You Won’t Believe These Shows Are Turning 50 in 2026

America’s bicentennial year was one to remember: A little company called Apple Computer was founded. The Eagles released Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), which would go on to become one of—if not the—best-selling albums of all time. Rocky, The Omen, and Taxi Driver all hit theaters. And TV debuted some iconic shows—many of which are still part of our cultural conversation today. Here are a few of them.

Laverne & Shirley

The characters Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) made their debut on an episode of Happy Days—they went on a double date with Richie and the Fonz. The studio audience loved them, and the rest is history: Laverne & Shirley debuted in January 1976 on ABC, quickly became one of the most popular sitcoms on TV, and ran until 1983. It even got an animated spin-off that sent the titular characters to the army. 

The Gong Show

The premise of this Chuck Barris-hosted game show, which debuted in June 1976 and ran until 1980, was simple: Contestants had a mere 45 seconds to awe a panel of celebrity judges with their strange talents; if the performance failed to impress, the celebs could hit a gong to end it. A future Weird Al Yankovic auditioned for the show—he and a friend drove down from college and performed a song called “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung.” They didn’t make the cut, but Yankovic did later serve as a celebrity judge.

Family Feud

This iconic game show—a spin-off of the show Match Game—had its first run on ABC from 1976 to 1985 with Richard Dawson as host. He had one tradition that would not fly today: kissing female contestants, often on the lips. As he toldThe Washington Post in 1978, it started early in the show, when he came across a particularly nervous contestant. “She was a basket case,” he said. “She didn’t want to let her family down but she had no idea at all what to say and I said, ‘I’ll do what my mom used to do,’ and I kissed her on the check, and she gave an answer and it was there on the board. Then I went over to the other family and a woman said, ‘Don’t I get a kiss, too?’ and after that there was no stopping it.” 

The show has gone through several iterations since then; Steve Harvey has been hosting since 2010. “They allowed me to put my own little stamp on the show,” Harvey toldTODAY. “What happens on this show don’t happen on any other game shows.” 

What’s Happening!!

The 1975 film Cooley Highserved as inspiration for What’s Happening!!, which followed three Black American teens living in Los Angeles. The show’s first four episodes hit TV screens in the summer of 1976 and proved so successful that What’s Happening!!came back as a weekly show that fall and ran for three seasons. “[The show] was definitely a positive,” Ernest Thomas, who played Roger Thomas, toldTODAY in 2021. “I think a supernatural, positive effect because of the absence of Blacks on television. Even though ‘Good Times’ was out there and ‘Jeffersons’ and ‘Sanford and Son’ [were on], it wasn’t the youth.”    

The Muppet Show

Following appearances on the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live and in two specials that aired on ABC, Jim Henson’s Muppets got their very own show in 1976—but not on any American network. Instead, The Muppet Showfirst aired on British TV and was later syndicated in the U.S. The show is getting a reboot special that will air on ABC and Disney+ on February 6.

Charlie’s Angels

The mysterious Charlie first told his three angels—played by Farrah Faucett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith—that it was time to go to work in September 1976. The show (which was almost calledTheAlley Cats) was a huge hit, but that didn’t persuade Faucett to stick around: She left in 1977 to make movies … and possibly because she was making much less per episode than Jackson, who was more famous than Faucett when the series began. Ultimately, Smith would be the only original angel to stick around until Charlie’s Angels concluded its run in June 1981. The show spawned several reboots on film and TV, most recently in 2019 with Twilight’s Kristen Stewart playing one of the angels.