Black Sheep Squadron
Battlestar Gallatica
Quincy M.E.
Airwolf
Magnum P.I.
Quantum Leap
JAG
NCIS
You left off Tales Of The Gold Monkey and Tequila and Bonetti.
Are they any good?
Never heard of them…
Magnum P.I. was an easy first pick, but choosing just 2 after that was not easy…I watched JAG for it’s entire run, still watch NCIS, loved Quincy even when the moral outrage pegged the dial, Battlestar Galactica 'cause well it was the first TV sci-fi I was exposed to post-Star Trek, Airwolf 'cause it was just so cool, Quantum Leap (“Oh, Boy!”)…
I like the one in the hierarchical, military (or quasi-military) setting, with the young, male, hotshot protagonist, the humorously out-of-touch father figure, the geeky newbie trying to prove himself, and the uber-competent woman who can hold her own in a man’s world.
Airwolf and Magnum P.I. tie for my first place and Quincy M.E. is a close second. This is based on my tastes when they were first broadcast. I attempted to watch an ep of Quincy recently and could not make it through.
Although the only other on the list I have seen is JAG and of that only a couple of episode.
Magnum easily the best. It still holds up for the most part. Baa Baa Black Sheep (the original name) was second because it was one of my favorites from youth and it is still a fun show to watch. Unlike Battlestar which is basically unwatchable as an adult. Even though I bailed on NCIS a while ago I’m still putting it number 3.
Tales of the Gold Monkey was kind of OK sort of in a way. Looking at the list, I don’t like any of his stuff. I have no favorites among them. Just “least boring.”
Not a fan of any of these shows, but I watched JAG just for Catherine Bell.
I had to google Airwolf. Somehow I have either completely forgotten it or managed to avoid all knowledge of it when it was airing.
Excellent idea for a poll! I loved all of the shows on the list except for Airwolf. I had to pick Quincy and Quantum Leap since they are the two that I own on DVD, and I threw in NCIS just because I’m currently a fan. But I don’t think you could go wrong with any of the choices, even though Robot Arm has them all pegged.
Magnum, Black Sheep, JAG here.
I liked Airwolf in theory, but it suffered from having to find a reason to use the heli in every episode, even if it didn’t fit. Then you start wondering how they get fuel and missiles out to Monument Valley from LA in any reasonable time, and then you get angry. But the first few episodes were great.
I’ve always been a credits reader, but I never linked all these shows as Bellisario (especially BSG) until I noticed the recurrence of the “Bellisario Players”: Larry Manetti, Lance LeGault, James Whitmore Jr, Red West, Jeff MacKay, his then-wife Deborah Pratt, etc. I think they show up in every Bellisario production.
Well, when you put it that way…
But who was the uber-competent woman in BBBS? Not one of the “lambs”, I hope?
The head nurse who got blown away in a later episode.
Easy decision: planes, cars and Vipers.
There was no uber-competent woman in Quantum Leap, my favorite. No dad, either, except for one ep when Sam leaped into himself in high school. Magnum’s dad died when he was about 5, as I recall.
StG
My favorite is Quincy. I watched a few episodes recently on Netflix and it’s not as good as I remember it, but still fun. After 14 years of watching CSI, though, I have a hard time watching a show about a medical examiner that has no gore in it. That’s half the fun!
Magnum, P.I. was the best.
Battlestar Galactica was the least bad sci-fi show on TV at the time.
I would have voted for Tales of the Gold Monkey if it had been on the poll.
So I had to flip a coin between Quincy and the Black Sheep. I eventually decided that Quincy was better art.
Magnum and Quincy were the only ones I watched regularly. I picked Airwolf as the least-objectionable third, but if Tales of the Gold Monkey had been on the list, I would have chosen it.
He made tweaks to the formula in different ways at different times (and I only dimly remember Baa Baa Black Sheep) but Bellisario seems to have certain types of characters and settings that he likes writing for.
But Bah Bah Black Sheep/Black Sheep Squadron had Robert Conrad and F4U Corsairs! Screw art!
I only picked 2! You’re not the boss of me!