So I’m flipping channels and come upon the last minute or so of an older episode of Homicide: Life on the Street and suddenly get one of those pangs of nostalgia. This was probably my favorite show of all time, TV at its finest (I don’t watch much TV). Gripping, interesting, long-lasting stories, and characters you actually related with and cared about. And more importantly, believed. The stories didn’t always wind up happily, and often times you were frustrated at the way things turned out (just like real life).
But this is not an homage to Homicide. I just realized that i missed it.
So what TV shows do you miss? Miss in the sense that each Friday or Tuesday or whatever it was a new show and you would get back with the characters you liked (or disliked). In other words, forget the fact that the show may be in syndication (I don’t have enough time/patience even now to sit through a rerun of a show). Go back to when it was new…and which ones do you miss? And why?
I miss Sliders… (well, most of it. The third season that Sci-Fi made for it sucked (by third season I mean once Jerry O’Connel left.))
I also miss Babylon 5. I think re-runs are still on Sci-Fi, but I never get to see them since I pretty much never watch TV, and when I do, it is usually after 8 PM.
Hill Street Blues - I never missed an episode - interesting characters, great stories.
I miss the entire Saturday night lineup on CBS when I was a kid - Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, All in the Family, The Carol Burnett Show. I know I’m missing one - unfortunately I can’t remember it.
Good news for you, WV_Woman, you can still see all these shows on Lifetime and Nick at Night!
(Unless you’re wanting to see NEW episodes, in which case, can’t help you there.)
Mork and Mindy (the first season and a little of the third season only. No sane person misses the second season with the boring deli-owner, his boring sister and Mindy’s boring congressman(?) cousin. It’s been rumored (and I’ve verified) that the second season was a plot by Cthulhu to destroy the minds of mankind! :eek: )
Misfits of Science. Yes. I know it sucked. I don’t care. I liked it despite it’s suckage.
Land of the Lost, back when David Gerrold, Ursula K. LeGuin(??), Larry Niven(!) and other real science fiction writers were writng scripts for it (first season only)
Star Trek: the REAL Trek, with flawed, human characters (as opposed to the smarmy more-enlightened-than-thou paragons of virtue and smugness from Next Gen) who quibbled, had weaknessess and had Klingons who didn’t look like they’d had lobster tails surgically implanted under their scalps) and scripts by REAL S.F. writers: David Gerrold, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Bloch, etc.
Northern Exposure
Picket Fences
Alien Nation
Quantum Leap
Herman’s Head
Werewolf (especially the earlier ones)
Due South
Sliders
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Is that eclectic enough?
I’m sure I will be reminded of more when other people post to this thread.
You know, the good cartoons they used to show on the WB before the Pokemon infestation …
Highlander
Alas for the loss of the sword-fighting goodness. Alas for the loss of the handsome men.
Oh yeah, and they used to put Monty Python’s Flying Circus on at 10 or 11 pm on my old PBS station. The don’t anymore. Jerks.
St. Elsewhere - In high school, watching this show was the undisputed high point of each week! Cheers High Incident Leap of Faith - this one was never given a decent chance. Weren’t there only four episodes?
Fame - I know, I know - but I liked it anyway, OK? Fast Forward - at least I think that was the name - it was a science a technology show with a smart, but goofy, host. Thirty-Something - again, I know, I know - but I had a very, very close boyfriend at the time who really loved this show and we’d wathc it every week. Mr. Wizard - what can I say, I’ve always been a science geek - I’ve been watching Nova on PBS since its first season.
Tales of the Gold Monkey Indiana Jones-type adventures in the South Seas. With Stephen Collins as the clean-cut hero, and Roddy McDowall as Bon Chance Louie.
Another one here whose title escapes me. I thought it was “Ghost Chasers” or “Ghost Hunters” but the IMDB didn’t strike gold. It was another short-lived show that attempted to ride the coattails of “Ghostbusters.” I actually taped a few of the shows. It was silly, but I’m still wishing I could see it again.
Magnum PI Never mind the final sucky season. I caught the previous two seasons and got hooked on it. The stories varied from serious to silly, and the second bananas got a chance to shine from time to time. Yeah, I could do with a Magnum movie.
Siskel and Ebert because Siskel was Ebert’s equal in every way, and the tension caused by both of them thinking they were the better made it a great show. Nowhere Man just because it was original an unpredictable.
Pink Pussycat, I have some old episodes of H.R. Puffinstuff! I loved that show as a kid, and it’s even better with psychotropic substances, which I’m sure had something to do with it’s creation.
My favourite bit is when the little townspeople are holding a hippie/anarchist demonstation, and chanting “More Candy! No Work! More Candy! No Work!” The movie doesn’t hold a candle. (Got that too, though.)
As for more recent shows, I really miss the late-eighties/early nineties sketch comedy show, Codco. Codco restored my shattered faith in television. It was funny as hell, but it was smart, too. (And I still have a mega-crush on Cathy Jones). The problem with nostalgia is it isn’t really nostalgia until you get all maudlin and weepy. Thinking of Tommy Sexton does the trick for me. It sounds cliche, but he really felt like family. So bright.
(well, most of it. The third season that Sci-Fi made for it sucked (by third season I mean once Jerry O’Connel left.))
