Love, American Style

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Love American Style" redirects here. For other uses, see Love American Style (disambiguation).

Love, American Style
Genre
StarringVaried per episode
Theme music composer
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes108 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time
  • 42–44 minutes (1969–70 and 1971–74)
  • 22–25 minutes (1970–71)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 29, 1969 (1969-09-29) –
January 11, 1974 (1974-01-11)
Related
Happy Days
Wait Till Your Father Gets Home

Love, American Style is an

Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a part of ABC's Friday primetime lineup that included The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222, and The Odd Couple. It featured some of the earliest work of future stars Diane Keaton ("Love and the Pen Pals"), Sally Struthers ("Love and the Triangle"), Albert Brooks ("Love and Operational Model"), and Harrison Ford ("Love and the Former Marriage"). Room 222 star Karen Valentine appeared in four episodes. Brady Bunch star Ann B. Davis and The Partridge Family star Dave Madden
each appeared in two episodes.

History

Each episode of the show featured multiple stories of romance, usually with a comedic spin. Episodes were stand-alone, featuring various characters, stories and locations. The show often featured the same actors playing different characters in many episodes. In addition, a large, ornate brass bed was a recurring prop in many episodes.

Ron Hicklin Singers, also known as the voices behind the Partridge Family (based on the Cowsills), among others, featuring brothers John and Tom Bahler (billed as the Charles Fox
Singers). This second version of the theme was kept for the remainder of the series, as well as on most episodes prepared for syndication.

The title is loosely derived from a 1961 Italian comedy film called

Academy Award nominations in 1962 for Best Director for Pietro Germi and for Best Actor for star Marcello Mastroianni. The film was later spoofed in 1967 by Divorce, American Style, starring Dick Van Dyke. The snowclone
"(xxx), (nationality) Style" became a minor cultural catch-phrase as the 1960s progressed.

The troupe in 1973

The original series was also known for its 10- to 20-second

F-Troop. These clips allowed the show to be padded to the required length without adding to the main segments. They generally consisted of risqué, burlesque-style comedy-of-manners
visual jokes.

During its first four years on ABC, Love, American Style was popular with viewers and received decent ratings, although it never ranked among the top 30 shows in the

Nielsens
. For a few seasons, it was part of a lineup of ABC Friday night programs that included The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222, and The Odd Couple.

Some of the show's segments also served as pilots for proposed television series. Many never made it beyond the pilot stage, but two resulted in a series:

  • On February 11, 1972, the show presented the animated segment "Love and the Old-Fashioned Father." This would become the pilot to a first-run syndicated animated series by Hanna-Barbera, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, which debuted that fall.
  • Two weeks later, on February 25, 1972, the show aired a segment titled "Love and the Television Set", a story about Richie Cunningham, his family and friends. The premise and characters were later used for the 1974 television series Happy Days, and the episode would later be recognized as a de facto pilot for the series. (It had originally been produced as a pilot for New Family in Town, which was not picked up). For syndication, the segment was retitled "Love and the Happy Days."[1] Happy Days, in turn, launched an extensive franchise of spinoffs into the 1980s.

The series was also flexible enough to include repurposed pilots that had already failed or been retooled. One first-season example was "Love and the Good Deal," which was actually the original, unaired pilot for the sitcom adaptation of the Neil Simon play and movie Barefoot in the Park, with a different cast than the series.[2]

At the start of the 1973–1974 fall season, the ratings for Love, American Style and Room 222 had plummeted. As a result, both shows were canceled mid-season. The series received several

stripping
.

The 1985 film Back to the Future featured an homage to the series. The cinema marquee behind Marty and Jennifer when they discuss their forthcoming camping trip reads Orgy American Style.

Episodes

Main article: List of Love, American Style episodes

New versions

A decade after the show left the air, a new version aired on

The Price Is Right on CBS. A third edition, starring Melissa Joan Hart among others, was shot as a pilot for the 1998–1999 television season, but was not ordered as a series. Nevertheless, ABC aired the pilot on February 20, 1999.[3]

Nielsen ratings

Home media

On November 20, 2007,

Paramount) released Love, American Style, Season 1 Volume 1 on DVD in Region 1. Season 1, Volume 2 on DVD was released on March 11, 2008.[9]

DVD name No. of
episodes 		Release date
Season 1, Volume 1 12 November 20, 2007
Season 1, Volume 2 12 March 11, 2008

References

  1. IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ISBN 1476638101
    .
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 26, 2013). "'Love, American Style' Gets Reboot At CBS". Deadline.com.
  4. ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1969-70 Top 30 TV Ratings". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  5. ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1970-71 Top 30 TV Ratings". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  6. ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1971-72 Ratings History". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1972-73 Ratings History". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  8. ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1973-74 TV Ratings History". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  9. ^ Lambert, David (December 18, 2007). "Love, American Style – Get the Rest of the 1st Season this March with More DVD Love!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Love, American Style.
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