# Things you've rewatched after years and have held up, things that have not **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [May 2, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064 "2024-05-02T12:29:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/101 "2024-05-04T11:33:57Z")
The Munsters is better now than when I was a kid. Lots of inside jokes that I didn’t pick up on when I was younger. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/102 "2024-05-04T12:11:50Z")
Not a film or TV show, but a commercial: I showed my kid that famous 1984 Apple Macintosh ad (shown during the Super Bowl), and neither of us were impressed — and I don’t think it’s because the tech has evolved. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/103 "2024-05-04T12:21:05Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I have been a big Star Trek fan since I was a kid but I had never seen TOS. I started watching The Cage and got about ten minutes in before deciding I couldn’t take it any longer. If that’s all you’ve tried to watch, you still haven’t seen TOS. “The Cage” was the original pilot, but the show itself was significantly different. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/104 "2024-05-04T12:42:26Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > For a failed attempt, there’s been a couple points in the last twenty years where I think “I’ll watch Clerks again” and can’t get past the 30% point before turning it off. I was, like pretty much everyone else, in love with it when it came out but just find it plodding now. **Clerks** was another one I mentioned in a previous thread as not holding up, but my complaint is that the acting is not very good; it sounds like they’re cold reading the clever dialog off of cue cards. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/105 "2024-05-04T14:19:13Z")
My wife and I watched _The Thing_ (1982) about a month ago when I got on a “classic horror” kick. I had watched it many times before, but she had never seen it. Of the several horror movies we watched over the space of a few weeks, this was the only one that she stated she “did not like at all.” I asked her why and she basically told me that she found it disturbing. “Great!” I said, “It did its job.” As far as other horror movies that have held up, I’ve got to add _An American Werewolf in London_. I shudder to think what the CGI crew would have tried to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/106 "2024-05-04T15:40:09Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > As far as other horror movies that have held up, I’ve got to add _An American Werewolf in London_. I shudder to think what the CGI crew would have tried to do with it. You don’t have to imagine – watch _An American Werewolf in Paris_, which usesall CGI effects. > **[An American Werewolf in Paris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_American_Werewolf_in_Paris)** > > An American Werewolf in Paris (the "An" does not appear in the title scene) is a 1997 comedy horror film directed by Anthony Waller, screenplay by Tim Burns, Tom Stern, and Waller, and starring Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy. It follows the general concept of, and is a sequel to, John Landis's 1981 film An American Werewolf in London. The film is an international co-production between companies from the United States, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. > Unlike its predecessor An Americ... ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/107 "2024-05-04T15:40:21Z")
A little ot, but anyway…when I was a little kid I convinced myself, having never seen it, that House on Haunted Hill was the scariest movie ever made. Then I saw it, decades later. It was a lame-o comedy 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/108 "2024-05-04T16:48:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > You don’t have to imagine – watch _An American Werewolf in Paris_, which usesall CGI effects. I feel obliged to point out that the difference between American Werewolf in London and American Werewolf in Paris is not one used CGI and one didn’t. There are plenty of crap films based on physical effects and plenty of awesome films based on CGI (the Villeneuve Dune vs the Lynch Dune being good counter example) You could argue CGI, particularly early CGi doesn’t hold up as well as physical effects, but even that has a lot to with how the filmmaker uses them. The CGI in the Abyss holds up well, though is not longer as mindblowing as it was when I first watched it ("that was done on a computer!!!?! 🤯 ") ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/109 "2024-05-04T16:52:50Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > A little ot, but anyway…when I was a little kid I convinced myself, having never seen it, that House on Haunted Hill was the scariest movie ever made Yeah that’s a whole other topic. I was never allowed to watch scary movies as a kid, so a lot of the classic 80s horror I only knew from my school friends descriptions. So in my head they were the most utterly terrifying movies imaginable, when I finally watched them as an adult they were utterly underwhelming. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/110 "2024-05-04T17:11:08Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > They were both made during an especially rich period in filmmaking, the late 60s-early 70s. Unfortunately, many films made during that time come off as trying to be too hip and look very dated as a result. There is one instance where they pull it off: the **Monty Python** TV series. I’d say that a troupe whose rule was that if you absolutely _had_ to include a punchline in a skit, that you should almost always make fun of using that punchline, counts as “trying to be too hip”, but I think it still holds up for the most part, with the exception of a few cringy moments and a few interminable animations. In fact, there are some moments that don’t hold up as well once I _do_ know the zeitgeist, because then they change into just a regular old joke instead of the absurdist humor the Pythons are great at. For instance, the announcer who kept sniffling was not ha-ha funny, but it was pleasantly droll until I found out it was based on a real sniffling announcer. But occasionally knowing the back story does make things funnier, like in the Election Night Special in which Mary Whitehouse take umbrage/Umbridge. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/111 "2024-05-04T17:20:03Z")
I recently watched Lillies of the Field, a film I hadn’t seen since the 1960s when I was a child. It held up amazingly well. An interesting, unique story told in beautiful black and white cinematography. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/112 "2024-05-04T21:17:41Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I feel obliged to point out that the difference between American Werewolf in London and American Werewolf in Paris is not one used CGI and one didn’t. Well, yeah, it is. Which is why I brought it up. Whether the CGI is good and well-used is a separate question, to which the answer is that it wasn’t particularly well-done. You get a much better CGI werewolf in **Van Helsing** ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/113 "2024-05-04T21:18:13Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Alien** , to me, still has too many logical lapses and things that take me out of the movie. Yep. Magical Space Monster. Crew doing all the things that movie watchers yell at the screen for people not to do. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > **Alien** is a horror movie, but does a creditable job of obscuring that. Yep, and I despise that sort of horror film (the old classic B&W films- The Mummy, Frankenstein, etc are okay). But it was pushed a s a Science Fiction film- so- to my everlasting regret- I went and saw it. It is a Horror/monster film set in Space- with most of the tropes. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If that’s all you’ve tried to watch, you still haven’t seen TOS. “The Cage” was the original pilot, but the show itself was significantly different. Yeah, and it is only good for it’s historical value. It’s meh as a story. ---
**Author:** ![Jebbilene](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jebbilene/32/3414_2.png) [@Jebbilene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jebbilene)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/114 "2024-05-04T21:58:30Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Agreed. We started a binge of MTM on the fiftieth anniversary of the first episode and went all the way through. It really didn’t feel dated in any significant way. I didn’t think this could possibly be true, so I watched an episode. It was surprisingly good. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/115 "2024-05-04T23:15:39Z")
I wasn’t really familiar with the last three or so seasons of MTM. I checked them out of the library recently and was amazed. They were IMO better than the earlier ones, and I thought _those_ were great. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2024, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/116 "2024-05-05T02:08:54Z")
> [@Topologist](#): > > But I was sad when I tried a while ago to rewatch some Marx Brothers movies. I just found the timing no longer worked for me, the pacing and delivery was too slow. As if it was something that worked on stage that didn’t translate to film. I’m very sad to say I may agree with this. For most of my life I viewed the Marx Brothers as the quintessential comedy team. I saw most of their movies as a kid, and then again in college when they had a resurgence of popularity in the 1970s, and always thought they were hysterical. But a few weeks ago my wife told me she’d never seen a Marx Bros. movie. I was aghast and insisted that we watch _A Night At The Opera_. (I actually like some of their earlier ones better, like _Duck Soup_ and _Animal Crackers_, but thought _Opera_ would be a better introduction.) Even ignoring the musical numbers, I was cringing through most of the movie, expecting her to turn to me at any minute and say, “This is supposed to be great comedy?” Even the stateroom scene seemed only mildly amusing. Most of the bits seemed dated and quaint. I’m not sure if I’m just too familiar with them now, or if my taste has changed, but I suspect the latter. I think fast-paced surreal comedies like _Airplane_, _Top Secret_ and _Naked Gun_ have ruined the Marx Brothers for me. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/117 "2024-05-05T02:20:41Z")
The Marx Brothers movies made at Paramount were the best: Horsefeathers, Duck Soup. When they were acquired by Irving Thalberg for MGM, compromises were made for the sake of commercialization. They didn’t care because they enjoyed the bigger money at MGM. But when Buster Keaton found himself under their yoke it destroyed him. (BTW, he wrote the stateroom gag). ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2024, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/118 "2024-05-05T05:25:32Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > **Revenge of the Nerds** has not aged well. I enjoyed it when it came out, but I tried to watch it about a year ago - a lot of cringey stuff in there - hard to believe we were so open in comedy about some of that stuff back in the day. Sheesh. It’s an interesting one… Because on one level, it really has a lot of heart, and respect for its characters, and a fairly up to date message about acceptance. And it has a lot of genuinely funny and memorable scenes. Also, its cast is just a murderer’s row of people who went on to bigger and better things. But… it’s pretty much impossible to get past the unbelievably horrible sexual politics. I was a teenager when it came out and I LOVED it (and I’m sure I still have a bit of a hangover of that love today). And as best I can recall, I never thought that anything that the Lambda Lambda Lambdas did was OK… but I also at the time didn’t feel guilty about laughing at it. It didn’t seem real, it was just funny stuff happening on screen. (And, to be fully honest, I was a teenage boy and copious toplessness didn’t hurt.) Maybe someone will remake it with AI so that the original performances are there and replace the rape and sexual harassment with something else. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/119 "2024-05-05T16:23:55Z")
I’ve often been disappointed upon viewing TV shows from my childhood. I think part of that is the difference in format. Maxwell Smart saying “missed it by THAT much!” was funny when I was nine years old and waiting for it once a week. Hearing it ten times in one evening on DVD, it’s not the same. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064/120 "2024-05-05T16:29:47Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I’ve often been disappointed upon viewing TV shows from my childhood There is another reaction to shows from my childhood which I watched over and over (on VHS), that I’m literally incapable of having a dispassionate opinion on them, as I can cannot remember I time when I didn’t literally know every single joke by heart. It doesn’t help that I’m talking about British TV shows (Blackadder and the Young Ones stand out) that don’t have that many episodes so it’s possible to know every episode line for line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-rewatched-after-years-and-have-held-up-things-that-have-not/1001064.md?page=7)