Shows you can and can't watch in reruns

Certain shows seem to do great in syndication and become staples. Law & Order is a great example of this. I think a lot of people who've never watched the show in first run got hooked on the reruns (A&E first, then TNT). I fall into that camp. Same thing with NCIS and Law & Order: SVU. Other shows I wish were still in reruns are NYPD Blue. Hill Street Blues and LA Law.

At the same time, there are a number of shows that I've watched religiously in first run but really have no interest in them as reruns. Currently, Person of Interest falls into this category. From years ago, the same thing with ER, a show that was a phenomenon in first run but a real failure in syndicated reruns and is already long gone.

Does anyone else have a list of shows that you can keep watching reruns of and another list of shows that just don't interest you in reruns? And a better question: Why for each?

 

I'll watch these forever:

Seinfeld
Simpsons
Married with Children (first 6 seasons mainly)
Absolutely Fabulous
White Shadow
I Love Lucy
Iron Chef (Japanese version)
Louie
The Wire
Californication

At the same time, I'd only watch Seasons 1-2 and maybe the last season of Californication. Seasons 3-6 sucked except for a few strong moments each of those seasons. Season 3 was the worst yet the finale was so good that it made you come back for Season 4. The dinner scene was right out of the Altman playbook, and the chemistry between Duchovny and Carla Gugino was so goddamn good every time.

Can't think of other shows I wouldn't watch again.

 

The problem with many of the dramas is that they've become serialized, so a viewer can't drop in and out.

When I was a kid, shows such as Hawaii Five-0 and Rockford Files were syndicated favorites because each episode was pretty much self contained, with little back story.

That's why Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy, Munsters, Gilligan's Island and the ilk used to do so well after the first run. Plus, they made a lot more episodes so you didn't see the same one over and over again.

 

That's why dramas like Law and Order and NCIS do so well in syndication, while some of the CSIs don't do as well. Something as serialized as Lost or 24 is hard to watch in reruns.

I've never liked Seinfeld in reruns. I saw them all first run and don't find them that funny on multiple viewings. I would argue that is a compliment because the episodes and jokes are so memorable.

Cheers, Frasier and Friends all do well for me on multiple viewings. Same with Simpsons, South Park. I have the DVDs for Taxi and MTM and both hold up incredibly well.

 

24 is another great example. I've watched every first-run episode and zero in reruns.

While I agree with the idea that serialized shows with multi-episode story arcs are the ones that don't do well in syndication, ER doesn't necessarily fit that category. So I'm really curious about why ER had failed so badly in syndication.

 

I still watch 'Seinfeld' a lot.

I took up 'Big Bang' for a while. I watched it in reruns only. Never seen it during the season. It's on so often I've seen every episode already and I don't rewatch it.

In the past I was a big fan of 'Brady Bunch' reruns. I used to watch them over and over.
Same with 'Cheers.'
And 'MASH.'
Not anymore though. In fact I find most of 'MASH' insufferable now.

 

Could still watch Cheers four nights a week or more...

Barney Miller was also a favorite rerun - till it disappeared into the World Ether

How about Night Court...?

 

I used to watch 'Barney Miller' reruns a lot.

 

You are stoned. Seinfeld is perfect for multiple viewings. As rewatchable as any show in history. Hence why its syndication run has been so insanely long and successful.

 

Shows I can watch over and over again.

All in the Family
The Honeymooners(have most of the episodes on DVD)
Cheers
Three's Company
Happy Days
Seinfeld

 

I watched a couple episodes of I Dream of Jeannie and Sanford and Son on ME TV and was surprised at how much I laughed.

I don't know if it was nostalgia or really funny

 

I too don't have any patience with MASH in reruns. It got preachy in its later years and way unmoored from the Korean War era.

I'll watch The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy and the B&W seasons of The Andy Griffith Show till the day I'm gone. And The Fugitive is a rare enough find on the tube these days that I'll tune in when I see an episode, mostly late Sunday nights.