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"All's Fair" is one of the forgotten sitcoms of the 1970s. Despite heavy promotion it lasted for only one season, but it starred 29-year-old Bernadette Peters, already a rising star on Broadway, as the love interest for 51-year-old Richard Crenna. Yes, it was a strange premise - but the show used it to highlight some of the ways America was changing.

The show was created by Norman Lear, who was apparently trying to repeat the formula of his smash hit "All in the Family," with characters from different generations clashing over the controversial issues of the day. Crenna played a middle-aged conservative named "Richard C. Barrington," who was in love with a cute, young twenty-something liberal. Richard had to worry about his reputation with the puritanical moralists who read his column, even while pursuing this spicy romantic relationship. Meanwhile his girlfriend Charlotte (nickname: "Charlie") is feisty enough to challenge the assumptions held by Richard and his friends in the older generation.

Whatever its pretensions, the show's real charm came from its star, the likeable Broadway singer famous for her "kewpie doll voice." The same year Peters was nominated for an Emmy for her appearance on "The Muppet Show," and "All's Fair" tried to build up both her personality and her sexiness. Peters was a charismatic actress, and the show's promotions played up her high-pitched voice. Instead of political jokes, the show's writers wrote straight comedy for her, as the young starlet punctured the dignity of the stuffy columnist.

"You've got a big mouth," says Richard.

"Yea, it's just big enough to go..." Peters replies - and then makes the "Bronx raspberry" sound.

"Oh, that's real mature," Richard hectors, as he turns to answer a knock on the door. "Going up to someone and going...." Inevitably, he finds himself making the Bronx raspberry sound at the exact moment that he's opening the door for his guest.

Ironically, the show's sexy premise created some real-world controversy. For at least one episode, the network even broadcast a warning that it contained adult themes. ("Let's play trivia," Charlotte suggests, but Richard is in the mood for something sexier. "How about...strip trivia," he counters.) And in the final episode, Charlotte announces that she's pregnant - though she's not sure she wants to get married. Ultimately the show's tone may have proved too challenging for viewers - the ultimate TV critics.

The show was not renewed for a second season.

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