I kind of remember when I was a kid watching this, that the dad was obviously "doing it" with the girlfriend and it was pretty openly suggested, and I kind of remember for a kid's show, they weren't married, it was the first kid's show I remember that was like that.
shareYeah it was kinda risque for a kids show. But it was basically to celebrate being filthy rich....and so they were entitled to do whatever they wanted with each other. remember. It was the age of Reagan. We were supposed to look up to the 1% as our role models who could do no wrong.
Blazing Hotel Rooms is episode which I still remembered ONE clip from as little girl--the dad was swinging on the rescue device while the hotel room is burning. Wow kinda amazing isn't it. That and the house with the doors and train.
Everything online says that Franklin Seales was openly gay but I really doubt that with the dialog in this episode. He is supposed to be fawning over his explictly heterosexual girlfriend...and looks really unconvincing. And also sounds very uncomfortable. Since he dies from AIDS/HIV later on, the jokes only get worse. Am curious who wanted to cast him as straight.
Did not remember or understand this part.....it's morbid for otherwise happy go lucky show. If it were airing now they probably just would have let him play himself and be gay. Probably would have been MUCH happier a person.
You've definitely tapped into something, here.
There was already some risqué stuff on Three's Company & Love Boat. The "Me Decade" was the 70s. So it wasn't entirely new. But like you say, it was becoming the prerogative of the upper class. It was kind of sad, TBH. Edward was basically Billy Madison. I'm not sure why we were supposed to respect him.
There was a lot of this in 80s sitcoms: Mr. Belvedere, My Two Dads, Punky Brewster, Webster, Who's the Boss? All of these shows featured unrealistically grounded children so that the adults could be as zany & self-indulgent as possible. It was implied that everything turned out OK because they were wealthy or at least upper middle class. It just rang hollow.
Three's Company was different...remember they were three people needing to live together.
People could not argue even in hind sight it was upper class. Actually three people living together in that apartment does not look fun today....looks packed and low income.
Especially when apartment rent was supposed to be much lower....just how low were their wages back then if three of them had to share??
Love boat focuses on the working 'the crew'. The guest stars who did not have to work and were on vacation were the 'rich'. It was transitioning to the Reagan era....but not quite there
Especially with Janet and Chrissy sharing a bedroom. Seems pretty strange for two women in their 30s who aren't a couple lol.
sharePunky Brewster was the 'flipside' of Reagan....see how 'fun' being an abandoned homeless child on the streets of Chicago IL can really be!!
She even tells us that her dad walked out and her mom just abandoned her at a grocery store one day. Mom did not get the social services/enough of the appropriate social services that she needed ....because of cuts Reagan made to pay for defense build up and just the idea that poor people needed to make do.
We're supposed to find it and her living alone in apartment on whatever scraps another kid manages to bring actually cute. See it's not depressing after all. And we don't consider her medical etc. needs They even made cartoon w 'glomer' out of it!!
My friends and I loved this show when we were little....but looking back it's really kinda spooky. I would not want to live like that.
Taxi is another flipside example---good luck trying to sell a TV sitcom about the inner workings of a taxi company today. Or even a TNC. Most people would not be interested....think it was mundane and disgusting
There was this fascination with the working class in the 197'0s....kinda a ruboff from Grease/Happy Days and apparently retro longing for the 1950's after surviving Vietnam etc.
So we also got welcome back Kotter, Goodtimes, and shows which really would not have a chance today not bc they are too violent gritty but just bc they are too 'meh' gritty and ethnic