Overview

The Baxters is an American situation comedy television series produced by Norman Lear. The series premiered in broadcast syndication in 1979 and lasted two seasons, ending in 1981. The series was the first "interactive" sitcom, depicting a middle-class St. Louis family, and in its second season, a different Baxter family featuring an all new cast. Each 30-minute episode was split into two-parts; the first half, a vignette dramatizing the events in the lives of the Baxter family, and the second, a live studio audience "talk-show" segment where audiences were given the opportunity to participate and voice their opinions about the issues raised in that week's episode.