STAR TREK (THE ORIGINAL SERIES) It just isn't Star Trek without Kirk violating the prime directive and chasing a green alien in a skirt!
KOLCHAK:THE NIGHT STALKER Darren McGavin in cheap suits chasinh vampires and werew1olves and endin g up unable to print the truth because he destroyed the evidence!
VEGA$ It doesn't hold up well, but I've still got the hots for Bea!
MAGNUM P.I. A great cast, and a pretty solid series from beginning to end. They did a series finale at the end of the seventh(?) season and came back for another year. That episode should have been held for a year-it's the television equivalent of Warren Zevon's song, "My Ride's Here." It should have been the last word.
THE X FILES Chris Carter's show about the government/alien conspiracy. Not to be confused with what is going on in Arizona in 2010...
SEINFELD The show about nothing was the only comedy of substance!
SUPERNATURAL The 2000's version of Night Stalker, with a great rock music soundtrack and a subplot that sounded silly at first but kind of drags you in. They lose points for going to six seasons when they swore there would only be five.
Runners Up
Alias-La Femme Nikita on steriods, with a big network budget, better scripts, Jennifer Garner (schwing!) and a serialized storyline involving a DaVinci like inventor and centuries-old clues to a mysterious technology.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer-when you stop.laughing, rent season one and see if you don't get hooked.
Firefly-A great space epic, only lasted one season, should have found an audience.
Fringe-an X Files for a new millenium
Battlestar Galactica-the 2000's remake was dark and gritty and worth watching-not the campy seventies version
Alias Smith & Jones-a great western buddy series about two outlaws trying to go straight
The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.-a blend of western and sci-fi with a lot of tongue in cheek humour, and the beautiful Kelly Rutherford as Dixie.
Quantum Leap-a time travel drama from the creator of Magnum where Scott Bakula tries to right historical wrongs. Great concept, great cast.
24-Even last season manged to keep me on edge-a great action show
Kung Fu-Who knew David Carradine was Chinese?
Old school, I'm a fan of your list!!!! X-Files, Seinfield... what's not to love?!
ReplyDeleteFun blog! Found you over at the fabulous Alex Cavanaugh.
Some great picks here! Been years since I watched Kolchak, but that was a favorite from my childhood. And you summed up Fringe well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating, Mr. Cavanaugh!
>>Kung Fu - Who knew David Carradine was Chinese?
ReplyDeleteWho knew David Carradine was a sex addict who would die in some unimaginably kinky way. (To quote Warren Zevon from his song 'Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me': "I don't wanna talk about it.")
>>SEINFELD The show about nothing was the only comedy of substance!
Who knew my own good friend would make the most erroneous statement in the ENTIRE freakin' Blogfest?! Sheesh! None of the chicks in "The Happy Club" even said anything THAT wrong!
Someone to remain nameless (named DiscConnected) obviously isn't at all familiar with the show FRASIER! Substance? Seinfeld? HELLooooo! Sure, Seinfeld was very funny, but if we're talking funny AND substance, comparing Frasier to Seinfeld is like comparing... Frasier to... uhm... well, the A-Team!
When you return from your trip, prepare to do battle. Be sure to bring your Light Sabre (or whatever it is you Trekkie Dudes do battle with) because this is a fight to the... I dunno... Dairy Queen, or something.
I will, however, give you a few points for including Kolchak. I remember seeing the original pilot episode when it first aired and thinking, "Whoa! Weird!"
Seinfeld. Substance. Sheesh!
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Dairy Queen'
Wait, that didn't sound right!
I've got A Team and X Files on my list as well! I forgot about Highlander. I'm seeing so many great shows on everyone's lists that I'm going to keep Netflix busy for awhile. I loved Highlander!
ReplyDeleteOoo, I love your list, there were a few there I'd forgotten about. Like the extras, too!
ReplyDelete~that rebel, Olivia
highlander and supernatural! excellent!
ReplyDeleteGreat list. I watched Magnum PI and Seinfeld but had not seen any of the rest.
ReplyDeleteI knew some of the programmes but sadly not others, but I guess that's because I live across the big pond.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the layout of your blog.
Yvvonne.
I was a regular for the original Star Trek, but the only others on the list that I've seen a few episodes of are X Files and Seinfeld.
ReplyDeleteQuantum Leap should be moved to the top ten-- that remains a great show.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Great list. I love original Star Trek! Not heard of Kolchak before though.
ReplyDeleteLyn
W.I.P. It: A Writer's Journey
the x-files and seinfeld are great but the rest i haven't heard of but still great list
ReplyDeleteTo all who commented, thanks. Sorry I did not have more time to devote. Now that I'm home I'll review your lists.
ReplyDeleteTo Mr. McCarthy, I can only say, Andy Griffith?
Do you even own a color TV?
Have ya heard of UHF and cable?
Do you know that satellites can actually bring more recent programming into yer home?
Disconnect those tin cans and strings you're using to connect to the outside world!
Have you ever seen that Seinfeld episode about "the contest," when Kramer walks back in and says "I'm out!"
Funny stuff, McDogg!
PS-I'll bet your skin crawled when I called the A-Team a character study!
LC
DISCDUDE ~
ReplyDelete>>Do you even own a color TV?
No. Who needs one when all the best Andy Griffith Show episodes are in black & white?
>>Do you know that satellites can actually bring more recent programming into yer home?
The better to brainwash you with, my dear.
>>Have you ever seen that Seinfeld episode about "the contest," when Kramer walks back in and says "I'm out!" Funny stuff, McDogg!
Yeah, I've seen it. And yeah, I'll agree it's funny. But let's be honest, that's a cheap laugh. It doesn't come anywhere near the sort of clever, complex, and more sophisticated writing found in Frasier.
>>PS-I'll bet your skin crawled when I called the A-Team a character study!
It would have had I been taking you seriously. But after the mention of Star Trek and Vegas, I wasn't.
:o)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Dair-- er, Underground'
Oh, Hey! But I enjoyed your commentary for "The X Files". Didn't like the show, but liked your commentary!
ReplyDelete~ D-FensDogg II
>the sort of clever, complex, and >more sophisticated writing found >in Frasier
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a true Mensa-Donkey!
Frasier-a show about psuedo-intellectuals for pseudo-intellectuals!
BROTHER L.C. ~
ReplyDelete>>Frasier-a show about psuedo-intellectuals for pseudo-intellectuals!
No, no! You got that all wrong.
Well, actually, 50% wrong.
"Frasier - a show about pseudo-intellectuals for people who like to laugh at pseudo-intellectuals".
~ D-FensDogg
Sorry STMcC-
ReplyDeleteThat came off as a dig and I didn't really intend that.
The "pseudo-intellectual" thing is why I could never get into that character, though-I knew too many of them back in Philly.
And who were they (the pseudo-intellects) kidding-it was Philly!
The city that looked at a steak, laden with animal fats, and said "we can fry it with cheese and put it on a roll!"
The city that looked at cholesterol infused fried potatoes and said "let's bathe them in cheese and tomato gravy!"
The city that gave the world five Rocky sequels.
We're just not known for intellect!
That kind of personality has always grated on me, and as much as I've heard it was a well made show, I just could never get into it.
I would challenge your one point-although a lot of Seinfeld's situations did borrow from ideas dating back to "I Love Lucy," I would argue that their simplistic show themes were a challenge to come up with.
An entire show based upon looking for a car in a parking garage or waiting for a table in a restaurant.
This is when the show was at its finest.
When it was really about nothing!
An entire show based upon looking for a car in a parking garage or waiting for a table in a restaurant. This is when the show was at its finest. When it was really about nothing!
ReplyDeleteI fully agree! I came to the show late - after it had been on for some years and so I still haven't seen anywhere near all of the episodes, but of the episodes I have seen, the two you mentioned are my very favorites (along with the one where Jerry and George are pitching the show idea to the network executives and George simply refuses to back off from the "it's a show about NOTHING" concept).
Make no mistake about it, I do think it's a very funny show, and if my list climbed from Top 10 to Top 15, it would certainly be included.
~ D-FensDogg