I know in the greater scheme of things a diary about a show based on the 70's certainly isn't all that important, but please allow me an indulgence. I'll delete this if it is a problem.
I was born in 1961 and with the last episode of "That 70's Show" airing tonight, I thought this was a good time to write this diary. I am definitely child of the 70's and frankly can't believe over 26 years have passed since the end of that decade. (BTW when I heard this was going to be the last season I thought the only way they can end it is have an episode taking place on Dec 31 1979 and woo-hooo!!! I was right...)
Here's what I can remember....
Update: In case anyone sees this later/per DHinMI forgot to add one of the greatest one hit wonder songs of the decade-My Sharona, The Knack. Don't know how adding it on an update will work but I'm going to try.
Also I feel the need to write something about the economic condition of the decade. I can remember the first "gas shock" scared the hell out of me as young kid, and of course we had another one at the end of the decade to top it off. I know these economic problems weren't nearly as bad as the depression, but I was pretty young for most of the decade and it seemed like a big deal to me. My dad almost had to put us on welfare.
Manhattan Dan reminds me of Nixon resigning, I do remember it although I was only 12 I can remember coming home from school and seeing my mother with the tv on, having watched the Senate hearings most of the day. Our school had a mock election in '72 and Nixon won in a landslide, I voted for McGovern, I can remember being happy "Tricky Dick" got his.
Drugs/Alcohol:
When I first heard of this show the first thing that went through my mind was "How are they going to deal with the drug culture". I read in an article on the show that the producers were going to "soft soap" it and the show instantly lost credibility in my mind. I mean how could you do a show on the 70's and ignore the drug culture of the decade? In my high school I'd say a good 30% of the kids were stoned on any given day. However it turned out the "circles" they did were some of the most hilarious scenes of the show so they featured them quite often-which honestly I think they really needed to do. Our valedictorian was actually one of the bigger "heads" in the school, to this day I believe one of the reasons the "War on Drugs" has been such a failure is most people have friends/acquaintances who have been able to indulge and they haven't destroyed their lives(I'm not trying to make the argument that many unfortunate people haven't hurt themselves badly). Hell it was actually easier to get dope than it was to get alcohol...
As a high school student in the 70's if you were even a sophomore and had a friend that looked old for his age-you could get alcohol, the drinking age was 18 at the time so a little effort was really all it took. I turned 18 in September of my senior year and man did I get popular. I can say there were several "beer blasts" during the school day over my high school years, some of them involving dozens and dozens of students.
Movies
Well the show did an entire episode on "Star Wars" and though there were definitely better movies made in the decade I guess you really can't deny this movie was the most influential. I can still remember going to see the movie and as a 15 year old was completely blown away. "Jaws" came out 2 years earlier and I can remember the sensation that movie caused-a movie widely credited-or vilified-with ushering in the era of the "summer blockbuster". The musical scores of these two movies could be heard everywhere the summers they came out.
I do want to mention one movie I was actually too young to see when it came out in 1973 and that was "The Exorcist". I can remember reports of people running screaming out of the theaters as this movie played. There were reports of people becoming convinced they were being possessed. A movie like this had never been made before and movie goers couldn't deal with it. This movie allowed such movies as "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" to be made later on, creating the "slasher" genre.
Music
Although the series talked a lot about the music of the decade it didn't really play much of it, I'm assuming due to copyright issues, rather disappointing to me. As a white teenage male my focus was exclusively on rock and I missed a lot of the great R&B/Funk/Soul music created in the decade. Of course when you hear the term "classic rock" I don't think it's a stretch to say the person using it is referring to the music of the 70's. My particular bands of choice: The Who, Boston, Kansas, The Eagles, FleetWood Mac, and Three Dog Night(yeah ok, but I liked 'em ok?).
The 70's could also be called the decade of the one hit wonder: Terry Jacks, "Seasons in the Sun"; Paper Lace, "The Night Chicago Died"; Ram Jam, "Black Betty"; Stealer's Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle With you", Wild Cherry, "Play That Funky Music"; Norman Greenbaum, "Spirit in the Sky"; Mungo Jerry, "In the Summertime" there were many more but let me just say that Golden Earring screwed up what would have been the greatest one hit wonder song of all time "Radar Love" by getting a hit with "Twilight Zone" nearly 20 years later-fuckers. This web site lists 'em all and man there were a lot.
This diary could go on a lot longer I didn't even get into politics or the economy but I guess I'll end it here, so as nt to continue boring you!!!!