# Longest running yet most forgotten (or forgettable) TV Show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064 "2013-03-05T03:00:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/141 "2013-03-07T17:28:20Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > “Lamp Unto My Feet” ran for 32 years. I never saw one episode. Of course, a show that ran at 9:00 AM Sunday wasn’t about to be big. Anybody remember it? The only thing I remember about it was some CBS 50th anniversary show (or something like that) when the Dingbat (Jean Stapleton) mentioned it as one of her favorites. Someone mentioned “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” which had the memorable “Agony of Defeat” skiing crash (although Vinko Bogataj was shocked in 1981 to find he was a minor U.S. celebrity and Muhammad Ali wanted his autograph). I submit the anthology on CBS, known as “CBS Sports Spectacular”, among other names. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/142 "2013-03-07T18:55:58Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > I would have to say the reverse. I am aware of _Yes Dear_ if for no other reason than it has been brought up in previous threads about crappy shows that lasted a long time; but, I cannot believe \*According To Jim \* lasted more than a season. I do not even know the premise of the show–only that it starred Jim Belushi. To explain how ignorant I am of this show, even though I’ve heard of it, I thought it was about Reverend Jim from _Taxi_. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/143 "2013-03-07T20:35:55Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > William F. Buckley’s _Firing Line_ ran from 1966 to 1999. Who the heck watches CBS’ “Face the Nation” (1954-present) either? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/144 "2013-03-07T20:55:49Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] Nobody mentions **Murphy Brown** , though that was on for a decade. [/QUOTE] I remember thinking at the time, even though I was a fan, “This show is going to be dated by the time the summer repeats start, there’s no way it’s going to find an audience in syndication”. A couple of years ago I caught it for the first and only time in syndication and… damn. Half of an hour of G.H.W.Bush and pre-Lewinsky Clinton jokes don’t age well. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/145 "2013-03-07T22:01:13Z")
I’m going to mention The Arthur Godfrey TV show, 1948 - 1959, forgotten maybe because the viewing audience is mostly deceased. I _just_ remember watching ‘Offy Goffy’ with my grandma when I was a small child. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/146 "2013-03-07T23:58:48Z")
In the late 1950s/early 1960s there were a whole lot of westerns on TV (26 in 1959). Some of them are getting released on DVD but it surprises me that “The Virginian” could run from 1962-71 (third-longest running Western after “Bonanza” and “Gunsmoke”) and “Cheyenne” from 1955 to 1963. Most dramatic series don’t do well in syndication and the popularity of color TVs made series filmed in black and white lose popularity. ---
**Author:** ![JerseySwamps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@JerseySwamps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseySwamps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/147 "2013-03-08T05:41:56Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I would assume that’s because of music licensing issues. _The Wonder Years_ featured period appropriate music, and I remember _Murphy Brown_ having a fair amount of Motown music (the title character was a fan). I will grant you The Wonder Years, but the first season of Murphy Brown was released and it tanked. It also isn’t on in syndication anywhere. It simply doesn’t hold up. > [@Sampiro](#): > > I remember thinking at the time, even though I was a fan, “This show is going to be dated by the time the summer repeats start, there’s no way it’s going to find an audience in syndication”. > A couple of years ago I caught it for the first and only time in syndication and… damn. Half of an hour of G.H.W.Bush and pre-Lewinsky Clinton jokes don’t age well. LOL I said that. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/148 "2013-03-08T06:00:18Z")
Until my father started talking about it a few months ago, I had no idea that Dean Martin had hosted a wildly popular comedy show – _[for nine years](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058797/)_! And I’m old enough to barely have memories of it, 'cept I don’t. Also, Hee Haw. Who talks about that show these days? ---
**Author:** ![JerseySwamps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@JerseySwamps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseySwamps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/149 "2013-03-08T06:13:20Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Until my father started talking about it a few months ago, I had no idea that Dean Martin had hosted a wildly popular comedy show – _[for nine years](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058797/)_! And I’m old enough to barely have memories of it, 'cept I don’t. > > Also, Hee Haw. Who talks about that show these days? Both shows were advertised heavily on infomercials recently. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/150 "2013-03-08T06:22:15Z")
Huh. I’m living overseas and hadn’t seen that. Maybe that’s why my father started talking about it. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/151 "2013-03-08T10:12:56Z")
Mr Belvedere and Perfect Strangers still had a cultural impact…I mean can we say the Dance of Joy? Re: Head of the Class…I met the guy who played Arvid down at my town’s beach. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/152 "2013-03-08T11:28:25Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > [And Kids Incorporated](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_Incorporated)? Well, it did launch the career of a certain [Stacey Ferguson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fergie_(singer)). To submit one of my own; I recall _The Critic_ being pretty damn popular when it first aired, to the point that it got a crossover with _The Simpsons_, but I don’t think they even air reruns of it anymore (and the jokes about early '90s movies probably haven’t aged well either). ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/153 "2013-03-08T12:46:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [Medical Center](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Center_(TV_series)). At the time it went off the air in 1976, it was the longest running medical show of all time ( **ER** has surpassed it). But it never caught on in syndication; note how sparse the Wikipedia entry is for a show that ran seven seasons. That reminds me of [Emergency!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068067/?ref_=sr_1) It had paramedics! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/154 "2013-03-08T13:10:09Z")
Nobody seems to talk much about Charley Weaver these days. And "Sergeant preston of the Yukon " has few fans. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/155 "2013-03-08T14:04:41Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > "Sergeant preston of the Yukon " has few fans. B-b-but I met “King the Wonder Dog” at a kennel in Vermont… So at least one person will never forget Sgt. Preston. What I find fascinating about this thread is the way memory works. I’ve watched a _lot_ of network TV for half a century or so. Some short-run program will stick in my memory (“Coronet Blue”, “Nowhere Man”, “Andy Barker, PI”, “Freaks and Geeks”, “Firefly”;)) but some of the shows here, I had to look up. _Despite having watched them dozens of times!_ This is me reading this thread: _"‘Yes, Dear’?_ Was that an obscure British ‘wordy comedy’?" Then check Youtube, but just looking at the thumbnails warns me that it isn’t funny enough to watch a clip of. “Wow. I probably watched fifty episodes of this show, and I couldn’t tell you one thing that happened in a single one of them. Or the characters’ names, or what they did. Weird…” So, as an aside, what show do you now watch (and even like) that you’ll utterly forget in a decade? For me, probably _American Dad_. I mostly watch it because I don’t change the channel after Family Guy. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/156 "2013-03-08T22:02:45Z")
> [@mack](#): > > That reminds me of [Emergency!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068067/?ref_=sr_1) > > It had paramedics! Yes it did. Imagine how shocked I was to see that Paramedic Roy DeSoto ended up owning a bar called the Double Deuce in a little known movie called [Road House](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098206/)! ---
**Author:** ![JerseySwamps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@JerseySwamps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseySwamps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/157 "2013-03-08T23:26:01Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > Re: Head of the Class…I met the guy who played Arvid down at my town’s beach. Was he handing out towels? You would think his old buddy Dennis would throw him some work. ---
**Author:** ![Mole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/158 "2013-03-09T06:04:21Z")
Mama’s Family ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/159 "2013-03-09T06:35:11Z")
> [@mack](#): > > That reminds me of [Emergency!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068067/?ref_=sr_1) > > It had paramedics! Emergency! runs daily on MeTV. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064/160 "2013-03-09T06:43:27Z")
I remember a lot of people used to love Designing Women, but somehow it just died after it ended and never seemed to get the attention of comparable shows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-running-yet-most-forgotten-or-forgettable-tv-show/652064.md?page=9)