Was "Chico and the Man" that great?

[Taverner]

Or was it just that Freddie Prinze died early in life that made it a "Classic"?

[NewWaveChick1981]

1. It was a groundbreaking show when it came out.

Kinda like Sanford and Son. I think the entertainment value is negligible for Chico and the Man, but it was a pioneering show for that time. And Freddie Prinze's death just helped push it to "classic" status.

[Taverner]

2. What was groundbreaking about it?

Was it that Freddie Prinze was a latino?

[NewWaveChick1981]

3. Yes.

Most of the shows up until Sanford & Son, Chico and the Man, etc., were white-only. Unless you count The Munsters, who were inter-species, and Star Trek, which had the first interracial kiss on TV, shows were very, very white.

[Taverner]

4. True...

I'm trying to think of any show before then that had blacks or latinos - I mean there was Amos and Andy, but that really shouldn't count...any more than Stepin Fetchit being a groundbreaking actor.

[NewWaveChick1981]

5. If you did see blacks or Latinos in tv shows prior to that, you

generally saw them in a negative or subservient light. It was kinda rare, though.

[Taverner]

6. Except for Maude

But that show was ahead of its time too

[NewWaveChick1981]

7. Maude, All in the Family, and anything else by Norman Lear

was cutting-edge equality. Very hip, very 70s, very racially and politically aware. The Jeffersons fell into that group too.

[freethought]

8. Partially, yes. The other part was

the fact that is was much like "All in the Family" in that the show probed into issues of race, ethnicity, religion, cultural issues, politics and the like. It just had a latino flavor to it. It was pretty edgy for its day and you did not see many latinos on TV or on the big screen in those days.