by Cary O'Dell

“ALL THAT GLITTERS”

Nearly every aspect of the 1970’s TV series “All That Glitters” makes it a curio.

First, that it was one of mega-producer Norman Lear’s few failed offerings during the 1970s. Second, that it existed, not on network TV, but in first-run syndication. And, third, that it was “stripped,” meaning it aired daily: a new half-hour episode airing each and every day, a TV production pace usually reserved only for daytime dramas, not situation comedies. (Other brave—and short-lived—shows that have attempted this include “Isabel’s Honeymoon Hotel” and “My Talk Show,” from the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, respectively).

Other oddities about “Glitter”: it was a comedy without a hint of a laugh track and it was serialized in its comedy storytelling, a format that despite the best efforts of Susan Harris (the creator of “Soap” also in 1977) and a few others, has never caught on with the American viewing public.

Finally, what stands out about the series is its unique, ambitious, and highly satirical concept.

“All That Glitters” is set in a world, much like our own, except for the fact that all the gender roles and gender norms have been completely reversed. It is the women (though they remain depicted in a “feminine” manner) who dominate politics, business, and their households. Meanwhile, men in the show (though they remain stereotypically “masculine” in appearance and behavior) are the seen as the “second sex” and portrayed in subservient roles, usually as either stay-at-home husbands or office underlings.

The series is a satire and, as in the theatre, satire has not always (read: almost never) been hugely successful. The short on-air life span of “All That Glitters” (it ran only from April to July of 1977), its universally bad reviews at the time, and its overall sheer oddness evidences why it wasn’t successful at that time. (When watched today, it’s also evident that it has not necessarily improved with time, either.)

Which is not to say that the series is not interesting.

Copies of episodes from the very beginning and very end of “Glitter’s” run are stored at the Library of Congress; they arrived to the archive as copyright deposits in the late 1970s. Today, they are, pretty much, the only place episodes can be seen since they’ve never been seen in rerun or released on DVD.

The series is set, primarily, within the confines of a large, slightly sinister corporation (whose office dynamics bear more than a little resemblance to the much later “Mad Men” series) named Globatron. There, a cut-throat, all-female board of directors (lead by the vile L.W. Carruthers, played coldly by Barbara Baxley) meet regularly to scheme against their competitors and ogle their young male secretary played by a pre-“WKRP” Gary Sandy.

When the women are not wheeling and dealing in their offices, they are seen placating their bored and frustrated husbands. Chuck McCann and former big league baseball player Wes Parker play two of the male house-fraus in the series. They spend their days cooking, cleaning, feeling unfulfilled and waiting for their wives to come home.

Even during the show’s short run, there were subplots aplenty in the series. One of them focused on a kidnapping, while another, was built around the character Linda Murkland. Linda Murkland had once been Lenny Murkland; she was TV’s first reoccurring transgendered character and was played by actress Linda Gray (later of “Dallas” fame).

Obviously, per his norm, Norman Lear was not afraid to take on many controversial topics via his series. Nor was he afraid of attempting to make a big social statement.

Regardless of how well the series played out in actuality, one has to admire it for so fully committing to the idea of role reversal. In the series, God is referred with the pronoun “she” and women described themselves as either “leg women” or “pecs women.” The “male gaze” is replaced with a female one when the camera zooms in on the posterior of actor Sandy or his co-star David Haskell. In one episode, the women gather in a seedy bar to watch a man dance and prance on stage, slowly removing his clothes. This episode aired in 1977, two years before the birth of the famous male strip-tease emporium Chippendales. In another episode, a wife asks her husband if he has remembered to take his birth control pill.

The debut of “All That Glitters” was ennobled by the success of “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” which debuted, also in daily, first-run syndication, in January, 1976.

That campy show, a send-up of daytime soap operas and played with a deathly, deadpan seriousness, was a surprise hit, quickly developing a cult following. Yet, like many sudden TV phenoms (“Twin Peaks,” “Batman,” etc.), “Hartman” didn’t endure very long; it was gone after only a year and a half on the air.

“All That Glitters,” of course, wouldn’t even last that long. It was gone only a few months after it debuted.

Perhaps its failure was because “Mary Hartman” had already filled the quota for that type of TV send-up. Perhaps it failed because the show was, essentially, a one-joke program: once one got over the basic spectacle of the show’s role-reversal premise, there was little left to laugh at.

Also not helping matters, as Hal Erickson points out in his highly useful book “Syndicated Television,” among the program’s core characters, there were precious few likeable ones to care about or root for. This despite a cast of game veterans that included Jessica Walter, Anita Gillette, Lois Nettleton, Eileen Brennan, Tim Thomerson and even Vanessa Brown (a onetime “Quiz Kid” and later the star of the TV version of “My Favorite Husband” in the 1950s).

Certainly the show had (and has) a very peculiar feel to it.

The series feels dark, what with its storylines about kidnapping and institutionalized sexual harassment. The overall tone of the series is not aided, believe it or not, by its lack of a laugh-track. As a viewer, coming to this very overt social commentary, we don’t quite know exactly how seriously we are supposed to take all this. Where exactly are the jokes? What are we allowed to laugh at? Are we even supposed to laugh at all? The absence of a laugh-track from “Mary Hartman” made sense, it fit in with the genre that that program was parodying. But, in “All That Glitters,” this (alleged) sitcom, it makes the finished show feel off-putting and adds a veneer of sombernesss that the series cannot surmount.

So, if what remains about “All That Glitters” is not gold, it is nevertheless a fascinating artifact, a relic of television testing its own limits and of attempting to strike deathly blows within the gender wars.

It is what it is!

All That Glitters
1977 Sitcom

Buy this book!

Amazon Prime - unlimited streaming
of your fave TV shows and movies!
Get your FREE 30 Day Trial!

PR4 & PR5 Pages for Advertising

Hit Shows of the Seventies: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Gene Roddenberry in the 1970s / 1977-1978 Superhero & Science Fiction TV Shows / Funniest SNL Skit Ever! / Remembering Suzanne Somers / Prisoner: Cell Block H / Why John Amos Left Good Times / Reviving Match Game / How Betty White's 'Happy Hommaker' Came About / Remembering Cindy-Williams / Creating The Rockford Files / TV Dads Talk Sex & Fatherhood / TV Shows We Watched 50 Years Ago / How Maude Came About / Rare Audio of Bette Davis' Broadway Bound Flop 'Miss Moffat' / Interview With Director John Erman / Orson Welles' Last Interview / Remembering Ed Asner / When PBS Got Naked: Steambath / Bruce Vilanch on Writing for Donny & Marie / Writing For Fernwood 2 Night / Kris Kristofferson vs Barbra Streisand on A Star Is Born? Kinda... / Remembering Gavin MacLeod / Cher Reviews Her Iconic Outfits Since 1965 / Best Columbo Episodes / Star Maidens Sci-Fi Series / Sonny Bono's Last Show 1974 / Interview with Cindy Williams (Lavern & Shirley) / One of the Most Controversial Episodes of All In The Family / Outside Chance / Remembering Carol Wayne / The Night Johnny Carson Broke Down / Real People / That's Incredible! / Gavin MacLeod on His MTM Castmates / Norman Mailer & Muhammad Ali / Charles Nelson Reilly Flops on Broadway / Chuck Norris vs Eva Gabor / Dear Detective / Dirty Sally / Peggy Lee & Anthony Newley's Weird Pre-Show Rituals / The Protectors / Henry Fonda's 4 Favorite Films / Chevy Chase Talks Hollywood Cocaine Parties / 1977 Season Show Openings / Love Boat's Oscar Winning Guest Stars / Henry Fonda's 4 Favorite Films / Tom Snyder Interviews Star Trek Cast & Harlan Ellison / The Corner Bar / Tim Conway's 'The Dentist' Sketch / Roy Radin Revue: Drunken Ronnie Spector / Henry Winkler on His Happy Days Audition / Patrick Duffy of Dallas Interview / Time Express / Wonder Woman Leaves Paradise Island / 1972-73 TV Season / George Burns on the Carson Tonight Show in 1989 / Best Season of Dallas Ever? / Cloris Leachman Remembered / Ken Berry Interview / Why Barney Miller Ended / Vivian Vance Almost Joined the Cast of Rhoda / Marilu Henner Talks About Andy Kaufman / Cher on Mike Douglas 1979 / TV Show Book Tie-Ins / 1972 Jackie Robinson Interview / Dr. Strange 1978 TV Movie / Kathy Garver Interview / Space: 1999 / Paint Along with Nancy Kominsky / Mary Kay Place Albums of the 1970s / The Supremes - Mary Wilson vs Diana Ross / When Bruce Dern Killed John Wayne / 1974 Tom Snyder Our Gang Special / Remembering Ken Berry / Bruce / Caitllyn Jenner? / Billy Crash Craddock Interview / Melissa McCarthy Almost Quit Acting Days Before Landing Gilmore Girls / Bar Rescue's Wildest Customers! / How The Golden Girls and Elvis Got Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs Made / Charlie Brown Voice Actor Released From Prison / New Year's Eve on TV / Sir Laurence Olivier on the 'Genius' of Marlon Brando / 1967 Futurists Predict The 21st Century / Remembering Diahann Carroll / 50 Funniest Niles Crane Insults / TV HITS - By the Numbers / How Tom Hanks Played Mr. Rogers / Colin Farrell as The Penguin? / Alex Baldwin On His TV and Film Roles / Ray Charles' BIG Problem With TV / Malcolm Gladwell on TV Crime Dramas / Why Dolly Parton Would Not Let Elvis Record 'I Will Always Love You' / Top Ten Sitcoms of the 1970s / Danny McBride Rebooting Hogan's Heroes? / Fashion on TV / Alive & Well / James Cameron Made No Money for Titanic / Whatever Happened To Miss Cleo? / Lucy Blows Off Burt Reynolds / Dave Navarro Meets His Mother's Killer / The Real Mindhunters Killers / John Goodman Breaks Down His Iconic Roles / Growing Up In The Playboy Mansion / Ed McMahon Drunk on the Air! / Lucy Interviewed by Barbara Walters / Valerie Harper Cancer / Jeff Bridges Breaks Down His Iconic Roles / Dog Fight! The KCNC Scandal / Buckley vs Hefner / Laurence Olivier vs Marilyn Monroe / Dallas vs Eight is Enough / 1974 MAD Magazine TV Special - Never Aired! / Iconic M*A*S*H Restaurant Coming To Kroger? / Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and Graham Norton - Big Laughs! / When Lucy Got Fired / Partridge Family and Brady Bunch at Kings Island theme park 1972-73 / Awkward Talk Show Moments / Allan Blye Interview / Jack Benny's Last Tonight Show 1974 / Patricia Heaton's Audition for Everybody Loves Raymond / Luke Perry's Last Role / Johnny Cash's Last Interview / Judy Garland's Last Film / Who Was Bob Gordon? / Richard Dreyfuss vs Bill Murray / Jeff Ross vs Everybody / Tennessee Williams 1972 Interview / Ed Asner Interview / Norm Macdonald vs OJ Simpson / Tony Kornheiser Interview / Freddy's Nightmares TV Series / Awful 1990s TV Shows / The Funniest Comebacks in Talk Show History / Was Sonny Bono Murdered? / Robin Williams' Mrs. Doubtfire Screen Tests / Robert Downey Jr Asks for Forgiveness for Mel Gibson / Russell Brand / Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave / Judy Garland vs Liz Taylor / Emmy Award Multiple Winners / Nathaniel Taylor aka Rollo Lawson / Mary Kay Place Albums of the 1970s / That Girl & TV's Single Working Women / Can You Identify These Stars? / Betty White vs Joan Rivers / Paul Lynde's Greatest Hollywood Squares Zingers / Sonny Comedy Revue / Star Trek Animated / Dark Shadows / Hal Linden Interview / Dark Shadows Movies / Dark Shadows Novels / The Night Stalker / Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson / Johnny Carson interviews Lucille Ball / Dawn Wells / Betty White : An Appreciation / Bette Davis' 2 Best Interviews 1971 / Barbara Eden Interview / Gavin McLeod / Spider-Man 77 / The Next Step Beyond / Barbara Eden Interview / The Music Dark Shadows / 1970 TV Shows / Mike Connors Remembered / Mike Wallace, Virginia Graham & Jim Longworth / Dick Clark / Woody Allen Hosts Tonight Show 1971 / Carson Tonight Show / Alan Alda Interview / Jackie Gleason Show / 1973 TV Shows / Thriller / Post Modern Sitcoms / Elvis in Greensboro / Remembering Dick Van Patten / TV Dating Shows / The Jacksons TV Show / Fall Previews of the 70s / Lance Link, Secret Chimp / Star Wars Holiday Special / Alias Smith and Jones / 1977 Year in Review / Top Ten 1970-76 / The Rockford Files / All in the Family / Sam Hall (Dark Shadows) Interview / Actor Ed Nelson / Death of Archie / Battlestar Galactica / Wonder Woman / Network Jingles / Class of '74 / Happy Days / Good Times / Mr. Bill / Dinah! / Maude / Doris Day Show / Pamelyn Ferdin Interview / The Bicentennial Minute / Jingles & Catch Phrases of the 1970s / Early Cable TV 1970s / TV commercials for Women / TV Moms / Red Skelton / George Lindsay / Country Music TV Shows of the 1960s & 1970s / Betty White Show / / Tom Bosley / Rodney Dangerfield / How Sanford & Son Ended / Sanford & Son Spin-Off Grady / Great Memoirs / Virginia Graham Show / The "N" Word on TV / 10 Classic Comedy Routines You Have To Laugh At Before You Die / Hollywood Squares / 1970's Teen Idols & The Hudson Brothers / TV Stars with 3 Hit Shows / The Rookies / Unsold Pilots / Jackie Cooper / The Good Guys / Match Game / Make Room For Granddaddy / Mannix & Gail Fisher / Bette Midler in the 1970s / Bonus 1970's Stuff: Silent Star Marion Mack / Biff Burger / 1970s Fast Food Chains / Latin Casino / Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire / 1970's Daytime Talk Shows / The Fess Parker Show / Brady Bunch Sex Dungeon? / Love, Loss & What I Watched

Lost Kid Shows / Movie Stars on TV / Saturday Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV Goodbyes / Fabulous Fifties / Unseen Scenes / Game Shows / Requested Forgotten TV Shows / The Super Sixties / More Modern TV Shows / The New * * Shows / 1980's Wrestling / TV Blog

Classic TV on the Internet!