The Glade 4.0

We got rid of our cable, a few months ago and now only use the Internet to get our television viewing. One consequence is that in looking for shows to watch, we've experimented with older shows we only remember a little bit.

Here are some observations...

Gilligan's Island (1964-1967): I hadn't watched these since I was a kid, and so I didn't remember how really child-oriented they were. The humor doesn't hold up well for adults. But that said, I'm so VERY glad I got them. The constant giggling of both my kids proves the show hit its mark. (I did have to explain to my five year old why the first season was in black & white, though.)

MacGyver (1985-1992): In some ways, this show holds up very well today. Funny thing is, i find most of his impromptu science experiments more believable today than I did as a kid, knowing that they're based in reality. In other ways...the acting of secondary "guest star" type characters in the 80's was uniformly BAD. Even people who later became big names, like Teri Hatcher, (blame the directing?) sound like vacuous idiots who've never had a single acting class.

Magnum, P.I. (1980-1988): This show defies the convention that the quality of television has improved over the last 30 years. The show is possibly even better now than it was originally, in much the same way as a Humphry Bogart noir movie ages well. The acting, the storywriting were top notch. The production values might have aged a bit, but you never once feel like you're looking at the inside of a motionless car with a moviescreen behind it. As a side note, I wish networks would do "crossover shows" more often like they did in the 80's, with one episode of Magnum, P.I. linked in to an episode of "Simon & Simon," and another linked in to "Murder, She Wrote."

Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies (1930+, over 400 episodes): Obviously these shows don't age at all. They maintain their humor value in perpetuity. Also, anything for kids generally continues to be entertaining to kids of the targeted age group. (Although Looney Tunes is targeted at all ages.)

Star Trek (ALL of them)
Ambitious download project. Just pointing them out because I actually did get every trek series. Going into depth on trek on a forum like this would totally hijack the thread.

Complete Hanna Barbera collection (?): Most of these shows don't age nearly so well as as Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes, even for children. My kids quickly got bored of Yogi Bear, Snagglepus, Huckleberry Hound and company. Flintstones is holding their interest a bit. Scooby Doo is actually a favorite, so it's not a total loss. And amazingly, they have also taken a bit of a liking to The Smurfs. (Weird.)


Any you have found hold up particularly well?

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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With regard to the Hanna Barbera collection - how do your kids feel about Blue Falcon, Captain Caveman, Jabberjaw and Speed Buggy?

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Honestly, they probably haven't gotten to them. I didn't even notice if they were there...it was like 300 GB.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

My parents would probably contend that Magnum P.I. was the height of TV, especially my mother, although that might have more to do with Tom Selleck.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

If you're enjoying how well Magnum, P.I. held up, don't forget to go back and look at The Rockford Files, too.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Also, Simon & Simon.

_________________
Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Haven't watched that one since I was a kid. Does it hold up?

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

All in the Family
Barney Miller
Good Times

They're all sitcoms so the production value isn't really a problem, and they're character-driven so they still hold up for me.

I wonder if The Carol Burnett Show would hold up. I've got good memories of watching it with my folks, but haven't seen it in decades.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Dunno, but it might well be worth putting on the list of shows to look into.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

I still enjoy watching Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theater. The effects budgets were never very high, but it doesn't matter. It's more like watching a play, you get sucked in even though the badly drawn backdrop is obviously fake.

That, and I've always admired that they had the balls to stay true to the original fairy tales (ie: Little Mermaid & Rapunzel aren't necessarily happily-ever-after endings).

As a side note, anything Jim Henson holds up well for me too.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Ooh, ooh, ooh! You should totally start (re-)watching Murder, She Wrote and Matlock!

Ok, maybe not. I never much cared for those ... but Columbo was cool. Wonder how well that one has held up?

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Are the X-Files old enough to qualify? Also The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and the serialized Hercules stuff?

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They started in the 90's, so I didn't include them. But I do have them.


Xena was better. Hmm. More to get!

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I am including Xena I meant more or less the Hercules-universe/genre. So basically if it was on Saturday afternoon ALL day in the late 90's my "genre" would include it

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I still love MASH actually.

The Dick Van Dyke Show. The original one, not that one he did with Hope Lange.

I still love the Andy Griffith Show.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

I am not a fan of sitcoms in general. (It's only through the fact that it's the best sitcom ever that I can stand watching Big Bang Theory), so I cannot comment on old sitcoms. I just don't like the genre.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I have also gone down that road. 27 seasons of Star Trek in a year.

The end result was that I ended up not liking one series as much as I thought (DS9; which isn't to say it's not good) and ended up loving a series I thought I hated (Voyager).

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Those and The Jeffersons, but especially All in the Family. That show still cracks me up.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

TRA LA LA, LA LA LA LA, TRA LA LA, LA LA LA LA...

Barney Miller was awesome, I want it on DVD. And Murder She Wrote... I have season 1 on DVD (gag gift from friend) surprisingly... holds up pretty well.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

As a teenager I discovered Magnum PI. It was on late at night so I started staying up to watch it. I'm pretty sure I was watching syndicated episodes. I believe there were still new one's on, but I watched it nightly, so it had to be syndication.

Night Court
Perry Mason - Raymond Burr
Hawaii 5-0
The Prisoner
Spencer for Hire

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones