Cast comes at NBC's 'The '70s' from varied perspectives

"The '70s," pictured, follows in the tradition of last season's Emmy-nominated "The '60s"

From Gloria Hillard
CNN Entertainment News Correspondent

April 28, 2000
Web posted at: 4:47 p.m. EST (2047 GMT)

(CNN) -- It looks real. NBC's latest miniseries, "The '70s," features the fads and fashions that made the smiley-face decade unique: disco, suits with big collars and social upheaval.

The 120-minute program, airing this weekend, even has historical footage cut within its storyline as viewers follow four friends through a tumultuous 10 years.

With cameos by stars from that era -- yes, that's "Mod Squad" actress Peggy Lipton, playing a Gloria Steinem lookalike -- "The '70s" navigates through the era's major events, including protests and shootings at Kent State; the resignation of a president; and the rise of political activism among African-Americans and women.

For the majority of the cast, the story evoked childhood memories.

Though she was young in the 1970s, Vinessa Shaw still remembers her mother's clothes, and "traveling through the country in this huge '70s van."

	ABOUT THE SHOW
"The '70s" NBC Premieres: Sunday, April 30, 9 p.m. EDT Starring: Brad Rowe, Vinessa Shaw, Amy Smart, Guy Torry, Kathryn Harrold, Graham Beckel, Laurel Moglen, Leslie Silva, Chandra West, Robert Joy, Jeanetta Arnette, Michael Easton, Peggy Lipton Directed by: Peter Werner

Guy Torry ("American History X," 1998) and Brad Rowe ("Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss," 1998) also recall the era as ancient history. To get ready for his part, Torry says he went to his father for research on the Vietnam War experience, then turned to his mom for the history of the civil rights movement.

But for Kathryn Harrold, who plays Shaw's mother, the storyline seemed taken more from a scrapbook than a history book.

"I remember going to the Equal Rights Amendment thing, canvassing, and (trying to) stop the bombing in Cambodia," says Harrold, 49. "And I completely remember trying to get Nixon out of office.

"I think the defining thing for me (in the '70s) was when I went to my first women's consciousness-raising group, which was kind of hilarious. But it was like women coming out and saying all these things we had hidden from each other all these years about orgasms and all this stuff."

"The '70s" follows in the tradition of last season's Emmy-nominated "The '60s." Based on viewers response to the show this weekend, NBC may decide whether it's time yet to recall the wine coolers, gold jewelry and dance cages of the '80s.

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NBC
NBC: 'The '70s'

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