# That Was Then This Is Now: TV Shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807 "2012-09-15T19:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/61 "2012-09-21T03:22:53Z")
To me Northern Exposure holds up, as said, because of strong writing. The early seasons of ER which had more involvement by Micheal Crichton are stronger than later seasons, at least to my way of thinking. (Or it could be I watched ER more regularly in nursing school than once I became a shift worker.) ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/62 "2012-09-21T20:21:27Z")
Degrassi (in all of it’s incarnations) still works for me–they tackled a lot of serious issues and used non-actors for realism. ---
**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:** [September 22, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/63 "2012-09-22T00:09:36Z")
There’s a cluster of bad shows from the 70s. Apparently I had quite a lot of spare time back then. Sanford and Son One Day at a Time Rhoda Good Times Phyllis Bob Newhart Show Room 222 ---
**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:** [September 22, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/64 "2012-09-22T03:54:39Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There’s a cluster of bad shows from the 70s. Apparently I had quite a lot of spare time back then. > > Sanford and Son > One Day at a Time > Rhoda > Good Times > Phyllis > Bob Newhart Show > Room 222 Q. One of the items in this set is not like any of the others. Can you name it? A. The Bob Newhart Show. My brain can not wrap itself around the concept of the Bob Newhart Show as a “Bad Show.” Of course, everyone has different tastes, but “bad” and “Newhart” can never appear together in the same phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/65 "2012-09-22T04:33:13Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There’s a cluster of bad shows from the 70s. Apparently I had quite a lot of spare time back then. > > Sanford and Son > One Day at a Time > Rhoda > Good Times > Phyllis > Bob Newhart Show > Room 222 Funny you say that. I happened to catch an episode of _Sanford And Son_ the other day, and I was surprised at how funny it was. And I disliked it back in the 70’s. As for _Wonder Woman_, I thought Lynda Carter’s boobs \*were \* the plot. ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/66 "2012-09-22T10:12:47Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Q. One of the items in this set is not like any of the others. Can you name it? > > A. The Bob Newhart Show. > > My brain can not wrap itself around the concept of the Bob Newhart Show as a “Bad Show.” Of course, everyone has different tastes, but “bad” and “Newhart” can never appear together in the same phrase. Exactly! I just got the first release of it, and almost a disc and a half in, what you said is ringing very true. It is a great show. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/67 "2012-09-22T12:02:31Z")
I’m a bit surprised at all the love for “Northern Exposure.” I enjoyed it during its original run, and recently introduced my wife to it via Netflix. Parts of it were okay, but not as good as I’d remembered. Partly this is because it’s the kind of thing which takes time, where you enjoy it more as you gradually get to know the characters well, even if the acting or writing is not so good in certain episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Mann\_Slaughter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@Mann\_Slaughter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mann_Slaughter)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/68 "2012-09-22T12:13:07Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > So very many but … when BlockBuster was still open, out of nostalgia I rented the best of Benny Hill. It was not nearly as funny as I remember. Two years ago I bought the Benny Hill Complete Megaset! (1969-1989) 58 episodes on 18 DVDs. First, who knew Benny Hill ran for TWENTY YEARS?! Second, why can’t I get through the first disc? I remember being a kid and staying up late to watch Benny Hill and laughing like a crazy person at his antics, but trying to watch it two years ago I don’t think I smiled even once. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/69 "2012-09-22T18:04:55Z")
The original “Power Rangers.” I was in grade 1-2 when I loved it, in my defence. ---
**Author:** ![junior18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc79bd/32.png) [@junior18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/junior18)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/70 "2012-09-24T01:47:49Z")
I have to second MacGyver. I loved it when I was a kid; I watch it now and I can’t believe how silly it is. Likewise, I loved Knight Rider, and it’s every bit as ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/71 "2012-09-24T01:57:54Z")
> [@junior18](#): > > I have to second MacGyver. I loved it when I was a kid; I watch it now and I can’t believe how silly it is. > > Likewise, I loved Knight Rider, and it’s every bit as ridiculous. Thanks for reminding me of Hardcastle & McCormick! Like Magnum P.I. but you see the puppetmaster. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/72 "2012-09-24T12:19:15Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There’s a cluster of bad shows from the 70s. Apparently I had quite a lot of spare time back then. > > Sanford and Son > One Day at a Time > Rhoda > Good Times > Phyllis > Bob Newhart Show > Room 222 I disagree about Room 222. No show featuring Karen Valentine in miniskirts could be bad. Not that many of the shows of my youth can be seen today. I enjoyed shows like F Troop, Time Tunnel, the Green Hornet, and Love, American Syle but they haven’t seen the light of day in ages. ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/73 "2012-09-24T15:30:42Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > A few years ago I managed to make it part way through an episode of _Little House_. Wow, treacly! I’m sure I’d find _The Waltons_ just as bad. _Little House_ has to have been, to me, one of the worst shows ever there was; unfortunately, two of my brothers think otherwise (can’t blame 'em though). My mother _really_ loves _The Waltons_; she has all 9 seasonal releases (not the movies, though), and she has the companion book as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/74 "2012-09-24T19:43:34Z")
> [@bmasters1](#): > > _Little House_ has to have been, to me, one of the worst shows ever there was; unfortunately, two of my brothers think otherwise (can’t blame 'em though). My mother _really_ loves _The Waltons_; she has all 9 seasonal releases (not the movies, though), and she has the companion book as well. I loved the books as a kid. Actually I had quite a fetish for late 19th century childhood, what with Laura Ingalls, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women and even the Secret Garden, the last one being much more exotic and incomprehensible to this Canadian’s experience. That being said, I despised then and now the tv shows based on these books. I was 8 years old and I remember having a crying fit right before my parents were going out on their week night out because my 14 year old babysitter would want to watch Little House on the Prairie and “Mom it’s NOT TRUE, its just made up stories about people with the same NAMES! Pa doesn’t have a beard! Nelly isn’t even in it until book 4! Its just LIES!” My mother to her eternal credit handled this with a straight face, gave me the “well don’t watch it, then” line. I followed that advice and I don’t believe I have watched an episode since 1978. The Road to Avonlea had some shrill woman with a voice like wiper blades on dry glass so I have never been able to watch that. I love historical fiction,:hate most historical tv drama. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/75 "2012-09-24T20:17:50Z")
Meanwhile… at the Hall of Justice, Cheesesteak was watching an episode of Super Friends. I caught a few minutes of one a few years back. All I wanted to do was scream “One of you guys has to be a professional writer, you should come up with a plot better than this while taking a dump.” ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807/76 "2012-09-24T21:57:24Z")
> [@Mann\_Slaughter](#): > > Two years ago I bought the Benny Hill Complete Megaset! (1969-1989) 58 episodes on 18 DVDs. > > First, who knew Benny Hill ran for TWENTY YEARS?! > Second, why can’t I get through the first disc? > I remember being a kid and staying up late to watch Benny Hill and laughing like a crazy person at his antics, but trying to watch it two years ago I don’t think I smiled even once. Y’know, a while ago I’d have said “well, that’s because unsophisticated physical comedy just doesn’t age well.” But last summer I caught (in a movie theater, no less) a showing of _The General_, starring Buster Keaton. Silent film, mostly slapstick and pratfalls. And it was _hilarious_. But it’s also probably that you were a kid - that all seemed new and fresh, because you didn’t have the reference pool you do now. I haven’t seen Benny Hill in ages, but I would guess the more risque gags (copping an illicit feel by means of a fake broken arm, for example) would read as creepy, these days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-then-this-is-now-tv-shows/634807.md?page=3)