Hello Larry Intro Season 1

[jannyrcobs]

I was ten years old here in Canada in 1979, but I have no recollection of this show whatsoever.

[mishelly38]

Kim along with sister Kyle both are regulars of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills btw the sister are aunts of Paris and Nicki Hilton.

[MrHideyoursheep]

George Memmoli looks like a 450Lbs Topher Grace from that 70's show...

[crysjumar1]

i absolutely loved this....look at a young joanna gleason

[jaslinc1]

Last night in LA ('75) and got tickets to Johnny Carson. Sat down and who walks out? McLean Stevenson. Now if we were in Korea maybe it would have been ok but as it is I'll never forget what a lousy show it was. (Except when the "famous" mime Marcel Marceau came out and we in the studio got to see the boom mike guy keep swinging it down, waiting for him to speak!)

[pardyhardly]

Unfortunately you just saw the best part of the show.

[Dablkwid0w2008]

When and where did this show come on?

[snoops71]

@Dablkwid0w2008 NBC, around 1979 to 1980

[MrJacMac1986]

Joanna Gleason played Mark Walbergs character's mom in Boogie Nights

[mccarrpo]

Who is that lard ass?

[BeatleBangs1964]

Kim Richards (Ruthie) was the best part of the show.

[cardsguy76]

While "Hello, Larry" has a reputation as a bad show and is used as punchline. Compared to some of the so-called "great" sitcoms on tv today (many of whome overstay their welcome and aren't really funny) this show could be considered an average,decent show.

[solomonyanky]

hands down the greatest achievment in television history

[Moedogg01]

Kim Richards.... Yumm....

[shelly10538]

I remember this thing premiering, I think it was the same night as Different Strokes. Also remember The facts of life creeping onto the television around that same crazy time. Television in the late 70s went kinda out there with bizarre programming. Every other night of the week was some weird music variety show where you could either see The Bay City Rollers do a Happy Days parody or see ELO dodging laserbeams while Robert Conrad races Gabe Kaplan in a potatoe sack race! Strange days.

[zeelove8]

I rember this spinin off the show diffrent-strokes,,, it never really went anywere though,,

I just think think ol sitcom show intros are the Best evea,, they make sence there perssonal an meaningful they have soul,, today's tv is just plain soulless well 99% of it is anyways,,,

[nerdflanders8710]

@zeelove8 stfu ass soul.

[cliffordsville]

Thanks for this post. Too funny!

[BigDickMcGirk]

I miss themes like this that explain the entire premise, no matter trite or stupid it might be. Nowadays, :30 seconds of non-descript show and on to business.

[darrylhaynes]

he left a great show like M.A.S.H. 4 this stupid shit.....lasted only half of season...

[Tracymmo]

Only just discovered that Kim is aunt to Paris Hilton. Weird.

[jsrosa1282]

@Tracymmo And now these days, Kim is best known for getting into big catfights/arguments with her sister Kyle, and Camille Grammer, on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills!

[1968RYS]

Portland by way of "filmed before a live studio audience in...Hollywood" Hello...

[shaithis50]

@1968RYS LOL as was the case with WKRP in Cincinnati 

[mlc2005]

Wikipedia Entry: In an interview, Loretta Swit shed some light on the subject of why McLean left the series at the height of its success. She said Stevenson wanted to be number one and felt pushed down as one of an ensemble of eight. Swit said that before Stevenson left the series he told her, "I know I will not be in anything as good as this show, but I have to leave and be number one."

Hmmm... Not feeling too sorry for him now.

[hanoc101]

@mlc2005 So he kind of had David Caruso (NYPD Blue) syndrome?

[racefan1701]

I saw the recent clip, and Kim still has it. I'd love to know why she disappeared for so long.

[Doug4422]

@racefan1701 The primary reason was burnout, she worked so much at one point she needed to take some time off. However, she has returned to acting, althoughnot as much as she did when she was younger.

[racefan1701]

Kim Richards had such star power. I can't believe she fell off the map.

[jalen784]

@racefan1701 she is back on the map...she is acting again!!!

[darrylhaynes]

he never should have left M.A.S.H.

[deejaydubla]

Portland's not THAT far from L.A.

[ytatjetsamdotcom]

@deejaydubla About 1000 miles or so.

[TheMystercee]

Poor Donna Wilkes, and her False teeth at such an early Age. This was truly a forgettable series, but I slept well as a child after the intro.

[Shteve67]

I watched it strictly for Joanna Gleason and Kim Richards.

[jchahine]

i couldn't remember the name of this show... thanks

[ftsjr]

I have to admit, I never saw this show. Being in the Navy at the time, I was overseas when it was broadcast. I have to feel for McLean Stevenson though. After choosing to leave MASH, this was one of several flops he was involved with. Until the day he died, he was known as the "poster boy for bad career moves." It's unfortunate, because he seemed like a very likable guy.

[4DECO1]

This was one of my favorite shows. Too bad they don't make'em like this anymore, plus the theme song was cool.

[markxxx21]

The was the reverse of "One Day At A Time." But you gotta give it credit. It is still one of the few shows that has ONE man capable of raising his kids, without a housekeeper or brother, or uncle or houseman to help him out.

[MattTheSaiyan]

They should put this on DVD. Even if it's bad and aged badly, Maclean Stevenson would make it worth buying.

[UnholyDestro]

This was a fun show, and it had a great theme song.

[edmm976]

i fucked kim richards

[torchkit]

@edmm976

who didn't? she wasn't exactly "hard to get."

[wolverineland]

I wonder what Larry was drinking in that coffee cup. I doubt it was coffee.

[retox]

As a kid I had a big crush on Kim Richards.

[Alohajman]

Have you seen her lately? She's still hot.

Too bad she's Paris Hilton's aunt.

[mickey160455]

this idiot left mash to star in this show that BOOOMMD!!

[tubefluid]

Yup,,,,,,,, Mash was "holding back his carreer"

LMFAO!!!

[uhnter1]

yeah he must of had 6 rounds in his revolver after this,5 for his agent and one for himself

[TheJenn68]

Bzzzt! wrong he left to do the Maclean Stevenson show that bombed worse than this. Then Condo after this one which was beyond horrible.

[uhnter1]

yup you think he would have gotten a new agent by then.His career died a worse death than christ hanging on the cross(which probably was less painful ,shorter in time and more dignafied)

[mooky9669]

I never watched this show, butsaw the the episode that was the "pilot" on an episode of Diff'rent Strokes

[wpml10]

I watched this show as a kid. The theme resonates, but I remember it was a dumb show. I don't remember the fat guy but had a thing for Kim Richards. I preferred the actress who played the other daughter who replaced this one in the second year though.

[headley62]

Now the show would be called Hello Fairy.

[dolphinbuc]

I never knew this was on YouTube.I told my wife about it,but she can't remember Hello Larry.thanks.

[kperk014]

RIP Colonel Henry Blake.

[whitewitchoz]

Wow, this theme song is so damn catchy every time I hear it I sing it for the rest of the day.

[WhatsAYak]

I hear ya...the show sucked, but I couldn't get the theme out of my head after hearing it for the 1st time!

[palmercomm]

Joanna Gleason is Monty Hall's daughter. Monty worked with Mac in a sitcom.

[Robbie80015]

Well, I was 13 at the time.

[EarlSnohomish]

"Well, I was 13 at the time."

Same here, so we have nothing to be ashamed about. :-)

[Robbie80015]

Kim Richards. YUM!

[skaselecter]

she's totally hot...who cares she's about 14!

[tallandfun909]

This is just great!!!! WOW!!! Thank you!!

[ramtha9]

Ha ha! I always has a tape recorder in my hand as a kid, and have this theme recorded in my archives. Glad, and tickled to see it on the 'Tube. Thanks Dday9876 for sharing this stuff!

[Tehui1974]

I remember being a little kid and being infatuated with Kim Richards! One of my first crushes ever!

[mushyman64]

mine too still is same aged she slight older by a few days

[Hoopermazing]

I had a crush on her dating back to Prudence on "Nanny and the Professor," reruns of course.

[dpurves28]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who was crazy about Kim Richards.

[kyokogodai]

Totally with you on that. Always thought she was pretty. Being the same age helped, too!

[roxmysoxs]

hello larry rocks

[jaleach123]

Jaysus...George Memmoli. How fat was George Memmoli? He died in 1985 and they're still burying him.

[chax1971]

lol...you would never see that fat of person on TV today unless it is the fattest loser.

[WhatsAYak]

Great theme song...catchy and details all the major plot elements (Larry's job, moving from LA to Portland, and raising 2 teenage daughters), too bad the rest of the show wasn't nearly as good.

[tacomadavid68]

I remember that the main character name was Larry Alder. It was the same last name I had so I thought that was cool when I was a kid.

[deutche1978]

groovy :)

[yiommi]

I loved this show when i was little i never understood why it was so hated but i was 10 so there you go

[bomblatino]

Wow! For the longest time, years actually, I've wondered the tv show Kim Richards was in and I just couldn't remember . . . and now thanks to you I found it!!!! Thank you. I love YouTube! DPS Seattle Monday 01/12/2009

[9george1978]

I did not know this was a show i saw this guy on deffrent strokes with his cast now I know WOW!

[reh629]

good thing this show was canceled. i dont think george memmoli would have lasted a third season.

[marksufos]

@reh629 Poor George, he started out doing movie bit parts for Martin Scorcessi in the early and mid 70's. He was not so heavy then, but by the late 70's he began to balloon. By the mid 80's he had bit parts on Nell Carter's show Gimmie a Break and shortly before he passed in 1985 appeared on Hill Street Blues on the episode called "Paul the Wall". In that episode it took 6 men to lift him onto a table. He must have weighed nearly 450 lbs. On the table he looked like a mtn of pure FAT.

[BufordStone]

I think McLean Stevenson got 2 seasons out of this thing. Relatively speaking it was his longest run after Mash.

[jimyjam99]

THIS is the reason McLean Stevenon left "MASH"? That's gotta put him in the top 10 of bad career moves.

[jas22]

it as a cool show! i loved kim richards. she was beautiful. well, her juvenile face is immortalized in video, so now i dont think that. at the time, i was her age or younger, and thought she was a goddess.

[EarlyLAPunk]

definitely one of the 10 worst career moves ever

[MacGrurry]

nothing worse than David Caruso leaving NYPD Blue

[jimyjam99]

Although it took him a while, David Caruso finally did find success again a top-rated netword show in CSI Miami.

[WhatsAYak]

Indeed...McLean Stevenson still holds the title for "worst career move" w/his departure from M*A*S*H*.

[nowhereboy]

That looks like the set of "Married with Children"

[jriley1992]

Yeah, when you look at it, it does.

[rricci]

The kitchen reminds of MWC, but when you see the hallway, it kind of reminds me of Good Times...I don't know why, but it does... though when Kim Richards is on the screen, it's REALLY hard to look at anything BUT her. :)

[kbirdusa]

That obese thing is absolutely repulsive. I wonder how much they had to pay Kim Richards to put her hands in that flab?

[shttrlvr]

What show did this spin off from...I forgot. I think it was "Diff'rent Strokes" or "Facts of Life"

[alwrig]

It wasn't necessarily a spin-off, but a couple of episodes of Diff'rent Strokes featured the cast flying out to Portland to stay with Larry (It was established that he and Philip were old army buddies) and his girls for a week or so. I believe "Hello Larry" was not doing so well in the ratings, so the producers (involved with both shows) did a crossover thing to help out the show. "Strokes" at the time was a ratings powerhouse, so it was hoped that the magic might rub off. It didn't, though!

[fjccommish]

Those crossovers were an effort to push Hello Larry, already failing, up in the ratings. Hello Larry was already airing, but not many people were watching.

[warrior350es]

was Portland full of weirdos back then like it is now?

[X23109]

I wouldn't know. I lived there back in 2004. Not long enough to make a full assessment. From what I can make of it, I've run into some nuts out in that area and kept of driving :)

[warrior350es]

i lived there in 98-99 and those have to be some of the strangest people I have ever met, and unhappy too! maybe it's the weather, but there are some pretty areas

[X23109]

well it was a little different back in 2004. My friend assisted me with getting me off the road for awhile and take a break from trucking to give local living a chance. That was a unique experience. But I did meet a wonderful girl out that way who showed me a lot about life and living. Never pursued anything further with her though and let my friend have her as they were already involved. Just was glad to know her.

[X23109]

from what I can make out though, Portland has good and bad areas. very beautiful, but felt I was better off making a go of it in northern NV because of the income tax they have out that way. Granted Portland's mass transit is excellent, but if you live in Beaverton/Hillsboro and have to commute into Portland or areas east of there, then traffic can become a nightmare.

I guess it depends on who you meet, but seems like I've seen nothing but beautiful women out that way as if they grew on trees

[X23109]

well one thing is for certain about the Pacific northwest. You can't beat the coffee :) I've never seen so many drive through coffee places in my life when first driving that area professionally in 1998/1999. Great swapping stories with you just briefly warrior350es. And I've never killed anyone by car or semi :)

[BestManMe09]

IMDB reports at the McLean Stevenson board that Stevenson had a very big fear of Dark Shadows actor Conrad Bain!

[shttrlvr]

Conrad Bain was in "Dark Shadows"? Wonder why he was scared of him?

[BestManMe09]

People are often afraid of people who were in horror shows. Linda Blair (of the Exorcist) though beautiful often scares people around her!

[BestManMe09]

McLean Stevesnon previously guested on America 2Night with the naturally lobotomized Martin Mull (Mull admitted in a 1978 Newsweek interview to never yelling in reallife). A weird experience for Stevenson to work with Mull I'm sure.

[fuckpossible]

God, Kim Richards' speech impediment. Did the cast get ponchos? Was it really necessary to replace the older daughter?

[needles1987]

Donna Wilkes left due to drug and alcohol problems.

[fuckpossible]

I guess that's why she didn't get along w/ Mac... she was too freakin' high and drunk all the time! lol Kim mentioned the two fought like cats and dogs.

[xxNIKEDAN63bb]

This is what he left M*A*S*H for?

[pjgraves1975]

Wasn't Donna Wilkes in JAWS 2?

[JelloFarming]

Yes she was and a bit blonder in it.

[palmercomm]

Ah yes. "Hello Larry". Or, "Henry Blake in the Witness Protection Program".

[cornjuicy]

Did everyone dress like Carl Sagan back in 1980?

[Bonkoz]

Sometimes while watching the show I would eat crackers.

[madskyltd]

if i recall, donna wilkes could not stay off the drugs. the fat dude was the donut taster on the set (Duh!). Kim Richards? oh my. the pigtails really did it for me. we were about the same age and i lusted after her since "Witch mountain". oh could she hurt me bad in my high school dreams

[ZIPPTPH77]

Kim Richards was adorable...

[tiff1028]

did it only last 2 seasons

[jksonny]

Nice move, MS. I can see why you left MASH and years of success/fortune for this gem; even the title song is terrible ("you talk to people all day for a living . . ."). Who is that incredibly fat guy and what is his point? I guess that's how desperate the show was for laughs: "Let's have the morbidly obese guy dance around! Now, that's humor!!" Apparently, it was one of the show's highlights since they included it in the opening, which tells you something right there.

[sliberta]

too funny lol

[DBNHellspawn]

Anyvbody know why Donna Wilkes wasn't in the second season?

[pyro4561]

she left because she hated Mclean Stevenson..she told him he was a terrible actor

[33Mark221]

I wondered that too. I liked her. She was sort of like MacKenzie Phillips on "One Day at a Time--" really mature acting. They also replaced John Femia (before he became Marshall Blechtman on "Square Pegs") with some dorky kid. The show was never the same after that. Considering that "Hello Larry" was a mid-season replacement (and one of the only hits) when NBC was third in the ratings, they should have left the show alone, but they had to tamper with its success.

[33Mark221]

NBC came up with this greatly hyped Friday night lineup in January 1979. "Hello Larry" was one of them, but the night started with "Turnabout," a half-hour sitcom with John Schuck and Sharon Gless--about a couple whose personalities switched bodies (his sportswriter personality was in Sharon Gless' body, and vice versa, because of a magical statue in their house). It progressed to "Sweepstakes," an hour show about winners/losers in a prospective million dollar lottery.

[Chaz71]

I remember first seeing Donna Wilkes as one of the teenagers in "Jaws 2"

[jephsteph]

I really miss Donna Wilkes. She has many fans out there, including me. I wish she would let us know what she's up to these days. Rumor has it she wants nothing to do with the Hollywood establishment anymore. If so, I don't blame her...it can be a cruel business. Hopefully she's happy now leading a more normal life.

[mycoolfunstuff]

Joanna Gleason is the daughter of Monty Hall. ("Let's Make a Deal").

[mycoolfunstuff]

Stevenson had Donna Wilkes fired for some reason. I can't remember why, but I remember reading it in one of the tabloids at that time. He would also make racist jokes toward Meadowlark Lemon when he joined the show later on.

[Chaz71]

What's your source for McLean Stevenson allegedly making racist jokes toward Meadowlark Lemon?

[TJOPootertoot]

Kim Richards' sister is Paris Hilton's mom.

[Colorscheme]

Thank God for Donna Wilkes. She was one of the girls who taught me what pretty was when I was a kid.

[Lanny1966]

Kim Richards!!!

[bijeto]

Wow. Another sitcom I haven't seen in 30 years. (I always love time travelling on YouTube.) Thanx for the post!

[HailAnts]

Both the daughters were vintage late 70s spankin' material! Kimmy Richards especially! BTW, she's Paris Hilton's aunt! (Her sister is Paris' mother).

[needles1987]

McLean Stevenson is GOD!!

[OpenArms81]

Obviously Larry wasn't A great father.Donna Wilkes went on To play A prostitute in Angel.

[OpenArms81]

I think MCClean is A good actor,no matter what.I'd like to see A full episode of this show,never seen it.

[RoosterCockburn077]

Wonder if Portland was a weirdo land back in the late 70's like it is today.

[mrstereo2]

I remember the show too. Not quite sure McClean Stevenson would have left MASH either. He also did his share of guest spots on Match Game too - as did Gary Burgoff. As for Hello Larry, the theme alone stuck in my head for 3 decades! Thankfully youtube allows us to remember these things more clearly.

[OpenArms81]

He was fired.Because of supposedly complaining about the ants,rats,and other unpleasantries on the set.

[JORDAN3005]

cant believe mcclean stevenson left mash for this

[OpenArms81]

He didn't leave.He was actually fired,for complaining,in A nice way,about bad coditions on the set.

[Mysterycat74]

Hmmm... I guess I only saw season two of thise show because I have no recollection of that big fat guy!

[Yaaziel]

ah...Kim Richards...

I actually remember liking this show...

[someguy23475]

Hello Larry was one of NBCs more successful shows of that era, which is sad since it only lasted about a year and a half. Has it ever been rerun? I'd like to see a full episode sometime.

[kirkenbunken]

No you don't, the show sucked. It was sitcom cliches one after another. "Frasier" is what this show should have been but someone decided it had to be like "Diffrent Strokes".

[someguy23475]

I hated Frasier, so if this is even worse, then maybe I don't want to see it.

[niceguy33]

Kim Richards was a hottie!

[goof143]

Different strokes spinoff'

[1BadDolfan]

This was one of my favs....brings back memories

[jstully]

When you see a hot chick

Say to yourself or out loud:

"Hello Larry"

JT

[Soxogram]

That is the funniest posting I've ever read on You Tube! Kudos...and yes, I'm going to start using that line!

[lockjockjr]

way better than fraser

[Alvin4NY]

Too Funny. This show was was trashed by every critic when it was first aired. Johnny Carson made relentless fun about it being on NBC.

[DENo1MatchGameFan]

@Alvin4NY So did Richard Dawson on "Family Feud."