Classic TV show you should be into/couldn’t get into (2 Viewers)

[smithbrad]

I am not a huge fan of the western genre in general. There are a few western films that I love, but it has to be something truly exceptional or unusual to hold my attention (Once Upon a Time in the West for example). Run of the mill westerns put me to sleep in no time.

Although I've only sampled a few shows so far, everything I have seen from the 50s-70s TV westerns suggests to me that they are very much run of the mill, languidly ticking western cliches on their checklists. I really tune out when the story is almost completely centered around the same few small sets and western main street facades that a dozen other shows probably reused later in the week. At least the Lone Ranger seemed to spend a fair amount of time roaming through the wilderness having adventures - I wish shows had more of that and much less hanging out in town.

Is there one show that really stands head and shoulders above the rest? I've heard Maverick is tops for lighthearted fun. What about serious shows?

If the goal is a western that is out and about, you might want to try Rawhide. Another would be Wild Wild West if you want to bring in other elements then the typical western.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

For a serious 1950s TV western, Have Gun Will Travel is probably the best of the half hour shows. A good amount of location work, and it’s a different story each episode so if one isn’t to your liking, odds are that the next one will be.

 

[Desslar]

If the goal is a western that is out and about, you might want to try Rawhide. Another would be Wild Wild West if you want to bring in other elements then the typical western.

Thanks! Embarrassingly, I haven't gotten around to watching Rawhide yet. I guess because the streaming services don't seem to have it. Off to Youtube...

Wild Wild West I probably need to watch more of. I do like Robert Conrad. The one episode I saw felt to me like one of those Star Trek time travel episodes.

Speaking of Rawhide - there's some westerns I'd like to check out just because of up and coming stars in their casts:
Rawhide - Eastwood
Gunsmoke - Dennis Weaver, Burt Reynolds
Maverick - James Garner, Roger Moore
Wanted Dead or Alive - Steve McQueen
Big Valley - Lee Majors

 

[derekbd]

(I admit that I haven't read the previous 11 pages of posts.)

I don't know if British series have been part of the convo, but as a long-time fan of Doctor Who (1963-89) I was encouraged to watch the single series phenom called BLAKE'S SEVEN. I agreed it sounded a compelling premise, and I liked the looks of some of the characters, plus I was an immediate fanatic of creator Terry Nation's post-apocalyptic series SURVIVORS since my first viewing, but... I just couldn't see what my mates were seeing in B7. I was aware episode 1 was just the setup, but I couldn't finish episode 2. I didn't get it.

In cases like this I conclude that my friends aren't as discerning as I am, though it's a conclusion I keep to myself.

 

[ScottRE]

Blakes 7 is a masterwork. It's also four series not just one. And I admit, it takes a little while to get going. I encourage you to try again and push through the first handful of episodes. The show really takes off and is absolutely worth the time.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

(I admit that I haven't read the previous 11 pages of posts.)

I don't know if British series have been part of the convo, but as a long-time fan of Doctor Who (1963-89) I was encouraged to watch the single series phenom called BLAKE'S SEVEN. I agreed it sounded a compelling premise, and I liked the looks of some of the characters, plus I was an immediate fanatic of creator Terry Nation's post-apocalyptic series SURVIVORS since my first viewing, but... I just couldn't see what my mates were seeing in B7. I was aware episode 1 was just the setup, but I couldn't finish episode 2. I didn't get it.

For me, when I first watched B7 in the late '80s, I just didn't 'get' those first two episodes, either. Having 'bought' a tape of the first 3, I decided to stick it out. That third episode, though, completes the 'setup' arc and really clicked with me. Plus, it has Brian Blessed in it!

If you have the opportunity, you might give that episode a try before writing it off.

 

[Desslar]

Blakes 7 is a masterwork. It's also four series not just one. And I admit, it takes a little while to get going. I encourage you to try again and push through the first handful of episodes. The show really takes off and is absolutely worth the time.

In terms of production value, how would you compare Blakes 7 to Doctor Who? About the same?

 

[ScottRE]

In terms of production value, how would you compare Blakes 7 to Doctor Who? About the same?

Yeah pretty much. Maybe cheaper since Doctor Who was established and a massive success, so they may have had a little more money there. But this the BBC, so they looked like they had the same shoestring budget on Blakes 7.

 

[Emcee]

Because of my tastes, I suppose I should like Seinfeld. I've heard so much hype about this show over the years that I finally decided to check-it-out when TBS aired a marathon some years back. I recorded maybe seven or eight episodes, but made it through two full ones before throwing in the towel. I didn't find it one bit funny. I know I never laughed, nor do I think I even cracked a smile. None of the characters were likable, and I haven't any desire to revisit the show to see if my opinions of it have changed.

 

[TravisR]

Because of my tastes, I suppose I should like Seinfeld...None of the characters were likable...

I've always felt that a huge swath of Seinfeld viewers never realized that it wasn't that they liked the characters but that they related to them and their terrible behavior and thoughts. That the writers "fooled" the general audience into that for nearly a decade makes me love the show even more.

 

[Clark Green]

For me a classic I couldn't really get into was The Beverly Hillbillies.

 

[Wiseguy]

I'm trying so hard to like 'The Rockford Files'. Season 1 at about halfway through has done nothing for me, and I'm a fan of James Garner. Crossing my fingers something clicks before I pull the plug.

Although the first season was OK, I thought it improved when they finished with the John Thomas James (aka Roy Huggins) episodes although I did like that Rockford was alone often (later years always seemed to pair him with someone so there would be more dialog ) and the long stretches with no dialog but I thought the scripts improved in the second and third seasons.

 

[Wiseguy]

I certainly agree with you about Hogan's Heroes. I don't find much that's funny about Nazi POW camps.

Many people keep using the word Nazi in relation to Hogan's Heroes. Although there were Nazi characters (like Major Hochstetter) the POW camp was clearly identified as run by the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force).

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I don't get it. Is the implication that the Luftwaffe had nothing to do with the Nazis?

This is #5,612,884 on the list of things I don't get.

 

[Mysto]

I don't get it. Is the implication that the Luftwaffe had nothing to do with the Nazis?

This is #5,612,884 on the list of things I don't get.

Don't feel bad Joe. My list is longer than yours.

A classic show that I never could into was Leave it to Beaver. Just didn't do it for me even as a kid.

 

[ScottRE]

The Luftwaffe was as much a Nazi organization as any of the military, they just weren't Gestapo. Luftwaffe used concentration camp labor and were heavily involved in war crimes. So, yeah, I wouldn't give them a pass on that level.

What makes Hogan's Heroes acceptable (to me) is that German POW camps were a lot more humane than their concentration camps. That's where people often lump this show in. Hollywood didn't address the concentration camps in their popular escapist entertainment. However, POW camps were fine by them because it usually came down to a battle of wills in those stories: the indominable spirit of the Allies vs the regimented and unbending Nazi commandants. Whether it was Hogan's Heroes, The Great Escape, Stalag 13 or 12 O'Clock High (the series). Cruelty was confined to psychological abuse, forfeiture of food or a few days in the cooler.

Now, if it was really a comedy about Jews in Auschwitz, sure, I'd wonder why they even made it. But war movies were popular then, so HH was just another World War II series.

 

[tsodcollector]

classic television series that i should get into was vip the 90's television series that is like charlie's angels but for this young generation.
kirk short lived 90's wb sitcom that starred kirk cameron.of growing pains fame.defintly worth checking out.
gemini man the short lived nbc scifi television series that starred ben murphy of alias smith and jones fame.
evening at the pops,a music television series on pbs,it has a combionation opf pop rock soul etc.but mostly classical.it's worth interesting to watch.
and this one tops them all
the ed sullivan show i've seen some complations over the years (rhino,starvista/time life),but i liked the real ed sullivan show.

 

[tsodcollector]

classic television series that i should get into was vip the 90's television series that is like charlie's angels but for this young generation.
kirk short lived 90's wb sitcom that starred kirk cameron.of growing pains fame.defintly worth checking out.
gemini man the short lived nbc scifi television series that starred ben murphy of alias smith and jones fame.worth checking out.
evening at the pops,a music television series on pbs,it has a combination of pop rock soul etc.but mostly classical.it's worth interesting to watch.
and this one tops them all
the ed sullivan show i've seen some complations over the years (rhino,starvista/time life),but i liked the real ed sullivan show.

 

[sjbradford]

For me a classic I couldn't really get into was The Beverly Hillbillies.

Same, although as I’ve gotten older, I realize one of the factors is that it ran far, far too long and our local station tended to run the color episodes more often than the better earlier episodes in B&W. I happened to catch one a few weeks ago where Mrs. Drysdale was trying to impress the visiting president of some hoity-toity club and was trying to get rid of those “uncouth Hillbillies” before the visit. I was laughing out loud.

I never got into The Honeymooners.

 

[Steve Armbrust]

I can't watch The Honeymooners today. Too much "pow, right in the kisser" threats of domestic violence for me.

Also, I was a big fan of Thirtysomething when it ran on TV. When it came out on DVD, I bought the first season, but I could only make it through the first three episodes before I stopped watching. I haven't been back.