RIP George Jefferson- A look at 70's TV

Yesterday we lost a great man.  He's finally movin' on up to that deluxe apartment in the sky-y.  Rest in Peace, George Jefferson. 


To honor his great work done in the television industry, from sitcoms, to catch-phrases, to countless cameos, I'd like to take a moment to highlight one of the cornerstones of his time: 70's TV. 


I was fortunate enough to have a mother that opened my eyes to the joy of Nick-at-Nite back in the 90's with "Block Party Summer", featuring the Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy (yeah, I know that was the 50's, relax), Andy Griffith (also RIP), Gilligan's Island, Happy Days,  Bewitched, Diff'rent Strokes, The Jeffersons, and I Dream of Genie. This is just to name a few! Millenials really missed out on this era of television; wholesome plot lines, all-American family structure, fashion sense, and catchy theme songs. Let's explore what I learned: 


All in the Family:  Archie Bunker was the pioneer of the "acceptable-racism" model.  If you take an excessively ignorant, fat, and overly characteristic white man and put him as a counter-part to a sensitive, big-nosed, vocally cursed wife, and THEN you make them both play the piano and perform the theme song to their own show, that character can say whatever he wants.  Does this ring a bell? 

The Brady Bunch:  Here's the story of a lovely lady who really put her children in an awkward position when she moved them into a house at a hormonal age with 3 equally aged and hormonal boys they did not know and are now forced to call brothers...with a connecting bathroom...that didn't even have a toilet.  Is it just me, or did anyone else think Greg and Marcia had on-screen chemistry? You're telling me that with all the vulnerable middle child problems Jan had, she never questioned her identity, thinking of Peter as more than her brotherly counterpart (especially when his voice changed)? They're not blood related, after all. Thanks to this show I learned the term incest.  On an even more cynical note, I blame the Brady Bunch for all of my discontent and post-childhood psychological issues with my family life upbringing. I was forced to believe that the secret to a happy family was singing and dancing in unison.  None of the occurred and my attempts were stifled. But to end positively, I did learn the fundamentals of adolescent adjustment: 
When it's time to change you've got to rearrange who you are into what you're gonna be. 
                                -Aristotle  -Peter Brady

Gilligan's Island: Forget Castaway.  This sitcom should be the official spokes-show of the Boyscouts, exemplifying what it means to "Always be Prepared" for unforeseen survival in harsh conditions.  First things first: When you go on a three hour tour (a three hour tour) bring all of your clothes.  If you are as rich as the Howells, bring all of your riches.  If they hadn't brought all of their clothes, how would everyone (but Gilligan) have new clothes on each day?? Second: Pack light.  Maybe if they hadn't brought all of their clothes on a three hour tour (a three hour tour) their tiny ship, the S.S. Minnow, would have been stable enough to endure when the weather started getting rough.  Third:  Everyone has innate survival instincts such as how to wire coconut phones and build sturdy straw houses, regardless of electrical wiring and plumbing systems available on a deserted island.  It doesn't matter what you studied in college.  If you get shipwrecked, you just know how to do these things.  

Happy Days: Leather jackets: Cool.  Thumbs up: Cool.  Creepy tagline "AAYYY": Cool.  Dropping out of High School: Cool.  Richie Cunningham: Nerd...until no one remembers you because you're a really successful director.

All poking fun aside, my fondest memories of television come from watching Nick-at-Nite when I was a kid.  I yearn for the days of bell-bottoms, laugh-tracks, and a regular-old good time. Now I am faced with the same feeling of nostalgia, but utter reality, that comes with getting older.  Friends is on Nick-at-Nite.  Where has the time gone? 


RIP George Jefferson, Andy Griffith, Gary Coleman, Lucille Ball, Dezi Arnaz, Robert Reed, and all the other greats of my mother's childhood and mine.  Thanks for trying to pretend like you depicted reality, but really giving us something better than that: an escape from it all.