A quick check of my cable menu shows that I can pick a show from 347 channels. When I started watching television in the mid 1970s I had 5 channels to pick from…..the three networks (CBS, PBS, NBC) PBS, and one local channel(if we could get the rabbit ears adjusted correctly). As I was trying to come up with my 25 favorite television shows I was amazed about the amount of shows that popped up from the days when we only had 5 channels.
I think the easiest way to list these shows is list them when I watched them during my life. The first shows listed are ones that I found through the joys of syndicated television. I still remember my brother trying to explain to me that these shows were many years old already. At the time I did not understand the concept, but now that I am older and smarter, I will finally acknowledge….Hey Bobby you were right and I was wrong.
Some shows that you will not see listed that you might expect: Friends, American Idol, X-Files, Cosby Show, The Simpsons and Survivor were not shows I liked….but I realize they were very very popular.
Some shows that almost made the list but fell a little short: The Partridge Family, Mad About You, St. Elsewhere, Hill Streets Blues, What’s Happening and Remington Steele.
Shows Produced Before I Was Even Old Enough To Watch TV
#1 Leave It To Beaver …..oh how the adventures of Wally, Beaver, Ward and June used to make my day….later in life I actually got to meet Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell) at a sales convention that he hosted for my company.
#2 The Andy Griffith Show…..just hearing the opening whistle song brings a smile to my face…Gomer Pyle almost made the list as well…..I became a lifelong fan of Ron Howard after watching this show.
#3 Hogan’s Heroes…..my favorite character was Richard Dawson’s Newkirk….but there were never enough shows that centered around him….always about Colonel Hogan for some reason.
#4 The Brady Bunch…..here is a story about a boy that like watching this show after school every day…..I had a huge crush on Marcia….even when she got her nose smashed.
#5 Star Trek….this was required viewing in my house….I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my mom used to date Captain Kirk back in the early 1950s when they both lived in Montreal, Canada…..Mr. Spock was and still is one of my favorite fictional characters.
#6 Gilligan’s Island…..I had a mad crush on Mary Ann….was actually not much of a fan of Ginger…..I always felt sorry for Gilligan……I even watched the dreadful reunion movies that came many years later
Shows I Watched When I Was Not Yet In High School
#7 Starsky and Hutch…not sure how good this show was….but I remember playing Starsky and Hutch in the front yard with my best friend, Keith….I was Starsky and he was Hutch.
#8 Happy Days….seeing Ron Howard as Opie in reruns and then Richie in primetime always amazed me…..I even remember the missing Cunningham brother…..who went to college and was never heard of again.
#9 Good Times….I remember being in grade school and hearing everybody talking about J.J. and how funny he was….it became must see tv after that
#10 Mork and Mindy….after a funny episode on Happy Days….they gave Mork his own show and I loved it…..at least until Jonathan Winters showed up
#11 Love Boat/Fantasy Island….ok I know these are two different shows….but I used to watch them back to back every single week…so it is really hard to separate them as an adult
#12 Three’s Company…..Jack Tripper was my hero…living with two very pretty girls….Suzanne Sommers and Farrah Fawcet from Charlie’s Angels(another show that almost made this list) had posters hanging on my wall
Shows I Watched During My High School/College Days
#13 Cheers….for years I loved this comedy….has not aged as well as I would have liked….but I can still enjoy watching the reruns
#14 Moonlighting….the show that turned Bruce Willis into a superstar….the first three years were some of the best television that I have ever seen….show fell apart when the two leads got together.
#15 Newhart…my older brother loved The Bob Newhart Show of the 1970s, but I always liked this show better….has the best final episode of a show ever.
#16 Seinfeld….what can I say about one of the greatest shows of all-time…I own all the episodes on DVD….and yet I still find myself watching the shows when I stumble on them on cable
#17 The Greatest American Hero….probably the least known show that I picked….but this would be superhero show was funny and original….did not last long on tv.
#18 Married With Children……I know some people hated the Bundys….but I could not get enough of them.
After My College Days
#19 Frazier…after Cheers ended….Frazier Crane moved to Seattle and I went with him…..loved the first 4 years of the show…but will admit I lost track of the show after that
#20 Entourage…..HBO hit a homerun with this show…which was pretty much a guy version of Sex and the City….looking forward to the Entourage movie that is coming soon.
#21 Lost.…loved season one….season two lost me…..returned for seasons 4 through 6…..still have fond memories of the show
#22 Breaking Bad…..I have to admit….I have loved watching the adventures of Walt….a chemistry teacher dealing with cancer that starts to deal drugs to leave a nest egg for his family.
#23 Fringe….I never got into watching X-Files, but I have enjoyed watching this show…and having Leonard Nimoy as a recurring character does not hurt
#24 Curb Your Enthusiasm…..if you love Seinfeld you will like this HBO show….Larry David has created two classic shows….not a bad accomplishment for George/Larry
#25 Modern Family….I love this show…..and it is the only one I watch when it comes on television….normally I wait until the DVD comes out….but not Modern Family….what a great group of actors….a show that will last a very long time
Shows that I watched since writing this page….The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. I am also interested in Legion which is a new show on FX.
Is this new? I didn’t even know you had a TV page. The only series from your list that I’m a huge fan of is Star Trek, especially the original 60s series, it’s probably my all time fave TV show.
You must have watched more TV than I have in the past few decades Bruce, and your preferances are wider in range, mine are too limited.
Nearly all my favorite TV shows were sci-fi, though I do remember watching Kojak, Starsky and Hatch and other cop shows during the 70s. The 80s draw a blank, did I watch TV during the 80s? Not sure. There was an explosion of sci-fi shows on TV during the 90s and I’ve watched them all. I’ve even bought box sets of most of them.
Breaking Bad was excellent, not sure I would watch it again though. I’ve seen episodes from many of the others you’ve listed.
347 channels? Back in the 70s we had just 3 channels to choose from – BBC 1, BBC 2 and ITV, a 4th channel appeared in the 80s – Channel 4.
Hey Steve….this is “new to here”…but was actually written about 4 years ago….it is from my Richard Bauchman website…..which was a failed attempt to have a different type of page….there are only about 5 pages there….but I got an e-mail saying it was about to be deleted…so I figured I would move it here.
Thanks for sharing your tv viewings…..yep….I currently have 347 channels…and I think everybody in the house uses a combined 6 channels….so we never watch 341 channels….good use of resources here….lol. Thanks for the comment and the visit.
This page brings back so many memories. It takes me back to the good old days without cable and the three major networks. Congratulations on this informative TV PAGE. Star Trek is one of my favorite TV shows along with many others. Now with all the cable channels sometimes you can not find anything you want to watch. GOOD JOB. Thanks!
Hey BERN1960….Thanks for responding. I was not sure if anybody was even going to read this or not. So far I have 4 views and I think they were all me. Glad you like Star Trek as well, shocking that the franchise that is over 50 years old.
Well this page was a blast from my past! I watched most of them, until after your college days…except for Lost, but I was so lost in Lost.
Hey Sunshine625. I glad you liked these tv shows. As for Lost it was a show you needed to watch for day one. And even then it was hard to follow. Thanks for the visit.
Love this tv page! Great memories – LOVE Star Trek – in all of its versions. My family and I even belonged to a Star Trek Club – where people dressed as characters in order to help out various children’s charities. In the club, I was “security” which meant I “had” to be at all local conventions and provide “security” for the star that was at them. I have met Mark Lenard, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Michael Dorn, John Delancy, and my favorite, James Doohan (got a kiss from him! and Nichelle Nichols watched fireworks with us from our hotel room!)
Also loved most of the shows you mentioned…
Thanks for the memories!
(And I watched Greatest American Hero religiously!)
Hey justateacher…..that is a very cool story about your security detail. Sounds like you had a blast doing that job and one that gave you a wonderful memory. I am looking forward to the next Star Trek movie and think it will bring the old surviving members of Star Trek back into the limelight once again. Glad to see I was not the only one that like The Greatest American Hero. Thanks for the visit and comment.
I love ALL the incarnations of Star Trek. I will watch ST re-runs over and over in preference to some of the tripe offered in today’s newest offerings.
I guess I’m a bit older than you– 😉 — All of those shows were on (possibly some were in syndication by then) when I was a young mother with toddlers, and as they grew up. I liked Hogan’s Heroes; Gilligan’s Island; Fantasy Island; Love Boat…All of them were corny to some extent, but they were all happy-go-lucky fanciful escapes from the daily grind….which I appreciate in my entertainment.
I don’t like dark themes; “Lost” lost me before the premiere was over.
Great article highlighting a lot of fond memories… love it!
Hey DzyMsLizzy….I have very fond memories of watching Star Trek memories with my mom, hard to believe there were only 79 episodes of that show because it seems we watched Star Trek everyday for years.
As for Fantasy Island and Love Boat, I remember when they were on every Saturday night, so from 9 to 11 I would watch those shows with my grandmother who like you really enjoyed those types of shows.
Thanks for the visit and the kind words.