65
votes
What is the oldest TV show you actually enjoy?
This question came up earlier today, and I am curious to see the variety of responses here on Tildes. What is the oldest TV show that you actually enjoy watching? Not just enjoy it "for its time", or respect for its influence, etc, but really enjoy in the same way that you do modern content? I am curious where the cutoff is for most people.
For me it is probably The Twilight Zone, which 1959 and which I just absolutely ate up. But after that there is probably a few decade gap to maybe the 1970s with Rockford Files or maybe 1980s with a couple of shows, including TNG.
MASH (1972-1983) remains one of the greatest shows ever made.
I love mash but it's because I miss William Christopher. "Uncle Billy" was my mom's cousin and was always the jokester of our family reunions. He was a warm, patient, thoughtful man who was wonderful with children and always seemed to have something wise and yet unassuming to say to adults. He always made everyone feel like they were important and included.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you knew and loved Father Mulcahy, you knew and loved Bill.
Its really heartening to hear that he was like that in real life. A very lovable character indeed.
MASH was a big part of my tv watching as a kid and I still remember watching the last episode and how sad it was to know it was over. Felt like the end of an era to me, and millions of others - still the most watched episode on TV.
Was watching Scrubs recently (2nd time for me, 1st time for wife) and she mentioned never really watching MASH when I mentioned they were similar medical "dramedy" shows. So we interspersed Scrubs with MASH for a bit and really they kinda worked together and MASH held up better than I thought it would - she loves 'em and doesn't have nostalgia attached to them.
This was my first thought (though strictly answering the question my answer would be The Twilight Zone because it’s older). I’m in my early 30s so I was not alive during any of the original run of MASH. My mom was a fan and introduced me to the show, and I think she watched the show as it aired. Hawkeye’s humor always reminds me so much of how my grandpa (mom’s dad) was; I just looked for the best Hawkeye quotes and this is the exact kind of thing I could hear my grandpa also saying:
“Henry: You were ordered to stand down!
Hawkeye: I did, but I fell up again.”
https://quotecatalog.com/quote/sheldon-keller-bhenryb-y-b1redPa
I just absolutely adore Alan Alda.
And about MASH, I love the mix of comedy and heaviness. It feels so raw and real…I mean, these people were forced into their situation and just trying to make the best of it. It’s so funny and simultaneously so heartbreaking. Such a great show.
MASH is one of the older shows I actually like. If you want more read the novels.
It sounds dumb and it is dumber, but Hart to Hart. Been having a blast watching these, it is so super cheesy that it just coats your brain in nostalgic dumb.
And Pete and Pete for the win.
M.A.S.H is one show that my family would watch when it was on. Love that series.
I was thinking mash and all in the family
MASH is definitely the oldest that came to mind for me.
Columbo
Seasons: 7 | Episodes: 43 | Years: 1971–1978 | Country: USA | Genre: Crime drama (Wikipedia)
Favourite episode:
"A Deadly State of Mind" – S04 E06
A psychiatrist, who specializes in hypnosis, murders the husband of his mistress and convinces her to lie to the police; it's up to Lt. Columbo to discover the truth. (IMDb)
Fawlty Towers
Seasons: 2 | Episodes: 12 | Years: 1975 & 1979 | Country: United Kingdom | Genre: Sitcom (Wikipedia)
Favourite episode:
"A Touch of Class" – S01 E01
Basil is delighted when a member of the aristocracy chooses to stay at the Fawlty Towers, snubbing the normal guests who frequent the hotel. (IMDb)
Police Squad!
Seasons: 1 | Episodes: 6 | Years: 1982 | Country: USA | Genre: Crime comedy (Wikipedia)
Favourite episode:
"Rendezvous at Big Gulch (Terror in the Neighborhood)" – S01 E03
When a woman reports being blackmailed by some thugs, Frank and Norberg open up a key store in the most troubled area. (IMDb)
Blackadder
Seasons: 2 | Episodes: 12 | Years: 1986–1987 | Country: United Kingdom | Genre: Period sitcom (Wikipedia)
Favourite episode:
"Potato" – S02 E03
Edmund attempts to impress the Queen by embarking on his own voyage of discovery to the New World. (IMDb)
Notes:
My dad just put on Columbo and I watched an episode for the first time -- and it was exactly the one you mention as your favorite here! Absolutely fantastic. I love Columbo's demeanor and def want to watch more of them.
Columbo is a great show but it is so formulaic and repetitive that it's close to impossible to binge watch. I got back into it recently because I saw it on reruns on antenna TV and that's exactly when it is at its best, when you've forgotten how good it is and you need "just one more thing!"
The first two seasons are exceptionally good, and the first regular episode is a treat because it was one of the first things Steven Spielberg ever directed
https://columbo.fandom.com/wiki/Murder_by_the_Book
In measured doses it is one of the best things ever on TV.
Yeah to be fair I guess it was designed for measured doses, since that's how people would've been consuming it back in the day
Yep, it wasn't even on a weekly schedule, instead it was on roughly once per month rotating with four other shows as part of
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NBC_Mystery_Movie
I’ll watch Columbo with my dad when it’s on, but it’s not something I would sit and binge.
You’re selling Columbo way too short here. It ran new “episodes” sporadically until 2003!
Oof! I ain't touching them with a bargepole. 🙃
Blackadder's info isn't quite right. There are 4 series with 24 total episodes plus some specials.
See my notes section at the bottom.
I mean, okay.
But claiming the show has two seasons is inaccurate. Especially since you don't identify which ones you consider to be actual seasons and which ones you're pretending do not exist.
Ah yeah Blackadder is just amazing, especially after the first season. Also fantastic to see Rowan Atkinson in a role that isn't Mr Bean.
Who are you? And how did you get in here?
I'm a locksmith. And I'm a locksmith.
I enjoy The Twilight Zone as well. Star Trek TOS is the Trek series I enjoy the most right now. Friends never ceases to amuse me, despite the fact that I have lots of it memorized at this point. We occasionally watch Monk, House M.D, and random stuff from the 90s. The latest show I rediscovered on stream was A.L.F.. It's really bad, but the nostalgia is strong on this one. And did you know that the actor who plays the father was Rachel's boss in the first seasons of Friends?
I'll also watch I Dream of Jeannie and Addams Family if they're on TV.
At first, I read Star Trek ToS as "Star Trek Terms of Service" and was very confused.
Lower Decks (which takes place a little while after TNG) lands a good joke where someone refers to the Kirk era as the TOS era, and someone else stops him to ask what he means - he uses it to stand for "those old scientists," but it's a fun wink and nod to the audience.
Twilight zone for me as well. The themes of the show have aged very well (very progressive for its time). The fact that the show was shot on film and not on tape (allowing for easy high quality remasters in HD/4K) also helps a lot.
Yep. Most single camera shows where shot on film until very recently. They where converted to tape for post-production or broadcast.
I just recently started watching Monk actually, it kinda hits that "something I can just throw on" spot I've been missing. Like if I get distracted during an episode it doesn't really matter much. Modern shows are more like a long movie, if you miss an episode you'll have no idea what's going on, which is great because there have been some amazing TV series in the past decade but sometimes you just wanna throw something on ya know? Plus Tony Shaloub is great. I only really knew him from getting his head blown off by Tommy Lee Jones lol
I wish we had more quality espisodic dramas nowadays, but they don't make commercial sense on streaming. "Binging" is where the money's at, unfortunately.
Golden girls immediately came go mind for me too! There are other older shows I enjoy, like Monty Python, but they often come with a lot of old stereotypes or problems (Monty Python is incredibly racist at times). Golden Girls honestly I don't have anything I would change about. It's already perfect.
Agreed. Super progressive. It starts with the fact that it focuses on four women who have brains and full agency.
My favorite show of all time is The Dick Van Dyke Show. Saw it for the first time five years ago when I was 18 and it was a blast.
I also love I Love Lucy, that’s as far back as I’ve gone in regards to TV though.
See now, for me, the Dick Van Dyke Show vs. I Love Lucy is the perfect juxtaposition of timeless vs… the opposite of that. 😅
The Dick Van Dyke Show is clever and funny in a way that still holds up. When I watch I Love Lucy, I feel like I've opened a time capsule to study what was funny to people in the 50s. It's incredible to me the shows aired just a decade apart.
At the same time, I went back and tried to watch some TV from the mid-2000s, and that stuff was nearly unwatchable! Just a decade (or nearly two in the more recent example) really can make a lot of difference.
I'm kind of surprised to hear you say that because I Love Lucy was a fairly subversive show for it's time; IIRC it (inclusive of it's predecessors) was the first TV show to depict an interracial relationship in a positive light. And then of course their success had them creating their own studio and making one of the most famously subversive TV shows of it's time: Star Trek.
But then again, it's been forever since I watched the show and most of the time when you do see it these days it's a rather handpicked collection.
Can you expand a little bit on your Star Trek remark??? Are you saying Lucile and Desi had a hand in the origins of Star Trek? That’s mind blowing if true!
I wouldn’t say they were the ones who were responsible for the best parts or anything like that, but that Desilu logo at the end of the credits is the studio they founded.
Honestly it’s been so long since I read about this that I can’t be confident about much beyond that, so I would try to find a book on the subject.
I read something a long time ago that quoted Carl Reiner saying something to the effect of “no slang this thing is gonna have legs” in regards to The Dick Van Dyke Show. He knew it had the ability to be watched decades later so he tooled the show to be timeless in that way.
I don’t really see a problem with the humor in I Love Lucy, they had clever jokes as well. I will say it is more of its time, but I still find it funny.
I love that I knew exactly the scene you meant before I clicked that link. Not that the rest of the show doesn't have a lot of that timeless humor, but that gag was next level.
I Love Lucy is my pick as well. It's amazing how forward thinking they were on women as well. Consider the time frame it was filmed in, abusing and demeaning your wife was common fare. Lucy manages to come off as a woman who can manage herself in a man's world.
The Andy Griffith Show, which ran from 60-68. Don Knotts has absolutely unbelievable comic timing.
I also love The Munsters, which ran from 64-66.
Despite loving both, I've always preferred The Munsters over The Addams Family. Fred Gwynne was so lovable as Herman, and the general vibe of the show was different despite both shows being about monster families.
Star Trek Next Generation, The Outer Limits, The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, Fraiser
The Joy of Painting is truly timeless. I don't even paint and I love that one.
As someone who grew up in the 70's and 80's the modern affection for Bob Ross amuses me. I remember flipping past his show many times back in the day, and never thought it would be so popular all these years later. Kudos to him for being ahead of his time. 😄
I rewatch TNG/DS9/VOY front to back every couple years. Star Trek rewatch podcast I listen to is most of the way through Voyager now so I'm looking forward to them starting Enterprise which I think is better than it gets credit for but still not great.
TNG for me as well.
Muppet Babies brings back fond memories. I vaguely remember it being tongue in cheek and quirky. Not enough to make me actually go look for it and rewatch it. But it just popped up in my head haha.
The main ones that hold up well for me are The Addams Family and Doctor Who.
As a member of Generation X, "old television" for me means the 1960s and 1950s. Here's a sample of my favourite shows from that era. To limit it somewhat, I'm going to arbitrarily omit any show that began broadcasting from 1965 onwards (there's a whole batch of shows that began in the 1965-70 era which would make this list otherwise).
Bewitched (1964-1972)
The Addams Family (1964-1966)
My Favorite Martian (1963-1966)
The Jetsons (1962-1963)
The Adventures of Superman (1952-1958)
I Love Lucy (1951-1957)
I didn’t realize that the Jetson’s only ran for one year … and now I have the theme song stuck in my head.
Hogan’s Heroes started in 1965 just missing your cutoff, but I feel compelled to mention it because it’s such a hoot and is still just as funny to watch today. And I have to give a hat tip to this video of Werner Klemperer & John Banner singing Silent Night too.
The Honeymooners is still a funny show.
I came here to say this. It really laid the foundation for so much of modern comedy.
The episode that immediately comes to mind is S1 E5 - A Matter of Life and Death (1955). The general premise is that Ralph overhears Alice on the phone with the veterinarian about her mother's dog and thinks they're talking about him and that he's dying.
Dad's Army from 1968. I was surprised when I looked it up that it was that far back because it really doesn't feel that old.
I recently found myself watching series one of Mork and Mindy (1978) and that's held up amazingly well. I guess if you put Robin Williams in front of a camera that's what happens.
Great shout, it's a staple of post-Christmas dinner viewing in my house.
I think there are several other BBC shows from that era that hold up really well - Are you being served (1972), Porridge (1974) and of course the timeless Fawlty Towers (1975).
The Prisoner (1967)
Oh, yeah. Good call. Also that reminds me that The Avengers (1961) exists and is awesome. Not that silly modern Avengers nonsense with the big chins running around in tights and shouting. The original, civilised Avengers who dress in Cardin and drink champagne.
While we're on the weirder end of 60s British TV, there's also the 1979 Sapphire and Steel which is hard to "enjoy in the same way as modern content" because nothing anywhere near that weird exists these days. It's still great though.
Man I love The Prisoner. between that and TOS, I have never rewatched so many episodes.
There is only 17 episodes of The Prisoner, so lots of rewatch potential.
I've been to Portmerion (the village it was filmed in) a few times. It's a very strange place, as you might expect. They've preserved much of it as it was in the 60s, and you can stay in many of the buildings.
Excluding shows I grew up with (like the Star Treks) to avoid nostalgia contamination, here are the oldest shows I've watched more recently (say the last 10 years or so) and have enjoyed:
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969) - I'd seen a lot of the movies when I was younger, but it wasn't until recently that I found the old TV series had a blu-ray release, so I bought it and ripped the whole thing to my Jellyfin server and have been enjoying the hell out of it.
Survivors (1975) - British show that follows a group of people in the post-apocalyptic aftermath of a worldwide pandemic. I had watched this for the first time probably in the early 2000s but re-watched during covid times and liked it a lot more this second time around.
Sherlock Holmes (1984) - The British series starring Jeremy Brett is bar none the greatest Sherlock Holmes adaptation to ever hit the screen. Still great. This is kind of cheating because I did watch some of this with my mom (who was obsessed with it) when I was a kid, but only really caught a smattering of episodes here and there and Sherlock Holmes wasn't really something I was interested in at the time. It's not until recently I started watching it in earnest all the way through.
Twin Peaks (1990) - I watched this for the first time a few years ago, followed by the 2017 follow up series, and have to say I have come to regard that as the single greatest television media consumption experience of my life.
I enjoy some episodes of ST:TNG, but if we're talking a series I can watch every episode of, it's got to be Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. If animation counts, I enjoy Transformers (Generation 1), even if the writing wasn't top notch. (The same can't be said for GI Joe, sadly.)
I'm watching through DS9 right now for the first time and... It's pretty great! Enjoying it way more than TNG.
It has a better first season, hands down. And once it starts really going, you can't put it down. And the crew dynamic is just phenomenal.
TNG was better than DS9 for the medium they arrived in, syndicated broadcast on network TV. Anyone could drop into a random episode and figure out what's going on. But DS9 is the clear winner in the streaming / binge-watching era where we're all accustomed to (and able to) enjoy long-form serialized story arc.
It was so surprising to see DS9 rise in popularity! I remember watching a few episodes when it was airing and it was just kind of OK, if not a little dull in comparison to TNG. But when you have the chance to let it cook and you see the character arcs coming to fruition it really starts cookin'. Now Garak is basically one of my favorite characters anywhere. To think that these rich complex characters were there all this time and we just didn't see it the first time around.
The fact that the writers could weave characters and scenarios this interesting while still being largely episodic is just flabbergasting - I haven't seen a TV show accomplish anything close to it since.
Which is amazing, considering it was syndicated as well, and had to fight tooth and nail with the execs to do arcs and continuity.
oh man, are you in for a treat. I'd do anything to watch DS9 for the first time again.
Every few years I have a re-watch of DS9.
I admit I skip some episodes/skip through some others but I start at Season 1 for the most part and watch it through.
It's just such a great series when it really gets going, I don't mind that I've seen it all before either and usually a few years between re-watchings is enough to keep it engaging.
It's okay, we all skip The Storyteller after a couple of watches. :)
"Allamaraine, skip this one..."
Oh wow, yeah that brought back a terrible memory.
That episode reminds me of that terrible Voyager episode where they were trapped in that strange circus themed virtual world with a clown. I feel that one did it better though, weirdly it's probably the most disturbing episode of Voyager in a good way.
Terrible? That episode is fantastic! It's deeply unsettling and a rare gem in S1-S3 Voyager. Michael McKean does an incredible job as fear clown thing as well.
There are so many shows and so little time I rarely go back to old stuff anymore. I used to cycle through all of Star Trek (TOS - ENT), Babylon 5, Farscape and Stargate, but I have like 1 hour a day for television these days so I gotta choose between new series and old favourites. Star Trek TNG is probably the oldest show I'll actively rewatch.
The Carol Burnett Show (1967, 9 seasons). We watched it as a family. A variety show with clean humor and utterly silly slapstick comedy. Carol Burnett was ahead of her time.
I can still watch the sketch with Harvey Korman and Tim Conway as the dentist and crack up every time. Watching Harvey Korman losing his composure made it priceless. And the Elephant sketch, the only sketch that made "Mama" swear and the other characters broke out and rolled on the floor with laughter.
Are you able to stream The Carol Burnett Show from a service or website?
I just watched clips on youtube the last time. It was on our Firestick too but I tossed that.
There's an official "Carol Burnett Show" channel on YouTube, with selected scenes and episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/@CarolBurnettShow
Thank you!
I love the original Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon! The jokes can be dated and cheesy, but there are a ton of wonderful dad jokes and puns that can still get groans today. It had an impact on my sense of humor, along with the classic Looney Tunes shorts, much to the chagrin of everyone I've ever worked with. Inane premises with even worse punchlines aren't exactly high art, but watching Boris Badenov get blown up by his own explosives for the hundredth time is still entertaining, even now.
The Virginian is probably the oldest show I regularly watch. Its from the early 60s and is fairly wholesome... long episodes and lots of them, too.
1966 Adam West Batman is one of my favorite shows.
Also love Fleischer Studios cartoons from the 30's.
It's kind of a shame that Fleischer's legacy has largely been forgotten by the public. As much money as Disney was able to pull in and how many innovations they created, Fleischer was just as deep in the game and creating works that would inspire animators for decades to come. The flying robot from the Superman shorts is such an iconic design that has been copied so many times. By the end of their hayday they had a camera system so they could animate their characters in front of real, three dimensional backgrounds without the need for optical compositing.
Man I love Gunsmoke. Even the radio drama is awesome. For some reason older shows, movies, radio plays, etc are comforting and relaxing for me.
Gunsmoke AND Bonanza. Loved them.
Gumby
Original episodes on Howdy Doody from 1955–1956
The Gumby Show 1957–1969
It was old even when I watched it as a kid, but it's still fun to watch with my own kids now, even though many of the early episodes are completely batshit weird.
I still love the OG Addam's Family. It's genuinely funny to me, plus Morticia is legit a stone cold fox.
Off the top of my head I'd have to say The Sopranos. After it aired my expectations for television were forever changed. I've tried to watch some childhood favorites like Macgyver, A Team and Tour of Duty but I can't get into it.
I know it's not the oldest show, but as far as watchability goes Seinfeld really does it for me
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is almost as good as Twilight Zone, but started 5 years earlier.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is probably the oldest show I go back to again and again.
I think it is a bit hard to separate the influence of nostalgia from being able to see something and say "this definitely holds up today". There are some shows I loved as a kid that are horribly dated now. I rewatched Cheers recently and that still works. As someone else mentioned, Dads Army is always funny, though I think getting a millenial to watch it would be hard work.
I think my sister is a millenial and she likes Dad's Army. That said, I don't really understand this whole generational horoscopes thing people do now.
edit: is your username a Blossom reference?
What is a generational horoscope?
No, never heard of Blossom.
This whole Gen A/B/C/whatever thing people do, as if the year someone was born is really all that indicative of anything much. Makes about as much sense to me as whether Saturn was in Lemonade or whatever.
Blossom was a kids show from the 90s and she had a friend called Six.
I am not overly fond of the gen thing, but if I refer to youngsters, at my stage of life that is anyone under 40!
My username is from a Tubeway Army song Down In The Park from 1979.
I love The Dick Van Dyke Show as well, and if I'm in the mood for something a lil campier I'll go for Hogan's Heroes.
I just thought of two more shows I really enjoyed and would most likely quite enjoy today.
Welcome Back, Kotter, which features a young John Travolta and a very ethnic 1970s Brooklyn, and
Land of the Lost (I learned there have been a couple remakes, I'm referring to the 1974 original. The Will Farrell movie wasn't bad, but was a very different endeavor), high quality science fiction for afternoon reruns on the kid block. The other sid and marty kroft productions were pretty lame, although H.R. Pufnstuff may have corrupted me.
I Love Lucy is always an old favorite of mine. I'll also always love Golden Girls
The Phil Silvers Show (Sgt. Bilko) 1955 - 1959.
I first heard the audio of an episode on an airplane in the early 2000s and spent a long time thinking it was a radio show.
Shout Factory released the complete series a few years ago.
WKRP in Cincinnati is an awesome show that just doesn't get the love because of how hard it was to get in syndication with the actual music. I work with a bunch of ex radio hosts and they confirm it is very true to life!
WKRP was one of my favorites growing up. Where do you watch it?
I have it downloaded.
I just watched Father Ted for the first time. It gets name checked on these kinds of favorite shows lists for a reason. Hilarious and shockingly (to me) irreverent. I'm really surprised they got away with so much.
I also started Bottom. Also very funny, but also purposefully grim and grimy. Definitely feels very 80s British.
Father Ted has become my Christmas eve go to while I prep the Christmas dinner. Absolutely brilliant show that is still as good as the day it aired.
I Love Lucy. Still one of my absolute favorite shows! Whenever I watch it I laugh just as hard as the first time I saw it.
The Twilight Zone (1959) as well, then I think a lot of nothing until 40 years ago i.e. Knight Rider (1982), MacGyver (1985), and so forth. I don't count Doctor Who (1963) and Star Trek (1966) despite watching some of the later ones because I didn't actually like the original series'.
I absolutely love "Murder, She Wrote". I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie and love everything about the show. Planning on copying Jessica Fletcher's wardrobe when I retire.
MASH and currently rewatching Seinfeld
A couple that I haven't seen mentioned yet are The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Blakes' 7. Both sci-fi shows, but of wildly different tone. And both hold up well today.
Am glad you can still enjoy B7. I loved that as a kid, but watched a few bits on YT recently and was shocked at how bad it was to my now very much older eyes.
Hitchhikers Guide, excellent choice, but be sure to bring your towel!
For me it is definitely The West Wing. For years, I ignored it because it seemed dated and lacked the modern sensibilities I was conditioned to expect from a “good” political drama (e.g. gritty, edgy, or dark). However, this show is something truly special and awakened in me a deep appreciation of good writing. The dialogue is engaging and intellectually stimulating, without ever coming off as pedantic or self-absorbed in my estimation. The characters are richly developed and complex in a way that was ahead of its time. It somehow manages to humanize the people in the White House while also inspiring the viewer with an aspirational vision of democracy. The show’s writers also demonstrate an almost preternatural ability to anticipate the issues that would be at the forefront of American politics years (and in some cases decades) after the show’s airing. It’s easily one of my favorite shows of all time.
Honestly, I don't think there are any eras of television that don't have multiple great shows that hold up. I Love Lucy is still one of the greatest comedy sitcoms ever made and that started broadcasting in 1951.
Get Smart (1965), a comedy TV series by Mel Brooks(blazing saddles, young Frankenstein). A non serious period alternative to the ultra cool and competent James Bond, Maxwell Smart's bumbling genius still makes me laugh.
I stay up late every Saturday night to watch Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, which ran from '64-'68. I never saw it or heard of it before I stumbled across it one night late, and it's become one of the few shows I make time to watch.
Even older than that, though, is my favorite Western, Have Gun, Will Travel, which ran from '57-'63. This one came on a lot in my Gen-X youth; I loved it then, and I still love it today. I watch it every time I see it while channel-surfing.
yeah, it was Seinfeld. I love that I can mostly relate to them because I lived those situations and experienced some of them IRL. also I can jump into any episode and would have missed almost nothing because the show was about nothing
I grew up watching The Virginian with my grandpa. I love it. The premise is silly but it’s actually got really good acting.
I grew up during an era of Nick@Nite when it had The Brady Bunch and I Love Lucy. And I also remember when Disney Channel had the old Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro.
Zorro was so cool to me. My family would find random Zorro things for me as gifts and I just remember finding the premise so cool.
The Golden Girls was watched religiously every night, with my grams, before I went to bed.
Seems there's been a few shows mentioned already that I've watched and loved, TNG, Twilight Zone and Fawlty Towers so I won't cover those but a show I've found myself going back to time and time again is The X-Files.
Id say its my favourite TV show and I think the last time I watched it was my 5th run through.
The chemistry between Mulder and Scully is immediately apparent, the characters are engaging and well written, the mytharc is mysterious and the MotW episodes are fun. Season one is strong right off the bat but my god seasons 3-6 are just absolutely unstoppable TV.
I love this show.
UK TV watcher here and I grew up in the 80s and 90s.
Dad's Army, Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers, M.A.S.H., The Invisible Man, Mr Ed (the horse) all come to mind as some of my favourite shows that I watched back then, and I've seen random episodes and enjoyed them in the past couple of years.
I cannot say I've sat and watched a straight season out of those except Only Fools and Horses which still remains one of the best comedy shows made.
I have been going back and watching some of the very old Steptoe and Son series, they're all on YouTube. Surprisingly good!
I can’t believe The Twilight Zone wasn’t my first thought, but it would definitely be the most accurate answer for me given the age of the show. I still love to watch episodes and I’ve been trying to watch through all of the ones available on Paramount Plus. There are still some episodes that I’ve never seen on reruns and NYE marathons back when I had cable TV.
My first thought was actually MASH, and I added a comment under the parent comment mentioning MASH about how much and why I love the show. It feels so raw and real and I love the mix between the heaviness of war and pain and death with the humor of trying to cope with that situation. It is such a compelling show and done so well. I was born in the early 90s so I didn’t see any of it on its original run, but I used to watch reruns on cable every day when I was a teenager.
My other choice for a slightly newer show but still over 30 years old: Star Trek: TNG. This is probably my absolute favorite show of all time. It still holds up, at least for me. I loooove the dialog and slow paced-ness of this show. I find it so incredibly comforting and peaceful. The way everyone is so in touch with and open about how they feel and think and having these conversations and debates that are so civil and inclusive and thoughtful! They truly trust each other and respect each other and can disagree without being mean or cruel. It touches something deep inside my soul and brings me so much joy. Oh and the space mysteries! I love that part of it too.
I still enjoy episodes of What's My Line? from the 1950s which is quite impressive for being nearly 50 years older than me.
You can easily find episodes on archive.org or YouTube. Here's an episode from 1959 with Groucho Marx as a panelist. I think it (mostly) still works, but panel shows are more resilient than most other programs.
I agree with you about the original Twilight Zone. Shows about the human condition, character over spectacle, and really solid writing are still great fun to watch - even if they are in grainy black and white and 4:3.
The Twilight Zone is probably my oldest. Not a stretch to say the second oldest would be Star Trek TOS.
Cheers for me, granted it's not that old, but still!
The 3 Stooges still crack me up
Gotta be Monty Python's Flying Circus, which aired long before I was born. When you meet another Python fan the quotes and in-jokes just start flowing!
Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised!
I would love to see once again "Hry bez hranic" (Games without borders - basically team kinda wipeout/sport/skill games where each teamof I believe 6 or 8 ordinary people represents one country, these were popular in late 80s or early 90s in Europe, mainly eastern I suppose).
I would also love to see original Fort Boyard.
Too bad you can't find them (in Czech) and they don't brodcast them. Otherwise I would loveto watch them all again. These would be the oldest.
The Beverly Hillbillies, still makes me smile.
'Allo 'Allo! cracks me up.
Two and a Half Men.
I am from LATAM so I still enjoy once in a while a Mexican show called Chespirito or Chavo del Ocho.
Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Family Matters, Little House on the Prairie (especially the episodes with teenage and adult Laura).
That's easily King of the Hill for me. I've watched it several times the whole way through, which is not a normal habit of mine. So good.
I am a huge fan of Granada’s late 80s Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett, and similarly the Poirot series with David Suchet. The production values are high, the adaptations are well-written, and the casting is unbeatable.
It's not really that old as it was made in 2000, but i've been watching a lot of curb your enthusiasm lately and have been enjoying it. Only just heard about the show recently.
Classic Doctor Who (1963-1989)
Probably the Super Mario Brothers Super Show. I curate the kosher/appropriate stuff for my niece.
Star Trek TOS is the oldest from the US (1966), but I also enjoy stuff from the other side of the iron curtain, Czterej Pancerni i Pies is a classic that I can always rewatch. It's a Polish TV series incidentally also from 1966.
I just realized someone mentioned Muppet Babies but nobody mentioned The Muppet Show, and I am irrationally upset about it.
Even if nobody knows the celebrities anymore, most of the comedy is timeless.
I still love the A-team but that's mostly due to nostalgia. The show itself is actually pretty cringe worthy. They shoot hundreds of bullets but nobody ever gets hit. Every episode has a happy ending. But I still love it because I watched it when I was a kid.
If you like The Twilight Zone and are interested in old TV, then I'd highly recommend Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
There's an episode of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1951 - 1958) with Jack Benny that is so funny. I mean they are all funny, but the scene starting at around 20:30 in the episode "Gracie Thinks She's Not Married to George" that words can't express.
I also really like the old iSpy (1965 - 1968) show; it never fails to amuse. It starred Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. After I started watching the reruns long ago my mother told me how Culp was supposed to be the big star but the young Bill Cosby stole the show.
Yes, Bill Cosby did wrong, but the show stands the test of time, for me anyway.
My brother loved The Saint (1962 - 1969). Roger Moore really did well in it. I put it on sometimes and always enjoy it but it's not a standout for me. I mention it to call attention to it for those who never watched it.
Some older ones in general that I enjoy
Probably Seinfeld for me, I grew up watching it so it still rings my bell. Anything much older feels pretty out of touch and unfunny. Though I used to really enjoy Hogan's Hero's
Well, The Twilight Zone is an obvious one, so I’m going to go unique.
Dark Shadows (1966–1971).
I have watched all 1,225 episodes (including the lost one) and thoroughly enjoyed it. One day I’ll rewatch it.
Sure, it’s a soap opera, and yeah, it’s cheesy at times, but so what? If I had an ungodly amount of time in my life, I’d love to remaster and recut it all.
Golden Girls is my go to. I watch it all the way through, then start it again.