Since its inception, it seems as if television has always given us iconic programs. The 1950s gave us “I Love Lucy,” “The Twilight Zone,” and “Leave it to Beaver”. The 1960s gave us “Bewitched,” “Get Smart,” and “The Adams Family”. But for those who grew up in the 1970s, nothing is more representative of our youth than certain classic TV shows.
The 1970s was a time when television got real. Barriers were broken during the decade of Vietnam and Watergate, along with seismic shifts in entertainment that gave us some of the most famous lines ever uttered on television. Real-life issues were highlighted in many sitcom plots, and social movements like civil rights and feminism were featured in various programs.
24/7 Tempo consulted various culture-themed sites such as ClickAmerica and movie sites such as Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to compile a list of famous TV lines 1970s kids still remember. These are the most memorable lines or quotes from television in the 1970s that imprinted on American culture.
George Jefferson, a rising business owner, was an unapologetic African-American bigot, who once said “Be on the offensive. Like me. I’m the most offensive man in the world.” Bigotry was famously addressed on the ground-breaking sit-com “All in the Family,” whose main character, the biased Archie Bunker, frequently told his wife Edith to “stifle herself.”
The era introduced police officers with dimension and quirks, such as Theo Kojak, the lollipop-sucking New York cop whose trademark line was “Who loves ya, baby?” and the rumpled-raincoat-clad LA detective Columbo, seeking “Just one more thing” from a suspect. (Also See Best Crime Shows of All Time According to Data.)
Here are famous TV lines 1970s kids still remember:
“Won’t you be my neighbor?”
- Show: Mister Rogers Neighborhood
- Broadcast: 1968-2001
- Said By: Fred Rogers
“Edith, stifle yourself” “Meathead”
- Show: All in the Family
- Broadcast: 1971-1979
- Said By: Archie Bunker
“Dy-No-Mite!”
- Show: Good Times
- Broadcast: 1974-1979
- Said By: J.J. Evans
“Lookin’ good”
- Show: Chico and the Man
- Broadcast: 1974-1978
- Said By: Chico Rodriguez
“Who loves ya, baby?”
- Show: Kojak
- Broadcast: 1973-1978
- Said By: Lieutenant Theo Kojak
“This is the big one! I’m dying!”
- Show: Sanford and Son
- Broadcast: 1972-1978
- Said By: Fred Sanford
“Good night, John Boy”
- Show: The Waltons
- Broadcast: 1972-1981
- Said By: Elizabeth Walton
“Heyyy!”
- Show: Happy Days
- Broadcast: 1974-1984
- Said By: Fonzie
“Nanu-nanu”
circa 1979: American comedian and actor Robin Williams, wearing a womans bathrobe, furry hat, and sunglasses, being hugged by American actor Pam Dawber, in a still from the television series, Mork and Mindy. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
- Show: Mork & Mindy
- Broadcast: 1978-1982
- Said By: Mork
“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”
- Show: The Brady Bunch
- Broadcast: 1969-1974
- Said By: Jan Brady
“You know what? You’ve got spunk. I hate spunk”
- Show: The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- Broadcast: 1970-1977
- Said By: Lou Grant
“Just one more thing”
- Show: Columbo
- Broadcast: 1971-1978
- Said By: Columbo
“Up our nose with a rubber hose!”
- Show: Welcome Back, Kotter
- Broadcast: 1975-1979
- Said By: Vinnie Barbarino
“De plane! De plane!”
- Show: Fantasy Island
- Broadcast: 1977-1984
- Said By: Tattoo
“Kiss my grits!”
- Show: Alice
- Broadcast: 1976-1985
- Said By: “Flo” Castleberry
“Cheeburger, cheeburger!”
- Show: Saturday Night Live
- Broadcast: 1975-
- Said By: Pete
“Never mind”
- Show: Saturday Night Live
- Broadcast: 1975-
- Said By: Emily Latella
“We are two wild and crazy guys”
- Show: Saturday Night Live
- Broadcast: 1975-
- Said By: Czechoslovakian playboys
“The devil made me do it”
- Show: Flip
- Broadcast: 1970-1974
- Said By: Flip Wilson
“If my dog had your face, I’d shave his butt and teach him to walk backwards!”
- Show: M*A*S*H
- Broadcast: 1972-1983
- Said By: Max Klinger
“Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated”
- Show: Laverne & Shirley
- Broadcast: 1976-1983
- Said By: Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him”
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - APRIL 04: Actor Richard Anderson attends the Smiles from the Stars: A Tribute to the Life and Work of actor Roy Scheider at the Beverly Hills Hotel on April 4, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
- Show: The Six Million Dollar Man
- Broadcast: 1974-1978
- Said By: Oscar Goldman
“I’m afraid we’re out of time”
- Show: fcolumb
- Broadcast: 1972-1978
- Said By: Bob Hartley
“Grasshopper, seek first to know your own journeys beginning and end.”
Keye Luke wearing hat and leather jacket, 1940s. (Photo by Film Favorites/Getty Images)
- Show: Kung Fu
- Broadcast: 1972-1975
- Said By: Master Po
“Son, I’ve seen more dead bodies than you’ve had TV dinners”
- Show: Kolchak: The Night Stalker
- Broadcast: 1974-1975
- Said By: Carl Kolchak
“Be on the offensive. Like me. I’m the most offensive man in the world”
- Show: The Jeffersons
- Broadcast: 1975-1985
- Said By: George Jefferson
“Good morning, angels”
- Show: Charlie’s Angels
- Broadcast: 1976-1981
- Said By: Charles Townsend