What's your favorite, or best represented, 50s/60s genre? (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

A side-discussion in the "What's the last TVonDVD title you purchased" thread made me think this might be fun and interesting.

What is your absolutely favorite genre in 50s & 60s TV and does that show itself in your collection?

Comedy is my favorite and it shows when you look at the 50s/60s TV series in my collection.

Here are my numbers. I looked at multi-genre series and decided where it fit based on the overall theme/feeling of the program.

Comedy - 69
SF/Fantasy - 23
Western - 22
Drama/Action/Adventure/Horror - 26 (anything that doesn't fit the Comedy/SF/Fantasy/Western genres)

I was surprised to find so many SF/Fantasy series. I'd have thought those would have been the fewest, based on general recollections. I was also surprised they outnumber the Westerns, although very slightly, for that same reason.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I guess it depends on how you classify certain series. For example, is the 60s Batman a comedy? An action / adventure show? A fantasy? All three, really...but for my purposes, I'll categorize it as a comedy. Same with animated or supermarionation shows...to my mind, Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons is sci-fi / fantasy, Thunderbirds is action / adventure, ditto Jonny Quest, etc.

So, following Howie's groupings, the 1950s and 1960s TV series I own on DVD or Blu-Ray fall out this way, ranked from "least owned" to most:

Sci-fi / Fantasy: 13
Comedy: 18
Westerns: 35
Action / Adventure / Drama, etc. : 39
(admittedly a huge category that I usually separate into sub-headings in my own inventory, as it includes detective, cop, spy shows and the like)

The sci-fi / fantasy category doubles when I factor in shows I own from the 70s and beyond, ditto the action / adventure/ drama category. But only a handful of extra comedies (and most of those are British imports).

My preferences for drama and adventure shows over comedy is readily apparent. That said, I have several more 50s and 60s sitcoms in my wishlist. Once I pull the trigger on those, my comedies collection from those eras might number in the high 20s.

 

[bmasters9]

I have 7/9 of one legal series (Perry Mason), and all of one detective series (M Squad) and one Western (Wanted: Dead or Alive), among other things.

 

[BobO'Link]

Like you, Jeff, I had trouble when it came to categorizing several series. I, too, put Batman in the comedy genre, although it could work well for several others. Within my "Drama/Action/Adventure/Horror" one you'll find Perry Mason, Jonny Quest (although it could arguably fall into the SF genre), Honey West, Thriller (w/Karloff), Hawaii Five-0 and others.

My database has things categorized with many series having several sub-genres. I noticed that when it comes to series having "pure" genres, that is those with only one genre tag, comedy seems to be the majority. At least that's how it is in my collection. Western comes in 2nd, at least in the 50s/60s series (I've not checked other decades). Few drama and SF series have only a single tag. Most have sub-genres attached which can be wildly varying.

Hmmm... maybe it's not as good a thread idea as it initially sounded...

 

[Vic Pardo]

I have over a dozen western series, many of them in complete sets, but then I have tons of random box sets from crime/sci-fi/drama/war/spy series, e.g. The Fugitive, The Untouchables, Naked City, Combat, Hawaii 5-0, Ironside, Batman, Man from UNCLE, Mission: Impossible, as well as complete sets of Dragnet (1960s version), Star Trek (1960s) and Perry Mason.

Not many sitcoms, though, just random sets from Bilko, The Munsters, Hogan's Heroes.

 

[tlc38tlc38]

Shows that I own completed from 50s/60s:

The Real McCoys
I Love Lucy
The Honeymooners (classic 39)
Leave It to Beaver
The Addams Family
The Munsters
The Andy Griffith Show
Gilligan's Island
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Green Acres
Mister Ed
Bewitched
I Dream of Jeannie
Hazel
The Lucy Show
The Mothers-in-Law
That Girl
The Twilight Zone

Also,
The Beverly Hillbillies (seasons 1-4)
Petticoat Junction (seasons 1-3)
The Flying Nun (seasons 1-2)
Mayberry RFD (season 1)

I also own lots from 70s-90s.

After the 90s, I only own 2 series: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" & "Desperate Housewives"

 

[JohnHopper]

What is your absolutely favorite genre in 50s & 60s TV and does that show itself in your collection?

It is drama as a general genre and sci-fi as a specific genre for the 50's/60’s. As a general rule, I stay away from comedy.

Find the figures of each series not all seasons:

Science-Fiction/Horror/Fantasy: 14
Cop/Detective Story/Film Noir: 12
Western: 10
Espionage: 9
War: 3
Comedy: 0​

Keep in mind there are ambiguous series like The Prisoner or The Wild Wild West, both are espionage in the very end. In a way, espionage is part of the war genre. A series like Jericho (1966) is espionage during WWII but the majority of espionage series take place during the Cold War.