Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (TV series)
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is an American sitcom broadcast in the United States by ABC as part of its 1973 fall lineup. It was based on the 1969 movie of the same title. It was produced by Screen Gems. Only seven episodes were aired before the series was canceled.
| Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice | |
|---|---|
 Main cast photo | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Based on | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice by Paul Mazursky & Larry Tucker |
| Developed by | Larry Rosen |
| Written by | James S. Henerson Bernard M. Kahn |
| Directed by | Rick Edelstein Leo Penn |
| Starring | Robert Urich Anne Archer David Spielberg Anita Gillette |
| Composer | Artie Butler |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 12 (5 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Producer | James S. Henerson |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Frankovich Enterprises Screen Gems |
| Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 26 – November 7, 1973 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice |
Synopsis
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was of necessity somewhat different from the R-rated movie upon which it was based. The film involved sexual liberation, and featured the (short-lived) desire of the two title couples to engage in extra-marital affairs, mate-swapping and group sex, all of which would have been obviously unacceptable on U.S. broadcast television in 1973. Instead, it made do with plots which were attempts at titillation by the broadcast standards of the time, but which stood a chance of surviving the censors at the network's Division of Standards and Practices.
These included skinny dipping, premarital sex, and unmarried couples cohabiting, which were still thought by many to be racy topics for network television at the time. As with the film, Ted and Alice Henderson were more conservative than the "liberated" Bob and Carol Sanders. No members of the original film cast reprised their roles in the series.
Reception
Scheduled opposite CBS's Top 10 hit The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and NBC's Top 30 hit Adam-12, the series earned very low Nielsen ratings, and was canceled less than two months after its premiere.
The show is perhaps best remembered for featuring a then eleven-year-old Jodie Foster as Ted and Alice's daughter. (This differed from the movie version where the characters had a son.)
Cast
- Robert Urich as Bob Sanders
- Anne Archer as Carol Sanders
- David Spielberg as Ted Henderson
- Anita Gillette as Alice Henderson
- Brad Savage as Sean Sanders
- Jodie Foster as Elizabeth Henderson
Episode list
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Can I Help It If She's Crazy About Me?" | Rick Edelstein | David Lloyd | September 26, 1973 |
| 2 | "Alice's Wild Oat" | Rick Edelstein | Bernie Kahn | October 3, 1973 |
| 3 | "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" | Leo Penn | Larry Tucker | October 10, 1973 |
| 4 | "I'm Not Jealous, Only Curious" | Rick Edelstein | TBA | October 17, 1973 |
| 5 | "Open Marriage, Closed Mind" | Rick Edelstein | David Lloyd | October 24, 1973 |
| 6 | "Nobody Wants to Talk About It" | Rick Edelstein | Rick Mittleman | October 31, 1973 |
| 7 | "The Bare Truth Hurts" | Rick Edelstein | Gene Thompson | November 7, 1973 |
| 8 | "Such Good Friends" | Rick Edelstein | TBA | Unaired* |
| 9 | "Walk a Mile in My Clogs" | Rick Edelstein | Ron Friedman | Unaired* |
| 10 | "Double, Double, Doyle & Trouble" | Rick Edelstein | David Lloyd | Unaired* |
| 11 | "Inadmissible Evidence" | Rick Edelstein | George Atkins | Unaired* |
| 12 | "My Butcher Is a Thief" | Rick Edelstein | Michael Weinberger & James Ritz | Unaired* |
*These episodes finally appeared on USA Cable Network, with the rest of the series, in 1984.
References
- Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows