1970s TV

In the 1970s, most American homes had three or four channels, one television set worth fighting over, and a TV Guide on the coffee table that everyone studied on Sunday. Shows started on the hour, nobody could pause them, and if you missed an episode you hoped to catch it in reruns over the summer. That is exactly why so many of us remember them so well: the whole family watched together, and the next day the whole neighborhood talked about it.

It was a remarkable decade for the small screen. Sitcoms took on the real world with sharper writing, detectives with odd habits solved cases every week, and family dramas carried us back to the Depression and the prairie. Saturday nights belonged to the variety hours, late nights to Johnny Carson, and every December brought the stop-motion specials the children waited for all year. A single miniseries could empty the streets for a week.

These four quizzes cover the decade from several angles: the sitcoms, the detective shows and family dramas, the variety hours and late-night favorites, and the specials, miniseries and Saturday morning favorites. Some questions are easy and a few will make you think back. There is no timer and no rush, so pull up your favorite chair and adjust the rabbit ears.