What are your top 5 favorite shows from the 1960s? (1 Viewer)

[JMas]

You are listing four shows that somehow I don't think I've ever seen. Don't know how I've missed them all these years. If you're willing, I'd like to hear a bit about why Gunsmoke is your favorite. And did you know there's a new book about the show, call The Gunsmoke Chronicles by David Greenland. It's mind boggling to believe that any show could last 20 years, going from a black and white 30 minute show, to an hour long black and white show, to an hour long color show. Is this one of those shows that's being remastered by CBS into hd? I forget....

I have the Greenland book, along with the Barabas book (affectionately called Big Red by Gunsmoke fans) and the Costello book and the Peel book.

I think the reason Gunsmoke lasted 20 years is because the audience not only enjoyed the western aspect of the show, but was also invested in the characters themselves.

 

[davidHartzog]

MannixThe AvengersHawaii 5-0The FugitiveMission: ImpossibleIn no particular order.Honorable mention to T.H.E. Cat, Honey West and The High Chapparel.

 

[benbess]

My favorites are:

The Virginian
Star Trek: TOS
Twilight Zone
The Outer Limits

and

The Time Tunnel

Great to see another fan of The Virginian.++

 

[Neil Brock]

Picking only five is really difficult as there are so many great ones, probably more in that decade than all of the other decades combined. But here goes:The FugitiveBen CaseyOuter LimitsThe DefendersSlattery's People

 

[Rob_Ray]

These may not be my top five (most of those have already been mentioned) but I'd still like to add:

The Danny Thomas Show
The Carol Burnett Show
The Garry Moore Show
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
Here Come the Brides

 

[Ockeghem]

The Rifleman
The Outer Limits
Star Trek
Dark ShadowsThe Mod Squad
Honorable mention:

The Patty Duke Show / Mission: Impossible / Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (tie)

 

[Jerseydevil]

Lost in Space
Batman
The Fugitive
Wild Wild West
Outer Limits

 

[bryan4999]

Star Trek
Batman
Flipper
Bewitched
That Girl

 

[Kasey]

1. Bewitched: Was obssessed with it as a kid, loved revisiting it through grown-up eyes. The Dick York era especially holds up well for the most part with good writing but the performances are what make this show for me. I even love the campy early '70s episodes where Serena really shines.

2. Hazel: This one's like TV comfort food for me. Shirley Booth is one of those rare actresses who can do wonders with an average line of dialogue. I even adore the final season with the cast changes. I find the "new" Baxters just as likeable as the originals. But George and Dorothy's house makes me nostalgic for the Kennedy era, though it was a little before my time.

3. The Donna Reed Show: Same as Hazel, TV comfort-food at its' finest. A wonderful time-capsule of an era where ladies wore hats and gloves to go shopping and kids had good manners. The fact that Paul and Shelley look like they are the real offspring of Donna and Carl adds to the believability. Has an unfair reputation of being too goody-goody because Jeff and Mary fought ALOT on this show and Donna lost her temper on a regular basis.

4. The Lucy Show: Not a big fan of the later seasons which only had a few stellar episodes, but the first season rivals anything done on I Love Lucy and even several of the Vivian Vance color episodes are right up there among hers and Lucy's best work.

5. Family Affair: I may get some flack for writing this, but Anissa Jones and Johnny Whitaker were two of the most natural and believable child actors in the history of sitcoms, yet they often are ridiculed for being too saccharine. My favorite episodes of this show are the ones where the twins encounter other unfortunate moppets (crippled, poor, deaf or terminally ill) which tug at the heartstrings.

Honorable mentions to The Patty Duke Show, Petticoat Junction, The Lieutenant, Dobie Gillis and My Three Sons.

 

[Walsh61]

All of my favorites have been mentioned already, but one - McHale's Navy.

 

[EdG]

Star Trek
Mission:Impossible
The Andy Griffith Show
Hogan's Heroes
The Wild Wild West

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

To simplify things, I'm leaving out stuff that began at the end of the 1950s (Twilight Zone, Rawhide, The Rifleman, The Untouchables, Leave It to Beaver, Bullwinkle), or ran well into the 1970s (Monty Python, Mission Impossible, Hawaii Five-0), and will just stick to series that existed wholly in the 1960s (not counting later spin-offs, reunions and reboots):

The Fugitive
The Outer Limits
The Avengers
The Wild, Wild West
The Addams Family

Honorable mentions: T.H.E. Cat, The Prisoner, Jonny Quest, Star Trek, The Invaders, Dragnet (color), Thriller, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Danger Man/Secret Agent, Land of the Giants, Batman, Lost in Space, Password.

 

[Ron1973]

Ron1973: By any chance would you be willing to say a few words about why The Beverly Hillbillies is your favorite? I watched it sometimes in the 70s and laughed and enjoyed it, but this is one of those where I fear my memory is a bit rose colored. From your listing maybe not. And how are the DVDs for this show in terms of PQ?

I guess how well the cast blended for one thing. The story lines were obviously over the top, especially as the show entered its twilight years. The cast still blended no matter how ridiculous the story lines became. You could honestly believe Granny was a gun-totin' woman who thought the south had won or that Jethro was truly as dumb as box of rocks; they each made their characters believable.

The show had a ton of guest stars including John Wayne, Hedda Hopper, Sammy Davis, Jr., Phil Silvers and others.

For me, it's basic simple humor that's stood the test of time.

The DVD's vary on quality. S1 is in public domain and the only way to get the complete season is two volume sets from MPI plus a Christmas DVD. They all at least include the original theme music and on the two sets, the cast commercials for Kelloggs and Winston are included as bonus selections. S2 and S3 are from CBS and are good quality for a b&w show and have the sponsor ads seamlessly integrated in. S4 is the first color season and the quality is astounding; the colors pop off the screen at you. The only gripe I have is that none of the cast commercials are included but I can live with that for the price point.

 

[Ian K McLachlan]

The 60s is my favourite decade for TV. My top 5 would be -

1. Doctor Who
2. Adam Adamant Lives!
3. Lost in Space
4. Land of the Giants
5. The Avengers

 

[Mark Collins]

Dark ShadowsPeyton PlaceVoyage To The Bottom OF The SeaThe Time TunnelThe Wild Wild West

 

[Ejanss]

Dark Shadows

(Collins family loyalty?)

 

[benbess]

MannixThe AvengersHawaii 5-0The FugitiveMission: ImpossibleIn no particular order.Honorable mention to T.H.E. Cat, Honey West and The High Chapparel.

Mannix was also from Desilu. Or at least it start there? For such a small studio, they produced quite a lot of good tv. I've never seen Mannix, but I'm now curious about it.

Mission Impossible is now available for HD streaming from Netflix. It looks terrific. I watched it as a kid sometimes, but catching a couple of episodes a year or so ago I had mixed feelings. The production values are good for tv, and it has some exciting situations. Since I'm a big Star Trek fan, I picked some episodes with Leonard Nimoy in them. He was good, but something was missing that I couldn't put my finger on. And so I went to Nimoy's autobiography, "I am Spock" (the sequel to "I am Not Spock"!) and found what he wrote about working on MI. He said that he didn't like it because he realized his character had no real backstory or inner conflict, and didn't really develop at all as the show went on.The writers just weren't interested in that *at all*. After Spock, you can imagine anything would be a let down, and yet what he wrote rang true. In any case, Nimoy drove his agent almost mad by saying he had to be released from this hit show that was giving him a very nice paycheck every week. It just wasn't creatively engaging for him, and so he left after a couple of years. It seems like he had a point. That's not to say that there aren't good things about the show, but it made be realize some of the reasons why I like Star Trek so much better.

 

[Professor Echo]

Yes to your question. And "Yes", you should check it out. It's my #1 show of all time as well. I'll get a list together later today. Gary "the best show ever, I tell you - best ever" O.

Yep, also my favorite series of all time and arguably the greatest series in television history.

 

[benbess]

Yep, also my favorite series of all time and arguably the greatest series in television history.

Really? Wow. I don't suppose blu-ray is ever a possibility. How are the DVDs of The Fugitive?

I've seen the movie. Would you say it's an effective homage, or does it miss the mark. I liked it, but I honestly just didn't know the source material at all....

 

[Ejanss]

Mission Impossible is now available for HD streaming from Netflix. It looks terrific. I watched it as a kid sometimes, but catching a couple of episodes a year or so ago I had mixed feelings. The production values are good for tv, and it has some exciting situations. Since I'm a big Star Trek fan, I picked some episodes with Leonard Nimoy in them.

Nimoy was...okay, but not a patch on Martin Landau's grim professional-actor doggedness in the first four seasons.
(And frankly, thought Steven Hill as Mr. Briggs in the first season was better than Peter Graves--You just didn't believe Phelps when he was going undercover, but Hill suggested a smarter government employee with a long CIA history.)