Hello, Larry

Starring: Kim Richards, McLean Stevenson, Joanna Gleason, Krista Errickson
First Aired: January 26, 1979
Number of Seasons: 2
Estimated Production Cost: $250,000 in total*

Hello, Larry was created by Dick Benfield and Perry Grant, who also served as the show’s executive producers and head writers. The show ran for two seasons and thirty-eight episodes, and it aired on Friday nights during its first season, which was a rarity at the time. The show was much anticipated because Benfield and Grant were both writers for popular television shows such as The Andy Griffith Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and One Day at a Time, among others. The show’s narrative revolved around McLean Stevenson’s character, Larry Alder, who divorces his wife and relocates with his teenage children from Los Angeles to Portland in order to pursue a job as a radio DJ on a local station.

Hello, Larry

The Ropers

Starring: Audra Lindley, Norman Fell, Patty McCormack, Jeffrey Tambor, Evan Cohen
First Aired: March 13, 1979
Number of Seasons: 2
Estimated Production Cost: $30,000 per episode*

The Ropers is a comedy that aired on ABC from 1979 to 1980. It was a spin-off of the very popular sitcom Three’s Company, and it was a spin-off of that show. Besides that, Three’s Company was largely based on a British television comedy called George and Mildred, which was a spinoff of the show from which Three’s Company took its inspiration. The show was filmed entirely in Los Angeles. It was the characters of Norman Fell and Audra Linley, a middle-aged couple who were the landlords to Janet, Chrissy, and Jack on Three’s Company, that provided the plot of the show. A high-class enclave called Cheviot Hills is the setting for the drama, which portrays the landlords as an “odd pair.”

The Ropers