When Friends originally aired I watched bits and pieces of it but thought it was garbage and never watched it again until 2004. By chance I saw an episode of one of the middle series being repeated before the last series was shown. It was terrific and for months I became a fan watching all the funny cleverly written episodes. Then they began to show the final season. I lasted two, maybe three, episodes and never watched it again. How it ends I will never know.
The Lone Ranger
Have Gun Will Travel
The Honeymooners
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
Car 54 Where Are You?
The Adventures of Superman
The Golden Girls
Designing Women
Keen Eddie and Firefly.
Same here. Wish more people had caught it first time around.
Third Rock from the Sun was something I only watched in reruns. It was a silly show but the cast had amazing comic timing and it was pretty funny, something I hadn’t noticed before.
Quantum Leap – never saw any of it until the whole series was over. Then really got into the show, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every episode.
Spenser: For Hire. I never saw it at all while it was first airing. One day I caught it on A&E, TBS, or whatever cable station showed them and I loved it. Watched every episode I could find.
Also for some reason I could never enjoy or get into any new episodes of Frasier but I enjoyed the show when I came across it in syndication.
Got into via syndicated episodes while later seasons were (are) still in production:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
CSI (LV)
Also, MASH
Gilmore Girls
Wings. Never saw it first run but loved its TVLand/Nick run. How could I have missed Crystal Bernard before?
Diagnosis Murder. Never saw it pre-Pax. Sometimes a little silly, but often very engrossing. Always a treat to watch Dick Van Dyke at work.
I Love Lucy. I was a wee bit too young for the Ethel-Fred-Ricky version when it came out. I do recall watching some of the Mr. Mooney era episodes though.
Max Headroom
Red Dwarf
Blackadder
Babylon 5
Star Trek TOS
Futurama (I was aware of its existence, but I was outside the US during its entire run and didn’t get to watch any.)
And a bunch of Nick at Nite stuff.
Although they are both still making shows, I only started getting into Monk and shame America’s Next Top Model because I caught marathons of them, on USA and VH1 respectively.
Susan
Babylon 5
I started watching when TNT put seasons 1-4 into syndication right before they started airing new episodes from season 5. It thoughouly confused the hell out of me wondering why two seasons were running at once. Unfortunately, I watched part of one season 5 episode and was spoiled for season 3 and 4 from the quotes during the opening credits.
Angel
For a long time, TNT ran Angel weekdays at 5 PM. I wanted to watch it when I got my first apartment, but i was traveling around and often wouldn’t get back in time. Eventually I got in a permanent hospital and new apartment and watched most of it (I missed season 1 and the first half of seas 2.) And right when season 5 finished on the last go around,and I was all set to finalyl get the missing season and a half…they change the time! Now there is a double dose of Charmed from 5-7. The Hell? Angel kicks Charmed’s ass anyday.
You know, I was just reading over at IMDB that the show was actually canceled because Sorkin was concentrating on West Wing. There were apparently offers made to continue the series on various cable networks - with the stipulation that Sorkin had to write it - but Sorkin declined. I wonder how accurate that is; I always thought it was canceled because of low ratings - TV Guide named it The Best Show You’re Not Watching, IIRC, and it always scored rather poorly in the ratings from what I remember from worried checks of EW listings… I’m sure ABC would have pulled the plug anyway, eventually, and I absolutely love the first 4 seasons of West Wing, but I can’t help but feel a little sad that I could have gotten to see more of the Sports Night crew…
Law and Order
Murder One
Babylon 5
Star Trek (the original)
F Troop
Full House
Boy Meets World
Sister, Sister
Sabrina, the Teenaged Witch
Lizzie McGuire
I have been introduced to these by Michaela. The ones I found on my own have already been mentioned.
Oh, and also Picket Fences and My So-Called Life.
Topper
The Buccaneers
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
The Dick Van Dyck Show
I Love Lucy
The Twilight Zone
Perry Mason
All were on the air when I was too young to remember them, or when my bedtime was too early.
I caught up with much of Buffy on reruns, but that was after I began watching in the 4th season.
Simpsons. When it first came out I thought it was “Married With Children” in animated form. So I didn’t watch it. I finally read some comments about it online and watched an ep. It was the one where Homer jumps Springfield Gorge on a skateboard. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Truckasaurus too. Still my favortie Episode.
I can’t believe I forgot Dead Like me, I love that show.
Jim
The original Star Trek, though given that I was born about six months after it was cancelled, I really had no choice.
Of shows that existed during my lifetime, NYPD Blue. Why, by the way, rocks.