# Television programs you enjoyed during broadcast, but now can't watch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998 "2013-02-21T18:56:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/41 "2013-02-23T12:04:06Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Do you remember Ed? It ran from 2000-2004. My ex and I Ioved it, though I tired of it sooner than he when they kept dragging out the “will they/won’t they” thing way beyond reason. In a burst of nostalgia, I started watching it again recently. It’s… it’s not doing it for me. Just curious… how are you watching it? It’s not available on DVD in the states and it’s not shown on any channel that I know of. The two I can’t watch any more have already been mentioned: **Battlestar Galactica** and **Lost**. Both, I think, because the endings so turned me off, but also (especially for Lost) because I know what’s going to happen and a big part of my anticipation for a new episode was wondering what would happen next. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/42 "2013-02-23T12:47:36Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Just curious… how are you watching it? It’s not available on DVD in the states and it’s not shown on any channel that I know of. I plead the fifth. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/43 "2013-02-23T14:35:52Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > For me it would have to be _Northern Exposure_… > > If I ever met Dr. Fleischman in real life I would probably think he was an annoying jerk. Wasn’t that the point about him? He was a pompous jerk who felt he was above the people he served until he gradually came to love & respect & learn from them. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/44 "2013-02-23T16:15:32Z")
I would agree with BSG. The mystical nonsense that took the show over near the end turned me off. I enjoyed Sex and the City while it aired but the show really hasn’t aged well and I have no interest in rewatching it. There are lots of cartoons I liked as a kid that I realize now kind of sucked. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/45 "2013-02-23T16:41:23Z")
Anything from the TGIF lineup in the 90s. **Full House** , **Family Matters** , **Step by Step**. They were all hilarious at the time but now I really wonder wtf was wrong with us as a country back then. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/46 "2013-02-23T18:15:27Z")
I still love Married with Children, but I am sure that love is 75% nostalgia. Seinfeld is still gold. Miami Vice has lost a drop of intensity but I still can watch and enjoy it. Most manly action shows are unwatchable now… Ateam, The Dukes, Magnum PI, Macguyvor, etc. Considering they had the same plots, week in and week out, if you watch 2 in a row, it is painful. The cliches and tropes stick out like sore thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Otto_Sweet_Heart)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/47 "2013-02-23T19:20:49Z")
I love the show that Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers did together back in the 90’s named Step by Step, but as far as I know, it isn’t re-shown on TV anymore. I wish that it was on DVD. God bless you and the people who made that show awesome always!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Holly ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/48 "2013-02-23T19:54:30Z")
I LOVED Northern Exposure. I have a few of my favorite episodes on VHS tape, I suppose they’re going to explode into dust or get eaten up by the VCR if I try to play them. Of every TV show I ever followed, certain episodes of N.E. have stayed in my mind, like a first love. My favorite shows of all time were Northern Exposure, WKRP, The Wonder Years, and The (mostly forgotten) Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Either unavailable on DVD, horribly mangled, or not available at all. Why? Due to music rights. The music is what made them so special, and the music is why they are no more, or a faint shadow. ☹ Did I ever mention we rented a season of Superman, with poor old George Reeves? We watched two episodes and nearly died laughing at how childish and silly. Well, duh, we were kids back then. Jimmy Olsen involved with … smugglers! What were they moving? Cigarettes? Booze? Drugs? No, they were smuggling “leather, silk, and jewelry (I think)”! Yeah, there was a biiiiig market in the 50’s for those rare, valuable commodities. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jack\_tardiff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jack\_tardiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_tardiff)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/49 "2013-02-23T23:42:42Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Wasn’t that the point about him? He was a pompous jerk who felt he was above the people he served until he gradually came to love & respect & learn from them. Hey! Just like that modern classic film _Doc Hollywood_! I like it already! J/K I never watched _Northern Exposure_ – but Rob Morrow’s pretty awesome in _Quiz Show_, so propers to him. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/50 "2013-02-23T23:58:10Z")
I tried watching _Miami Vice_ when they aired it in Russia about ten years ago. I was _amazed_ at how badly it sucked, even without the Russian overdubbing (and these were first- and second-season episodes, filmed before the series started going downhill). The acting was wooden, the dialogue and costumes were OTT “cool,” and the action sequences that were so thrilling back in 1984–85 mostly looked like slapstick comedy. If I had to pick _one_ really “dated” series, this would be it! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/51 "2013-02-24T02:57:56Z")
A few anime shows with overarching stories, fantastic writing, beautiful animation…and bittersweet (at best) endings. Hey, I watched _Grave of the Fireflies_, too. Great movie, truly unforgettable. _'Never_ watching it again as long as I live. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/52 "2013-02-24T03:22:32Z")
_Wiseguy_ I loved the first two seasons and then it jumped the shark with soap opera type stories. It left such a bad taste that even season 1 and 2 are ruined for me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998/53 "2013-02-24T04:28:56Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > When I was a kid I thought Red Skelton was the funniest man ever. > > A few years ago I pulled up a couple of episodes at the Museum of Broadcast Communication and, well, my tastes have changed. > > On the other hand, I’ve rewatched most of The Waltons twice in recent decades, first about 15 years ago and again in the last year. At least the first four seasons hold up remarkably well, with some _really good_ writing and acting. I’m actually Tivo’ing eps of \*The Waltons. \*Surprisingly, in spite of the super-slow pace, they do hold up. It’s kind of a refreshing departure from what’s on now. And the characters are much more complex than I remember them 40 years ago. And then there’s \*Rhoda. \*I used to watch it every week, and now it’s become painful. I have no idea why I liked it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-programs-you-enjoyed-during-broadcast-but-now-cant-watch/650998.md?page=2)