I remember watching this show in the late seventies and thinking "McLean Stevenson left MASH for this?!" But the show began to grow on me and it was fun watching a single dad raise two teenaged daughters. One episode that hit home with me was when Ruthie decided to rechristen herself as Ruth. That's my name (officially Ruth Ann, but call me Ruthie) and I can relate to being Ruth (serious, professional, etc.) as well as Ruthie (cute, informal, etc.)-it's been going on for almost 55 years. Granted, this show will never equal MASH, but McLean Stevenson could be knock-down funny when he wanted to and it was sad to see him go through so many projects (the reason he left MASH was to possibly host the Tonight Show) and it was sad to see him die without equaling his work on MASH. The show got better when Krista Errickson replaced Donna Wilkes as older daughter Diane and the other cast (Joanna Gleason, Ruth Brown, Meadowlark Lemon, etc.) did very well. This was a show that should've gotten a better chance. And that's the Ruth(ie).
9 Reviews
It's not bad... but it's not good either.
Java_Joe26 September 2022
Hello Larry was, strangely enough, the most successful TV show McLean Stevenson was ever on. After he left MASH that is. Every single show he was the headliner for was cancelled after one season. Hello Larry ran for two. He later admitted that leaving MASH was the worst career decision he ever made and... I have to agree with him.
The show itself didn't feel complete. It was shown after "Diff'rent Strokes" and was by the same producer so in order to cement this they had a couple crossovers where Larry and Mr. Drummond met as they were old war buddies. Nothing really came of it though. After those three episodes they never met again.
The story itself was of a guy on the radio giving people advice but he wasn't very good at it. He often made smart-alec responses to what the callers would call in about. After a couple episodes it was decided to change the format around and now he was supposed to focus on his two daughters. After his divorce he moved, with them, to Portland from LA for this job.
Older daughter Diane and younger daughter Ruthie. They.. were typical sitcom kids. Nothing of real note.
In the end it just wasn't interesting enough to carry along and was dropped.
The show itself didn't feel complete. It was shown after "Diff'rent Strokes" and was by the same producer so in order to cement this they had a couple crossovers where Larry and Mr. Drummond met as they were old war buddies. Nothing really came of it though. After those three episodes they never met again.
The story itself was of a guy on the radio giving people advice but he wasn't very good at it. He often made smart-alec responses to what the callers would call in about. After a couple episodes it was decided to change the format around and now he was supposed to focus on his two daughters. After his divorce he moved, with them, to Portland from LA for this job.
Older daughter Diane and younger daughter Ruthie. They.. were typical sitcom kids. Nothing of real note.
In the end it just wasn't interesting enough to carry along and was dropped.
Good Concept, Lousy Scripts
Sargebri3 April 2003
This show could have been seen as the male equivalent of One Day At a Time. Only instead of a divorced mother raising two girls, it was a divorced father raising two girls. The only thing that was wrong with the show were the inane scripts that crippled the show from the start. The only memorable episode was the one in which the oldest daughter was caught with drugs that were planted on her. This episode was the showed what every parent goes through when they suspect that their child might be using drugs. However, this was the only memorable episode from an otherwise forgettable show.
Hello. Larry ... and Farewell McLean
happipuppi1320 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Larry Alder is a 44-year-old divorced man, in Portland, Oregon, raising his two teenage daughters and hosting a call-in psychology radio show, who is a former Army buddy of Phillip Drummond (of "Diff'rent Strokes".)
I watched this sitcom, when I was 11 to 12 in 1979- 1980, it's well known that NBC wasn't successful in the world of sitcoms at the time.
The network's 4 greatest sitcoms of the decade were "Sanford and Son", "Chico and The Man", "Diff'rent Strokes" and (even though it debuted in August of '79) "The Facts Of Life". ...but it seemed like every other sitcom they tried, were gone in weeks or a few months.
I will credit NBC for seemingly trying harder (than with other programs) to keep this show afloat as it did air from January 26, 1979, to April 30, 1980, for a total of 38 episodes over those two seasons.
It was that while Larry was an advice giver on the radio (kind of like Frasier but without the eloquence) ...but is not as successful with advice at home.
This series could have been a good look at (for example) how one can give their advice to others but follow it themselves or again, be unable to dispense it well, with one's own children.
The 'maybe' here, is something McLean said years later in an interview. He did get a bit of an ego when M*A*S*H got him recognized and he felt he could leave M*A*S*H with his head held high, that people liked his work and could get a series himself.
He stated that he realized, it was the Henry Blake character people loved and they, of course, were devastated when that character was kiled off. (Which McLean was fully aware of, he was on the set when it was filmed.)
It's an unfortunate thing, that McLean Stevenson just couldn't catch a "decent" break in television after leaving M*A*S*H after season 3. He left after accepting a direct offer from NBC, for a contract and his own series.
"The McLean Stvenson Show" (December 1, 1976, to March 23, 1977 - 14 shows but 2 left unaired.) When this didn't work out, he tried CBS again for the Norman Lear series, "In The Beginning" that ran even shorter (September 20 to October 18, 1978 - 9 epsiodes but 4 unaired.)
** He did luck out at this time with a part in the Disney comedy, "The Cat from Outer Space". It makes me wonder if he should have gone the route of movies for Disney as well. **
NBC called him back and along came, "Hello, Larry". To be fair, the show was produced by Embassy Television and as spin off from, "Diff'rent Strokes" it should have been expected to meet that level, but things just didn't click with, "Hello, Larry" .
McLean, as Henry Blake, had been known mostly for his sillier humor (while still doing very good serious acting as well.) While he did try to inject seriousnes in this show, what I feel it was, is there seemed to be no balance of that and the comedy.
Some fairly good story ideas too , but the inbalance of comedy & what should be the serious moments, plus McLean's reputation, the ideas were there but not excuted to the level that highly successful sitcoms reach.
After the show ended in April of '80, Mclean was off of series TV for nearly 3 years. When he returned, M*A*S*H was a mere 18 days away from it's finale.
He was now on his 3rd network. His new ABC sitcom "Condo", debuted Feruary 10th and lasted until June 9th...the standard 13 epsiode try out. I thought it was a pretty good show but it just didn't get the audience numbers it needed.
5 years later, many don't know this, but McLean ended up on a CBS drama that was based on the 1987 hit movie, "Dirty Dancing" (in fact that was it's title.)
Running only 11 shows, he played Max Kellerman, the father of Frances 'Baby' Kellerman. I never saww this, but it did run from October 29th, 1988 to January 21st, 1989.
McLean did one more movie for TV and greatly to his credit, ended up playing a small but good role as Booter Manigault , in "Armistead Maupin's : Tales of The City" from 1993.
3 years later , he was gone, from a heart attack at age 68.
R. I. P. McLean Stevenson : November 14, 1927 - February 15, 1996.
I watched this sitcom, when I was 11 to 12 in 1979- 1980, it's well known that NBC wasn't successful in the world of sitcoms at the time.
The network's 4 greatest sitcoms of the decade were "Sanford and Son", "Chico and The Man", "Diff'rent Strokes" and (even though it debuted in August of '79) "The Facts Of Life". ...but it seemed like every other sitcom they tried, were gone in weeks or a few months.
I will credit NBC for seemingly trying harder (than with other programs) to keep this show afloat as it did air from January 26, 1979, to April 30, 1980, for a total of 38 episodes over those two seasons.
It was that while Larry was an advice giver on the radio (kind of like Frasier but without the eloquence) ...but is not as successful with advice at home.
This series could have been a good look at (for example) how one can give their advice to others but follow it themselves or again, be unable to dispense it well, with one's own children.
The 'maybe' here, is something McLean said years later in an interview. He did get a bit of an ego when M*A*S*H got him recognized and he felt he could leave M*A*S*H with his head held high, that people liked his work and could get a series himself.
He stated that he realized, it was the Henry Blake character people loved and they, of course, were devastated when that character was kiled off. (Which McLean was fully aware of, he was on the set when it was filmed.)
It's an unfortunate thing, that McLean Stevenson just couldn't catch a "decent" break in television after leaving M*A*S*H after season 3. He left after accepting a direct offer from NBC, for a contract and his own series.
"The McLean Stvenson Show" (December 1, 1976, to March 23, 1977 - 14 shows but 2 left unaired.) When this didn't work out, he tried CBS again for the Norman Lear series, "In The Beginning" that ran even shorter (September 20 to October 18, 1978 - 9 epsiodes but 4 unaired.)
** He did luck out at this time with a part in the Disney comedy, "The Cat from Outer Space". It makes me wonder if he should have gone the route of movies for Disney as well. **
NBC called him back and along came, "Hello, Larry". To be fair, the show was produced by Embassy Television and as spin off from, "Diff'rent Strokes" it should have been expected to meet that level, but things just didn't click with, "Hello, Larry" .
McLean, as Henry Blake, had been known mostly for his sillier humor (while still doing very good serious acting as well.) While he did try to inject seriousnes in this show, what I feel it was, is there seemed to be no balance of that and the comedy.
Some fairly good story ideas too , but the inbalance of comedy & what should be the serious moments, plus McLean's reputation, the ideas were there but not excuted to the level that highly successful sitcoms reach.
After the show ended in April of '80, Mclean was off of series TV for nearly 3 years. When he returned, M*A*S*H was a mere 18 days away from it's finale.
He was now on his 3rd network. His new ABC sitcom "Condo", debuted Feruary 10th and lasted until June 9th...the standard 13 epsiode try out. I thought it was a pretty good show but it just didn't get the audience numbers it needed.
5 years later, many don't know this, but McLean ended up on a CBS drama that was based on the 1987 hit movie, "Dirty Dancing" (in fact that was it's title.)
Running only 11 shows, he played Max Kellerman, the father of Frances 'Baby' Kellerman. I never saww this, but it did run from October 29th, 1988 to January 21st, 1989.
McLean did one more movie for TV and greatly to his credit, ended up playing a small but good role as Booter Manigault , in "Armistead Maupin's : Tales of The City" from 1993.
3 years later , he was gone, from a heart attack at age 68.
R. I. P. McLean Stevenson : November 14, 1927 - February 15, 1996.
Radio Station call letters
mmomom230 October 2009
Does anyone remember the call letters of the radio station where Larry worked? I've drawn a blank on this one item. As a matter of fact, I can barely remember the series. Obviously, this was not one of my father's favorites since he controlled the remote and only watched 2 or 3 episodes. Back then that was the way most families had to watch television. Also, we only had one set in the whole house. Therefore, my mom and I had to wait for dad to go out of town in order to watch anything with females, sex, or anything that was not sports or war related. My,how times have changed! We have only three people currently living in our house, but we have a total of five TV sets. Go figure!
Brilliant but stupid....Lasted Two Seasons and 38 episodes.
rcj53659 June 2004
This series didn't run long enough to jump the shark. We had to say goodbye to "Hello,Larry" aka "The MacLean Stevenson Show" all too soon. This series which was produced and created by the same people who brought you "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life" lasted for two seasons on NBC-TV which came in as the mid-season replacement producing 38 episodes on January 26,1979 ,and it only lasted a mere two and half seasons on the air before it was canceled on April 30, 1980 it gave its viewers a nervous breakdown to why in the hell actor MacLean Stevenson should have stayed on M*A*S*H,but lets face it,back in the mid- 1970's,and part of the early-1980's,NBC had the reputation as being the worst television network around,and believe me when I say that NBC was going toward a downward spiral as it faced stiff competition from rivals ABC and CBS.
The show itself had a good concept during its first five episodes then after that it got the reputation for one of the worst TV shows of all time,and it ranked right up there with "My Mother The Car","F- Troop","Manimal", "Mister T and Tina","Pink Lady and Jeff" and the worst of them all "Gilligan's Island", to name a few,giving "Hello,Larry" a scapegoat for bad TV,which some of NBC's programming was at the time,totally horrible under the supervision of the network executive over at NBC at the time,Fred Silverman.
However,I do recall the changing of the guards when it came during the cast change for same character,but was played by two different actresses:It wasn't the same after actress Donna Wilkes was replaced by Krista Errickson,and from there the result was a train wreck on impact. However,this show was that bad overall,but lets not put the blame on MacLean Stevenson,whom after his involvement with M*A*S*H,gain the reputation for a string of failed TV-shows that emerge during the late-1970's,but in some way he was fairly positive with his role. But I put the blame on the producers of this series! The same producers that were behind "Hello,Larry",were behind the shows "The Facts Of Life","Diff'rent Strokes","One Day At A Time",and so many more! Stevenson brought along a Everyman approach to the role,given him a comedic fair to the character who was a single dad raising two teenage daughters on his own without a mom around in suburban Portland,Oregon. This was in fact the male equivalent to another situation comedy show that was around the same time as this series:"One Day At A Time",which was on a rival network.
Did "Hello,Larry" jumped the shark? Actually,no. It started out in midair,then went halfway over the shark tank. What really stinks is that actress Kim Richards-a child actor that was all over the place in several movies and TV shows during the entire decade of the 1970's and way into the mid-1980's-stayed on throughout the whole show until its demise in the spring of 1980,after 38 episodes. Richards,was a drop dead gorgeous babe who was the object of every teenage boys' fantasy during the mid-1970's,and still is today. Ahhh yes,KIM RICHARDS,every boy's erotic fantasy! Was that really Kim Richards in the 1985 teen drama called "Tuff Turf"? Yes,it was and she was totally hot!!! The second reason that "Hello,Larry" didn't jump the shark is this: Why is it that in every episode you got to have Meadowlark Lemon as special guest star? Why wasn't he made a regular? Why was he the second banana? The others? Having the cast of Diff'rent Strokes on the show--which at time was the ONLY hit that NBC had,where the carrying presence of Gary Coleman made the show--where Gary Coleman's character,Arnold runs away in Portland leaving Kim Richards,and Strokes' regulars Dana Plato and Todd Bridges to find him. The other daughter? Donna Wilkes,after her departure from the show,was tapped to do three installments to the "Angel" films in the 1980's,and was never heard from again since.
Whatever happened to MacLean Stevenson after the demise of Hello,Larry? This was in fact a string of failed shows one after the other including his own series,"The New MacLean Stevenson Show","America","In The Beginning","Dirty Dancing","Dear,John"...the list goes on and on! "Hello,Larry" was a good show in his heyday,but there was a time that NBC sucked so badly that everything on its programming roster never had a chance because viewers stayed the hell away from the network. The saving grace that rescue NBC from a watery grave was the realignment of its entire programming,that resulted during the termination of Fred Silverman,during the mid-1980's and the resurrection of a new person that would bring the network back to glory who was also in charge of NBC's entertainment division as well.
The show itself had a good concept during its first five episodes then after that it got the reputation for one of the worst TV shows of all time,and it ranked right up there with "My Mother The Car","F- Troop","Manimal", "Mister T and Tina","Pink Lady and Jeff" and the worst of them all "Gilligan's Island", to name a few,giving "Hello,Larry" a scapegoat for bad TV,which some of NBC's programming was at the time,totally horrible under the supervision of the network executive over at NBC at the time,Fred Silverman.
However,I do recall the changing of the guards when it came during the cast change for same character,but was played by two different actresses:It wasn't the same after actress Donna Wilkes was replaced by Krista Errickson,and from there the result was a train wreck on impact. However,this show was that bad overall,but lets not put the blame on MacLean Stevenson,whom after his involvement with M*A*S*H,gain the reputation for a string of failed TV-shows that emerge during the late-1970's,but in some way he was fairly positive with his role. But I put the blame on the producers of this series! The same producers that were behind "Hello,Larry",were behind the shows "The Facts Of Life","Diff'rent Strokes","One Day At A Time",and so many more! Stevenson brought along a Everyman approach to the role,given him a comedic fair to the character who was a single dad raising two teenage daughters on his own without a mom around in suburban Portland,Oregon. This was in fact the male equivalent to another situation comedy show that was around the same time as this series:"One Day At A Time",which was on a rival network.
Did "Hello,Larry" jumped the shark? Actually,no. It started out in midair,then went halfway over the shark tank. What really stinks is that actress Kim Richards-a child actor that was all over the place in several movies and TV shows during the entire decade of the 1970's and way into the mid-1980's-stayed on throughout the whole show until its demise in the spring of 1980,after 38 episodes. Richards,was a drop dead gorgeous babe who was the object of every teenage boys' fantasy during the mid-1970's,and still is today. Ahhh yes,KIM RICHARDS,every boy's erotic fantasy! Was that really Kim Richards in the 1985 teen drama called "Tuff Turf"? Yes,it was and she was totally hot!!! The second reason that "Hello,Larry" didn't jump the shark is this: Why is it that in every episode you got to have Meadowlark Lemon as special guest star? Why wasn't he made a regular? Why was he the second banana? The others? Having the cast of Diff'rent Strokes on the show--which at time was the ONLY hit that NBC had,where the carrying presence of Gary Coleman made the show--where Gary Coleman's character,Arnold runs away in Portland leaving Kim Richards,and Strokes' regulars Dana Plato and Todd Bridges to find him. The other daughter? Donna Wilkes,after her departure from the show,was tapped to do three installments to the "Angel" films in the 1980's,and was never heard from again since.
Whatever happened to MacLean Stevenson after the demise of Hello,Larry? This was in fact a string of failed shows one after the other including his own series,"The New MacLean Stevenson Show","America","In The Beginning","Dirty Dancing","Dear,John"...the list goes on and on! "Hello,Larry" was a good show in his heyday,but there was a time that NBC sucked so badly that everything on its programming roster never had a chance because viewers stayed the hell away from the network. The saving grace that rescue NBC from a watery grave was the realignment of its entire programming,that resulted during the termination of Fred Silverman,during the mid-1980's and the resurrection of a new person that would bring the network back to glory who was also in charge of NBC's entertainment division as well.
This Diff'rent Strokes Spin-off didn't deserve to die.
45RPM26 June 1999
This quasi-spin-off of Different Strokes brought well-loved McLean Stevenson back to the airways after his departure from MASH. This was one of the first to ACCURATELY portray a single father's struggles raising two young daughters. It never really developed a following, and the numerous scheduling changes made it difficult to find. This is an ideal candidate for TV Land.
only seemed to run forever
westpac7 July 2003
"Hello Larry" was part of Fred Silverman's attempt to ruin, er, resurrect NBC from the ratings doldrums. Amongst other great works he begat "Supertrain," "Turnabout," "Diffrent Strokes," and "Hello Larry." Despite it's abysmal badness, the show ran for two seasons simply because so many of the network's offerings bombed that they had nothing better to run, a fact that beleagured network execs cheerfully admitted to. While the show was lousy and never drew good ratings (despite often being paired with "Diffrent Strokes") Mac at least was a "name" actor and supposedly a proven commodity. Poor McLean Stevenson, so loveable as the boob Henry on "M*A*S*H" never again found material as good. Unfortunately unlike fiascoes like "In the Beginning," "Condo," or even "The McLean Stevenson Show," "Hello Larry" ran long enough for people to remember it as the series that wouldn't die, and poor Mac is now probably as well remembered for being trapped in TV purgatory there than he will be for "M*A*S*H."
I loved this series
fanofkim14 June 1999
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