Have you guys/gals ever watched a rerun of a show you used to LUV but find it really hokey now? I'm thinking about "Friends" at the moment. I used to watch it all the time when it aired but, I dunno, it's hard to watch now. Any other shows?.....

Sorta.

The hokey part I don't mind so much, it's the black and white part that bothers me nowadays.

hockey is gooood.

I agree on Friends. Seinfeld, on the other hand, remains just as classic for me. I only compare the two because they were such ratings kings for their timeslots for so long.

The Simpsons sure wore off, too. Sometimes shows are ruined just by being on the air for too long.

Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard.

As a child of the 80's, those were *my* shows. I loved them both, and have fond memories of plopping down on the living room floor with my Matchbox cars and watching them. Good stuff.

A year or so ago I discovered that both were in syndication on TNT or something. Set up the DVR to start recording them. So disappointed. I couldn't believe how bad they were. The acting, the stunts, the plots, everything. Just... sad.

On the other hand, I did recently watch a bunch of old Night Court reruns, and found myself moderately entertained. I remember occasionally watching that as a kid/young adult and thinking it was funny, though obviously I didn't get a lot of the jokes. I get the jokes now, and actually think it is/was a pretty good sitcom. So that held up really well. For me, anyway.

...it was worth watching just to see Markie Post!

The Dukes of Hazard, good one, I tried watching that recently and couldn't believe that it was so popular at one time and how could we forget the A-Team? (I've tried to)

Check out this tv site . If you scroll down the left side you can see lists of all the TV shows from different decades. It's ammazing how many of these shows I (vaguely) remember, mostly from the mid 70's on up, for me anyway.

One of ABC's local over the air channels is called Retro TV. All it broadcasts is old shows like Night Rider, A Team, Emergency, Incredible Hulk, and even some old classic western shows. In addition, the commercials and news clips are from back in the 80's, pretty cool.

The other night they showed some old news sports footage from 85, the year I graduated. Our girls team was playing for the State Championship that year. It was interesting seeing all the BIG feathered hair again.

Unless you are stuck in Ontario with the leafs who have sucked for the last, oh, 40 years or so and with league management that doesn't seem to like people with buckets of money that want to bring competitive hockey back to the province!!!

Now that I'm done with my rant...

Lost in space. I can't believe that I chose that over Star Trek, which was hokey, but not god awful.

I’ve only found one class of shows I use to love and now may not. Those are the ones like “Land of the Giants” & “I Dream of Jeannie.” Watching it later I realized the appeal back then was the outfit’s worn by the female characters.

In some cases I’ve gone back to old show I hated and found I really liked them later. The early Dr. Who episodes are the best example of this.


I’ve noticed that only bugs me when I watch on regular TV and the commercials are in colour but the show is B/W.

I’ve actually been surprised a couple times by shows I never knew were in colour until I started collecting the DVDs. I never realized that last seasons of “Combat!” were in colour.

One thing I don’t think I picked up on when originally watching a lot of older shows was how much they reused the same stock footage for certain scenes.

OY! Now I REALLY feel old! The "decades" list starts with the 1940s and I remember watching nearly all of the shows listed in that decade....only because they were still on in the 1950s. We got our first TV in 1951.

I was raised on black and white media (our first color set was purchased around 1960). As the copyrights on Black and white movies of the 30s and 40s would expire, they often were telecast which is why I'm still such a huge fan of the movies of those decades. Even if newer color movies were broadcast (which the movie industry rarely permitted due to being terrified that TV would kill the movie business) we got them in black and white. Needless to say the dramatic change from B&W to color in The Wizard of Oz had little impact on me until 1960. So, not only does black and white stuff not bother me in the least, I'm actually drawn to it (nostalgia?).

Buck Rogers comes to mind. Airwolf was another. Airwolf wasn't bad though, even to today's standards.

Duke's of Hazard was a favorite too. What teenaged boy wouldn't like that show?? Hot brunett's in cutoffs and a cool car.

Jack, maybe you're drawn to black & white movies/shows because they were actually entertaining and well acted by classically trained and talented people....like "Attack of the Giant Leeches" (1959)

Seriously, I was born in the 60's("19"-60's, before Mark makes a joke!) and I really enjoy a lot of the b&w movies and shows, I guess some of it's nostalgia, but they're just fun to watch and entertaining, which really is why we watch isn't it?

Ha! I was thinking exactly the same thing a few days ago while watching a Friends re-run. It’s so cheese and corny is not even funny. I couldn’t stand watching more than 10 minutes of it. How could a show get so dated in such a short time? I can understand shows from the seventies and 80’s becoming unwatchable, but a show from the late 90s? Weird. I agree, Sienfeld is still funny. The other day I watched a Married with Children re-run; still somewhat relevant, edgy; not the best script but funny nonetheless.

Awwww, Adrian..... I'd post here whether you watched Night Court or not.

I gotta agree with Buck Rogers. I'd TiVo'd some on the Retro channel and that stupid robot sidekick was really, really lame.

LOL! Well, the leeches aside (every decade has a lot of really terrible movies), I agree with the entertaining and well acted part. I am reluctant to try that approach with younger folks simply because I fear things (the world) have changed so much they are unable connect with the acting/humor/culture of the old movies. Perfectly understandable if they can't.

Watching the culture/moral attitudes/manners change as one's life progresses is both interesting and saddening. I think if one lives long enough the world changes into something unfamiliar and unsatisfying. Makes it easier to face one's own death.

I can remember my mother (born 1912), during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, wistfully looking out our front window and sadly sighing "they changed the rules on us."

I suppose the day will come when the culture will have changed so much that the movies of the 30s and 40s, which I so love, will simply not resonate with the current population. Fortunately, for me, I won't be around to see it.

That is cool. I wish they had of left the original commercials in some of my 'classic' DVD's like 'Perry Mason' or on my 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents" where he says "and now a word from our sponser...".

Haha! can't believe I'm saying this but....Leave the comercials in, it adds to the show.

"....and now, our new improved Skowl chewing tobacco, tastier than ever, 4 out of 5 doctors chew it, for the REAL man...try some now, she'll love a man who chews and spits Skowl".

Gone with the Wind
Dr. Zhivago
Night of the Living Dead

Some movies are timeless. TV series seem to have missed that quality somehow.

I think that the writers/directors these days lack some of the creativity that was around years ago. People like Hitchcock and to a lesser extent, Rod Serling, made you 'think', and didn't assume the audience was ignorant and needed the story spelled out for them. Hollywood has taken the low road with either "reality" shows or "confrontational" shows because it's cheap, no real actors, writers, storyline ect....just do something stupid, we'll film it, just pretend there's no camera.

I believe the difference between 'then' and 'now' is that 'then' you were an actor first and foremost, today all that seems to matter is 'celebrity', talent doesn't really mean much anymore.

Still, it's up to this generation, and the next...to demand better.

HEY! YOU KIDS! GET OFF MY LAWN!!

I'll argue that the best TV shows of today are better than the best shows of the past. Naturally, comparing the unexceptional trends of today to the classics of other eras is going to make it seem like we're falling short.

I caught an episode of the original Land of the Lost. I loved that show, along w/ all the other old Sid & Marty Croft shows. Wow, it was bad. You KNOW that the Crofts were sky HIGH making those shows. HR Puff n Stuff w/a singing flute? No coherent person could make that up...

I never thought about that before....HR Puffing Stuff!! you never know!! When you mentioned HR P&S, I had to look up a show I watched sometimes as tyke: Sigmund The Sea Monster!! another Croft show. This show came after Puff'n'Stuff, obviously they had some "stuff" left over.

What was that show where...at the beginning... a bunch of costumed characters always rode around in 6-wheel dune buggy-type things? I think that was a Croft show also...?

You’re talking about the “Banana Splits” which was actually a HB production though AFAIR the Kroffts did some work on it and H. R. Pufnstuf was a sort of spin off.

Yup... that's it. I hated that show.

Oh but I bet you loved this part:

The Banana Splits Intro

Gotta love Youtube

What are you doing to us, Dean?

Now you begin to realize why I grew up so twisted…

One of my fave shows was "The Rat Patrol" (1966-68) as a kid: what kid doesn't like jeeps and army tanks? Trouble was, by the time I was 10 I was wondering why the German Army was using M3's against the Allies in North Africa. Anyway, I remember loving that show, I saw a few minutes of an episode a while back, other than the nostalgia it was rather unbearable.

Another biggie from the 60's was "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" which was pretty cool, what with all the 'special effects'. There may not be any Star Trek series had this show not existed beforehand. Alas, men dressed up as human sized plankton attacking the crew of the ship, isn't as groundbreaking as it once was.

Still, this is the nature of the industry...we have come along way in the spec effects area, but it was older shows and movies like the original 'King Kong' and 'Wizard of Oz' ect that made the first(huge) steps.

If you guys go back that far, I'm surprised no one mentioned Johnny Quest. I always thought the puppet one was cool looking, though a bit creepy.

I enjoyed Rat Patrol too. Even back then I didn't consider it great writing, acting, or drama, but, as you so wisely point out, it had jeeps, and guns, and explosions. What else do ya need?

Couldn't quite get into Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Why venture into the depths when the beach has what you're looking for, right?

I loved “Johnny Quest.” I noticed there was a newer version but have never seen it. A couple years ago I used to watch the cartoon network all the time “Teen Titans,” “Code name kids next door,” “Foster’s home for imaginary friends,” “Hi! HI! Puffy AmiYumi,” but never managed to catch the new “Johnny Quest.”

I would definitely say the today’s cartoons are better than when I was young.

Two of my friend’s dad had an army surplus jeep so we used to play “Rat Patrol.” well in the driveway anyway. We always liked “Combat!” better though.

Except for the Warner Bros, that's classic stuff there!! Bugs, Daffy, Elmer and of course Foghorn Leghorn...."Nahh look what ya did bwahh! ya gave him a complex!"

I liked “The Road Runner” and the “Bugs Bunny‘s” with Marvin the Martian but not most of the rest. “I hated Popeye the Sailorman.”

So while we have a thread about old TV shows specifically discussing cartoons right now over at TCA they have an “Avatar Hottie” thread. Humm, older crowed here…methinks.

Jessica Rabbit? she's a hottie!!

True though “Josie and the Pussycats” are a little more alighted with the time. Daphne was always a hottie too. But Sarah Michelle Gellar wins that contest any day.

Just the other day, I was listening to my Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits and digging on the Liz Phair and Material Issue cover of the Banana Splits theme.

Here is a link to the song on youTube. The accompanying video (or, more specifically, still photos with a few mild video effects) is entirely skippable: someone's family photos. But the song is there in full.

The CD is a little hit-and-miss, but I give it an overall thumbs up. My other favorite songs - a couple of real gems - are the Ramones' cover of the Spiderman theme and the Frente' song, which is precious. My beloved Juliana Hatfield is on there and gamely does what she can with the Josie and the Pussycats song.

Thanks for the link that’s a nice cover of the song I sampled some of the others and I agree they are a little hit or miss. I hadn’t heard Liz Phair before downloading some of her songs right now.

You should have posted this in the “What are you listening to…” thread when you were…well…listening to it. This is one of those things you might never find if someone else doesn’t mention it. What else are you holding out on?

I have that CD. I never knew that the Banana Splits theme was a whole song.

Yeah, and I figured it was a bit of a tangent for this thread, to boot.

Liz Phair has had quite an interesting career. She was an indie/alt rocker in the early 90s with a lot of street cred, a real firecracker who wrote extremely explicit songs like Flower. I saw her open for Alanis Morrisette in the mid-90s, in this phase. Liz was good, but Alanis blew me away with the power of her voice. She's on a level with Bono, as far as booming rock vocalists.

Anyway, Liz rebooted her career in 2003 by teaming with pop/top40 producers. She got trashed by a lot of critics and fans, but she won over a whole bunch of new fans, and I myself like the new stuff. It's definitely more accessible than the old stuff.

Her wikipedia bio sums it all up pretty well.

I just downloaded and listened to a about 20 of her songs a combination of old and new. I like both styles but the new stuff is something I could listen to more often.

I've tried to listen to her on a couple of occasions but couldn't quite get into her.

I don't know why that was important to share.

Oh, yeah, post count.

To this day when I drive fast over a bump that causes the car to lift I exclaim "Rat Patrol". Also, one of my early memories is playing "Combat" with my best friend. I have not seen "Combat" since the 60's - all I remember is that Vic Morrow played "Sarge". How does that show hold up?

I dunno. I push the median age up at both forums.

Jack, we love your input and perspective.


TAKE THAT FROWN OFF THE SMILEY!!!

Yep, Road Runner and Bugs beat Popeye, hands down.

Did anyone enjoy the "Presto" cartoon, on the WALL-E disc, as much as I did? I felt it was a throwback to the RR & Bugs cartoon & humor style of my youth and I howled with laughter. Just loved it.

Thanks, Adrian. Very nice of you to say that. I enjoy self depricating humor about my age, but, in truth, my age doesn't really bother me. It is something over which I have absolutely no control. When the results of aging bother me, I direct all my anger toward my parents. If they'd only taken a 20 year hiatus from fooling around after my older sister was born, I'd be a much younger man.

If you can get past the B&W of the early seasons (no problem for me) I think it does really well. I’d say I still like it better than “Band of Brothers” for the stories, however BoB wins on the technical side.

Something I didn’t remember as a kid was that some of the episodes were really very antiwar. I also forgot how much stock footage of cannons firing and other stuff they reused all the time.

It’s also interesting to go back and see all the people who made guest appearances.

I remember when we played I always wanted to be Kirby and have the B.A.R. but always got stuck being the Lieutenant cause I was best at figuring things out and giving orders.

My first thought was Land of the Lost, and how corny it seems now. Sleestacks and all. Didn't the Krofft's do Electro-woman and Dyna-girl as well as Doctor Shrinker?

Two other shows I watched many moons ago and don't care for as much now are, Cheers and The Cosby Show.

Same here with 'Cheers'. I tried watching 'Cosby' and 'Rosanne' when they aired back in the day, but I just never got them.

The 'Incredible Hulk' was one of my favourite shows when it came out...it's been on one of the cable stations lately, the 'bad guys' just seem so absurd, it's funny.

I liked Courtship of Eddie's Father and Family Affair back in the day.

I haven't seen any re-runs to see if how it fares today. Jody from Family Affair was in the Krofft's Sigmund the Seamonster.

Barney Miller was one of my favorites, along with Dick Van Dyke and yes.......The Mary Tyler Moore show. I always thought Ted was a hoot and Lou often stole the show.

Oh....one more - not sure how it plays out up north but I never tire of the reruns down here - the Andy Griffith show. Don Knotts was a genius - would not have been a show without him.

Watched all three, but was a total Barney Miller and MTM addict. Both had GREAT supporting casts. Jack Soo's and Steve Landesberg's dry, dead pan wit on Barney Miller would have me rolling on the floor. Ted knight and Ed Asner would do the same to me.

You can throw in Betty White's performance on MTM too. At 87 she seems still to be running on all 8 cylinders. She worked in a film this year (The Proposal - due on DVD Oct. 13), and has another currently in production and slated for release next year (You Again). Hell of a gal!