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Older shows to resurrect and binge
Over the past couple weeks I’ve gone and binged The Dick Van Dyke show on Netflix. Turns out, it’s fantastic! The writing is great and there’s all kinds of content that has been reused for modern sitcoms.
What are some other older shows that folks recommend to watch and enjoy?
I went on an "old show" binge a few years ago where I went back and watched an absolute ton of shows I had heard of but never watched before. A great many of them were terribly dated and practically unwatchable but some of the stand outs for me that stood the test of time were:
The Twilight Zone - The pacing is significantly slower than today's standards, and the writing, premises and acting in each episode could range from mediocre to absolutely top-notch. However there are some absolute gems in there and overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. Rod Serling is also amazing.
The Prisoner - Just weird, ever so weird, but also very good. The acting and mysterious story are amazing... but it does require you get over the fact that the "baddies" in the show are essentially inflatable balloons that chase and smother people. ;)
M.A.S.H. - An absolute classic. The humour 100% holds up. The heartfelt moments hold up. The acting and writing hold up. Everything about it holds up. I cannot recommend this show enough.
Fawlty Towers - Absurd, Cringe-worthy, Offensive... Hilarious. You can't go wrong with John Cleese.
Black Adder - I mean... what can you say about the show that hasn't been said already? It absolutely lives up to its reputation. Hilarious, brilliant and the cast is amazing. Though the first season was the weakest of the bunch, IMO.
Black Books - Probably one of the funniest shows I have ever watched. I laughed out loud watching this show more than I can honestly remember doing watching any other. It's about a drunken book store owner that is a complete, total degenerate and who despises people and especially interacting with them. Perfect bookstore owner, right? :P The supporting cast is also fantastic.
Father Ted - Similar to Black Books... this show elicited a ton of laugh out loud moments. It's about three misfit priests in Ireland and all the trouble they get into. A bit dated at times but overall remarkably funny.
Red Dwarf - Character driven comedy scifi. Super super low-budget BBC but given the setting (a mining space ship lost in space) it's fine. Just fantastically funny and well worth watching if you're a fan of scifi at all. The three news seasons, made 15 years after the original ones, are pretty mediocre though, IMO.
Monty Python's Flying Circus - I am a huge fan of their movies (including the best-of style anthologies from the show) and all the troupe members individually as well (esp Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin) but had never actually watched the TV show itself from beginning to end before. So I finally decided to. Much of it was utterly brilliant but, truth be told, much of it was also kind of crap... it was a real mixed bag and I don't really know if I could recommend it unless you were also a huge fan. But if you are, you really owe it to yourself to watch it.
Sliders - Kinda cheesy scifi about people forced to jump between alternative dimension where human history is radically different in each... a bit low budget but overall solid and enjoyable. Stop watching after Season 4 when most of the original cast leaves the show though... Season 5 is really really terrible.
Quantum Leap - Slow, often incredibly cheesy and dated scifi about a scientist stuck "leaping" between bodies (so forced to live out portions of other people's lives) but I really enjoyed it. It's a good "watch in the background" show.
Columbo - Peter Falk is amazing as the seemingly bumbling detective who actually harbors an wickedly sharp mind but merely plays the fool to get people's guard down. It's another one of those shows that is a bit dated and slow but excellent to watch in the background.
Fantasy Island - A super weird show about a private luxury resort on a tropical Island where people go to live out their deepest fantasy but it usually winds up as a Monkey's Paw style bargain where the owner of the island (who may or may not have supernatural powers) twists their desires against them to teach them a lesson. Surprisingly deep stories addressing some controversial (at the time) topics and philosophical/ethical issues.... not at all what I expected from a show where the only thing I knew about it was the "da plane! da plane!" meme.
Police Squad! - If you like Leslie Nielsen, The Naked gun or slapstick humour in general, then this is the show for you. It's brilliant.
Cheers - I'm a huge fan of Frasier (which I also recommend) but had never watched the original Cheers. It's pretty different... much cruder and more every day kind of comfortable, safe humour but I actually really enjoyed it. It's another I watched passively while doing other things and it was great for that.
I, Cluadius - Low budget 70s BBC Historical Drama at its best. The sets are rudimentary and incredibly confined, the costumes are mediocre but the acting and story is absolutely superb. If you loved HBO's Rome then you will love this show if you can get over the budget constraints.
Shogun - I am probably incredibly biased on this one considering it's one of my all time favorite Historical Fiction books turned in to a miniseries. But IMO it does the James Clavell book justice and I enjoyed it so much I actually bought the DVD box set.
Sharpe - 16 episodes (100 min each) shot over 15 years. It's a series set in the early 1800s (1809 - 1818) following an elite British Riflemen company through various conflicts of the time from Portugal to India. It's a mindbogglingly good series and Sean Bean is fantastic as Sharpe.
Hornblower - Similar to Sharpe, 8 episodes (100+min each) also shot over many years. Also a series set in the early 1800s but this time focusing on the British Royal Navy and following the protagonist's (Horatio Hornblower) career and rise through the ranks. Equally as fantastic as Sharpe, IMO.
I was nodding in agreement all the way through this list until I hit this entry:
This is from the '90s. I remember watching it - as an adult. IT'S NOT OLD! :'(
One minor point: I wouldn't even keep watching until Season 4. The time to stop watching is at the end of the mid-Season 3 episode 'The Exodus'. That's when the series jumps the shark.
LOL... I hear ya. I hesitated including shows from the 90s in the list since, while I wasn't technically an adult until the latter half of it, 1990 was 28 years ago so the fact of the matter is that stuff from the 90s is old... we're just even older. And for all we know, OP (and most of the people who read that list) might not have even been born then. :(
Way to make me feel better! My adult memories are older than some people? Hmph.
Go away. I don't like you. You're not my friend. I'm not old. Sliders happened only a few years ago.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make a cup of hot cocoa, put my slippers on, and sit on the couch to watch some nice fresh MAATLOCK!
KILLER LIST! I wish we had the ability to save great posts like this
Click on the 'Link' text next to cfabbro's username and the time-stamp. Then save that as a favourite in your browser. (Or just save your thread as a favourite in your browser.)
Ah good idea!
I've been watching Deep Space Nine. It's from 1993, has political intrigue, social issues, sci fi awesomeness. The characters develop really well, and their relationships are realistic.
I really like it
If you enjoyed DS9, I would highly recommend checking out Babylon 5. The graphics are a little dated, as I believe it was the first show to use solely CGI for its space scenes, but the intrigue is well written and top notch. Acting is pretty solid all around and the alien prosthetics are a lot more interesting than the standard permanent forehead furrow or rippled nose. The first season is a little slow and rough (as most 90s scifi seems to be) but it mostly sets the stage for seasons 2-4, which are a blast. Highly, highly recommend anyone who enjoys scifi to check out Babylon 5. It's included in Amazon Prime video, if you have that.
I binged TNG and DS9 last year. I had already seen much of TNG prior to the binge, but not all of it. I hadn't seen any of DS9, however. While TNG is a great series, DS9 has a slight edge over it.
Like pretty much every Star Trek series it took about 3 seasons for it to really find its feet, but when it did it was really good. I actually enjoyed having the series follow a story arc rather than each show being it's own individual thing like in TNG (yes, TNG had a few story arcs it followed, but not like DS9). It certainly has a few stinkers along the way, but that's par for the course for Star Trek.
If you enjoyed TNG, I would recommend getting into DS9 as well. Voyager is next on my list, but I'm not terribly excited to start it just yet. I used it watch it after high school so I'm familiar with the characters and overall story.
Cheers and Frasier still hold up, Magnum PI is better than most modern crime-dramas. Columbo holds up very well too, the detective stories in that show are better than most that followed it, and the movie-length time format per episode helps. I've also got a rather large collection of the old variety shows - all 3 'Twilight Zone' series, the Tales from the Darkside and Crypt, both Outer Limits series, even some hard to find ones like HBO's Perversions of Science and that old Friday the 13th serial that was the inspiration for Warehouse 13. Those tend to be hit or miss but there are a boatload of gems in there for the digging. Anyone who hasn't marathoned both Babylon 5 and Farscape is missing out on some of the very best scifi ever filmed. I didn't particularly enjoy the old Battlestar series (they did 3! two failed reboots before we got a good one). Boston Legal is excellent start to finish. I still have to watch Hill Street Blues. Night Court and Police Squad and The Muppet Show and Titus are still funny. I've been thinking about tracking down a set of the Dean Martin roasts to see how good they are.
Ha! I did something similar recently: I used 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' as my pre-bedtime watching for a few months.
One thing that really pisses me off about Netflix is how much it's aimed at younger viewers. Us over-30s like to watch TV, too! But most of the shows there are only from the past 10-20 years. I've searched, and there are no other old shows on Netflix (apart from Star Trek). If it wasn't made in the past 20 years, they just don't want to touch it.
So... are you looking for recommendations on Netflix, or just general ones? Because there's bugger-all on Netflix.
Also, how old is "old"? 1980s? 1970s? 1960s?
Any time! Whatever YOU consider “older”.
Ha. Given that I grew up in the 1970s & 1980s, my definition of "older" might be older than most people here!
I'm fond of a few old '60s sitcoms, like 'Bewitched' and 'I Dream of Jeannie' and 'The Addams Family'. They might not be ground-breaking, but they're pleasant viewing (although 'Bewitched' loses of some of its magic when the new Darrin arrives - Elizabeth Montgomery was sick of the show, Agnes Moorehead didn't like the new actor playing Darrin, and the writers started recycling scripts from earlier seasons).
Of course, there's the iconic 'M*A*S*H', which famously ran for longer than the Korean War it was set in.
If you liked 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', a logical next step would be to watch 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'. It has no connection to the earlier show. It's just a starring vehicle for Mary Tyler Moore, who I enjoyed watching in the 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. (But I haven't seen 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' yet.)
I grew up with a black & white television that had knobs to both change the channel and tune the picture from the rabbit ears. Color television was a thing, we were just too poor to get one! I do remember watching Addams Family reruns, as well as some Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. MASH was another I can remember watching, but I think The Addams Family was probably my favorite.
We had these as well. We were (eventually) well-off enough to afford multiple televisions in our house, but some of them were old sets like this. Whenever my dad wanted to buy a shiny new television set (every few years or so), the old sets would get shuffled around the house, until we ended up with TVs everywhere. But we started out with an old black-and-white set with rabbit ears, and it never went away. It ended up in us kids' playroom for us to watch.
That is exactly how I ended up with my own TV set! Dad bought a new one and the older one went to my room. I added aluminum foil to increase the reception since we only got a couple channels at best and it seemed like the foil helped. I tell my daughter about our first VCR with a wired remote and she thinks I am putting her on! I can remember thinking that was something awesome, we didn't have to get up to press the buttons anymore!
haha Yeah, my dad was one of the first people I knew to buy a VCR. And, because he bought before The Video Format War, and he was focussed on quality, he bought a Betamax. Poor man.
I remember it had a remote control, and I think it was wired, but I'm not sure.
Another solid suggestion set! Queued!
The Wire is a must watch.
Maybe you saw it another post already (Edit: What is your favorite series?, by User sevenus), but Firefly is a must watch for every Sci-fi fan.
It is a Sci-fi western, which is about the adventures of the crew on board of a spaceship.
Sadly it was discontinued after a few (Edit: one) seasons.
Even worse – there's only one season! (plus a movie, Serenity)
Oh Damn I totally forgot about the movie.
Thanks for reminding me, it's noe on my watch list next in line
Many shows I would have suggested have already been posted, so here are some that I did not see, but feel are worth mentioning:
The IT Crowd - This has to go first. It is probably my favorite TV series. It might be rated higher on my list that Monty Python, and that is saying something for me! I have seen it more times than I care to remember and still it will crack me up every time I watch it.
Black Sheep Squadron - This made the younger version of myself want to join Pappy and go fly Corsairs. Of course, I was several decades too late for that. I did a re-watch a couple months ago and you have to overlook a lot of technical things to enjoy it, unless you know nothing about aircraft and just focus on the story itself.
Air Wolf - A couple months ago I was flipping channels and saw an episode playing on I think El Rey or one of the other channels at the far reaches of the guide I don't frequently watch. I was a kid the last time I had seen the show and had completely forgotten about it.
Knight Rider - Here you have yet another show I watched growing up and had forgotten about until seeing a re-run. Yeah, I had forgotten about The Hoff.
The A-Team - I pity the fool who doesn't enjoy at least a couple episodes of this show!
Miami Vice - When I was growing up this was the show people were talking about. I think you could safely say it was "edgy" before that was even a term people used. Today I would say it is about escapism, also the movie I think was pretty good.
The Rat Patrol - Another oldie that I can remember catching re-runs of on the weekends. It has been a long time since I watched it, and I am not sure if there are any streaming services offering it.
The Bob Newhart Show - This show was one I remember my parents watching. Its also another I am not sure if there are any streaming services offering it up.
Sea Patrol - I have to admit, this one is a guilty pleasure of mine. It is an Australian show that I stumbled across years ago and added to my collection. I give it a re-watch every now and then. It does help fuel my desire to visit Australia!
Ok, I'll stop now!
What's your definition of older? There's lots of shows from the 80s and 90s that I like and could recommend, which is probably "older" by some standards, but not others– especially not if The Dick Van Dyke Show is the bar that's set!
I don’t think we have to define a date- as you said for some that may be older! List away! :)
My favourite "old" shows are (in no particular order):
Deadwood, The IT Crowd, Peepshow, The Wire, All in the Family, MASH, Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, Maude, The Jeffersons, Alice, Night Court, and I'm falling asleep, so I'll try to come back and complete this list 😴
If you appreciated The Wire, by all means watch Treme.
Yes, it is in my queue, thanks!
I hesitate to say it, but Deadwood is now an "older" series, since it was released 14 years ago. Ian McShane's performances alone make this worth resurrecting, not to mention a more detailed and realistic version of how the American West was won. In many respects, Deadwood set a new standard for quality and serial storytelling that continues to influence current drama.
Green Wing (also released 2004) was the UK precursor to the US series, Scrubs, and much funnier.
I found Hell on Wheels to be as close to a spiritual successor to Deadwood as we’ll probably get. It’s less intelligent but is gritty and has decent character development.
Not as old as some, but OZ is just brilliant. You have to have a strong stomach for some episodes, but it's a fantastic cast and storylines. And unlike a lot of shows it didn't give up near the end- it's wonderful all the way through.
So, going back to the list of worthwhile TV series to excavate... sci-fi and fantasy have been relatively well-covered, but I'll throw in a couple of additional BBC historicals which haven't been mentioned yet:
Riley, Ace of Spies - Compact, well-constructed and acted, fairly close to the known course of events without too much fictional liberty taken, and a useful bit of history to familiarize yourself with if you want a better understanding of how current geopolitical alignments arose.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - this NPR review sums it up.
The original BBC House of Cards - much more tightly plotted, better acted and more relevant to historical context than the U.S. version. There were two subsequent serials, To Play the King and The Final Cut which had somewhat weaker storytelling, but still featured the brilliantly venomous Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart.
And among American series, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Six Feet Under, which I was addicted to during its first release - it's a surprisingly deep philosophical and family drama about one of those topics no one wants to discuss. There was a spate of cheap-and-cheerful supernatural after-life takes like, "Dead Like Me", that didn't capture any of the depth.
Perry Mason is one series I keep returning to. I think I've watched all of them at least ten times over my TV viewing life of 42 years.