Worth Another Look?

Entertainment

The other day I heard a snatch of a tune while shopping — it was a theme tune from an old TV show — and it got me asking myself a question, and hence it’s a question for everybody:

If you could re-watch / binge all the episodes from any old TV show (minus the commercials, of course), which would be your Top 5?

Bear in mind that a lot of the old shows are hopelessly dated, and won’t have passed the test of time;  but some are so good, or have such treasured memories, that it wouldn’t matter.

I am also aware that most old TV shows are available on boxed sets and such, but run with me on this one.  Imagine it’s a cold, rainy / snowy long weekend and you don’t want to do anything except wrap up in a blanket and watch TV.  You turn on the streaming channel of your choice, and there they are.

Mine are below the fold.

1. Hill Street Blues (1981-87)

Easily one of the best cop shows ever made, it redefined the entire genre:  gritty, funny, heartbreaking and so real it sometimes felt like a documentary.

2.  I Love Lucy (1951-57)

Because no other comedy show can compare.  And does / did anyone not love Lucille Ball?

3. The Carol Burnett Show (1967-78) 

Sketch comedy at its absolute finest.

4.  Inspector Morse (1987-2000)

Cerebral cop show, with a cultured, tortured hero who drives a 1960 Jaguar Mark II 2.4 around Oxfordshire.  ‘Nuff said.

5. Mork & Mindy (1978-82)

Robin Williams at his anarchic, cocaine-fueled best.  As for Pam Dawber:

Finally, a bonus (because it was so short a run):

Life On Mars (2006-07)

Imagine going back in time as a modern cop, and seeing how they used to tackle crime in earlier times with little or none of the technology available to the police today — but also with none of today’s social PC niceties to hamper you.

Those are my choices — today.  Program, as they used to say, is subject to change without notice.

45 comments

  1. The 1st few I thought of are either a) easily available on streaming or b) ones that are or have been available that I still never bothered to watch, thus putting the lie to the idea that I’d actually love to binge them. This brings me to think of the half-remembered shows of my early childhood, so..

    1. The Dukes of Hazzard
    2. Knight Rider
    3. The Greatest American Hero
    4. Airwolf
    5. Buck Rogers

    For bonus.. maybe Charlie’s Angels? Or perhaps Scarecrow and Mrs. King?

  2. 1. Married With Children (I have all 11 seasons on DVD)

    2. NYPD Blue (Great show and bonus two things – the show has Charlotte Ross who is cute (but posed for peta in real life, so somewhat of a dumb blonde), and even better Jacqueline Obradors who is a smoke show.

    3. Frasier (Original run not the reboot)

    4. Seinfeld (yes I know he’s a libtard). Kramer was hilarious.

    5. Beavis and Butt-Head (Mike Judge is brilliant).

    Bonus – Knight Rider

  3. 1. Gilligan’s Island
    2. F Troop
    3. Maverick (WITHOUT Roger Moore!)
    4. Baa Baa Black Sheep
    5. Combat!

    Bonus: Magnum PI

  5. 1) The Avengers

    2) Wild Wild West

    3) Night Court

    4)Ghost In The Shell, Stand Alone Complex

    5) The Addams Family

    I have to say, I’m slightly appalled to see I Love Lucy on your list. I have long felt that one of the first thing proved by the video revolution was that whatever Desi Arnaz was getting paid for putting up with that sniveling redhead, it wasn’t enough. But I know I’m in the minority.

  6. 1. Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister.
    2. Morse.
    3. The Crown (okay, I have yet to watch this but I have the boxed set ready).
    4. Sherlock Holmes (the series with Jeremy Brett)
    5. Life on Mars.

  7. 1. Gunsmoke
    2. Twilight Zone (original series)
    3. Perry Mason (original series)
    4. Star Trek (original series)
    5. Fugitive (original series)

  9. Only one that I can add to everyone else’s lists would be The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Classic British humor.

  10. Oh Lord. Mea culpa. I forgot The Avengers. What an adolescent boy thought about and wanted to do to Mrs Peel in the sanctity of his bedroom doesn’t bear thinking about. (Strangely, Mum never said anything about my sticky socks …)

    2. Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in occurred to me, but then I thought better of it. Some time back I watched a clip. Too many of the ideas that were zany, silly, and hilarious at the time are now painful history.

  12. 1. Leave It to Beaver
    2. The Rockford Files
    3. Moving’ On (short-lived mid 1970s series)
    4. The Paper Chase
    5. I, Claudius

  13. I can come up with about three just off the top. Any more would require some searching the memory banks.

    1. CHEERS
    2. Bugs Bunny & Friends
    3. The Addams Family

    In some ways, I think popular television lied to me.
    Walt Disney; Leave It To Beaver; and others, didn’t portray life in it’s reality

  14. 1. Get Smart – Mel Brooks does James Bond. I had a thing for Barbara Feldon
    2. The Untouchables
    3. The FBI – who would mess with a guy named Efrem?
    4. The Outer Limits – some of the episodes were pretty cheesy but others had good hardcore science fiction
    5. The Smothers Brothers – I had to watch at a friend’s house because my dad thought they were Communists and he ran our one TV household.

  15. A couple of other police procedurals I would like to revisit are Homicide: life on the streets and Law and Order.

  16. The Rockford Files: James Garner at his absolute best, with one of the best supporting cast of characters in a detective/drama show.
    Frasier (the original naturally): The best all around cast of comedic characters, played to perfection by actors who all had great chemistry together.
    Night Court: Another great cast of characters who put the lie to “Order in the Court”.
    Get Smart: Maybe a little dated in some ways, but so many of the political satire jokes still hit. And the cast was great, and the silly spy gadgets will still give a good chuckle.
    Stargate (Both SG-1 and Atlantis) A military sci-fi series that I can still sit down and enjoy watching.

  17. Most of these probably won’t be recognized by many; I spent much of the 80’s & 90’s stationed in the UK. The 60’s & 70’s were wasted with either a book, a rifle or a fly rod in my hands.

    1 All in the Family.
    2 Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
    3. Lovejoy Mysteries. Brit antique dealer as an art world detective set in East Anglia. I lived there ar rhe time.
    4 Only Fools and Horses . Who doesn’t love a beat up Reliant Robin van?
    5 One Foot in the Grave. Victor Meldrew is my hero.

    Bonus: Keeping Up Appearances. The folks I wish had become my in-laws could have been Richard & Hyacinth Bucket.
    5.

  18. Monty Python
    The Goodies
    The Young Ones
    Red Dwarf
    Alf
    + Punky Brewster and Blossom (just kidding)

  19. I don’t have to wonder, I run a home media server so I can and do.

    1. The Wire
    2. Sopranos
    3. Fawlty Towers
    4. The Whitest Kids You Know
    5. Good Eats

    I was going to include Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia but they are all still making new episodes.

    honorable mention to The Prisoner.

  20. An episode of Hill Street was apparently the cause of an accidental death of the lead actor in another show. The bottom rhand actor in that photo had an episode where he attempted suicide with his issue handgun. The story was that someone reloaded it with blanks, and the next episode shows him with a bandage on the side of his head.
    Shortly after, near the end of a long season of being the primary actor, he decided he needed a break, so he put the muzzle of his .44 Mag show gun (loaded with blanks) to his temple and pulled the trigger. Blew a chunk of his skull through his brain and died instantly. Young guy, well thought of. Can’t recall his name. Hollywood strikes again…

    1. Jon-Erik Hexum. The actor who accidentally shot himself with a blank on set was Jon-Erik Hexum. He was filming the TV series “Cover Up” when the incident occurred. While playing with a prop gun loaded with blanks, he pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger, resulting in a fatal injury.

  21. Stargate Atlantis
    The Time Tunnel
    Police Story
    The Guns of Will Sonnett
    Jonny Quest

    Great memories. Grab the Coke and Popcorn!

  22. I’d choose 1-2 season shows that didn’t make it to reruns or DVD, just so I could remember them better.
    Cliffhangers
    Automan
    Stingray
    Manimal
    Key West

    1. I enjoyed Cliffhangers as a kid. I don’t suppose its aged particularly well. In my region they shit-canned it before 2 of the 3 storylines concluded…..assholes.

  23. You guys seem to be in the hippie age. You missed the 1950s.

    1. Lawman
    2. Honeymooners
    3. Have Gun
    4. George Burns show
    5. Ernie Kovacs

    Plus about 20 others that could be top 50. I could list 10 Gun/Western shows easily.

  24. If I had to pick one of I my three eras listed, I’d have to go with the newest one, with the older Carol Burnett Show a toss-up with Fawlty Towers. They are all superb TV
    Not too far back:
    NYPD Blue 1993–2005
    Frasier 1993-2004 – best TV comedy ever IMHO
    Law and Order 1990-2010 (except for the two years Diane Wiest played the DA – couldn’t stand her in that role.
    Hill Street Blues 1981–1987
    Fawlty Towers 1975-1979

    Going way back:
    Rockford Files 1974-1980
    All in the Family 1971-1979 (Meathead is still a meathead 50 years later – I loathed the character and the actor)
    Carol Burnett Show 1967-1978
    Twilight Zone 1959–1964
    Naked City 1958–1963

    Going way way back –
    Perry Mason 1957-1966
    Have Gun Will Travel 1957-1963
    Gunsmoke 1955-1975
    Ernie Kovacs Show 1952–1956
    Dragnet 1951–1959

  25. I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched. I cannot believe you guys forgot these!
    The Andy Griffith Show
    The Bob Newhart Show

  26. I forgot – how about Johnnie Carson? He was a superb host who brought out the best in his many funny and fascinating guests.

    2. LOL….got ya beat. I remember as a kid Steve Allen hosting. He was brilliant btw. I believe he was a genius. Then came Paar. It was all different back when. Today is pure sh*t.

      1. I’m way back there with ya – I remember him too. He was absolutely brilliant in many ways; TV host of the first Tonight Show, comedian, actor, musician, composer. I also remember the Steve Allen Show, and his role as Benny Goodman in the movie bio of the famous clarinetist.

  27. Easy assignment

    1. Barney Miller
    2. Adam 12
    3. The Rifleman
    4. Cheers
    5. Magnum, P.I.

    I have watched most of those shows via streaming. Right now we’re watching The Fall Guy. We watched Frasier and Wings as well. We didn’t make it through Taxi or Hill Street Blues. Blue Bloods wasn’t bad but the series kept continuing and wasn’t available to me streaming.

  28. Top of my list is the Babylon Five series, a five-year series scripted by a flaming lib-lefty. I got to watch it five nights a week while living in a motel for a year and half. Probably one of the greatest anti-.gov/pro-individualist series ever put on television. The final episode had the virtual “ghosts” of the leading characters redirecting a nuc-strike on then the current tyrannical .gov.

    1. I too was a B5 fan. At least season 2-4. Season 1 set the table but was a little draggy, Season 5 was obviously thrown together because they weren’t expecting a Season 5.

      I liked Firefly for the same reason, but I think it was too intelligent for TV Exec’s to keep it around.

  29. Parkinson – still unsurpassed today
    Magpie – kids show and rival to Blue Peter
    How? – Fred Dinage was unintentionally hilarious, especially when his tips and tricks went wrong
    Out of Town – Country skills/nature type show. Jack Hargreaves presented and also created and produced both this programme, and How? Brilliant for city folk
    Tomorrows World – making science and technology interesting to kids

  32. Only five?? Sorry Kim, best I can do is top 7. In no aparrent order:

    Sharpe (all of them)
    Monty Python’s Flying Circus
    Carol Burnett Show
    Blackadder (all of them)
    Hill Street Blues
    Firefly
    Fawlty Towers

  33. Sharpe
    Monty Python’s Flying Circus
    Blackadder
    Blakes 7
    Firefly
    The Avengers all the leading ladies had that effect on me…….
    Have Gun Will Travel
    Lovejoy Mysteries

  34. I’ve introduced my wife to a lot of shows she never watched in the past.

    Dallas (she gets mad because I root for JR)
    Mad Men (currently finishing with her)
    Seinfeld (she’d never seen it – she enjoyed it but still doesn’t get my daily Seinfeld references)
    Sopranos
    Dexter

  35. In some order:

    1. Babylon 5…Dated tech, but solid storylines.
    2. Hill Street Blues…again dated, but solid storylines.
    3. Firefly….loved the idea of a SciFi Western, and it has a solid Libertarian premise to it, people who want to be left alone in a world that refuses to leave them alone.
    4. Red Green show. I can’t explain why, I got a chuckle out of it, my wife finds it incomprehensible…as she does most of my entertainment choices.
    5. Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery. I include them as a bundle because they were all of the same bent.

    I only watched the Murkin version of Life On Mars , which I generally enjoyed, maybe I should check out the Brit version.

    I also would watch any reruns of TopGear or Grand Tour (and do).

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