User reviews

This show was part of ABC's Friday night line-up back when networks put their good shows on Friday and Saturdays, as opposed to today when those nights are burial grounds for failing TV shows. It was popular in the late 60's and early 70's not just because it was witty, but because it was considered a bit naughty. In fact it was put on last in the evening in the lineup and given a great big warning label - for mature audiences only. For modern viewers, this show will seem much like a precode film from the early 1930's - you'll wonder what the big deal is since by and large nothing shocking ever really happens. Like precode films it does mark a transitional period. Precodes were the last hurrah of controversial material in the movies for the next 30 years. Love American Style marked the first inroad of controversial material on TV, as bigger and bigger shocks would be required to titillate audiences until now, almost 50 years later, the show appears quaint. You just have to remember that at the time this show first aired shows such "My Three Sons" and "The Beverly Hillbillies" were the norm for hit Television. The 60's didn't really happen in middle America until the 70's and this show was part of the first wave of that transition, for better or worse.

The episodes themselves are still pretty humorous, and often you'll see failed pilots end up as episodes of Love American Style. The most famous example was a 1972 episode that turned out to be the pilot for "Happy Days", one of ABC's most successful shows of the 1970's. If you're a boomer you're bound to enjoy this show. If you are younger, it's an interesting and humorous lesson in the journey TV has taken over the years.

With Boy Scout meetings getting over at 9:30 during Fridays from age 11-16(1967-1972) I missed the Partridge Family, Wild Wild West, Room 222, and Brady Bunch during their original runs(have seen most Brady Bunchs since but not the others which were never rerun fixtures). However, I remember walking into house on Friday night to see a big American Flag, Fireworks, and a pleasant song and would sit down to watch not knowing anything about Love, sex, girls etc. I did not mind it, and would love to go back to see now what I saw then, and would like to envision what my 14 year old head was thinking about all the changes that were to come over my life in the next 20 years. Bravo Love American style and I always love that "Love and the Happy Day" story where the combination of American Graffiti(great movie) and Grease combined to resurrect this little short into a 10 year TV show.

This show is definitely a show that worked for the era it was produced in, the late 60's/early 70's. This show came out at the height of the sexual revolution and could have easily been called "Lust, American Style". Each episode pretty much was about the same thing, men and women in constant pursuit of each other. Also, the most memorable trademark was the ever present brass bed. However, despite the emphasis on sex there were a few more touching episodes in this series. One that comes to mind is an episode in which an old man creates a sculpture of his deceased wife on the anniversary of her death and the angel of death (played hilariously by Soupy Sales) comes down to inform him that he is about to die. At the end of the episode, there is a shot of the old man, who has become a statue himself, holding his wife's hand. This was perhaps the most moving episode from one of the wildest show's of the early 70's.

This series was basically an hour of two or 3 vignettes that were supposed to be comedy about love. Every show would start with phony fireworks & a heart shaped trade mark on screen. The theme song was catchy.

Each show would have a love situation of 20 to 30 minutes. If there were any extra time there would be a 1 or 2 minute comedy blackout. Some of the shows parts were funny & some were not.

The series would vary in quality & sometimes during it's run, pilots for new shows would be put in. Some of them actually made it after into series of their own. Happy Days pilot aired on this program. It had Richie, & Howard, & Marion & the pilot was actually OK.

An animated series called "Wait Until Your Father Gets Home" first aired on Lover American Style too. The great thing about this anthology is you never quite knew where they were going, but you would almost always see well known actors & actresses on the way.

In a way, this series set up the later show "The Love Boat" which basically borrowed this format & moved it too a cruise ship & added a regular crew in addition to the celebrity guests every week. Both shows were ABC so nobody complained.

ANTHOLOGIES as series in Television have always been a common component of the seasonal line-ups of every Network ever since the beginnings of TV broadcasting. This was a category of programming that they came about very honestly; as the Old Time Radio shows had many an ever popular anthology in its very makeup. They came as Drama (First Nighter, Playhouse 90), Western (Death Valley Days, Wagon Train*) and Historical (You Are There, Victory At Sea).

SELDOM did we see an Anthology Series strictly limited to making us laugh, to Comedy. One exception we can think of (and about the only one that comes to mind off hand is our honorary series of the day, LOVE, American STYLE (Parker-Margolin Productions/Paramount Television/ABC TV Network, 1969-74).

THE length of the shows varied between 30 and 60 minutes, as the earlier episodes started out at the hour mark, only to cut to a half hour, and still later back up to the hour mark. Each installment would consist of between 2 and 4 vignettes; featuring completely different casts, totally different stories and absolutely different settings; all bound together within the notion of each being, some how, "Love Related"

INASMUCH as the episode weren't really related to "Love", but rather to what would be phonetically spelled something like "Ess-Ee-Ecks", the humor is typically of the American tradition of titillation, double meaning and 'naughty' suggestiveness. Hence, we were able to receive all of 'them dirty', little jokes and stuff; while not offending either the ABC Censor or Newton Minnow.

BECAUSE each story was short of duration and featured non-continuing characters and story-lines, there was very little wasted time and no padding, whatsoever. It was the mission of the writers to get it all out in front; relating any and all about each character post haste, because basically, they are living out their entire fictional lives in a quarter hour.

WE have heard that we've heard is that those in Hollywood loved series like LOVE, American STYLE (and any other anthology) called for the use of m any different Actors and Actresses, Comedians and Comediennes to populate the length and breadth of the various and numerous mini-episodes.

ONE unusual episode appeared in the series. It featured a story about a family in the 1950's getting their first Television Set. Ron Howard was the Teen-Ager with Harold Gould as his father. It was set in Milwaukee and dang, if it didn't bear a strong resemblance to the later HAPPY DAYS series! We found out later that it was a failed HAPPY DAYS pilot. Well, they get our Frugal Utilitarian Award for creative use of what would probably be discarded.

WHEN we look back on this collection of funny business, it reminds us most of the old one and two reeler comedies that were produced by guys with names like Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Sennett, Roach and Christie. Silent or sound, these short subjects featured comic players with whom their audiences were familiar. Although there was very little continuity of particular roles & names of characters, we instantly knew them and we reacted accordingly.

IN short, we believe the series is a sort throwback to those great "Old Time Movies" that we all seem to love so much. This is both a flattering comparison for the series; as well as a further proof that there is truly nothing new under the Sun.

NOTE: * Okay, Schultz, you're right. WAGON TRAIN does have recurring characters. But how else could we go West each week without the likes of Major Adams,Flint McCullough, Duke Shannon and Charlie Wooster? Each week's story was different and told new and varied stories along the Trail. Ergo, we feel that the classification as a Western Anthology Series is totally justified! Got it?

POODLE SCHNITZ!!

I fondly recall watching Love, American Style, on Friday nights as a kid. Watching it was a pleasant conclusion, to my Friday TV viewing before my bedtime, when the 11 O'clock news came on after the show. This show was the first anthology show on the air, during the 70s. Another great anthology show called Night Gallery, premiered a year after Love, American Style.

Love, American Style was a delightfully entertaining show, that could be enjoyed by all ages. It's premise, was based on the ups and downs of love and romance, in America during the late 60s/early-70s. Each episode lasted an hour, with different mini-episodes within the hour time-frame. I thought it was especially clever that short, hilarious comedy sketches, were included between each mini-episode.

This show had marvelous comedy actors in each episode, such as Stuart Margolin, Alice Ghostly, Flip Wilson, Arte Johnson, etc. These and other actors appearing on the show, were some of the most superb comedians in show business. This factor was what made Love, American Style so much fun to watch, during the entire run of the series. If you like warm, light-hearted classic comedy shows, then you owe it to yourself to enjoy Love, American Style, on DVD.

I haven't seen this show since the late '70s, but I remember it fondly. The one thing that really sticks out in my mind for this show was the theme song, and the big brass bed that was the trademark, and appeared in nearly every episode short. It used to play at 10pm on Fridays up until 1974, and it was truly missed when it was cancelled. It would be nice if the original pilot movie was available on video, but until then I just have the memories of a show from a great bygone era of TV.

during the early to mid seventies, i looked forward to Friday nights on ABC to tuning in on the first and only comedic anthology series featuring a slew of well known actors, writers and directors. it's sad that the attempted updated version recently shown wasn't as successful as the version from the seventies. what the world needs now are series such as these in a world full of violence. Although the premise of the show was silly, it did have it's romantic overtones in a funny type manner which most of all the vignettes were family oriented, which i think was one of the keys toward its popularity. i personally enjoyed viewing performers Charles Nelson Reilly and Louisa Moritz to Flip Wilson and Gail Fisher. it would be nice to have it return more often in reruns or on video tape.

As most mentioned, this was a moment in time not to be repeated again. Definitely a show that stood out as pure fun. I recall vividly seeing this show with my other brother and sisters. The instant we would see the still photos at the introduction to the show we knew it would be funny. I think we were too young to realize it had an adult theme (we thought love was too mushy) but we watched anyway! As soon as we saw someone like Joanne Worley in the beginning credits we knew it would be hilarious. We always like the busting fireworks at the end and who can forget the theme song?! Lovvvve American Style that's you and meeeeeee!!!!

I loved to watch the original LOVE AMERICAN STYLE. It reminds me of the Love Boat. You can get to see your favorite cast members plus guest appearances by some of the more famous bit part actors and actresses. Some years back a cable channel played 24 hours a day of LOVE AMERICAN STYLE. I found myself up all night to catch my favorite episodes. I think there was enough episodes to watch for a week straight and not see any repeats. If you are a hopeful romantic you will definitely find an episode of LOVE AMERICAN STYLE to suit you.

Having been born in the 1970's, I still recall my parents watching this and other 70's shows like it all the time. It's harmless in content, and in its day it made an otherwise turbulent world feel safer. Here we are in more times of turbulence; it would be nice to have this show back. They just don't make'em like that anymore! It's nice to be able to sit down and laugh at the ridiculousness of a show and forget your troubles outside your front door. It would be nice to have this show on DVD! How come it got tossed by the wayside? The Brady Bunch, which was much less popular at that time, is on DVD- All 5 seasons now! Though truly I loved the Brady Bunch, and am a member of one of the many ubiquitous web rings, I really think it was a much more ridiculous show than Love American Style. It's not fair they forget about this classic.

I seem to remember a vignette that is supposed to take place in the 50's, possibly featuring Ron Howard, in which a girl to whom he's attracted expresses an interest in him when she discovers that his parents just bought a television set. This may have been the pilot (of sorts) for "Happy Days". Does this ring a bell, anyone? Thanks.

"Love, American Style" was one of the biggest con jobs ever perpetrated on the American people by the major networks (outside of the news).

With links provided by the like of Stuart Margolin, James Hampton and Phyllis Davis, this anthology show became a dumping ground for unsold pilots, which helped it attain the lustre of a genuine all-star cast every week. (Though the only episode I know of where a dumped pilot was picked up became "Happy Days." So some good came of it).

A time capsule for late 1960s and early 1970s sexual mores, as is the case with every other anthology series the episodes vary in style and quality. One can see why lots of these thwarted pilots weren't picked up. But it's worth watching for the real gems, and for seeing big stars of the past (who were current when I was a kid).