All That Glitters
Encyclopedia
All That Glitters is a short-lived situation comedy
television series by producer Norman Lear
. It consisted of 65 episodes and aired between April 18 and July 15, 1977 in broadcast syndication. The show, a spoof of the soap opera
format, depicted the trials and tribulations of a group of executives at the Globatron corporation. The twist of the series was that it was set within a world of complete role-reversal: Women were the "stronger sex," the executives and breadwinners, while the "weaker sex" – the men – were the secretaries or stay-at-home househusbands. Men were often treated as sex objects.
The series featured Eileen Brennan
, Greg Evigan
, Lois Nettleton
, Gary Sandy
, Tim Thomerson
, and Jessica Walter
. Comic actor and cartoon voice artist Chuck McCann
was also a regular. Linda Gray
played transgender
fashion model Linda Murkland, the first transgender series regular on American television.
Before and after its premiere, All That Glitters was negatively received and the series lasted just 13 weeks. In the years since its cancellation it has been re-assessed more positively.
soap opera spoof Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
. Lear described the premise simply: "God created Eve first, took out her rib and gave her a companion so she wouldn't be lonely." Lear came up with the idea on a trip to Washington, D.C.
:
The world of All That Glitters had always been female-dominated but Lear also used the series to comment on changing sex roles in the United States in the 1970s.
Former Major League Baseball
player Wes Parker
almost literally walked into his role. He was doing play-by-play reporting for a Los Angeles
television station owned by Lear's partner, Jerry Perenchio
. "Lear casually asked if I'd be interested in the part. I said yes, but knew it was out of the question, because in real life things don't happen that way. Nobody walks in and gets on a Norman Lear show. I read for the part, got it and didn't sleep at all that night." Linda Gray
was somewhat non-plussed upon being offered the role of transgender Linda Murkland. "I remember meeting Norman and him saying, 'You'll be perfect for the role.' I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or what." To prepare for her role, Linda Gray asked Lear to arrange for her to meet with a transgender woman. Gray met with her for several hours prior to the beginning of filming and on a couple of occasions during production. Lois Nettleton
reportedly based her characterization of Christina Stockwood on Clark Gable
. Production started in early March 1977 with directors Herbert Kenwith
and James Frawley
.
In test screenings prior to its premiere, reaction to the show was sharply divided. According to executive producer Stephanie Sills, the strongest negative reaction came from male executives. "They didn't mind being portrayed by women. It was simply that they detest the way we depicted them." Feminists
were uncertain how to react to the series, with some being concerned that audiences would not perceive the show as satire but as an attempt to represent how a female-dominated society would actually operate. Lear marketed the program through his company, TAT Syndication. The series ran five nights a week.
sharply criticized the series, calling it "embarrassingly amateurish", with "flaccid" and "wearying" jokes, flat writing, "mediocre" acting and "aimless" direction. The Wall Street Journal concurred, saying that while the series' role-reversal premise may have been adequate for a play or film, it was too limiting to serve as the basis for a continuing series. These limitations showed up most clearly, the Journal says, in the lead performances. Although praising the performers themselves as talented, they are cited for being "unable to infuse much life into their roles". The Journal pegs the fundamental problem with All That Glitters as that "its characters are not people at all, merely composites of the least attractive characteristics of each sex. The satire focuses not on the way real, recognizable people behave, but on stereotypes and cliches about masculine and feminine attitudes. Even when stood on their heads, they still remain stereotypes and cliches."
New Times Magazine
was much more receptive to the series. Although labeling it "unquestionably the weirdest [show] that Lear has ever produced", New Times found that the series was not "a satire of mannerisms but of attitudes". All That Glitters required that viewers watch closely
to pick up on the subtleties and nuances, "not so much for what the show says, but for the way that it's said".
All That Glitters, after initially capturing 20% of viewers in major markets in its opening weeks, had lost about half of that audience mid-way through its run. The series was cancelled after 13 weeks, last airing on July 15, 1977. Although the show was panned, it and Lear, along with Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, are credited with expanding the subject matter that television producers were able to explore with lessened fear of antagonizing sponsors or viewers.
In the years since the series, it has garnered something of a positive reputation, with one critic listing it and other Lear efforts as "imaginative shows that contained some of the most striking satires of television and American society ever broadcast".
While the show itself was unsuccessful, it did spawn a hit song. "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", which had been written with the intention of its being the theme song, was recorded by Neil Diamond
and Barbra Streisand
and made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
. By the time the show made it to air, another song had been chosen as the theme. The replacement, "Genesis Revisited", was later described by the New York Times as "sparkl[ing] with witty rhymes and a punchy good humor". The song was performed by Kenny Rankin
. The lyrics for both songs were written by Marilyn Bergman
with music by Alan Bergman
.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
television series by producer Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
. It consisted of 65 episodes and aired between April 18 and July 15, 1977 in broadcast syndication. The show, a spoof of the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
format, depicted the trials and tribulations of a group of executives at the Globatron corporation. The twist of the series was that it was set within a world of complete role-reversal: Women were the "stronger sex," the executives and breadwinners, while the "weaker sex" – the men – were the secretaries or stay-at-home househusbands. Men were often treated as sex objects.
The series featured Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan is an American actress of film, television, and theater. Brennan is best known for her role as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in the TV adaption and won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy...
, Greg Evigan
Greg Evigan
Gregory Ralph "Greg" Evigan is an American actor best known for the TV series B.J. and the Bear, My Two Dads, P.S. I Luv U and TekWar.-Personal life:...
, Lois Nettleton
Lois Nettleton
Lois June Nettleton was an American actress of film, stage, and television. She was Miss Chicago of 1948 as well as a semifinalist at that year's Miss America Pageant.-Early years:...
, Gary Sandy
Gary Sandy
Gary Sandy is an American actor, who starred as program director Andy Travis on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati....
, Tim Thomerson
Tim Thomerson
Joseph Timothy “Tim” Thomerson is an American actor and comedian.Thomerson is most famous for his role as Jack Deth in the Trancers film series and is renowned for his work in numerous low-budget movies and his comedic television roles.-Early life:Tim Thomerson was born in Coronado, California. He...
, and Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
. Comic actor and cartoon voice artist Chuck McCann
Chuck McCann
Chuck McCann is a film actor, television actor, stage actor, and a voice actor from Brooklyn, New York.-Early career:...
was also a regular. Linda Gray
Linda Gray
Linda Ann Gray is an American actress, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing on the television prime-time soap opera Dallas.-Career:Prior to acting, Gray began working as a model in the 1960s...
played transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
fashion model Linda Murkland, the first transgender series regular on American television.
Before and after its premiere, All That Glitters was negatively received and the series lasted just 13 weeks. In the years since its cancellation it has been re-assessed more positively.
Production
All That Glitters was series creator Norman Lear's attempt to duplicate his success with the syndicatedTelevision syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
soap opera spoof Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is an American soap opera parody that aired in daily syndication from January 1976 to May 1977. The series was produced by Norman Lear, directed by Joan Darling and starred Louise Lasser...
. Lear described the premise simply: "God created Eve first, took out her rib and gave her a companion so she wouldn't be lonely." Lear came up with the idea on a trip to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
:
"I had visited the Institute of Policy Studies, and I just loved the whole thing. And I thought there was a series in it—a five-times-a-week series: I went to bed thinking about that, and I woke up the next morning thinking what would happen if the male-female equation were changed? What would happen if the women had all the power and all the advantage, and the men had what the women normally would have?”
The world of All That Glitters had always been female-dominated but Lear also used the series to comment on changing sex roles in the United States in the 1970s.
Former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
player Wes Parker
Wes Parker
Maurice Wesley Parker III is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from to...
almost literally walked into his role. He was doing play-by-play reporting for a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
television station owned by Lear's partner, Jerry Perenchio
Jerry Perenchio
Andrew Jerrold "Jerry" Perenchio was the former chairman and CEO of Univision, the largest Spanish-language company in the United States.-Early life:...
. "Lear casually asked if I'd be interested in the part. I said yes, but knew it was out of the question, because in real life things don't happen that way. Nobody walks in and gets on a Norman Lear show. I read for the part, got it and didn't sleep at all that night." Linda Gray
Linda Gray
Linda Ann Gray is an American actress, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing on the television prime-time soap opera Dallas.-Career:Prior to acting, Gray began working as a model in the 1960s...
was somewhat non-plussed upon being offered the role of transgender Linda Murkland. "I remember meeting Norman and him saying, 'You'll be perfect for the role.' I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or what." To prepare for her role, Linda Gray asked Lear to arrange for her to meet with a transgender woman. Gray met with her for several hours prior to the beginning of filming and on a couple of occasions during production. Lois Nettleton
Lois Nettleton
Lois June Nettleton was an American actress of film, stage, and television. She was Miss Chicago of 1948 as well as a semifinalist at that year's Miss America Pageant.-Early years:...
reportedly based her characterization of Christina Stockwood on Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
. Production started in early March 1977 with directors Herbert Kenwith
Herbert Kenwith
Herbert Kenwith , , was a television writer, director and producer....
and James Frawley
James Frawley
James Frawley is an American director and actor. Frawley was born in Houston, Texas. He has worked on Smallville, Ghost Whisperer, Judging Amy and The Monkees, as well as many other programs...
.
In test screenings prior to its premiere, reaction to the show was sharply divided. According to executive producer Stephanie Sills, the strongest negative reaction came from male executives. "They didn't mind being portrayed by women. It was simply that they detest the way we depicted them." Feminists
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
were uncertain how to react to the series, with some being concerned that audiences would not perceive the show as satire but as an attempt to represent how a female-dominated society would actually operate. Lear marketed the program through his company, TAT Syndication. The series ran five nights a week.
Cast
- Barbara BaxleyBarbara BaxleyBarbara Baxley was an American actress of stage, film and television.-Early life:Baxley was born in Porterville, California, the daughter of Emma and Bert Baxley.-Career:...
– L.W. Carruthers, President of Globatron - Eileen BrennanEileen BrennanEileen Brennan is an American actress of film, television, and theater. Brennan is best known for her role as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in the TV adaption and won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy...
– Ma Packer - Vanessa BrownVanessa BrownVanessa Brown was an Austrian-American actress who was successful in radio, film, theater, and television.-Early life:...
– Peggy Horner, Globatron executive - Anita GilletteAnita GilletteAnita Gillette is an American actress, most notable for her work on Broadway and as a celebrity guest on various game shows....
– Nancy Langston, Globatron executive - Linda GrayLinda GrayLinda Ann Gray is an American actress, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing on the television prime-time soap opera Dallas.-Career:Prior to acting, Gray began working as a model in the 1960s...
– Linda Murkland, model - Jim Greenleaf – Jeremy Stockwood, Christina's son
- David HaskellDavid HaskellDavid Michael Haskell was an American film, stage and television actor and singer.-Career:Haskell is best remembered for his dual performance in the 1970s in the New York City, New York, Off-Broadway musical-theatre production Godspell and its subsequent film adaptation Godspell: A Musical Based...
– Michael McFarland, Andrea's boyfriend - Chuck McCannChuck McCannChuck McCann is a film actor, television actor, stage actor, and a voice actor from Brooklyn, New York.-Early career:...
– Bert Stockwood, Christina's husband - Lois NettletonLois NettletonLois June Nettleton was an American actress of film, stage, and television. She was Miss Chicago of 1948 as well as a semifinalist at that year's Miss America Pageant.-Early years:...
– Christina Stockwood, Globatron executive - Wes ParkerWes ParkerMaurice Wesley Parker III is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from to...
– Glenn Langston, Nancy's husband - Gary SandyGary SandyGary Sandy is an American actor, who starred as program director Andy Travis on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati....
– Dan Kincaid, Globatron secretary - Louise ShafferLouise Shaffer-Biography:Shaffer was born in Woodbridge, Connecticut, where she showed an interest in acting early on in her life. After finishing high school, she attended Connecticut College for Women, then Yale Drama School...
– Andrea Martin, lawyer - Marte Boyle Slout – Grace Smith, Globatron executive
- Tim ThomersonTim ThomersonJoseph Timothy “Tim” Thomerson is an American actor and comedian.Thomerson is most famous for his role as Jack Deth in the Trancers film series and is renowned for his work in numerous low-budget movies and his comedic television roles.-Early life:Tim Thomerson was born in Coronado, California. He...
– Sonny Packer - Jessica WalterJessica WalterJessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
– Joan Hamlyn, agent
Critical reaction
All That Glitters debuted the week of April 18, 1977 on about 40 stations in late-night syndication. It was poorly critically received, with one reviewer going so far as to call the show's theme song "blasphemous" for suggesting that God was female and created Eve first. Time magazineTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
sharply criticized the series, calling it "embarrassingly amateurish", with "flaccid" and "wearying" jokes, flat writing, "mediocre" acting and "aimless" direction. The Wall Street Journal concurred, saying that while the series' role-reversal premise may have been adequate for a play or film, it was too limiting to serve as the basis for a continuing series. These limitations showed up most clearly, the Journal says, in the lead performances. Although praising the performers themselves as talented, they are cited for being "unable to infuse much life into their roles". The Journal pegs the fundamental problem with All That Glitters as that "its characters are not people at all, merely composites of the least attractive characteristics of each sex. The satire focuses not on the way real, recognizable people behave, but on stereotypes and cliches about masculine and feminine attitudes. Even when stood on their heads, they still remain stereotypes and cliches."
New Times Magazine
New Times Magazine
New Times was an American glossy bi-weekly national magazine published from 1973 to 1979 by George A. Hirsch. Hirsch had been publisher of New York magazine, but resigned after conflicts with founder/editor Clay Felker. New Times began as a bridge between the newsweeklies and the more reflective...
was much more receptive to the series. Although labeling it "unquestionably the weirdest [show] that Lear has ever produced", New Times found that the series was not "a satire of mannerisms but of attitudes". All That Glitters required that viewers watch closely
Close reading
Close reading describes, in literary criticism, the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text. Such a reading places great emphasis on the particular over the general, paying close attention to individual words, syntax, and the order in which sentences and ideas unfold as they...
to pick up on the subtleties and nuances, "not so much for what the show says, but for the way that it's said".
All That Glitters, after initially capturing 20% of viewers in major markets in its opening weeks, had lost about half of that audience mid-way through its run. The series was cancelled after 13 weeks, last airing on July 15, 1977. Although the show was panned, it and Lear, along with Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, are credited with expanding the subject matter that television producers were able to explore with lessened fear of antagonizing sponsors or viewers.
In the years since the series, it has garnered something of a positive reputation, with one critic listing it and other Lear efforts as "imaginative shows that contained some of the most striking satires of television and American society ever broadcast".
While the show itself was unsuccessful, it did spawn a hit song. "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", which had been written with the intention of its being the theme song, was recorded by Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
and Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. By the time the show made it to air, another song had been chosen as the theme. The replacement, "Genesis Revisited", was later described by the New York Times as "sparkl[ing] with witty rhymes and a punchy good humor". The song was performed by Kenny Rankin
Kenny Rankin
Kenny Rankin was an American pop and jazz singer and songwriter, originally from the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, New York.-Biography:...
. The lyrics for both songs were written by Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
with music by Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
.
Sources
- Television/radio Age (1976). New York, Television Editorial Corp. ISSN 0040-277X. OCLC 2246124.