TV and its impact 70’S style, Part II – KICK ASS, CRIME FIGHTIN’, LIBERATED WOMEN RULE!

Whether it was a result of women’s lib or the feminist movement, no one can deny that 1970s TV had an abundance of kick-ass women on the tube. Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, Police Woman, Charlie’s Angels – badass babes taking out the bad guys and making the world a safer place for you and me. Oh, yes, these crime fightin’ foxes could take on you, me and all the fumbling villains that crossed their paths. Girl Power!

And then there were the smart, hard working, fast talking, take-no-shit women of prime time – Maude, Alice, Ann Romano of One Day at a Time, Rhoda, Phyllis. Most of these characters were women trying to make their way and find their own voice in a new world – a world where economic times were hard and being an independent woman was, at the very least, a challenge. These characters inevitably showed girls and women throughout the USofA that we really could make it on our own – complete with sassy dialogue.

As a testament to the draw of girl power on TV, three of the top five TV shows during the 1975-76 season were The Bionic Woman, Maude, and Laverne and Shirley.

Given, there was a lot of T&A involved in the success of some of these shows. But inevitably, for a young girl like myself, watching these empowered women kick butt and make it on their own gave me the notion that I too could take on the world – maybe not in the same manner as The Bionic Woman – but none-the-less, I believe ultimately they were positive roll models.

TV in 1977

Remember UHF? Our house LIVED by TV. My family was the first family on the block to have cable TV – AKA channel 13 – which showed ‘Logan’s Run’ over and over again. Re-runs of Hogan’s Heroes and Star Trek after school was a mainstay. Although there were so few channels to chose from in 1977, somehow we always fought over which shows we would watch. Color TV in the living room, B&W TV in the den, I always lost the fight and had to watch my favorite shows in black and white. I think the ONLY TV show we all watched together as a family was Happy Days – what family DIDN’T watch Happy Days in 1977?

TV Shows introduced in 1977:
The first Circus of the Stars is broadcast on CBS
Eight Is Enough and Three’s Company both premiere on ABC.
Soap premieres on ABC
CHiPs premieres on NBC
Lou Grant premieres on CBS
The Love Boat premieres on ABC
Pinwheel premieres on Nickelodeon making it the first Nickelodeon show.

Top TV Shows for 1977 – ABC dominates the top shows:
1. Laverne & Shirley ABC 31.6
2. Happy Days ABC 31.4
3. Three’s Company ABC 28.3
4. 60 Minutes CBS 24.4
5. Charlie’s Angels ABC 24.4

Last seasons for -The Bob Newhart Show, Six Million Dollar Man, The Carol Burnett Show, Maude, Police Woman, Barretta, Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Kojak, Chico and the Man, Mary Hartman and the Bionic Woman.