All That Glitters

I have looked for references to this show for several years but could not remember the title. I finally got and answer from Tvpipeline and am releived to know that I did not imagine this whole plot. Several of the actors were busy in commercials and this was the only show in which I found them. The show, brief as it was, was most interesting and far ahead of its time. I hope someone shows it again!

The introduction went something like...; One mornin' the Lord, she woke up to say, "I feel like I want to be creative today. So by virtue of the power I vested in me, I'll make the heavens, earth, and the deep blue sea. Things that swim, fly, walk, lie, creep and crawl, and to gather together and name them all"...(then something about creating woman)...and from the rib of the Madame came Adam full grown... This is all I can recall. How I wish I could remember the rest, or better yet see it in repeats. I can still hear the tune.

Back in Oklahoma, I would watch this show after Mary Hartman, then go to summer school the next day and laugh about it with my mates. The one character I recall was Madame Abu Bahn, the oil sheikh. The company L.W. Carruthers headed was Globatron. In one episode Dan Kincaid (Gary Sandy) got a new B.M.W., and I vaguely remember the bit about the black man in bed with the white woman. How could I have forgotten Tim Thomerson, Andrea Martin, and Lois Nettleton?

Hilarious as the show was, we at school were very angry that it was suddenly chopped. Why? My mother hated both "Mary Hartman" and "All That Glitters," and unsuccessfully tried to stop me from watching it a few times. Maybe her ilk was the reason it was cancelled.

If everyone here writes to TV Land, they might revive it, that is if anyone there remembers. Like myself at 14, it was campy and ahead of it's time. Those were the days, Mr. Lear, you bloody genius.

"All That Glitters" was undoubtedly Norman Lear's most cutting edge work. To say that this show was ahead of its time is an understatement. Staying very much in the vein of Lear's trademark "social commentary" brand of humor, the society into which this show's characters were cast portrayed women as dominant and men as submissive and oppressed.

The key to its charm was the blatant inversion of traditional gender power dynamics as well as the complete inversion of gender-based rituals and ceremonies. I recall one episode where a wedding took place where the groom--still dressed in traditional tuxedo--came down the aisle with his bouquet in hand to meet his bride waiting at the altar.

As a first run syndicated television show, "All That Glitters" never had a regular "national" primetime slot which would have made more of the public aware of its existence. But one thing was sure: the sexism inflicted by the women on the men in this show didn't look any better than it has coming from men. By switching the typical gender roles, Lear managed to make both a humorous and serious statement about the ugly side of sexism without preaching––an all too rare occurrence in television. This one ended much too soon.

It is great to have finally found a site that includes some information on "All That Glitters". I was 19 years old and living in New Orleans when this unique show aired late at night after Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. I loved it and have always wondered if I imagined it as not one single person I knew had seen it except a few guys who lived upstairs in my apartment complex. Lear was certainly right on with this way ahead of its time show. It would be awesome if TV Land could get a hold of the few episodes and get them repeated. It is a must see for all. The whole premise was terrific but I can see that it might have stirred up the TV censors for its time but would still be relevant now. Let's hope it can make it back on the small screen even if just to acknowledge Norman Lear's brilliance.

This sit com came on the heels of "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" -- it "mysteriously" disappeared directly following an early episode which presented an older woman (Linda Gray?) in bed with a buff young black man. Zap. Gone. The network sponsors weren't having it. Most people don't remember the show -- it was canceled so prematurely -- because it touched too many nerves. Racism/age-ism/sexism -- it was incredibly smart. There should be a secret All That Glitters Society --people who "got it." I definitely did -- and I was only 15 at the time.