# What older TV series have aged the best/worst when watched in reruns? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429 "2010-09-11T20:43:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/41 "2010-09-12T20:41:39Z")
Aged well: Blackadder. Not so well: Monty Phyton, in that we remember the admittedly still hilarious highlights, but when you watch entire re-runs there are invariably many more non-funny or lame bits than you remembered. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/42 "2010-09-12T20:45:45Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I came in here to nominate **Leave It to Beaver**. Kids will always be kids. I dunno. I think in a way it’s dated, not because kids aren’t the same as they’ve ever been, but the way kids are raised now is so different. It works as a period piece! As does The Andy Griffith Show, which I have enjoyed immensely for, oh, decades, now. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/43 "2010-09-12T20:58:29Z")
> [@simster](#): > > I’m still amazed at how good **Frasier** still is - I wasn’t a fan at the time, but in reruns it has grown on me for some reason. I somehow missed what they tried to do with the Frasier character the first time. I now love him (always loved Niles). I now don’t begrudge it all of it’s emmys. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/44 "2010-09-12T21:35:15Z")
Whenever I visit my retired father he has that damn TVLand station on. So I’m exposed to a lot of old shows while I’m fixing his computer or showing him how to use the DVD player for the millionth time. We weren’t allowed to watch much tv as kids so I’m not sure how well most shows have held up, but I’ve noticed a couple things lately: _ **The Nanny** _ has a lot of dirty jokes, even the kids help out with the double-entendres. _ **The Andy Griffith Show** _. I’ve suffered through several of these recently. Is this show on all day every day? But something caught my attention not long ago: Barney was babbling on about how Andy’s girlfriend would quit her job if she got married and take care of the house. Andy firmly corrected him, telling Barney that woman didn’t do that nowadays, that they also had careers. I was surprised, considering the show and the year, somewhere around 1965. _ **Friends** _. I didn’t watch this when it was on, but I’ve seen about 10 episodes and they are pretty funny. I suspect some seasons were much stronger than others? Some good writers. _ **All in the Family** _. I did see this show as a kid and Archie freaked me out. Too much like my uncles. That show really does hold up well. O’Connor and Stapleton are just terrific. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/45 "2010-09-12T22:39:59Z")
Cheers holds up pretty well. I still watch it every night on WGN, at least when they aren’t preempting it for a Chicago sporting event (WGN “America” huh?) I think Seinfeld holds up very well, too. A show about how people are selfish SOBs still rings true in any era. The Cosby Show is hit or miss. When it’s about the family driving Cliff crazy, holds up really well. When it’s about black history lesson of the week, not so much. Roseannne’s first season is kinda iffy, but seasons 2 up until around when they replaced Becky holds up really well, then it’s hit or miss until the last season which is an abomination and borders on unwatchable. Friends is still very funny, but looks a lot more dated than even Seinfeld for some reason. Guess that’s the problem with making a show about hip 20 somethings, it’s really going to look dated in a short time. The original V miniseries holds up very well as a parable about Nazis using space lizards, the 2nd mini holds up pretty well as 80’s scifi (at least until the ending), but the regular series doesn’t hold up well at all. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/46 "2010-09-12T22:42:23Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > > [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > > > As much as I loved the series when it was in its’ original run, I see TNG now and it’s so static & talky much of the time. > > You see, I _love_ TNG for exactly that reason. No one shoots until we’ve had a nice cup of Earl Grey and a thourough ethical debate. Fantastic. But no, they wouldn’t make 'm like that anymore as sci-fi usually reflects the time in which it was made rather than the time in which it is set. And these days we (not you personally here) tend to prefer warfare to reasoning with the “enemy” and thus sci-fi has got much more trigger-happy and much less multi-cultural peace and harmony. So yes, it has aged, but I kind of preferred that age. ☹ That’s a great way of putting it; my husband and I have conflicts over which is better, TOS or TNG, and I enjoy TNG for the same reasons as you. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/47 "2010-09-12T22:51:11Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Roseannne’s first season is kinda iffy, but seasons 2 up until around when they replaced Becky holds up really well, then it’s hit or miss until the last season which is an abomination and borders on unwatchable. Yeah, but the last season was pretty much an unwatchable abomination the first time around, too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/48 "2010-09-12T23:08:04Z")
I think shows with lots of really good character acting hold up well no matter what. Here are a few of those. **Northern Exposure** - mainly the early seasons but a few other scattered ones are still excellent. They are surreal and funny and aged very well partially because the setting isn’t caught in any specific time but the show is dependent on character acting which is timeless. Cicely, Alaska doesn’t exist but you feel like it could even today. **Addams Family** - This is a really entertaining and well written show with a novelty setting but it holds up well. It is surreal and dark so it isn’t time dependent. **Newhart** The one about the Vermont innkeepers. Also lots of character acting and very dated in a way but still good and the basic setting will be around 100 years from now. Places like that really exist and I lived in one. **Andy Griffith** - obviously dated but still very good writing and character acting. **The Brady Bunch** - so dated it goes into feedback loop because it is freakishly weird too. That is why the movies did so well. That is one whacked out family that decided to divorce reality and make it work. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/49 "2010-09-12T23:16:57Z")
Some of the “action” shows from the '50s and '60s I’ve seen in repeats are pretty dreadful now. I used to really enjoy “Mannix” when it originally ran. Awhile back I saw a couple repeats and it found it boring and idiotic. When you consider how many concussions Mannix had in just the initial episodes, he should have been a drooling wreck by the later shows. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/50 "2010-09-12T23:21:24Z")
“The Lawrence Welk Show” hasn’t changed a bit. It was painfully corny then and I see little difference today. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/51 "2010-09-12T23:48:57Z")
Two shows that are good or not depending on the era: _Andy Griffith_- as long as it’s a b/w Barney episode; the later ones bit. Warren was abomination and Howard-Goober-Emmett combined weren’t the interest on the down payment of a Barney. _Good Times_- I’m not sure what John Amos’s demands were but if they didn’t include a child bride and a Cabinet position they should have been met as the “Damn damn damn” touchstone notwithstanding the show went to hell fast in his absence. Had they kept him they could have gone on for years and made tons of money for everybody (and IIRC his demands were less related to money than to better writing- he and Esther Rolle hated the JJ character). I haven’t seen many episodes of _Jack Benny_ because it doesn’t syndicate often, but the few I have seen were much funnier than _I Love Lucy_. Rochester came after Mammy from GWTW but is no less an ancestor of Florence on _The Jeffersons_, Niles the Butler on _The Nanny_, Geoffrey on _Fresh Prince of Bel Air_ and every other sarcastic and outspoken servant in TV history, but he was imo the best. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/52 "2010-09-13T01:23:43Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I think shows with lots of really good character acting hold up well no matter what… Yes. As I’ve been re-reading this thread, I keep looking for common “themes” as to why some shows hold up and some don’t. I discovered it’s simpler than I thought: it’s the writing. And I realized that what was good writing back in the Dick Van Dyke days is still good writing. Even if the fashions are dated, and the wife’s expected to have supper on the table when hubbie gets home (after 8 from his job In The City). And bad writing is still bad. The things that bother me about The Cosby Show are the same logic holes and broad characterizations that made me uneasy back when it aired. \*\*Dick Van Dyke, Northern Exposure, \*\*both **Newhart** shows, **The** (Emma Peel) **Avengers** and even the old **Superman** TV show all hold up for me, with well-written characters well-acted. And even **The Prisoner** – when I can ignore the lamely pantomimed fight scenes and the horrific “artsy” lighting. The acting and the dialog are … clever. Oh, and that reminds me: **Danger Man** , the series that came before it (purely coincidentally, of course, because of course Number 6 is NOT John Drake… well, not necessarily…), has some sparkling dialog and well-plotted situations. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/53 "2010-09-13T01:38:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > \ > I haven’t seen many episodes of _Jack Benny_ because it doesn’t syndicate often… Best Saturday mornings of my life were when our local PBS station would run hours of old B&W shows: _Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, You Bet Your Life,_ and some adventure shows like _Ivanho_ or _Robin Hood_ or _Zorro_ (gotta find the old Disney series and see if they’re as exciting, and if Guy Williams is as smooth, as I remember). Spent the morning having breakfast in bed … in the past. I’d say those shows held up! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/54 "2010-09-13T01:47:38Z")
One person’s “Holds up well” may be another’s “aged horribly” but there are a few things to look for. _Leave It to Beaver_ was aged even in the 1950s, but the reactions of Beaver and Wally to whatever stupid situation they got into are still absolutely dead-on correct. Andy Griffith never had a better co-star than Don Knotts. Their interactions were perfectly in character all the time. Ditto with Archie and Edith Bunker – you believed they loved each other and their daughter, even extending it to their meathead son-in-law. Some things are just damned funny: Niles Crane attempting to do something physical, Bob Newhart’s reaction to whatever lunatic he was dealing with, Mary Richards trying to maintain her dignity when Chuckles the Clown died. In the end it all comes down to a joke that finds the character, not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/55 "2010-09-13T02:25:41Z")
For me, **Andy Griffith** , **The Bob Newhart Show** , and **Dick van Dyke** , (among others) hold up well. In fact, DvD, except for the episodes where traditional female roles are the point of the show (such as “Sally Is A **Girl** ”, Laura dances in the chorus of the Alan Brady Show for one week), holds up VERY well. **Science Fiction Theater** and **Thriller** do not hold up. For the most part they were mediocre at best. > [@digs](#): > > …_Zorro_ (gotta find the old Disney series and see if they’re as exciting, and if Guy Williams is as smooth, as I remember). I watched it on the Disney Channel years ago. The plots are very simplistic and obviously meant for kids. I was disappointed. I just wasn’t an _Avengers_ fan in the 60s. I don’t remember why. But I didn’t find it all that interesting when I saw it on A&E (well, except for one or two episodes like the Hellfire Club 😃 ). What did disappoint me is that it seemed in all the episodes near the end of a fight Mrs. Peel would suddenly completely fold and Steed had to rescue her. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/56 "2010-09-13T02:47:05Z")
Never watched it when it was current (mid eighties?), just got the recently released DVD set and two episodes in I’d say \*\*Max Headroom \*\*has not aged well. Despite aiming to be “futuristic” the music and style just reek of 80s TV. That’s OK I guess. I’ll watch the whole thing before passing final judgement. ---
**Author:** ![DoperChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@DoperChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoperChic)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/57 "2010-09-13T02:55:30Z")
I’ll give another vote to **The Nanny**. It’s one of the few shows I will actively seek out in reruns. The other is **That 70s Show**. Since it was already a time-period show it never gives me that dated feel that so many other shows do. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/58 "2010-09-13T02:55:51Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > The first 2 seasons of TNG feel dated, but from Season 3 and on through DS9 still works. I don’t think it’s so much that seasons 1 and 2 (especially 1) of ST:TNG are more dated than the others, as it is that they were always inferior in quality to later seasons. I certainly recall at the time thinking that the series got better farther on. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/59 "2010-09-13T05:33:03Z")
Fran Drescher- who I suspect is a very dead-serious business woman- by her own admission designed _The Nanny_ to be non-topical and character/situation driven as much as possible to avoid being dated in the future. The show borrowed heavily from the 1950s, just add in 1990s risque (but not at all too far). It’s made her fantastically rich because the original airs in syndication in several countries while many other countries [have their own adaptations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_adaptations_of_The_Nanny) using scene for scene translations of the originals. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429/60 "2010-09-13T06:50:34Z")
Sitcoms that have aged well: Frazier Cheers I Love Lucy (a time capsule of humor an references) Keeping Up Appearances (Brits will disagree) Golden Girls Roseanne The Mary Tyler Moore Show Not aged well: The Cosby Show Seinfeld (with a few exceptions) Friends The Dick van Dyke Show Maude Ellen (as a hetero - just painful…) Will And Grace (Will as non-hetero - just unbelievable…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-older-tv-series-have-aged-the-best-worst-when-watched-in-reruns/553429.md?page=4)