What did I miss - Television Edition

The two concurrent "Greatest/Favorite Actor" threads got me thinking about the significant age gap between many of the board members. Some shared their thoughts on Dragnet, which I have never seen. Some shared their thoughts on Boy Meets World, which 'm sure others haven't seen.

Made me think: What did I miss?

I don't mean Seinfeld or Frasier - they are in syndication, and I can catch up on them.

But what did I miss about shows like Dragnet or like All in the Family. My dad maintains that Archie Bunker was the single funniest character in television history. He also stands firm on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In being one of the great shows of his time.

So - and this is not just directed at old-timers -

What did I miss? Tell me about your personal viewing experiences, much like Mike does with Boy Meets World and I (try to) do with Friday Night Lights.

 

Other than sports or the occasional Seinfeld or Cheers, I pretty much skipped the 90s.

 

I missed Taxi, which for some strange reason is not in syndication anymore until my wife bought me the first four seasons on DVD.

 

is "the mary tyler moore show" and "the dick van dyke show" on dvd? they'd be worth the investment, imo.

 

I remember "Laugh In" being on in syndication when I was a kid. I hadn't seen it in years until I caught a few episodes on TV Land (or one of its clones) a few years ago. Everyone on there was coked out of the minds ...

I appreciate All in the Family for the satire that it was, but I still maintain there was a huge segment of America that wasn't in on the joke. They just liked hearing a guy utter racial epithets on national TV.

There are very few great shows that aren't on syndication in one form or another. The Hallmark Channel shows MASH constantly; TV Land airs All in the Family and many others. TBS shows a lot of 80s and 90s comedies, while A&E and TNT do the same with dramas.

Do any national cable outlets air "Magnum, P.I.?" My local NBC affiliate used to air it and "Simon and Simon" back-to-back on Sunday mornings. Made great lead-in programming for NFL games back in the day.

 

St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues are the two I can't find in syndication or on DVD.

 

Excellent call on "All in the Family." I definitely think there was a sizeable portion of the show's audience that didn't get the joke.

There is a Sleuth station that I think is only available on Dish network and DirecTV. It is owned by NBC Universal. They started airing Magnum, P.I. last year, along with Profiler and Rockford Files. They also have Miami Vice, Knight Rider, the A-Team and Homicide among others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleuth_(TV_channel)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Hill-Street-Blues-Season-1/dp/B000BOH8YG

http://www.amazon.com/St-Elsewhere-Season-Ed-Flanders/dp/B000GPPNO2

 

Your wife buying you the DVDs sent Taxi back into syndication?

 

Pretty much anything done by MtM Enterprises is highly recommended. And yes, that's Mary Tyler Moore's outfit:
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
WKRP in Cincinnati
Lou Grant
The White Shadow
St. Elsewhere
Newhart and The Bob Newhart Show
Remington Steele
Hill Street Blues
The Duck Factory (Jim Carrey, pre-In Living Color)