The oldest show that I’ve watched recently is “Nighty Night” from 2004 (not counting the miniseries “Amerika” from 1987). It’s much less of a commitment to binge-watch a British show with a couple of 6 episode seasons, though.
We had our first kid in 1990, so television went by the wayside pretty much. I’ve been watching a few continuity shows recently, mostly when I fold laundry. Things I would have enjoyed had I been able to watch them when they were new.
I started the first season of Quantum Leap, got about four shows in, and Netflix dropped it. Switched to the first season of Third Rock from the Sun, got about six shows in, and Netflix dropped it.
Sorry to hear that Netflix dropped Alfred Hitchcock Presents; that was another one I was enjoying. I guess I’m not the audience Netflix is after.
I bet a lot of people are re-watching Twin Peaks right now, which matches the OP description, I think.
It depends on the broadcast schedule, too. Miami Vice and Quantum Leap run every weeknight, so they’re easier to get into. ION-TV, on the other hand, runs Burn Notice once a week in a 12 hour block. Having a DVR helps out with that, though.
What? Where the hell do you think 20~s would watch old TV shows? TV is well on its way to becoming quaint.
Oh, I totally disagree. There’s a reason why the 2000s (or late 90s onward) are considered a “Golden Age of Television.”
That said, yes. I worked my way methodically through Soap, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Bob Newhart Show a few years ago, and it was well worth it. I guess you can watch them out of order and still enjoy it, but it helps to watch them sequentially (well, with Soap being the obvious one that it really pays to watch in sequence, since it’s meant to follow a soap opera arc.)
We are in our 60’s and watching ‘Desperate Housewives’, and ‘Lost’. One episode of either per night. I’ve seen both, my husband ‘doesn’t do tv’ but OMG he is so hooked on both it’s ridiculous. I’m surprised he somewhat prefers DH, all those yakking women and soap opera situations…We’ve also watched ‘Twin Peaks’, ‘Mad Men’, and ‘Twilight Zone’. I don’t know what we will be watching next. He has ‘Sea Hunt’ :rolleyes: he’s watched on his own, and ‘Nero Wolfe’ from A&E he’s watched on his own. I would be game to watch ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ from the 70’s all over again, he watched quite a bit of that back in the day and loved it, but doesn’t seem to want to watch it again, nor ‘Downton Abbey’.
The fourth season of Lou Grant was FINALLY released on DVD, BTW.
When I watch TV these days, it’s usually via DVD boxsets.
That’s certainly the way to watch series like Mad Men or Breaking Bad, with story arcs for the ages.
But it’s also easier to get the whole spiel of things like The Office, which had story arcs which were less crucial.
It’s sobering to binge-watch an old TV series like Get Smart. There’s a world of difference between waiting for a week (at the age of ten) for the broadcast of that hilarious catchphrase (“Missed it by THAT much”, “And… LOVING it”, etc.) and enduring it ten times in a couple of hours.
The day I learned that my daughter enjoys Get Smart was one of my proudest days as a parent.
mmm
Decades TV broadcasts 2 episodes of Laugh-In every day. It does pall a bit.
The shows mentioned in the link are indeed outstanding, especially against the level of general mediocrity in which series are now cancelled weeks after they debut. In other words, they are exceptions to the rule. This began as far back as the early '80s, when shows like Hill Street Blues, St Elsewhere, and LA Law were by far the best thing on the air.
I have not watched a television series while it aired in several years but I watch a lot of television series. Not exactly classics, but I’ve watched entire TV series in order on DVD and streaming. Of course some tv series these days are released all at once on streaming services. Don’t see why it wouldn’t also apply to classics assuming they are available.
We watch a lot. Working our way through Mannix currently. I watch a lot of Adam-12, Emergency, Hogan’s Heroes, some Ironside, Dragnet. Plus, shows I missed many episodes of when they were new, like Logan’s Run. Search, Bearcats, Space:1999 (amazing how BAD those S1999 episodes I missed are! 
)
That said, beware watching them on the retro channels. MeTV I know butchers them. When I watch the same episode of Hogan’s Heroes on DVD and MeTV, there is a lot missing, including some of the good jokes, not just the filler.
Interesting–for Andy Griffith, MeTV is the only channel I know of that show the final scene of each episode (in the original airings shown after last commercial break and just before closing credits.) Those scenes have been trimmed by other channels for decades to make room for more commercials.
I still find a lot more wheat among recent TV shows (especially counting Netflix and non-broadcast sources) vs classic ones. By far. Might just be my tastes, though.
A few months ago my wife and I started watching NYPD Blue, beginning with the very first episode, and we’re into the fourth season now. Good stuff. At first blush Dennis Franz’ character seems like nothing more than the classic grumpy middle-aged cop, but he’s actually a pretty deep well, with a lot going on; lots of other good drama too.
I often have Antenna TV on with the sound down while I listen to NPR and scan the internet. I get a kick out of the 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s fashion and hairstyles. Also interesting to see what was considered fashionable home decor. I find the shows mostly unwatchable with the sound on. I’m just too jaded.
Define “classic” - I’m somewhat serious in that I want to know what timeframe you’re talking about. I remember “Hill Street Blues” , " St Elsewhere" and “NYPD Blue” being shown in syndication , and presumably people watched. I know it was after the shows went off the air , but I’m not sure how long after.
I actually suspect that there's more watching of old series with story arcs now than there used to be. When the shows I mentioned above were in syndication , you either had to watch them when they were shown ( possibly at 4am Sat) or set your VCR to record them. Even once the shows came out on DVD, you had to either make the large commitment of buying the series or wait for Netflix to send you the discs ( hopefully in the correct order) On the other hand, when my son wanted to watch " The Sopranos" a couple of years ago, he watched it on HBO Go - a streaming service, which means he can watch the episodes at his own convenience.Breaking Bad is “classic” from a quality standpoint, and yes, people watch it today (I didn’t watch it at all until 2012 and caught up in time to watch the last season in real time). But usually people think “old” when you say classic. And I wouldn’t put The Sopranos or Breaking Bad or The West Wing in the same category as Dick Van Dyke or even Cheers.
I don’t watch soap operas, but now that you mention it, they seem like a binge watcher’s dream. I wonder why they don’t offer them on Netflix or DVD? I can’t say I’ve even heard of soap opera reruns. Yet they air five times a week for fifty years. That’s a lot of content you’d think someone could find a way to make money with.