Here’s a partial list of TV shows I either grew up with or have enjoyed in my adult life. For the most part, the criteria for being on this list is shows I have watched for pretty much the entire run (or watched all the episodes in syndication or on DVD/Netflix etc.). For most of the shows, I watched new episodes each week as they came out, like a fan. (Or each night on syndication, regularly.)
By definition, if I watched all the episodes, I liked the show quite a bit. There are a few shows from my youth on this list (The Bob Newhart Show and Starsky & Hutch come to mind) where I may be over-remembering how much of that show I actually watched, but they still made a lasting enough impression on me to deserve inclusion. There are a lot of shows that aren’t on this list that I also dabbled in—or even watched almost all of—but which didn’t grab me for whatever reason. (Seinfeld for example is a notable exception that should probably be here, but I don’t feel like I rose to a true fan level with it. I never really sought it out.)
So, “TV I’ve Loved” isn’t quite the right term, but it’s as close as any. These are shows that did something for me, caught and held my attention, excited my mind, etc. (At the time. I can’t promise they all hold up.)
I decided to start this list a few years ago when Barney Miller and WKRP in Cincinnati came on Hulu. I was fondly watching those shows—both of which are clearly adult shows, and both of which came off the air in 1982, when I was but 10 years old—and it made me realize how insanely much television I watched when I was young. And how much prime-time and syndicated adult television I watched. Sooooo much. I was learning (?) about hookers and the Middle East and racism and politics and so much more from these shows, probably seriously starting when I was 5 or 6. I remember the finale episodes of most of those big shows from the 70’s, because I watched them live, as an already-loyal viewer of the show at age 9 and 10 and 11. (When M*A*S*H finaled in 1983, 11-year-old me had probably watched that show 500 times between live airing and syndication. For real.)
Which is to say, TV has been a big influence on me. I don’t shy away from that. I’m glad of it. (I still love TV, even now that it’s finally kind of considered cool and respectable due to your Mad Mens and Breaking Bads.)
These are very loosely placed in order of my experience with them, which also tends to very loosely line up with when they were around, a lot of the time. The order is very rough and may change. Believe it or not, this list is still pretty incomplete. I will not be surprised if it hits 200 shows. (I already passed through several layers of surprise at how long it was getting, and have finally reached acceptance.)
One last note: I broke game shows (and competitive reality shows) into their own category. With a few exceptions, they cover a streak of my childhood and teen years–you don’t want to know how young I was watching The Newlywed Game–and I often didn’t watch the whole series run, so I separated them. It’s a small list at the end. (I also haven’t watched all of General Hospital‘s 30+ years—just the 80’s stretch from Luke & Laura to Frisco or so. And my viewing of Saturday Night Live has been spotty too.)
Let the memories wash over you…
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- Sesame Street
- Electric Company
- The Amazing Spider-man
- The Muppet Show
- I Love Lucy
- The Honeymooners
- The Twilight Zone
- The Three Stooges
- Abbott and Costello (may belong more in my upcoming Movies page)
- Fat Albert
- Flipper
- Gentle Ben
- Grizzly Adams
- The Bob Newhart Show
- The Six Million Dollar Man
- The Jeffersons
- Diff’rent Strokes
- Sanford & Son
- All in the Family
- The Rockford Files
- Hart to Hart
- Eight is Enough
- Good Times
- Happy Days
- Laverne and Shirley
- The Odd Couple
- Joanie Loves Chachi
- The Love Boat
- Fantasy Island
- The Munsters
- MASH
- AfterMASH
- Barney Miller
- Fish
- WKRP in Cincinnati
- Hogan’s Heroes
- The Brady Bunch
- Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
- Starsky & Hutch
- CHiPs
- Wonder Woman
- Gilligan’s Island
- Bewitched
- I Dream of Jeannie
- F-Troop
- One Day at a Time
- Alice
- Taxi
- The Jeffersons
- Soap
- The Incredible Hulk
- The Greatest American Hero
- The White Shadow
- Welcome Back, Kotter
- The Andy Griffith Show
- Mork and Mindy
- Charlie’s Angels
- Hee Haw
- The Odd Couple
- Remington Steele
- Too Close for Comfort
- Little House on the Prairie
- Three’s Company
- St. Elsewhere
- Hill Street Blues
- The Facts of Life
- General Hospital
- 227
- SCTV
- Saturday Night Live
- Siskel and Ebert at the Movies
- Cheers
- Newhart
- Cosby Show
- Family Ties
- Silver Spoons
- Benson
- Charles in Charge
- The Golden Girls
- Who’s the Boss?
- Mama’s Family
- Head of the Class
- Highway to Heaven
- Hunter
- Webster
- Punky Brewster
- Night Court
- Knight Rider
- Square Pegs
- The A-Team
- Dukes of Hazzard
- Bosom Buddies
- That’s Incredible!
- Monty Python’s Flying Circus
- Riptide
- The Fall Guy
- Moonlighting
- Cagney and Lacey
- Kate and Allie
- Perfect Strangers
- The Young Ones
- Northern Exposure
- In Living Color
- Sliders
- The X-Files
- Sports Night
- NewsRadio
- Good vs. Evil
- Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
- Buffalo Bill
- Frasier
- Home Movies
- The Critic
- The Boondocks
- Andy Richter Controls the Universe
- Andy Barker, P.I.
- That 70’s Show
- Malcolm in the Middle
- Freaks and Geeks
- The Simpsons
- Family Guy
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- American Dad!
- South Park
- Ren and Stimpy
- Futurama
- The Daily Show
- The Colbert Report
- Politically Incorrect
- Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
- Inside the Actor’s Studio
- Dinner for Five
- Clone High
- Better Off Ted
- 10 Items or Less
- The Shield
- Battlestar Galactica
- 24
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Lost
- The Sopranos
- Six Feet Under
- Arrested Development
- Sit Down, Shut Up
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- United States of Tara
- Pushing Daisies
- Dead Like Me
- Archer
- Misfits
- Spaced
- The IT Crowd
- Running Wilde
- The Office (UK and US)
- 30 Rock
- Dexter
- Eureka
- Parks and Recreation
- Bob’s Burgers
- Community
- Fringe
- Psych
- Workaholics
- Unsupervised
- Big Bang Theory
- The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
- Awkward
- Bored to Death
- Chuck
- Portlandia
- The Good Guys
- Todd and the Book of Pure Evil
- Alphas
- Louie
- Reaper
- The Loop
- Breaking In
- Galavant
In case you’re wondering, my favorite show of all time is probably Arrested Development. In fact, here’s an impromptu top 5:
- Arrested Development
- Breaking Bad
- Psych
- Moonlighting
- Soap
Game Shows
Most of these were part of my regular rotation when I was a kid and into my teens (and early twenties for a few of the MTV game shows). The Amazing Race is really the only “game show” I watch these days. (It’s also the only reality show I watch regularly.)
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- Match Game
- Hollywood Squares
- Jeopardy!
- Wheel of Fortune
- 25,000 Pyramid
- Joker’s Wild
- Press Your Luck
- Card Sharks
- The Newlywed Game
- Family Feud
- Battle of the Network Stars
- Love Connection
- Remote Control
- Win Ben Stein’s Money
- Make Me Laugh
- The Amazing Race