Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What are your favorite old TV shows and why?
- Thread starter Jbenn425
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Why am I getting a strange sense of something resembling deja vu here?
In any case, I had received that exact same message on a few other sites I have been visiting a little earlier this evening......thus, it was not.....entirely unexpected.
Howdy Doody
Captain Video
Dr. I-magination
Mr.Science
Rooty Kazooty
Because they were the only things on TV when I was a kid...
They had TV when you were a kid? I thought you grew up listening to radio shows on the wireless
We used to get those real old B & W reruns in the school holidays. Flash Gordon and the Loan Ranger. They used to have text in-between each scene and always finish on a cliff hanger!
Other ones we grew up on over here from over there were the Flintstones and Happy Days.
I saw this too, but only on that clip. Everything else was working.. I did find another clip of it, but it was 144p, and no-where near worth it.
The one I posted is working again, so have at it, and crank it up. I'll eat dirt if it isn't SFW, and If your boss doesn't laugh at it, or HR throws a fit, tell them to suck eggs, because they either are too young to know the guy or remember him in his prime (he died in 2002), or have the sense of humour of a rock.
BL.
Old TV shows
Pink Panther cartoon (esp. the Ant and the Aardvark - this was a much more hip version of the Roadrunner and the Coyote. The instant hole episode is still one of the funniest things Ive ever seen. And an Aardvark who sounds like Jackie Mason chasing an ant who talks like Sammy Davis Jr. (John Byner was such a great mimic) - what's not to like?
Bugs Bunny (Looney Toons)
Monty Pythons Flying Circus - yes I was waaaay too young to get most of the references but I laughed anyway. Plenty of sight gags and stuff.
The Bionic Woman - very cool.
Get Smart (repeats)
The Monkees (repeats)
The Munsters/Addams Family - fun shows for the monster kid I did not know I was until my late teens (repeats)
Groovie Ghoulies - Anything with a hippie werewolf is right on in my book. This was hilarious at the time, sadly it doesnt hold up as much as everything else I mentioned - beyond the werewolf anyway. D
Twilight Zone - this scared me to no end as a little one, but I was fascinated by The Howling Man and Eyes of the Beholder episodes as scared as I was. To this day, these two episodes remain my favorites. Really amazing show that holds up half a century later.
Battle of the Planets/G-Force - the only Anime I went nuts over.
Don Kershners Rock Concert - where I discovered Ted Nugent at a way too early age and spiraled into much heavier/nosier music since then. Great show.
Banana Splits - kids shows were awesome in the late 60s/early 70s (caught this in repeats)
Planet of the Apes (my first real geek love so I went bananas over the show)
Frasier is not that old but a cable channel did the entire run recently and I marveled at how hysterical the show could be. Every once in a while youd get an episode that was non-stop funny.
X-Files is also not that old but the first few seasons are excellent.
Pink Panther cartoon (esp. the Ant and the Aardvark - this was a much more hip version of the Roadrunner and the Coyote. The instant hole episode is still one of the funniest things Ive ever seen. And an Aardvark who sounds like Jackie Mason chasing an ant who talks like Sammy Davis Jr. (John Byner was such a great mimic) - what's not to like?
Bugs Bunny (Looney Toons)
Monty Pythons Flying Circus - yes I was waaaay too young to get most of the references but I laughed anyway. Plenty of sight gags and stuff.
The Bionic Woman - very cool.
Get Smart (repeats)
The Monkees (repeats)
The Munsters/Addams Family - fun shows for the monster kid I did not know I was until my late teens
(repeats)Groovie Ghoulies - Anything with a hippie werewolf is right on in my book. This was hilarious at the time, sadly it doesnt hold up as much as everything else I mentioned - beyond the werewolf anyway. D
Twilight Zone - this scared me to no end as a little one, but I was fascinated by The Howling Man and Eyes of the Beholder episodes as scared as I was. To this day, these two episodes remain my favorites. Really amazing show that holds up half a century later.
Battle of the Planets/G-Force - the only Anime I went nuts over.
Don Kershners Rock Concert - where I discovered Ted Nugent at a way too early age and spiraled into much heavier/nosier music since then. Great show.
Banana Splits - kids shows were awesome in the late 60s/early 70s (caught this in repeats)
Planet of the Apes (my first real geek love so I went bananas over the show)
Frasier is not that old but a cable channel did the entire run recently and I marveled at how hysterical the show could be. Every once in a while youd get an episode that was non-stop funny.
X-Files is also not that old but the first few seasons are excellent.
Idk if anyone mentioned it but All in the Family was an incredible show as well and it's very interesting watching the political topics from a time before I was born.
[Emphasis added]
I really liked Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea too - even had a model of the Seaview. I think it drove my dad batty though, he actually had submarine experience.
The other show I liked (and not listed yet) was Time Tunnel. About a year ago I was laid up with a minor foot injury and found it on iTunes. Turns out that they only filmed one season.. but it was a lot of episodes - each one 1 hour. I watched the entire season. Campy and hokey as heck...but it still has one of the great opening title sequences with the visual and music.
Oh, yes. Agree with you completely. How could I have forgotten that?
Time Tunnel was brilliant, I loved it as a kid. Actually, the first time I even heard the word 'Titanic' in any context was during an episode of Time Tunnel, and, much to my (very youthful) surprise, my mother confirmed during this episode that the ship would, indeed, proceed to sink even though most of the cheerfully oblivious characters on board (but not our heroes, naturally enough) insisted that it was 'unsinkable'.
I've got the series here if you want to come over and watch it (smile). I'm guessing you are either a Guinness or a Scotch drinker...
Hail yeah! Can I a get a "whoa Bundy?"
Add to that list Combat! and McHale's Navy.
Love those shows!
Howdy Doody
Captain Video
Dr. I-magination
Mr.Science
Rooty Kazooty
Because they were the only things on TV when I was a kid...
There was TV when you were a kid?!
These programs made an impression on me, for various reasons, but they were all great entertainment, and that is the whole point of having a TV.
Ivanhoe, Gun Smoke, Wagon Train.
The Avengers, Monty Python, The Saint, Floris (the first apperance of Rutger Hauer), Man from Uncle.
Hill Street Blues, Blakes 7, All in the Family, De Fabrik (the first real Dutch soap series). Morse.
Buffy, Firefly, Fringe, V, Seinfeld, West Wing.
There are probably many that I've missed but these do stand out for me.
Ivanhoe, Gun Smoke, Wagon Train.
The Avengers, Monty Python, The Saint, Floris (the first apperance of Rutger Hauer), Man from Uncle.
Hill Street Blues, Blakes 7, All in the Family, De Fabrik (the first real Dutch soap series). Morse.
Buffy, Firefly, Fringe, V, Seinfeld, West Wing.
There are probably many that I've missed but these do stand out for me.
There was TV when you were a kid?!
Actually it was a big box with a lot of very small, actual people inside.
But it looked like TV...
Not so much Guinness as other rather robust porters (think the sort of evil brew the Belgian monasteries can create, and some of the newer micro-breweries). Good whiskey (Yellow Spot comes to mind among others) does it for me, as indeed, does rich Ripasso and XO cognac.......but that is a charming invitation, and I thank you for it....would be more than happy to watch re-runs of Time Tunnel in such company. I seem to recall an episode set during the American Civil War where our Heroes ended up on opposite sides, as they had arrived in that era separately.....
Oh, yes. The Saint. The epitome of cool, (to my jaundiced eyes, anyway). And Monty Python.......sheer, unadulterated class.
I just remember one I forgot.
Shogun.
Richard Chamberlain. My first look at Japan through the eye of TV.
Shogun.
Richard Chamberlain. My first look at Japan through the eye of TV.
The Wonder Years.
The fascinating thing for me is, that it crosses time and places. I mean, it was about an american boy growing up in the 60's and early 70's, yet it has something to say also to me, growing up in the 90's and early 2000's in a former "Ostblock" country. I think that is a testimony to how well it was made.
The fascinating thing for me is, that it crosses time and places. I mean, it was about an american boy growing up in the 60's and early 70's, yet it has something to say also to me, growing up in the 90's and early 2000's in a former "Ostblock" country. I think that is a testimony to how well it was made.
Wow.. just about all of the ones that were my favourites were listed.
Well said. And I still am waiting for someone to mention a show who has produced 4000 shows and is still going.
Below is my favourite clip. I was watching this with my children at my local Barnes and Noble one night while my wife was looking for a few books. We're laughing up a storm and causing a scene, when people started to give weird looks. I explained that it was, and they all replied that we had good taste!
Enjoy!..........
YouTube: video
BL.
Last night, when you first posted this, I was unable to view it; the error message posted elsewhere was what my screen displayed, too.
Anyway, I always loved the dyspeptic dialogue and acerbic asides of Statler and Waldorf, two of my all time favourite characters on The Muppets.
Thanks very much for posting this; I have watched it just now and have thoroughly enjoyed it - it's really excellent and very very funny....
The Simpsons because I've watched it since I was a kid and it's a kind of timeless show. It's still funnier then most of the crap out there now anyway.
As a kid:
...Anyway, in my teen years, I liked a little bit of:
During my college years (late 80s), I was very heavily into music, and still am. The small amount of TV time I took then was for MTV.
Crossing over into adulthood, I watched a bit of Star Trek: TNG, DS9, and was a regular viewer of Star Trek: Voyager and ST: Enterprise.
I would occasionally watch the odd talk show as a guilty pleasure:
I was an avid watcher of a short-lived and rather obscure Fox show called Babes in the early 90s.
Nowadays, I pay attention to the TV for three things:
- SuperFriends. I was a DC comics fan, and dressed as Batman for Halloween more than once.
- Krofft Super Power Hour. I didn't care much for most of it, but it was the only show that featured Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. I SO wanted one of those Electra-Comps on my wrist back then.
- Battlestar Galactica. The plot didn't make too much sense for me, but I liked the "scanning eyes" and robotic voices of the Cylons. I was heavily into futuristic sci-fi from the get-go.
- Bionic Woman, for the special effects.
...Anyway, in my teen years, I liked a little bit of:
- Doctor Who for its relatively intelligent science fiction writing.
- Knight Rider and Max Headroom episodes, for the effects.
During my college years (late 80s), I was very heavily into music, and still am. The small amount of TV time I took then was for MTV.
Crossing over into adulthood, I watched a bit of Star Trek: TNG, DS9, and was a regular viewer of Star Trek: Voyager and ST: Enterprise.
I would occasionally watch the odd talk show as a guilty pleasure:
- Donahue.
- Ricki Lake.
- Early Maury Povich. I still catch a clip or two on YouTube when I feel like a "Who's My Baby Daddy" moment.
- Jerry Springer, while he was still tackling serious topics and before his show devolved into one big inbred fightfest.
I was an avid watcher of a short-lived and rather obscure Fox show called Babes in the early 90s.
Nowadays, I pay attention to the TV for three things:
- Mrs. Brown's Boys. Best sitcom from across the pond since Keeping Up Appearances.
- The Walking Dead. The only post-Trek serial drama I've paid any attention to, except perhaps for the revival of V. Action, pathos, and surprisingly good makeup FX. (Acting quality is hit-or-miss sometimes, but the realistic zombie effects are a nice compensation.)
- Mike & Molly. See Hee Haw and Babes above.
Agree completely; Fawlty Towers was simply superb - clever, funny, sharp, original - series. And who can forget the 'Don't Mention The War' episode, which was easily one of the funniest things I have ever seen on TV?
