If 1960s-era TV shows can be characterized as escapist, in the 1970s, television got real. Barriers were broken during the decade of Vietnam and Watergate, and along with seismic shifts in entertainment, came quotes from television shows that became some of the most famous lines ever uttered on television.
To find the most memorable lines or quotes from television in the 1970s that made their imprint on American culture, 24/7 Tempo consulted various culture-themed sites such as ClickAmerica and movie sites such as Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to compile our list.
Social movements such as civil rights and feminism found their way into sit-com plots in the 1970s as spurned ethnic groups and women demanded responsible representation on television shows.
While traditional sit-coms could be found such as “The Bob Newhart Show, “Welcome Back, Kotter,” and “Happy Days,” the 70s produced programs such as “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times” that depicted the struggle and aspirations of Black America. (Also See The Most Popular TV Episodes From the 1970s.)
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.”
“Chico and the Man” starred Freddie Prinze Sr. as the first Latino character in a lead role on television. His signature line was the heavily Latin-accented “Lookin’ good.”
Mary Tyler Moore’s character Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” was a single, professional woman committed to her career, among the first such characters on television.
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 is the list of iconic TV lines only kids from the 70s still remember:
“Won’t you be my neighbor?”
- Who Said It: Fred Rogers
- Show: Mister Rogers Neighborhood
- When It Ran: 1968-2001
“Edith, stifle yourself” “Meathead”
- Who Said It: Archie Bunker
- Show: All in the Family
- When It Ran: 1971-1979
“Dy-No-Mite!”
- Who Said It: J.J. Evans
- Show: Good Times
- When It Ran: 1974-1979
“Lookin’ good”
- Who Said It: Chico Rodriguez
- Show: Chico and the Man
- When It Ran: 1974-1978
“Who loves ya, baby?”
- Who Said It: Lieutenant Theo Kojak
- Show: Kojak
- When It Ran: 1973-1978
“This is the big one! I’m dying!”
- Who Said It: Fred Sanford
- Show: Sanford and Son
- When It Ran: 1972-1978
“Good night, John Boy”
- Who Said It: Elizabeth Walton
- Show: The Waltons
- When It Ran: 1972-1981
“Heyyy!”
- Who Said It: Fonzie
- Show: Happy Days
- When It Ran: 1974-1984
“Nanu-nanu”
- Who Said It: Mork
- Show: Mork & Mindy
- When It Ran: 1978-1982
“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”
- Who Said It: Jan Brady
- Show: The Brady Bunch
- When It Ran: 1969-1974
“You know what? You’ve got spunk. I hate spunk”
- Who Said It: Lou Grant
- Show: The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- When It Ran: 1970-1977
“Just one more thing”
- Who Said It: Columbo
- Show: Columbo
- When It Ran: 1971-1978
“Up our nose with a rubber hose!”
- Who Said It: Vinnie Barbarino
- Show: Welcome Back, Kotter
- When It Ran: 1975-1979
“De plane! De plane!”
- Who Said It: Tattoo
- Show: Fantasy Island
- When It Ran: 1977-1984
“Kiss my grits!”
- Who Said It: “Flo” Castleberry
- Show: Alice
- When It Ran: 1976-1985
“Cheeburger, cheeburger!”
- Who Said It: Pete
- Show: Saturday Night Live
- When It Ran: 1975-
“Never mind”
- Who Said It: Emily Latella
- Show: Saturday Night Live
- When It Ran: 1975-
“We are two wild and crazy guys”
- Who Said It: Czechoslovakian playboys
- Show: Saturday Night Live
- When It Ran: 1975-
“The devil made me do it”
- Who Said It: Flip Wilson
- Show: Flip
- When It Ran: 1970-1974
“If my dog had your face, I’d shave his butt and teach him to walk backwards!”
- Who Said It: Max Klinger
- Show: M*A*S*H
- When It Ran: 1972-1983
“Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated”
- Who Said It: Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney
- Show: Laverne & Shirley
- When It Ran: 1976-1983
“On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence; that request came from his wife.”
- Who Said It: Narrator
- Show: The Odd Couple
- When It Ran: 1970-1975
“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)
- Who Said It: Oscar Goldman
- Show: The Six Million Dollar Man
- When It Ran: 1974-1978
“I’m afraid we’re out of time”
- Who Said It: Bob Hartley
- Show: The Bob Newhart Show
- When It Ran: 1972-1978
“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)
- Who Said It: Master Po
- Show: Kung Fu
- When It Ran: 1972-1975
“Son, I’ve seen more dead bodies than you’ve had TV dinners”
- Who Said It: Carl Kolchak
- Show: Kolchak: The Night Stalker
- When It Ran: 1974-1975
“Be on the offensive. Like me. I’m the most offensive man in the world”
- Who Said It: George Jefferson
- Show: The Jeffersons
- When It Ran: 1975-1985
“Good morning, angels”
- Who Said It: Charles Townsend
- Show: Charlie’s Angels
- When It Ran: 1976-1981
“You come in here with a skull full of mush; you leave thinking like a lawyer.”
- Who Said It: Charles Kingsfield
- Show: The Paper Chase
- When It Ran: 1978-1986