# Favorite low-budget syndicated TV shows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692 "2014-01-25T16:03:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/1 "2014-01-25T16:03:38Z")
Non-reality, so no dating or judge shows. You know the kind of shows I’m talking about: cheesy special effects, ludicrous plots, cartoonish villains, women in impractically skimpy clothing for no real reason… Think _Xena_. _The Adventures of Sinbad_. _Beastmaster_. For non-swords-and-sorcery-types, think _V.I.P._, _Renegade_, or _Acapulco H.E.A.T._ For the sci-fi route, think _Cleopatra 2525_, or virtually anything on the Sci Fi Channel throughout the 90s (back when it was still the “Sci Fi Channel”). My favorite? _The Lost World_. When I was working nights I would get home around 630AM and it was really the only thing on besides news. At first I was just watching it ironically, but eventually I came to genuinely enjoy it, in all of its awesome crapitude. Your favorite(s)? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/2 "2014-01-25T16:56:57Z")
**Highlander** was pretty cool. Or at least 10 year old me thought it was, I’m probably better off not trying to rewatch it to find out. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/3 "2014-01-25T17:16:07Z")
As a kid I loved me some **What’s Happening!** Raj, Dwayne, Rerun and the gang. Great stuff. I caught it years (decades?) later and couldn’t believe how all-around bad the acting was. I also never realized that Raj’s glasses obviously had no lenses in them. Final verdict as my adult-self? I still liked it and gladly tune in anytime I’m lucky enough to stumble across it. hey Hey hey! ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/4 "2014-01-25T22:56:10Z")
I liked Baywatch, I loved the guys in the skimpy suits. I wanted to look like the women. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/5 "2014-01-25T23:05:17Z")
I liked _Time Trax_ back in the early 90s. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/6 "2014-01-25T23:12:42Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > **Highlander** was pretty cool. Or at least 10 year old me thought it was, I’m probably better off not trying to rewatch it to find out. You are, although Adrian Paul does kick ass with a sword. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/7 "2014-01-25T23:18:39Z")
Legend of the Seeker was awesome. I mourn its cancellation as much as almost any other show. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/8 "2014-01-25T23:24:58Z")
Going way back:\*\*\* Police Surgeon\*\*\*, made in Canada and starring the guy who played Jerry, the technician, on _ **Time Tunnel** _. Brilliantly spoofed in the first season of _ **SCTV** _. Another one that I saw in the UK in the '70s: _ **The Professionals** _, another Canadian police procedural. This one featured William Shatner as the villain (American!) in one episode. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/9 "2014-01-26T03:29:51Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Legend of the Seeker was awesome. I mourn its cancellation as much as almost any other show. I came here to post this one. I was also a fan of Tales of the Darkside and its lesser known copy Monsters. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/10 "2014-01-26T03:33:04Z")
Married With Children Well, it seems low budget ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/11 "2014-01-26T03:39:19Z")
Jack of All Trades, Cleopatra 2525’s companion show. Bruce Campbell - 'nuff said. Brisco County, Jr, while we’re at it. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/12 "2014-01-26T03:55:13Z")
I’ll back The Lost World and Legend of the Seeker, but SyFy’s “Lost Girl” series is a pretty good realization of the urban mythology genre, especially the raunchier side of it, with its bisexual, polymorphously perverse succubus who’s the lead. I’m also a big fan of Eureka, at least, the first couple of seasons. It had a real picaresque feel to it, combined with a great Mad Science theme. Good stuff! And I’m not sure the rules permit it, but “The Lost Room,” which is a miniseries and which I’m not SURE was ever syndicated, but DID appear on the SciFi Channel, was absolutely BEST damn SF series EVAH, cheap and syndicated or otherwise. It didn’t rely much on special effects, its budget was miniscule, but the writing was SUPERB. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/13 "2014-01-26T03:55:56Z")
70’s Dr. Who(Tom Baker). Dumb plots, lame costumes, cheesy special effects, loved it! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/14 "2014-01-26T03:57:29Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Married With Children I think Unhappily Ever After was widely viewed to be the poor man’s version of Married with Children. I mainly remember it as background noise but the Tomb Raider knock-off (“Artifact Hunter”? Edit: [Relic Hunter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0207919/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_36)!) seemed to be moderately successful. At least it felt like it had more than one season’s worth of material. I remember some X-Men knock-off as well that I think only lasted a season. Effects budget probably did it in. I don’t have “fond” memories of any of these but for a while I was living in an apartment where I got maybe three TV stations so these were usually playing on a weekend evening if I was at home. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/15 "2014-01-26T04:55:38Z")
The Muppet Show was pretty damn cool. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/16 "2014-01-26T05:40:33Z")
Going waaaaaay back, there used to be a production company called ZIV productions that specialized in programs for non-network syndication. They ran forever, and they used to be in the 5pm - 7pm slots, when little kids could watch. Probably the most famous was **Sea Hun** t, with Lloyd Bridges, but also **Ripcord** , **Bat Masterson, Tombstone Territory** and a slew of others that were gone before I was 6 years old. Until I was 7 or 8, that was the only TV I knew because my bedtime was 7:30. **Whirlybrids** (helicopter law enforcement?) was also great, but i think it was Desilu, not ZIV. My favorite was **Home Run Derby** , where each week, 2 MLB sluggers would take turns whacking the bejeezus out of the baseball – but that might be classified as a reality show. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/17 "2014-01-26T08:37:09Z")
I loved _ **Highlander** _. Also a big fan of \*\*\*Hercules \*\*\*and _ **Xena** _. _ **She Spies** _ was fun and filled with eye candy, fronted by the goddess Natasha Henstridge. _ **The Sentinel** _ was kinda cool. I wish that had run longer. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/18 "2014-01-26T09:22:06Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I remember some X-Men knock-off as well that I think only lasted a season. Effects budget probably did it in. _Misfits of Science_? _Alphas_? _No Ordinary Family_? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/19 "2014-01-26T10:40:46Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I remember some X-Men knock-off as well that I think only lasted a season. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > _Misfits of Science_? _Alphas_? _No Ordinary Family_? Probably [Mutant X](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283203/) (3 seasons, actually). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692/20 "2014-01-26T13:02:19Z")
> [@Bellhorn](#): > > Probably the most famous was **Sea Hun** t, with Lloyd Bridges, but also **Ripcord** , **Bat Masterson, Tombstone Territory** and a slew of others that were gone before I was 6 years old. Until I was 7 or 8, that was the only TV I knew because my bedtime was 7:30. **Whirlybrids** (helicopter law enforcement?) was also great, but i think it was Desilu, not ZIV. Oh God, yes, I remember these. _ **Sea Hunt** _ (which I think was an Ivan Tors production, not a Ziv) and _ **Whirlybirds** _ were my absolute favorites. Chuck and PT were free-lance helicopter pilots, flying that old piston-engined Bell. I used to fantasize about Helen, their switchboard operator. I think it was the _ **Sea Hunt** _ pilot that used the footage from the F2Y flight tests, where the jet landed in the ocean (and, on TV, promptly sank). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-low-budget-syndicated-tv-shows/679692.md?page=2)