What are your favorite TV shows past or present? You know the ones. The one you would rather watch in re-runs then the new shows they compete against.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

Answers

M*A*S*H usually does it for me. When that was being made, American TV show producers hadn't yet forgotten that good writing and interesting characters are useful ingredients in making a show worthwhile.

Tonight We Sleep In Separate Ditches

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

Columbo. Absolutely my favorite TV show ever made.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

Monty Python's Flying Circus. The Avengers, as long as its with Mrs. Peel. X-Files, much of the time. The Prisoner.--Al of NOVA NOTES.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

"Star Trek" (all shows except Voyager). "Buffy". "Beauty and the Beast". "Babylon 5". Dr. Who (I can pretty much _always_ watch Dr. Who. There are so many episodes that I haven't even come close to seeing them all.) PBS' "Mystery" -- in particular the "Miss Marple" ones."Cupid" (oh why oh why did they cancel this show? One of few sitcoms I've enjoyed.). "Red Dwarf". "Sliders". "Farscape". "Total Recall:2070" (yet another favorite that got canceled leaving us at a cliff-hanger). And hearkening back to my distant past: three animated shows: "Capitaine Flam" (Captain Future) and "Ulysses 31" and "Candy Candy" all Anime, but viewed in French in Europe when I was a kid. Oh yeah and "G-Force" another Anime -- watched it religiously here in the states when I was very young and again in Europe under an entirely different name.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

Oh yeah and duh -- I'm a complete FoodTV junkie. On weekends, if I have nothing better to do, I have been known to veg out watching the whole line up of shows from 1pm onward.

Favorites on FoodTV: Emeril Live, East Meets West, Molto Mario, Good Eats and Two Fat Ladies.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

Star Trek (although I can't watch most Classic Trek shows). WKRP (I once had a girlfriend who I was trying to figure out how to break up with dump me because I cut a phone call short to go watch a rerun of WKRP). MASH. Alien Nation. The Highlander. The Adventures of the Gummi Bears. SCTV.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

The Simpsons, even though I have seen every old episode about 800 times, and Quantum Leap, which I didn't get into until after it was cancelled. And M*A*S*H, too.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

M*A*S*H, definitely. E.R., Seinfeld, Frasier, Cheers, Simpsons, Moonlighting, too.

And I loved Cupid too and it's was stupid of them to cancel it. I'm also currently hooked on 'Once and Again'.

Current faves are : NYPD Blue, Law and Order, Once and Again, and The Practice. I'm still watching Ally and E.R but they're making me mad lately. I love cop and lawyer shows, mostly. Used to really like Homocide too, and I'm looking forward to the Homocide movie on Sunday here.

Colleen

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES,

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

M*A*S*H, Quincy, Emergency!, LA Law, Night Court, Chef, As Time Goes By, and Red Dwarf. If there was one station that just showed those, I'd probably never leave my house.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

I have only a very few programs that I enjoyed for more than a season or two. I will still turn to Rockford Files or M*A*S*H if I'm stuck in a hotel room with nothing to do. Other than that, not much. I've had my fling with Max Headroom, Seinfeld, That Seventies Show, even briefly Ally McBeal (which has become awful, I agree). But I always stop watching when I get to the point of being able to predict the whole show's flow before the first commercial break. The beauty of M*A*S*H is that its characters changed -- they died unexpectedly, fell out of love, or grew into new relationships over time. It really was a creative show.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

I don't watch much TV anymore, but try to catch Frasier once in a while, and King of the Hill... but I only do catch them maybe once a month.

Really old shows I love but never see anymore - I Love Lucy, Dobie Gillis, Our Miss Brooks, Dick Van Dyke.

Not quite that old - Northern Exposure.

Can't stand Ally McBeal *or* Once and Again. Ick. Sela Ward is gorgeous and waaaay sexier than any 20-something twit could ever be, but the show is so lame, and I'd hoped it would be a good one.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

As a child it was George of the Jungle, G-Force (I thought no one else remembered it!) Star Trek, and a strange little cartoon where some kids fell into a giant magicians hat and wound up in Hatville. I don't remember it's name anymore. And the Incredible Hulk. As an adult it's Buffy, Angel, X-files, Monty Python, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

One word: Britcom. The only kind of TV where I don't need to keep a book on my lap just in case it starts to suck.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

Buffy, WKRP, Law and Order. In my youth I used to love Lost in Space (I hate to admit how many years ago THAT was).

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2000

Kat -- It's Lidsville, a Sid & Marty Croft production. The same folks who brought us H.R. Pufnstuff and Sigmund & the Sea Monsters. I even remember part of the lyrics to the theme song:

Lidsville is the Koo-Koo-Kookiest, Lidsville is the Ki-Ki-Kickiest, Lidsville is the Groo-Groo-Grooviest Lidsville is the living end, friend If you have a chance to go-go there You'll be glad you did, 'cause Everybody who goes to Lidsville really flips his lid

Now I must retreat and consider scary it is that I remember that.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2000

I always will stop and watch M*A*S*H unless it's one that I've already seen 100 times :) Other than that, I'm currently addicted to the Millionaire show. We watch Ally, and it still makes me laugh, but the plots have gotten more and more outrageous. Still watch the X-Files. Sometimes Star Trek: Voyager, depending on my mood. VH1 Behind the Music - usually doesn't matter who they are talking about, it's all interesting. Same goes for their Where are They Now? series.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2000

I'm sincerely curious: what do you like about the millionaire show? I find it very tedious to watch because it's so slowly paced, and the questions aren't very hard. Give me Jeopardy any day.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2000

I agree with Lizzie about Millionaire. Does nothing for me.

All time favorites? That's tough. Buffy is actually the first can't-miss-it show of my life. I was pretty into The X- Files a few seasons ago, but I didn't mind missing it once in a while. Also on the all-time list would be The Simpsons, early era L.A. Law, Animaniacs, and the first two season of E.R..

When I was a kid: Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, and The Brady Bunch.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2000

Millionaire I have only watched a couple of times. I like it and a couple of the other modern sitcoms because of that same slow pacing you folks are talking about. It allows for a natural build of suspense that I like a lot.

But it is in no way a favorite show of mine. The ones I would drop things to watch if I ever had the opportunity: Night Court, The Muppet Show, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Freakazoid! and NewsRadio. NewsRadio is the only one that runs on network TV around here right now, and that only at 2:00 A.M. Though I noticed yesterday that A&E is running Night Court now. I must go somewhere where there is cable.

And I didn't mention the Simpsons simply because it seemed like a given.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2000

1. SCTV 2. Seinfeld 3. WKRP I am currently addicted to reruns of The Parenthood and The Cosby Show... I really hope spring comes soon!

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2000

1. Cheers 2. Frasier 3. M*A*S*H 4. Moonlighting 5. Taxi

When I was a teen I used to stay up every night to watch "Mary Hartman" which I thought was brilliant, but I saw some of it again a few years ago and it was like watching grass grow!

My current guilty pleasure is "Blind Date"--fascinating to see what others feel is appropriate date behavior, and in front of a camera no less.

Love Britcoms! I own all the "Fawlty Towers" on videotape. My other favorite: "Are You Being Served?" about the workers in a London department store. Delicious.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2000

Well, just copy Vic's list for me...

Let's see.. past favorite shows have been: Northern Exposure, Dark Shadows (the recent one), Whose Line is is Anyway (UK version), Darkwing Duck, Animaniacs, Freakazoid!, Red Dwarf, Twin Peaks, Newsradio, South Park, Cheers, Night Court, Mystery! (the Campion episodes), and the Tick. Also several other British things I'd love to see more of (This is David Lander, The Piglet Files, Alexei Sayle's Stuff).

Currently, the only shows I make a serious point of watching are Buffy, Angel, Good Eats, and Malcolm in the Middle. Readily available reruns of the Simpsons have made watching new episodes less important, Futurama has a lousy timeslot, and most of the current shows either haven't grabbed me or have already lost my loyalty.

Now I just need to figure out whether to stay up for Newsradio at 2am, or get up early for Night Court at 6....

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2000

Yeah, M*A*S*H is a classic, of course, but personally I like All in the Family better from that same era. And Monty Python has risen above everything else, of course. Nobody can even get close to that. Recent comedy I adore: Sex & the City, the perfect antidote for anyone who's disappointed with Ally. Good enough to tape, in my book. Other than that, I'm a passionate Trekkie (all series, including New Frontier, which is strictly a novelized series). The strange thing is that other SF series like Babylon 5, X-Files and the like don't do a thing for me.

Ooops, I almost forgot the most hilarious comedy series of all time: Charlie's Angels! The outfits! The hairdos! The dialogue! I can never get enough of that..... Some goes for the old Love Boat. Just cracks me up every single time.

-- Anonymous, February 16, 2000

Night Court is the Best! My favorite current shows are Buffy, Dawson's Creek, and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but Night Court is still the best!

http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/nightcourtclub

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2001