Classic American Television

Doug: Today's post spins out of a comment our pal david_b made last Friday on our Comics Code post. In the midst of his pontification David slipped in a reference to the television program Dragnet, which (for most of us who see it in reruns; there were earlier radio and TV versions) ran during the 1967-70 seasons and featured Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as LA policemen. That made me smile, and immediately got me to thinking of some programs my wife and I enjoy.

Doug: One of my favorites that I actually watched in reruns when I was a child is The Dick Van Dyke Show. Now that I'm older and fully understand the plotlines I really appreciate it. Van Dyke was so gifted at physical comedy, and it's that aspect of the program that stands out to me. Of course we were of the age that The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family were still being first-aired when we were little. Watching those today is a bit different from viewing "Dick Van Dyke" or The Mary Tyler Moore Show; the Bradys are a part of our personal history -- can you think of another program in the lives of people born in the mid-1960's that has been watched for virtually forever, as in the case of The Brady Bunch? Sure, it's not particularly fine as literature or cinema, but each show was it's own little whitebread morality play.

Doug: These are just a few examples -- I could go on with the sitcoms and then on into a few old dramas that we'll sometimes sit back and watch. But I'll let the conversation begin to flow through you, our readers. Which series of decades past did you enjoy, and perhaps still watch in reruns -- Green Acres (also mentioned by david_b last week), I Love Lucy, M*A*S*H, Mr. Ed, Happy Days, or The Honeymooners? Are there classic series that you've purchased on DVD? And, just to balance the equation, are there some shows that just make your eyes bleed? -Why in the world would any producer have wasted the celluloid? Thanks in advance for your comments!

NOTE: We certainly don't want to exclude our international friends from the conversation. Sidebars for British television, etc. are perfectly appropriate to today's topic. I'm sure if the comments get to flowing, there will be something that comes along that we can all get involved with.