TV history through overlapping programs

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

I think you can swap in Lassie without too much trouble.

Yeah, I played with it before but didn’t have success until I realized that Hawaii Five-0 was the missing piece. Although All in the Family (1971-1979) would also work.

Kraft Television Theatre 1947-1958
*Lassie *1954-1971
Hawaii Five-0 1968-1980
Dallas 1978-1991
Law & Order 1990-2010
Modern Family 2009-2020

Depending on how early you want to start, Jack Benny feels better to me than an anthology show like Kraft.

The Jack Benny Program 1950-1965
Bonanza 1959-1973
MASH* 1972-1983
*Cheers *1982-1993
Law & Order 1990-2010
Modern Family 2009-2020

Plugging *Gunsmoke *back in I get:

*Mama *1949-1956
*Gunsmoke *1955-1975
Happy Days 1974-1984
Murder, She Wrote 1984-1996
ER 1994-2009
NCIS: Los Angeles 2009- present

I don’t think you can get to five with any set of strict rules. You’d need five that averaged 14 years and started and ended at just the right times.

And you need to rule whether situations like Happy Days, which ran through 1984 and then reruns in the summer, and Murder, She Wrote, which started in fall 1984, truly count as overlapping. If not, I can’t make that last set work. But it’s too late to keep trying.

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@Exapno_Mapcase

And you need to rule whether situations like Happy Days, which ran through 1984 and then reruns in the summer, and Murder, She Wrote, which started in fall 1984, truly count as overlapping.

Looks like Gunsmoke’s finale aired in March of ‘75, days after the eleventh episode of The Jeffersons — and it looks like The Jeffersons aired its finale in July of ‘85, after a whole season of Murder, She Wrote. So that’d maybe avoid the “overlapping” question better than Happy Days does.

[Andy_L]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

Uh, I hate to break it to you, but, yeah, it is.

I should have said “openly acknowledged as scripted”

@Kent_Clark

Objection. Cable shows need their own category.

Restiction to non-cable - Approved

@Exapno_Mapcase

*Mama *1949-1956
*Gunsmoke *1955-1975
Happy Days 1974-1984
Murder, She Wrote 1984-1996
ER 1994-2009
NCIS: Los Angeles 2009- present

I don’t think you can get to five with any set of strict rules. You’d need five that averaged 14 years and started and ended at just the right times.

And you need to rule whether situations like Happy Days, which ran through 1984 and then reruns in the summer, and Murder, She Wrote, which started in fall 1984, truly count as overlapping. If not, I can’t make that last set work. But it’s too late to keep trying.

That is non-overlapping, unfortunately.

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

Looks like Gunsmoke’s finale aired in March of ‘75, days after the eleventh episode of The Jeffersons — and it looks like The Jeffersons aired its finale in July of ‘85, after a whole season of Murder, She Wrote. So that’d maybe avoid the “overlapping” question better than Happy Days does.

Yes.

[Chronos]

I’m more interested in this bit:

MacGyver returned from the dead and Twin Peaks too, all during the Simpsons eon.

What other shows can we think of that overlapped with two different iterations of some other show?

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

Looks like Gunsmoke’s finale aired in March of ‘75, days after the eleventh episode of The Jeffersons — and it looks like The Jeffersons aired its finale in July of ‘85, after a whole season of Murder, She Wrote. So that’d maybe avoid the “overlapping” question better than Happy Days does.

Nice catch.

[Kent_Clark]

We forgot PBS. I’d like a ruling on Masterpiece Theatre/Masterpiece Classic

It’s been running continuously since 1971, which would bring the total history down to just three shows.

[Paintcharge]

Can we use 60 Minutes? September '68-now.

When I read the thread title, I thought you were looking for show that told history in order. Something like Rome to Vikings to Robin Hood etc. ( I don’t think that’s an accurate timeline, though.)