In 2024, Netflix launched No person Needs This, a heartfelt rom-com sequence that explored an interfaith relationship that struck a chord with many viewers, garnering a powerful 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. The present caused renewed consciousness of the cultural and psychological struggles of navigating an interfaith relationship. It couldn’t be extra related to in the present day’s age, because the variety of interfaith marriages is rising in comparison with earlier years.
Nonetheless, the attitudes and basic acceptance of those sorts of relationships weren’t essentially round earlier than, as virtually 50 years in the past, a CBS present was canceled for making an attempt to realize the identical factor. Bridget Loves Bernie sparked main controversy for its illustration of an interfaith marriage, however the difficulty wasn’t with the content material itself, however fairly the period’s discomfort with interfaith visibility. Wanting again on the firestorm is a testomony to how societal attitudes have advanced since then, making it nonetheless related now.
What Is ‘Bridget Loves Bernie’ About?
Created by Bernard Slate and impressed by a play known as Abie’s Irish Rose, Bridget Loves Bernie noticed Meredith Baxter and David Birney taking part in the 2 titular romantic leads, respectively. Bridget is an Irish-Catholic faculty instructor who’s married to Bernie, a Jewish writer-cabdriver, and their marriage is on the heart of this ’70s sitcom. Collectively, they navigate the idiosyncrasies of an interfaith relationship, from the cultural variations that seem inside their relationship to dealing with their household’s expectations and judgments.
Their contrasting monetary backgrounds are additionally explored, the place Bridget is the daughter of a businessman and socialite, whereas Bernie’s dad and mom owned a delicatessen the place they lived. Like your typical sitcom, Bridget Loves Bernie dealt with these themes sweetly and humorously, just like the shenanigans incited by Bridget hiding her religion from her aunt-in-law or by accident switching a intercourse training video with an X-rated one, all resulting in its constructive crucial reception.
The Canceled CBS Present Was Surrounded By Controversy
Bridget Loves Bernie first premiered in September 1972 and, in response to The Hollywood Reporter, was the fifth most-viewed present on the time the season ended. On prime of its viewership success, the present held a coveted slot on this system, between All within the Household and The Mary Tyler Moore Present, two extremely fashionable reveals within the ’70s. As such, it was a shock when CBS canceled the sequence simply after the primary season, the place even Baxter tells THR that though she would not recall the particular cause for its cancellation, she does keep in mind being shocked: “I used to be terribly upset and confused, as we had been doing so properly!”
Regardless of the present’s success, it sparked heated controversy, although CBS has by no means explicitly cited this as the rationale for the present’s cancellation. Whereas interfaith marriage is extra accepted in the present day, within the ’70s it was thought of taboo, even sinful, by many individuals. However the majority of the outrage stemmed from conservative Jewish organizations. A 1973 article within the New York Instances highlights a few of the attitudes prevalent on the time, the place a Jewish rabbi acknowledged that the wedding “goes straight in opposition to Jewish teachings,” and condemned the present’s “cavalier, cute, condoning” remedy of interfaith relationships and “its inevitable issues as if they’re immediately, simply solvable.” Due to the “profound discomfort” the present elicited inside these organizations, some contacted CBS and urged them to axe the present. Moreover, keep in mind that these statements didn’t mirror the attitudes of the complete ’70s Jewish neighborhood.
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Anticipate extra laughs and heartache within the Netflix rom-com.
In response, CBS launched the next assertion: “From the start, we have had Jewish and Catholic clergymen as advisers on the sequence, in an effort to ensure we’d not be offensive. We understand that those that protest are usually not cranks, however honest, involved folks. But when we reply to stress to cancel the present, we do a disservice to the thousands and thousands who clearly prefer it. We merely do not know what to do.” Ultimately, the present was canceled, though as talked about, the controversy was not cited as the rationale, however it’s attention-grabbing to look again on, particularly with how societal values have modified since then.
The ‘Bridget Loves Bernie’ Controversy Is Nonetheless Related In the present day
With the current success of No person Needs This, we are able to considerably extrapolate how Bridget Love Bernie could be obtained if it have been launched practically 50 years later, suggesting the present was maybe forward of its time. Whereas the Netflix sequence focuses on a Jewish-agnostic couple, portrayed by Adam Brody and Kristen Bell, the concept of two worlds colliding the place household and pals maintain prejudices in opposition to the opposite “aspect” remains to be captured. And contemplating the sequence’ constructive reception and its renewal for future seasons, it resonated with audiences. One other factor to notice is that No person Needs This has not sparked heated debate, with some issues concerning the illustration of the Jewish neighborhood arising, however definitely to not the extent that Bridget Loves Bernie was on the heart of.
The cultural panorama has advanced because the sitcom debuted. With rising acceptance and tolerance in the direction of interfaith marriages, wanting again on the circumstances across the present’s cancellation is jarring. But it’s nonetheless important and related to how we view interfaith and intercultural relationships in the present day, as the controversy units a kind of benchmark on which we’re in a position to examine trendy attitudes. It permits us to understand the development whereas acknowledging sure areas of enchancment, like supporting the psychological well being of people that could also be dealing with discrimination due to their relationship, or have misplaced vital connections as a consequence of it. Whether or not you imagine Bridget Loves Bernie was unfairly axed or not, its surrounding firestorm is a cultural milestone that contributes to the evolving attitudes in the direction of interfaith visibility.
Bridget Loves Bernie is unavailable to stream, however No person Needs This is on Netflix.
Bridget Loves Bernie
- Launch Date
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1972 – 1972
- Community
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CBS
- Administrators
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Ozzie Nelson
Forged
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David Birney
Bernie Steinberg
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Harvey J. Goldenberg
Uncredited
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Ivor Barry
Bridget Fitzgerald Steinberg
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Meredith Baxter
Michael Fitzgerald