Discussion Forum

I've just started watching the first series of The X-Files and I'm startled at just how good it actually is! There was me, thinking that it was just sweet old nostalgia; turns out that it was worth watching all the time.

What other old TV shows still make the grade? The one that "leaps" to mind of those that DON'T, is Quantum Leap - utter rubbish, to my mind.

I enjoy the old COLUMBO shows. Character-driven, and a great emphasis on using brainpower, rather than forensics, to solve murders. Have to confess to also liking the Superman (George Reeves) TV shows of the 1950s. So bad, they are good! Enjoyed the current movie Hollywoodland, which analyzes the 1959 death (murder or suicide?) of George Reeves.

On a similar theme Murder She Wrote is always good to watch.

Mostly I try to figure out who's murdered who, but I always end up deducing everyone's guilty.

I reckon Jessica Fletcher is either a serial killer or one really lucky lady to have so many murders to write about! She must be raking it in from all those deaths - what a heartless cow!

I've always liked The Twilight Zone (1959) because of its great writing and its B+W filming.

the ZOne's good, great in fact, my all time fav writing-wise but how about Hawaii or however you spell it five Oh? Earthqakes now in Haw Y eee now approaching FIVE on Mr Richter's scale (another story). Bigger even than Kim Yong's
Nuke Lee .. Nuke .. er .. atomic blast test.

Gotta love the X-files though. And the zone. The Zone movie was a Zone in itself considering how many people DIED trying to film it. Not a spoof .. google the Twilight Zone .. the Movie. Folks DIED trying to film that thing.

---

Quote: Mark Lowton

On a similar theme Murder She Wrote is always good to watch.

Mostly I try to figure out who's murdered who, but I always end up deducing everyone's guilty.

I reckon Jessica Fletcher is either a serial killer or one really lucky lady to have so many murders to write about! She must be raking it in from all those deaths - what a heartless cow!

---

She's Jesus. That'll keep the conspiracy theorists thinking.

There are obviously more old shows that did not age well and do not work today.

The few old ones that I will still watch tend to be murder mysterys. A lot of Science Fiction did not age well (BUck Rogers was lame when it was on, and even the original Star Trek looks kind of goofy), though I agree that this does not hold true for Twilight Zone (and I would include similar shows Outer Limits and Night Gallery in this).

Comedy may have aged the worst. MASH, which used to be a favorite, is no longer funny. I think Night Court may be the exception here.

Some of the older, period shows still work, like Bonanza, Maverick, and Daniel Boone.

But...why should we expect the old shows to age well when the new shows are all crap now?

I don't know if this topic has died already but I have to put in my vote for Fawlty Towers. I have watched each episode countless times and I still laugh. The best comedy in the whole world ever and I am not exaggerating. I always gauge a person's character by 1. Do they love Fawlty Towers? then 2. Can they repeat the jokes, ie. how deep is their knowledge of the ripping yarns....and that's another one Ripping Yarns. That's a bloody good show too.

---

Quote: Tracy McLeod
I have to put in my vote for Fawlty Towers. I always gauge a person's character by 1. Do they love Fawlty Towers? then 2. Can they repeat the jokes, ie. how deep is their knowledge of the ripping yarns.

---

That show comes on cable here on BBC America at night. John Cleese has to be the funniest human to walk the land. I'm a big British humor fan and Basil's Fawlty Towers has to be near the top. The interplay between Basil and "Barcelona" the waiter puts me on the floor sometime. Barcelona too after Basil

BONKS
Barcelona over the head every week with a frying pan.
Cleese is also in that Monty Python show too. As you see I'm glued a lot to BBC America. Tons of British comedy shows old and new every night.

---

This shameless plug for Time Warner cable brought to you by, Time Warner Cable