Week of September 27: Going Back In Time

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Once again, retro has become quite modern on television.

The success of cable's "Mad Men" has triggered a couple of new shows about - well, the old - on networks: NBC's "The Playboy Club" and ABC's "Pan Am." Like "Mad Men," both shows cover the early 1960s.

When times are difficult, television networks are usually more eager to air shows that go back to what was seemingly a simpler time. The popularity of Westerns both on television and in the movies coincided with the height of the Cold War. Unlike individuals depending on their governments not to push the nuclear button, townspeople in Westerns could usually work things out for themselves, or have the sheriff do it for them.

During the first two decades of television, there were otherwise a few shows set in other decades ("The Untouchables," which was set during the Prohibition era, is a famous example.). During the 1970s, when the news was full of stories about the Vietnam War, Watergate and economic problems, some of the best shows went back in time.

The first two on the air debuted on CBS during the fall of 1972 - "The Waltons" and "M*A*S*H."

Technically, "The Waltons" actually debuted in 1971 with the holiday television movie "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story." The excellent ratings prompted CBS to give the green light to Earl Hamner's fictionalized series about growing up with his family in the Virginia mountains during the Depression. Until the show started losing cast members - Richard Thomas (John-Boy) and Michael Learned (Olivia) left, Ellen Corby (Esther "Grandma" Walton) suffered a stroke and Will Geer (Zeb "Grandpa" Walton) died - audiences loved it. It ran until 1982.

"M*A*S*H," set during the Korean War and based on the Academy Award-nominated film, got off to a wobbly start on television; early episodes tried to copy the movie's hijinks and the show was in danger of early cancellation. But then this comedy got serious, with stellar writing, acting and storylines, and lasted 11 seasons.

"Happy Days," celebrating the mid-1950s, debuted on ABC as a mid-season replacement in January, 1974 - and as a spinoff of a segment of another ABC hit, "Love, American Style." Starring Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham, Henry Winkler as Arthur "Fonz" Fonzarelli, Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham and Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham, the show soon shot to Number 1 in the ratings and became a national phenomenon. It also triggered two spinoffs - "Laverne & Shirley," also set in the 1950s, and "Mork and Mindy," set in the 1978 year it debuted. It's also possible that "Happy Days" started more film careers than any other show in television history; besides Howard, who has excelled as a director, future fellow Oscar winners Robin Williams and Tom Hanks guest-starred on the show, as did future film director Penny Marshall. Here's Williams' introduction as Mork, along with Winkler and Howard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6S9IEAE_s0&feature=related


On American television, World War II has been a more popular topic for miniseries than weekly series (Although ABC did try with "Homefront" from 1991-93.).
An exception was the comedy series "Hogan's Heroes," (CBS, 1965-71), although the capers of Hogan (Bob Crane) and his buddies had nothing on the horrific real-life experiences of Holocaust survivor Robert Clary, who played LeBeau.

The British have done better with World War II, and one of the most popular exports, via PBS, is the mystery series "Foyle's War," which first aired in 2002. A new batch of episodes may come sometime soon showing retired Hastings Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) now battling the Cold War bad guys; show creator Anthony Horowitz is writing episodes set in 1946.

All mentioned series are available on DVD.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!