The Year You Were BornWhat was going on the year you were born? A look at the most popular things happening in entertainment, music, and even real world news while you were busy cycling through naps.
These days, sitcoms are often overshadowed by massive fantasy epics like Game of Thrones or serious dramas like This is Us. Throughout the 1970s, ‘80s, and beyond, most sitcoms centered around families who looked and acted a lot like the people tuning in every week. Because there are so many, it’s interesting to see which sitcom dominates the competition the year they are released.
If you were wondering what sitcom your parents might have enjoyed when you were on the way - or when you'd just entered the world - this list just might give you a clue. Whether you've gone back and watched them or not, there's always the question on many fans' minds, “What sitcom was everyone watching the year you were born?”
The Jeffersons was a top-rated series when it debuted in 1975, and it continued to enjoy that popularity for 11 seasons, consisting of 254 episodes. The show was more than entertaining; it was also an important milestone, as it featured a cast composed primarily of African Americans when such a thing was rare. The Jeffersons is also the first American sitcom to feature an interracial married couple.
The series dominated the ratings for most of the years it aired, though some later series listed below did overtake it at one point. Still, it's widely recognized as one of the funniest and most influential African American sitcoms from the 20th century, and its impact can be seen in helping others to follow, including The Cosby Show, Family Matters, and more. The Jeffersons was nominated for 14 Emmy Awards, winning two, eight Golden Globe Awards, and two Image Awards. Compared to the other series from 1975, The Jeffersons easily takes the top spot!
Happy Days is one of those shows that most people know a little about, even if they've never seen a single episode. The show was centered around Ron Howard's Richie Cunningham, but most people remember it for Henry Winkler's Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli. His style and mannerisms are iconic, and they helped keep the series going from 1974 to 1984, with a total of 255 episodes from start to finish.
Happy Days was immensely popular, and it gave life to two top-rated sitcoms: Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. It took a couple of seasons for Happy Days to find its niche, and when it did, it shot up in the ratings, gathering viewers from around the country tuning in every week. Happy Days managed this by removing the focus on Richie and placing it squarely on Fonzie, a move AV Club described as the show selling its soul. Whatever a fan's take on that, it's hard to argue that it didn't work, and Happy Days took its place in TV history.
Laverne & Shirley spun off from Happy Days in 1976, and it continued to air for eight seasons, consisting of 178 episodes. The show is centered around the eponymous characters played by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, respectively. The series featured physical comedy as its primary means of getting laughs, and this was perfected by the third season. Laverne & Shirley was entertaining, funny, and engaging, ensuring fans tuned in week after week.
The series' popularity allowed for expansion, and by 1981, an animated spin-off called Laverne & Shirley in the Armybegan broadcasting on ABC during Saturday morning cartoons. Marshall and Williams voiced their characters in animated form. That series wasn't as popular as the original, and it eventually became Laverne & Shirley with Special Guest Star The Fonz, and teenaged versions of Mork & Mindyjoined the cast.
Taxifocuses on a group of taxi drivers and their dispatch headquarters, which was operated by Danny DeVito. It's easily one of his greatest characters, and playing Louie De Palma gave him a significant career boost. The series also featured Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, Carol Kane, Christopher Lloyd, and many more stars of the 1970s. While there were plenty of great sitcoms in 1978, Taxi easily took the top spot.
The series was a massive critical success, earning 31 Emmy Awards nominations and winning 18. The series ran from 1978 until 1982, lasting five seasons of 114 episodes. Since going off the air in 1982, Taxi has remained in syndication, so it continues to generate cash for its stars and creators. Taxi was arguably hilarious, but it didn't rely solely on comedy. The series regularly delved into serious and controversial topics, managing to do so with a touch of levity and grace.
In 1979, The Facts of Life premiered as a spin-off of Diff'rent Strokes. The series centers around Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) and the teenage girls she has under her care as the housemother at the Eastland School. The series focuses on the various experiences teenage girls face and the relationships between the girls as they make their way toward adulthood.
The Facts of Life ran for nine seasons, consisting of 201 episodes, and it was a hot series. Technically, it wasn't the best series of its debut year, but it gained traction in the second season and blew up from there. The series attempted several backdoor pilots for potential spin-offs, but none of the seven attempts manifested into a new TV series.
Despite first hitting the airwaves in 1972, M*A*S*H remained popular throughout its run. In 1980, it took the top spot as the #1 sitcom in the ratings. M*A*S*H is a different kind of sitcom, as it focuses on a group of American Army surgeons working in the 4077th M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) in Korea during the Korean War. The series dealt with serious issues involving war, death, racism, and more.
While it certainly handled some dark topics, M*A*S*H was, at its core, a comedy. Alan Alda did a fantastic job adding humor where necessary, and he was just as good at delving into drama. M*A*S*H was developed from the film of the same name, released in 1970, and it ran far longer than the war it's based on. The series aired from 1972 to 1983, featuring 11 seasons of 256 episodes. The finale is still the most-watched episode of a scripted series, with 105,970,000 households tuning into “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.”
