How can 1970’s television affect the political climate? Well, it is a generational thing. When Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992, it marked the first time in forty years that someone who was not a World War II veteran was elected to the White House. Eisenhower (1952 & 1956), John Kennedy (1960), Lyndon Johnson (1964), Richard Nixon (1968 & 1972), Jimmy Carter (1976), Ronald Reagan (1980 & 1984), George H. W. Bush (1988). The election of Bill Clinton was the beginning of a new era in that a non-WWII veteran was elected.
Similarly, the election of Barack Obama in 2008 ushered the first president of the post-Vietnam generation. Obama could have watched The Brady Bunch and Room 222 as it was his generation. Other candidates of both parties are of this post-Vietnam generation in addition to Obama such as Rick Santorum and Sarah Palin.
A good indicator of a candidate from that era’s political views could be seen in what they watched on tv on Thursday evenings. The Waltons aired from September 1972 to May 1981 in the slot of Thursday at 8:00 PM, though the show lost countless viewers when Richard “John Boy” Thomas left after the 1976-1977 season. For the five seasons that Richard Thomas starred in the show (1972 – 1977), The Waltons achieved top ratings. For the show’s first three seasons, it had no competition in their time slot. However, in September 1975 ABC aired Welcome Back, Kotter in the 8:00 PM Thursday time slot opposite The Waltons.
Back in 1975 there were no VCR’s or DVR’s so shows could not be taped. You either had to watch The Waltons or Welcome Back, Kotter. There was no way to see both. I would speculate that Barack Obama watched Welcome Back, Kotter while Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum watched The Waltons.
Maybe the next ideological test discussed by the political pundits on Fox News and MSNBC will be whether candidates from this post-Vietnam generation watched The Waltons or Welcome Back, Kotter!
The theme song “Welcome Back, Kotter” by John Sebastian hit number one on the Billboard charts in 1976, making it the only one of two tv theme songs in the 1970’s to top the charts, with the only being “The Theme From S.W.A.T.” by Rhythm Heritage. The show was supposed to be called just”Kotter”, but when John Sebastian was hired to write the theme song and called it “Welcome Back”, it was decided to change the name of the show to Welcome Back, Kotter.
On 24 April 1976, John Sebastian performed “Welcome Back” on Saturday Night Live and totally flubbed the song, forgetting a lot of the lyrics. This performance is not on YouTube, unfortunately. But below is the official video for “Welcome Back”.
I wonder if the 2016 debates in Iowa and New Hampshire will ask candidates of both parties if they watched The Waltons or Welcome Back, Kotter?

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