Revisiting the 1970s’ Big Changes for Small Screen

Cinema burst into full creative flower in the 1970s with young, innovative directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas challenging mainstream Hollywood movie making and forever altering the language of film.

Television also came of age during that decade. The small screen broke new ground exploring such controversial topics as the Vietnam war, racism, abortion and the pill. CBS canceled its rural comedies like “Green Acres” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” to make room for Norman Lear’s more urban-centered, slice-of-life comedies “All in the Family” and “Maude,” as well as the antiwar comedy “MASH.”

Besides groundbreaking television movies like “Brian’s Song,” “That Certain Summer” and “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” audiences embraced the miniseries format as they sat glued to sets watching the multi-episode dramas “Roots” and “Rich Man, Poor Man.”

This creative, remarkable era is explored Sunday night in ABC’s new Museum of Television & Radio special “The ‘70s: The Decade That Changed Television.”

“In the ‘60s we lost our innocence and in the ‘70s we realized it and began to enjoy it,” says veteran producer George Schlatter, who appears in the two-hour special.

Schlatter began the decade with his classic NBC comedy series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and ended the ‘70s with the granddaddy of reality series, NBC’s “Real People.”

“It was a wonderful, wonderful time. [“Laugh-In” star] Judy Carne stopped wearing a brassiere and Cher stopped wearing anything,” he says. Meanwhile, “ ‘Laugh-In’ proved you could be funny about anything. We could be funny about the war, about the pill. There was more experimentation then. Television is now controlled by six gigantic conglomerates, so you don’t have the passion of the individual we had in the ‘70s.”

The decade, echoes Robert Batscha, the president of the Museum of TV & Radio, “was a wonderfully experimental period of time when a new group of people came into television. It was a period of opening up. They were willing to try things.”

Television also reflected a lot of anger. “If you talk to Norman Lear, he’ll explain his creative period [as] he was angry,” says Batscha, a sentiment that certainly found a voice in “All in the Family’s” Archie Bunker. “He had a lot to say and a lot of issues on lots of subjects.”

The decade, Batscha believes, saw the breaking down of the homogeneity of American society. “You still had people who loved ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ and ‘Father Knows Best’ and wanted a calmer life. You had ‘Little House on the Prairie’ and ‘The Waltons’ for people who wanted that from life.

“But there were people who wanted to break what was perceived to be barriers--even into the news with ’60 Minutes,’ ” Batscha adds.

“People who wanted to experiment, to challenge the role of women, the role of minorities in American society. Television began to realize that we are a heterogeneous society. People did want to be able to switch from channel to channel to one kind of programming to another and experiment.”

Though television did change dramatically during the ‘70s, Batscha says, “I am not sure that the changes and experimentation that took place have sustained themselves. I am not sure either how to make a value judgment as to why it is the case. [But] the country hasn’t stayed the same either.”

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The special is divided into six acts exploring the diversity and depth of programming of the decade:

* “Groundbreaking Sitcoms of the ‘70s,” hosted by “MASH” star Mike Farrell, features clips from “All in the Family,” “Chico and the Man,” “MASH,” “Good Times” and “Sanford and Son” and interviews with Rob Reiner, Norman Lear, Larry Gelbart and Alan Alda.

* “Variety Shows in the ‘70s,” hosted by the Smothers Brothers, looks at “Laugh-In,” “The Sonny and Cher Show,” “The Flip Wilson Show,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” “The Richard Pryor Show” and “Saturday Night Live.”

* “Crime Shows,” hosted by Peter Falk, focuses on such detective series as “Hawaii Five-O,” “Columbo,” “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Kojak” and “Baretta” and features interviews with producers Stephen J. Cannell, Tom Fontana and Aaron Spelling.

* “The Changing Role of Women on Television,” hosted by Betty White, looks at “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Maude,” “Wonder Woman” and “Charlie’s Angels.”

* “Love and Sex,” hosted by John Ritter, features interviews with Times television critic Howard Rosenberg and Spelling, and includes clips from “Three’s Company,” “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” “Soap,” “The Love Boat” and “Rhoda.”

* “Family,” hosted by Melissa Gilbert, offers clips from “One Day at a Time,” “The Brady Bunch,” “Dallas,” “Family,” “The Little House on the Prairie” and “The Waltons,” as well as conversations with Rosenberg, Spelling and Suzanne Somers.

* “The ‘70s: The Decade That Changed Television” airs Sunday at 7 p.m. on ABC.