# Shows from back in the day that your parents loved that you still enjoy today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302 "2018-08-26T14:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302/21 "2018-08-27T11:47:15Z")
My parents loved the British series _All Creatures Great and Small_. I bought the DVD set a few years ago and loved every episode. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302/22 "2018-08-27T18:59:20Z")
I don’t remember my parents being \*devoted \*to any particular show, but there were some they watched more than others. My dad would occasionally watch shows like _ **Gunsmoke** _, _ **Perry Mason** _, _MAS_H\*\*\*, and _ **The Rockford Files** _, but TV was never a big thing with him. These were all shows I enjoyed watching as well, and we would sometimes watch them together. He was acquainted with Bob Newhart (personally), and particularly liked \*\*\*Newhart \*\*\*in the '90s. He hated most of the British comedies I would watch on PBS. For reasons I cannot fathom, my mother liked Lawrence Welk. She was very big on C&W too and liked watching Dolly Parton, whom I cannot stand. She also had a “thing” for Efrem Zimbalist, Jr, and missed very few episodes of _ **The FBI** _. We usually watched Carol Burnett together until the fifth or sixth season, I think it was, when they started doing more song and dance numbers at the expense of comedy sketches. We also watched _ **The Beverly Hillbillies** _, _ **Marcus Welby** _, _ **Columbo** _, and _ **Barnaby Jones** _ together. She loathed _ **Star Trek** _ and would start vacuuming whenever it came on, just to show me who was boss. Late in life, however, she admitted to loving _ **ST: Voyager** _ with Captain Janeway, which I guess she watched all alone in her apartment late at night. You could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather: “\*You \*watch _ **Star Trek** _?!? Well, at least I lived long enough to hear that!” ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302/23 "2018-08-27T19:28:42Z")
I watched a lot of the shows mentioned here with my folks, but the one I like most nowadays is _Perry Mason_. It’s on MeTV weeknights at 10:30 here and I find I enjoy it more than any of the talk shows. 1950s Los Angeles was just so cool with all the car fins, bulky suits, chainsmoking, and fancy hats! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302/24 "2018-08-27T20:04:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My father only watches a handful of shows now but he will watch them for hours. I used to wonder who marathon broadcasting was designed for and now I know. > > He watches: > > _The Andy Griffith Show_ - I was never a fan of this show when I was young but I now enjoy it. It’s pretty well-constructed and Don Knotts was brilliant. > > _Bonanza_ (also _Gunsmoke_ and other old westerns) - Again, I wasn’t a fan but when I watch them now, I’m surprised at how well they hold up. > > _MASH_ - Here I have the opposite reaction. I used to really like this show when it was originally being broadcast. But it has aged really badly. > > _Everyone Loves Raymond_ - God, what a horrible show. I don’t know why, out of all of the sitcoms that have been broadcast in the last thirty years, my father became a fan of this one. The only part of this show that’s even bearable is Peter Boyle and he’s saddled with terrible material. Funny, my parents have the same thing going on! Except Bonanza/Westerns, thank God…I can’t hang with those. I’m fine with MASH. We used to watch it a lot more in the 80s. Dad and I actually just sat and watched a few episodes last week. Mom would probably be in to westerns if my dad was. Her dad was, so I know she’s seen them. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302/25 "2018-08-27T21:40:37Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > M_A_S\*H > Monty Python’s Flying Circus > The Carol Burnett Show > The Bob Newhart Show > The Mary Tyler Moore Show > > (The latter three give you an idea of what Saturday nights were like at our house 😃 ) IIRC, wasn’t CBS’ Saturday night line-up for a year or two: 8:00 All In The Family 8:30 MASH 9:00 Mary Tyler Moore 9:30 Bob Newhart show 10:00 Carol Burnett show I remember that being three hours of solid entertainment that my mom and I on the couch in my youth. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302/26 "2018-08-27T21:48:06Z")
> [@Rough\_Draft](#): > > I watched a lot of the shows mentioned here with my folks, but the one I like most nowadays is _Perry Mason_. It’s on MeTV weeknights at 10:30 here and I find I enjoy it more than any of the talk shows. 1950s Los Angeles was just so cool with all the car fins, bulky suits, chainsmoking, and fancy hats! When I moved to Canada, my 'tweenaged daughter and I watched _ **PM** _ every day on AMI, a channel for the visually impaired (which neither of us were). It was fun seeing what was cool in the second half of the '50s, and what they _thought_ was cool in the early '60s. It also rapidly became apparent that the show was filmed on the cheap, because they kept using the same sets week after week. A lot of the time, the described video was amusing too. My daughter still quotes it on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302/27 "2018-08-27T22:06:37Z")
Quantum Leap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-from-back-in-the-day-that-your-parents-loved-that-you-still-enjoy-today/820302.md?page=1)