Peter M Fitzgerald
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 1999
- Messages
- 2,314
- Real Name
- Peter Fitzgerald
Reading the threads for 'Your Top 5 Shows' of both the 1960s and 1950s got me thinking...
Sometimes a topic like this comes up on movie forums; you have a bunch of film buffs confessing to some major films they've, as yet, never seen, or have only seen bits of, which would floor people who would assume they've already seen all the classics. Unwatched TV series are more understandable in this regard, in terms of the time commitment involved. Oh sure, you may have caught a sampling of episodes, at some point, but nothing close to even a season's worth.
Here's where you can confess your shame.
I'm leaving out the one-season wonders and other obscurities, unless they are or were easily available for viewing on disc, broadcast or streaming.
Also, I figure if I've seen the bulk of one season of a show, I can technically cross it off the 'unseen' list, so it's not relevant here if you've not seen the whole of a given series, just a decent chunk of it.
And, clearly, there's just too much out there, and not enough time, to realistically see everything, even among popular series.
For myself, I'd break down the unwatched shows into three basic categories:
1.) Generally taken for granted --you were aware of them growing up... you know the main actors, characters, set-up, theme music... but you either avoided them completely, or you may have caught a few episodes down the line, but you couldn't recall a particular plot-line or episode title if your life depended on it... either it's a genre that doesn't generally appeal to you, or you weren't "ready" for them at an earlier age, or they were on in your home but you weren't paying attention, or you just assumed they'd always be on, so you'd catch up with them eventually:
Gunsmoke
Perry Mason
Bonanza
The Big Valley
The Andy Griffith Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Odd Couple
Dobie Gillis
The Phil Silvers Show
The Saint
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Adam-12
The Rockford Files
Hazel
Dennis the Menace
Sanford and Son
The Patty Duke Show
Mr. Ed
Wagon Train
Playhouse 90
The Lucy Show
Here's Lucy
F Troop
Mayberry R.F.D.
Bat Masterson
Branded
Laredo
The Loretta Young Show
The Lone Ranger
Cheyenne
Sugarfoot
Tarzan
Daktari
That Girl
The Real McCoys
Peyton Place
Dr. Kildare
The Mod Squad
Room 222
McHale's Navy
Father Knows Best
Streets of San Francisco
Barnaby Jones
Make Room for Daddy
Sea Hunt
Petticoat Junction
Burke's Law
Gentle Ben
Here Come the Brides
The High Chaparral
The Guns of Will Sonnett
The Doris Day Show
The Name of the Game
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Ironside
Medical Center
Julia
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Nanny & the Professor
The Persuaders
Alias Smith & Jones
Cannon
McMillan & Wife
McCloud
Maude
Kojak
The Rookies
Police Story/Police Woman
Good Times
The Jeffersons
Starsky & Hutch
Baretta
S.W.A.T.
Chico & The Man
Family
Soap
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Charlie's Angels
Baa Baa Blacksheep
Quincy
Eight Is Enough
Lou Grant
Trapper John, M.D.
Benson
Vega$
The Dukes of Hazzard
B.J. & The Bear
Dallas
Dynasty
Knots Landing
Falcon Crest
Hill Street Blues
St. Elsewhere
Magnum P.I.
Simon & Simon
The A Team
The Fall Guy
The Greatest American Hero
Knight Rider
T.J. Hooker
Cagney & Lacey
Remington Steele
Scarecrow & Mrs. King
Hardcastle & McCormick
Airwolf
Jake & The Fatman
MacGyver
Hart to Hart
Fame
Murder She Wrote
Matlock
Newhart
The Facts of Life
Gimme a Break
Webster
Silver Spoons
Miami Vice
Highway to Heaven
Golden Girls
Kate & Allie
Who's the Boss
Growing Pains
Riptide
Hotel
The Equalizer
Moonlighting
Hunter
Spencer for Hire
21 Jump Street
Designing Women
Thirtysomething
Alf
Perfect Strangers
L.A. Law
Wiseguy
Murphy Brown
Hogan Family
Roseanne
In the Heat of the Night
Head of the Class
China Beach
Different World
Just the Ten of Us
Mr. Belvedere
Unsolved Mysteries
America's Most Wanted
Crime Story
227
Amen
Full House
Beauty & The Beast
My Two Dads
Baywatch
Empty Nest
Wings
Major Dad
Coach
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Dear John
Father Dowling Mysteries
Family Matters
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Beverly Hills 90210
The X-Files
Seinfeld
Stargate
Law & Order
Homicide: Life in the Streets
Jag
CSI
NCIS
Friends
South Park
Family Guy
Arrested Development
etc, etc...
--in my own case, while it's clear that my interest in new series was flagging in the 1970s & 1980s, by the 1990s, you also could count virtually everything new being aired, apart from The Simpsons, Get a Life, Ren & Stimpy, Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast and Mystery Science Theater 3000... it took The Sopranos, and the quality drama series in its wake (The Wire, Deadwood, The Shield, Dead Like Me, Lost, Dexter, Rome, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Justified, The Hour, Pushing Daisies, Boardwalk Empire, etc), to bring me back to watching any current, regular TV series at all. I spent the 1990s (and into the 00s) exclusively watching movies (all eras) and favorite classic TV series.
2.) On your DVD shelf, but you haven't gotten to them yet --either 'blind buys' or shows you've only slightly dabbled in, prior to buying):
M Squad
Route 66
The Naked City
Have Gun - Will Travel
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Mike Hammer
Johnny Staccato
Combat
It Takes a Thief
The FBI
Harry O
Callan
Tate
Brenner
Gigantor
3.) Hard to see these days --outside of public domain episodes or the bootleg world, or are on a channel/service you can't get:
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet
Amos & Andy
The Jack Benny Program
Burns & Allen
The Millionaire
The Lineup
Run for Your Life
Circus Boy
77 Sunset Strip
Hawaiian Eye
Surfside Six
Bourbon Street Beat
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Adventures in Paradise
Ben Casey
The Defenders
East Side West Side
Our Miss Brooks
Bus Stop
Bachelor Father
Mr. Novak
The Farmer's Daughter
Iron Horse
Felony Squad
So, what are yours?
Sometimes a topic like this comes up on movie forums; you have a bunch of film buffs confessing to some major films they've, as yet, never seen, or have only seen bits of, which would floor people who would assume they've already seen all the classics. Unwatched TV series are more understandable in this regard, in terms of the time commitment involved. Oh sure, you may have caught a sampling of episodes, at some point, but nothing close to even a season's worth.
Here's where you can confess your shame.
I'm leaving out the one-season wonders and other obscurities, unless they are or were easily available for viewing on disc, broadcast or streaming.
Also, I figure if I've seen the bulk of one season of a show, I can technically cross it off the 'unseen' list, so it's not relevant here if you've not seen the whole of a given series, just a decent chunk of it.
And, clearly, there's just too much out there, and not enough time, to realistically see everything, even among popular series.
For myself, I'd break down the unwatched shows into three basic categories:
1.) Generally taken for granted --you were aware of them growing up... you know the main actors, characters, set-up, theme music... but you either avoided them completely, or you may have caught a few episodes down the line, but you couldn't recall a particular plot-line or episode title if your life depended on it... either it's a genre that doesn't generally appeal to you, or you weren't "ready" for them at an earlier age, or they were on in your home but you weren't paying attention, or you just assumed they'd always be on, so you'd catch up with them eventually:
Gunsmoke
Perry Mason
Bonanza
The Big Valley
The Andy Griffith Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Odd Couple
Dobie Gillis
The Phil Silvers Show
The Saint
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Adam-12
The Rockford Files
Hazel
Dennis the Menace
Sanford and Son
The Patty Duke Show
Mr. Ed
Wagon Train
Playhouse 90
The Lucy Show
Here's Lucy
F Troop
Mayberry R.F.D.
Bat Masterson
Branded
Laredo
The Loretta Young Show
The Lone Ranger
Cheyenne
Sugarfoot
Tarzan
Daktari
That Girl
The Real McCoys
Peyton Place
Dr. Kildare
The Mod Squad
Room 222
McHale's Navy
Father Knows Best
Streets of San Francisco
Barnaby Jones
Make Room for Daddy
Sea Hunt
Petticoat Junction
Burke's Law
Gentle Ben
Here Come the Brides
The High Chaparral
The Guns of Will Sonnett
The Doris Day Show
The Name of the Game
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Ironside
Medical Center
Julia
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Nanny & the Professor
The Persuaders
Alias Smith & Jones
Cannon
McMillan & Wife
McCloud
Maude
Kojak
The Rookies
Police Story/Police Woman
Good Times
The Jeffersons
Starsky & Hutch
Baretta
S.W.A.T.
Chico & The Man
Family
Soap
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Charlie's Angels
Baa Baa Blacksheep
Quincy
Eight Is Enough
Lou Grant
Trapper John, M.D.
Benson
Vega$
The Dukes of Hazzard
B.J. & The Bear
Dallas
Dynasty
Knots Landing
Falcon Crest
Hill Street Blues
St. Elsewhere
Magnum P.I.
Simon & Simon
The A Team
The Fall Guy
The Greatest American Hero
Knight Rider
T.J. Hooker
Cagney & Lacey
Remington Steele
Scarecrow & Mrs. King
Hardcastle & McCormick
Airwolf
Jake & The Fatman
MacGyver
Hart to Hart
Fame
Murder She Wrote
Matlock
Newhart
The Facts of Life
Gimme a Break
Webster
Silver Spoons
Miami Vice
Highway to Heaven
Golden Girls
Kate & Allie
Who's the Boss
Growing Pains
Riptide
Hotel
The Equalizer
Moonlighting
Hunter
Spencer for Hire
21 Jump Street
Designing Women
Thirtysomething
Alf
Perfect Strangers
L.A. Law
Wiseguy
Murphy Brown
Hogan Family
Roseanne
In the Heat of the Night
Head of the Class
China Beach
Different World
Just the Ten of Us
Mr. Belvedere
Unsolved Mysteries
America's Most Wanted
Crime Story
227
Amen
Full House
Beauty & The Beast
My Two Dads
Baywatch
Empty Nest
Wings
Major Dad
Coach
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Dear John
Father Dowling Mysteries
Family Matters
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Beverly Hills 90210
The X-Files
Seinfeld
Stargate
Law & Order
Homicide: Life in the Streets
Jag
CSI
NCIS
Friends
South Park
Family Guy
Arrested Development
etc, etc...
--in my own case, while it's clear that my interest in new series was flagging in the 1970s & 1980s, by the 1990s, you also could count virtually everything new being aired, apart from The Simpsons, Get a Life, Ren & Stimpy, Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast and Mystery Science Theater 3000... it took The Sopranos, and the quality drama series in its wake (The Wire, Deadwood, The Shield, Dead Like Me, Lost, Dexter, Rome, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Justified, The Hour, Pushing Daisies, Boardwalk Empire, etc), to bring me back to watching any current, regular TV series at all. I spent the 1990s (and into the 00s) exclusively watching movies (all eras) and favorite classic TV series.
2.) On your DVD shelf, but you haven't gotten to them yet --either 'blind buys' or shows you've only slightly dabbled in, prior to buying):
M Squad
Route 66
The Naked City
Have Gun - Will Travel
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Mike Hammer
Johnny Staccato
Combat
It Takes a Thief
The FBI
Harry O
Callan
Tate
Brenner
Gigantor
3.) Hard to see these days --outside of public domain episodes or the bootleg world, or are on a channel/service you can't get:
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet
Amos & Andy
The Jack Benny Program
Burns & Allen
The Millionaire
The Lineup
Run for Your Life
Circus Boy
77 Sunset Strip
Hawaiian Eye
Surfside Six
Bourbon Street Beat
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Adventures in Paradise
Ben Casey
The Defenders
East Side West Side
Our Miss Brooks
Bus Stop
Bachelor Father
Mr. Novak
The Farmer's Daughter
Iron Horse
Felony Squad
So, what are yours?