# TV Shows lost in the mists of time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324 "2012-04-09T23:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/61 "2012-04-10T15:48:58Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > But I still occasionally utter the phrase “We’re gonnna need another Timmy” when opportunity presents itself. Ha! Me too! 😃 Also, “Not the Mama!” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/62 "2012-04-10T15:50:08Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > Doctor Doctor starring a post Max Headroom Matt Frewer frenetically chewing up the scenery with relentless and relentlessly funny adlibs. Very highly regarded by those who saw the 40 show, two season run, it’s never officially appeared on tape or DVD. I’ve always been a big Matt Frewer fan since his Max Headroom days and was surprised recently to recognize him in the accountant pirates segment of _The Meaning of Life_. > [@](#): > > _[Pearl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_%28TV_series%29)_, starring Malcolm McDowell as a stuffy uppercrust English professor and Rhea Perlman as a working-class woman who went back to college. So…a sitcom based on _Educating Rita_? I’ll also add _Babes_ a Fox sitcom featuring three plus-size women. A bit of a touchy subject which didn’t last more than one season. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/63 "2012-04-10T15:58:22Z")
> [@Hogfather65](#): > > Herman yes - but it was the cook from Bilko - not Grampa… However, Grandpa from _The Munsters_ was in _Car 54_–just not in that photo. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/64 "2012-04-10T16:20:37Z")
Pearl was a cheers spin off wasn’t it? I enjoyed even if it made no sense that billy Connolly was McDowell’s brother. Eerie, Indiana was a very popular show, here at least. Anyone of my age would recall it. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/65 "2012-04-10T16:40:40Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Pearl was a cheers spin off wasn’t it? I enjoyed even if it made no sense that billy Connolly was McDowell’s brother. I don’t think it was a \*Cheers \*spinoff, though Rhea Perlman played a very similar character to the one on \*Cheers \*(I think–I pretty much hated \*Cheers \*so I only saw a couple of eps, but in \*Pearl \*she was a wisecracking sarcastic working-class woman). ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/66 "2012-04-10T16:50:13Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Well, all right… I’ll let you off this time. Just don’t make me tell you again [in another six years.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7426420&highlight=Kenny+Everett#post7426420) 😃 I’m nothing if not consistent. . . ly wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/67 "2012-04-10T16:50:25Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Oh, dear, seeing that brings this other Joe E. Lewis vehicle to mind: > [Car 54 Where Are You](http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDz9HfEEUqA&feature=related) You can tell how old that show is because the theme song has Khruschev due not in JFK, but Idewild, the airport name before 1964. Yes I can still sing the theme song. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/68 "2012-04-10T17:00:30Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Ultraman! Wow! Now that was blast from the past. “Ultraman’s energy is rapidly depleted in Earth’s atmosphere.” Some of my geekier friends still use that phrase when they are tired. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/69 "2012-04-10T17:12:31Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’ve never seen or heard of the first show you were mentioning so this might be irrelevant, but on It’s Always Sunny, her name is Deandra. (dee-AN-dra) So it is! Thanks for the reminder. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/70 "2012-04-10T17:21:25Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I don’t think it was a \*Cheers \*spinoff, though Rhea Perlman played a very similar character to the one on \*Cheers \*(I think–I pretty much hated \*Cheers \*so I only saw a couple of eps, but in \*Pearl \*she was a wisecracking sarcastic working-class woman). Ah, looking it up I see you’re correct. It’s that long since I saw it I think I had just assumed it was a spin-off because Perlman was in it. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/71 "2012-04-10T17:46:24Z")
My misty entry would be “Busting Loose”, NOT the 1980s prison take-off but the 1977 Adam Arkin series (21 episodes) - [IMDB has an entry](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192884/), but apparently Wiki does not at this time. I remember liking it and thinking it was funny back then (I was 13 or so), but at this late date all I can remember is a running joke about his apartment’s duck-themed wallpaper. Oh well. In this thread, people have mentioned such series as “The Dinosaurs” and “Real People” and “Car 54, Where Are You?”, which I thought were actually fairly popular in their era, and are still known to some extent today - how can they be considered “lost in the mists”? OTOH, a low-rated replacement series that only aired a few episodes - that I can see being lost in the midst of time. Where would “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” fit in (I recall it lasted a few seasons - the last season when they were always in a diner and he had an arty girl friend rather sucked). Does anyone else remember “Synchronize Swatches” or the (actually kind of useful) “Jerry, Don’t Help!”? OTOH, everyone remembers “Bueller? Bueller?” from the movie (you know it) that it was claimed Parker Lewis ripped off. I wonder, say 30 years from now, of all those “series” found on the various cable channels like History or Discovery or TLC, how many of them will be “lost in the mist of time” (even if they leave a media footprint on the Web)? Something like “Monster Garage”, which I liked and whiched aired 80 or so episodes - doesn’t seem to get much mention nowadays, even when they are discussing Jesse James in some or other article. And that’s just a series which was somewhat original - how about the numerous knock-off pawn/auction shows, or cop ride-along shows, or home decorating/flipping shows - how many of those will be lost (heck, I don’t even recall the originals in those categories - all right, maybe I remember “Cops”, but the auction ones? Pawn-Stars? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/72 "2012-04-10T17:46:37Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Ha! Me too! 😃 > > Also, “Not the Mama!” “Just out, gotta love me!” ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/73 "2012-04-10T18:00:49Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > In this thread, people have mentioned such series as “The Dinosaurs” and “Real People” and “Car 54, Where Are You?”, which I thought were actually fairly popular in their era, and are still known to some extent today - how can they be considered “lost in the mists”? I would consider a show “lost” if it rarely or never shows up in syndication. Even shows that were fairly popular in their day like the ones you mention don’t come on very often if at all (do they? I haven’t noticed them in my cursory glances through the cable guide or Netflix) so there’s very little opportunity to go back and watch them again. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/74 "2012-04-10T18:13:31Z")
“Doctor! Doctor” with Matt Frewer. It was insanely funny, but I think it was just a little too smart for the average viewer. The quips and puns came very quickly and sometimes you were laughing so hard at the first one, you missed the next one. I don’t think it made it a full season, so it will never be in syndication. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/75 "2012-04-10T18:17:21Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I would consider a show “lost” if it rarely or never shows up in syndication. Even shows that were fairly popular in their day like the ones you mention don’t come on very often if at all (do they? I haven’t noticed them in my cursory glances through the cable guide or Netflix) so there’s very little opportunity to go back and watch them again. I would have stricter criteria. If you google a show and get very few or very poor hits and if you can’t find at least a short clip of the show online. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/76 "2012-04-10T18:22:34Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Also, “Not the Mama!” Possibly one of the most heartbreaking segments of a hilarious show. In the late 1970s, there was a show called _Husbands, Wives, and Lovers_. Given the subject matter, I am rather surprised that my parents allowed me to watch it. But, as a kid on the verge of puberty, I thought it was hilarious. Then there a number of short-lived sci-fi shows from the late 1970s: The Invisible Man, The Gemini Man, The Fantastic Journey. Seeing this thread made me search for a lot of Saturday morning shows from my youth. A surprising number of Sid & Marty Krofft shows have been released on DVD. Several Filmation shows were released on DVD, but the company that did so seems to have gone bankrupt. _The Kids from C.A.P.E.R._ has a wikipedia page! I thought I was the only one who ever watched that show! ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/77 "2012-04-10T18:33:27Z")
> [@DirkGntly](#): > > “Doctor! Doctor” with Matt Frewer. It was insanely funny, but I think it was just a little too smart for the average viewer. The quips and puns came very quickly and sometimes you were laughing so hard at the first one, you missed the next one. I don’t think it made it a full season, so it will never be in syndication. Which I recall since it is one of the few shows based in Rhode Island. My own contribution - Stark Raving Mad, with Neil Patrick Harris and Tony Shalhoub. > **[Stark Raving Mad (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stark_Raving_Mad_%28TV_series%29)** > > Stark Raving Mad is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 23, 1999, to July 13, 2000. The series starred Tony Shalhoub and Neil Patrick Harris. > Shalhoub stars as odd horror novelist Ian Stark, who is obsessed with practical jokes, and whose first book Below Ground was a best seller. Neil Patrick Harris is Stark's reluctant editor Henry McNeeley, who has a variety of phobias and possibly obsessive–compulsive disorder. > On January 10, 2000, the sitcom won a People... ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/78 "2012-04-10T19:08:26Z")
I just saw in the paper this morning that [I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_Dickens,_He's_Fenster) is coming out on DVD. The end times are upon us. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/79 "2012-04-10T19:16:20Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > There was a show that ran for a season or two in the early 90’s called “Brooklyn Bridge” about a three-generation Jewish family in Brooklyn in the early 50’s. Wonderful characters, dialogue, thoughtful plots. Art Garfunkel sang the opening title. A gem of a program. I remember that one, and I remember enjoying it as well. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324/80 "2012-04-10T19:23:27Z")
There was a sitcom that I used to watch as a kid called “Rocky Road” about a family that owned an ice cream shop on an oceanfront boardwalk somewhere. Looks like[it has a Wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Road_(TV_series)). Anyone else remember this one? Looks like it aired on the “SUPERSTATION” WTBS. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-lost-in-the-mists-of-time/618324.md?page=5)