Love, American Style

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.