Old TV Shows that don't suck (revisited)

I recently went through the the Twilight Zone series and thought it held up remarkably well (save the odd clunker).

I do think the medium is going through a golden age though when you consider the higher end productions these days. That being said the amount of absolute garbage on the airways has probably never been greater.

 

Rod Sterling, man o' man, the episode where folks were at a diner, the police walk in trying to find a ufo, and the alien that drove it, the end was the best, one man that was martian had 3 arms, but the dude serving him was a venutian, he lifts his paper hat to reveal a 3rd eye, total Twilight zone. I noticed a lot of actors getting their starts there to boot.

 

I watched the Twilight Zone and Twin Peak this past winter, both are overall great. And I agree about the medium, its arguably more relevant and prestigous than Hollywood and the big screen now. Some GREAT serial shows have been put out since The Wire-Sopranos era

 

The Bonanza episodes from when Dan Blocker was alive and when Pernell Roberts was in the show are the best episodes of the show. The Gunsmoke TV episodes that hold up the best and have the best plots, etc. are the black and white episodes.

 

Really happy to see that Mannix holds up remarkably well. Very sophisticated show.

I have very vague memories of watching it a a toddler! Tons of style and good writing.

 

They were well written and the weekly casts make up a "Who's Who" of television from that era (and often the 1970s). As Jerry Seinfeld points out, however, they could be a bit predicable at times.

 

Would love to see The Young Ones again

 

Columbo was always shot on 35mm 4-perf Kodak negative. If they did a 16x9 version, they'd have to zoom in and cut the actors off at the knees (kind of the Seinfeld approach). I think the images are good enough that they would still hold up, but it would be a visual compromise from the original.

 

Catweazle
Steptoe & Son
The Good Life
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Survivors ('70s BBC series)

 

I've been watching old Smothers Brothers hours and some of them really don't stand up at all sorry to say, but there are some where everything seems to work and aren't so slow or padded feeling. Very cool '60s music guests sometimes too, but sometimes very square.

The original Twilight Zones hold up very well, such great atmosphere! Of all the TZ-ish shows though Britain did them better I think, Hammer House and Journey To The Unknown, Shadows, Beasts, Sapphire And Steel, Out Of The Unknown, The Owl Service, Children Of the Stones, old Tom Baker Dr. Who in particular before the robot dog... if it's weird and from England I'll watch it. There were even great weird comedies like Ghosts Of Motley Hall (by the Catweazel creator). Speaking of England a lot of people don't realize that Sanford & Son was a U.S. version of Steptoe & Son, All In The Family of Till Death Us Do part, and Three's Company of Man About The House, so if you like one you might want to seek out the other?

U.S. show 87th Precinct and U.K. Z-Cars were ahead of their time in the early '60s. I think both hold up pretty well, though not as fast paced and jump-cut as later '80s police shows. Some of the existing early Z-Car eps are in fairly poor shape though. Great to see a young Brian Blessed as PC 'Fancy' Smith with his Yorkshire accent in them though. Some of the drama series like Upstairs-Downstairs and Lillie I think hold up still... A Kind Of Loving, Shabby Tiger.

 

I really like both of those shows... I want to buy the various "Gunsmoke" seasons on DVD... (I have seasons 1-4 so far...)

 

Agreed: To me, "The Twilight Zone" stands up very well...

 

Imgur GIF

 

I love MANNIX too, and another, slightly later private detective, BARNABY JONES. I recently sprang for the full series on Amazon for $89. That put it more in line with what I perceive as its worth. Shout Factory licensed the show from CBS, but CBS sent them syndication masters. Some look pretty grungy, most are edited, but for this series, it's likely all we're ever going to get.

Buddy Ebsen made that series as the clever old coot who always got his man (or woman).

 

I got into Kojak in the same time slot as Mannix. Barnaby would be nice. Lee Meriwether is good in Time Tunnel.

 

"Hot Soup" > pay phone! ...@ least two weeks!

 

As someone who was in a similar boat (I had seasons 1-3 and 5), let me point out something you may not be aware of: some of the multi-season packs of Gunsmoke have dropped significantly in price. Best deal I've run across so far is this, and it's actually dropped about five bucks since I purchased a set:

Gunsmoke: Seasons 6 - 10 Pack 32429158451 | eBay

Amazon has a similar deal, but if you have to pay tax the eBay seller wins on price.

I believe the DVD releases are up to season 12 now, but after I fill in my season 4 gap, I'll likely bide my time until a few more seasons are released and similar multi-season deals are to be had. Assuming that they continue with the series on DVD, that is.

 

The first year is the only year of that show I can stomach. Once it got away from the single camera, and veered into the land of 70's anachronism, it was all over with.

 

Also the two other big Mark VII productions, Adam-12 and Emergency! Nothing really profound (especially Emergency!), but the casting and chemistry between the leads (Milner/McCord & Mantooth/Tighe) make them still worth watching (their 60's/70's atmospheric time capsule quality helps as well).

 

The show would've been cancelled had they not gone to multicam (with an audience), so from Garry Marshall and Paramount TV's point of view (and all the actors' careers), they made the right choice. Garry has said many times he would've rather shot the show single-camera, but it's very hard to argue with success, big ratings, and a ton of dough. I think the show made close to a billion dollars over 30 years in syndication.

I think the show's actual "Jump the Shark" moment was not that infamous Fonzie episode, but when Ron Howard left the show. I think it had some heart and charm up to that point, but after that... they were just treading water. (From the sharks.)

 

No 16x9 for you!

 

Whenever I see Emergency I can't get over the fact the gear they had in the seventies was so primitive!

 

When Ron Howard was part of the cast it reminded me so much of American Graffiti, and it was great---once he left, it lost that grounding.

 

Besides the final episode did Ron Howard ever appear on the show after he left?