Recently, I have been re-watching the TV series The Incredible Hulk, which ran from 1977 to 1982. Having originally watched the series as a kid (yes, I’m that old), I was amazed at how they made the series work. By having it more grounded than the comic series, and using good acting and stories to make it appealing for adults as well as kids.
This got me to thinking, what other TV shows that have come out in the 80s, 90s and 2000s does everyone else think stand out as being watchable today, even with newer filming techniques, special effects and distribution models?
I guess I could throw out ST:TNG and ST:DS9 as being the easy ones there.
I’d personally think that Babylon 5 is also one of those TV shows that are still watchable today. The early 3d visuals are a bit off putting, but the themes and plot lines are as relevant today as they were when it aired in the early 90s. It even escapes the episodic issues that TNG has by having a story arch that’s 5 years long more closely matching modern TV story telling than what was popular in the 90s.
I think it’s also a little bit easier for SciFi to be a bit more “eternal” than other genres like sitcoms, and crime dramas because of how disconnected from the “now” they are.
I’ll have to take some time to think about some non scifi shows from back then.
I’m not typically a big fan of sitcoms but a couple that I enjoyed was Better Off Ted and Greg the Bunny. I went back and watched a few episodes from both and I still found them pretty funny.
Every time I see an old sitcom, even ones I liked a lot like Seinfeld, the laugh track makes it nearly or completely intolerable. Now that I’ve stopped watching TV for so many years, my entire frame of reference has changed. Don’t know if I can enjoy a sitcom of any kind ever again.
No, but I’ve seen enough memes, clips, and other things to know that it would probably make me angry if I did watch either the original or US versions.
With a new mini-series coming out in July (Justified City Primeval), I would recommend watching at least the first three seasons of the original Justified series. Damn good writing, and the chemistry between Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) as protagonist and antagonist is magic.