What old tv show could you turn on, watch and still laugh and or enjoy?
Poll
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| | 7 votes (16.66%) | ||
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| | 7 votes (16.66%) | ||
| | 4 votes (9.52%) | ||
| | 8 votes (19.04%) | ||
| | 7 votes (16.66%) | ||
| | 1 vote (2.38%) | ||
| | 10 votes (23.8%) | ||
| | 12 votes (28.57%) |
42 members have voted
I'm sure I left out many of your favorites but here are some of mine.
Many can be identified by a line or a refference. One of my favorites is easily identifiable by this line "You are obsolete!" The most easily identifiable by a reffrence must be "the mannequin episode."
On "I Love Lucy." I have NEVER seen an entire episode. Ever. "Seinfeld" said this in passing once. Can anyone else say this?
Quote: timberjimHow about "Married With Children"? I can never get enough of this show.
About 5 years ago I noticed that the bartender at the Main bar during the graveyard shift at the El Cortez would put on MWC. Best late night drunk viewing. Every other bar in LV plays the 3rd rerun of whatever game ESPN had on 10 hours before.
Quote: AZDuffmanThe old shows are still great. AITF is great and if you watch close you can see some of what Archie predicted true today.
Last year I watched every AITF eposide in order. There were a few that I had never seen. I wanted to continue to see the story evolve in "Archies Bunkers Place" however I found out TV land only has a couple of shows and only the 1st season was released on dvd, with very little chance of ever being released.
Quote: only1choiceLast year I watched every AITF eposide in order. There were a few that I had never seen. I wanted to continue to see the story evolve in "Archies Bunkers Place" however I found out TV land only has a couple of shows and only the 1st season was released on dvd, with very little chance of ever being released.
Some AITF episodes may have been "pulled" from syndication. One I have seen once and only once (and in fact only part of it) is one where Archie has a friend over who lost a son in Vietnam. Mike has a buddy over who snuck in from Canada for the holiday, Christmas or Thanksgiving, I forget which. Anyways, somehow it comes up that he is living in Canada and Archie asks why. The kid was a draft-dodger. Archie goes ballistic and the acting is superb. O'Connor comes off as more real and angry than any AITF scene ever, bar none. I'd rate it as among the most genuine-seeming of any charachter on any sitcom of all time. I think this realism keeps this episode off the rotation.
I won a contest a few years back, and one of the hodge-podge prizes was the the 4th season of ALF on DVD. Watched some, didn't laugh at all.
Quote: AZDuffmanSome AITF episodes may have been "pulled" from syndication. One I have seen once and only once (and in fact only part of it) is one where Archie has a friend over who lost a son in Vietnam. Mike has a buddy over who snuck in from Canada for the holiday, Christmas or Thanksgiving, I forget which. Anyways, somehow it comes up that he is living in Canada and Archie asks why. The kid was a draft-dodger. Archie goes ballistic and the acting is superb. O'Connor comes off as more real and angry than any AITF scene ever, bar none. I'd rate it as among the most genuine-seeming of any charachter on any sitcom of all time. I think this realism keeps this episode off the rotation.
I remember the eposode and come to think of it you are precise in your analysis of the story line.
Archie's friend is far more understanding than Archie is, and this just makes Archie even angrier. Towards the end of the episode, the friend is shaking the draft-dodger's hand.Quote: AZDuffmanSome AITF episodes may have been "pulled" from syndication. One I have seen once and only once (and in fact only part of it) is one where Archie has a friend over who lost a son in Vietnam. Mike has a buddy over who snuck in from Canada for the holiday, Christmas or Thanksgiving, I forget which. Anyways, somehow it comes up that he is living in Canada and Archie asks why. The kid was a draft-dodger. Archie goes ballistic and the acting is superb. O'Connor comes off as more real and angry than any AITF scene ever, bar none. I'd rate it as among the most genuine-seeming of any charachter on any sitcom of all time. I think this realism keeps this episode off the rotation.
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I did not vote for AITF, because I hated it after Mike & Gloria left, and Stephanie was added. I generally don't bother watching in re-runs unless the description indicates that it is an episode before that change.
Unfortunately, sometimes, the funniest parts of an episode, have been edited out, presumable because all re-runs get edited to fit more commercials.
For example, in the episode where Sammy Davis Jr guest stars as himself, there is an epilog not seen in re-runs. Very simply, the Bunkers receive and autographed photo in the mail. The inscription is: "To Archie Bunker, The whitest man I know. Sammy Davis Jr."
Quote: DJTeddyBearFor example, in the episode where Sammy Davis Jr guest stars as himself, there is an epilog not seen in re-runs. Very simply, the Bunkers receive and autographed photo in the mail. The inscription is: "To Archie Bunker, The whitest man I know. Sammy Davis Jr."
Sammy came back for an episode of "Archie Bunker's Place" which is also excellent. Archie had mellowed by then and Sammy kind of said he was "trying to eb a better man." Archie is still allowed some smart lines even in the early PC era then. My favorite:
Archie: "Sammy, come to dinner sometime."
Black Nurse: "You are terrible. You are only inviting him because he is famous. You would not invite just any black man over!"
Archie: "Being black has nothing to do with it. Don't you think I would treat Dean Martin better than some everyday drunk?"
That one is usually on youtube in its entirety for those who want some good laughs. Sammy's reaction to Archie's Jewish "daughter" and business partner is priceless.
Quote: only1choiceMy mistake, do I have the ability to change it?
Nope, but dont sweat it, I dont think we have ever had a poll where nobody complained about the choices.
Quote: WizardofEnglandI only expect Switch and Croupier to know what I am talking about, but it has to be 'Only Fools and Horses'
I preferred Fawlty Towers, but Fools and Horses is a classic, and probably the British equivalent to MASH in terms of the deep and long lasting love people have of the series and it's ingrained popularity. I don't think you'll ever see a TV series that big again in the UK.
I have to admit I liked them in their day, and it surprises me that I have to change the channel now after just a scene or so, can't watch it.
Quote: thecesspitI don't think you'll ever see a TV series that big again in the UK.
I agree, its a tough act to try and follow. It will be sad sad day when Sir David Jason departs.
Quote: odiousgambitAndy Griffith and Gomer Pyle: no votes yet.
I have to admit I liked them in their day, and it surprises me that I have to change the channel now after just a scene or so, can't watch it.
Used to like Gomer Pyle when I was home from school, grade school into between classes in college. I think most US Cities had a UHF channel that ran them with commercials for truck driving and computer repair schools. It probably cost them $50 in fees to the syndicator. Andy I never liked as much. But agree now after a few minutes ia all I can take.
Quote: WizardofEnglandI agree, its a tough act to try and follow. It will be sad sad day when Sir David Jason departs.
I love "A Touch of Frost". But I like a lot of the UK police procedurals (Morse, The Last Detective, Prime Suspect etc) over the American ones. The stories always seem much more human. Possibly I can relate to them a lot more.
Quote: TheNightflyWhen I was a kid I used toget a big kick from the Carol Burnett Show. I've watched some clips on YouTube recently and in my opinion, any scene with Carol, Harvey Korman and Tim Conway (or any combination of the 3) is about as good as TV comedy will ever get. I admit I'm also a "Farty Towels" fan but with only 12 episodes it's a shame they didn't make more.
Cleese was done after 12 episodes. It's what makes some of the great comedy in the UK... short seasons. No need to keep flogging a dead horse (or car)... keep 'em wanting more.
Quote: Wavy70I Love Lucy deserves the credit for us having reruns at all. Desi was a business genius. CBS thought they had a fool when he offered to back the entire show, use 35mm film stock instead of kinetoscope, pay for 3 cameras to film
Desi was a pioneer in the 3 camera technique, which is still used for sitcoms today. One thing that made MASH so good was, they used a single camera, like they do in the movies. This gave it a movie-like appearance and a pro look. TV actors hate it because if you have a scene in, like, Col Potters office, where you have Potter and Hawkeye and Burns and Radar, and you see a closeup of the person talking, then a shot of all of them, and then closeups of each when they talk, that means they had to do that scene 5 times, from top to bottom, so the camera could be moved to s different angle. Thats fine in a movie, but in a TV show that runs for years, its a total pain in the butt. With 3 cameras, you only do the scene once, but it has a flat appearance, not very creative.
Quote: EvenBobDesi was a pioneer in the 3 camera technique, which is still used for sitcoms today. One thing that made MASH so good was, they used a single camera, like they do in the movies. This gave it a movie-like appearance and a pro look. TV actors hate it because if you have a scene in, like, Col Potters office, where you have Potter and Hawkeye and Burns and Radar, and you see a closeup of the person talking, then a shot of all of them, and then closeups of each when they talk, that means they had to do that scene 5 times, from top to bottom, so the camera could be moved to s different angle. Thats fine in a movie, but in a TV show that runs for years, its a total pain in the butt. With 3 cameras, you only do the scene once, but it has a flat appearance, not very creative.
Actually MASH was going back to the Pre Desilu method. The single camera (Movie) method MASH used was how the early shows were filmed and by the mid 60's was once again common on TV.
But to call ILL multi camera format "Not Very Creative" is rather odd since beforehand no one had used that technique.
Quote: Wavy70
But to call ILL multi camera format "Not Very Creative" is rather odd since beforehand no one had used that technique.
Desi Arnez didn't invent it, it was used in TV before him.
"Although it is often claimed that the film version of the multiple-camera setup was pioneered for television by Desi Arnez and cinematographer Karl Freund on I Love Lucy in 1951, other filmed television shows had already used it, including another comedy on CBS, The Amos 'n Andy Show, which was filmed at the Hal Roach Studios and was on the air four months earlier. The technique was developed for television by Hollywood short-subject veteran Jerry Fairbanks, assisted by producer-director Frank Telford, and first seen on the anthology series The Silver Theater, another CBS program, in February 1950.[3] Desilu's innovation was to use 35mm film instead of 16mm, and to film with a multiple-camera setup before a live studio audience." Desi was a pioneer in the field, not the inventor.
Obviously the technique is creative, the outcome is not. Its flat and one dimensional, but its the only thing that can be used in front of a live audience. Editing is a nightmare for multi camera and if a show doesn't have a live audience, single camera is mostly used. Directors and editors love it, its much more versatile. Actors hate it, but they have no say in anything.
My father had a vast collection of old 78's. The original Amos and Andy were two white men. I have a few one sides 78's of them from the early 30's. Funny but rather shocking in today's mind.
While that show certainly remains funny, and I can watch it over and over, and is a good answer to the question posted in the thread title, the choices in the poll are all situation comedies.
Carol Burnett Show was a variety show. Then again, so is Saturday Night Live. I generally don't watch more than the first half hour of SNL. Of course, it wasn't always that way.
Why was Carol Burnett so much better than SNL? I think it's because SNL is live. They only have one shot to get it right - and too often fail.
Carol Burnett show was filmed twice, with the best parts of each edited into the final broadcast version. But it was more than that. Tim Conway in particular, would do his parts exactly as scripted in the first filming, and then was totally unpredictable for the second filming. His feeling was, this way, if he crossed the line or screwed up the second time, there was always the first version. Needless to say, it was usually the second version that got aired.
Quote: DJTeddyBearCarol Burnett Show?
Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra. Do we have talents like that around, still? Where are they? All of them got started at the tail end of Vaudeville. That training no longer exists. We had Vaudeville remnants right into the 50's and 60's. Dick VanDyke's office partners talked about it all the time on his show. Lucy and Ethel were always wanting to put on a 'show', on I Love Lucy. Instead of talent these days, what mostly thrives is gross, cheap vulgarity. Give the public what they want, I guess.
Quote: Toes14Of the shows listed, I only watched MASH regularly. I think 'Rockie & Bullwinkle' should be added to the list. Those episodes never fail to hold up, even today.
I got the RnB DVDs. I think they are the only TV show DVDs I ever picked up.
Those cartoons remind me of the Warner Bro's. I watched thme as a kid (Repeats) and found them funny. As an adult I found them uber funny since I now understood the jokes that flew over a kids head.
Quote: Wavy70I got the RnB DVDs. I think they are the only TV show DVDs I ever picked up.
I liked the Fractured Fairytales :)
But the best cartoon commedy, aside from Futurama, has to be Pinky & The Brain.
Quote: NareedI liked the Fractured Fairytales :)
But the best cartoon commedy, aside from Futurama, has to be Pinky & The Brain.
What are we doing tonight Brain?
Hell yeah! In fact, there are some jokes that make you wonder how it got past the censors!Quote: Wavy70Those cartoons remind me of the Warner Bro's. I watched thme as a kid (Repeats) and found them funny. As an adult I found them uber funny since I now understood the jokes that flew over a kids head.
One of my favorites that didn't get mentioned is, "Get Smart". Egads, that show was great. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry were awesome writers. Bernie Kopel as Siegfried has to be one of the most memorable villians on TV... ever.
Quote: rxwineThat reminded me of "The Wonder Years". A show I enjoyed at the time, but pretty much totally forgotten about
Ah, with Danica McKellar, the world's most beautiful mathmetician!
It's easy to forget a good TV show once it's turned into a crappy movie.Quote: AyecarumbaOne of my favorites that didn't get mentioned is, "Get Smart". Egads, that show was great.
Quote: DJTeddyBearIt's easy to forget a good TV show once it's turned into a crappy movie.
Actually, two crappy movies. Does, "The Nude Bomb" ring any bells?
Quote: rxwineThat reminded me of "The Wonder Years". A show I enjoyed at the time, but pretty much totally forgotten about
I'm a big Wonder Years fan too. Those who know me would not be surprised to know that I identify with Paul. My father is a lot like the Wonder Years' father.
If I had to pick just one old show that is my all time favorite it would have to be Northern Exposure. However, the Wonder Years would be high in my top 10.
Quote: WizardI'm a big Wonder Years fan too. Those who know me would not be surprised to know that I identify with Paul. My father is a lot like the Wonder Years' father.
If I had to pick just one old show that is my all time favorite it would have to be Northern Exposure. However, the Wonder Years would be high in my top 10.
Visiting Cicely (aka Rosyln, WA) was a pleasure. As was seeing the original locations for Twin Peaks which is just down the road (Snoqualmie Falls and North Bend). I still like old episodes of Northern Exposure, for the quirkiness and the human interactions. I also blame it for my habit of calling girlfriends by their surnames (from the Flieschmann/O'Connell thing).
Quote: AyecarumbaActually, two crappy movies. Does, "The Nude Bomb" ring any bells?
There was a TV movie in the late-80s with most of the original cast, including Bernie Kopel as Sigfried, but without the Chief, who had by then passed away. There were some good parts like:
Bad guy tries to stab Max, who blocks him with a thick book. Max says "nobody gets through 'War and Peace!'"
Don Addmas had impecable timing and delivery in that role. And the writing was top notch.
Quote: thecesspitVisiting Cicely (aka Rosyln, WA) was a pleasure. As was seeing the original locations for Twin Peaks which is just down the road (Snoqualmie Falls and North Bend). I still like old episodes of Northern Exposure, for the quirkiness and the human interactions. I also blame it for my habit of calling girlfriends by their surnames (from the Flieschmann/O'Connell thing).
A visit to Rosyln is something I'd like to do. When I went to Alaska I made a special effort to go to Talkeetna, because it is said the show is loosely based on that town. However, I was disappointed in that regard as Talkeetna is very touristy and bigger than Cicely.
My favorite episode was the first one with the violin player. However, one character I would have liked to have seen more of was Chris' girlfriend who was obsessed with the number pi.
Quote: WizardA visit to Rosyln is something I'd like to do. When I went to Alaska I made a special effort to go to Talkeetna, because it is said the show is loosely based on that town. However, I was disappointed in that regard as Talkeetna is very touristy and bigger than Cicely.
My favorite episode was the first one with the violin player. However, one character I would have liked to have seen more of was Chris' girlfriend who was obsessed with the number pi.
Cicely has one bar and one "Northern Exposure" gift shop. Apart from that it's a the proverbial two horse town. The route out of Seattle east is a nice drive as well, and Snoqualmie Falls is worth a trip. North bend, not so much, and the famous "damn fine" Cherry Pie wasn't that good when I dropped into the cafe that inspired the diner in Twin Peaks. East of there, the scenery in Washington changes from the evergreen state to the high plains (least I think that's the name of the terrain). Grand Coulee and its dam (which isn't an arch, for those who recall such arguments about dam strength) was worth a visit too.
Then I'd foot down, head east into the Rockies, if I were you.
It's a full day trip. It was very dead in Roslyn.
My series would be WKRP in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, no authorized DVDs have been issued due to music copyright issues. For WKRP, the music is much more meaningful on the show as plots are based around songs played, so I am betting that the music companies want an arm and leg for the rights for those songs. Northern Exposure had the same problem, but they were able to get the music rights back and make money from the sales. We own all of the seasons on DVD.
