Series before your time that you have enjoyed (1 Viewer)

[bmasters9]

Actually, yes, you can discover them any way you want to. I had originally asked about the DVD method, but if you're lucky enough to have discovered them another way (in reruns on RTN, for instance, or on Hulu), then go for it. Any method is acceptable.

 

[Charles Ellis]

I recently discovered the 1950s police drama Decoy starring Beverly Garland. It's a female Dragnet with Garland as NYPD officer Casey Jones who investigates all kinds of cases, and each episode ends with Casey addressing the audience with a closing thought about the case she just worked on. It was filmed on location in NYC and had some familiar faces in early roles (Peter Falk, Larry Hagman, William Hickey among them).

Alpha Video has already released two volumes, with a third coming soon. This is a show definitely worth looking for- a real predecessor to Police Woman, Cagney & Lacey, and all of the Law & Order and CSI shows with their prominent female investigators. Mariska Hargitay and Marg Helgenberger owe Beverly big time!

Decoy: Police Woman - Volume 1 - Television on DVD (1957) Starring Beverly Garland; Directed by David Alexander; Alpha Video : OLDIES.com

 

[Bob Hug]

Although you'll get some duplicated episodes, be sure to check out Timeless Media Group's 2-disc, 10-episode set. You'll get a number of eps. that Alpha hasn't released to date.

Amazon.com: Decoy: Decoy: Movies & TV

I have to agree that "Decoy" is a terrific show; I only wish that there was an official release of all 39 episodes. As it stands, you really have to wade through the various public domain releases to build a collection of episodes; roughly half the series is out there.

Also interesting to note that "Decoy" appears to be the first series to focus on the NYPD, at least according to the NYPD's "NYPD on TV" page:

http://www.policeny.com/nypdtv1.html

 

[GeorgeJA]

Through the magic of DVD, I did blind buys with 2 shows before my time and they both hit it out of the park:

Sgt. Bilko
The Fugitive

 

[Rod J]

I'm afraid that nothing on TV was "before my time"..

 

[BobSchneider]

Hmmmm to name a few

Have Gun Will Travel
Rifleman
Secret Agent/DangerMan
I Spy
Outer Limits
WWW
Man From U.N.C.L.E. especially S1
Mission Impossibe (s1-s3 the best)
Perry Mason
Ironside
Johnny Quest
Star Trek
The Prisoner
Monty Pythons flying circus
Yeah Ricker Im a 1963 baby too some shows like Kung fu I did not watch first run (I was in 1st grade when it came out) I enjoy it on re runs on good old KTLA channel 5 here in So Cal during my high school years

 

[Gary Seven]

Actually, there are no series before my time that I have enjoyed through the magic of DVD that I did not already enjoy.

However, there are countless series I have enjoyed that were before my time brought to me via the magic of syndication. The most recent being on this new TV network on my Comcast affiliate called RTN. There I have discovered the Jack Benny program. A true classic with some classic guest stars of the past including the great Mel Blanc.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Shows made before my time that I enjoy, eh? Well, like many who have already posted here... lot's of 'em!

Having been born in 1968, there were many that I saw rerun on local TV in the 1970s and 1980s:

THE ADDAMS FAMILY
THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN
ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS
THE AVENGERS
BEANY & CECIL
ERNIE KOVACS (a 1970s PBS compilation series of surviving material)
FRACTURED FLICKERS
THE HONEYMOONERS
JONNY QUEST
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER
LOST IN SPACE
THE OUTER LIMITS
SPEED RACER
STAR TREK
STINGRAY
THUNDERBIRDS
THE TWILIGHT ZONE
UNDERDOG
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (limited exposure)
THE WILD WILD WEST

Later on, shows I caught on cable networks in the 1980s & 1990s:

DRAGNET
THE FUGITIVE
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE
H.G. WELLS' INVISIBLE MAN
HONEY WEST (limited exposure)
I SPY (limited exposure)
LAND OF THE GIANTS
MANNIX (limited exposure)
MAVERICK
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (limited exposure)
M SQUAD (limited exposure)
THE PRISONER
RAWHIDE
ROGER RAMJET
ROUTE 66 (limited exposure)
SECRET AGENT / DANGER MAN
THE TIME TUNNEL
THE UNTOUCHABLES (limited exposure)

Beyond that, some home video "blind buys":

AT LAST, THE 1948 SHOW
THE CHAMPIONS (though I did catch part of an ersatz "movie", stitched together from a few episodes, on local TV in the 1980s)
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET
THE INVADERS (apart from a duped-from-VHS copy of "Wall Of Crystal" I got from a friend in the 1980s)
MAN IN A SUITCASE
MAN WITH A CAMERA
PLAYBOY AFTER DARK
SHOTGUN SLADE

Not-on-R1-DVD TV series from before my time I've seen and enjoyed in re-runs or via evil, forbidden means:

ADAM ADAMANT LIVES! (limited exposure)
THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR
BATMAN
CORONET BLUE (limited exposure)
THE GREEN HORNET
SPACE GIANTS (limited exposure)
SUSPICION (limited exposure)
THRILLER (Boris Karloff)
ULTRA SEVEN
THE WESTERNER

All this not counting the myriad shows I watched in re-runs growing up, and enjoyed, but don't feel the need to own on DVD (although I could be swayed on a couple of these, when a good sale comes along):

THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
BEWITCHED
THE BIG VALLEY
BONANZA
COMBAT
DARK SHADOWS
FAMILY AFFAIR
THE FLINTSTONES
FLIPPER
F-TROOP
GET SMART
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND
GREEN ACRES
GUNSMOKE
I DREAM OF JEANNIE
I LOVE LUCY
THE JETSONS
THE MONKEES
THE MUNSTERS
MY THREE SONS
PETTICOAT JUNCTION
THE RAT PATROL
Etc.

 

[michael_ks]

What Peter wrote, basically--especially where the great ITC shows are concerned. Other shows I would add are "T.H.E. Cat" and "The FBI".

"Man in a Suitcase" and especially "The Fugitive" ranks as two of the best shows I've ever seen that ran before my time (that I also never saw in re-runs).

 

[Gregory V]

Actually there are TWO....which I never really saw until I was in my twenties and they were shown on CBN in the eighties...

The Burns & Allen Show and The Jack Benny Show