Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (TV series)

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Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was a situation comedy broadcast in the United States by ABC as part of its 1973 fall lineup. It was based on the hit movie of the same title.

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was of necessity somewhat different from the R-rated 1969 movie upon which it was based, which involved the (short-lived) desire of the two title couples to engage to engage in a sexual foursome, which would have been obviously unacceptable on U.S. broadcast television in 1973. Instead, it made do with plots which were attempts at titilation by the broadcast standards of the time but which stood a chance of surviving the censors at the network's Division of Standards and Practices. These included skinny dipping, premarital sex, and unmarried couples cohabiting, which were still thought to be racy topics for network television by many at the time. Generally, Ted and Alice Henderson were more conservative than the "liberated" Bob and Carol Sanders. No members of the original film cast reprised their roles in the series.

Apparently the show was too tame to appeal to the crowds who had gone to see the movie and still too risqué for other viewers as it received very low Nielsen ratings and was cancelled less than two months after its premiere.