CBS is developing an updated version of Love, American Style. The light-hearted anthology series originally aired on ABC for 108 episodes, from 1969 until 1974.
According to Deadline, the remake won’t follow that format however. A new script from Jana Sinyor and Aaron Martin follows four different couples who are connected through their complicated relationships. The network has yet to order a pilot.
If it does end up being made, this won’t be the first remake. In 1985, ABC aired a daytime version called New Love, American Style. It lasted a few months before being cancelled.
In 1998, ABC developed a new pilot starring Melissa Joan Hart. It didn’t become a series but the network aired it in February 1999.
Legendary producer Gary Marshall used to joke that the original Love, American Style was where failed sitcom pilots went to die. If a network didn’t pick up a comedy pilot, it was sometimes repurposed into an episode of the ABC series. The original rejected pilot of Happy Days aired as an episode.
Here’s the opening to that installment, complete with the catchy theme song from the Cowsills:
What do you think? Would you be interested in seeing a new version of Love, American Style? If so, would you prefer this new format or an anthology series?