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Top Ten TV Shows

Jrzag42

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I haven't watched every episode of modern Simpsons, but everything I have seen in the past couple years was excellent in my opinion. I'm in the minority of people who thinks that The Simpsons never truly got bad. Though again, I haven't seen every episode, so maybe I'm missing something
 

bionicbob

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TOP TEN FAVOURITE TV COMEDIES:

1.  The Wonder Years
2.  30 Rock
3.  The Office
4.  Cheers
5.  Happy Days
6.  The Dick Van Dyke Show
7.  The Andy Griffith Show
8.  Wings
9.  Seinfeld
10.  The Mary Tyler Moore Show

:D
 

ArtisDead

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bionicbob said:
TOP TEN FAVOURITE TV COMEDIES:

1.  The Wonder Years
2.  30 Rock
3.  The Office
4.  Cheers
5.  Happy Days
6.  The Dick Van Dyke Show
7.  The Andy Griffith Show
8.  Wings
9.  Seinfeld
10.  The Mary Tyler Moore Show

:D

Are you making fun of me? If so...you left off Rawhide, Gunsmoke and Bonanza!  :D 

If not...may I commend you on having good taste?
 

lapis molari

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Here are ten series that I happily re-watch, and if they were still made today (at the same level of quality) I'd keep watching them.

Star Trek TOS
Babylon 5
Firefly
West Wing
Yes (Prime) Minister
Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
Tintin, the integral animated series
David Attenborough's series of nature documentaries
il etait une fois... L'Homme (once upon a time... Man)
Monty Python's Flying Circus
 

bionicbob

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Denizen said:
Are you making fun of me? If so...you left off Rawhide, Gunsmoke and Bonanza!  :D 

If not...may I commend you on having good taste?

Don't worry, my Fave Westerns list will be forthcoming lol
Though Bonanza definitely drifted into comedy territory whether it intended to or not....  :p

What can I say, I love the classics.

Re-thinking it, HAPPY DAYS should be my Number One fave.  The nostalgia factor alone makes me smile.  It was a brilliantly written/directed family comedy.  It was so HUGE in its time, spawning many spin-offs.... Laverne & Shirley,  Mork & Mindy, Joanie Loves Chachi... mostly it was a show with heart.  Still completely re-watchable and funny as hell.  And while it did coin the term "Jump the Shark" from a Fifth Season episode, the show remained in the top twenty ratings for 9 of its 11 seasons.
 

bionicbob

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Thinking more about what makes a great tv comedy for me....

I think it comes down to a timeless, universal quality....?

I mean there are many current comedies I watch and laugh my myself silly on first watch.  But will they still be funny 10-20 years from now?

The Goldbergs is funny.  But it is no Wonder Years.  It is a victim of its own success, choosing formula over originality.   It is silly, nostalgic fun (I am a teen of the 80s!!!) that makes me laugh but it carries little to no weight.

Brooklyn 99, I howl with laughter with this show... at least during the first couple of seasons.   But will this show go down as a classic?  Or just as a funny show of it's time, like Barney Miller?

And will I still think 30 Rock is a classic 10 years from now?  As its humour is very topic oriented.

Or then you have shows that maybe have stayed on waaaaaay too long, and unfortunately the last few seasons sour your memory of what was once a brilliant show..... Scrubs, Simpsons, South Park, Two and Half Men, Friends, Mad About You...

Then you have a show like CHEERS.  I watched and laughed every week when it was originally on.... which is weird, since you would not think I was the demographic, being early teens and the show was about 30s, 40s and 50 years old hanging out in a bar.   And now that I am almost 50, I rewatch the show and laugh even harder, as I relate even more to the story and characters.   Genius writing!!!  BTW, I think the Kristie Alley years were funnier than the Shelly Long age...lol

Dick Van Dyck and Andy Griffeth are completely timeless and the humour transcends the decades because it is about people.

Mary Tyler Moore may feel at times the most dated but it also has the most humanity, which makes it both funny and poignant.

...why do I suddenly feel very old?  :p
 

lapis molari

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Duragizer said:
lapis molari said:
Tintin, the integral animated series

Which one?

The 1991-1992 series. In some countries only on DVD, in France also released on Blu-ray. The latter is cropped for wide-screen, but worth it for the picture quality.
 

Jrzag42

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250px-Fonz_and_Happy_Days_Gang.jpg
 

bionicbob

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jrWHAG42 said:

LOL!

An embarrassingly bad cartoon spin-off!  Winkler and Howard even provided their voices!  I hope they got paid lots!
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtW6wS3z97Q[/video]

But hey, it gets worse, Laverne & Shirley got a cartoon...
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjH7zh_vg0E[/video]

...and Mork and Mindy....
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K54QnC71KI[/video]
 

Jrzag42

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I don't know much about the...franchise(?), I've never seen the original show or any of its spinoffs. I only know that Fonz and the Happy Days Gang exists because a certain person on YouTube who reviews cartoons. But that's kind of hilarious, that the spinoffs got spinoff cartoons as well. Which of all the spinoffs/cartoons is the absolute worst, and which is the best? Is the original show leagues above all else?
 

bionicbob

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jrWHAG42 said:
I don't know much about the...franchise(?), I've never seen the original show or any of its spinoffs. I only know that Fonz and the Happy Days Gang exists because a certain person on YouTube who reviews cartoons. But that's kind of hilarious, that the spinoffs got spinoff cartoons as well. Which of all the spinoffs/cartoons is the absolute worst, and which is the best? Is the original show leagues above all else?

Well it is not like today, there was no planned franchise.  I doubt producers were even thinking in those terms.  TV Networks were pretty simple, if something is a success, let's make more of it.  Hit movies would get ripped off and turned into tv shows.   A hit tv show would get a spin-off.   

Hhhmmmm.... maybe things haven't changed at all... LOL!

Of the cartoons, they are ALL TERRIBLE.   :p  They have nothing to do with the live action shows.  Skip them. lol

Of the HAPPY DAYS shows, all were produced by legend Garry Marshall, who knew how to balance quality with network demand.
And he was smart enough to make each spin-off show unique in its own right, always with a focus on characters (or maybe just excellent casting?) and heart.

HAPPY DAYS is the best of the bunch for me, just because it stayed the course for its 11 season run.  Even with major cast departures, the show's quality remained pretty strong and consistent.  It is a story of a family and their friends in 1950s and 60s middle America, a coming of age story... it could be heartfelt and sad, it could be slapstick, it could be over the top adventure.... it did it all.   As I said the show was huge... I remember how they would do big epic 3 part episodes to launch each new season or climatic character in danger cliffhanger two parters.  All very new for tv sitcoms at the time.  It seems bizarre to say, but Happy Days was in its own right a revolutionary tv comedy for its time.  It really does not get the recognition or praise it deserves.

side note:  Originally Happy Days aired as pilot as part of the anthology tv series LOVE AMERICAN STYLE.  The network passed on it.  But when the movie AMERICAN GRAFFITI (also starring Ron Howard) was a box office hit, the ABC Network looked to cash in and realized they already had the perfect project in the can.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMEQEK_XFfQ[/video]

LAVERNE & SHIRLEY starts out strong in its early seasons, the story of two lower class working girls in the 1950s trying to get ahead in the world and their zany friends.  It is a relatable story to anyone first starting out in life with all the odds against them.  Sort of think of it as a predecessor to the current TWO BROKE GIRLS.   The series takes a nose dive in the last two seasons, as the characters get moved to California and Shirley is written out of the show due to contract dispute (or was it a pregnancy... I can't remember).  But still worth watching for the first 4-5 seasons.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX5OYb_ByYE[/video]

MORK AND MINDY, honestly the only reason to watch this show is for the genius of Robin Williams.... well, Pam Dawber is gorgeous and was a fantastic straight man to William's kooky madness.   A very silly show, but again lots of heart.  It only ran 4 seasons and each season it would get a slight retooling as the producers never seemed sure what to do with the characters.... eventually Mork and Mindy get married and have an adult baby (hatched from an egg) played by the comedic legend and Williams's hero, Jonathon Winters.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUVmmlByx2c[/video]
 

Jrzag42

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All very fascinating to read! Thank you for your insight. I will definitely have to check the original series out sometime, as you make it out to seem amazing. There are so many classic or popular shows that I've missed out on, I'm realizing.
 

bionicbob

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bionicbob said:
TOP TEN FAVOURITE TV COMEDIES:

1.  The Wonder Years
2.  30 Rock
3.  The Office
4.  Cheers
5.  Happy Days
6.  The Dick Van Dyke Show
7.  The Andy Griffith Show
8.  Wings
9.  Seinfeld
10.  The Mary Tyler Moore Show

:D

Dammit!  Just realized I forgot THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW!!!!!!!!!!
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpUlvfReduQ[/video]

Maybe a Top Ten Variety show list is needed....  :p
Sorry, WINGS, you must now go to the number 11 slot!
 

ArtisDead

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You certainly make compelling argument for Happy Days. I remember watching it as a kid. It was part of the Tuesday night block on ABC. Happy Days then Laverne and Shirley then Three's Company. 

Can you imagine what it would be like to only have three network stations and PBS? Everyone was so excited when FOX came along.

Anyway...I loved all of those shows. I guess I liked Three"s Company best. John Ritter as Jack Tripper is comic legend.

I haven't a seen Happy Days since I was younger. I have box sets of the other two. I need to reinvestigate. I remember digging The Fonz. "Ayyy....."
 

bionicbob

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Denizen said:
Anyway...I loved all of those shows. I guess I liked Three"s Company best. John Ritter as Jack Tripper is comic legend.

Love, love, LOVE Three's Company.  John Ritter was a physical comedic genius!
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVhu5seyXO0[/video]
One of the reasons it did not make my Top Ten, while it was delightful 70s fluff television, it became so formula prone.
Almost every episode was "what comedic misunderstanding" will happen this week?

It is also a show that ran too long imo... the later seasons not as funny.  Terri and Cindy were never as funny as Christy.  But I did love Mr. Furley when he replaced the Ropers (another terrible spin-off).... Don Knots, another comedic genius!

And then the horrible spin-off, THREE'S A CROWD.  :sick:
 

ArtisDead

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bionicbob said:
Denizen said:
Anyway...I loved all of those shows. I guess I liked Three"s Company best. John Ritter as Jack Tripper is comic legend.

Love, love, LOVE Three's Company.  John Ritter was a physical comedic genius!
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVhu5seyXO0[/video]
One of the reasons it did not make my Top Ten, while it was delightful 70s fluff television, it became so formula prone.
Almost every episode was "what comedic misunderstanding" will happen this week?

It is also a show that ran too long imo... the later seasons not as funny.  Terri and Cindy were never as funny as Christy.  But I did love Mr. Furley when he replaced the Ropers (another terrible spin-off).... Don Knots, another comedic genius!

And then the horrible spin-off, THREE'S A CROWD.  :sick:

The mishaps is exactly why it was funny...and Jack having to pretend to be gay...very avante guarde for its time. I liked Don Knotts but not as much as Norman Fell. I agree about the later seasons. I rarely watch them. If they have Crissy...I love them.

Never even watched Threes a Crowd.  :D
 

TV's Frink

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@"bionicbob" the best way to deal with a show that runs on way too long is to just stop watching it.  I checked out after S9 of The Simpsons and in my mind it's still the best comedy ever, because it had an amazing run and knew exactly when the well was dry. ;)
 

bionicbob

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TVs Frink said:
@"bionicbob" the best way to deal with a show that runs on way too long is to just stop watching it.  I checked out after S9 of The Simpsons and in my mind it's still the best comedy ever, because it had an amazing run and knew exactly when the well was dry. ;)

True.

Though sometimes you don't realize how bad a show has gotten until it is too late LOL.
Or you keep watching out of loyalty, hoping it will improve.... and it doesn't.... :p

...some things you just can not unsee....
 

Jrzag42

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The only show I can think of that I stopped watching when it got bad was Death Note. After the death of a certain character, the show becomes a mess, introducing two new obnoxious and annoying characters. My first time watching the series, I stopped right at the afformentioned point. Then I tried watching it more recently, and I kept watching past that point, and I just couldn't keep going for long. I think I was only two episodes away from the finale, but the whole second half was unmemorable and I ended up finding distractions to get out of paying attention to it half the time, the finale would be lost on me. And I don't care, because the halfway point is enough of an ending.

I know I put it on my list of Japanese animated seried I'd finished, but while making that list I completely forgot that the second half existed.
 
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