# TV Shows that apparently, you're the only person ever to watch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383 "2004-02-27T00:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/161 "2004-02-29T01:52:22Z")
There was a show on (I think) Fox in it’s early days (so in the 80’s). It was about a group of people (maybe six) who wake up and find themselves mysteriously on a farm. I think there may have been a nuclear war. Each of the people had a spot of white in their hair. And, oddly enough, the show wasn’t science fiction, it was a sitcom playing the situation for laughs. I just remember it as a really, really weird premise for a sitcom and it only aired for a few weeks. Anybody else remember this? ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/162 "2004-02-29T02:01:49Z")
> [@Eva Luna](#): > > … a bilingual sort of Sesame Street-type show called _Villa Alegre._ I can still hear the damn theme song to _Villa Alegre_ in my head; it’ll take me a week to get rid of it now. I remember it quite well. So much in fact, that I “named” the building I’m living in here in Japan, “Villa Alegre” because of its exotic name and happy meaning. It is a total in-joke that none of my friends here in Japan can understand. When I tell them the meaning of the term without explaning its reference, they say, “Oh, what a nice name for a residential place.” However, when I told my parents and family back home in California, they burst out laughing non-stop! LOL! 😃 JpnDude my 2.1 yen’s worth ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/163 "2004-02-29T03:15:50Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > Speaking as someone who rarely watches the tube & and has never seen an episode of Friends or Will & Grace… > > As a kid: > **[[Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp](http://www.70slivekidvid.com/lancelot.htm)]Lancelot]( [url) Link Secret Chimp**: We’re gonna have a really big show-ow-ow-ow. > > More recently: > [**Dangerous Women**](http://www.rotteneggs.com/r/show/se/1009313.html): Syndicated ‘soap opera’ set in a women’s prison > > **[[G.L.O.W. / Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling](http://www.tvparty.com/80glow.html)]G]( [url) L O W**: _Gorgeous_ Ladies of Wrestling – there were quite a few exceptions to the ‘gorgeous’ tag. > > **[[http://www.keithfloyd.co.uk/intro.html](http://www.keithfloyd.co.uk/intro.html)]Cooking]( [url) With Floyd**: This BBC ‘chef’ slays me. Another Saturday morning program that came out the same year as Lance Link was the cartoon, **Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down**. Dangerous Women made me think of a show I didn’t watch, **Prisoner of Cell Block H**. It was out about the same time as Mary Hartman Mary Hartman. Wasn’t Sylvester Stallone’s mom involved with G.L.O.W. somehow? Never saw Floyd’s cooking show, but I remember a couple one shot of travel shows he did, like **Floyd on France**. Another Saturday morning show was , I think called **Double Decker** , about a bunch of kids who had a double decker London bus for a club house. And I never see refrences anywhere to [The Bill Cosby Show\*\*, the one where he played a high school coach, Chet Kinkade. I liked the show, it was one of the few things to watch after the Saturday Cartoons were over. But I feel like the Cos is trying to forget that program for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/164 "2004-02-29T04:45:17Z")
> [@](#): > > I can remember being about 4 years old (1964) and watching a show about some boys in military school. I think it was a rerun at that time as I would watch it in the daytime. I remember wanting to go to military school because the guys on the show would wear pants with a stripe down the side, just like my dad did. (He was an Army officer.) Would that be _McKeever and the Colonel_? Loved that show, and like you wanted to go to military school - problematical in the early '60s for a little girl. And **quiltguy** , I do remember _Hank_. It was distinguished for resolving in the last episode: Hank was always running away, dodging would-be captors and jumping hedges; when finally caught he’s given an athletic scholarship. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/165 "2004-02-29T04:48:29Z")
> [@International Playboy](#): > > **Prisoner of Cell Block H** PING! (I used to to watch that show. Ugly women in a prison, can’t think why I liked it but I did) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/166 "2004-02-29T04:52:20Z")
> [@International Playboy](#): > > Another Saturday morning show was , I think called **Double Decker** , about a bunch of kids who had a double decker London bus for a club house. I remember that one! A couple of PBS shows I recall watching in my 5th grade class (1973) that I can’t find any info on: Mulligan’s Stew - a group of kids doing something that I cannot remember right off hand Inside Out - you were presented with a problem and the story would end unresolved and you’d discuss the options with your class. The only one I remember was the kid in the show wanted to fit in with a certain group and had to go through an initiation (in this case, running out into traffic at the last minute WITHOUT getting run over). The show ended with the girl getting ready to do this. You had to decide whether or not you thought she would. Also from PBS - late 70s there was a puppet based show called The math Factory. It was your typical PBS educational fare, but I’d like to get a copy just for the theme song. It was a nifty little synth tune. ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/167 "2004-02-29T08:31:19Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > That would be “George and Leo”. I really liked that show too. Mostly it got by on two famous old pros doing their usual schtick…Bob Newhart was the button down Middle American straight man, Judd Hirsch did his ethnic Noo Yawker thing, with a little bit of Vegas thrown in. Kind of a variation on the Odd Couple (I think their kids in the show were married to each other). I much preferred Newhart’s _Bob_ series that came before _George and Leo_. The first season was excellent, then the network basically killed it. G&L had potential but lacked something. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/168 "2004-02-29T16:00:42Z")
> [@DeVena](#): > > OOOOOoo, don’t know if anyone has mentioned this one… > > [The Phoenix](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082901/) I remember that one! By that point, the “benevolent stranger wandering the landscape helping those in need” plotline had become so routine, they barely even had a premise for this one. Some semi-mystical thing about Benu wandering around looking for his female counterpart. I remember the lead actor appearing soon after as Khan’s main henchman in Star Trek II. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/169 "2004-02-29T16:30:17Z")
3/5 of mine still remain unremembered, but I’m going to add another one. **Life 360** which came on Friday nights on PBS around 2000-2001. It was an hour long show with different segments revolving around a theme for each episode. Margaret Cho did a bit at the end of each episode. I _loved_ this show, but I don’t think it lasted very long. ---
**Author:** ![Phouchg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@Phouchg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phouchg)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/170 "2004-02-29T18:11:50Z")
Our local ABC station WCVB-TV in Boston produced an interesting program in the 1970s called “The Baxters”. The first half of the show was a standard sitcom (including perennial B-level actress Anita Gillette) that would end right at the cusp of the actors making a decision about some moral issue or action to take. At that point the action switched to the studio audience who would then discuss what just happened and how the characters should resolve it. I remember it tackled some serious topics for the mid-70s and was hosted by a rather avuncular fellow with a great name: Hubert Jessup. WCVB also produced “Miller’s Court” with Harvard Law Prof Arthur Miller leading a similar discussion about a fictional case that was dramatized in the first few minutes of the show. Phouchg Lovable Rogue ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/171 "2004-02-29T18:14:12Z")
Sportscaster Vin Scully had a short-lived game show called “It Takes Two.” IIRC, there were several celebrity couples who helped the contestants win. A question was asked, and each of the celebrities would write their answers. Each couple’s_averaged_ answer (I think all the answers had to be numerical) would be that couples “answer.” The contestant, I believe, then tried to select which couple he/she though was closest. The only question I remember was they had a typist typing out the words from “Gone With The Wind.” The celebs were asked “How many words will she type by the end of the show?” I don’t remember how many she typed, but I seem to recall Scully saying the last words she typed were “the war goose.” Do those words appear in the first couple chapters??? There was a panel/game show hosted by Jim McKrell called “The Game Game.” I don’t recall whether this was a show with winners and losers, but there were several celebrity-type panelists. One of the regulars was some woman psychologist who smoked during the whole program. Alex Trebek’s had a short-lived game show called “The Wizard of Odds.” It was also a “numerical” show. One game I remember was, “From this list, pick the items that are smaller than the number on Joe Namath’s jersey.” The list (I don’t remember the exact list) would be something like “a) number of times Mickey Rooney has been married, b) weight in pounds of a gallon of water, c) number of Supreme Court justices, etc.” There might be seven or eight items in the list. The more the contestant got right, the more he/she won (I think). However, what got me hooked was the very, very first question ever, ever asked on the debut program. The contestants were shown a list of celebrity females, and were asked to guess their bust measurements!:eek: I do remember some of the names from that list: Jayne Mansfield (40), Sophia Loren (38), Brigitte Bardot (34ish). Raquel Welch might have also been on that list, but I don’t recall it. They tallied the differences between the guys guesses and the one with the lowest total difference one. I do remember, concerning Ms Loren, the guy said, “Well, she was a skinny one. . . 31.”:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/172 "2004-02-29T18:22:13Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > The Edge: I mentioned it first, but I remember two recurring sketches: “Cracklin’ Crotch”, and “Right This Minute”. I thuoght Cracklin’ Crotch was an **In Living Color** sketch. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/173 "2004-02-29T20:57:07Z")
TV spy series from 1972 called ‘Probe’ (the pilot) or ‘Search’ (when it went on to be a short-lived series), starring Burgess Meredith. I _loved_ this show and thought the premise was really great and had plenty of potential. I’ve never met anyone else who has ever heard of or can remember it, let alone actually _watched_ it. Guess I was the only one, which could explain why the series was canned fairly quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/174 "2004-02-29T21:12:58Z")
I’ve got one! [Brothers,](http://imdb.com/title/tt0086677/) with Robert Walden as the straight man 😉 and Philip Charles MacKenzie as the flaming faggot. With Robin Riker and Yeardley Smith. One of the three brothers was less-openly gay, and the third brother was anti-gay. Witty writing, but waaaay ahead of its time. The world wasn’t ready for a _Will & Grace_ in 1984, even on cable. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/175 "2004-02-29T21:51:46Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > TV spy series from 1972 called ‘Probe’ (the pilot) or ‘Search’ (when it went on to be a short-lived series), starring Burgess Meredith. I _loved_ this show and thought the premise was really great and had plenty of potential. > > I’ve never met anyone else who has ever heard of or can remember it, let alone actually _watched_ it. Guess I was the only one, which could explain why the series was canned fairly quickly. I’m the other person who watched that! They used to have all the cool Bond-like gadgets. Doug McClure was an agent, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/176 "2004-02-29T22:30:39Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > **[[The Complete CHILLER: WPIX, New York (1971-82)](http://www.dvddrive-in.com/Chiller/chiller.htm)]C]( [url) H I L L E R**: A local Channel 11 WPIX-NYC horror movie fest (ala Creature Feature) – The 6-fingered hand in the quicksand is still memorable. The link has audio in QuickTime. Curse you, JohnBckWLD, for bringing back long-submerged memories of “Thriller”, an anthology series hosted by Boris Karloff. I can’t give you details about any single episode because I think I was too freaked out by the show’s opening to watch all the way through. I just remember being scared of this show. (I wonder if it messed up Michael Jackson.) I don’t know what it was that affected me that way, and I’m not sure I want to. This in sharp contrast to “Outer Limits”, as I remember exactly why I hate that series. Stupid nightmarish ant people. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/177 "2004-02-29T22:32:16Z")
Geez, gotta love a messageboard with links to Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp, and the Champions. I am apparently the only person to watch _The Tony Randall Show_. I find him generally annoying, but the show was brilliant. I occasionally enter meetings by saying, “Mario Lanza, judge”, and nobody ever gets it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/178 "2004-02-29T22:43:13Z")
> [@International Playboy](#): > > Never saw Floyd’s cooking show, but I remember a couple one shot of travel shows he did, like **Floyd on France** … Here’s a 2 and a half minute compilation of [Cooking With Floyd](http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/waywecooked/keith_floyd.ram) on Real Player - It’s missing the Stangler’s ‘Peaches’ theme song and there’s not as much slurping as was usually the case. > [@tracer & alluded to by Khadaji / Fish & TWDuke](#): > > The cancellation of _Quark_ was one of the darkest moments in television history. The evil-twin Ficus being no different from the good Ficus was a touch that not even _Star Trek_ ever thought of. The [Quark Theme song](http://home.globalcrossing.net/~luethy/ThemeSong.wav) and the [Unofficial Buck Henry Quark Site](http://home.globalcrossing.net/~luethy/) > [@Eva Luna & alluded to by others](#): > > (A) Sesame Street-type show called _Villa Alegre._ I can still hear the damn theme song to _Villa Alegre_ in my head; it’ll take me a week to get rid of it now. For some reason, I remember the closing theme going like this: Goodbye amigos. I will see you tomorrow. Villa Alegre, a villa alegre. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. La-la-la-la-la. Villa Alegre! > [@scotandrsn](#): > > …Bigfoot and Wildboy was, IIRC, originally a part of the Krofft Supershow, that also featured Wonder Bug, Dr. Shrinker, and Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl… That I definitely recall on ABC Staurday AM’s. [Kool & The Kongs](http://www.70slivekidvid.com/krofft.htm), a precursor to hair metal & new wave bands lip-syncing a glam rock theme. Kroff’s gots some super shows, they will blow your mind away. Many low quality [wav files](http://krofft.dementedstuff.com/suprshow.htm) from the show located here. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/179 "2004-02-29T22:46:23Z")
I loved _The Bill Cosby Show_ in reruns on basic cable. It was so laid back and the plots were so mild and even slight that looking back it seems like a forerunner of _Seinfeld_. There was one where he was supposed to take his nephew to get a haircut, but the guys at the barbershop get carried away talking about baseball and eventually trying to catch a ball dropped from high up, resulting in the barber breaking his arms. Bill finally has to give the kid a haircut himself and catch heat from his sister for the lousy job he does. I remember one where he was stuck in an elevator with the cleaning woman and someone else at the school, no pregnant ladies stuck there, nobody having manic claustrophobia, no danger of the cables breaking like most sitcoms would do. Just three people stuck having to spend the night in an elevator, trying to get along and pass the time. I’d love to see the one about trying to find the solution to the math problem when he’s filling in for another teacher again. Besides the theme song “Hikky Burr” was one of the coolest TV theme songs ever. I’d love to have that as a cell phone ring tone. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383/180 "2004-02-29T23:02:27Z")
In college. A lack-luster, short-lived series [“I Married Dora”](http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/9348/i_married_dora.htm). Single dad who married his attractive illegal alien nanny/hosekeeper - Elizabeth Pena. What made it memorable was the ABC disclaimer on the premier episode: _This program depicts a federal offense and then helpfully added “You should not try this in your own home,” since marrying an illegal alien for the purpose of avoiding deportation is a direct violation of U.S. law._ …And the last scene of the final episode. _The father at an LAX departure gate_: “It’s been canceled.” _Dora, the nanny_: “The flight?” _The father_: “No, our series.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-ever-to-watch/231383.md?page=10)