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Tonight, On A Very Special Episode: When TV Sitcoms Sometimes Got Serious Volume 1: 1957-1985
Remember when Edith Bunker was sexually assaulted on All in the Family? Or when abortion was the hot topic on Maude? Did you know that Leave it to Beaver dealt with alcoholism and that “The Bicycle Man” double episode from Diff’rent Strokes is one of the most remembered sitcom entries in the annals of American television history? The role of the Very Special Episode was to take a departure from the regular comic stylings of the American TV sitcom and offer a standalone “serious in nature” gesture in addressing subject matter not normally found in such a medium. From racial equality on Bewitched and Happy Days to suicide on One Day At A Time and The Facts of Life and beyond, take an in depth look at a number of Very Special Episodes - from early examples to the heyday of the phenomena come the 70s and 80s, with insight from varied historians, critics and individuals who worked on some of the shows.
536 pages, Paperback
Published October 21, 2020
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November 22, 2020
Both volumes of Tonight, on a Very Special Episode are ordered chronologically, the first tome (more than 500 pages in length) analyzing socially relevant (or dangerous, depending on who you ask) American television episodes from the mid-fifties to the mid-eighties. As a Generation X nostalgia junkie, I couldn’t wait to read these essays, especially those deconstructing the shows I remembered watching as a tween when the stories first aired and in syndication.
For those of you not indoctrinated by the era of the Afterschool Special, a “very special episode” is a show that tackles a social issue that at a minimum, is controversial, and in many cases, was completely absent from twentieth-century dinner conversation. Topics included sexually transmitted diseases, addiction, racism, and economic disparity, and many of the episodes made television history. After all, before the ink on Roe vs Wade had even begun to adhere to paper, “Maude’s Dilemma” (from Maude) offered a heartfelt and realistic portrayal of the abortion debate, right there on prime time. All of the pieces in editor Lee Gambin’s collection are well-researched and analytical, providing background plot as well as commentary through a historical lens, and a reader can easily gobble up a handful in one sitting. The shows I remember most clearly having an impact on me as a kid broached the topics of gender/sexuality and sexual assault, and boy, does volume one put forth a cornucopia of essays on those.
Gambin himself pens quite a few of the gender/sexuality pieces, from All in the Family’s “Judging Books by Covers” to Kate & Allie’s “Landlady.” Other stand-out selections commenting on the portrayal of queer characters include Samm Deighan’s “George” (from M*A*S*H, gays in the military), Jessie Lilley’s “Discovery” (from Barney Miller, homophobia in police squads), and Shawn Macomber’s “Elaine’s Strange Triangle” (from Taxi, particularly notable in that it dared to remove the coat of invisibility blanketed over bisexuality in 1970s mainstream media), but the highlight in this category is Gambin’s analysis of “Rough Housing,” the pilot episode of The Facts of Life. Although TFoL has always been one of my favorite sitcoms from that era, this episode, where Cindy the tomboy is criticized for displaying “lesbian tendencies,” angers me to this day in its dismissal of gender non-conformity and queer behavior as a passing phase, and Gambin pulls no punches.
Of all of the television sitcoms that bravely portrayed storylines involving sexual assault (a topic that obviously does not lend itself well to half-hour comedies), All in the Family, Family Ties, Too Close for Comfort, and again, The Facts of Life broke the boundary not easily breached. Gambin’s analysis of “Gloria the Victim” (All in the Family) is complemented by Edward Eaton’s later piece on “Edith’s 50th Birthday,” and Eaton provides another fascinating entry on Family Ties. Most Gen-Xers remember Tom Hanks as Elise’s alcoholic brother or Alex’s dabble in methamphetamines, but it is Eaton’s selection of “Give Your Uncle Arthur a Kiss” that packs an even greater impact. Amanda Reyes reminds us that yes, that episode where Monroe is sexually assaulted by two women, “For Every Man, There’s Two Women” (Too Close for Comfort) did indeed exist, and through her commentary and a bonus interview with Jim J. Bullock, theorizes why the show disappeared from that season’s syndication schedule. Once again, though, the “very special episode” that stands out most clearly to me is from The Facts of Life, and Mike McPadden’s “Runaway” balances the series’ handling of sex trafficking with anecdotes from his own pre-adolescent confusion about the topic.
Whether your television touchstone of youth was Gimme a Break! or Mork and Mindy, One Day at a Time or Diff’rent Strokes, Sanford and Son or Good Times, Punky Brewster or Happy Days, the contributing writers in Tonight, on a Very Special Episode (vol 1) will lead you effortlessly down memory lane. These shows enthralled us as kids, but now, through the wider (and perhaps, clearer) window of adulthood, their messages seem all the more important.
For those of you not indoctrinated by the era of the Afterschool Special, a “very special episode” is a show that tackles a social issue that at a minimum, is controversial, and in many cases, was completely absent from twentieth-century dinner conversation. Topics included sexually transmitted diseases, addiction, racism, and economic disparity, and many of the episodes made television history. After all, before the ink on Roe vs Wade had even begun to adhere to paper, “Maude’s Dilemma” (from Maude) offered a heartfelt and realistic portrayal of the abortion debate, right there on prime time. All of the pieces in editor Lee Gambin’s collection are well-researched and analytical, providing background plot as well as commentary through a historical lens, and a reader can easily gobble up a handful in one sitting. The shows I remember most clearly having an impact on me as a kid broached the topics of gender/sexuality and sexual assault, and boy, does volume one put forth a cornucopia of essays on those.
Gambin himself pens quite a few of the gender/sexuality pieces, from All in the Family’s “Judging Books by Covers” to Kate & Allie’s “Landlady.” Other stand-out selections commenting on the portrayal of queer characters include Samm Deighan’s “George” (from M*A*S*H, gays in the military), Jessie Lilley’s “Discovery” (from Barney Miller, homophobia in police squads), and Shawn Macomber’s “Elaine’s Strange Triangle” (from Taxi, particularly notable in that it dared to remove the coat of invisibility blanketed over bisexuality in 1970s mainstream media), but the highlight in this category is Gambin’s analysis of “Rough Housing,” the pilot episode of The Facts of Life. Although TFoL has always been one of my favorite sitcoms from that era, this episode, where Cindy the tomboy is criticized for displaying “lesbian tendencies,” angers me to this day in its dismissal of gender non-conformity and queer behavior as a passing phase, and Gambin pulls no punches.
Of all of the television sitcoms that bravely portrayed storylines involving sexual assault (a topic that obviously does not lend itself well to half-hour comedies), All in the Family, Family Ties, Too Close for Comfort, and again, The Facts of Life broke the boundary not easily breached. Gambin’s analysis of “Gloria the Victim” (All in the Family) is complemented by Edward Eaton’s later piece on “Edith’s 50th Birthday,” and Eaton provides another fascinating entry on Family Ties. Most Gen-Xers remember Tom Hanks as Elise’s alcoholic brother or Alex’s dabble in methamphetamines, but it is Eaton’s selection of “Give Your Uncle Arthur a Kiss” that packs an even greater impact. Amanda Reyes reminds us that yes, that episode where Monroe is sexually assaulted by two women, “For Every Man, There’s Two Women” (Too Close for Comfort) did indeed exist, and through her commentary and a bonus interview with Jim J. Bullock, theorizes why the show disappeared from that season’s syndication schedule. Once again, though, the “very special episode” that stands out most clearly to me is from The Facts of Life, and Mike McPadden’s “Runaway” balances the series’ handling of sex trafficking with anecdotes from his own pre-adolescent confusion about the topic.
Whether your television touchstone of youth was Gimme a Break! or Mork and Mindy, One Day at a Time or Diff’rent Strokes, Sanford and Son or Good Times, Punky Brewster or Happy Days, the contributing writers in Tonight, on a Very Special Episode (vol 1) will lead you effortlessly down memory lane. These shows enthralled us as kids, but now, through the wider (and perhaps, clearer) window of adulthood, their messages seem all the more important.
Displaying 1 of 1 review