Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Best/Worst television era 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 10's.

T

thebestis

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
4
0
For me, the best era of tv shows has to be from the 50's to the early 90's, the worst era was the 90's to present (except for a few good ones)

and I Personally blame one show that started the downfall of television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSYBRxr04BM

also jerry springer

I Will never forgive the real world and jerry springer for bringing the garbage reality tv and trash tv to television.
 
As a child I was pretty into I Love Lucy (and spinoffs), Mary Tyler Moore Show, Dick Van Dyke Show, Bob Newhart, Cosby Show, Welcome Back Kotter, and so on.

I can't say I watch much tv these days (well ok I totally devour Star Trek on Netflix on a semi-regular basis), so I can't give any real opinion other than "reality" tv was quite possibly the worst thing to come to tv, second only to 24 hr "news."
 
It really depends on the genre you gravitate towards.

For situation comedies nothing was as good as the old stuff because they pioneered it all and the jokes were fresh and acting and timing was superb. Dick Van Dyke still puts me in stitches (and oddly I still find some of the jokes new).

However, for dramas no time has been better than the 00s to present. They're so well produced and written they're like very long movies broken up into episodes.

SciFi I'd say depends. There has been strong SciFi throughout television's history (Star Trek through the new Battlestar Galactica and Fringe).
 
QuarterSwede said:
It really depends on the genre you gravitate towards.

For situation comedies nothing was as good as the old stuff because they pioneered it all and the jokes were fresh and acting and timing was superb. Dick Van Dyke still puts me in stitches (and oddly I still find some of the jokes new).

However, for dramas no time has been better than the 00s to present. They're so well produced and written they're like very long movies broken up into episodes.

SciFi I'd say depends. There has been strong SciFi throughout television's history (Star Trek through the new Battlestar Galactica and Fringe).
Click to expand...

Yes 2000 to present by a lot. Greatest show in history was mostly in the 2000s (Sopranos)
 
thejadedmonkey said:
Whatever era that contained Jersey Shore.
Click to expand...

Jersey Shore was some quality entertainment which chronicled the plight of repressed Italian Guidos from New York growing up in the state of New Jersey. It was a social commentary on the oppression Guidos face in modern day America. I very well think Jersey Shore could be the best television show of this generation.
 
What year did Honey Boo-Boo premiere? I'd look it up but I lost enough brain cells watching Hardcore Pawn tonight and want to save what I have left.
 
Specifically for kids shows I was born in the 1990s.

Best 1990s- rocket power, wildthornberrys, hey Arnold. Need I say more.

Worst- 2000 and forward. Just god awful and turns kids into bad people
 
The late 80s/90s were the best for kids shows.

The late 2000s will always be the best in my mind for giving us Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
 
I believe the best TV collectively would be the 50's and 60's. I did enjoy as well TV into the early 90's but the general quality went down in the 70's. Very formula poorly crafted "product" was accepted by the masses. We agree that airing shows about trashy people is just the gutter and appeals to the lowest common denominator.

However, there are semi reality shows today that are very good as they are constructive - some of the cooking competitions (Iron Chef, Chopped etc.) and HGTV shows on building homes, remodeling etc. These in a sense got their start several years ago with shows about building items out of wood, some poorly done interior design shows with that terrible cheap crap called "shabby chic" etc.
 
I'd say the 2000's to present for the most part it really depends on the genre. The rise of cable television produced dramas has really boosted quality. Mainly I'd say it's because they don't make one size fits all shows as network TV does. Due to this they take many more risks and are not as worried about offending various demographics. They also don't have that designed by a committee feel.

I think of dramatic shows like Rome, The Tudors, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Breaking Bad and Dexter. Then think of dramas from before and can't think of anything that competes.

With Sci-Fi there were a few good shows in the past. Unfortunately too many were ruined by adding little Timmy and his robot pal then gearing it towards kids. The only good ones I can think of were Star Trek (TOS & TNG), X-Files and The Twilight Zone (Original). Since the 2000's we've had Fringe, Lost, Eureka, Battlestar Galactica, Dollhouse, Terminator, and others.

Superhero/Fantasy shows I'd say is about the same throughout. This is a genre I like the moral lesson to be in. That's sort of the point.

For Westerns we have Deadwood and Hell on Wheels. I can't think of anything in the past that comes close. As network television never allowed the grittiness, whore mongering, cursing and bloodletting necessary for a good western:p. They also lack little timmy and his dog blue going on adventures and getting in trouble requiring a moral lesson at the end.

As for comedies. I'd say for quality that older shows were better. The only problem is the laugh track and it's a huge problem for me. During college I stopped watching sitcoms since none of my friends watched them. Now I find them unbearable to sit through due to the laugh track. So the only comedies I ever watch are from after 2000 as there are some without laugh tracks and they are becoming more abundant.

With documentaries I say after 2000 is way better. Since so many started getting produced they have gotten more in depth and specific on topics. Also documentaries are very visual so HD video and CGI has helped them greatly.

News was better before the 2000's. I think the rise of the 24 hour news service has ruined it. There just isn't enough news to feed 24 hour content. So instead a bunch of filler is added with innuendo, supposition, opinions and "expert" analysis making it difficult to separate actual news from content generated by the broadcasters. Then they hammer a topic to death and blow it way out of proportion. I'd rather it go back to the days where you had a one hour prime time news cast and half hour local broadcast were there just was not enough time to focus on something. Really it's turned too many people into cowards unwilling to let their children outside or walk home from school for fear of someone waiting to nab them, run them over and molest them on every corner.

Talk Shows before the 90's. Johnny Carson nuff said.
 
I'd have to give the 70s the nod as the sitcom decade. So many classics…MASH, All in the Family, Maude, Jeffersons, Taxi, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Barney Miller, Three's Company, Soap, Odd Couple…

I'd give a nod to the 80s for the beginnings of real quality drama like Hill Street Blues, LA Law and St. Elsewhere.
 
For sicfi set in space, the quantity has been getting less and less since first the end of the space race, then the decline of the shuttle program. There will always be a few, but nothing like the 70s-80s. And no, set on a single planet not earth, doesn't count.

Still, there have been a few gems, firefly...
 
born in the 80's so basically grew up watching 90's tv. loved the wonder years as a kid, and all the cartoons. you turn on Disney and Nick now and it's dumb kid tv shows, no cartoons anymore?

currently my fiancé and my favorite show is the Big Bang Theory, Family Guy.
 
I would have to say the 80's

Some of the greatest series of all time aired during the 80's, some of them spanned several decades so...

Cheers, M*A*S*H, Married...With Children, Barney Miller, Seinfeld, MacGyver:cool:, Family Ties, A-Team, Bosom Buddies, ST:TNG, Sledgehammer! (okay, not a classic, but I'm a huge fan;)).

As for animated stuff: Transformers (Oh, hail yeah!), Thundercats, SDF Macross ('Muricans know it better as Robotech, part 1), Ranma 1/2, Kimagura Orange Road, Maison Ikkoku.
 
Mousse said:
I would have to say the 80's

Some of the greatest series of all time aired during the 80's, some of them spanned several decades so...

Cheers, M*A*S*H, Married...With Children, Barney Miller, Seinfeld, MacGyver:cool:, Family Ties, A-Team, Bosom Buddies, ST:TNG, Sledgehammer! (okay, not a classic, but I'm a huge fan;)).

As for animated stuff: Transformers (Oh, hail yeah!), Thundercats, SDF Macross ('Muricans know it better as Robotech, part 1), Ranma 1/2, Kimagura Orange Road, Maison Ikkoku.
Click to expand...
That was the best decade. And the cartoons didn't suck like they do today. It all went down hill in the 90's when Friends started.
 
2000- present wins, for both the best and the worst shows. So many great shows over the past 10-15 years, alongside so many awful ones.
 
Removing cable from the equation, there are a few of the Best:

*Three Stooges (don't hurt me)
*Andy Griffith
*Dick Van Dyke Show
*Bonanza
*The Tonight Show
*Batman (Adam West)
*The Twilight Zone
*Green Acres
*Beverly Hillbillies
*Outer Limits
*Star Trek
*Rockford Files
*Get Smart
*Barney Miller
*Mission Impossible
*Mash
*Star Trek Next Gen
*BoB Newhart
*Sienfield
*Cheers
*The Simpsons
*Frasier
*LA Law
*Golden Girls
*Lost
*Everyone Loves Raymond
*Modern Family
*The Walking Dead (technically cable, with commercials)

Oh, you want Cable?
*Rome
*Deadwood
*Sapranos
*Dexter
*Others that elude me at the moment.
 
Last edited:
Huntn said:
Removing cable from the equation, there are a few:

*Three Stooges (don't hurt me)
*Andy Griffith
*Dick Van Dyke Show
*Bonanza
*The Tonight Show
*Batman (Adam West)
*The Twilight Zone
*Green Acres
*Beverly Hillbillies
*Outer Limits
*Star Trek
*Rockford Files
*Get Smart
*Barney Miller
*Mission Impossible
*Mash
*Star Trek Next Gen
*BoB Newhart
*Sienfield
*Cheers
*The Simpsons
*Frasier
*LA Law
*Golden Girls
*Lost
*Everyone Loves Raymond
*Modern Family
*The Walking Dead (technically cable, with commercials)

Oh, you want Cable?
*Rome
*Deadwood
*Sapranos
*Dexter
*Others that elude me at the moment.
Click to expand...
Three Stooges.... WHERE?
netflix? last time i checked they had a few.
 
I just don't watch much television for TV shows anymore, just TBS and TVLand if they're showing reruns of 90's sitcoms (Seinfeld etc.) - so 90's would be my favorite era :p. I do watch a lot of movies though, I always check AMC/FX/TNT/ABC Family for a movie to watch before bed or if I have a day off.

00-10's would be the worst for me. Everything is either reality TV or a predictable crime drama show. No thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back