# TV Shows Only You Remember **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 8, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022 "2021-07-08T20:36:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/262 "2021-07-12T02:20:39Z")
The snark and sarcasm in the show were not welcome in Prime Time TV back then. I loved it. Many have not seen _Better Off Ted_ . No one else remembers [McKeever and the Colonel - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKeever_and_the_Colonel#:~:text=McKeever%20and%20the%20Colonel%20is,Star%20Television%20produced%20the%20series). and I admit I barely do. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/263 "2021-07-12T02:45:39Z")
My older brother never missed an episode of _ **Jennifer Slept Here** _, since he had a “thing” for Ann Jillian. (So did I, but the show never fit into my schedule. I only ever saw one episode that he had taped.) I remember _ **McKeever and the Colonel** _. I loved it when I was in fourth or fifth grade because I was always playing Army and wanted to go to military school. (No way my parents would have financed that for me. They never contributed a penny to my college education either.) Here are a few I doubt anyone else remembers: _ **Clone Master** _. A scientist clones himself, and the two men devote their lives to wreaking vengeance on the forces of evil. (Or something like that.) Debuted in September 1979 and quickly disappeared. _ **The Immortal.** _ Starring Christopher George as a man who will live forever because he has a special type of blood. He died in 13 weeks. IIRC, debuted in September 1972 or '73. _ **The Phoenix.** _ Khan’s navigator (the big blond guy) in _ **ST II** _ as an Ancient Alien eking out an existence in present-day America. This one came on while I was still in college, so probably September 1982. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/264 "2021-07-12T04:30:54Z")
Not unless she got the surgery immediately after _Dirty Dancing_ because after that she was pretty much in tv shows and movies of the week. I mean, let’s be serious, we are talking Hollywood here. Good looks help peoples careers not tank them. Especially young women. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/265 "2021-07-12T04:41:19Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > I remember thinking it would be a cool twist if the whole thing were an elaborate _audition_ , and the finale would have him finally getting to the heart of the conspiracy, only to be offered a seat at the table… Would have been a better twist than what we got… In the season finale, which ended up being the last episode ever, they start talking about Gemini, a previously unmentioned government agent who knows details about the conspiracy and the main character needs to find him. Turns out…the main character _ **is** _ Gemini…get it, Gemini… you know, twins…_sigh_. The plot twist might have worked a little better (a) without the dead giveaway name and (b) if the notion of the Gemini character had been introduced in the 25 hour-long season sometime earlier than 35 minutes before the reveal and (c) _Total Recall_ hadn’t used the same twist a few years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/266 "2021-07-12T04:45:23Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I remember _ **McKeever and the Colonel** _ . I loved it when I was in fourth or fifth grade because I was always playing Army and wanted to go to military school. (No way my parents would have financed that for me. They never contributed a penny to my college education either.) No way! 😲 Same here. How about the _New Amsterdam_ one with the Immortal? ---
**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:** [July 12, 2021, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/267 "2021-07-12T04:52:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > How about the _New Amsterdam_ one with the Immortal? Nope, missed that. ☹ I remember reading somewhere that Christopher George IRL eventually died from an injury he got while filming _ **The Rat Patrol** _. IIRC, he took a blow to the chest from a Jeep’s steering wheel that damaged his heart. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/268 "2021-07-12T10:57:06Z")
Sounds about right > **[TV REVIEW : 'Raven': A Martial-Arts Fest on CBS](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-24-ca-807-story.html)** > > What won't most viewers be doing after viewing CBS' new action-adventure series? Answer: "Raven." "There aren’t even that many thrills in the sword fight and hand-to-hand combat scenes, which seem unduly tame for the sake of network standards and practices–though, in a running gag, Majors has some fun producing endless numbers of pistols that get consistently kicked out of his hands. " ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/269 "2021-07-12T11:00:14Z")
This was one of the first shows I recall with a web presence - the producer wrote little commentaries discussing each episode and posted them to the web. Anyone remember “Deadly Games”? A guy designs a videogame with villains based on everyone who was ever mean to him - and lightning (or something) leads the villains to come to life, and threaten him and his ex-wife in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/270 "2021-07-12T11:01:02Z")
I remember Jennifer… ---
**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:** [July 12, 2021, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/271 "2021-07-12T11:51:12Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Jesus what a horrorshow that was. I remember wanting it to be good because I liked John Schuck on McMillan and Wife, but…just no. I remember it, I too liked John Schuck, and “horrorshow” sums it up pretty well. > [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > Anybody remember Lucan, the show about a boy who had been raised by wolves? He got caught in a hunter’s trap and grows up to become a detective, using his wolf skills to solve crimes and protect the innocent. I couldn’t get enough of that show as a kid. Yes. He got his name trying to say “You can”. It is definitely one of those shows that in hindsight is too weird for words, like **[Automan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automan)**. Does anyone else remember **[Strange Luck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Luck)**? DB Sweeney plays a character named “Chance” who is sort of lucky in that he ends up in weird situations where he can use his luck to help people. It didn’t last a full season. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/272 "2021-07-12T12:06:18Z")
Speaking of luck… There was a sitcom called **Cursed** , starring Steven Weber. The premise was that the main character had been cursed by an ex-girlfriend, and as a result he constantly suffered from bad luck no matter what he did. About 5 or 6 episodes in, they dropped the whole “bad luck” thing suddenly and without explanation, and changed the title to **The Weber Show**. It limped along as a more ordinary guy-and-his-friends sitcom for the rest of the season, but was cancelled after that. Even as a fan of Steven Weber, I can’t really recommend 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:** [July 12, 2021, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/273 "2021-07-12T12:14:08Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Strange. I have absolutely no memory of ever seeing Dick Tracy onscreen before the Warren Beatty movie. > But I vividly remember Joe Jitsu. Not only did Dick Tracy show up at the beginning and end of those syndicated cartoons (the cartoon was mostly about those odd ethnic deputies), he also appeared throughout an episode of **The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo** That’s my latest contribution to this thread. After the success of _Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol_ the producers and studio executives immediately thought “Aha! THAT’S what the public wants! More Mr. Magoo!” So they promptly gave it to us. (What the public really wanted was more animated Christmas specials. Magoo’s was the first such – I don’t count those Disney “From all of us to all of you” Christmas episodes, which were basically advertising for their latest movie. It took a couple more years until we got _Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer._) Magoo’s show was dropped after a year, but I watched it all the time. It was a kind of Classics Illustrated version of the classics, with Mr. Magoo shoehorned into every episode somehow (a formula PBS later re-used for _Wishbone_). Some of these were obvious (of _course_ the big-nosed Magoo was Cyrano de Bergerac), in many cases he was narrator (Ishmael in _Moby Dick_ or Dr. Watson in _Sherlock Holmes_, and some were just odd (Dr. Frankenstein, or the youthful d’Artagnan, or all seven dwarves in Snow White). Despite the fact that this was an animated series and they could draw whatever they wanted, there was a kind of ensemble/repertory cast feel to the show, because they often re-used the same character designs (and voices) for supporting players. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0tkNmb4M2lg/hqdefault.jpg "The Famous Adventures of Mister Magoo - Opening") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tkNmb4M2lg) ---
**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:** [July 12, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/274 "2021-07-12T12:54:08Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Strange. I have absolutely no memory of ever seeing Dick Tracy onscreen before the Warren Beatty movie. I’m also going outside the thread topic for this, but it bears on this pint. There was a Republic Dick Tracy serial in 1937 starring Ralph Byrd. It was so popular that it inspired three sequel serials (pretty unusual), also starring Byrd. Then RKO made three Dick Tracy films with Morgan Conway in the title role, but people wanted Byrd as Tracy, so RKO cast him in the last two movies (the last of which, _Dick Tracy meets Gruesome_, featured Boris Karloff as the villain). all told, the serials and movies spanned a decade (although they would be re-released later). Byrd later repeated the role on TV in the 1950s, which brings us back to the thread topic > [@](#): > > Byrd continued to work in action fare in the late 1940s, and when the Dick Tracy property became a TV series in 1950, Byrd was the obvious choice to reprise his most famous role. The shows were produced on low budgets, with Byrd forced to cope with long hours and strenuous action scenes. The accelerated pace of TV production took its toll on the overworked actor’s health, and he succumbed to a [heart attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_attack) in Tarzana, California, on August 18, 1952 and is buried at [Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Lawn_Memorial_Park_(Glendale)).[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Byrd#cite_note-Wilson,_Scott-8) He was 43 years old.[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Byrd#cite_note-9)[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Byrd#cite_note-10) > **[Ralph Byrd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Byrd)** > > Ralph Byrd (April 22, 1909  – August 18, 1952) was an American actor. He was most famous for playing the comic strip character Dick Tracy on screen, in serials, films and television. > The son of George and Edna May Byrd, Ralph Byrd was born in Dayton, Ohio. Before he began acting in films, he sang and danced in theatrical productions. > He served in the United States Army during World War II, having been inducted into the service in San Pedro, California, in 1944. > **[Dick Tracy (TV Series 1950–1952) ⭐ 6.8 | Crime, Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042100/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_2)** > > 30m ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/275 "2021-07-12T13:28:07Z")
I don’t want to focus on one show too much, but the real twist of Nowhere Man was that his life hadn’t been stolen by the conspiracy, his memories were fake. The next season would have presumably focused on figuring out who he actually was, but I thought ending on his stunned realization was appropriately bleak. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/276 "2021-07-12T13:35:01Z")
When I saw the OP, I thought of two shows from the early 1970s, _[Hot Dog](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065301/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_88)_ and _[The Great American Dream Machine.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066665/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)_ _Hot Dog_ ran for 13 episodes on Saturday mornings, and answered kids’ questions about how things were made (like hot dogs, baseballs, toothbrushes, pennies, crayons, etc.), kind of like _[How It’s Made](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0835010/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)_ would do 30 years later. What made _Hot Dog_ stand out, though, was that before they went to the film showing how the things were actually made, they asked Jonathan Winters, Woody Allen, and Jo Anne Worley, who gave funny improvised answers. Although Worley frankly didn’t add much, Woody and Jonathan were at the height of their powers, and were hilarious. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bLIbqQGgx5A/hqdefault.jpg "HOT DOG (1970) - How Do They Make Toothpaste") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIbqQGgx5A) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vYrCUjVeRRc/hqdefault.jpg "HOT DOG (1970) : How Do They Make Toothbrushes?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYrCUjVeRRc) _GADM_ was produced by WNET, the public TV station in New York, and ran for four 90-minute episodes. It featured a mix of satirical sketches and music, including pieces by Andy Rooney (doing commentaries before going to _60 Minutes_), Studs Terkel, Marshall Efron, and others. I believe Chevy Chase made his broadcast TV premiere on the show, doing the singing faces bit he and Ken Shapiro had developed a few years earlier, and would later do on (IIRC) _Groove Tube, SNL,_ and other shows. (See the first clip below for an example.) As producer Sheila Nevins describes in the clip, _GADM_ was quite innovative for its time. Some of the bits you can find on YouTube don’t seem quite as brilliant today as they did back then, but at the time they were practically revolutionary compared to the dreck that was on the other channels. It really appealed to the 16-year-old me. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ILkvOWe89FM/maxresdefault.jpg "The 1970s "The Great American Dream Machine" | Pioneers of THIRTEEN") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILkvOWe89FM) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/L26lbut7oLo/hqdefault.jpg "Evel Knievel - The Great American Dream Machine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L26lbut7oLo) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gdPfZ1EaR_g/hqdefault.jpg "THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE: "Opinion with Andy Rooney: Big"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdPfZ1EaR_g) Speaking of Chevy Chase, does anyone else remember his train wreck of a talk show in 1993? I just looked it up and was stunned to see it went on for 64 episodes. I thought it had been canceled after a dozen or two. He was just terrible as a host. I watched night after night to see just how bad it would get. He somehow maintained the same bottom-of-the-barrel standard right to the end. > **['The Chevy Chase Show' Turns 20: Anatomy of a Late-Night Disaster](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/blogs/tv-news/-the-chevy-chase-show--turns-20--anatomy-of-a-late-night-disaster-190909520.html)** > > We examine the wreckage of Chase's notorious Fox flop, which turns 20 years old this week. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2021, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/277 "2021-07-12T13:36:37Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Speaking of Chevy Chase, does anyone else remember his train wreck of a talk show in 1993? I just looked it up and was stunned to see it went on for 64 episodes. I thought it had been canceled after a dozen or two. Yes. It was **painfully** obvious he didn’t want to be doing it, or at least doing it the way he was doing it. The Doritos ads were good, though. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/278 "2021-07-12T13:44:04Z")
According to the Yahoo story, he blamed the network execs for not letting him do the kind of show he really wanted to do, but I don’t for a second believe he could have been the next Ernie Kovacs. I think his early success on SNL went to his head and made him an egotist who became increasingly difficult to work with. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/279 "2021-07-12T14:51:50Z")
I love On The Air. Too bad it didn’t last longer. (I do have the DVDs.) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g_jwsWcP7PE/hqdefault.jpg "On The Air (1992, Opening)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_jwsWcP7PE) ---
**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:** [July 12, 2021, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/280 "2021-07-12T14:59:51Z")
I vaguely remember liking the sketch show “The New Show” which ran for 9 episodes in 1984. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MydUQ8IYKfg/hqdefault.jpg "Steve Martin - Michael Jackson Billie Jean") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MydUQ8IYKfg) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/281 "2021-07-12T15:19:01Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Does anyone else remember **[Strange Luck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Luck)**? > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > How about Strange Luck. I wish it would come out in some home media format so I could see it again Some of us do. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022.md?page=15)