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Sixties American Sit-coms


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They were also very popular here.  They obviously had braiinstorming sessions to come up with an idea.  A hillbilly finds oil on his property, becomes a millionaire and moves to Hollywood sound a bit far fetched, but it was a huge hit in the sixties.  Then there was The Adams Family and its clone The Munsters.  About vampires, Frankenstein type monsters etc.  But both had fair runs.  But I think they hit rock bottom with "My Mother the Car" about a man whose mother was reincarnated as a car.  It ran for one series.  But possibly the worst, of which only one episode was broadcast was this:

about the home life of the Fuhrer, Eva Braun and their neighbours the Goldensteins.

“Few thought him even a starter.There were many who thought themselves smarter. But he ended PM, CH and OM. An Earl and a Knight of the Garter.”

Clement Attlee.

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35 minutes ago, Trojan said:

They were also very popular here.  They obviously had braiinstorming sessions to come up with an idea.  A hillbilly finds oil on his property, becomes a millionaire and moves to Hollywood sound a bit far fetched, but it was a huge hit in the sixties.  Then there was The Adams Family and its clone The Munsters.  About vampires, Frankenstein type monsters etc.  But both had fair runs.  But I think they hit rock bottom with "My Mother the Car" about a man whose mother was reincarnated as a car.  It ran for one series.  But possibly the worst, of which only one episode was broadcast was this:

about the home life of the Fuhrer, Eva Braun and their neighbours the Goldensteins.

Assuming you`re not being facetious, somebody has to break this to you, so it might as well be me. -

"Heil Honey I`m Home" was a British sitcom made in 1990 for a satellite TV station.

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In the 60s I lived in a country town that only had 1 channel so I've never seen a lot of the big US sitcoms from that period. I remember we had Lucy, Dick Van Dyke and My Three Sons. I remember Gilligan, F Troop, Bewitched, Get Smart, Beverly Hillbillies, McHales Navy, Mr Ed.

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I missed out on the Sixties sitcoms, but some of the Seventies and Eighties imports bring back a nostalgic glow. Especially Taxi.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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7 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Assuming you`re not being facetious, somebody has to break this to you, so it might as well be me. -

"Heil Honey I`m Home" was a British sitcom made in 1990 for a satellite TV station.

No one likes a smart ######

“Few thought him even a starter.There were many who thought themselves smarter. But he ended PM, CH and OM. An Earl and a Knight of the Garter.”

Clement Attlee.

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3 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

One obvious reason why American 60s sitcoms have enduring popularity over here is that they are extant.

Whereas most of the tapes of British 60s TV programmes were wiped.

well as a self confessed pedant I'd have thought you could tell the difference between "were" past participle and "are" present participle.  

I'm not sure these shows are still available, I was recalling them from the past.  The point I was trying to make is that the "sits" for these sitcoms became more and more far out.

A Hillbilly discovering oil , unlikely.  A railway line the company had forgotten existed (Petticoat Junction) unbelievable.   Two families of ghouls living in a modern city????   They make Mr Ed a talking horse seem normal.   Someone thought up these ideas, presumably as i said earlier and some brainstorming session.  So why not Adolph and Eva living in a flat?

 

“Few thought him even a starter.There were many who thought themselves smarter. But he ended PM, CH and OM. An Earl and a Knight of the Garter.”

Clement Attlee.

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28 minutes ago, Trojan said:

well as a self confessed pedant I'd have thought you could tell the difference between "were" past participle and "are" present participle.  

The past participle of the verb "to be" is "been". The present participle is "being".

In Britain, the tapes were wiped at the time so they could be reused. The richer American networks didn`t have to cut costs to the same extent, so they were able to preserve more of their archive.

57 minutes ago, Trojan said:

 The point I was trying to make is that the "sits" for these sitcoms became more and more far out.

A Hillbilly discovering oil , unlikely.  A railway line the company had forgotten existed (Petticoat Junction) unbelievable.   Two families of ghouls living in a modern city????   They make Mr Ed a talking horse seem normal.   

It`s possible that back then the line between adult TV and children`s TV wasn`t so sharply delineated. They just made shows for all the family.

In the UK, some of those 60s ITC adventure shows like Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) or The Champions were ostensibly aimed at adults, but had comic-book scenarios more suited to children.

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51 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

The past participle of the verb "to be" is "been". The present participle is "being".

In Britain, the tapes were wiped at the time so they could be reused. The richer American networks didn`t have to cut costs to the same extent, so they were able to preserve more of their archive.

It`s possible that back then the line between adult TV and children`s TV wasn`t so sharply delineated. They just made shows for all the family.

In the UK, some of those 60s ITC adventure shows like Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) or The Champions were ostensibly aimed at adults, but had comic-book scenarios more suited to children.

If I were you I'd re-study my grammar.

The programmes mentioned tended to go out at around six o' clock, "family viewing time"    Unlike "Robin Hood" or "The Buccaneer" which were mainly aimed at kids.

I was an adolescent during the time most of these programmes were shown, so I mainly watched "Petticoat Junction" and "Beverly Hillbillies" for the array of teenage females on view.

“Few thought him even a starter.There were many who thought themselves smarter. But he ended PM, CH and OM. An Earl and a Knight of the Garter.”

Clement Attlee.

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22 hours ago, Farmduck said:

In the 60s I lived in a country town that only had 1 channel so I've never seen a lot of the big US sitcoms from that period. I remember we had Lucy, Dick Van Dyke and My Three Sons. I remember Gilligan, F Troop, Bewitched, Get Smart, Beverly Hillbillies, McHales Navy, Mr Ed.

I remember most of those & enjoyed them. I don't recall McHale, or F Troop, or My 3 sons.

Gilligan's Island was hilarious for a 10yo. 

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48 minutes ago, Trojan said:

If I were you I'd re-study my grammar.

The programmes mentioned tended to go out at around six o' clock, "family viewing time"    Unlike "Robin Hood" or "The Buccaneer" which were mainly aimed at kids.

I was an adolescent during the time most of these programmes were shown, so I mainly watched "Petticoat Junction" and "Beverly Hillbillies" for the array of teenage females on view.

I think you might be confusing tenses with participles, but I`ll leave that there. Even a pedant should know when to stop.

An intriguing female presence could certainly help retain interest in any programme. I mentioned The Champions before. As a boy in the 70s, during it`s repeat runs, I was utterly mesmerized by Alexandra Bastedo.

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Anyone with a serious interest in sixties sitcoms should watch WANDAVISION a dark parody of American sitcoms.

 

Through the fish-eyed lens of tear stained eyes
I can barely define the shape of this moment in time(roger waters)

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just creeping in to the 70s was animated sit com "wait till your father gets home" which must surely be considered as a pre runner to the simpsons and family guy.

see you later undertaker - in a while necrophile 

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14 hours ago, Derwent said:

I remember one with Larry Hagman in, Dream of Jeanie or something like that.

"I Dream of Jeannie"

I saw something a while back in the Talking Pictures schedule called "Hey! Jeannie" which I thought might be a sequel, but it turns out it`s a sitcom from the 50s about a Scottish woman in New York. Which brings to mind Donald Trump`s mother.

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