# Old TV shows: Has the market disappeared? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816 "2017-10-25T14:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/41 "2017-10-26T13:38:54Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Now I’m seeing filler from last year. Yeah, who could believe that 2 Broke Girls would be a syndicated show that affiliates would actually pay for and broadcast? Speaking of syndication, I distinctly remember my FIL looking down his nose at my wife and I for watching Seinfeld and Frasier when they were originally aired. He watched a lot of news on TV, some PBS shows, and also Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, but didn’t really watch any broadcast shows. About 10 years later when Seinfeld and Frasier started showing up as syndicated reruns, he started watching and got hooked on both shows. We’d hear him laughing at them and then he’d tell us how funny they were. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/42 "2017-10-26T13:42:06Z")
For many, many months now, one of the Boston substations (38.2) has this for their Monday through Friday schedule: 8:00pm Star Trek (original) 9:00pm Star Trek The Next Generation 10:00pm Star Trek Deep Space Nine 11:00pm Star Trek Voyager 12:00am Star Trek Enterprise I was stunned when I stumbled on that. (Yes, I will occasionally indulge, mainly TNG and DS9.) What was even more amazing is that until very recently at 7:00pm they also ran back-to-back episodes of Star Trek the animated series. Yes, the series that only ever had about 20 episode, meaning they were repeating the episodes every two weeks! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/43 "2017-10-26T13:48:13Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > For many, many months now, one of the Boston substations (38.2) has this for their Monday through Friday schedule: > > 8:00pm Star Trek (original) > 9:00pm Star Trek The Next Generation > 10:00pm Star Trek Deep Space Nine > 11:00pm Star Trek Voyager > 12:00am Star Trek Enterprise That’s Heroes and Icons. It is on 28.5 in my market. Oddly, the main station 28.1 is Spanish-language religious programming. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/44 "2017-10-26T14:27:28Z")
These shows from the 50s and 60s exist on sub channels but their advertisers are for old people: burial insurance, bladder control products, easy to use cell phones. So their viewers are primarily those who grew up watching these shows,not young people. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/45 "2017-10-26T14:28:49Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > These shows from the 50s and 60s exist on sub channels but their advertisers are for old people: burial insurance, bladder control products, easy to use cell phones. So their viewers are primarily those who grew up watching these shows,not young people. Don’t forget “Old Glory Robot Insurance” ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/46 "2017-10-26T15:50:37Z")
I think there are two other issues at play. The first is the switch to HD. Shows broadcast in SD don’t look as good on an HD station so only the most popular are kept on (e.g., Seinfeld, Friends, Golden Girls, ST:TNG). FX has The Simpsons, but they broadcast every episode in widescreen, even though the first 19 seasons weren’t. Then there’s trend of daily mini-marathons. USA has hours of NCIS daily. You can binge watch Big Bang Theory on TBS every night. And let’s not get started on the Law & Order franchise and how many channels that’s on. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/47 "2017-10-26T16:39:50Z")
I watch reruns all day with the exception of Days of our lives at 1. Icons & Heroes is on 10.2 here. Good station too. We went to broadcast tv earlier this year. Never looked back. 24 hour news was nice and the husband misses the same with sports. The money they want for cable, dish, etc. is not worth all the stupid reality shows! Are the younger generations even tearing themselves away from their mini computers to watch “tv” Ya should do a poll in here for this topic. There’s more oldies than the younger crowd in our country. What are we watching? 😕😕 ---
**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:** [October 26, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/48 "2017-10-26T17:05:29Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > Yeah, who could believe that 2 Broke Girls would be a syndicated show that affiliates would actually pay for and broadcast? Yeah, but when I was a kid we had Three’s Company on every night at 5:30 so who’s to judge? ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/49 "2017-10-26T20:20:14Z")
I’m of the generation of the OP, so I can relate. Pretty much everything from our childhood/teenage years that were cultural touchstones from the teenage years of TV are almost meaningless to the current generations. Even Wizard of Oz has almost no nostalgic value for young adults and younger. Cartoons have been mentioned a few times and I will say that other than seeing uncut Looney Tunes in the local markets, 60s, 70s and 80s cartoon sucked. Kids have much better animation today after the 90s animation renaissance. Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, Batman TAS, blow Scooby Doo out of the water, nostalgia or no. One thing I do like about the current trend of the digital stations glut of “ancient” TV shows is that I can now see shows that were never available in my local market during my childhood and I am old enough to appreciate them. For example, shows I had heard of but never got to see until Decades or Antenna or My TV are Burns & Allen, Our Miss Brooks, Laugh-In. I grew up on Dobie Gillis, Leave it to Beaver, Dennis the Menace reruns, so I knew the style, but I was surprised how funny these shows from the previous generation I’d missed actually were. I had always wondered why George Burns was famous. His standup routine was mostly corny jokes about how old he was. Imagine my surprise to find out he was actually funny back in his prime. Gracie is now only a misquoted joke she never said (“Say goodnight, Gracie.” “Goodnight, Gracie.”) but she was actually a comic genius. She played a “Dumb Dora” act, but the sheer breadth of where her mind would go was amazing to watch. It’s still never been made clear to me how much was her and how much was written for her by George and performed flawlessly by her, but she is one of the most underrated comics in history. Eve Arden does not quite reach Gracie’s heights, but she is also quite funny as Miss Brooks. Laugh-in is pretty dated and Rowan & Martin are old school hacks, but Goldie Hawn is uber-adorable. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/50 "2017-10-26T20:39:05Z")
Well part of that issue is if one loves an old tv show - they probably have the whole series already on dvd. I can watch “Gilligan’s Island” now whenever I want, unedited and commercial free. Also Netflix - “The Andy Griffith Show” is on it as is “Star Trek”. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/51 "2017-10-26T21:08:54Z")
_ **Are You Being Served** _ is sporadically on Vision TV, Channel 60 from my cable provider here in Toronto. They also show \*\*\*Columbo \*\*\*a lot late at night. Weekdays, CHCH (Channel 11) is now showing _ **Batman** _, _ **Betwitched** _, _ **The Partridge Family** _, and _ **Mary Tyler Moore** _ in the afternoons. _ **The Bob Newhart Show** _, _ **I Dream of Jeannie** _, and _ **Newhart** _ are on in the morning. \*\*\*TPF \*\*\*just came on. Holy crap! When I was a teenager, I was so fixated on Susan Dey (a girl in my homeroom was a dead ringer for her) I utterly failed to appreciate Shirley Jones. My god, she was sooooooooooooooo hot! :o And 30-something Elizabeth Montgomery, hokey smokes! 🆒 ---
**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:** [October 26, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/52 "2017-10-26T21:42:55Z")
Shirley Jones even played one of Drew’s lady friends on the _Drew Carey Show_. One of the most hilarious episodes had Danny Bonaduce playing her obnoxious son who hated Drew’s guts. TV moms played all of the various characters’ moms on TDCS. Marion Ross, Adrienne Barbeau, June Lockhart, Susan St. James. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/53 "2017-10-26T22:03:21Z")
In the episode of \*\*\*TPF \*\*\*I just watched, Shirley and Susan were both modeling hot pants. The stuff of some of my favorite fantasies! :o Making a guest appearance was a lecherous Norman Fell (aka “Mr Roper” on _ **Three’s Company** _). ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/54 "2017-10-27T10:52:05Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Shirley Jones even played one of Drew’s lady friends on the _Drew Carey Show_. One of the most hilarious episodes had Danny Bonaduce playing her obnoxious son who hated Drew’s guts. > > TV moms played all of the various characters’ moms on TDCS. Marion Ross, Adrienne Barbeau, June Lockhart, Susan St. James. I missed that episode of TDCS! I did not watch it the first time around, I’ve been catching episodes here and there…I like the show! > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well part of that issue is if one loves an old tv show - they probably have the whole series already on dvd. > > I can watch “Gilligan’s Island” now whenever I want, unedited and commercial free. > > Also Netflix - “The Andy Griffith Show” is on it as is “Star Trek”. Cant you get the entire series of Gilligan’s Island or like 6 bucks? Everyone should have the episodes firmly memorized! :p:p While TOS of Star Trek is upwards of 50 bucks! More or less. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816/55 "2017-10-27T19:36:50Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > I missed that episode of TDCS! I did not watch it the first time around, I’ve been catching episodes here and there…I like the show! > > Cant you get the entire series of Gilligan’s Island or like 6 bucks? Everyone should have the episodes firmly memorized! :p:p > > While TOS of Star Trek is upwards of 50 bucks! More or less. Not sure but Netflix had Star Trek TNG, Old Series, Voyager, and Enterprise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-shows-has-the-market-disappeared/799816.md?page=2)