CBS is really scraping the bottom of the barrel with its upcoming reunion special celebrating the nine-season run of “One Day at a Time.”
The irony is:It will probably be a huge hit,just like ABC ‘s “Happy Days ” reunion – another special with all the production quality of a public-access cable show.
I just don ‘t get it.How on Earth can a couple of TV shows, which were so mediocre to begin with,generate enough sentiment all these years later to grab such big ratings? Am I the only one who remembers how crummy TV was back in the days of “Happy Days ” and “One Day at a Time “?
Instead of remembering these shows ‘ long runs,,we should be celebrating the anniversaries of their cancellations.
There are so many reasons to detest TV reunion specials that I hardly know where to begin. I have no interest in seeing how the stars of yesteryear have aged.But even more than that,I cannot tolerate the phony displays of affection between the cast members,as if working as part of an ensemble on a TV show makes lifelong friends out
of everyone involved.
Think about it:Would you be hugging the people you worked with 20 or 30 years ago if you were reunited with them today?
Of course not!More likely, you ‘d be standing around wondering what to say to these people,who are basically strangers.
The worst thing about TV reunions,however,are the socalled highlights,which,in the cases of “Happy Days ” and “One Day at a Time,” look worse today than they did back then,if that is humanly possible. In the “Happy Days ” reunion,, the low point came when a clip was shown of Scott Baio and Erin Moran (as Chachi and Joanie)
singing together – a sight so disturbing that you could be excused for feeling sick to your stomach, which,come to think of it,pretty much approximates the feeling of watching it the first time.
Similar feelings of nausea arise when an announcer on the “One Day at a Time ” reunion ((scheduled to air Feb.22)describes this grating sitcom as “a show that redefined the American family.” Oh!So that ‘s what redefined
the American family back in the ’70s!It was “One Day at a Time “!
How could I forget?
Two examples of actual honesty stand out in the “One Day at a Time ” reunion – when MacKenzie Phillips concedes
that her character,Julie,did little more than shriek through the entire series run,and when Pat Harrington (who played handy-man Dwayne Schneider)is caught on camera dozing during the reunion taping.
I ‘m with Pat – wake me when it ‘s over.