# Vintage shows I wish they'd air instead of reality shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204 "2008-01-19T23:53:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/21 "2008-01-20T03:11:46Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] **Quantum Leap**. I don’t think it will happen. Those shows have long passed into the nirvana that is syndication, and the networks don’t have the rights to air them anymore. [/QUOTE] Yeh, that’s the thing: either all these shows are already owned by some cable channel or another, even if they never get aired, or else you’d have to dig up thirty and forty-year old contracts and figure out just who would have to sign over permission to air them. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/22 "2008-01-20T03:42:28Z")
\*St. Elsewhere Twin Peaks Northern Exposure\* This is a brilliant idea. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/23 "2008-01-20T04:20:22Z")
**Rocky and Bullwinkle!!!** ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/24 "2008-01-20T04:29:38Z")
Soap Maverick ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/25 "2008-01-20T04:30:57Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] **Rocky and Bullwinkle!!!** [/QUOTE] And Friends!!! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/26 "2008-01-20T04:40:41Z")
**Probe** **Brisco County** though I have that on DVD. **The Wizard** Actually, I’d just like them renewed. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/27 "2008-01-20T04:48:18Z")
**Doctor Who** **Agatha Christie’s Poirot** (A&E series) **Sherlock Holmes Mysteries** (A&E series) **Miss Marple Mysteries** (A&E series) **Hamish Macbeth** (BBC Series I love) **The Young Ones** (BBC) **One Foot in the Grave** (BBC) **Lost in Space** [**Land of the Lost**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_the_Lost_%281974_TV_series%29) [**The Third Eye**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Eye_(television_series)) [**The Tomorrow People**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tomorrow_People) [**Land of the Giants**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_the_Giants) **Perry Mason** **Quincy MD** **Columbo** **Dragnet** **The Man from U.N.K.L.E.** **The Equalizer** **Airwolf** **The A-Team** **Spenser: For Hire** **Remington Steele** **Quantam Leap** **Amazing Stories** **Night Gallery** **The Hitchhiker** **The Outer Limits** [**Forever Knight**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forever_Knight) **Highlander** [**Friday the 13th**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th:_The_Series) the series, and wasn’t there a sequel series to this, where people of an ancient order were tracking down malignent artifacts? **Kung Fu** and **Kung Fu the Legend Continues** [**Monsters**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters_%28TV_series%29) The original **Battlestar Galatica** [**Buck Rogers in the 25th Century**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Rogers_in_the_25th_Century_%28TV_series%29) **Alfred Hitchcock Presents** **The Incredible Hulk** **Max Headroom** Any of those I’d watch, some of them may be on Nick at Night/TVLand, not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/28 "2008-01-20T04:53:04Z")
How could I have left out **Tales from the Darkside**?! :smack: ---
**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:** [January 20, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/29 "2008-01-20T05:10:41Z")
I’ll second _Max Headroom_. _Tales From The Darkside_? I loved it when it was on. In retrospect, having seen a few episodes last a couple/few weeks ago (I don’t remember which channel), not all of them were gems. I’d love to see the ‘The Last Car’ episode again. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/30 "2008-01-20T05:57:13Z")
I’ll second **Get A Life** , and add a two shows from the “new” Fox Network. \*\*Herman’s Head \*\* and **Hardball**. Both were somewhat maligned (and to be honest, they paled to the Simpsons), but they were both creative, funny shows with great casts. There, I said it. Pash ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/31 "2008-01-20T06:37:21Z")
Honey West, The Avengers, UFO, Girl from UNCLE. ---
**Author:** ![Purgatory\_Creek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Purgatory\_Creek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purgatory_Creek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/32 "2008-01-20T08:57:36Z")
I’d gladly watch **The Dick Van Dyke Show** all over again. I’d like to see **Mission Impossible** , too, with Peter Graves and Martin Landau and NOT Moon Unit Cruise. I’ll throw in my vote for **The Prisoner** , **Rocky & Bullwinkle** , and **Time Tunnel**. I’d like to see **Homefront** repeated. It was a WW2 drama broadcast sometime in the early '90s. I could watch **thirtysomething** again just for laughs. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/33 "2008-01-20T09:41:52Z")
Kolchak-The Night Stalker Dragnet Route 66 The Wild Wild West Naked City Fridays The Untouchables The Jeffersons Miami Vice Mary Hartman Mary Hartman Judd For The Defense 77 Sunset Strip The Monkees Daktari Sanford And Son The Guns Of Will Sonnet Wild Kingdom–indeed all the old half-hour wild animal shows Branded Green Acres The Beverly Hillbillies F Troop Barney Miller Lidsville Jonny Quest Calvin And The Colonel Dino-Boy and the Herculoids Mighty Mightor Space Ghost in his original somewhat frightening form as an astro-vigilante The animated, sci-fi influenced version of the Lone Ranger – and, while I’m on the subject of cartoons, Underdog,Popeye, the Go Go Gophers, Beany And Cecil, the Pink Panther, Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, Hashi-Moto Mouse, Sidney The Elephant, King Linus AND King Leonardo, Bullwinkle and his whole posse, Harveytoons and all the good ol’ uncensored Warner Brothers classics and Dark Shadows, and Boris Karloff’s Thriller (which I’ve never actually seen an episode of) and all the horror/suspense anthologies that were already mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/34 "2008-01-20T12:51:08Z")
TV Show: Alfred Hitchcock Presents MacGuyver If we can include miniseries: Roots Cosmos Ken Burns’ “Civil War” (and assorted other documentaries) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/35 "2008-01-20T13:40:17Z")
The Jack Benny program was well before my time, but recently I’ve been watching a few old clips [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIa7GYstYOQ) and [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA_r1Ynl4Ls) like , and can’t think of anything funnier I’ve seen on real-time TV lately. Also the [Carol Burnett](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P2dbwrT_fQ) show, but I did watch that as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/36 "2008-01-20T14:13:43Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] **Quark** **Time Tunnel** **Captain Nice** [/QUOTE] and Mr. Terrific! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/37 "2008-01-20T14:16:38Z")
INSIGHT- the Catholic Twilight Zone (I read Father Bud’s autobio tho I don’t wonder why EWTN hasn’t picked it up.) ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/38 "2008-01-20T14:52:38Z")
Anything from the 1930s that anybody remembers. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/39 "2008-01-20T14:59:01Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] Yeh, that’s the thing: either all these shows are already owned by some cable channel or another, even if they never get aired, or else you’d have to dig up thirty and forty-year old contracts and figure out just who would have to sign over permission to air them. [/QUOTE] You’d think, though, that since the networks are owned by the same companies that own some of these cable channels, there could be some arrangement worked out. There are a lot of series out there, and so I think there’s lots to go around. Robin ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204/40 "2008-01-20T15:04:18Z")
I’ll second “Cop Rock”! The Greatest American Hero. Lost in Space. The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I Spy. Father Knows Best - I loved these reruns as a kid. That show from Alaska - I can’t recall the name. Doctor in a small town. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vintage-shows-i-wish-theyd-air-instead-of-reality-shows/434204.md?page=3)