Watching 80s and 90s mystery and adventure shows (including kid shows)

Tzigone
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 23:23:39 +0000
Cafe Society

Well, I’ve recently re-watched shows from the 1980s and 1990s. Don’t know why. Just decided to. Including kids shows I watched in the 90s. So I have no new jewels share with anyone, and am just reminiscing over shows past, and what I think of them now.

So, I did Diagnosis Murder first. I’d hadn’t seen much of the early ones, and was surprised how much dancing and singing appeared (that wasn’t present in later episodes).

MacGyver, 1985 - pilot was good, next few episodes weak, but then it picked up around episode 8, and the first two seasons were good and the third pretty good. Not as much interest in later seasons - he isn’t enjoying himself the same way anymore, so it’s less fun. It’s episodic 80s tv with implausible/impossible MacGyverisms and less-than-tight continuity. I did enjoy it.

Early Matlock held up surprisingly well. I thought it worked up until season 6 when the humor took a turn that was not to my taste. Ben Matlock became more extreme and silly in some regards. Same season Andy Griffith became an executive producer, though that may coincidence. Bailed on the first episode of season 7 when he was arguing with a supermarket worker about how he only wanted 6 hotdog buns, not 12 (or something like that).

Murder She Wrote - still going through the episodes. It’s getting a bit stale, but I’m 8 seasons in, so that’s to be expected. I will say it seemed like Angela Lansbury aged less visibly in 7 years than Richard Dean Anderson. I don’t know if that’s to be expected, given their starting ages. I will say there were some anti-feminist bits (like when we’re supposed to like a character better because she prefers “Miss” to “Ms.” that were quite off-putting. I tend to like the Cabot Cove episodes best - I like getting to see the same characters show up.

Oh, my kids shows.

Disney’s So Weird (first two seasons) still stand up wonderfully. It’s way better than even most shows today at the props being meaningful. You can freeze frame on CD covers or articles and get the actual backstory of characters from shows, sometimes teasers about upcoming episodes. It’s a shame they had to change directions in season 3.

Ocean Girl - Australian series, but the first three seasons aired on Disney Channel back in the day. Watched the fourth years later (another time I was nostalgically revisiting shows). Kids having adventures in sci-fi context. Interesting parent-child dynamics. Bravery, loyalty, and goodness. All the fun. Each season has it’s own arc and there’s a shift-out in tertiary characters (which does make sense in context). I will admit, there are some discontinuities between seasons, and I was less-than-thrilled that destiny turned upon season 4, but it wouldn’t have bothered me when I was a kid. The kids got to grow up and the older ones weren’t kids anymore by the end, and I thought that was nice….may have to revisit (Road to) Avonlea in the near future.

I did Spellbinder, too (which I think also aired on Disney, but am not sure). Another kid sci-fi adventure show. Parallel worlds, this time. Very serialized. I still enjoyed, but definitely felt a little hamster-wheel at times.

Edit: Oh, I also did Starman and The Powers of Matthew Star, too. Didn’t watch either of those when on originally. I saw Starman on Sci-Fi channel in the 90s, don’t know about Matthew Star. Can’t really say I think it’s good, but I have a fondness for the first half of the series, anyway. I actually do like Starman - though I acknowledge the formulaic, episodic show that it is.

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