Looking Back, Moving Forward: Italian Americans on Television from the 1970s to the 1990s

Discussing the portrayal of Italian Americans on television between the 1970s and the 1990s, the author states that in the 1970s, despite some backward-looking television shows and series, one may notice a more consistent presence of Italian American law-abiding and educated characters. Popular shows such as Happy Days (1974–1984) are undoubtedly characterized by a ‘looking-back’ attitude, given by the show’s temporal setting and, perhaps most importantly, by the recovery of old stereotypes. However, even within the ‘Happy Days universe’, a series like Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983) shows characters permeated by a certain authenticity, especially Laverne, given her daily struggle to make ends and the fact she is one of television’s first liberated women. While series like Columbo (1968; 1971–1978; 1989–2003) and Petrocelli (1974–1976) finally introduce Italian American characters who prefer using brains over muscles, others like Toma (1973–1974) and Baretta (1975–1978) still show how using brute force is a prerogative of many of the Italian American cops populating the small screen during this decade. Orsitto concludes his analysis by remarking how, in the 1980s and the 1990s, TV series continued to have a two-face Janus kind of approach, with stereotypes being displayed in massive doses (especially in comedies and crime shows, but also in a large group of Mafia-related characters), coexisting with more progressive portrayals or, simply, with ‘regular Joes’.