It’s from longtime reader Mary Stella:
I'd like to know what shows influenced you the most in television and how, and what's your dream three-hour night of television, including any shows from any decade, including now.
THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN was also an early influence, but thank goodness I outgrew wearing those capes.
I always loved sitcoms. I was about nine when I first saw the “$99,000 Answer” episode of THE HONEYMOONERS. I didn’t see the payoff coming (I was less sophisticated at nine), and (SPOILER ALERT) when Ralph couldn’t identify the song Norton played as a ramp-up to every other song during their practice sessions I laughed for twenty minutes. It’s the biggest laugh I ever had in my life. And it was the first time I ever wondered, “How did they do that?” From then on I started watching sitcoms differently, paying more attention to the construction and appreciating the writing more. I can still watch those original 39 episodes on a continuous loop.
THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW was a revelation. It was the first (at least to
me) sophisticated comedy. The level of humor was smart and grown up.
Everything else was broad and situation based. Plus, Dick was a
comedy writer. Not only did it seem like the world’s coolest job – you
go to an office, write funny stuff and laugh all day with other funny
people – but super hot girls like Laura Petrie were actually attracted
to you. Yes, this was a fantasy more far fetched than BEWITCHED but
fourteen-year-old bespectacled wise-ass nerds could dream.
In college I became enamored with Woody Allen and thought if I was ever
going to become a writer I would concentrate on screenplays. Then I
saw THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW and knew television was for me. Still, to
me, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW is the perfect sitcom.
The early ‘70s was a golden age of sitcoms. Shows like MASH and ALL
IN THE FAMILY were both inspiring and intimidating. MASH, in
particular. I’ve always loved language and the early Larry Gelbart
years were extraordinary. It was so unique. Every other show had
set-ups and punch lines, this one just had a steady stream of witty
remarks, turns-of-phrase, imagery, and absurdity. No one could do that
like Gelbart. Trust me, I tried for four years.
Once I entered the field myself then it was more specific writers than
shows that mentored and influenced me. Writers like Gelbart, James
Brooks, Allan Burns, Tom Patchett, Jay Tarses, Gene Reynolds, Glen &
Les Charles, Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson, Steve Gordon, and David
Lloyd.
Okay, that answers the first part of your question. Now for my dream
three-hour night of television. I’m going to cheat. I’m just going to
concentrate on comedies. Dramas take up two slots. So here are my
all-time favorite sitcoms. The odd thing is that with these nostalgia
stations like MeTV, a day may easily come when this is the line-up.
8:00 THE HONEYMOONERS
8:30 THE BILKO SHOW
9:00 THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
9:30 THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW
10:00 MASH
10:30 CHEERS
I would find a way to squeeze FRASIER in there.
So now I throw the question back to you? What would be your dream three-hour night of TV, dear readers?
85 comments :
Crusader Rabbit was an early favorite of mine, too.
1A) Frasier
1B) Seinfeld
2) LOST
3) The Wire
Enjoyed the memories many of which I share, though for some reason neither the Honeymooners nor I Love Lucy were ever favorites when I was young. (Might add Beany and Cecil to the Crusader Rabbit recommendation. Always liked the "No Bikini Atoll" joke. Sad, I know.)
As to the night of TV, I would eliminate Bilko and the Honeymooners. Move the rest of yours down one hou, although I think I'd swap Cheers and MASH positions given the bridge to what used to be the 10pm drama hour with the more dramatic MASH. Then, at 10, I'd go for Maverick, preferably the James Garner episodes but any from the first couple years would do.
Although it would be too much of a good thing to replicate -
(like eating a whole box of chocolates in one sitting)
And keeping with refining the list to 30 min comedies:
USA
My Favorite Martian
Ghost And Mrs Muir
Bewitched
I Dream Of Jeannie
Green Acres
Petticoat Junction
and for our British friends:
Hancock's Half Hour
Steptoe And Son
All Gas And Gaiters
Hark At Barker
Are You Being Served
George And Mildred
(PS Marjorie and Mike: a certain night in November 2024 is not quite what Ken was probably requesting - although Jimmy Kimmel may be interested)
I think my dream lineup existed on CBS in the 70s.
All in the Family
MASH
The Bob Newhart Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Carol Burnett Show
I mean, c'mon.
I love your list, but for me any dream lineup must include The Rockford Files. Maybe the greatest theme song ever, funnier than most sitcoms, populated by indelible characters, and most crime shows still haven't caught up to the stories, which have not dated at all despite advances in technology. If you can just ignore the fabrics (so much polyester!), the show provides endless pleasure.
8:00 I LOVE LUCY
8:30 GREEN ACRES
9:00 THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW
9:30 THE BOB NEWHART SHOW
10:00 CHEERS
10:30 THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW
Crusader Rabbit was, and is, the best of all time. And a shout-out to Rags, too!
8:00 THE OFFICE
8:30 BARNEY MILLER
9:00 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND
9:30 FRASIER
10:00 NEWHART
10:30 CHEERS
M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H (can never watch just one episode)
Frasier
Looney Tunes
Lucifer
I'm surprised the regular commenters (of whom I am not one) haven't already been all over this question. But then, it's harder than it looks. I mean, do I choose four comedies plus The West Wing, or six comedies? (Okay, or three hours of 1990s Star Trek?) Is a string of comedies I love but which have very different sensibilities from each other going to be as enjoyable as a succession of four or six aesthetically compatible shows? And finally, was there ever a better three-hour block of TV than the CBS Saturday evening line-up in 1973?
Mine skews recent, which I would not have predicted, as I am 60 and grew up in front of the teevee.
8:00 - The Odd Couple
8:30 - Frasier
9:00 - The Simpsons
9:30 - Brockmire
10:00 - Brooklyn Nine-Nine
10:30 - The Good Place
I guess this could be a possible FRIDAY QUESTION. You included Cheers in your dream lineup, but said you'd have to find a way to squeeze Frasier into it. I know this is nitpicking since you obviously love both shows, but do you consider Cheers to be the better of the two series? Even if only slightly? And, if so, why?
I loved them both when they originally aired, but I think Frasier has aged much better than Cheers. Not that there's anything wrong with Cheers (I still like it), but Frasier has a structural precision to most of its episodes that continues to be astounding. Every script is like an exquisitely made Swiss watch. (I feel okay saying this since you wrote for both series)
Also, tangentially related, Frasier was, for all intents and purposes, a sequel to Cheers. Did that make it easier to get the narrative up and running? I think that in movies, one of the things that a sequel benefits from is that all of the exposition has been gotten out of the way in the first film. Did you feel that way with Frasier? Even though most of the cast (and the premise) was new, the protagonist entered the series with an already established backstory. Was that helpful in finding the series' groove so quickly?
Going strictly for sitcoms:
I Love Lucy
Barney Miller
Taxi
MTM
WKRP
All in the Family
Love your "dream team" list of sitcoms. The only one I am not too familiar with is Bilko. I'll have to hunt down some episodes and give them a look-see!
I can remember when CBS Saturday night was pretty perfect: All in the Family, MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and Carol Burnett. Never matched, although NBC Thursdays came close.
My perfect night would be close to yours, Ken, though I'd swap out Honeymooners and Bilko for Frasier and Seinfeld. DVD, Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld, MASH, MTM. And I stuck with broadcast; the only cable/streamer I'd include is Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Hill Street Blues ( Or Homicide)
Kung Fu
MASH
Newhart
My dream comedy lineup, Ken.
8:00 WKRP
8:30 OUR MISS BROOKS
9:00 GREEN ACRES (M-TH), PEOPLE LIKE US (BBC news mockumentary series, F)
9:30 CAR 54
10:00 FRASIER
10:30 ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES (long-running BBC comedy)
Have Gun, Will Travel
The Twilight Zone
The Bugs Bunny Show (original nighttime version)
The Simpsons
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Barney Miller
My lineup would be almost the same, but I'd swap THE ODD COUPLE (seasons 2-5) for BILKO. Plus I'd stay up an hour later so I could include THE FUGITIVE, one of the best dramas TV has ever produced.
Taxi
Frasier
The Paper Chase (hour)*
Lou Grant (hour)
*The excellent John Houseman drama based on the 1973 film about first-year law students at Harvard. CBS assured it a quick death by stupidly pitting it against "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley" in 1978. Thanks to viewer interest in reruns on PBS, Showtime revived the program.
Ken, you can fit in Frasier, if you go back to the pre-early 70's FCC rules, where prime time began at 7:30 ET, 6:30 CT. And on Sunday's Prime Time ran for four hours.
My perfect night..
7:30 Odd Couple (seasons 1, 2 and 3)
8:00 Dick Van Dyke Show
8:30 Bob Newhart Show
9:00 Frasier
9:30 Ted Lasso w/Sports Night as a summer replacement
10:00 As Time Goes By (from the BBC)
10:30 Mary Tyler Moore Show
The West Wing, Cheers, Green Acres, the Barry Kemp Newhart and Magnum PI (TOS) are honorable mentions.
Police Squad
30 Rock
Arrested Development
Larry Sanders
VEEP
Silicon Valley
Then top it off w Sopranos before bed
I would say MTM, Bob Newhart but Ive seen them all many times starting with their premiers
I could watch Sopranos infinite times (and I dont watch dramas otherwise)
THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW (thanks for reminding me, iamr4man)
CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU
MASH
BARNEY MILLER
THE AVENGERS (with Steed & Mrs. Peel, of course)
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Fawlty Towers
The Professionals
The Wonder Years
Butterflies
** Runners-up: Three episodes of the Netflix series DARK, or two episodes of ENDEAVOUR **
Well let’s see: The Avengers (any season), Monty Python, Magnum P.I.,MASH, Cheers.
"The Professionals" that I listed is the 70's British cop show. I had no idea that there was a 2020 series with the same name.
I'm in Illinois, so everything starts an hour earlier:
7:00 - The Phil Silvers Show (Bilko)
7:30 - Blackadder (all four series)
8:00 - Barney Miller
8:30 - Get Smart
9:00 - The Jackie Gleason Show (50s version - with the Honeymooners and all his other characters)
7:30 - 11:00 opens things up a bit (combination of familiar sitcoms and little seen, acclaimed dramas):
7:30 - THE LUCY SHOW (S1-4)
8:00 - BEWITCHED (S3-7)
8:30 - GREEN ACRES (S1-4)
9:00 - THE DEFENDERS (M-W), WE THE PEOPLE (TH-F)
10:00 - RUN FOR YOUR LIFE (M-W), EAST SIDE/WEST SIDE (TH-F)
One thing that I love about the Van Dyke show is that it was the first sitcom in which, if someone said something funny, the others would chuckle--just as it would happen in real life, but not on any other show to that time. ("The Joey Bishop Show" followed a year later after a revamp, but they did that show as if it were live and a lot of the break-ups were genuine). To this day, non-reaction still happens more often than not.
Focusing on sitcoms, my fave TV genre and doing it chronologically:
* 8 p.m. -- "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Wonderfully subversive for a teen sitcom of the era, with several superb supporting character actors (Bob Denver, William Schallert, Frank Faylen, Florida Friebus, later local legislator Sheila Kuehl, then James) working at an incredibly fast pace. Holds up well.
* 8:30 p.m. -- "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." From the cast to the writing, sitcom brilliance. Ken has said he was in the studio audience for the famed "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode; he must have felt the way I did the day David Cone pitched a perfect game at Yankee Stadium in 1999.
* 9 p.m. -- "All in the Family." Sitcom at its most revolutionary, with an attitude never before seen on prime time, and an iconic (yet increasingly complex) character in Archie Bunker Thanks to Norman Lear, the genre would never be the same.
* 9:30 p.m. -- "Frasier." I liked this a little more than "Cheers," perhaps because the interaction between Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde-Pierce was amazing, and the supporting cast was superb. It departed the same spring as the overrated "Friends" (2004) and drew about one-tenth the attention.
* 10 p.m. -- "Hot In Cleveland." The remarkable Betty White, heading a corps of funny fellow feminine sitcom veterans (Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick). From the TV Land cable channel, but has aired in syndication on over-the-air stations.
* 10:30 p.m. -- "Mom." We've included greatness from MTM Enterprises and Norman Lear; now, how about Chuck Lorre? His best sitcom (sorry, "Big Bang" and "Two-and-a-Half Men") explores the touchy topic of alcoholism with a vivid daughter-and-mother team of Anna Faris and Allison Janney backed by a solid supporting cast and excellent writing.
Speaking of Betty White, this morning from 6 to 9 a.m. PT, the Dove channel ran six episodes of "Life With Elizabeth," her first starring sitcom (these eps were made from 1953 to 1954). It was fascinating to see White position herself as the anti-Lucy; her character was in on the jokes (perhaps because she interacted with narrator Del Moore). Each episode consisted of three distinct segments.
I should also note Dove runs several daily eps of the first police procedurals, the black-and-white "Dragnet." While it isn't anywhere as good as the radio show it derived from (thanks to Jack Webb's limited use of locations), the stories hold up well as a fascinating snapshot of Los Angeles in the 1950s. Joe Friday and his LAPD cohorts get a multidimensional treatment; It's worth a watch, and nowhere as ludicrous as Webb's late '60s "Dragnet."
1. Dick Van Dyke
2. Mary Tyler Moore
3. Everything else, way way way back in 3rd place.
Side note: huge props to you for listing MTM as your favorite, when it's well-documented by you yourself that your experience actually working with her was awful.
Cheers
Mary Tyler Moore Show
Seinfeld
Bob Newhart Show (the first one)
Frasier
One more thing: If we use the pre-1970 weekday prime-time schedule, move the first three series up a half-hour, with "Seinfeld" now in the 9 o'clock slot.
Saturday question (just to be obstinate) - did the average running time for a half-hour sitcom go from about 24 minutes to 17 minutes (some episodes of Young Sheldon are only 16 minutes) just to add more commercials, or is it easier (these days) to tell a story in sitcom-time in a more terse fashion ?
7:00 The Bugs Bunny Show
7:30 F Troop
8:00 The Jack Benny Program
8:30 Taxi
9:00 Fawlty Towers
Big Wave Daves
Northern Exposure
Hill street Blues
Homicide life on the street
Pilot Joe
1) Mary Tyler Moore Show
2) Dick Van Dyke Show
3) Barney Miller
4) Bewitched
5) I Love Lucy
6) Frasier
I have a friend who was surprised to learn that the classic CBS Saturday night line-up he remembered so well (All in the Family/MASH/Mary Tyler Moore/Bob Newhart/Carol Burnett) was in place for just one season. He was absolutely certain that was the CBS Saturday night line-up for several years.
Something that surprised me was that the Carol Burnett Show never ranked in the top 10, and was in the top 20 for only one season. For most of its run it stayed in the top 30, though by its final season it had dropped to #66 overall. I remember my parents liked the comedy sketches but were usually bored by the music. My dad used to joke that the Burnett show existed in a world where rock never happened. So instead of music that people were actually listening to, you generally got the likes of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. And if it was one of those weeks when the second half of the show was taken up by one of those lavish musical revue productions Carol must have loved doing, the channel in our house would get changed to another station.
It's hard to choose, but here's my dream three-hour lineup:
8:00 Whose Line is it Anyway?, Drew Carey and Aisha Tyler eras
8:30 Futurama (from the creator of The Simpsons)
9:00 Pinky and the Brain (spinoff of Animaniacs, once featuring Gavin McLeod as a guest star)
9:30 T.U.F.F. Puppy (One of a few Butch Hartman cartoon series for Nickelodeon)
10:00 Garfield and Friends (Mark Evanier's genius CBS series starring MTM alumnus Lorenzo Music; many TV legends guest starred, and Howard Morris was a regular in the U.S. Acres cartoons)
I'd program every weeknight if I could, but you only asked for three hours. I leaned on improv and animation, but those are my favorites. Honorable mention goes to Jay Ward's later Rocky and Bullwinkle series (and all the titles it went by).
7:30--Leave It to Beaver
8:00--The Honeymooners
8:30--Dragnet (either incarnation)
9:00--Adam-12
9:30--Emergency
10:00--Seinfeld
So I like Jack Webb. Sue me.
My fantasy Sunday night lineup would be pure boomer nostalgia.
Silents, Please -- a showcase of abbreviated silent features.
The Bugs Bunny Show -- the prime time original, where a story line would connect the short toons.
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color -- pre-70s episodes.
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
My weekday after school lineup:
Rocky and His Friends -- today's lesson is mighty important!
Mickey Mouse Club -- the syndicated 60s half hour, combining the original with new stuff like Professor Wonderful.
Captain Satellite -- local kid host, who'd joke with off-camera crew and show old Columbia theatrical toons and weird foreign serials.
Warner or Fleischer Studio half hour -- even as kids, we knew the older ones were better.
(Tempted to add Batman: The Animated Series. Several decades too late, but it was exactly what we wanted as kids, rather than the Filmation and HB stuff)
I thoroughly agree about "Mom," which had superb writing and a tremendous cast. It helped me better understand a wonderful friend who, unfortunately, lost her battle to alcoholism several years ago. Nothing against "Taxi," another fine show, but I'd like to substitute it with "Mom" in my list above.
Congratulations. You beat me to "Rocky & Bullwinkle." I'm a little too young for "Crusader Rabbit."
M.B.
8:00 All in the Family
8:30 MASH
9:00 Barney Miller
9:30 Taxi
10:00 WKRP
10:30 Cheers
Get Smart
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Rockford Files
St. Elsewhere
Many of my favorite shows over the years have been dramas, but I’m not interested in rewatching most of them. (The Emma Peel years of The Avengers are kind of an exception, especially the leather catsuit episodes. Although classifying that show as a drama is a bit of a stretch.) With that said, here’s my lineup of programs that I never grow tired of watching:
8:00 pm – The Andy Griffith Show
8:30 pm – The Mary Tyler Moore Show
9:00 pm – Cheers
9:30 pm – Frasier
10:00 pm – Seinfeld
10:30 pm – The Office (U.S.)
Honorable mention: the first 10 or so seasons of The Simpsons
In your tv line up Frasier is syndicated after the 11 o'clock news.
8:00pm - Dick Van Dyke Show
8:30pm - Mary Tyler Moore Show
9:00pm - MASH
9:30pm - Barney Miller
10:00pm - The West Wing
11:00pm - KNBC Newscenter 4 at 11 with John Schubeck and Pat Sajak with weather.
My sitcom list:
8 - The Andy Griffith Show
8:30 - The Honeymooners
9 - Everybody Loves Raymond
9:30 - The Mary Tyler Moore Show
10 - M*A*S*H
10:30 - Frasier
There's so many I left out that I could program a different lineup for each night. Much easier is my drama list:
8 - Perry Mason
9 - The Rockford Files
10 - Gunsmoke
Fun question. Below are my choices but I should note that a few of my favorite shows, like MASH, Andy Griffith and Star Trek, are shown pretty frequently on my cable TV stations, so I chose some I see less.
Mary Tyler Moore Shoe
Bob Newhart Show
Cheers
WKRP in Cincinnati
Magnum P.I. (Not one of the Vietnam episodes, though they were good. I just want an evening of light viewing.)
For the most part, it's an MTM night.
This is a hard question to answer...a 3 hour night of television. I want to answer it a little differently, almost thinking of MeTV and Antenna TV (and a few other similar channels) and program a week's worth of primetime sitcoms from history. It's too hard to choose just 3 hours (6 shows).
I Love Lucy
The Honeymooners
Your Show of Shows (does that count?)
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
M*A*S*H
All in the Family
SOAP
The Carol Burnett Show (comedy, but not sitcom)
The Golden Girls
Cheers
Taxi
Frasier
The Big Bang Theory
Seinfeld
Everybody Loves Raymond
Almost Perfect (just for you, Ken)
and I'm sure I left out some great shows. I'd have to do the math to see if I got at least 1 show that covers every year since the start of television.
8 MASH
TAXI
9 WING
CHEERS
10 HILL STREET BLUES
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Cheers
Seinfeld
Frasier
30 Rock
The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore years only)
Ed Sullivan Show
I Love Lucy
Yancy Derringer
Big Bang Theory
Have Gun, Will Travel
Seinfeld
Steve Allen talk show--Westinghouse syndicated version
Why would it be a "fantasy" for a TV writer to have an attractive partner? I guess you mean your own impossible fantasy? Just find the comment odd.
Sitcoms I have loved:
7:30 He and She
8:00 Love on a Rooftop
8:30 Stanley
9:00 Sledge Hammer
9:30 Hot L Baltimore
10:00 Police Squad
10:30 The Adventures of Hiram Holiday
For comedy:
Hazel
I Love Lucy
The Jeffersons
Absolutely Fabulous
Dream On
3rd Rock from the Sun
New Adventures of Old Christine
Mike & Molly
Drama:
Perry Mason
Magnum PI
Murder She Wrote
Boston Legal
Monk
That would be a perfect night of TV. Maybe rotate “The Bob Newhart Show” in there, too.
7pm - Leave it to Beaver
7:30 - The Dick Van Dyke Show
8pm - The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8:30 - The Bob Newhart Show
9 pm Fawlty Towers
9:30 - Newhart
This is much harder than it sounded.
8:00 Mister Ed
8:30 I Love Lucy
9:00 Make Room for Daddy
9:30 The Jack Benny Show
10:00 The Dick Van Dyke Show
10:30 Police Squad
Egged on by watching TV programming-oriented YouTube videos and reading their comments, I came up with a schedule for a fantasy TV line-up for a whole week, 24 hours a day. I wrote it down in a writing pad. It'd be too much to be posted here in comments, though, I assume. I think posting the primetime parts should be okay:
MONDAY
8PM - Laugh-In
9PM - The Simpsons
9:30 - Futurama
10PM - Moonlighting
TUESDAY
8PM - Happy Days
8:30 - Laverne & Shirley
9PM - Green Acres
9:30 - NewsRadio
10PM - Quantum Leap
WEDNESDAYS
8PM - The Odd Couple
8:30 - WKRP (with the original music)
9PM - Rockford Files
10PM - Remington Steele
THURSDAY
8PM - Cheers
8:30 - Seinfeld
9PM: - Friends
9:30 - The Office (US)
10PM - Arrested Development
10:30 - Community
FRIDAY
8PM - The Muppet Show
8:30 - Sanford & Son
9PM - Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
(2 from the Dean Martin Show segments, 1 from the series itself)
10PM - Late Night with Conan O'Brien
(Hard time fitting it into the late-night slots on my longer list)
SATURDAY
(Same as the '73-74 CBS Saturday night line-up)
SUNDAY (including the 7PM hour)
7PM - Wonderful World of Disney
8PM - Ed Sullivan
9:30 - Columbo
Other sitcoms and drama shows are elsewhere on the full schedule.
Frasier
Cheers
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Pixy and dixy they were two mouses cartoon when I was 3yrs old I had a little mouse that came from the basement to watch it with me every day at the same time every day so me and mom started putting out little snacks for him then he knew we weren't going to hurt him we got I was able to play with him and would sleep with me I named him mickey mouse I lost him when we moved
2 Thumbs up for the person who said put "Bugs Bunny" at 7 on MeTV. Now that is out of the box thinking!- ha haa. It will be a cold day in hell before MeTV gives up "Mash" and "Andy Griffith at the 7 and 8 spots.
Not one vote for "ER"? It ran for fifteen years. Somebody was watching it.
Only a couple of votes for ALL IN THE FAMILY? It either made American viewers examine their prejudices or gave them license to express them like Archie, the "lovable bigot." Either way, a cultural turning point.
Just to be contrary I will vote for two commercial failures, FRANK'S PLACE and MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT. Oh, and DAVE'S WORLD, which lasted a little longer.
I see someone listed their after-school lineup. As a SoCal kid of the 50s and 60s let me see:
Mickey Mouse Club
Amos and Andy
Soupy Sales
Lloyd Thaxton
19.00: The Simpsons
19.30: Seinfeld
20.00: A Premier League match
If you need a Looney Tunes fix, Vulture offers 90 Classic Looney Tunes You Can Watch Right Now. Many are clips or highlights but there are full cartoons too, including Avery classics like I Love to Singa.
https://www.vulture.com/article/best-looney-tunes-shorts-cartoons.html
We just got HBO Max and delighted to find there's a Looney Tunes channel with many of the classic cartoons.
The Moose That Roared by Keith Scott is a great read on the history of Rocky and Bullwinkle and a bio of Jay Ward, including info on Crusader Rabbit.
And I also recommend the memoir of Looney Tunes ink-and-painter Martha Sigall, lots of illustrations and wonderful anecdotes
odd couple
honeymooners
taxi
cheers
One of my favorite posts of yours, Ken. Thanks for both parts of your answer (and thanks to Mary for asking it).
8:00 - The Muppet Show
8:30 - Friends
9:00 - MASH
9:30 - Twilight Zone (the original)
10:00 - Sports Night
10:30 - Cheers
Ken, I wonder if you'd consider putting on your DJ hat and giving us your perfect hour of radio airplay, too?
You know, I love the old stuff, but my perfect evening really has to include something entirely new, brilliant, funny, and now.
wg
@wg - Such as ?
METV just aired the ‘Patient 4077’ episode. It is a great episode. I hadn’t seen it in a long time. Keye Luke is featured in a nice guest role. I noticed, for the first time, that the episode was directed by Harry Morgan.
Ken
A Friday Question that ties into your Friday question of your six favorite shows.
What are your six favorite episodes of all time, Comedy or Drama?
For me ( today, although it might change tomorrow) they are:
1. The $99,000 Answer-The Honeymooners
2. Where'd They Go-Gunsmoke
3.Boom,Boom,Boom-Car 54,Where Are You?
4. Death of the Party-The Dick Van Dyke Show
5.The Contest-Seinfeld
6.Pine Barrens-Sopranos
WOW FED BY THE MUSE ONLY FOOLS IS MY FAVORITE SHOW!!! 🤗
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
All in the Family
Barney Miller
The Odd Couple
Taxi
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Bob Newhart Show
Mary Tyler Moore
Mash
Hogans Heroes
Frasier
Dick Van Dyke Show
Runners up were Cheers, Bilko, WKRP
and anything except the last sitcom
of Lucy's.
Glad to see a number of Ken's readers mentioned "Green Acres." I think it's amazing that the majority of those scripts were written by two people: Jay Sommers and Dick Chevillat. Also, the series features a tremendous cast of original supporting characters: Mr. Kimball, Mr. Haney, Mr. Ziffel, Arnold (as well as the crossover performers from "Petticoat Junction" such as Sam Drucker, Mr. Kiley, and Uncle Joe).
Of course, Eddie Albert was perfectly cast as Oliver Douglas.
The shows that I grew up on that influenced me most to want to get into writing sitcoms would be Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Sanford and Son, Seinfeld, A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Cheers, Living Single, The Jeffersons, Martin and The Golden Girls.
As for my three hours... I'm gonna stick with comedies too.
8:00pm The Andy Griffith Show.
8:30pm Barney Miller.
9:00pm Sanford and Son.
9:30pm Everybody Loves Raymond.
10:00pm Martin.
10:30pm The Odd Couple.
Now for perfect night of classic dramas that's a little trickier but here we go...
8:00pm The Rockford Files.
9:00pm Magnum, PI.
10:00pm Matlock.
11:00pm Perry Mason.
And at midnight let's throw in In The Heat of The Night at bed time.
8:00 - The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8:30 - The Bob Newhart Show
9:00 - Taxi
9:30 - Cheers
10:00 - The Rockford Files
@Gary Thank you! I was hoping somebody would eventually name The Fugitive! It is one of the best dramas ever made along with Hill Street Blues, The Rockford Files, Magnum, PI, Homicide: Life On The Street and The Shield.
I find a lot of the old sitcoms don't age well. For me watching All in the Family or the Mary Tyler Moore show is a painful experience. Honeymooners is an exception. Gleason was a comic genius. More recently I find that Seinfeld has not aged badly. Still funny as hell. I like anything in which Larry David had something to do with. I love this blog but I have never found Cheers funny. I have no desire in watching sitcoms made now. I think the whole idea is passe.
Ken, here is a running total of the list by vote. Note that I didn't include the users that wildly strayed out of your restrictions.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: 20
Frasier: 16
Cheers: 16
MASH: 14
The Dick Van Dyke Show: 11
Seinfeld: 10
Barney Miller: 10
The Bob Newhart Show: 8
The Odd Couple: 7
Taxi: 7
Looney Toons: 5
I Love Lucy: 5
The Honeymooners: 5
All in the Family: 5
Green Acres: 4
WKRP in Cincinnati: 4
The Rockford Files: 4
The Simpsons: 3
Bewitched: 3
Hill Street Blues: 3
Fawlty Towers: 3
Newhart: 3
Police Squad: 3
Car 54 Where Are You?: 3
The Andy Griffith Show: 3
Everybody Loves Raymond: 3
Magnum PI: 3
The Larry Sanders Show: 2
The Avengers: 2
Mom: 2
Get Smart: 2
The Office: 2
30 Rock: 2
Have Gun, Will Travel: 2
Leave it to Beaver: 2
The Jack Benny Program: 2
The Twilight Zone: 2
Gunsmoke: 2
The Sopranos: 2
Perry Mason: 2
LOST: 1
The Wire: 1
Maverick: 1
My Favorite Martian: 1
Ghost and Mrs Muir: 1
I Dream of Jeannie: 1
Petticoat Junction: 1
The Carol Burnett Show: 1
Lucifer: 1
Brockmire: 1
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: 1
The Good Place: 1
Curb Your Enthusiasm: 1
Kung Fu: 1
Only Fools and Horses: 1
The Fugitive: 1
The Paper Chase: 1
Lou Grant: 1
Ted Lasso: 1
As Time Goes By: 1
Arrested Development: 1
VEEP: 1
Silicon Valley: 1
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin: 1
The Professionals (70's British Cop Show): 1
The Wonder Years: 1
Butterflies: 1
Monty Python: 1
Bilko: 1
Black Ladder: 1
The Jackie Gleason Show: 1
The Lucy Show: 1
The Defenders: 1
Run For Your Life: 1
We The People: 1
East Side/West Side: 1
Dobie Gillis: 1
Hot in Cleveland: 1
F Troop: 1
Big Wave Dave's: 1
Northern Exposure: 1
Homicide: 1
Whose Line is it Anyway?: 1
Futurama: 1
Pinky and the Brain: 1
TUFF Puppy: 1
Garfield and Friends: 1
Dragnet: 1
Adam-12: 1
Emergency: 1
Silents Please: 1
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color: 1
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: 1
St. Elsewhere: 1
The West Wing: 1
KNBC Newscenter at 10 (1970s with Pat Sajak with weather): 1
Wings: 1
Ed Sullivan Show: 1
Yancy Derringer: 1
Big Bang Theory: 1
Steve Allen (Syndicated version): 1
He and She: 1
Love on a Rooftop: 1
Stanley: 1
Sledge Hammer: 1
Hot L Baltimore: 1
The Adventures of Hiram Holiday: 1
Mister Ed: 1
Make Room for Daddy: 1
Breaking Bad: 1
Mad Men: 1
Primer League (soccer): 1
The Muppet Show: 1
Friends: 1
Sports Night: 1
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: 1
Hogans Heroes: 1
Martin: 1
Sanford and Son: 1
Matlock: 1
In the Heat of the Night: 1
Cheers
The New Adventures of Old Christine
The Nanny
Wings
Taxi
The IT Crowd
Post a Comment