History Theatre / SeventeenSeventySix

->''A second flood, a simple famine,''
->''Plagues of locusts everywhere,''
->''Or a cataclysmic earthquake''
->''I'd accept with some despair,''
->''But no! You sent us Congress!''
->''Good God, sir, was that fair?''

** GeorgeWashington doesn't actually appear, just writes [[TheEeyore despondent dispatches]].
** JohnAdams
** ThomasJefferson

* OneSteveLimit: Very much averted; three of the biggest characters (Adams, Dickinson, and Hancock) are all named John, plus there's Jonathan Witherspoon. Also, we have two Thomases (Jefferson and McKean), and, if we're counting [[TheGhost]], two Georges (Washington and Read). Played somewhat straight, however, since the men use their last names most of the time.

Daniels plays JohnAdams (later the first-ever Vice President), a Boston revolutionary who spearheads the American effort to turn from a British Crown Colony into its own nation. All sorts of reasons are brought up for this, including taxation sans representation and the alienation that the Atlantic Ocean brings. With the help of Yoda-esque BenFranklin and a reluctant ThomasJefferson, who is so homesick he can barely write the Declaration of Independence, he puts forth these reasons... which are almost immediately savaged. It takes a minor miracle just to get the whole thing to a spot where it can be voted on, much less ratified -- ''that'' would require unanimity.

-->'''Jefferson:''' [beat] [[SmithWillSuffice Someday, you must tell me how you did it.]]

* DawsonCasting: 26-year-old South Carolinian Edward Rutledge, the youngest man in the Congress -- "except for Ben Franklin" -- was played by then-42-year-old John Cullum.
** True of the original Rutledge, Clifford David, as well: he was 37 when the show opened.
** Averted with Ken Howard who was only 28 when he portrayed Jefferson in the movie, and 25 when he was in the show on Broadway.

-->'''Franklin:''' ...to call me [an Englishman] without those rights is like calling an ox a bull. He's thankful for the honor, but he'd much rather have restored what's rightfully his.
-->'''Dickinson:''' When did you first notice they were missing, sir?
-->''and''
-->'''Hancock''': I'm concerned over the continual absence of one-thirteenth of this Congress. ''Where is New Jersey''??
-->'''Dickinson''': Somewhere between New York and Pennsylvania.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Literally! Then-US President RichardNixon convinced friend and producer Jack Warner to expunge the musical number "Cool Considerate Men," an ode to wealthy conservatism sung by the antagonist, from TheMovie for purely political reasons -- and not just remove it but ''destroy all the footage''. As Warner was no longer working with his and his brother's namesake studio, however, the employees responsible merely packed it into unmarked boxes and stashed it with all of the other film negatives, letting Paramount Pictures rediscover it for the Special Edition. Nixon had earlier attempted to pressure playwright Sherman Edwards into removing the number after seeing a performance of the play at the White House, but Edwards refused. Guess that makes this [[AWorldwidePunomenon Executive]] ''[[AWorldwidePunomenon Branch]]'' [[AWorldwidePunomenon Meddling.]] Or [[StealthPun Chief Executive Editing]].

* IWantMyMommy: done heartbreakingly with "Mama Look Sharp"

--> ''Edward Rutledge'': "I was wondering if you could repeat a small passage: The one beginning [[{{Slavery}} 'He has waged Cruel War']]" *Jefferson stands up abruptly*

* ThePeteBest: Paul Hecht and Clifford David originated the roles of John Dickinson and Edward Rutledge, respectively, but it was Donald Madden and John Cullum who created the most enduring versions of the characters in the film version.

* PlayingAgainstType: Both William Daniels and Howard da Silva were cast wildly against type. Circa 1969, Daniels specialized in meek, ineffectual, and prematurely middle-aged characters, while da Silva was best known as a nasty villain (like Jud in the original ''Oklahoma!''). In Daniels' case, characters like [[StElsewhere Dr. Craig]] and [[BoyMeetsWorld Mr. Feeny]] were a result of post-''1776'' typecasting.

* RedHeadedHero / HeroesWantRedheads: Abigail Adams. Her insight and willingness to support her husband when he's at a loss even for words, spur him into action in the Continental Congress.

* SomewhereAnEquestrianIsCrying: The DVD commentary points out that Ron Holgate (Lee) had never been on horseback before. While he's doing his best under the circumstances, he nearly slides off the saddle at the beginning of the number, and he is ''very'' heavy-handed on the reins. That said, the fact that he doesn't go bouncing right off his horse's back is highly commendable.

* TypeCasting: Ron Holgate (Richard Henry Lee) had already established himself as an actor specializing in roles that called for an extremely LargeHam, like MilesGloriosus in the original cast of ''AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum.''

* ThePeteBest: Paul Hecht and Clifford David originated the roles of John Dickinson and Edward Rutledge, respectively, but it was their Broadway successors -- Donald Madden and John Cullum -- who created the most enduring versions of the characters and reprised them for the film.

* CrowdSong: No one in Congress likes John Adams, apparently.

-->'''Adams''': Mr. Jefferson -- ''dear'' Mr. Jefferson -- I'm only forty-one, I still have my virility, and I can romp through Cupid's grove with great agility, but life is more than sexual combustibility!

* SomewhereAnEquestrianIsCrying: The DVD commentary points out that Ron Holgate (Lee) had never been on horseback before. While he's doing his best under the circumstances, he nearly slides off the saddle at the beginning of the number, and he is ''very'' heavy-handed on the reins.

1776 is the name of a 1969 Broadway play, and its 1972 film adaptation, featuring WilliamDaniels of ''KnightRider'' and ''BoyMeetsWorld'' fame in the role that made him a star. It's a mostly accurate depiction of the hurdles and loopholes that the Founding Fathers went through in order to separate from Great Britain... well, once you take out the all-singing, all-dancing part, it is, anyway.

1776 is the name of a 1969 Broadway play, and its 1972 film adaptation, featuring William Daniels of ''KnightRider'' and ''BoyMeetsWorld'' fame in the role that made him a star. It's a mostly accurate depiction of the hurdles and loopholes that the Founding Fathers went through in order to separate from Great Britain... well, once you take out the all-singing, all-dancing part, it is, anyway.

* GallowsHumor: Before signing the Declaration, and thereby committing treason.

* TakeThat: To the New York Legislature. New York only ever [[StiffUpperLip abstains ("Courteously!")]] when called upon to vote, because the New York Legislature had never bothered to ''give'' the New York delegation any instructions, as "they all talk very loud, and very fast, and nobody listens to anybody else, with the result that nothing ever gets done." This was just as true in 1972 as it was in 1776, and as any New Yorker will tell you, it's ''still'' true today.

** Caesar Rotney riding eighty miles in failing health to show up just in time for the vote (a real event, famous enough that it's on the Delaware quarter).

* HappilyMarried: John and Abigail Adams, Thomas and Martha Jefferson. Both of them, incidentally, are TruthInTelevision; the Adamses in particular were quite happily married for ''fifty-four years.'' Sadly, despite how much in love they were, Jefferson and his wife didn't have nearly as much time together, as Martha died tragically young. (The Martha Jefferson listed as Jefferson's First Lady is actually his daughter.)
* HeyItsThatGuy: Anyone who doesn't know William Daniels' name will always refer to him as [[BoyMeetsWorld Mr. Feeny]]. Or [[StElsewhere Dr. Mark Craig]]. Or CaptainNice.
** Or [[KnightRider KITT]].
** And Edward Rutledge would later [[NorthernExposure move to Alaska and open a bar and grill]].
*** Then he'd [[LawAndOrder become a cantankerous but fair judge]].
*** And move on to being the CorruptCorporateExecutive of {{Urinetown}}.
** Thomas Jefferson would become not only President of the United States, but also [[ThirtyRock President of Kabletown.]] He'd also go on to [[TheWhiteShadow coach basketball]].
** [=MacNair=] would later get a job as a [[PoliceSquad shoeshine boy]].
* HeyItsThatPlace: The fountain central to "The Lees of Old Virginia" is the same fountain that appears in the opening credits of ''{{Friends}}''.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Those that don't recognize William Daniels as Mr. Feeny may recognize his voice as that of [[KnightRider KITT]].

-->'''Col. Thomas [=McKeon=]:''' That man would depress a hyena!
* ExecutiveMeddling: Literally! Then-US President Richard Nixon convinced friend and producer Jack Warner to expunge the musical number "Cool Considerate Men," an ode to wealthy conservatism sung by the antagonist, from TheMovie for purely political reasons -- and not just remove it but ''destroy all the footage''. As Warner was no longer working with his and his brother's namesake studio, however, the employees responsible merely packed it into unmarked boxes and stashed it with all of the other film negatives, letting Paramount Pictures rediscover it for the Special Edition. Nixon had earlier attempted to pressure playwright Sherman Edwards into removing the number after seeing a performance of the play at the White House, but Edwards refused. Guess that makes this [[AWorldwidePunomenon Executive]] ''[[AWorldwidePunomenon Branch]]'' [[AWorldwidePunomenon Meddling.]] Or [[StealthPun Chief Executive Editing]].

* TakeThat: To the New York Legislature. New York only ever [[StiffUpperLip abstains ("Courteously!")]] when called upon to vote, because the New York Legislature had never bothered to ''give'' the New York delegation any instructions, as "they all talk very loud, and very fast, and nobody listens to anybody else, with the result that nothing ever gets done." This was just as true in 1972 as it was in 1776, and as any New Yorker will tell you, it's ''still'' true today. 2011 - still true.

** Not so much TruthInTelevision... at least not in regards to his reason for being away from Congress.
While Caesar Rodney did die of skin cancer, he was in no ways the "dying man" Colonel [=McKean=] describes him as in 1776, and had not returned to Delaware to take to his deathbed; in fact, he lived another eight years after the signing of the Declaration before the cancer killed him. In actuality, he had gone home to make a speaking tour to try to stiffen the spines of his fellow Delawarians, who were wavering on Independence and the Revolution. To be fair, though, he ''did'' still make what then amounted to a two-day-plus trip overnight -- ''through a thunderstorm'' -- while suffering from the effects of both his cancer ''and'' asthma.

** Not so much TruthInTelevision... at least not then. Caesar Rodney did die of skin cancer, but his epic ride to Philadelphia was long before that (he lived a good 10 years at least after the Declaration). He had gone home to make a speaking tour to try to stiffen the spines of his fellow Delawarians, who were wavering on Independence and the Revolution. To be fair, though, he ''did'' still make what then amounted to a two-day-plus trip overnight while suffering from the effects of both his cancer ''and'' asthma.

It is one of the few works of Theater the American government actually commissioned -- it debuted in 1972 as part of the buildup to the 200th anniversary of the date Americans recognize for their independence (July 4, 1776 -- when the Declaration was printed).