When Fox first came out with their TV channel I watched and liked their sit-coms. Even before Herman’s Head, which is remember by many, there was Duet and its spin-off Open House. Duet was about a newlywed couple and Open House was about a real estate brokerage that starred Alison LaPlaca (why isn’t she more famous?) being bitchy and a young Ellen DeGeneres before she came out, chasing men.
So many shows just disappear from HGTV and I really miss the DIY, home decor tips, designing on a budget type shows that they used to do. But there was one show back then that was just. . . strange at the time. Living with Ed-- a reality TV show starring crazy environmentalist Ed Begely, Jr and his put-upon wife. He rode a stationary bike to either make coffee or turn on the computer and hung out with a guy who rigged his car to run on waste restaurant grease. Bill Nye showed up every now and again. Jackson Brown showed up too.
Do you fondly remember short-lived TV shows on one has ever heard of?
Yes. It was sometime around 1975-1976, and called Spirit of '76, or The Spirit of '76. I haven’t been able to find any record of it. A man with a guitar (he was white, and I think had a brown beard) sat in a room and told stories and sang songs about the American Revolution. Occasionally there would be spots that were slightly animated (basically just a few paintings) and he would narrate these. One episode was about women during this time. I can still sing the theme song. “You know the high road to freedom was a hard road to travel/Plenty of times we wound up in a fix…” I even tried to find someone on this board who remembered it, without any luck. I didn’t think it was local, but I grew up in central New Jersey and watched New York shows, if that helps.
One that I liked that has fallen down the Memory Hole was a show on Showtime called Leap Years. The premise was that it was the story of a group of friends at three different periods of their lives: just after college which was a few years in the past, the present (which would have been the early 2000s I guess) and then a few years in the future. It was entertaining and had good performances. It also had a puzzle box aspect since you saw the future but had no idea how they got there.
In other ambiguous, overused one-word titles, I was fond of Chase, one of the “elite cop squad” shows of the 70s. I think it is lost forever. I know I’d buy it if it came out.
There was a series that was on for one summer several years ago called “Johnny Bago”. It was about a guy who is on the run from the mob, driving a [del]stolen[/del] borrowed Winnebago around the country. Along with the mob, he is also pursued by his ex-wife who is also his parole officer.
BJ and The Bear was my favorite show as a little kid. I can’t remember much about it and am curious about going back and watching a couple of episodes. All I remember is a chimp, and a guaranteed big rig crash in every episode. To a 6 year-old boy, nothing else is really necessary for quality TV.
I sure remember it well. Wish the pilot movie was available! Availble on DVD - haven’t made it through the series yet.
Other ones I fondly remember that are at least also available on DVD or iTunes:
Bearcats! (exclamation point in title)
Raines (another Jeff Goldblum detective show)
Logan’s Run
The Invisible Man (David McCallum)
Barbary Coast (William Shatner)
Not available on DVD or anywhere I can find
Q.E.D (Sam Waterston as a turn of the century genius inventer)
Strange Luck
Memphis Beat
James at 15 (later renamed James at 16). As near as I can remember, it was about a sensitive teenage boy trying to fit in at a new school and city following his parents’ divorce. It was controversial because the title character lost his virginity at the age of 16. I remember liking the show at the time, but I was pretty young when it aired. I don’t remember much more about it. As far as I know it has never been released on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray or any streaming service.
Then there are a few that most Americans wouldn’t recognize only because they were produced in foreign countries. The first two seasons of the Canadian crime drama Durham County were some of the best TV I’ve seen. The Israeli drama Prisoners of War (originally Hatufim in Hebrew) was the basis of Homeland. As much as I liked the first few seasons of Homeland, the original was even better.
I loved James at 15 and 16. One scene really stood out to me. He moves to Boston from a small town and had to ride the subway. He stares dumbfounded at the map totally confused by it. It contained 4 subway lines, two going east-west and two going north-south. They made a hashtag pattern. There was absolutely nothing complicated about it. But it was filmed in such a way to make look scary. Fast zooms in and out, quick cuts to the the map corners, then James slack-jawed wonder.
The weird thing is, I remember loving the show and crushing on James but I do not remember anything specific about it except for that one subway scene.
**Dweebs **- an early proto-version of Big Bang Theory starring Peter Scolari as a Bill Gates-type socially awkward software millionaire running a software company with his nerdy friends. They hire a pretty, socially adept receptionist when they move the business out of the garage. Only a few episodes, but funny.
**Pearl **- Malcolm McDowell as an arrogant English professor, and Rhea Perlman as a working-class woman going back to college. The chemistry between them was fun.
**Cupid **- No, not that one. The original, with Jeremy Piven. Smart writing, good stories. Didn’t last long.
Swamp Thing - USA series. It was terrible, but I loved it.
