'70s TV Flops That Are Actually Worth Watching

The 1970s was a decade of change in television. More wholesome programming like "My Three Sons" and "The Beverly Hillbillies" were being supplanted by edgier successors like "All in the Family" and "Good Times." Cop shows got grittier, legal procedurals more intense, and romantic dramas more titillating. While still tame by today's standards, the television of the time was being changed by shifting cultural attitudes, and some just weren't quite ready for it. But while the biggest hits of the '70s were also some of its most groundbreaking and boundary-pushing shows, there were plenty of other failed shows that came and went that were just as good.

While "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Brady Bunch," and "Columbo" dominated TV networks, the '70s also gave birth to a number of great shows that didn't catch on at the time but have since become cult classics. Others have been long forgotten but are better than their reputations suggest. Some of these short-lived shows were dropped due to low ratings, others because of pay or cultural backlash. So whether you've heard of these series or not, we're highlighting some of the best TV shows from the 1970s that never found long-lived success while on the air.

Running just eight episodes, "Hawkins" was less of a weekly procedural as it was a series of sometimes-monthly mini-movies. But it did star one of the biggest names of yesteryear in the latter days of his career, as Jimmy Stewart — best remembered for movie classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Rear Window" — took on the title role of lawyer Billy Jim Hawkins.

"Hawkins" isn't your typical hard-nosed legal drama, though, largely thanks to Stewart. With the movie star's endless charisma, Billy Jim Hawkins is a country bumpkin type who hides his craftiness and guile under a thick layer of simple "aw shucks" old-fashioned Southern charm. The first installment, "Death and the Maiden," debuted in the spring of 1973, and later that fall it was generally twice a month that Hawkins would head back to court on some of the most grisly cases in prime time.

Over the course of the eight stories, which typically ran about 75 minutes, Stewart was joined by a number of prominent guest stars like Cameron Mitchell and Tyne Daly, as well as future star Sam Elliott. The series' biggest flaw is the rather straightforward nature of the stories, but it's elevated by its impressive cast. While ratings were never stellar and it ended after less than a year, "Hawkins" was essentially the blueprint for "Matlock," one of the biggest hits of the following decade. So whether you're a fan of legal dramas, Stewart, or just TV history in general, "Hawkins" is a must-watch.

Many '70s spin-off shows were spawned from some of the most popular shows of the previous decade. But our next entry was a little bit different, a spin-off of the smash hit sitcom "Barney Miller," and it launched while its parent series was still on the air and doing well in the ratings. Titled simply "Fish," the series follows the adventures of Detective Phil Fish, played by the legendary Abe Vigoda. But this was no police drama, this was an otherwise ordinary sitcom about the home life of a New York cop and his wife, Bernice (Florence Stanley).

In the series, Fish and his wife have become foster parents to a group of children in need. Following the example of other sitcoms of the day, the series went for a diverse cast of kids, too, and the family was also joined by Charlie (Barry Gordon), a child psychologist who helps the Fish clan from getting in over their heads with five — count 'em, five — new children. It may sound like a trite premise, but it wasn't far off from "Diff'rent Strokes," another series that debuted just a year later, and that show became an all-time classic.

Unfortunately, "Fish" couldn't survive in a crowded sitcom landscape, falling far in the ratings. So when Abe Vigoda demanded a raise, it was an easy decision to cancel the series, even though it was a solid show with a strong cast capable of eliciting lots of laughs.

In 1978, the comedy magazine "National Lampoon" released its first successful movie, "Animal House," directed by John Landis and co-written by future "Ghostbusters" writer Harold Ramis. Headlining the film was "Saturday Night Live" superstar John Belushi as college cut-up "Bluto" Blutarsky, who led the wild and raucous members of a local fraternity as they caused all kinds of wild trouble, to the everlasting rage of Dean Wormer (John Vernon). After it lit up the box office on its way to becoming an all-time classic, it came to television the following year in the form of "Delta House."

Landis and Belushi weren't involved, but several other original cast members returned, including Vernon, Stephen Furst, Bruce McGill, and James Widdoes. Stepping into Belushi's protagonist position was newcomer Josh Mostel, playing his brother, "Blotto."  While the series lacks the bite of the original movie thanks to being on network television, it's still a laugh riot, with stories that — while not as raunchy –  see the gang involved in all kinds of antics, including an episode set during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But what makes the series even more compelling is the fact that it's some of the first work from writer-director John Hughes, the man responsible for future favorites like "Sixteen Candles," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Home Alone." Like the movie, it's executive-produced by Ivan Reitman, while Ramis returned to pen the opening episode alongside the original film's co-writers Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. The series also features an early appearance from a young Michelle Pfeiffer.

Gerry Anderson is best known for the British kids show "Thunderbirds," the 1960s adventure series that used puppets and models to tell the story of a group of space-age adventurers. But that was just one in a long line of shows he created, and in the 1970s, several of them made their way to the United States. Unfortunately, they rarely found success. One of the best of those stateside flops was "UFO," a series that may have been a little too far ahead of its time to find success in America.

Set in the far-off future of 1980, the series centered on a clandestine organization called SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization). Composed of members from around the globe, their task is to monitor outer space and stop an alien invasion by a race of beings who have been secretly visiting the Earth for years. For the show, Anderson eschewed the puppetry of "Thunderbirds" and went for a live-action adventure series while featuring a broad ensemble cast.

Smartly written sci-fi stories and some of the most impressive special effects you're likely ever to see out of the early 1970s helped it become a favorite of kids and adults. Over the years it's become a bonafide cult classic, and though ratings were poor, for many this British sci-fi series sits right alongside the likes of classic "Doctor Who" and the original "Star Trek."

These days, Hollywood is always trying to reinvent a classic with a modern twist. But the trend goes back further than you'd expect, with the 1970s actually seeing a few reinventions of iconic literary works, and of that lot, it's the 1975 series "The Invisible Man" that makes our list. Loosely based on the novel by H.G. Wells, the series is set in (what was then) contemporary times and revolves around the exploits of scientist Daniel Westin (David McCallum), whose latest experiments for the Klae Corporation involve teleportation. But when he inadvertently stumbles upon the secret to invisibility, he decides to test it on himself.

Before Westin can convince the company of the practical applications of his invention, he learns that Klae is actually being funded by the government — who will use his research as a devastating weapon. After destroying his own research, Westin mistakenly becomes permanently invisible and must use a series of fabricated lifelike masks to be seen. To fund the research needed to regain his visibility, Westin uses his newfound power to become an intelligence agent of sorts in service of Klae boss Walter Carlson (Craig Stevens).

Part fantasy, part science-fiction, part spy series, "The Invisible Man" takes Wells' original concept in a new direction and runs with it. While it's not quite as good as the shows it's clearly influenced by (it owes something of a debt to "Mission: Impossible"), it's a fun little series more than worth watching.

In the 1970s it wasn't as common as it is today for shows to blend disparate genres like horror and crime fiction. But in 1974, the ABC network did just that when they created the occult crime drama "Kolchak: The Night Stalker."  The series centered on the exploits of mercurial and aloof investigator Carl Kolchak, whose cases all involve otherworldly elements. "Kolchak" kicked off with a pair of TV movies, "The Night Stalker" and "The Night Strangler," both of which saw Kolchak tracking down supernatural killers.

With the two films written by the legendary Richard Matheson and the character based on a novel by Jeff Rice, "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" stars TV icon Darren McGavin. Across the show's scant 20 episodes, he'd face down everything from zombies and aliens to ancient spirits and devilish cults. While the initial two stories might have done well as prime-time movies of the week, the show may have been a bit too grim for a network series. It was never a hit, plummeting to 74th in the ratings in its only season.

"Kolchak: The Night Stalker" wasn't just stellar drama — it was fresh and new, but audiences simply may not have been ready for it. Eventually, though, it would garner a passionate fan following, and "X-Files" creator Chris Carter also acknowledged that his show was heavily inspired by "Kolchak." The series received an even shorter-lived remake in 2005 starring Stuart Townsend.