Dragnet’s Cast Kept Changing Because Real Life Kept Intervening
TLDR: Dragnet became the template every television cop show since has copied in some form. Behind that template was a revolving door of partners for … Read more
Howard Hesseman Played a DJ Because He’d Actually Been One
TLDR: Howard Hesseman didn’t have to research what it felt like to be a burned-out counterculture radio DJ. He’d already lived it, right down to … Read more
Gordon Jump Played the Maytag Man, Then a Truly Dark Role
TLDR: Gordon Jump spent WKRP in Cincinnati as the lovable, bumbling boss everyone remembers fondly. A few years after the show ended, he took a … Read more
Loni Anderson Refused to Play the Dumb Blonde, Then Married Bigger
TLDR: Loni Anderson was a teenage bride and single mother years before anyone in Hollywood knew her name. She built Jennifer Marlowe specifically to subvert … Read more
Frank Bonner Cared More About Directing Than Wearing Plaid on WKRP
TLDR: Frank Bonner spent WKRP in Cincinnati playing the station’s perpetually unsuccessful, plaid-suited ad salesman, a character based on a real person creator Hugh Wilson … Read more
A Canadian Rock Band Wrote a Whole Song About Herb Tarlek
TLDR: A Toronto rock band once built an entire song around a plaid-suited fictional ad salesman from a 1970s American sitcom. Frank Bonner didn’t just … Read more
Norman Lear Built Four Hit Sitcoms From the Same Uncomfortable Idea
TLDR: Norman Lear spent one decade in the 1970s changing what network television was allowed to talk about. He built that entire run on a … Read more
Maude’s Most Famous Episode Aired Two Months Before Roe v. Wade
TLDR: Maude spent six seasons doing exactly what its network worried it might do too much of: making a sitcom out of subjects most shows … Read more
Bea Arthur Fought the Same Battle Twice, a Decade Apart
TLDR: Bea Arthur walked away from two hit shows for almost the exact same reason. Both times, she left on her own terms rather than … Read more
The Odd Couple’s Two Stars Were Closer Than Felix and Oscar
TLDR: Tony Randall and Jack Klugman spent five seasons playing two men who could barely stand living together. Off screen, they were the kind of … Read more
Room 222’s Principal Went On to Become a Windex-Wielding Dad
TLDR: Room 222 quietly broke real ground as one of the first network shows built around an integrated cast and a Black lead teacher. Decades … Read more
Rue McClanahan Played Bea Arthur’s Best Friend Twice Over
TLDR: Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur played best friends on television twice, a decade apart, on two completely different shows. By the time The Golden … Read more
Love, American Style Was Where Happy Days Actually Started
TLDR: Love, American Style never had a fixed cast at all, just a rotating troupe and hundreds of guest stars passing through five seasons of … Read more
Estelle Getty Played Bea Arthur’s Mother, But Was Actually Younger
TLDR: Estelle Getty spent decades as a working character actress before Broadway finally noticed her in her late fifties. She then spent seven years playing … Read more
Demond Wilson Traded Hollywood for the Pulpit, and Meant It
TLDR: Demond Wilson beat out Richard Pryor for the role of Lamont Sanford and made it look easy for six seasons. He’d already made a … Read more
Mackenzie Phillips Grew Up Inside a Rock Star’s House, Not a Sitcom
TLDR: Mackenzie Phillips played a rebellious teenager on television while living through something far harder off screen. Her own father, Mamas & the Papas founder … Read more