Chief, Roy won’t let me drive again! And I’m late for a date with Dixie McCall!
Okay team, I’m closing in on an unheard of twelve-hour work day (sorry all you nurses and other medical types out there, I know that is your average day!), so I am going to unglue myself from my desk and go home to my family. Which means I’m tempted to put Hank and Willie in reruns tonight—one of these NaBlaPoMo days I will post some favorite early posts here, since only my sister (Hi, Kate!) and a few others were reading this way back then.
But speaking of reruns, and I believe we were, we’re about to see a lot of them with this writer’s strike in Hollywood. Which begs the question, which five TV shows would YOU bring back into reruns if you could run the network schedule next week? And just so we’re clear on the rules, this can’t be a show you see in reruns all the time anyway, like MASH, Friends and Seinfeld.
For me it would be:
Moonlighting Loved this show. Loved it. Definitely considered naming my children Addison and/or Maddie. (Didn’t know that, did you dear husband!)
Square Pegs (starring Sarah Jessica Parker, of course)
The EARLY days of ER, like Love’s Labor Lost (little known fact, this episode featured The West Wing’s Josh Lyman as the grieving father), NOT the episodes since it has jumped the shark, like when Dr. Greene died or when the helicopter landed on Romano or when we started broadcasting from Iraq and Africa. And my god, when are we going to put Abby out of her misery?
But here’s a little secret about ER. My husband and I met in 1994, the fall that ER started. My house mates and I (Hi, Anne and Mike!) and often my future husband would watch ER together, and we have watched it ever since. So even though NO ONE else besides Elizabeth watches, we have to stick it out to the bitter end, because together we will outlast it.
Miami Vice (WHY is this not in reruns?)
and…Emergency! the show that made paramedic a household word. And which must have been in reruns when I saw it, given that it began airing in 1972.
How about you? What five shows would you dig out of the vault and air this week? Networks, take note!
Tags: 70s, 80s, Hollywood writers strike, reruns, TV shows
Hank & Willie 
November 7, 2007 at 9:35 pm |
I have seen every episode of ER – and I still watch, every week. I’m dorky like that.
I’m a total TV junkie, so I will have to think about the 5 shows that I would bring back…
November 7, 2007 at 10:16 pm |
Miami Vice is perhaps the finest break-out drama show ever. It PAVED the WAY for all those to come. I agree with your other top choices-Emergency, ER, Moonlighting. Wasn’t a big “square Pegs” fan…So to add to the greatness of your list….
As long as you’re watching Emergency!, you need to air it back to back with
1. “Adam 12”.
2. Next in line should be CHIPS in the “first responder” genre.
3. Barney Miller- can you tell by now that my older brother kind of controlled the channels?
4. The Waltons-I was strangely intrigued by John-Boy and his facial mole.
5. Murder, She Wrote. Angela was so smug yet likable.
My husband is yelling ” McHale’s Navy” and “Fantasty Island” ” Bj and the Bear”, “HardCastle and McCormick” and “Quantum Leap” from across the room.
November 7, 2007 at 10:57 pm |
oooh a tv post! yay! so most of my favorites are from the 90s rather than 70s or 80s…
1. The Facts of Life. I really wanted to go to boarding school so I could be cool like Jo or rich like Blair.
2. Ellen (first season title “These Friends of Mine”). I have always loved Ellen and the early years of her sitcom in the mid=90s were great. My brother and I used to tape them and watch them over and over all week until the next episode came on.
3. Out Of This World – come on, you all wished you could stop time like Evie!
4. POPULAR — this show was so awesome but sadly got cancelled leaving a cliffhanger. it was the first show by the creator of Nip/Tuck and was a little too smart/weird/gay for the WB teen audience. here i go again with the high school dramas. rent this on DVD if you haven’t seen it. the first few episodes are a little slow, but power through, the end of the first season and beginning of the second are so campy and hilarious.
5. are we at 5 already ? do i have to pick only 5? this one is a tie between Twin Peaks and Picket Fences. i love shows about quirky little towns full of bizarre characters. I remember they were both on Friday or Saturday nights and I would always watch them while babysitting. I would get so scared while watching Twin Peaks alone in strange houses, but I loved it anyway. I heart Dale Cooper.
November 7, 2007 at 10:58 pm |
it is late and i can’t think of 5, but Quincy would be on the list. fantasy island perhaps….i also liked the love boat. gopher was so cute wasn’t he? how about a little solid gold. i always dreamed of being a solid gold dancer. haven’t given up on that one yet, i practice with the wiggles every day!
November 8, 2007 at 12:37 am |
Okay, this is my first response, without thinking too much. I’m sure I’ll think of others, but for now:
1. SPORTS NIGHT – Without a doubt, the first show I’d bring back. It’s an Aaron Sorkin gem starring Felicity Huffman (who went on to star in Desperate Housewives) and Peter Krause (who went on to star in Six Feet Under).
2. SMALL WONDER – It’s about a good-hearted-yet-bumbling computer engineer named Ted and the incredibly lifelike robot that he creates and names Vickie, then tries to pass off as his daughter.
3. 3-2-1 CONTACT – Most everything I remember from my science education, I learned on this show. Anyone remember the Bloodhound Gang?
4. I am torn between HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE and THUNDERCATS. I’m not sure I can give both positions 4 & 5 to cartoons, so I guess I have to pick one. Ummm… Okay, I’ll go with HE-MAN, but only because I wanted to own a Battlecat and be strong like Teela.
5. I give the last vote to my husband, who chooses HOGAN’S HEROES. “It was just fun to watch,” he says when I ask why he likes it. “But it’s about World War I,” I reply. “Yeah, but… it was in a war prison.” I don’t get why that makes it better, or fun, but he continues, “It was true ensemble acting. The stories and action revolved around the dynamics between the main characters.” Now that I can understand.
November 8, 2007 at 2:16 am |
1 I vote for Hogan’s Heroes too, except I have all the DVDs released by TimeLife so don’t need to see the reruns. (oh and it was Word War II…Stalag 13…there has never been a successful escape etc etc etc) we love it.
2 Get Smart!!! ‘Good thinking 99’…’would you believe a bunch of boyscouts with water pistols?’
3 Lost In Space: Warning, Warning, Danger Will Robinson…
4 Roswell!!!!! (except I have the DVDs of all 3 seasons of that too…)
5 The Golden Girls: Rose cracked me up!!!!!
November 8, 2007 at 5:31 am |
These shows I watch when I shamefully leave my darling students in the hands of a sub are:
1. Little House on the Prarie
2. Beverly Hills 90210
I know they are on, but these aren’t and they should be:
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. Savannah ( Southern Melrose which never really took off)
5. V (come on Anna, you remember V)
November 8, 2007 at 7:29 am |
Oh, I SO remember watching V with you! I would pay to see that in reruns!
November 8, 2007 at 8:18 am |
Only five?
!. Wonder Woman (my 5 yr old idol!)
2. Kidd Video (who agrees that Kidd was HOT!)
3. Bosum Buddies (deep thoughts for a 7 yr old)
4. You Can’t Do That on Television (my preteen idols!!!)
5. 3-2-1 Contact (did this inspire my future career? perhaps!)
November 8, 2007 at 8:38 am |
While we are on this topic, will someone please put me out of my misery! I have been racking my brain for the past week trying to figure out the name of this 1970’s early morning weekend show. I believe it was on Sunday morning after Underdog but before Davey and Goliath. It was with real people, I think there was a train involved, maybe some stories?, I want to say it was called “Morningtown” or “Morningtrain” or something like that. Sound familiar??? Please help!
November 8, 2007 at 9:40 am |
Not sure I would really watch these now, but are the first ones that come to mind. I only had ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS growing up and had to get up off the couch to change the channel…
1- M.A.S.H
2- Eight is Enough
3- Speed Buggy (Sat a.m. cartoons). Way before the days of 24/7 cartoon networks.
4- Sunday night, Disney
5- Magnum PI
November 8, 2007 at 9:59 am |
First – must give you props on the ER. I’ve watched every episode up until this season because, frankly, it’s awful now.
Digging up old faves:
*90210 – I can never get enough of that show
*Wonderfalls – A show that was cut way before it’s time
*Out of This World (stealing that from sdh)
*The Cosby Show – love, love, love it
*Mr. Belvedere
November 8, 2007 at 10:02 am |
Oooh hard!
1. My So-Called Life
2. Out of This World (the girl had magic powers and could stop time!)
3. The Facts of Life
4. Clarissa Explains it All
5. Temptation Island. (So bad, it was fantastic.)
November 8, 2007 at 10:13 am |
Okay, I have to ditto your Moonlighting and Miami Vice! (So, I’m counting those together as one show in my list of five…)
In no particular order, I’d also want to see: Knight Rider, The A-Team, Ally McBeal, and then Thirtysomething. (Especially Thirtysomething, since I’m, well, 30-something now, and I know there’s a lot I would be able to relate to in that show now…)
November 8, 2007 at 10:33 am |
Dude, seriously. Why ISN’T Miami Vice on? No comprendo.
I’d definitely dig some 90210 as well. Maybe a little Models Inc. while we’re at it.
November 8, 2007 at 11:01 am |
Party of Five, Ally McBeal, I agree wholeheartedly with Moonlighting, Mork and Mindy, and old seasons of Survivor or Big Brother.
It would be so cool if they actually did do this!!!
November 8, 2007 at 11:11 am |
THUNDER THUNDER THUNDER THUNDERCATS!
Doogie Howser, Wonder Years, etc. We don’t get that in reruns where I live. :,
November 8, 2007 at 11:33 am |
Ally McBeal (i bought bootleg DVDs from China of the complete series, that’s how much I loved the show), a one-season show called Cupid with Jeremy Piven and Paula someone or other whose face you’d totally recognize. Cupid was AWESOME
Also Deadwood because it was a great show *and* they had some incredibly creative cursing.
November 8, 2007 at 12:44 pm |
Sarah, I loved Cupid. Watched every episode, knowing it was too good to last. Does anyone else remember the new Fantasy Island that ran right after it? It was excellent, too.
Amy, Arizaphale, I just have to share this — I know a Solid Gold dancer. Who did nine episodes of The Golden Girls. And he was in Xanadu. He perfoms sometimes at my friend Thessaly “The UkaLady” Lerner’s Pony Show in Hollywood. (If anyone’s out in LA, it’s every Wednesday night, it’s cheap, and it’s a lot of fun.)
November 8, 2007 at 12:59 pm |
Rampart, this is squad 51.
Go ahead 51.
We’ve got a white male, 55, stricken. Poor respiratory, rapid heartbeat.
Start an IV D5W with ringers lactate and transport. Stat.
Then there’s this one.
Engine 51, Squad 51. Structure fire. All engines reporting.
Station 51, KMG-365.
I love it.
November 8, 2007 at 1:08 pm |
1. Shameless plug for a show I wrote for: CUPID. Aired in a time when Jeremy Piven was only known as “that guy in all the John Cusak films” instead of Ari Gold, super dick. With my wife joining the picket lines, we could really use the residuals!
And to round out my five:
2. Freaks and Geeks
3. The Muppet Show
4. early Sesame Street (when Grover was Super and Elmo was non-existent)
5. L.A. Law. I had a bizarre fascination with this show in my preteen years, and I’d love to go back and see what the hell that was all about.
November 8, 2007 at 1:19 pm |
Hey, Sarah beat me to the punch on Cupid! Who knew: there ARE still people out there who watched the show (other than my friends and family…)
November 8, 2007 at 2:07 pm |
Ooh – what a delicious topic! So many good choices. Hmmmm
M.A.S.H.
X-Files (only the first couple of seasons, when it was the good, freaky incest loving pig farmers, Tony Shaloub guest-starring, not “is Muldur an alien?” episodes)
Ed
The Monkees – yup, I said it. Whaddya’ gonna do about it?
Gilmore Girls – I miss it already!
November 8, 2007 at 3:43 pm |
ooooh! Fun topic! Miami Vice used to be on F/X in reruns, years ago, though.
Here are mine…
1. Gilmore Girls
2. Veronica Mars (I can’t believe they cancelled this show.)
3. Beverly Hills 90210
4. Sopranos
5. Deadwood
As for ER, those first 2, maybe 3 seasons were so terrific. It really blows now.
November 8, 2007 at 4:16 pm |
Loved this post…. bought back some fun rerun memories.
November 8, 2007 at 6:58 pm |
Man…I loved me some Miami Vice. For sure…that would be on the list. Even though you said no Seinfeld…that is my all-time favorite show. I would do (almost!) anything for some new episodes of that one.
Would also second Wonder Years and 30Something.
Very fun, post!
November 8, 2007 at 8:24 pm |
And I was going to say, hey, Sarah, I KNOW the guy who wrote for Cupid–glad you are out there reading, Mike! I’ll throw one more vote in for those residuals. 🙂
November 9, 2007 at 8:43 am |
Randolph Mantooth… le*sigh.
I saw him in Santa Barbara once about six or seven years ago, and felt like the world’s most giant dork practically following the poor man, but how could I not? I mean, really. It was Johnny Gage! And let me tell you, he has stood the test of time.
November 9, 2007 at 9:33 pm |
I had a great comment….it never showed up?
November 10, 2008 at 9:02 pm |
[…] Before you fill my comment mailbox telling me this isn’t EXACTLY new, I KNOW you can download shows from iTunes or stream them on network sites and YouTube. But this is different. Clearly someone was listening last year when I wrote about our favorite reruns during last November’s writer’s strike. […]