# Old favorite TV show is holding up in rewatch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [May 30, 2025, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997 "2025-05-30T10:50:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/21 "2025-05-30T21:50:19Z")
> [@Tokushizu](#): > > Loretta Swit as Cagney And in sad news, Loretta Swit has passed away, aged 87. > **[M\*A\*S\*H actress Loretta Swit dies aged 87](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20qzlxz1w0o)** > > Swit won awards for her role as "Hot Lips" Houlihan, a nurse based at hospital during the Korean War. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/22 "2025-05-30T21:53:16Z")
Working my way slowly through the seven million episodes of [The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Many_Loves_of_Dobie_Gillis) which, for those old enough but not too old to forget, was one of the first teen-based TV sit-coms, starting in 1959, and yes, its in B+W. It probably developed a lot of the standard structures for that genre over the next half century, but is early enough to be different to them, and its nice to see a much broader array of situations than what quickly became a very formulaic TV show format. Lots to criticise about its representation of the world, but also a lot to criticise about the world it represented as well. I won’t say it holds up well, and there were far too many eps over 4 seasons to keep it fresh, but as a historical experience its probably worth a dip into it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/23 "2025-05-30T21:59:06Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Working “WORKING?!” ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/24 "2025-05-30T22:14:32Z")
We binged **The Mary Tyler Moore Show** not too many years ago, starting on the fiftieth anniversary of the first episode. I thought it held up very well, mostly because the show focused on the characters and the ways in which they related to one another. I would speculate that most of those stories could be “transposed” to today’s world with only minor tweaks to update them. The notion that a single woman in her thirties is approaching her “sell by” date is given more play than it would be today. But the message is that Mary isn’t going to settle for some goofball just to satisfy the, ahem, “requirement” that she settle down with a man and raise a family. She’d like to get married and have kids, but she has to be sure it’s with the right guy, and it has to be on her own terms. We also caught a few episodes of **The Critic**. That one has aged badly, I think, with its heavy reliance on then-current pop culture references. But if you remember a reasonable amount of the stuff they mention, it can be amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Tokushizu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Tokushizu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tokushizu)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/25 "2025-05-31T00:20:28Z")
& @Peter_Morris Yes, how odd & eerie that Loretta Swit would die on the same day I mention her in this thread. Rest in peace, Hot Lips. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/26 "2025-05-31T02:35:35Z")
**Northern Exposure**. I’m in the middle of a rewatch and the writing and acting is brilliant all around. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2025, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/27 "2025-05-31T03:36:01Z")
Speaking of Loretta Swit, **MASH** holds up. I rewatched it last year. It was expanded to fit 16:9 aspect ratio and upscaled to HD, which some purists may dislike. I suppose if you found the original preachy then that won’t have changed for you, but I never did. I hadn’t watched it in decades, so viewing it again with cynical adult eyes, I got something much more rounded and interesting than I had as a child, amongst the occasional misogyny and racism. It entertained me, and never flagged throughout my rewatch. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/28 "2025-05-31T06:45:43Z")
I’m starting season 3 of the original half hour Alfred Hitchcock show, (which I saw some of) and it is quite good. Not every one of the 39 episodes in a season, but not bad. It is fun to see some of the stars to come in early roles and some of the big names from the past. My wife and I have started rewatching the Prisoner yet again. I saw an old interview with Patrick McGoohan where he explains the ending, so I’m ready to pause and rewatch this go around. The Village is not at all dated, possibly because it was not of its time to begin with. I started Dobie Gillis and the Real McCoys, but neither really held up and I stopped.A few years ago I went through all of Have Gun Will Travel which is much better viewed as an adult than as a kid. Did you know the dance from the first Star Trek pilot came from there? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/29 "2025-05-31T09:27:27Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’m starting season 3 of the original half hour Alfred Hitchcock show, (which I saw some of) and it is quite good. Not every one of the 39 episodes in a season, but not bad. It is fun to see some of the stars to come in early roles and some of the big names from the past. Yes, I’ve binge-watched the half-hour Hitchcock series – it’s one of many that I forgot to mention. Obviously not every episode can be fantastic, but as you say, overall the series is very, very good. Alfred Hitchcock was a master of the mystery/thriller genre. Possibly my favourite episode of the entire series is “The Foghorn”, which I believe is episode 24 in Season 3. It departs from the murder-mystery genre into something wonderfully surreal. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/30 "2025-05-31T10:19:40Z")
I’ve been rewatching _Dollhouse_, which I remembered liking when it aired ~15 years ago, long enough that I’d forgotten all the adventure-of-the-week plots and guest stars. It’s even better than I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/31 "2025-05-31T13:06:44Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > A few years ago I went through all of Have Gun Will Travel which is much better viewed as an adult than as a kid. Did you know the dance from the first Star Trek pilot came from there? I had the same opinion when I rewatched it a while back. I didn’t know that there were episodes written by Gene Roddenberry (and Harlan Ellison). ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/32 "2025-05-31T13:20:43Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > We binged **The Mary Tyler Moore Show** not too many years ago, starting on the fiftieth anniversary of the first episode. I thought it held up very well, mostly because the show focused on the characters and the ways in which they related to one another. I would speculate that most of those stories could be “transposed” to today’s world with only minor tweaks to update them. > > The notion that a single woman in her thirties is approaching her “sell by” date is given more play than it would be today. But the message is that Mary isn’t going to settle for some goofball just to satisfy the, ahem, “requirement” that she settle down with a man and raise a family. She’d like to get married and have kids, but she has to be sure it’s with the right guy, and it has to be on her own terms. I watched the first few seasons during the first run, but gradually tuned out. The issues faced by a working woman didn’t hold the attention of a ten year-old boy. I recently watched the remaining seasons and really enjoyed it. It was interesting how much TV had matured between the beginning and end of the series. E.g., in one of the last episodes, Lou, Murray and Ted are sharing a bottle and fantasizing about being married to Mary. Ted’s vignette takes place in the hotel on their wedding night. After Ted pays the bellman to carry Mary over the threshold, he asks Ted, “Would you like me to show you where everything is?”, Ted replies, “No thanks, I’m sure she’ll tell me”. The relaxed standards allowed exploration into new areas of Ted’s stupidity, to think that a bellman would serve as a sex educator (and that a fortysomething groom would need one). ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/33 "2025-05-31T13:25:16Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Did anyone ever work out what Lacey said to the flasher in the opening titles? I never tried before, but I did just now. It looks like “Oh, grow up.” Or, “Oh, will you grow up.” Between looking at it, and finding the post where someone asked, I can’t remember exactly. Lacey could say that without irony; she was a mother, and probably said it a lot (sometimes to her husband). If Cagney said it, the double entendre would not be an accident. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/34 "2025-05-31T14:31:32Z")
I have a question for those rewatching shows that came out before streaming or even box sets of DVDs. Do you binge them? Or do you watch one or two episodes a day? I tried binging _MASH_ but quickly got bored. On the other hand, I rewatched much of _The Bob Newhart Show_ a handful of episodes a week and really enjoyed it. Does that mean _Bob_ holds up better than _MASH_ or are these shows just not made to be bingible? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/35 "2025-05-31T14:50:26Z")
> **[Cagney & Lacey - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Funny/CagneyAndLacey)** > > Tyne Daly's pregnancy was written into the show. In one episode during that time, Cagney and Lacey are out on the street and happen to notice a guy stealing a TV from an apartment—in broad daylight. At first they're amused at his sheer gall … > During the opening titles, Cagney and Lacey are marching a perp through the streets when a man in a trenchcoat flashes them to which Lacey says something that is inaudible due to the overdubbed music. After an intrigued viewer asked what was said, the series producers provided the original clip to a TV show answering viewers questions which revealed that that Lacey said: > > “Put that thing away, you don’t know where it’s been!” I can remember this clip being shown with sound on a BBC show [Points Of View.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_of_View_(TV_programme)) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/36 "2025-05-31T14:53:15Z")
Sitcoms I can do either way - binging a sitcom on a streaming service isn’t really any different than watching four consecutive episodes on a local or cable station. Dramas, I watch one or two episodes a day at most. Most of the ones I watch have some degree of a continuing storyline and I find that dramas that were meant to broadcast one episode a week get to be a little repetitive, referring to events that happened in prior episodes much more than sitcoms do. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/37 "2025-05-31T15:05:35Z")
I don’t recall _Bob Newhart_ being on a lot in reruns, but I remember _MASH_ being on all the freaking time in the 80s & 90s. I also remember “_MASH_ marathons” that were 6 to 12 hours long, built around a theme. One station did one a year after the final episode, by doing a sort of series of “mini-marathons” of about 5 hours a night, each of one actor’s top 10 episode lists, Monday through Friday, then on Saturday aired the finale (might have shown it twice, I don’t remember). _MASH_ was originally on at an earlier hour than _Bob_, IIRC, and so I saw a lot of it during the first run. I actually did binge-watch _Bob_ a few months ago, and I had never really seen it through before. I was too young for its 9pm hour during its initial run (until the last season-- I could stay up for the summer reruns). I caught it any chance I had, but even reruns tended to be on late, and if it was ever on “all the time,” it was probably when it was first syndicated. I got really was hooked on _Bob_ a few months ago, and watched the whole thing in about a week during winter break. It was “new” to me-- I remembered specific gags, but only a few plots. I think with _MASH_, though, I’d remember most of it. It’s on one of the channels offered by one of my streaming services, so it pops up as a thumbnail on the homescreen, but it’s never occurred to me to watch it (well, until Loretta Swit died-- I thought maybe I might watch a couple of eps that featured her). I’ve just been over-_MASH_ed, if that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/38 "2025-05-31T15:08:48Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > “Put that thing away, you don’t know where it’s been!” Well, I never claimed to be good at lip-reading. In fact, I used to get teased for being bad at it. I was at one time known as the worst lip-reader at Gallaudet University. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/39 "2025-06-01T13:13:23Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > letter-writing campaign to bring the show [_Cagney & Lacey_] back, which was successful I just checked, and I was wrong about the timing of this as well-- it came at the end of the second season, not the first, but the first was only six episodes, so you see from where my confusion stems. Especially since those 6 episodes aired at the end of March and through April. It was cancelled at the end of the 82-83 season, according to an article I’m looking at now, and that would have been the end of season 2. S2 was a full season of 22 episodes. Season 3, however, was only in 1984; it didn’t begin in the fall of that season, fall 1983-- it began in March of 1984, with just 7 episodes. But four more seasons followed, and they were all 22 episodes. From 1983-1988, the Best Actress in a drama Emmy was won either by Tyne Daly, or Sharon Gless. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997/40 "2026-10-16T18:42:06Z")
Hey, “Barney Miller” fans: FETV has been running uncut episodes\* every night from 11:35 until 12:45 (Eastern). \*I’m pretty sure their entire lineup hasn’t been adulterated to make room for more commercials. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-favorite-tv-show-is-holding-up-in-rewatch/1018997.md?page=1)