Hello, Larry (1979–1980)

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

Creators:

Dick Bensfield, Perry Grant

Stars:

McLean Stevenson, Kim Richards, Joanna Gleason

Cast

Series cast summary:
McLean Stevenson	...	Larry Alder (38 episodes, 1979-1980)
Kim Richards	...	Ruthie Alder (38 episodes, 1979-1980)
Joanna Gleason	...	Morgan Winslow (37 episodes, 1979-1980)
Krista Errickson	...	Diane Alder (24 episodes, 1979-1980)
George Memmoli	...	Earl (17 episodes, 1979-1980)
John Femia	...	Tommy Roscini (16 episodes, 1979-1980)

Storyline

After a divorce, middle-aged Larry Alder moved from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon with his teenage daughters Diane and Ruthie. He landed a job as a radio talkshow host, where he dealt with his attractive producer Morgan and his corpulent engineer Earl. Larry also hung out with legendary Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, who owned a Portland sporting goods store.

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Plot Keywords:

portland oregon | divorcee | sitcom | radio show host | single father | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hola, Larry

Filming Locations:

Metromedia Square - 5746 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

TAT Communications Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (33 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Even though this show was considered a spin off of Diff'rent Strokes, 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.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

ruthie, meet ruthie

I remember watching this show in the late seventies and thinking "McLean Stevenson left MASH for this?!" But the show began to grow on me and it was fun watching a single dad raise two teenaged daughters. One episode that hit home with me was when Ruthie decided to rechristen herself as Ruth. That's my name (officially Ruth Ann, but call me Ruthie) and I can relate to being Ruth (serious, professional, etc.) as well as Ruthie (cute, informal, etc.)-it's been going on for almost 55 years. Granted, this show will never equal MASH, but McLean Stevenson could be knock-down funny when he wanted to and it was sad to see him go through so many projects (the reason he left MASH was to possibly host the Tonight Show) and it was sad to see him die without equaling his work on MASH. The show got better when Krista Errickson replaced Donna Wilkes as older daughter Diane and the other cast (Joanna Gleason, Ruth Brown, Meadowlark Lemon, etc.) did very well. This was a show that should've gotten a better chance. And that's the Ruth(ie).