Recommend to me some old TV shows
- Thread starter JirinPanthosa
- Start date
Any season of Law & Order with Jerry Orbach
Briscoe is best when he's partnered with Green. (Sorry, Noth and Bratt fans...)
That's interesting. As much as I like Orbach, I prefer the George Dzunda and Paul Sorvino years. Orbach arrived about the time the stories themselves started becoming formulaic and "ripped from the headlines."
Buffy The Vampire Slayer (yes, seriously).
Angel. (One heck of a rollercoaster ride. Can't think of a show that is better at defying exoectations.)
Firefly (of course).
Dollhouse (great actors, some fantastic episodes).
Also, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It's obviously handicapped due to the fact that Joss Whedon wasn't directly involved, but it does have Summer Glau providing comic relief (!!!) and Lena Headey as a great Sarah Connor. Could have been really special if it had made it to a third season.
Angel. (One heck of a rollercoaster ride. Can't think of a show that is better at defying exoectations.)
Firefly (of course).
Dollhouse (great actors, some fantastic episodes).
Also, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It's obviously handicapped due to the fact that Joss Whedon wasn't directly involved, but it does have Summer Glau providing comic relief (!!!) and Lena Headey as a great Sarah Connor. Could have been really special if it had made it to a third season.
I would agree with Dallas and L.A. Law but I would like to add the following:
Mannix
Cannon
Matlock
Love American Style
Happy Days
Lost in Space
Battlestar Galactica
and more to come.
I watched the pilot of Rockford Files. It's interesting how the approach to plotting has changed in 30 years. The first hour of the show is just Rockford deciding whether or not he will take the case. If that was produced today, he'd be beating people up in the first five minutes. I'll definitely keep watching it.
Also I watched Red Dwarf. One more thing I'll add, if the show has a laugh track, it better be Seinfeld-level funny. I hate laugh tracks.
I have Hulu Plus too, so I'll check out Hill St Blues next. I have also seen Soap, that's a fun show. All its parody elements still apply to shows today. I'm definitely open to Buffy. I thought Firefly was decent and I loved Cabin In The Woods. Wheadon is great at genre fan-appeal. I have seen seasons 1-5 and 9 of Roseanne.
Also I watched Red Dwarf. One more thing I'll add, if the show has a laugh track, it better be Seinfeld-level funny. I hate laugh tracks.
I have Hulu Plus too, so I'll check out Hill St Blues next. I have also seen Soap, that's a fun show. All its parody elements still apply to shows today. I'm definitely open to Buffy. I thought Firefly was decent and I loved Cabin In The Woods. Wheadon is great at genre fan-appeal. I have seen seasons 1-5 and 9 of Roseanne.
Hill Street Blues is awesome. It is to cop dramas what McCabe and Mrs Miller is to Westerns.
Would you guys recommend Bob Newhart, knowing that I hate sitcom style humor and laugh tracks, but like Seinfeld and early Roseanne?
I've only seen a handful of 30 Rock episodes. That show is the definition of power-watchable.
Would you guys recommend Bob Newhart, knowing that I hate sitcom style humor and laugh tracks, but like Seinfeld and early Roseanne?
I've only seen a handful of 30 Rock episodes. That show is the definition of power-watchable.
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Glad you like it.
Candidly it does have a laugh track. And I haven't seen it in decades. That being said Bob Newhart is easily one of the funniest men who ever walked this earth. So I'd say give it a try.
Yeah, it's a different approach to pacing for sure. Remember they did have seven or eight extra minutes in an hour show. It's great for character stuff. As far as beating people up, Jim generally received a more beatings than he gave, really unusual at the time!
It is very interesting for me to hear what people think, viewing shows I grew up with from a completely different perspective. "Hill Street" was "my" show back in the day, it was new and totally differnt from anything I'd ever seen, and I looked forward to "Roll Call" on Thursday nights more than any show ever. I've said it before on this board, but 30 years later I still haven't seen a show that handles as big an ensemble of characters as well as HSB did. Except maybe St Elsewhere.
The laugh track is something you'll have to get used to, but if you like character-driven comedy, The Bob Newhart Show is one of the best. It has a lot of standard setup-punchline joke writing, but the characters are so unique and strong that they can carry even the rare weak episode. Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, Peter Bonerz and Marcia Wallace are wonderful, but Bill Daily and Jack Riley are amazingly funny.
Agreed. And you see a lot of old TV show actors come through it!
Justin
It seemed like hardly a week went by that either Jim and/or his car didn't have some sort of havoc wreaked upon them.
Also, always enjoyed the weekly bit with the answering machine in the opening titles.
And of course if you like an interesting take on the cop show, here it is:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irevbjhXht8&list=PL88FA433B86301F71[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irevbjhXht8&list=PL88FA433B86301F71[/yt]
Quark
Space Academy
Starblazers
Space 1999
UFO
And anything produced by Irwin Allen
Space Academy
Starblazers
Space 1999
UFO
And anything produced by Irwin Allen
We have now suggested more hours worth of programming that this person can successfully watch in one lifetime without structurally sacrificing a healthy balanced quality of life.
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