I'm relatively new to Classic TV purchases in that the majority have been bought in the past 12 months. Being bit by the bug, I have accumulated seasons from 50+ classic TV shows. My knowledge of the shows before purchasing have ranged from:
- seeing many if not all episodes through syndication in my youth,
- seeing many if not all episodes during prime time first runs as well as later syndication
- seeing a few episodes through syndication in my youth,
- seeing a few episodes during prime time first runs,
- never seeing before but going off high recommendations and reviews.
While many have been hits there have also been a few surprise duds. Taking into consideration my prior knowledge, genre, and year of the shows I began trying to understand how to better select keepers and limit the duds. What I've found for myself is:
- Westerns (14), Sci-fi (7), and spy/espionage (8) are almost aways safe bets regardless of prior knowledge or year produced.
- Dramas (11) come next but I tend to lean towards police or court room and seem to prefer ones primarily from the 50's and 60's.
- Comedies (10) are the most difficult to select and where I have had the most surprising duds. Biggest surprise hit: Barney Miller. Biggest surprise Duds: Mary Tyler Moore show and McHale's Navy.
- Shows that I obviously liked but only saw limited episodes of also have a high success rate.
- Successful show purchases by decade (origination date): 50's(21), 60's(25), 70's(6), 80's(0), 90's(3), 2000's(8).
- My prime time viewing primarily started with the 70's and up yet I only have a few from the 70's and none from the 80's.
I'm curious about how others approach their classic TV purchases and whether they have come to some conclusions about what works best for them and why.
- seeing many if not all episodes through syndication in my youth,
- seeing many if not all episodes during prime time first runs as well as later syndication
- seeing a few episodes through syndication in my youth,
- seeing a few episodes during prime time first runs,
- never seeing before but going off high recommendations and reviews.
While many have been hits there have also been a few surprise duds. Taking into consideration my prior knowledge, genre, and year of the shows I began trying to understand how to better select keepers and limit the duds. What I've found for myself is:
- Westerns (14), Sci-fi (7), and spy/espionage (8) are almost aways safe bets regardless of prior knowledge or year produced.
- Dramas (11) come next but I tend to lean towards police or court room and seem to prefer ones primarily from the 50's and 60's.
- Comedies (10) are the most difficult to select and where I have had the most surprising duds. Biggest surprise hit: Barney Miller. Biggest surprise Duds: Mary Tyler Moore show and McHale's Navy.
- Shows that I obviously liked but only saw limited episodes of also have a high success rate.
- Successful show purchases by decade (origination date): 50's(21), 60's(25), 70's(6), 80's(0), 90's(3), 2000's(8).
- My prime time viewing primarily started with the 70's and up yet I only have a few from the 70's and none from the 80's.
I'm curious about how others approach their classic TV purchases and whether they have come to some conclusions about what works best for them and why.
