classics vs. old loves (1 Viewer)

[Jonathan_Clarke]

When I think of all the shows I've loved over the years, I wonder if I want to revisit them all. Some are classics and some just get dated. When I watch the dated ones I get filled with nostalgia. Not a bad feeling but I do realize the show hasn't held up quite as well as I remember. And maybe it's better as a memory than as a part of my collection.

So they fall into two categories:

1. Timeless Classics:
Star Trek TOS
Honeymooners
X Files
Looney Tunes
Black Adder
Monty Python's Flying Circus
The Muppet Show
Twilight Zone
Dick Van Dyke Show
Batman:the Animated Series
Father Ted


2. Shows I love which haven't aged as well:
Sanford and Son
Ren and Stimpy
Young Ones
Monkees
The Ben Stiller Show
Invader Zim (new but i have a feeling about it)
Superfriends
Spider-Man animated (both the 60's and 90's)
X-Men animated
Hobbit/ Return of the King animated
Top Cat


That's not to say that the shows in category 2 are bad. It's just that they aren't as timeless as I thought they'd be. Maybe it's the era, maybe it's age, maybe it's changing tastes but it seems every time I watch one of these, I don't think, "I love this" I think "I used to love this".

What about you?

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I definitely feel this way towards Ren and Stimpy, at least I did when I bought the Time/Life DVDs last year and watched them, talk about a let down.

I generally don't have this problem because a lot of the shows I buy on DVD are shows that I can still catch on TV, so if I'm still enjoying Sanford and Son on TV then it is safe for me to buy the DVD in my opinion.

Cheers is another one I have the first 2 seasons on DVD, and I like the show but I will be more excited when season 4 comes out than I was when season 3 came out which I haven't bought yet. I still like the show, and it is still a great one but its not at the top of my priority list anymore, and I really don't know why...perhaps its because I put in the first disc of season 1 and watched it and realized that I enjoyed it far more on TV than I did on my DVD.

 

[Andy Sheets]

Funny. When I got the Ren & Stimpy set and watched it, I thought it was even better than I remembered

I think I'm pretty good at judging what's a genuinely good work and what was just trash that I liked as a kid. I used to watch Knightrider when I was a kid but I don't think I need to watch it now to know that there's no way in hell I'd ever even think of buying it on dvd. Maybe I'm wrong and there really is some interesting stuff going on with the show's writing or David Hasselhoff's performances but, eh, I doubt it

Star Trek (TOS), OTOH, is something that I've always liked consistently, and I actually like it even more now that I'm getting the dvd sets and getting to watch it again in big chunks. It's become a deeper show for me as I've gotten older, instead of just being disposable sci-fi.

 

[Mark To]

A lot of it depends on how old you are when you first watched it. I liked It's About Time, Camp Runamuck, Baileys of Balboa, Gilligan's Island, Hank and many other sitcoms when I was 7, 8 years old but then seeing them again as an adult, they are awful. Some shows just date terribly. Rowan and Martin's Laugh In is a perfect example of a show that is very much of its time. It was a big deal, not because of the content but because of the presentation - fast cuts, risque (for the time) jokes, sexual innuendo. All of the things which are commonplace today. What's left is the content, which is corny at best. Many of the 70s "relevant" shows are now horribly dated. I just transferred the first 50 episodes of Welcome Back Kotter and that show has not aged well at all. Some shows, like All in the Family, which was topical but is just so funny and a timeless classic, are immune to be dated. A great show is a great show, no matter the era. From the 50s, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Sgt. Bilko, Danny Thomas, Amos and Andy and a few others are still hysterical. It's the run of the mill shows which don't hold up very well. 20 years from now, Married with Children will still be funny, Facts of Life will not.

 

[Joseph Miller]

Yes, it's all about nostalgia.

My prime TV watching years were from 1959-1965, so I'd love complete sets of stuff like:

Dennis the Menace
Leave It to Beaver
Hazel
The Lucy Show
Alfred Hitchcock
Thriller

I even have great nostalgia for a show hardly anyone remembers called Fair Exchange! And Top Cat is very lame, but I can't wait for the set, because its nostalgia rating is 100 for me.

I wouldn't even mind getting the game shows, like I've Got a Secret or What's My Line?

From my favorite period, I'm already collecting:

The Twilight Zone
Andy Griffith
Dick Van Dyke (have all 5 sets)
The Outer Limits (have both sets)
My Favorite Martian
The Munsters

I skipped Make Room for Daddy (cut) and Combat (sped up).

It's all about nostalgia for me, and I want them the way I first saw them -- complete and not sped up or slowed down.

 

[JoSAN]

.

 

[GeorgePaul]

With VERY few exceptions, I find almost every episode of the original 1960s TV series "The Fugitive" to be even more relevant today than it was then.

That makes it my favorite series of all time...just awesomely prescient, intense and serious without being dull.

 

[TravisR]

Cast another vote for Gilligan's Island being dated (or nowhere near as good as I remember). That's the first show I taped every episode of and was 'crazy' about but when I watch them now, it's painful. Still if I'm going through the channels, I get a smile on my face when I see it but it's purely for nostalgia reasons. Oh well, I guess it proves that you can't go back

 

[Steve...O]

I'll admit to being a Giligan fan even as seen through the eyes of an adult. Sure, it's silly and campy, but it's also funny and good escapist entertainment. The show/cast never seemed to take themselves seriously which only added to the fun. I'll put "Jeannie" in the same category; I can't help but like this show even with all the silliness. Both of these shows had at least some accomplished actors that made their characters memorable and endearing even if a particular episode was less than par.

Steve

 

[LizH]

That's the main reason I've always preferred "I Dream of Jeannie" to "Bewitched."

Jeannie had spunk. She had an attitude. She was nowhere NEAR as servile as Samantha. She (1) sent Tony and Roger to the North Pole, (2) turned Tony and Roger's dates into poodles, and (3) otherwise made Tony's life a living hell.

Care to see my Jeannie Homepage?

 

[Linda Thompson]

Liz -- great page!

BTW... Have you seen these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&rd=1&tc=photo

Here are the less expensive versions:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQgotopage...sortpropertyZ1


Gorgeous!

BTW -- I know it's against forum policy to post links to auctions, but I have absolutely NOTHING to do with these items and I'm not pitching them in any way...I'm simply offering the links to view the bottles.

If that's still a no-no, I'll be more than happy to remove the links...

 

[Mark To]

For the ultimate in 60s chauvanism there is a show called Mona McCluskey. She's an actress making $5000 a month and he makes $500 a month. The whole premise of the show is they can't spend her money and they have to live on his because he's the breadwinner and he has to support the family! How's that for a show concept?

 

[John McM]

classic vs. old love is very grey. I will confess my all time favorite sitcom is The Facts Of Life, yet deep down I know the show is NOT a classic. Taxi and Happy Days are the only bonafide "classics" I have in my collection, I feel Diff'rent Strokes is probably also in the "old love" catagory as well.

 

[Paul_Scott]

i was ECSTATIC to find out that the second season of Charlies Angels would get released.
i had a huge crush on Cheryl Ladd as a kid.
Same thing with Wonder Woman.
and Dallas was another show i always enjoyed.

but with all of these shows, i've only bothered to watch a handful of episodes so far.
Nostalgia in and of itself is compelling for me to purchase, but not as compelling to invest time in actually watching.

on the other hand, i have very little nostalgic attachment to something like Alias or Buffy, and yet watching these shows on dvd this year gave me 100 times more 'entertainment satisfaction' than any of the former shows did.

nostalgia is a funny thing...

 

[Chuck L]

I have to say that so far, out of three of my favorite shows that have made it to DVD (CHARLIE'S ANGELS, LAVERNE & SHIRLEY and WONDER WOMAN)...I love them even more today than what I did when they were originally on.

In fact, it pisses me me off to no end that on two of these, we have no dates at all for the future seasons. I am very anxious to own the complete runs...

I do agree with the comments that have been made toward the SUPERFRIENDS. I loved this show growing up, but now, I realize just how bad most of it is...from the shoddy art at times to the horrid writing. Sadly though, it seems like history will be repeating itself with the new camp value that the JUSTIC LEAGUE UNLIMITED seems to know want to recount those badly done stories of yesterday...in fact, I can't even tell when what times this show even airs now.

Another program that is on DVD, that I love, but both my partner and I are frustrated at the lack of respect or interest that the company seems to have in it, is THE JEFFERSONS. I look for almost daily an announcement that the third and remaining seasons will be on the way...but to no avail. Though other programs like WHO'S THE BOSS...yeah, Columbia, let's get on that bandwagon...UGH!

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Now THAT'S reality TV!

 

[LizH]

I'll bet ... :p)

 

[Jonathan_Clarke]

I just got Taxi Season One for xmas. This one was really on the fence to me but after watching it it firmly belongs in 'classic'. I'll be getting the entire series.

 

[John Carr]

This is an interesting question, made crucial by the recent avalanche of titles coming out -- both old and new: What to buy, what not to buy, what to pass by... I'm sure we're all going through this, except for the compulsive collector/hoarders types among us. Something I wouldn't know anything about...RIGHT!

I'm finding I enjoy viewing many of the newer shows (due to the more mature nature of today's programming, versus the more traditional/conservative network fare of the past) than I do many of my 'older' favorites, such as The Andy Griffith Show, The Jeffersons, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Taxi, etc... Thus, I'm spending most of my viewing time watching newer classics, like Shield (which I just 'discovered'), Tru Calling, The Sopranos, Dead Like Me, Carnivale, and many (maybe too many!) others.

Maybe in a few years, after I catch up -- since I haven't watched network/cable in 10 years because I don't like to tie myself to schedules -- I may find I enjoy going back to my favorites from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s... But I'd be surprised.

Only a few, in my opinion, of my older favorite TV shows have really held-up and aged well -- Northern Exposure, Frasier, Moonlighting, Cheers and surprisingly, Have Gun, Will Travel.

I still plan to purchase Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best and others when they appear, but maybe only a season or two since they are mostly formula plotted and quickly become repetitive. I really like the story arcs and growing narrative of many current dramas, and increasingly comedies. It turns them from collections of 'short stories' into visual novels.

I will say that the recent lower pricing of many of the 'classic' shows make it easier to indulge in buying multiple seasons that will only be viewed sporadically, if at all...

I think it would be enlightening if many of us re-visited this thread in 2 or 3 years! It will be interesting to see how our tastes and collecting habits have matured!

 

[Lynda-Marie]

I have a tendency to collect what I like, and don't give much thought to what is classic, what is nostaligic and the like. However, something standing the test of time has reared its ugly head.

Some of the shows I loved as a kid, I have seen the occasional episode of as an adult and thought, "What the hell were my parents putting in my Frosted Flakes?"

Some of the things that have stood the test of time well, as far as I am concerned, are the shows that are well written, and even if they are "dated" they are still from a time I remember and understand. All in the Family is one, but that might be more because Archie reminds me so much of my late father, and Edith reminds me of my mother. (One a stubborn, opinionated pain in the ass, and the other a contradiction in terms, a dingbat with solid common sense).

Interesting, the insight mentioned above about Bewitched. It makes me understand, now that you have pointed it out, WHY Endora disliked "Derwin" so much. It has been too long since I have seen that show - 20 + years or so.