September 16, 1972 (1972-09-16) – March 3, 1973 (1973-03-03)
Bridget Loves Bernie is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to March 3, 1973. The series, created by Bernard Slade, depicted an interfaith marriage between a Catholic woman and a Jewish man. It stars Meredith Baxter and David Birney as the title characters. CBS canceled the show after only one season despite very high ratings.
Baxter and Birney later married in real life in 1974 after the program had left the air and Baxter was known in her professional career for several years as Meredith Baxter Birney.
Overview
Father Mike picking up the Archbishop's weekly bagel supply
The series depicts an interfaith marriage between an Irish Catholic teacher (Bridget Fitzgerald) from a wealthy family and a Jewish cab driver who aspires to be a playwright (Bernie Steinberg), whom she had met at a bus stop. With a primetime slot between All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show on Saturday nights, the situation comedy was No. 5 in the ratings among all shows for the 1972-73 television season and obtained a 24.2 rating, tying The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie. However, CBS executives canceled the show in response to negative reactions to the characters' marriage, the show thus being the highest-rated television program to be canceled after only one season.[1]
Supporting cast members included Audra Lindley, David Doyle, Harold J. Stone, Ned Glass and Bibi Osterwald. Lindley and Doyle played Bridget's wealthy parents, Walter and Amy Fitzgerald, and Stone and Osterwald played Bernie's lower-class parents, Sam and Sophie Steinberg. The Steinbergs owned a delicatessen above which Bridget and Bernie lived. Glass played Bernie's uncle, Moe Plotnik. Robert Sampson played Bridget's brother, Catholic priest Father Michael Fitzgerald; he was more sympathetic than others to his sister's marriage. Bill Elliott played Otis, Bernie's best friend and fellow cab driver. Nancy Walker was cast as Bernie's religious Jewish Aunt Ruthie and Nora Marlowe was cast as Bridget's nun Aunt Agnes in the 1972 episode "The Little White Lie That Grew and Grew".
The series was controversial because of the differing faiths of the married characters. Some Jewish groups charged that the series "mocked the teachings of Judaism".[2][3] Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Assembly of America, called the show "an insult to some of the most sacred values of both the Jewish and Catholic religions".[4]Rabbi Meir Kahane wrote an essay on the series.[5]Orthodox rabbis met with CBS officials several times. A Conservative rabbi organized a boycott by advertisers, and Reform rabbis met with CBS staff in secret to have the show canceled. Rabbi Abraham Gross, president of the Rabbinical Alliance of Orthodox Rabbis and Educators, described the show as a "flagrant insult" to Jews, protesting that intermarriage was strictly forbidden under Jewish law. Threats followed; Meredith Baxter said, "We had bomb threats on the show. Some guys from the Jewish Defense League came to my house to say they wanted to talk with me about changing the show." Threatening phone calls made to the home of producer Ralph Riskin resulted in the arrest of Robert S. Manning,[6] described as a member of the Jewish Defense League.[7] Manning was later indicted on unrelated murder charges and fought extradition to the United States from Israel, where he fled.[8]
Series pilot: It's love at first sight when cab driver (and struggling writer) Bernie Steinberg picks up his fare, Bridget Fitzgerald, on a rainy New York day.
2
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Vatican"
Bernie's parents, Sam and Sophie, win a raffle ticket for a private audience with Pope Paul VI that was sold by Bridget's mother, Amy. Her father, Walt, fears that the Steinbergs may end up causing him major embarrassment.
After being married in a civil ceremony, Bridget and Bernie agree to their parents' wishes to have a religious ceremony, but the conflict of religions causes havoc.
4
"The Last of the Red Hot Playwrights"
Richard Kinon
Bernard Slade
October 7, 1972 (1972-10-07)
Despite several rejections, a reluctant Bernie decides to write a play drawn from his own experiences and personal acquaintances.
5
"Who's Watching the Store?"
Lee Philips
Jerry Mayer
October 14, 1972 (1972-10-14)
Confusion and chaos reign when Catholic Bridget runs a Jewish delicatessen, aided by her socialite mother and brother who's a priest.
6
"The Newlybeds"
Richard Kinon
Warren S. Murray
October 21, 1972 (1972-10-21)
Trying to replace a perennially-breaking bed results not only in sleeping trouble for Bridget and Bernie, but also causes an inter-family squabble.
Despite a generous (and belated) wedding gift of one year's free rent on a plush apartment from Walt and Amy, Bridget and Bernie are reluctant to accept the offer.
Bridget and her parents become Jewish for the weekend when Bernie's devout aunt stops in New York on her way back from Israel.
11
"The In-Laws Who Came to Dinner"
Richard Kinon
Jerry Mayer
November 25, 1972 (1972-11-25)
Walt and Amy fear that their ability to influence an important art collector will be compromised when the in-laws move in after smoke damage currently has their apartment under repair.
Bridget and Bernie spend the weekend at the Fitzgerald country estate and after Bernie meets some of Bridget's friends, he becomes aware of the style to which she was previously accustomed.
Sam and Sophie aren't invited to a party that Walt and Amy are holding for United Nations delegates. However, Sophie is determined to attend after discovering Moshe Dayan will be the guest of honor.
Bridget has a hard time finding a home for a painting that once hung in her nursery until she discovers a potentially rare painting is found hidden under the surface of the canvas.
22
"Steinberg and Son"
Richard Kinon
Jerry Mayer
February 17, 1973 (1973-02-17)
Sam and Walt each get the chance to realize their dream of having Bernie work for them.
23
"The Information Gap"
Ozzie Nelson
Marty Roth
February 24, 1973 (1973-02-24)
In an effort to get some measure of privacy, Bridget and Bernie decide to ignore all questions and phone calls from their parents.
Bridget Loves Bernie was referenced to in the MAD Magazine article "M*A*S*Huga" (its first satire of the M*A*S*H TV series) which appeared in Issue # 166 (April 1974). The Surgeon General stated to "Cockeye Piercer" and "Crapper John" that they were put in-between The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family only because religious groups objected to Bridget Loves Bernie, which was a reference to the fact that M*A*S*H was put in the time slot in between those two shows in the 1973-74 TV season after the cancellation of Bridget Loves Bernie.
