Favorite Television Series

I did of course watch TV growing up and all but only a few times got drawn into a tv series. To name a favorite would be next to impossible for me...but the ones I have liked a lot include

West Wing
Law and Order
Walker, Texas Ranger (still watch it every morning while getting ready for work..lol)

Growing up in the 80's I would have to say Cheers and the Cosby show were favorites of my whole family. We used to look forward to Thursday nights to watch these shows. Now I have become a Everyone Loves Ray and Seinfeld re-run junky.

Hill Street Blues - first and greatest with the mixture of humour and realism.
LA Law - I liked it, anway. Probably because of Susan Dey.
ER - still going after 12 seasons.

Dr. Who is coming back. The BBC are making a new series. It won't be the same.

When I was a kid, I loved The Twilight Zone. As I got older, the series I liked best were Twin Peaks, 21 Jumpstreet and Moonlighting. Now, I really don't watch much TV, I'm also more in to movies, but I will admit to being drawn into watching Desperate Housewives..

...I would have to go with "The X-Files."

OK, I know the answer to this one. The best show currently on TV now is "Arrested Development." No need to argue, it is true :)

As for all-time best show, I'll take the easy way out and say "Seinfeld."

Happy Festivus to you all!
sm

Not because it was a great show (frankly, many of the original episodes are flat-out awful), but because of the impact on both television and our culture. The catchphrases and hallmarks of that show have permeated pop culture, and every third scientist or innovator who is interviewed mentions the show as an inspiration.

Plus, without Star Trek, we'd never have discovered the musical stylings of the great William Shatner. We owe that show big time.

--Jay

and told him about this thread. He was disappointed that I didn't list, what he feels, the best sit-com of all times.. Sanford and Son. With The Beverly Hillbillies a close second.

Speaking of Nick at Night, when my son was much younger, around age 5, he LOVED Nick at Night. He said his favorite shows were Maxmo Smart and Dick and Dyke. I had to explain that Dick Van Dyke and Dick and Dyke were two completely different things :)

When I was a kid, the pier in Ventnor had a Dalek ride you could throw a couple of pence in and it would spin and jerk about while yelling EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE, you could control the two metal arms that poked out the front of this fibrleglass body wihle sitting inside.

It is a prety vivid memory of a pier that was removed many years ago.

But Dr. Who? I dunno, classic yes, absoutely fantastic, yes.

I absolutely LOVE Friends, but it is hardly an age old classic worty of such a title.

MASH now there's a definite top 10 winner, what a work of art that cast was!

Maybe start a new TR top ten list?

Monty Pythons, brilliant.

FAWLTY TOWERS!! Short series (13 episodes?) but absolutely hilarious and very cleverly done.

I suppose Tom and Jerry cartoons aren't considered a series but man were the ORIGINALS ever good entertainment.

But DRAGNET? I couldn't force myself to sit through an entire episode, so perhaps I am not much of an authority on that one. Thank god for remotes!

Hey, does anyone remember those old boxes that used to screw into the UHF antenna on the back of the set and they would let you dial in a couple of CABLE channels on that gazillion channel UHF dial?

THEN the converter with the three stage wheel on the left side to select the row of channels you wanted and the 20 or so buttons you would clunk click to get the channels, with the wire to the set of course.

LOL HAHAH!!!! :D I remember beign SO excited when I could tune in the Banana Splits all the way from America (when living in Canada)!

Now I bitch and complain because my life is saturated with nothing but US TV networks! LOL!

Thanks 4 the memories BFilmFan!

no particular order
1. Original BattleStar Gallactica (the first million dollar an episode tv show!) I cant wait for the new Sci-fi series, the pilot was great, a must see for hte sci-fi junkie. :)

2. Babylon 5 till it got hookey in the end, fantastic acting by Peter Jurasik, and Adres Katerslas!! They stole the show everytime.

3. Scooby Doo, the original not the remakes. Too classic, even if nothing made sense great for growing up.

4. The first season of Sliders, the concept was great then they fizzled out by the end of the season, too bad.

5. Conquest, great show on the reality of history and waring. Too bad it got cancelled.

6. MXC on Spike TV. This is the greatest bastardation of MST3K having asian contestants dress in silly customes risking life and limb just to be on tv. I honestly dont know what I like more, the sexual innuendo banter or the top ten exteme eliminiations, get some alcohol and friends while doing whatever and its a blast!!!

7. MASH. Never has any show come close to the humanistic nature of what people do under wartime, while showing a bright side, a bit corny but I never pass it up when surfing channels.

8 A-TEAM, Buck Rogers or KNIGHT RIDER? How did I watch these shows religiously? I'll never know, but when I see a replay I laugh myself hysterical as too what I saw in these shows.

9. Drawn Together/ South Park/Family Guy, the shock value and omage (wrong spelling, jubilation) of pop culture makes them by far entertaining trying to get the in jokes.

10. Deadwood/ Sopranos, HBO takes thereins and makes incredible stories that you cant turn away from. (ok, ok, maybe Sopranos lost their edge with celebrity cameos, but its good wholesome violence.)

11. In Living Color, it eclipsed SNL making me roll every week, but it was all about Jim Carey, Daymon Wayans and Tommy Davidson who had all the talent.

12. And Last but not least... drum roll please................................................. USA KUNGFU THEATER FOLLOWED BY MONSTER POWER HOUR (Godzilla Movies!!) Nothing, I repeat nothing could pull me away from my tv during these shows on a Sunday, whatever was happening outside my tv room didnt matter, I almost never went to the bathroom to miss one second!!!! Oh the days, sigh...we need a tv revolution!!!!!!

My all-time favorite would be the original "Fugitive", produced by Quinn Martin from 1962 to 1967. Given the censorship and social biases of the time, it was a well-produced portrait of a time in which things were changing quickly.

Best of the best humor ever.

Ni!

Lidsville, so something like that.
That was just weird.

I also liked the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. The Twilight Zone is old, but its just such a classic.

I think Star Trek was one of the best science fiction shows ever made. Farscape is great too. Its so imaginative.

just mean..

There's another one.

How did we get to be so old?

My absolute favorite. I actually bought every single season on DVD... ;p

I could never get enough of M*A*S*H -- didn't care how many times they re-ran episodes.

KUNG FU: My introduction to martial arts. I also found the Buddhist/Taoist philosophy quite enlightening. I used to say: "One episode of Kung Fu is worth a year of Sunday church sermons."

CHARLIES ANGELS: While Cheryl Ladd was in it -- she was my idea of the perfect woman.

STAR TREK -- THE NEXT GENERATION: I missed the original series on the first run, but caught it on spasmodic repeats.
And how's this for luck for a Trekkie: At a garage sale recently, I purchased the entire Second Generation series on video -- still sealed -- never played -- for $AU 60.

HILL STREET BLUES:
LAPD BLUE:
THE PRACTICE:
All the LAW & ORDER and CSI series.

For humour:
CHEERS:
THE GOOD LIFE:
TO THE MANOR BORN:
OPEN ALL HOURS:

and all those other great British comedy series which, alas, exist no more.

MICHAEL PARKINSON:
RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH:

As for American sit-coms in general -- YUK ! Ghastly compared with the British ones.

And the booby prize for the most revolting concept ever -- reality TV shows.

You got, me....I just can't hide it anymore. I was a HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE CHIPS fan. I don't know if it was the motorcycles and sexy California girls or something but I just LOVED CHIPS. Talk about ballet with car accidents! They trashed so many cars on the Santa Monica freeway on that show!

nuff said.

Wicked tunes, real people with real problems, characters you can identify with, intelligent/subtle humour, etc.

Another one, Ok, so it's a series of movies... whatever... THE PINK PANTHER.

I just forgot about the offer.

We just returned from celebrating the holidays with my family. I'm going to need at least two days to recover. My father is the only human on earth who can actually slurp ham. How is that possible? I mean, soup or coffee, that's bad enough. But ham?

Kids in the Hall. My favorite skits are the 'bad doctor' and the guy with the 'good attitude toward menstruation' (both Dave Foley). Of course, the Chicken Lady was funny in a disturbing kind of way. And the crushing your head guy. I liked him, too.

M.A.S.H. , Dads Army (UK), Hogans Heroes ( Anybody remember this one?? ), Frasier, Seinfeld,
Black Sheep Squadron, Space 1999, UFO, X-Files,
and more......

A regular Normal Rockwell Painting in that description. Fortunately for you though, you aren't the only one with these odd issues at family get togethers.

That would make for an interesting thread wouldn't it? :D

While I was sitting here this morning, I started thinking of some great movie lines:

From The Last Starfighter in the scene where Alix and Grig have badly damaged the Kodan command ship:

Lord Kril: Damage report!
Kodan Officer: Guidance system out. Auxiliary steering out.
Lord Kril: Divert! Divert!
Kodan Officer: She won't answer the helm! We're locked into the moon's gravitational pull. What do we do?
[sound of Lord Kril's eyepiece swinging over left eye]
Lord Kril: We die.

From the Magnificent Seven:

Vin: We deal in lead, my friend.

From The Good, The Bad and the Ugly:

Tuco: I like big fat men like you. When they fall they make more noise.

From The Cheyenne Social Club:

Jenny: Did you ever love a woman, Johnny? I mean, really love her?
John O'Hanlan: Yeah. Thought I did once. Come to find out it was indigestion.

And probably one of my favorite over-blown hammy acting job In LOTR Return of the King:

Aragorn: Hold your ground, hold your ground. Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!

All we needed was mustard with all that ham! Thanks for the list.

Maureen

We'd have to break it down by catagory. I could go in many different directions, starting with my 19 year old neice who announced recently that she is pregnant with twins by her 40 year old boyfriend and going all the way through to my 60 year old uncle who just married for the first time. My new Aunt told me at our Christmas/birthday party for my grandmother, that she had been exclusively with women for the past 24 years and is so happy with my Uncle, who apparently, is very good in bed. It was both an interesting and somewhat disturbing Christmas get together. All the stuff in between, well, we have it all, nephew in jail, neice who dropped out of school to become a stripper, a sister who either wants to divorce or kill her husband. The list goes on and on.

I have watched every Seinfeld episode numerous times and I continue to enjoy watching reruns. I can't imagine a show ever being more entertaining. There have been several that have held my attention for a short time, but never one that I've never tired of, with the exception of Seinfeld; guess that explains why I went into mourning whenever they decided to call it quits.

If you are just going to share run of the mill stories about nearly everyone's family then it WILL be boring won't it? :p

I am beginning to wonder if we aren't actually in the same family!

But its always THE OTHERS that are so wierd, never ourselves. Mind you, in my family I am a BIT of a black sheep, as you can assume with me having 'real' professionals for siblings.

Yup, mum had two professsionals with respectable careers and one who just never was happy doing the same thing for more than a few hours. Worst of all, I earn a somewhat respectable living with heavy metal bands, THAT RACKET!!! Well...respectable to me anyway.

My brother with all his law books, companies and successes STILL envies my free willed life of horse racing and music, yet he must always look down on my choices when his wife is around.

My sister, who is much more like me in the creativity and artistic department, loves my choices. Her hubby who grew up on the same music I did, well a few years before (more Molly Hatchet than Judas Priest), got to help out on a short tour I worked in the 90's and tried to talk her in to letting him quit work, no go though! I guess it's okay for her brother but not husband.

Did I say I was divorced ?? LOL :D

Seriously though, what would MOST young people choose? You show me a kid who didn't dream of making some form of a living in the music industry, I'll show you a liar. (defensive, aren't I!?)

What were we talking about again?!? sorry.

My husband got an effects peddle for his guitar for Christmas (it came early) and he has ceased working. He just plays his guitar all day long. My 6 year old is getting an electric guitar for Christmas. The two of them can put a band together.

I fulfilled my lifelong dream of singing in front of a large group by getting extremely drunk and singing Me and Bobby McGee in a karaoke bar. But, that is the extent of my musical career, other than singing in the car when I'm alone.

That would have been a good ending. I agree that the last episode was not the greatest...such a bummer that Spike got offed and didn't get the girl.

I Love Lucy
The Honeymooners
Cheers
Hill Street Blues
Seinfeld
Star Trek The Original
Star Trek The Next Generation

I love pulling up next to someone who is singing away to themselves. You can often change radio stations and figure out what they are singing to. :)

As for the father and son band, if you can get a 6 year old and a 'father' year old in a band, I WANT FIRST CRACK WITH THE DEMO TAPES!!

It would be like Kid Rock taken to an extreme, if that's possible!

Okay I really gotta go now!

Also what about Gilligans Island!!!

Did any of you ( as the kids do today ) sit and watch morning and afternoon cartoons? Showing my age here but....

Batfink & Karate ( My wings are like a shield of steel ), Prince Planet, Astro Boy, Iron Man, and of course Gigantor the space age robot, Shazaam, Batman, Spiderman...popeye, pink panther,magilla gorilla, and my favourite the Banana Splits!!!
HR Puff n Stuff!!

They shaped our lives!!!

Ok I'm going to sound a bit sexist but...you mean to tell me that non of the few female posters of this forum put down Friends as their favorite? LOL

Isn't that like against the female code or something....every woman between 18 and 40 that I know loves that show.

Not that I imply that any of the female posters here are old or anything...um....hey look its Elvis...(runs)

;)

Anyone could get those TV show taping tickets if they knew who to call.

One of the funniest things about the CBC.

They realized they had to move out of those decrepit buildings, and they built a big centre right across from the CN Tower.

But no one seemed to remember that the tower was not built for tourists. It had another function. As a Broadcasting tower. And any studio built within a few hundred feet would have major problems. The engineers at CBC found this out a little late in the game - weeks before they were supposed to transition to the new studios.

They ended up building a faraday cage around the studios.

James

...I still just can't get into them, or into reality tv. To me, it's just people talking, which I can get just about anywhere else...I'm an escapist. I want television to tell me a story! But to each their own. :)

Like Anime? Have you seen Serial LAIN? I'm not much into anime, but Lain is a wicked story.

Next Generation is, and always will be, the best Star Trek series, in my opinion. The original was great, but it didn't really approach real-life issues in the same sense.

PS - Don't worry about the 'Classic' elitists. Many people think that old is better than new; they will not bend to any new concepts, and will defend the original for the rest of their lives.

Cold Case, CSI, Law & Order, etc... these shows are all great, but the only time I watch these shows is when I am too tired to do anything else. My days are pretty full. Outside of work, I am usually doing something tech related if I am sitting at home.

So I think I share a lot of your tastes as far as TV watching goes.

I brought up the Friends thing, for three reasons...

1) My current gf is a "friends-aholic", two of my past gf's were friends fans, my sister is a friends fan and one of my better friends (also a female) is a freinds fan ...but not nearly as much as the others I named. (Thank god, there's still hope for her at least..lol)

2) I can't see the draw to the show, but I will say a couple times out of the 28.9 billion times I catch it from my gf having it on, I did get a laugh or two.

3) I just have way too much fun picking on that show because of all the females I know who love it.. lol. Hey its the little things in life that make me happy.

I've been watching the Cartoon Network's late-night lineup for insomniacs, lately Witch Hunter Robin. They have some other stuff that's not bad. I will watch out for LAIN, however. Thanks for the recommendation.

I personally can't watch Law & Order. I find the series to be too realistic and generally unsatisfying because the bad guys seem to win most of the time. Too much like real life.

I like that show too, just for the sake that it was a part of Buffy... Though I stopped watching it after season 2 and caught a few episodes recently. It has gotten quite wierd.

The Daily Show!! I mean, yah it sucked when Kilborn was in charge (as they always do), but Jon Stewart is hi-larious. Maybe it wasn't an oversight, maybe I am just a loser...