Classic TV shows you loved but simply can't watch anymore

One older show that I like is Have Gun Will Travel.
It has some of my favorite lines.
I MAN IN A HURRY IS BOUND TO PICK UP A FEW ENEMIES ALONG THE WAY.
WHEN I WAS A SPRING,OH HOW I WAS GOING TO SET THE WORLD ON FIRE . NOW LOOK AT ME, I AINT EVEN STRUCK THE FIRST MATCH YET.
I PLAYED MY CARDS SO CLOSE TO THE VEST, I HAD TROUBLE MAKING THEM OUT.
EVERY MAN HAS A PRICE. ONLY SATAN IS INCORRUPTABLE.
VIRTUE IS ONLY A MATTER OF DEGREE OR CONVIENCE. EVERYONE PAYS THEIR DUES .THAT IS EVERYONE BUT SATAN.
I THINKIN' THAT THERE IS SOME DECK THAT IS SHY A JOKER.
IT IS LITTLE WONDER THAT YOU STILL ALIVE. YOU HAVE TOO MUCH BRASS TO DIE.
YOU COULD DO MORE DAMAGE WITH YOUR TEETH THAN MOST PEOPLE CAN DO WITH A LOAD OF BUCKSHOT
THAT'S THE WAY IT GOES SOMETIMES. A MAN IS WALKING AROUND ALL FULL OF VINEGAR. NEXT THING HE KNOWS, THEY'RE SHOVELING DIRT IN HIS FACE.

 

There are few shows that seemed to work better before they changed to color. The three off the top of my head are THE FUGITIVE, ANDY GRIFFITH AND MY THREE SONS

 

Laugh-In

 

I actually thought that strongest seasons of M*A*S*H were seasons 4-7. The first and last two seasons were the weakest to me. They ran out of gas in the last couple of seasons . In season 1, they seemed to want to capture the zaniness of the movie, and it did not work. The episodes were often too episodic or they were too farcical Season 1 also had the three lamest episodes of the series: MARKET TO MARKET, REQUIEM FOR A LIGHT WEIGHT, AND MAJOR FRANK C DOBBS.

 

I was surprised to find myself defending the lack of impetus for putting Lou Grant back on somewhere, in another thread. I used to hunger to get it back, it was one of my favorite shows right after graduating. I would join a friend over at his house every Monday for it. Now I find it irrelevant, despite the quality being consistently good. I'd make time to watch an episode perhaps, but don't think I could take its' out-of-dated-ness now.

On the other hand, I'd still love to sit through every season of The Paper Chase again. As I recall, the Showtime seasons were pretty tight.

Still, I have so many shows to watch now, and so many are sequential-narrative and not just episodic, I don't think I can make the time anymore for the ones I've already lived through. I actually bought my first VCR just to catch Rockford re-runs in order, along with Barney Miller. And since then, I spent so much extra time keeping track of and marking blank VHS tapes in order to watch everything in order and never miss anything (pre-TiVo, of course)...I was never satisfied with "appointment TV" ever again. My way, my convenience, or *skip*.

 

Seinfeld
Benson
Good Times
Cop Shop
The Sullivan's
The Odd Couple
Gomer Pyle

Too Many...........

 

Especially Andy Griffith. The color episodes lost a lot of humor found in the B&W episodes. It also got rather preachy and some episodes were downers, such as Andy reffing the baseball game and calling Opie out.

 

The original UK broadcasts of MASH did not have a laughter track. I only discovered much later that the US broadcast did have one. One of our minor UK channels now shows MASH with the laughter track, and it is so grating and really spoils the show.

 

The real interesting one for me is Soap.
On one hand, it is nowhere near as shocking as it's reputation.
However, on the other hand, I was surprised how genuinely moving it could be at times. Dinah Manoff as the very bitchy on the outside but very vulnerable on the inside Elaine had me in tears.

 

How did you know when to laugh?
Fake laugh tracks are annoying.

 

Well, the Fugitive had the least drop off in quality.
My Three Sons was actually more interesting and less dated feeling when it was in black and white. The characters were more flawed. Things seldom went smoothly, and the house was a lot noisier which you would expect with all males. One line always stuck with me.
Bub, don't you remember what it was like at 15?
Are you kidding? I don't remember what it was like at 50
I did not love the color Andy Griffith episodes but I did not hate them as much as other people. One episode that I really like was when Opie thought he was going on a his first date with his dream girl, and he got dumped at the last minute.