Bridget Loves Bernie
Bridget Loves Bernie was an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to March 3, 1973. It was created by Bernard Slade and starred Meredith Baxter as Bridget Fitzgerald, a Catholic teacher from a wealthy family, and David Birney as Bernie Steinberg, a Jewish taxi driver who dreams of being a playwright. The couple met at a bus stop and fell in love, getting married despite their different faiths.
The show was very popular, ranking No. 5 for the 1972–73 season with a strong 24.2 rating. But CBS canceled the series after one season because of the controversy over the marriage, making it the highest-rated show to be canceled after just one year. In real life, Baxter and Birney later married in 1974.
The supporting cast included Audra Lindley and David Doyle as Bridget’s wealthy parents, Walter and Amy Fitzgerald, and Harold J. Stone and Bibi Osterwald as Bernie's working-class parents, Sam and Sophie Steinberg. Other cast members featured Ned Glass as Bernie's uncle Moe Plotnik and Robert Sampson as Bridget's brother, the Catholic priest Father Michael Fitzgerald.
The program sparked religious controversy. Some Jewish groups felt the show mocked Judaism, and rabbis and advertisers organized boycotts. There were threats connected to the controversy, including bomb threats aimed at Baxter and tensions surrounding the show's production.
In 2012, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the complete series on a manufacture-on-demand DVD set in Region 1, available through Amazon and WB Shop.
Bridget Loves Bernie is sometimes noted in discussions about how religious objections affected TV scheduling. It was referenced in MAD Magazine in relation to the controversy and its impact on scheduling decisions for other shows.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:49 (CET).