MONTY PYTHON: MINISTRY OF SILLY WALKS SEPT. 15, 1970
Who doesn't crack a smile just thinking of John Cleese's goofy leg-jiggles in this classic bit from Monty Python's Flying Circus? Well, John Cleese, for one. "I'm very glad you've chosen one of my least favorite sketches," he scoffs. No matter. We think the Silly Walks perfectly sum up Python's absurdist, pomposity-puncturing sketch show. The brilliant BBC boys have left their silly footprint on every TV skit-fest since, from SCTV to Kids in the Hall to today's Mr. Show. Rank 76
MARY TYLER MOORE TOSSES HER HAT SEPT. 19, 1970
No2 TV MOMENT
It was a simple little movement--Mary Tyler Moore tossing her hat into the frigid Minneapolis air--but in addition to putting a perfect, um, cap on her signature show's opening credits, the gesture also spoke volumes about Moore's new-gal-in-town character, Mary Richards. "Wasn't it great?" says Moore. "Freedom, exuberance, spontaneity, joy--all in that one gesture. It gave a hint at what you were going to see." Viewers responded to what they saw, and Richards became the archetype against whom all other successful single women would be measured (Ally who?). Sure, the Chuckles the Clown episode and the WJM-TV clan's group hug are classics, but for us, it's the image of that heaven-bound hat ("a knitted black and turquoise beret my aunt had given me," says Moore) that really sums up the creative spirit Mary brought to TV.
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL DEBUTS SEPT. 21, 1970
The brainchild of NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle and ABC Sports chairman Roone Arledge (who chose Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson, and Don Meredith to be the inaugural commentators), ABC's ratings powerhouse has been crushing rivals for 18 years now. But before that first broadcast--a matchup between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns--no one was sure how the nation's Sunday pastime would go over in prime time. "It's an obvious idea now," says MNF play-by-play man Al Michaels, who just completed his 13th season. "But back then you were taking one of only three networks and using up all its programming for a full evening. That was an unheard-of risk." The gamble paid off. Rank 43
THE BRADY BUNCH: "THE NOT-SO-UGLY DUCKLING" NOV. 20, 1970
With its formula for finding a 22-minute solution to minuscule yet melodramatic problems, ABC's The Brady Bunch became the prototype for the fantasy-family sitcom genre (including Diff'rent Strokes, Who's The Boss?, anything involving an Olsen twin). In this state-of-the-art episode, perpetually insecure Jan (Eve Plumb) dreams up a boyfriend after her succubus sister Marcia (Maureen McCormick) steals the affections of Jan's cutie classmate Clark. "The shows were driven by angst," says Brady creator Sherwood Schwartz, explaining why Brady reruns have struck such a chord for nearly 25 years. "And Jan was the most angst-ridden of them all." Rank 58
STEVEN SPIELBERG'S DUEL NOV. 13, 1971
