes’ first name be Sherlock. Calling him Alexander was just setting up for failure from the get-go. The show follows the detective and his android partner, Yoyo, on their adventures as Holmes teaches Yoyo what it’s like to be human, all while keeping Yoyo’s true nature a secret.
Holmes and Yoyo is considered to be one of the worst television series ever made, ranked number 33 on TV Guides “List of 50 Worst TV Shows Of All Time.” It ran for 13 episodes before canceling altogether.
Adam’s Rib
Considering Adam’s Rib is based on the 1949 film with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, you’d think it would have had better reception. The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, after all! Unfortunately, the TV adaptation did not follow suit, and the conflicting husband and wife lawyers were only on screen for 13 episodes.
The show loosely follows the film, setting Adam and Amanda Bonner as a defense attorney and a junior partner in a law firm, respectively. Their jobs often put them in conflicts in the courtroom and therefore also at home, due to Amanda’s women’s rights crusade.
Me And The Chimp
Producers Garry Marshall and Thomas Miller would later have successful careers from Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, but one of their first television series attempts was a bust. Me and the Chimp is a sitcom about a family who takes in a Chimp named Buttons after he fails out of the space program, a premise that could potentially be funny if done correctly.
One reviewer said, “The show just wasn’t funny. I remember feeling uncomfortable just watching it.” The 3.4/10 IMDb rated chimpanzee show was canceled after, somehow, airing thirteen episodes.
The Brady Bunch Hour
Honestly, The Brady Bunch Hour was a smart idea, especially with the rise of improv popularity that came from SNL. The variety show featured skits and songs and starred the original cast of the much loved Brady Bunch, with the exception of Eve Plumb who was replaced by Geri Reischl — a.k.a “Fake Jan.”
The show was actually well-received when it first aired in 1976. Unfortunately, due to sporadic scheduling throughout the first season, the ratings were inconsistent. Instead, they would air a promo with Reed and Henderson saying, “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour won’t be seen this week, but we will be back again soon.” Only nine episodes aired.
Supertrain
Supertrain was, at the time, the most expensive series that ever aired in the United States. NBC paid $10 million for three sets of trains, all different sizes. Which makes sense, considering the premise of the show was based around a nuclear-powered bullet train that was equipped with all of the luxuries that bare a closer resemblance to a cruise ship.
Although it was highly promoted, the show received poor reviews and ratings. It probably didn’t help that its two-hour premiere was around the same time as Charlie’s Angels two-hour special. The show was just too popular! Supertrain only lasted nine episodes.
Co-Ed Fever
Just another ’70s show trying to capitalize off of a movie idea, CBS’s Co-Ed Fever tried to take the ideas of National Lampoon’s Animal House and throw them into a tv series. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones, with ABC and NBC whipping up their own shows revolving around college co-eds.
Only one episode of the show aired in the US, “Pepperoni Passion,” right after the airing of the critically acclaimed movie Rocky. The series was canceled during the first airing, even though they had filmed six episodes, as a result of low ratings and viewer complaints about censorship issues.
Who’s Watching The Kids?
Gaining custody of your younger sibling and then moving to Las Vegas to become a showgirl is just asking for a disaster. Who’s Watching the Kids? follows the story of two showgirls, Stacy Turner and Angie Vitola, who have dreams of making it big in Las Vegas. In the meantime, they’re juggling work at Club Sand Pile and taking care of/raising their respective younger siblings, Melissa and Scott.
You’d think that producer Garry Marshall would stop with the “Vegas showgirl” storyline after a few failed attempts, but alas, he didn’t, and Who’s Watching the Kids was canceled after 15 episodes.
Mr. T and Tina
Mr. T and Tina was a sitcom and spin-off from a character, Taro Takahashi, who appeared in one episode of Welcome Back, Kotter. The show follows the widowed Japanese inventor who, with his uncle and sister-in-law, moves from Tokyo to Chicago to set up a branch of his employer, Moyati Industries. Takahashi’s most notable inventions include underpants with a built-in transistor radio and the “flash in a can,” a coin-operated sunlamp in a restroom.
What was supposed to be a sitcom came off as stereotypical and bigoted, even for the ’70s. The show was canceled after five episodes.
