One of my fav shows ever.
Damn it! I was reading this whole thread waiting to post this one. Loved the original series. Hated the TV movie they made later. Well, maybe not hated, but it was disappointing.
I’d agree with that. Because the entire season hangs together at the end, you don’t realize that even the episodes that seem weak had important elements. What hurts the show for me is the relationship with Logan in the later seasons. There’s no way Veronica, with her background and experience, could justify a relationship with the guy from season one, period.
I want to agree, but no Jeff = no perfect.
p.s. “That show” watched by 8-year-olds is “Gilligan’s Island”, not “The Cosby Show” if anyone was confused.
“Madam Secretary” never had a bad episode either.
I was going to write the same thing, but had watched it recently with my son. It holds up, I would say. The budget was low so the scenery is falling down every time they shut a door, and the camera work is typical VHS early 80’s fare, but he hams it up as only Rowan can and the writing is still good.
Decades later I look at the first season as a sort of long form version of The Actor’s Art
I personally think Season 3 is the weakest, and loved Season 1.
The only perfect show I can think of is Fleabag: every episode is tight, not an aside or glance at the camera wasted. Of course, British TV has an advantage here of not overstaying its welcome… The Office (UK) is probably pretty close to perfect and I can’t say the same about the US version, even if it’s still mostly very good.
I might also suggest My So-Called Life, but it only had one brief season so I don’t know if that’s fair 
and also it was perfect for me, at that specific time in my life, so I might be biased.
The Wonder Years?
The only show I ever watched AND recorded on VHS.
I was so sure that’d be the only way to ever rewatch it, and someday show it to my kids… like there’d never be more modern tech than tape-recording a show.
The concept of “streaming”, of a show available without an antenna, whenever you wanted to watch it, would’ve been a utopian fantasy (and maybe I should appreciate it more… it is great).
You are absolutely right. I could imagine us all one day having those flying jetpacks like at Disneyland, but live-streaming shows you like…never would have thought of that.
And if I want to, I could watch Wonder Years on the phone in my back pocket!
Technology is amazing, but where are those jetpacks…and the flying cars like George Jetson had.
Very, very good, but the final episode had to rush through tying up all the plotlines during a 4th of July parade. However, if you read the Wikipedia account of the show’s cancellation, it’s possible extending it another season would have been a trainwreck, so maybe it was all for the best.
Great Soundtrack!
the soundtrack is a big part of why i think it’s a perfect show, no doubt!
How do you see into your back pocket?
My favorite show is Monk, which has been mentioned already. But, I wouldn’t call it perfect. There are a few episodes that are just okay.
One that may not fit what is intended… Whose Line Is It Anyway is a perfect show for me.
We never thought of the concept of “streaming,” exactly, but my friends and I, back in the 1970s, used to say, “Don’t you wish you could press a button that would let you watch any episode of any show you wanted?”
I concur on both- especially on Barney Miller. true, in the first couple of Episodes the show was supposed to center more on Barney’s home life, but they dropped that quickly.
Yep.
Yes- both great but poor endings. In fact Wonderfalls didnt really have an ending at all.
A show that is still on, so no great ending would be Brokenwood.
Here i disagree. The show was more a soap opera on the housekeepers love life than Animal stories. The books were mostly silent on Mrs Hall’s love life.
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The main characters are all the same with the exception of Mrs. Hall, who is a very minor character in the books and definitely never has a romance with Siegfried. It’s implied that Siegfried is a “confirmed bachelor,” if you know what I mean. Tristan is much more of a rake in the books, but still hilarious.
Cecil Adams explains in one of his columns why that show was confusing and uneven.
Oh No. Jack McCoy is too much of an asshole in many episodes.
I love Cleese, but I found topo many episodes made me cringe.
Great but bad ending even with the Movie.
Rome kinda dwindled off, so it didnt have a bad ending. But nor a good one.