1. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

 

Mary Tyler Moore shattered the mold of the sitcom. When the series premiered in 1970, nothing on television had been like it. Here were happily single women leading a show filled with complex adults. It was a workplace sitcom about relationships. The characters spoke frankly about modern issues and the Pill — and joked about the death of a clown. There was a planned finale. All of this was groundbreaking stuff, and the show's DNA can be found in everything from The Office to Girls.

2. The Odd Couple

 

The idea behind The Odd Couple — pairing a boorish slob with an uptight roommate — is so fundamental to television comedy, it's easy to overlook who perfected the template. Variations on the formula continue to click today, from Two and a Half Men and Two Broke Girls to, well, the modern reboot of The Odd Couple. Yet, when someone says, "The Odd Couple," odds are the characters molded by Tony Randall and Jack Klugman pop into mind. Of course, the story of Oscar Madison and Felix Unger began on Broadway in 1965 with Neil Simon's landmark play. Walter Matthau and Art Carney first embodied the roles. Since then, various productions have cast actors as diverse as Martin Short, Jamie Farr and Pat Sajak. Yet, nobody matches the chemistry of Randall and Klugman.

Image: The Everett Collection

3. The Partridge Family

 

C'mon get happy! Inspired by the real-life family pop group the Cowsills (and riding in the wake of The Brady Bunch), The Partridge Family brought family harmony — literally — to ABC. Shirley Jones, who had turned down the role of Carol Brady, took the lead as Shirley Partridge. The catchy melodies and Seventies hairstyles helped turn the kids, especially David Cassidy and Susan Dey, into heartthrobs.

Image: The Everett Collection

4. Josie and the Pussycats

 

Hanna-Barbera produced just 16 episodes of Josie and the Pussycats for the 1970–71 Saturday morning cartoon season, but in that era, influence could hardly be measured by episode count. On the heels of the comic-ly related Archies, Josie and the Pussycats became another pop sensation. Hanna-Barbera produced an album of material for release in shops. There was one key difference between the Pussycats record and the Archies — the Pussycats brought the characters to life with in-the-flesh human band members. The blonde one, Melody, was performed by Cherie Moor. But you know her better now as Cheryl Ladd of Charlie's Angels!

Image: The Everett Collection

5. All My Children

 

It's impossible to talk about All My Children without talking about Susan Lucci. The soap legend grew in fame as her "failures" stacked up. To be clear, she was not a failure. However, Lucci became notorious for stacking up Daytime Emmy nominations… and never winning. She collected 18 (!) Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy nominations before she finally won the trophy in 1999. She was on All My Children from the very first month, January 1970. Three decades is a long time to wait for an award.

Image: The Everett Collection

6. Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp

 

Even in a decade crowded with surreal children's television — from the flapping lips of Clutch Cargo to the psychedelic puppetry of Sid and Marty Krofft — Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp stood out. The spy spoof featured no big names (unless you are a true simian connoisseur and consider Tongo and Judy the Chimpanzee celebrities). Instead of plain ol' human actors, apes dressed as people, with their chewing mouths overdubbed with voice actors. The hidden human cast included Dayton Allen, a comedian and impression expert who had popularized the catchphrase "Why not, Bubbe?" on The Steve Allen Show, and Bernie Kopell, who most MeTV viewers will know as unlikely ladies man "Doc" on The Love Boat.

Image: CBS

7. McCloud

 

Gunsmoke veteran Dennis Weaver was the fish-out-of-water — or, more specifically, cowboy-in-the-big-city — on McCloud. The cop show was essentially adapted from the 1968 movie Coogan's Bluff, in which Clint Eastwood played a rural Arizona sheriff who heads to the Big Apple to nab a fugitive. McCloud creator Herman Miller wrote the film's script. The clever crime show was part of a "wheel series" called NBC Mystery Movie. The network rotated a selection of shows week-to-week, including McCloud, Columbo and McMillan & Wife.

Image: The Everett Collection