"Hello, Larry" (1979) TV series 1979-1980

Creators:

Dick Bensfield
Perry Grant

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

26 January 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Larry Alder is a 44-year-old divorcee in Portland, Oregon, raising his two teenage daughters and hosting a call-in psychology radio show.

Plot Keywords:

Portland Oregon | Divorcee | Sitcom | Radio Show Host | Single Father

Cast

McLean Stevenson	...	Larry Alder (41 episodes, 1979-1980)
Kim Richards	...	Ruthie Alder (41 episodes, 1979-1980)
Joanna Gleason	...	Morgan Winslow (40 episodes, 1979-1980)
Krista Errickson	...	Diane Alder (26 episodes, 1979-1980)
George Memmoli	...	Earl (17 episodes, 1979-1980)
John Femia	...	Tommy Roscini (17 episodes, 1979-1980)

Runtime:

30 min (33 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Portland, Oregon, USA

Company:

TAT Communications Company

Trivia:

Even though this show was considered a spin off of "Diff'rent Strokes" (1978), the connection between the two shows wasn't explained until a few months after the show premiered. Since both shows were produced by the same company, it was decided to have a plot where Larry Alder and Phillip Drummond (McLean Stevenson and Conrad Bain respectively) were old army buddies from Korea as a way of having the shows cross over and boost the ratings of Hello Larry.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Michael Palin/James Taylor (#4.18)" (1979)

only seemed to run forever

"Hello Larry" was part of Fred Silverman's attempt to ruin, er, resurrect NBC from the ratings doldrums. Amongst other great works he begat "Supertrain," "Turnabout," "Diffrent Strokes," and "Hello Larry." Despite it's abysmal badness, the show ran for two seasons simply because so many of the network's offerings bombed that they had nothing better to run, a fact that beleagured network execs cheerfully admitted to. While the show was lousy and never drew good ratings (despite often being paired with "Diffrent Strokes") Mac at least was a "name" actor and supposedly a proven commodity. Poor McLean Stevenson, so loveable as the boob Henry on "M*A*S*H" never again found material as good. Unfortunately unlike fiascoes like "In the Beginning," "Condo," or even "The McLean Stevenson Show," "Hello Larry" ran long enough for people to remember it as the series that wouldn't die, and poor Mac is now probably as well remembered for being trapped in TV purgatory there than he will be for "M*A*S*H."