Friday, March 4, 2011

FORGOTTEN BUT NOT GONE...or something like that


Television shows never last forever. Either they run their course and quietly fade into syndication (Seinfeld), or they are brutally cancelled before they have a chance to spread their wings (Firefly). Of course, some overstay their welcome and Jump The Shark.

Erinn at something else to distract me is co-hosting the Gone But Not Forgotten blogfest, where entrants list their top 5 TV shows no longer making NEW episodes.



Not being a huge TV watcher, but having watched television over parts of five decades, this was tough. I decided to pick one show from each decade.

SIXTIES:  STAR TREK



Nothing can beat Kirk bedding a green Orion slave girl, violating the Prime Directive , phasering the living s*&t out of a Klingon ship and firing Scotty for not fixing the Enterprise quickly enough, all while masterfully overacting.

Runner-up: Mission Impossible

SEVENTIES: VEGA$



I am a huge Robert Urich fan, mainly due to this show and to Spenser For Hire. Sadly, this show's plots do not hold up so well after thirty years, but I still love the car, and still have a crush on Bea!

Runners-up: Alias Smith And Jones, Kung Fu, Banacek

EIGHTIES: MAGNUM P.I.



This was tough-do I pick Spenser For Hire, The A-Team, or Magnum P.I.?

Once again, I gotta give it to the car, Tom Selleck's Ferrari. The A-Team was fun, but the same plot every week. Spenser introduced me to the work of Robert B. Parker, but as much as I like Rober Urich, the books were better (although Avery Brooks as Hawk was casting genius).

Magnum P.I. was a nice spin on the private detective series, with characters you grew attached to over eight seasons. And the season seven finale (which was originally to be the series finale), a sort of homage to "Heaven Can Wait," was simply wonderful.

Great casting. Great writing. Great locale. Great car.

Runners up: The A-Team, Spenser For Hire

NINETIES: HIGHLANDER



This was easy-I didn't watch much else in the nineties but Seinfeld and Highlander. Although Seinfeld gets my vote for the best comedy ever (sorry Stephen T), there was something about Highlander that appealed to me, even though, like the A-Team, it was sort of the same plot every week.

What can I say? There can be only one!

Runners-up: Seinfeld, The X Files, Brisco County Jr.

00's: ALIAS


This was tough, as there really were a lot of good shows on in this decade. But Jennifer Garner is a hottie, and I loved the Rimbaldi plotline that wove through the series' run.

Runners-up: 24, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Smallville, Fringe

There you have it. And I should have this posted by midnight!

Now where did I put that remote control...

Thanks to Erinn and her cohosts for putting this on!

9 comments:

  1. i like how you did yours by decades. nice picks! :)

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  2. Any list that mentions "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" but not "Frasier", "The Andy Griffith Show", or "All In The Family" is... well...

    ...stick to music. Music is your forte.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  3. I almost forgot-Aleeza and Alex-thanks for stopping by!

    Alex, as far as I am concerned ST-TOS is the ONLY Star Trek!

    Although the recent franchise "re-boot" was pretty durn good!

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  4. McDogg-

    You referred to me calling you Opie as name-calling, but I really did not mean it that way-you are, without a doubt, the most ardent Andy Griffith fan I know.

    All I can remember of that show is the theme song. Oh and that they called Richie Cunningham Opie, but I don't know why.

    I never watched Frazier, either. He was my least favorite Cheers character. It had the same appeal to me as if Seinfeld had done a "Newman" spin-off.

    And I gotta tell ya-I had the exact same attitude about "Buffy" until I watched a few episodes. It kind of grows on you.

    But I think our basic difference is, you have an affinity for comedies and I lean towards action shows.

    Gotta go, Arch!

    Meathead

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  5. I totally missed this blogfest. I have kind of been stuck in a time warp of late.

    Star Trek is the only one of those shows I've ever seen.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  6. Lee-

    I didn't see it until 11pm Friday, myself.

    I'm surprised you've never seen Magnum P.I. The others I can see you missing. Alias for example, I would have never seen if not for DVD's.

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  7. I have not watched too much prime time TV since 1969. There have been a few shows I would get into, but overall I've just apparently done other things. Actually I'm kind of surprised myself about how much TV I've missed.

    Lee

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