Gotta love any TV show that starts with fireworks.. "Love,American Style" was a part of ABC's Friday night lineup in the early 70's which included: The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family and The Odd Couple.. Pretty impressive.. "Love American Style" originally started as a one-hour show but was condensed into a half-hour for syndication purposes..
Though it was a bit before my time, "Love,American Style" did have an effect on sitcoms that I enjoyed in my formative years.. Specifically, "Happy Days".. The original pilot for the series "Happy Days".. During it's time, "Love American Style" was known as a place where failed sitcom plots became short skits, many of which retiring for good.. Gary Marshall sold the idea of the sitcom, originally titled "New Family in Town" to Aaron Spelling (for "Love,American Style") after he had tried to pitch the show to the networks.. Of course, after "American Graffiti" sparked the nostalga for the 50's, "Happy Days" became a sitcom and successfully aired on ABC..
In this plot titled: "Love and the Happy Days", instead of Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham, there's an actor named Harold Gould, who later appeared on "Rhoda" and "Mary Tyler Moore" as Mr. C.. Of course we will never know what happened to Chuck Cunningham, who dissappeared after "Happy Days" first season, but we know the origins of the series..
