# 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:** 23
**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 16, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/443 "2021-07-16T21:37:22Z")
_ **Combat!** _ was one of ABC’s most popular shows in the 1960s. The early episodes were directed by Robert Altman. All but the final season were in B&W, giving it a “period” feel. (Star Vic Morrow was against the switch to color in 1966). All of the episodes were set in France. It was supposed to run from D-Day to the liberation of Paris (June–August 1944), but they stretched it out five years. There was even one “winter” episode that showed off the Olympic skiing skills of “Caje,” played by Pierre Jalbert. What mountains they were in and how a Cajun learned to ski so well were never explained (Jalbert was actually French Canadian). ---
**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 16, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/444 "2021-07-16T21:56:18Z")
Anyone else remember Grand? It was kind of like “Soap” - a soap opera parody [Grand (TV series) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_(TV_series)) I still remember the theme song [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hSWrEZ8q5ck/hqdefault.jpg "Grand 1990 TV theme song Bonnie Hunt, Pamela Reed, Sara Rue, Michael McKean") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSWrEZ8q5ck) ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/445 "2021-07-17T04:26:52Z")
I remember that song! Kinda. It’s been a while. This is one of those deals where I have dim recollections of liking it a lot but can’t for the life of me remember _why._ I’m pretty sure that it aged better than Soap, though. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/446 "2021-07-17T05:33:56Z")
> [@Eclipse\_Chaser](#): > > A detective series starring David Janssen that came out around the same time as Rockford - called “Harry O” I remember _Harry O_. Two seasons, as I recall; set in San Diego, then in Los Angeles. Going on memory here, but as best I recall, Harry was a former police detective who got injured on the job and had to leave the force. So he set himself up as a private detective who frequently crossed paths with the local police. Pretty standard so far, but all 1970s TV detectives had to stand out somehow; they had to be unique in some way: Kojak had his lollipops, Cannon had his Lincoln Continental, Rockford had his father, Columbo had his “Oh wait, one more thing.” What Harry had was a broken-down car that rarely-to-never worked, meaning that Harry often had to ride the bus to investigate cases. And in one of the two seasons, Harry’s neighbour was a pre-_Charlie’s Angels_ Farrah Fawcett. Yowza! ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/447 "2021-07-17T09:33:49Z")
A Norman Lear gem, _All that Glitters,_ set in a world where men keep house and raise the kids while women are high-powered executives. As it happens, turning an offensive stereotype on its head does nothing to make it less offensive. > [All That Glitters (TV Series 1977) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075658/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_24) ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/448 "2021-07-17T10:02:03Z")
And another from the 80s that I’m _certain_ no one remembers, as it has either been disappeared from the bios of the only stars I recall, or I imagined it. A sitcom set at a fashion magazine (I think), Dixie Carter and Martin Short were secondary characters. Carter’s only action was to walk through the set like a stone-faced model on a runway. Someone would ask her about doing something only ordinary people do, and without looking around or changing expression, she would coldly ask, “Are you kidding?” I only remember Short from two scenes in the same episode. He apparently had a non-content job at the mag but volunteered to cover a fashion show or something. Someone asked what he knew about fashion, and he said, “What is there to know? Vertical stripes make you look thin, and don’t wear white after Labor Day.” Later he cruises into the room, snapping his fingers hiply, wearing a long coat thrown jauntily over his shoulders. He makes a sharp about-face at the sight of his nemesis, who follows him off camera. Later he emerges again with the coat buttoned all the way down with his arms trapped inside. Please don’t ask why that’s all I remember or why in such detail. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/449 "2021-07-17T10:25:51Z")
Speaking of Dixie Carter, she and future _Designing Women_ costar Delta Burke were part of an ensemble cast for _Filthy Rich_. Slim Pickens played the recently-deceased patriarch who left conditions of his will on video to his surviving family members, most of whom he despised. He forced them to live together under one roof, where they’d plot and scheme against each other while attempting to look like they were getting along. > **[Filthy Rich (TV Series 1982–1983) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083415/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_24)** > > Filthy Rich: Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. With Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Charles Frank, Jerry Hardin. An eccentric family is forced to live under one roof to receive a share of the vast fortune that was left behind by their patriarch. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/450 "2021-07-17T12:23:22Z")
This thread brings back a lot of memories. I used to like Don Adam’s screen test. If I recall, it was a competition where two contestants filmed the same scene. I also remember Best of the West because it was really hyped when it debuted. Wife, sweeping) “I just can’t get the dirt off this floor.”(Husband) “Honey, it’s a dirt floor” The ones I remember are the sitcoms that are forgotten because they never went into syndication. Anybody else watch It’s a Living? Sitcom about waitresses with a great cast. Also Angie, another sitcom about a waitress with a great cast (anything with Doris Roberts as the mother is automatically great). I also remember the very first season of FOX. I liked Duet, until it turned into Open House (with a very young Ellen Degeneris as the receptionist. Also, remember Herman’s Head? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/451 "2021-07-17T15:20:20Z")
My late husband read all of Nero Wolfe mysteries and had a box set of the A&E series. I would watch an episode now and then with him. I thought it was very well done, though it didn’t grab me. I thought of it as ‘a man’s Masterpiece Theater’. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/452 "2021-07-17T15:26:23Z")
> [@HelenGawn](#): > > A sitcom set at a fashion magazine (I think), Dixie Carter and Martin Short were secondary characters. Carter’s only action was to walk through the set like a stone-faced model on a runway. Someone would ask her about doing something only ordinary people do, and without looking around or changing expression, she would coldly ask, “Are you kidding?” You’re probably thinking of _I’m a Big Girl Now_, which ran from 1980 to 1981, although Dixie Carter wasn’t in it, so perhaps the character you mean was played by Sheree North. The easiest way to search for something that you remember at least one actor in is [imdb.com](http://imdb.com). Look on YouTube for the opening credits from this show. The truly weird thing about this show was that the main characters worked in a think tank at the beginning of the one season of the show. In the middle of that season, the workplace changed to a newspaper office. No, the characters didn’t quit and change jobs. The workplace simply changed with no explanation. Perhaps the showrunners simply decided that it was too hard to write a show set in a think tank, so they felt no obligation for the show to make any sense. ---
**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 17, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/453 "2021-07-17T15:55:56Z")
In the late '60s and early '70s, there was a crop of “youth-oriented” shows that were “trendy” and “hip” and “now” and “relevant.” I mentioned _ **The Mod Squad** _ and _ **The Young Rebels** _ upthread. Others included the below, which I find memorable only for their casting of Elaine Giftos and Kate Jackson. 🥰 > **[The Storefront Lawyers / Men at Law - Television Obscurities](https://www.tvobscurities.com/spotlight/the-storefront-lawyers/)** > > This 1970 CBS legal drama started life as The Storefront Lawyers only to be revamped at mid-season as Men At Work. Neither version was a hit. > **[The Young Lawyers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Lawyers)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Young Lawyers is an American legal drama that was aired on the ABC network for one season from September 21, 1970, until March 24, 1971. Starring Lee J. Cobb, Zalman King, Judy Pace and Phillip Clark, the show was a part of the network's 1970–71 lineup. > Aaron Silverman is part of a group of young, idealistic students at a top Boston law school who open a legal aid center, the "Neighborhood Law Office," to help the poor. As these young student... > **[The Interns (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interns_(TV_series))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Interns is an American medical drama series that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1971. It was based on the 1962 film The Interns and the 1964 sequel The New Interns. > The stories centered on the activities of Dr. Peter Goldstone (Broderick Crawford) and five medical interns at New North Hospital in Los Angeles. The series dealt with issues of the day including the racism faced by one of the African American interns. The other interns consisted of a ... > **[The Rookies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rookies)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Rookies is an American police procedural series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department (SCPD). > The success of Joseph Wambaugh's book, The New Centurions, as well as NBC's ratings success with Adam-12, had sparked interest at the time in a more realistic depiction and storytelling of the typical unif... **NB:** The revamped version of _ **Storefront** _ was _ **Men at Law,** _ not _ **Work** _. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/454 "2021-07-17T18:18:35Z")
I remember that show. In the last episode the entire cast is killed by a tornado. Bizarre. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/455 "2021-07-17T20:45:01Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > My late husband read all of Nero Wolfe mysteries and had a box set of the A&E series. I would watch an episode now and then with him. I thought it was very well done, though it didn’t grab me. I thought of it as ‘a man’s Masterpiece Theater’ There is an Italian version, available on MHz, where Nero and Archie go to Rome after some issues in NY. There is an Italian Saul Panzer. Interesting, but not as good as the A&E one. My wife has read about all of them. I should read one some day, but I did like the TV series. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/456 "2021-07-18T10:19:09Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > You might find the aspirin dispenser in there Hey, I found it in less than five minutes! Thanks again. https://www.youtube.com/embed/TJw20bGqcMw?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PL7m6N79XjSd_IfPzkif6WqLXiSCplaCXo&start=177 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/457 "2021-07-18T21:02:28Z")
> [@motu](#): > > The Magic Door, a Jewish kid’s show, I watched it for five years before I figured out it ws Jewish. There was a lot of Yiddish vocabulary and construction on TV in the '50s and '60s so who knew? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/458 "2021-07-18T21:09:12Z")
I had a bit of a crush on Elaine Giftos, so I remember that one. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/459 "2021-07-19T03:02:44Z")
Ca. 1980, I remember an “Emergency”-esque show called “240-Robert.” It was pretty good, too. The one justification for the existence of “My Mother, The Car,” by all accounts, is that my Sunday comic section’s crossword puzzle uses it as a clue, as in “My Mother, The \_\_\_”. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/460 "2021-07-19T04:25:14Z")
psychobunny - I didn’t mention Herman’s Head because I don’t consider it that obscure, but it always seems to find its way to discussions like this. Funny thing, I only started watching because I was intrigued as to how Yeardley Smith would be like in live action, and it almost immediately became one of my favorites. This is pretty much the only “high concept” show I’m aware of where the concept was actually clever _and_ handled very well. Could get a little heavy-handed at times, but no more than any other sitcom of the era. Four seasons was just about right…no what-coulda-beens, no wearing out its welcome. I do seem to remember a surprising number of other shows taking potshots at it. Mad TV and The Critic come to mind. Never understood why. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/461 "2021-07-19T06:26:32Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Four seasons was just about right…no what-coulda-beens, no wearing out its welcome. > > I do seem to remember a surprising number of other shows taking potshots at it. Mad TV and The Critic come to mind. Never understood why. Three seasons, actually. Perhaps the reason it was mentioned so much was because the concept for the show was so different. It was easier to say something clear about it. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/462 "2021-07-19T15:16:50Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > I do seem to remember a surprising number of other shows taking potshots at it. Mad TV and The Critic come to mind. Never understood why. IIRC there was a skit on Saturday Night Live where maybe Kevin Nealon said something about being with Fox News and that drew laughter. I interpreted it to mean “Yeah, Fox is going to compete with the big three networks and CNN, uh huh.” So Fox, which began in 1986, seemed to be the target. Not all their offerings were great but I really liked “Herman’s Head.” > The network had its “[grand opening](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_opening)” when it expanded its programming into prime time on April 5, 1987, inaugurating its Sunday night lineup with the premieres of the [sitcom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitcom) _[Married… with Children](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married..._with_Children)_ and the [sketch comedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketch_comedy) series _[The Tracey Ullman Show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tracey_Ullman_Show)_ . The premieres of both series were rebroadcast twice following their initial airings (at 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, respectively) that night, which [Jamie Kellner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Kellner), who served as the network’s president and Chief Operating Officer until his resignation in January 1993, stated would allow viewers to “sample FBC programming without missing _[60 Minutes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60_Minutes)_ , _[Murder, She Wrote](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder,_She_Wrote)_ , or the 8 o’clock movies”.[[16]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Broadcasting_Company#cite_note-16)[[17]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Broadcasting_Company#cite_note-17)[[18]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Broadcasting_Company#cite_note-18) Fox added one new show per week over the next several weeks, with the drama _[21 Jump Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_Jump_Street)_ and comedies _[Mr. President](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._President_(TV_series))_ and _[Duet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duet_(TV_series))_ completing its Sunday schedule.[[19]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Broadcasting_Company#cite_note-19) On July 11, 1987, the network rolled out its Saturday night schedule with the premiere of the [supernatural](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural) drama series _[Werewolf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf_(TV_series))_ , which began with a two-hour [pilot movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_pilot) event. Three other series were added to the Saturday lineup over the next three weeks: comedies _[The New Adventures of Beans Baxter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Adventures_of_Beans_Baxter)_ , _[Karen’s Song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen%27s_Song)_ , and _[Down and Out in Beverly Hills](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_Beverly_Hills_(TV_series))_ (the latter being an adaptation of the film of the same name). Both _Karen’s Song_ and _Down and Out in Beverly Hills_ were canceled by the start of the [1987–88 television season](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987%E2%80%9388_United_States_network_television_schedule), the network’s first fall launch, and were replaced by the sitcoms _[Second Chance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chance_(1987_TV_series))_ and _[Women in Prison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Prison_(TV_series))_ . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022.md?page=24)