Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! Yes, I’m still dragging my figurative feet with the Garry Marshall essay that will officially launch our upcoming coverage of Laverne & Shirley. It’s the longest piece I’ve written to date — at this moment, it’d be over 25 pages in a non-fiction book (I might have to split it into two halves) — and it’s particularly difficult to revise and copy edit an article of that size under the routinized process that I’ve developed for this blog, especially because it’s continually mushroomed, accommodating my decision to watch all of Happy Days (in addition to Laverne & Shirley), our recent Clip Show studies of Garry Marshall’s pre-’70s work, and a renewed personal resolve to ensure that readers are clearer than ever about the basic tenets informing my study. Accordingly, I have to take my time with it, and I appreciate your patience. In the meantime, I’ve got a short list that I’m allowing to fulfill the criteria of a Sitcom Tuesday post (simply because my debts can’t rack up any higher)…

It’s Happy Days related though, for since that series enjoyed indulging a few ostentatiously memorable season premieres — specifically, the 1976 Pinky Tuscadero trilogy, the 1977 Hollywood arc (with the famous “jump the shark” bit), the 1978 dude ranch trio, and the 1979 crossover with Laverne & Shirley — I thought it would be fun to share with you my favorite September season premieres of previously covered ’70s sitcoms. I’ve chosen one per year, with runners-up noted. Now, this is just for your casual enjoyment, but it may give you more of a “big picture” idea of my current tastes, right before we leave the ’70s and head into the 1980s. (That said, for your future reference, please don’t assume that my favor for certain premieres over others translates exactly to a similar preference for certain seasons/series over others too. That is, just because I think Rhoda has the best opener from September 1975 doesn’t mean I think it’s the best sitcom from all of 1975-’76. That goes for runners-up as well; please presume NO applicable analysis of seasons/series based on how/if/where their premieres are relationally cited here. These are premieres ONLY. Keep that in mind… for future reference.)

Come back next week for more sitcom fun! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!