I’ve seen Top 10 lists before and they usually seem like they were thrown together haphazardly in order to meet an editor’s deadline. Well, this one was too, but only partly.
Shalhevet students are well-rounded in the academic sense but at what price? During the school year, we barely have time for 15-minute loops of Robot Chicken. My list of top 10 vintage T.V. shows has to meet certain criteria which ensure that by summer’s end, students will gain a strong hold on an important slice of American pop culture: TV shows and movies of the ‘70s.
We get that our parents don’t get us. They probably think Aziz Ansari is a kid in our class and Lady Gaga is just Madonna reincarnated. But when was the last time we tried to relate to our parents? This summer take the time to watch the classics our parents grew up with. I guarantee that by summer’s end the generation gap will shrink.
1. Alice
This late ‘70s sitcom combined fun and games with the harsh reality of single women trying to make a living working as waitresses in Mel’s Diner. In a Texan drawl, Flo hurls “kiss my grits!” at her sexist boss and simultaneously manages to be irreverent and funny. You can find a few episodes of this classic on YouTube.
2. All in the Family
Set in Astoria, New York, a blue collar neighborhood in Queens, this show was and still is the king of all sitcoms. The writing is superb and full of hilarious malapropisms. Regardless of when you tune in, you can always catch Archie Bunker, the all-American quintessential bigot at his funniest mouthing off. For example: “A woman should cleave into her husband. Right here in this house is where Edith’s cleavage belongs.”
3. Charade
In this 1963 film, the elegant Audrey Hepburn plays a widow who is pursued by Cary Grant because he wants the fortune her murdered husband stole. If the plot line sounds familiar, it’s probably because Shalhevet students have heard a similar one. This film really doesn’t meet any of my criteria but I had to include it because of Audrey Hepburn. I am hardly ever at a loss for words except when it comes to Audrey.
4. Bewitched
Innovative? Check. The show’s creative team used music and the stop-camera method to help Samantha with her powers. I love the xylophone which cued her trademark nose-twitch and of course the harp that always made the abracadabra action so dramatic. Bewitched is pure escapist joy, but it also embraced diversity and tolerance; after all, Samantha was a witch in the closet.
5. Law and Order
This show can be watched numerous times throughout the day. It deals with the gamut of human tragedy in an urban environment. It focuses on both legal and moral issues, and truth be told, just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s moral. But most importantly, I love the episode where Family Guy’s opening credits spoofed Law and Order (Season 4 episode 2: “Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High”). Funny stuff, Seth McFarlane.
6. The Addams Family
In the realm of dysfunctional families, The Addams Family resembles mine and probably yours as well. I am convinced they are Jewish regardless of their last name. They are passionate, supportive of their children, and completely oblivious that others find them bizarre. They even have Uncle Fester which sounds just like the Yiddish word for uncle – feter. And just one more point: Have you noticed the spelling of the Addams Family? The two ‘d’s is a nod to Charles Addams, the American cartoonist who created the characters as a series of cartoons for The New Yorker. This piece of trivia will definitely confirm you as brilliant, so use it as soon as you have the opportunity.
7. The Munsters
Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and The Wolfman are cleverly reinvented into the Munster mishpacha, decidedly a working-class version of The Addams Family. It’s hard to choose a favorite character because each episode highlights the hilarity of a different clan member. Perhaps if I was threatened by Grandpa to choose my favorite character or he would turn me into a bat, I would pick Spot, the fire breathing pet that lives under the staircase. But then again, I also like “Grandpa”, who always means well but manages to louse up.
8. The Flintstones/The Jetsons
Both of these cartoon series were essentially carbon copies of the classic TV show The Honeymooners, but I never liked The Honeymooners because the set always looked so drab. The Flinstones and The Jetsons were Hanna Barbera’s technicolor masterpieces. I know I’m going out on a limb, but I’m going to guess that anyone worth having a conversation with knows the theme songs to both these cartoons.
9. Green Acres
Green Acres juxtaposes Eddie Albert’s desire to live the simple life of a genteel farmer with his wife’s desire to be a chic Manhattan urbanite. Somehow the two manage to achieve marital harmony by show’s end. However, I remain convinced that if you want a happy marriage, do not marry Eva Gabor. Not only is her accent annoying but I am convinced her naiveté is a facade she uses to disguise stupidity.
10. The Cosby Show
Long before the Obamas, the Huxtables were America’s favorite family. The Huxtables were an upper middle class family that happened to be African American. Though The Cosby Show wasn’t the only sitcom that portrayed a black family in a positive way (The Jeffersons and Good Times were predecessors), it was The Cosby Show that had a huge impact on Americans. This was the show that encouraged many Americans to understand that anything was possible if they focused on obtaining an education.
Don’t let guilt overcome you as you spend the summer months watching my recommendations. Tell those certain high-brow types that you are not enjoying yourself; you are learning the nuances of American culture, and make sure these joyless critics get a chance to hear what you have learned. Pepper your conversations with such catch phrases as “kiss my grits,” and watch those very same critics be so very proud of your summer schooling!
