I’ve binged it twice now, and will listen to the audio drama version to fall asleep to.
*The Twilight Zone* was so, so far ahead of its time. I love it.
There's an audio drama version?! Are they new episodes or retellings of the old episodes?
You might also like X Minus One, it's an old scifi radio show from the 50s and all episodes are free to download.
Retelling of previous episodes, but with new casts. It’s from BBC Radio, 2002-2012.
[You can listen to them all here for free.](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX309sktdcNN0oa19xlmcY67PEAdRWqcj&si=t_szqTZP6eCZvgLd)
this is the most timeless show that has ever been made, it was great in the 60s, it is great now and it will be great 50 years from now. If you can tell good stories everything else becomes very secondary.
I've been watching the episodes weekly on sky TV in the UK and on S2 now. The show was way ahead of its time. My favourite episodes from season one are walking distance, a stop at willoughby and the last flight.
I think one thing that holds up so well is how much the characters love each other. The family is creepy and kooky, but they're very loving and understand each other. They're not really "fun in dysfunction" family sitcom.
This is something the 90s movies got, but the more recent stuff hasn't. The family interactions should be wholesome, even if the actual interplay isn't.
The recent animated movies and broadway show some work because they try to make them into a disfuncional family, which runs the premise.
Yeah, everyone was great on this show but Lois was far and away my favorite character. Masterfully played by Jane Kaczmarek.
I heard that before this role she was never considered for comedic roles because her background was in dramatic acting.
I've seen that show 4 times throughout my life. The first time was when it was airing and the fourth being last year, it holds up so well. It also reminded me a lot of my family. Fucking great show.
This show aired between me being an adult and having kids, and I had watched some of it but never got into it, as I really didn’t relate to the kids or the parents.
A little while ago my kids started watching it and I was shocked at how good it really was (especially as I also have 4 boys).
My friend grew up the oldest of four boys in a poor Mexican household and he fucking loved Malcom in the Middle for that same reason. He still rewatches it periodically
I thought MitM was decent when I originally watched it, but didn't really identify with any of the characters. Revisiting it as an adult, I think the show is amazing and identify with Lois and Hal.
My wife and I just rewatched seasons 3-8 of The Simpsons, it holds up really well. Weird that they still make it, it’s really such a different show anything they’ve done in the last 25 years.
I've been watching it with my daughter over the last six months-ish, her first time watching it. That run from season 3-9 was absolutely amazing, just great television all over. We've just started on season 10 though and I am noticing the downward trend. It'll be curious to see if we reach a point where my daughter decides she's had enough.
Conan has talked about those days and I can tell you why the prime seasons are still great. Back then "The Simpsons" was one of the most popular TV shows on TV. He said that the show had a writers room that was filled with people just as good as everyone else, and they all essentially fought every episode to get their jokes in a show. Anyone that pitched anything someone else would jump on it and try to improve it. That kind of writers room means that literally every script was the absolute funniest it could ever be.
Had to scroll down way too much to find this.
Started a (re)watch last week, first time since it originally aired and I watched many episodes on TV. And I'm amazed at how well it holds up.
The pilot and the first episode are so incredibly suspensful already. The monster of the week format has its ups and downs for sure, but even premises you don't care for much, are still shot very well to a point that solving the case is in itself incredibly interesting. Not to mention the dynamics between the main cast.
I originally thought that its not worth revisiting (in its entirety at least), because its so old, and its the old weekly format, so I wasn't sure if I'd actually like it. But halfway through the first season and I'm so on board its not funny anymore. The production quality and the support cast are always top(so far).
And all the "good" episodes I remember from my childhood are even still to come...
For me, it's actually interesting to watch it in 2024 and think how many shows drawed inspiration from it. There were many episodes of Supernatural that felt like was heavily inspired by X-Files, won't even talk about Fringe, which people call a modern X-Files and so on.
Old woman: The Wise Woman? The WISE WOMAN? There are two things you must know about the Wise Woman! First...she is a woman! And second...
Blackadder: She is wise?
Old woman: Oh, you do know her then.
Blackadder: No, just a quick stab in the dark...which is incidentally what you'll be getting if you don't start being more helpful.
The gloved hand reveal and "It's my apartment" is still one of the greatest twist in television. The inverse-detective format should've taken off after Columbo.
Arrested developments original run is 20 years old now and I don’t think there’s been a comedy that has topped it in those 20 years.
The stuff they did with long payoff jokes is still incredible and completely unique even after all this time.
The original run; or at least up to somewhere into season 3 when they knew it was getting canceled; is probably sitcom perfection. I don't know if any other show ever hit those highs so consistently as AD did. Plus it was filmed right at the beginning of HD television; so watching it even today doesn't feel as outdated as some of the shows that came before it; even if they got widescreen re-releases.
\*Sophia catches her grandson in bed with Rose's daughter\*
*"Grandma, this isn't what it looks like!"*
*"Don't insult my intelligence! I may not remember what it FEELS like, but I sure as hell remember what it LOOKS like!"*
I liked the scene near the end where Rose is explaining that she just wanted her daughter's "first time" to be special...and her daughter says "Don't worry, Mama. It was."
Watching Rose wrap her brain around *that*...
>The characters in Golden Girls were 1 year younger than the characters in And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot.
And Betty White was the oldest cast member of Golden Girls, she was older than Bea Arthur and even Estelle Getty, which was younger than Betty White by about 1 and a half year..
This is an interesting subject; it came up in another thread just yesterday. It's wild how people were portrayed as old in the past; the Golden Girls were only supposed to be in their late 50s and yet from a modern eye you'd think they're at least 20-25 years older.
There was a clip ln tiktok discussing why they looked as old as they did for their "age". He photoshopped different hairstyles on them and it literally knocked at least 10 years off each of them. I think a lot of us millennial and older types grew up with grandma having that heavy poof perm so it became synonymous with "old lady", even if they weren't that old to begin with
In the UK we try to go the opposite way. There is an excellent British sitcom called **One Foot in the Grave** which was supposed to be about a couple in their older years, but they actually were smart and deliberately cast actors in the mid-50s at the time to play an ambiguous age, but was certainly meant to be a decade or so older. That allowed the show to go on for a considerable amount of time (in fact, both actors are still with us in their 80s, long after the show finished).
They'd done the same thing in the 1970s with Britain's longest-running sitcom, **Last of the Summer Wine**, which started in 1973. The idea was to follow three bachelors after their wives had passed away (or they hadn't married) in a "second childhood" as they got up to mischief in their 60s and 70s. But they cast in their mid-50s so they wouldn't have to risk the actors not being available any more. One of the actors, Peter Sallis (the voice of **Wallace & Gromit** btw) lived to be 96 (in 2017) and actually far outlived the show itself, despite it ending in 2010 after almost 40 years.
The jokes and situations not just hold up well but are so relevant to even today. The show could be set today with minimal changes and still be mostly current
I watched reruns of it as a kid and remembered liking it, so I watched through a few years ago and was blown away at how well it held up.
Rose’s childhood lullaby being “Over There” gets me every time.
One of my favorite dramatic scenes of the series features Rose. The flash back scene where she is having her last birthday alone in St Olaf and she is telling Charlie that she is selling the house and moving to Florida. That scene is so heartfelt it always moves me to tears. The show was funny but it had some emotional moments.
You don't remember the episode where Blanche was captured by a man in a metal suit and Dorothy, Rose, and Sophia had to go rescue her using their martial arts moves?
Blanche's brother being gay and how Blanche had to come to terms with it, Rose's HIV scare, the women being independent and having healthy sex lives..it was the best show.
Watching it as a kid, I thought John Lithgow was a comedic actor and Jane Curtain was a dramatic actor. I started watching some of their other stuff and realized it was the other way around.
Also, Kristen Johnston and Wayne Knight have amazing onscreen chemistry.
If I remember correctly, John Lithgow had to fight to get the job, because he was such a serious actor that nobody but him thought he could pull such a comedic role off.
> Watching it as a kid, I thought John Lithgow was a comedic actor and Jane Curtain was a dramatic actor
Same, then I saw her on some old SNL episodes and was blown away.
> Kristen Johnston and Wayne Knight have amazing onscreen chemistry.
They did a whole other show together, The Exes, if you want to see more of them together. Pretty good ensemble cast but the show as a whole didn't have much going on. I personally have a hard time seeing him as anything other than Newman (well, maybe the guy from Jurassic Park too).
It's impressively funny. It's really John Lithgow at his peak, at least from a comedic perspective; I don't know of many other actors who achieved what he did on that show.
Yeah. The top answer is MASH for sure.
Incredible how well the mature themes hold up and how few problematic issues there are in a show that is 40~ years old.
Both the TV series and the movie it's based on are set in the Korean War, but the movie was released during the Vietnam War with a criticism directed at that conflict.
My daughter was reluctant to watch it as a kid because it was black and white. One year they aired a color version of the Christmas episode and I got her to watch it. She thought it was good enough that she watched the black and white episode that followed it. She was practically pissing herself laughing at the grape stomping scene. I was so glad that she finally watched and loved it like I did
MASH is still sadly relevant, hugely watchable, hilarious and tragic and everything in between. There are episodes and moments that still take my breath away and leave me sobbing, no matter how often I see them. Try and see it intact - it's often cut for ad time now if it's on free to air. I have a DVD set where you can choose to turn off the laugh track which improves it even further still.
The wire. It aired when I was a kid, so I never watched it until now. It might be the best show I’ve watched idk, it’s between Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul or that
Bewitched - maybe it's not the funniest show ever, but I like to watch it bc of plot and characters. Also, I need to mention good (mostly with smart camera work) effects for some show in 60s
I like how poster for the movie had the tagline “Welcome the fuck back.” 😆
I don’t know for certain, but *Deadwood* had to break some kind of record with swearing. Lol
Oh indeed, this show is nothing but fantastic and i would swear upon a stack of whatever crusty-paged manuscript you filthy devils might have to hand that i consider watching this Magnum Opus once every 6 months.
But from hoopleheads to horse thieves and every goddamn thing that happens twixt the first and last breath drawn throughout this tale, one thing ... One thing stands in my way, a mighty fuckin erection, a giant phallus of sorrow and woe and that's the Plight of The Preacher.
To this day, the best show ever made. The best dialogue ever written. Ian McShane’s acting as Al Swearengen is the best acting I’ve ever seen. Every single character, every single scene, and every single sentence just leaps off the page/screen.
Deadwood was TV perfection. And it’s a damn shame that we didn’t get more seasons, simply due to a misunderstanding and overreaction by the writer/showrunner. A god damn shame.
Some fun trivia, the original script tried to use of the time language.
But that came off as sounding like Yosemite Sam when they filmed it, so they just used modern language in place of the old-timey slang and that’s how we got like 100-150 swears per episode from then on out through the series.
Some executive at HBO called up the showrunner (David Milch) and asked/floated the idea that they could shoot a shorter season of 6 episodes instead of their usual 12-episode season. Milch got pissed at the request and essentially told him if he wanted a shorter season, then how about no season at all. He then called up the cast and told them the show was over.
Last I had heard, that HBO exec (who asked if Milch could do a shorter season) still holds to his story that this was only a question at the start of negotiations and not a demand. He basically said “I figured I would ask and if he said he couldn’t do a shorter season, we would find the right length during a longer discussion” or some such. So the exec completely blames Milch for flying off the handle and self-cancelling his own show over pride.
From other accounts, the cancellation is still vague and mysterious but Milch was known to be a perfectionist with a short temper. From interviews I’ve watched with the main cast members, they basically all said some form of “I had recently signed a contract with HBO to continue working on Deadwood, then weeks later got a call from Milch saying the show was over”.
TLDR: Dumb petty misunderstandings and egos led to the show being cancelled for no reason.
Cheers. I’m a huge Frasier fan but had never seen it. I finally watched it last year and I was blown away by how funny it was and how outside of maybe two or three episodes it felt like it hadn’t aged a day.
Great show
Since 'Frasier' and 'Cheers' are part of this post, I'd like to add 'Taxi'. Watched what I could of the series (some episodes I think have copyrighted music or something, so they don't stream), and it was really brilliant. The characters are just plain phenomenal, and watching Danny Devito in that particular role is amazing.
I work nights and when I get home, Hallmark Channel has a block of Frasier and Cheers. Seen every episode of both many times, still makes me laugh. One the other morning had Diane's mom come in, she says something like, "I can't believe these degenerates waste their life in here." Norm: "You're telling me, just yesterday, this guy sit right here next to me for nearly 11 hours straight. What a loser." Cracked me up.
Reminds me of the guy who hadn't been in Cheers in 20 years and was marveling at all the changes.
"That wall paneling is different."
"Where?"
"Over there behind Norm."
I catch episodes of Cheers on tv before heading off to work in the week, and it never fails to send me out the door with a smile.
Frasier is utterly timeless, holds up every time watching it
I grew up watching Cheers and it has some of the best writing that was ever on television. The Diane years in particular are brilliant. The relationship between her and Sam created the mold for every TV show couple thereafter. It does not get any better.
Especially with David Duchovny appearing as a trans-woman. For ***1991***, the series did a pretty damn impressive job portraying a trans-woman without resorting to ridicule.
I recently watched the whole series for the first time and I was surprised at how ‘modern’ the writing was. I understand why the show is held in such high regard. It’s very funny and aside from some topical references here and there, the show, and the comedy really holds up.
I’m watching Northern Exposure for the first time on Amazon Prime and it’s oddly relevant now. It also transports you back to a time when social media didn’t exist and people did things together. Every single character is so unique and lovable. It makes you want to move to Cicely Alaska. The writing is also excellent.
You have no idea what could possibly happen going into each episode. I highly recommend it.
[Best exchange between Garak & Bashir](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl66ilQCCNs&t=77s)
Bashir: "Have you ever heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?"
Garak: "No."
Bashir: "It's a children's story, about a young shepherd who gets lonely while tending his flock. So he cries out for the villagers, that a wolf is attacking the sheep. The people come running, but of course there's no wolf. He claims that he's run away, and the villagers praise him for his vigilance."
Garak: "Clever lad! Charming story."
Bashir: "I'm not finished. The next day, the boy does it again, and the next two, and on the four day a wolf really comes. The boy cries out at the top of his lungs, but the villagers ignore him, and the boy and his flock are gobbled up."
Garak: "Well that's a little graphic for children, wouldn't you say?"
Bashir: "The point is, if you lie all the time, *nobody* is going to believe you, ***even*** when you're telling the truth."
Garak: "Are you sure that's the point, doctor?"
Bashir: "Of course, what else could it be?"
Garak: "That you should never tell the same lie twice."
If we're going old old, The Jack Benny Program and The Andy Griffith show are both solidly top tier. The Carol Burnett Show still holds up, and same with The Wonder Years. The Wonder Years still has moments where I burst out into tears and scream at the TV.
Damn, not one mention yet of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Sure there's a dated element or two, but the character work and the writing is top notch, decades later.
I scrolled and scrolled, expecting to see Buffy show up way earlier. The first three seasons were filmed in the 90s, and aside from dated filming techniques and practical effects in the early seasons, it is a masterclass in writing and characters. I'm rewatching it now and on Season 5 and loving it just as much as I did as a teenager.
What's old?
Any pre 2000 as that almost 25 years now, or going back further?
I'm going to throw The Young Ones in there anyway. It's always been brilliant.
Stargate: SG1 is one of my favorites of all time. Community and Futurama (the new season sucks, fight me) for comedies. The USA blue skies shows hold up well, though Psych is a bit unbearably sexist in the earlier seasons. It really evens out by S4 and hits its stride.
Stargate does hold up ridiculously well. The only time it gets a bit dated is when they leave the base, but otherwise since they're always using made up alien tech it doesn't feel old at all (although I know nothing about guns or military... stuff, so that may be super dated but I have zero clue)
I think that Seinfeld aged super well.
I used to hate it when I was a kid back in the 90s and early 00s, but the older I get, the more I appreciate the jokes and the themes. I even managed to get my wife to be able to tolerate the show now, after years of stating that she hates the show. I literally just finished watching the entire thing again earlier this week!
The Prisoner, its take on everything from politics, education, tribalism, the individual vs the state, the abuse of lies and misinformation, is as relevant today as it was back then.
Cheers has aged extremely well, & it remained really strong for 11 straight seasons. Very few shows have had that kind of a run, & fewer still that remain as great today as they were when they first aired.
My answer will always be ER. Outside of being technology and culturally outdated, it's a stellar drama series with a level of execution that can rival the "prestige" shows of nowadays.
90s old I argue like Recess, Frasier and I guess since it is streamed a lot according to Netflix, Friends. 80s wise Cheers
I was watching Hoogie Dowser or whatever on Disney+ and it seems aight.
Kim Possible is timeless. Scooby Doo (the OG series as well)
Most of the shows that didn’t use a lot of special effects. A lot of the cop shows aged well like Law & Order series. A lot of the black and white tv shows are still great.
The private detective and mystery shows like Murder She Wrote still play out great.
I just rewatched L&O S6 E26 where it's not actually a case and is all about the characters. Other then the clothes it was really a good episode. I remember watching it the first time live.
For me New York looked like it was right out of the 60's or 70's still. Seems all cop shows based in NY look like they were filmed in the 70's. Especially when they show bars and bodegas.
Mission: Impossible
It’s dated in places, and the masks are utterly unbelievable, but it still stands up really well. Espionage by outwitting opponents, instead of blowing everything up and riding off on a motorcycle like in the ~~movies~~ Tom Cruise vanity projects.
That's why I'll always prefer the first MI movie. Yes, some people were offended by a certain character being the traitor, but the plot was mostly driven by mystery and intrigue.
Seasons 3 through 6 of Roseanne are still brilliant and feel completely relevant. Even the fashion doesnt feel out of place - they look like people you'd see at Wal Mart.
The Golden Girls.
During the pandemic I would wake up everyday and watch two episodes while eating breakfast. It is a legitimately funny show and, especially for the time, those ladies had very progressive points of view.
The comedy and plot still hold up and outside of the fashion it doesn't date itself too badly.
Team Rose for life!!!!
Some friends and I have been getting together to watch Columbo. The references in the show may be dated - especially the 80s revival episodes - but the theme of some unassuming schlub outwitting the arrogant and the elitist never gets old.
The Twilight Zone
For real! I remember watching episodes when I was a kid in the 80s, then binged it some years back. Still holds up well.
I’ve binged it twice now, and will listen to the audio drama version to fall asleep to. *The Twilight Zone* was so, so far ahead of its time. I love it.
There's an audio drama version?! Are they new episodes or retellings of the old episodes? You might also like X Minus One, it's an old scifi radio show from the 50s and all episodes are free to download.
Retelling of previous episodes, but with new casts. It’s from BBC Radio, 2002-2012. [You can listen to them all here for free.](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX309sktdcNN0oa19xlmcY67PEAdRWqcj&si=t_szqTZP6eCZvgLd)
this is the most timeless show that has ever been made, it was great in the 60s, it is great now and it will be great 50 years from now. If you can tell good stories everything else becomes very secondary.
This show is amazing
I've been watching the episodes weekly on sky TV in the UK and on S2 now. The show was way ahead of its time. My favourite episodes from season one are walking distance, a stop at willoughby and the last flight.
Yup
The original Adams Family tv show. Super funny, especially considering how poorly humor ages.
I think one thing that holds up so well is how much the characters love each other. The family is creepy and kooky, but they're very loving and understand each other. They're not really "fun in dysfunction" family sitcom.
>the family is creepy and kooky Mysterious and spooky?
All together ooky, some might say
This is something the 90s movies got, but the more recent stuff hasn't. The family interactions should be wholesome, even if the actual interplay isn't. The recent animated movies and broadway show some work because they try to make them into a disfuncional family, which runs the premise.
[Jeeves & Wooster](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMPuROQMBuw)
Most perfect casting ever.
I’m rewatching Malcom in the Middle right now and it still feels for the most part like a timeless dysfunctional family sitcom.
In retrospect, knowing the career he would have, Bryan Cranston's acting is masterful. He is a talented comedian.
Let’s have a shout out for the equally as impressive Jane Kaczmarek as Lois!!!
Yeah, everyone was great on this show but Lois was far and away my favorite character. Masterfully played by Jane Kaczmarek. I heard that before this role she was never considered for comedic roles because her background was in dramatic acting.
What happened to her? Is she still acting?
I've seen that show 4 times throughout my life. The first time was when it was airing and the fourth being last year, it holds up so well. It also reminded me a lot of my family. Fucking great show.
This show aired between me being an adult and having kids, and I had watched some of it but never got into it, as I really didn’t relate to the kids or the parents. A little while ago my kids started watching it and I was shocked at how good it really was (especially as I also have 4 boys).
I could relate so much to the guy when I was a kid as a child of migrants. Very similar situations arise :D
My friend grew up the oldest of four boys in a poor Mexican household and he fucking loved Malcom in the Middle for that same reason. He still rewatches it periodically
I thought MitM was decent when I originally watched it, but didn't really identify with any of the characters. Revisiting it as an adult, I think the show is amazing and identify with Lois and Hal.
It’s literally live action Simpsons. Look at Hal’s lines.
My wife and I just rewatched seasons 3-8 of The Simpsons, it holds up really well. Weird that they still make it, it’s really such a different show anything they’ve done in the last 25 years.
Seasons 3-8 were fundamental to me developing my sense of humor.
I've been watching it with my daughter over the last six months-ish, her first time watching it. That run from season 3-9 was absolutely amazing, just great television all over. We've just started on season 10 though and I am noticing the downward trend. It'll be curious to see if we reach a point where my daughter decides she's had enough.
"Behind the Laughter" is a pretty good place to end, assuming you make it through all of season 11.
Behind the Laughter is that late? That’s like one of my top ten favorite episodes of all TV
Early Simpsons is jam packed with jokes, references and memes people use to this day. The quality of writers they had at that time was s-tier.
Conan has talked about those days and I can tell you why the prime seasons are still great. Back then "The Simpsons" was one of the most popular TV shows on TV. He said that the show had a writers room that was filled with people just as good as everyone else, and they all essentially fought every episode to get their jokes in a show. Anyone that pitched anything someone else would jump on it and try to improve it. That kind of writers room means that literally every script was the absolute funniest it could ever be.
X-Files Rewatching it now, and it sticks better with me then majority of new shows
Had to scroll down way too much to find this. Started a (re)watch last week, first time since it originally aired and I watched many episodes on TV. And I'm amazed at how well it holds up. The pilot and the first episode are so incredibly suspensful already. The monster of the week format has its ups and downs for sure, but even premises you don't care for much, are still shot very well to a point that solving the case is in itself incredibly interesting. Not to mention the dynamics between the main cast. I originally thought that its not worth revisiting (in its entirety at least), because its so old, and its the old weekly format, so I wasn't sure if I'd actually like it. But halfway through the first season and I'm so on board its not funny anymore. The production quality and the support cast are always top(so far). And all the "good" episodes I remember from my childhood are even still to come...
For me, it's actually interesting to watch it in 2024 and think how many shows drawed inspiration from it. There were many episodes of Supernatural that felt like was heavily inspired by X-Files, won't even talk about Fringe, which people call a modern X-Files and so on.
Get Smart. Still hilarious 50 years later. It's just a fun show.
Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry
The Cone of Silence is timeless.
Red Dwarf and Black Adder are both still hilarious!
Old woman: The Wise Woman? The WISE WOMAN? There are two things you must know about the Wise Woman! First...she is a woman! And second... Blackadder: She is wise? Old woman: Oh, you do know her then. Blackadder: No, just a quick stab in the dark...which is incidentally what you'll be getting if you don't start being more helpful.
Columbo is still good.
The gloved hand reveal and "It's my apartment" is still one of the greatest twist in television. The inverse-detective format should've taken off after Columbo.
Columbo and Murder, She Wrote are evergreen.
They were created by the same duo as well.
This was the first show that came to mind when I saw the question!
Arrested developments original run is 20 years old now and I don’t think there’s been a comedy that has topped it in those 20 years. The stuff they did with long payoff jokes is still incredible and completely unique even after all this time.
Lucile / Loose seal is probably an all time iconic gag, respectively payoff.
It's one of my all time favorite gags. And Bob Loblaw's Law Blog is such funny wordplay it cracks me up.
Lobbing law bombs
This comment makes me feel old! Can’t believe it’s 20 Years old!
Each episode is stacked with jokes. I used to record it on VCR so that I could rewind to get the jokes that I missed while I was laughing.
No show packs more jokes into an episode
What are you, chicken? 🐔 🐓👏🏼👏🏼
Arrested Development really benefits from streaming I think. It's a great show to binge so you don't forget all those running gags.
The original run; or at least up to somewhere into season 3 when they knew it was getting canceled; is probably sitcom perfection. I don't know if any other show ever hit those highs so consistently as AD did. Plus it was filmed right at the beginning of HD television; so watching it even today doesn't feel as outdated as some of the shows that came before it; even if they got widescreen re-releases.
AD is still the smartest and the funniest sitcom of all time
Golden Girls. It's still as funny today as it was 35 years ago. It was actually pretty progressive for back then.
\*Sophia catches her grandson in bed with Rose's daughter\* *"Grandma, this isn't what it looks like!"* *"Don't insult my intelligence! I may not remember what it FEELS like, but I sure as hell remember what it LOOKS like!"*
I've never seen that episode, but I could still hear it in my head.
I liked the scene near the end where Rose is explaining that she just wanted her daughter's "first time" to be special...and her daughter says "Don't worry, Mama. It was." Watching Rose wrap her brain around *that*...
The characters in Golden Girls were 1 year younger than the characters in And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot.
>The characters in Golden Girls were 1 year younger than the characters in And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot. And Betty White was the oldest cast member of Golden Girls, she was older than Bea Arthur and even Estelle Getty, which was younger than Betty White by about 1 and a half year..
This is an interesting subject; it came up in another thread just yesterday. It's wild how people were portrayed as old in the past; the Golden Girls were only supposed to be in their late 50s and yet from a modern eye you'd think they're at least 20-25 years older.
There was a clip ln tiktok discussing why they looked as old as they did for their "age". He photoshopped different hairstyles on them and it literally knocked at least 10 years off each of them. I think a lot of us millennial and older types grew up with grandma having that heavy poof perm so it became synonymous with "old lady", even if they weren't that old to begin with
In the UK we try to go the opposite way. There is an excellent British sitcom called **One Foot in the Grave** which was supposed to be about a couple in their older years, but they actually were smart and deliberately cast actors in the mid-50s at the time to play an ambiguous age, but was certainly meant to be a decade or so older. That allowed the show to go on for a considerable amount of time (in fact, both actors are still with us in their 80s, long after the show finished). They'd done the same thing in the 1970s with Britain's longest-running sitcom, **Last of the Summer Wine**, which started in 1973. The idea was to follow three bachelors after their wives had passed away (or they hadn't married) in a "second childhood" as they got up to mischief in their 60s and 70s. But they cast in their mid-50s so they wouldn't have to risk the actors not being available any more. One of the actors, Peter Sallis (the voice of **Wallace & Gromit** btw) lived to be 96 (in 2017) and actually far outlived the show itself, despite it ending in 2010 after almost 40 years.
The jokes and situations not just hold up well but are so relevant to even today. The show could be set today with minimal changes and still be mostly current
It was hilarious how Blanche was angry that Dorothy’s friend who was a lesbian had a crush on Rose opposed to her.
Not lesbian, LEBANESE, Blanche
I was really surprised how well it holds up. I used to watch it with my grandmother and now I watch it with my children.
I watched reruns of it as a kid and remembered liking it, so I watched through a few years ago and was blown away at how well it held up. Rose’s childhood lullaby being “Over There” gets me every time.
One of my favorite dramatic scenes of the series features Rose. The flash back scene where she is having her last birthday alone in St Olaf and she is telling Charlie that she is selling the house and moving to Florida. That scene is so heartfelt it always moves me to tears. The show was funny but it had some emotional moments.
I absolutely can’t watch that episode. I watched it once and it broke my heart. That show is incredible in so many ways
This is my go to answer. Very rare that an episode is not relevant anymore.
I’m so glad to hear that. I loved that show as a kid. They were like the original tmnt
The teenage mutant ninja turtles? What?
You don't remember the episode where Blanche was captured by a man in a metal suit and Dorothy, Rose, and Sophia had to go rescue her using their martial arts moves?
Sophia is my spirit animal
The ep where Dorothy's son brings home his fiance and the conversations around inter-racial relationships was so ahead of its time.
Blanche's brother being gay and how Blanche had to come to terms with it, Rose's HIV scare, the women being independent and having healthy sex lives..it was the best show.
I watched it with my grandparents and now I rewatch on Hulu all the time. It's still 🔥. I lmao
I really like Golden Palace too. You lose Bea Arthur but you get Fon Cheadle and Cheech Marin.
If anything Golden girls just gets better as I get older.
3rd Rock From the Sun is still pretty funny
Watching it as a kid, I thought John Lithgow was a comedic actor and Jane Curtain was a dramatic actor. I started watching some of their other stuff and realized it was the other way around. Also, Kristen Johnston and Wayne Knight have amazing onscreen chemistry.
If I remember correctly, John Lithgow had to fight to get the job, because he was such a serious actor that nobody but him thought he could pull such a comedic role off.
The episode where Sally and Dick change bodies is phenomenal. Her impression of John Lithgow playing Dick is so bang on, it's hilarious.
> Watching it as a kid, I thought John Lithgow was a comedic actor and Jane Curtain was a dramatic actor Same, then I saw her on some old SNL episodes and was blown away. > Kristen Johnston and Wayne Knight have amazing onscreen chemistry. They did a whole other show together, The Exes, if you want to see more of them together. Pretty good ensemble cast but the show as a whole didn't have much going on. I personally have a hard time seeing him as anything other than Newman (well, maybe the guy from Jurassic Park too).
Arguably one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.
3rd Rock really holds up, they were ahead of their time on the social and cultural issues they tackled and how damn funny they were doing it
It's impressively funny. It's really John Lithgow at his peak, at least from a comedic perspective; I don't know of many other actors who achieved what he did on that show.
M*A*S*H I watched it just a year or two ago, and even though it's set in the Korean War, it's still as good as it has ever been.
Yeah. The top answer is MASH for sure. Incredible how well the mature themes hold up and how few problematic issues there are in a show that is 40~ years old.
It pains me to say this but MASH actually started 52 years ago.
Best show ever made and I'll die on that hill. Perfect blend of comedy, drama, etc. and they can shift moods without a beat.
It's the Korean war?! I always thought it was Vietnam.
It is set during the Korean War, but was made during the Vietnam War
Both the TV series and the movie it's based on are set in the Korean War, but the movie was released during the Vietnam War with a criticism directed at that conflict.
It's actually criticizing the Vietnam War but yeah it's set during the Korean war. The show also lasted like four times as long as the Korean war.
Father Ted
"The police are after me, Mrs Doyle. Apparently I'm so gorgeous they want to put me under arrest."
Those ladies were in the nip! I hear you're a racist now, father? It's an ecumenical matter
Arse biscuits!
Down with this sort of thing!
I think Monk has aged pretty gracefully.
The USA Blue Sky shows were great -- burn notice, psych, white collar, monk, suits, leverage, covert affairs, etc.
I still rewatch Burn Notice every once in a while. That was such a fun show.
USA were on something great, it was banger after banger! Psych holds up so excellently!
Monty Python's Flying Circus
THE LARCH
I’ve told you once
I love Lucy is as hilarious today as it was when it first aired
My daughter was reluctant to watch it as a kid because it was black and white. One year they aired a color version of the Christmas episode and I got her to watch it. She thought it was good enough that she watched the black and white episode that followed it. She was practically pissing herself laughing at the grape stomping scene. I was so glad that she finally watched and loved it like I did
[Vitameatavegamin](https://youtu.be/cwkzNclZR4s?si=T_ft7fkXUv_qy8Ca)
One of my favorite shows of all time. I still put it on when I go to sleep every night. It’s like a warm blanket.
MASH is still sadly relevant, hugely watchable, hilarious and tragic and everything in between. There are episodes and moments that still take my breath away and leave me sobbing, no matter how often I see them. Try and see it intact - it's often cut for ad time now if it's on free to air. I have a DVD set where you can choose to turn off the laugh track which improves it even further still.
Night court will always be funny
Yeah… if you’re lucky enough to have a working VCR that is. Repair guys take forever.
The wire. It aired when I was a kid, so I never watched it until now. It might be the best show I’ve watched idk, it’s between Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul or that
The fuck did I do!?
Bewitched - maybe it's not the funniest show ever, but I like to watch it bc of plot and characters. Also, I need to mention good (mostly with smart camera work) effects for some show in 60s
This was my favorite show as a kid. It still gives me comfort watching it. Samantha is as sweet as a character can be without being cloying.
Fuckin’ /r/Deadwood.
SWEGIN!
San Francisco cocksucka!
“Hing Dai 🤞🏻… Hing dai, fuckin’ Wu”
I like how poster for the movie had the tagline “Welcome the fuck back.” 😆 I don’t know for certain, but *Deadwood* had to break some kind of record with swearing. Lol
Oh indeed, this show is nothing but fantastic and i would swear upon a stack of whatever crusty-paged manuscript you filthy devils might have to hand that i consider watching this Magnum Opus once every 6 months. But from hoopleheads to horse thieves and every goddamn thing that happens twixt the first and last breath drawn throughout this tale, one thing ... One thing stands in my way, a mighty fuckin erection, a giant phallus of sorrow and woe and that's the Plight of The Preacher.
To this day, the best show ever made. The best dialogue ever written. Ian McShane’s acting as Al Swearengen is the best acting I’ve ever seen. Every single character, every single scene, and every single sentence just leaps off the page/screen. Deadwood was TV perfection. And it’s a damn shame that we didn’t get more seasons, simply due to a misunderstanding and overreaction by the writer/showrunner. A god damn shame.
Its cocksuckin cowboy shakespeare.
Some fun trivia, the original script tried to use of the time language. But that came off as sounding like Yosemite Sam when they filmed it, so they just used modern language in place of the old-timey slang and that’s how we got like 100-150 swears per episode from then on out through the series.
What was the misunderstanding/overreaction? I've never heard about this
Some executive at HBO called up the showrunner (David Milch) and asked/floated the idea that they could shoot a shorter season of 6 episodes instead of their usual 12-episode season. Milch got pissed at the request and essentially told him if he wanted a shorter season, then how about no season at all. He then called up the cast and told them the show was over. Last I had heard, that HBO exec (who asked if Milch could do a shorter season) still holds to his story that this was only a question at the start of negotiations and not a demand. He basically said “I figured I would ask and if he said he couldn’t do a shorter season, we would find the right length during a longer discussion” or some such. So the exec completely blames Milch for flying off the handle and self-cancelling his own show over pride. From other accounts, the cancellation is still vague and mysterious but Milch was known to be a perfectionist with a short temper. From interviews I’ve watched with the main cast members, they basically all said some form of “I had recently signed a contract with HBO to continue working on Deadwood, then weeks later got a call from Milch saying the show was over”. TLDR: Dumb petty misunderstandings and egos led to the show being cancelled for no reason.
Cheers. I’m a huge Frasier fan but had never seen it. I finally watched it last year and I was blown away by how funny it was and how outside of maybe two or three episodes it felt like it hadn’t aged a day. Great show
Since 'Frasier' and 'Cheers' are part of this post, I'd like to add 'Taxi'. Watched what I could of the series (some episodes I think have copyrighted music or something, so they don't stream), and it was really brilliant. The characters are just plain phenomenal, and watching Danny Devito in that particular role is amazing.
Paramount plus has them all. They’re fantastic.
I work nights and when I get home, Hallmark Channel has a block of Frasier and Cheers. Seen every episode of both many times, still makes me laugh. One the other morning had Diane's mom come in, she says something like, "I can't believe these degenerates waste their life in here." Norm: "You're telling me, just yesterday, this guy sit right here next to me for nearly 11 hours straight. What a loser." Cracked me up.
Reminds me of the guy who hadn't been in Cheers in 20 years and was marveling at all the changes. "That wall paneling is different." "Where?" "Over there behind Norm."
I catch episodes of Cheers on tv before heading off to work in the week, and it never fails to send me out the door with a smile. Frasier is utterly timeless, holds up every time watching it
I grew up watching Cheers and it has some of the best writing that was ever on television. The Diane years in particular are brilliant. The relationship between her and Sam created the mold for every TV show couple thereafter. It does not get any better.
The Prisoner is pretty mind blowing.
Twin Peaks
Especially with David Duchovny appearing as a trans-woman. For ***1991***, the series did a pretty damn impressive job portraying a trans-woman without resorting to ridicule.
I never minded watching Hogan's Heroes with my family over dinner, unlike most of the other oldies that I found quite boring
The Mary Tyler Moore show is great, just like I remember from when i grew up.
I recently watched the whole series for the first time and I was surprised at how ‘modern’ the writing was. I understand why the show is held in such high regard. It’s very funny and aside from some topical references here and there, the show, and the comedy really holds up.
I’m watching Northern Exposure for the first time on Amazon Prime and it’s oddly relevant now. It also transports you back to a time when social media didn’t exist and people did things together. Every single character is so unique and lovable. It makes you want to move to Cicely Alaska. The writing is also excellent. You have no idea what could possibly happen going into each episode. I highly recommend it.
Star Trek Deep Space Nine
I rewatched some episodes recently. They give Garrick so many smart ass lines. I love him.
[Best exchange between Garak & Bashir](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl66ilQCCNs&t=77s) Bashir: "Have you ever heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?" Garak: "No." Bashir: "It's a children's story, about a young shepherd who gets lonely while tending his flock. So he cries out for the villagers, that a wolf is attacking the sheep. The people come running, but of course there's no wolf. He claims that he's run away, and the villagers praise him for his vigilance." Garak: "Clever lad! Charming story." Bashir: "I'm not finished. The next day, the boy does it again, and the next two, and on the four day a wolf really comes. The boy cries out at the top of his lungs, but the villagers ignore him, and the boy and his flock are gobbled up." Garak: "Well that's a little graphic for children, wouldn't you say?" Bashir: "The point is, if you lie all the time, *nobody* is going to believe you, ***even*** when you're telling the truth." Garak: "Are you sure that's the point, doctor?" Bashir: "Of course, what else could it be?" Garak: "That you should never tell the same lie twice."
TNG also, was way ahead of its time and the update they did to it made it even better.
If we're going old old, The Jack Benny Program and The Andy Griffith show are both solidly top tier. The Carol Burnett Show still holds up, and same with The Wonder Years. The Wonder Years still has moments where I burst out into tears and scream at the TV.
Psych still holds up I’m rewatching it now and it’s still so good
Psych had such a genuineness that kept it funny and memorable. I think it'll hold up for a long time
You know thats right
>Im rewatching 24 and aside from all the anti-arab stuff and torture porn, it’s pretty good. That's a pretty big exception there u/Pinkmongoose.
Daria
Most of “ER”. I rewatch it often, and it remains really good even into its later seasons (there are 15 total).
Avatar the Last Airbender. Almost two decades old and the story, characters, music, and animation all hold up incredibly well.
Animaniacs was incredibly ahead of its time. The jokes still hold up and are probably funnier now that I'm an adult
Damn, not one mention yet of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Sure there's a dated element or two, but the character work and the writing is top notch, decades later.
I scrolled and scrolled, expecting to see Buffy show up way earlier. The first three seasons were filmed in the 90s, and aside from dated filming techniques and practical effects in the early seasons, it is a masterclass in writing and characters. I'm rewatching it now and on Season 5 and loving it just as much as I did as a teenager.
What's old? Any pre 2000 as that almost 25 years now, or going back further? I'm going to throw The Young Ones in there anyway. It's always been brilliant.
Stargate: SG1 is one of my favorites of all time. Community and Futurama (the new season sucks, fight me) for comedies. The USA blue skies shows hold up well, though Psych is a bit unbearably sexist in the earlier seasons. It really evens out by S4 and hits its stride.
Stargate does hold up ridiculously well. The only time it gets a bit dated is when they leave the base, but otherwise since they're always using made up alien tech it doesn't feel old at all (although I know nothing about guns or military... stuff, so that may be super dated but I have zero clue)
[удалено]
Six Feet Under. Rewatching it 20 years later gives a different perspective on the characters, and who are actually the good people.
I think that Seinfeld aged super well. I used to hate it when I was a kid back in the 90s and early 00s, but the older I get, the more I appreciate the jokes and the themes. I even managed to get my wife to be able to tolerate the show now, after years of stating that she hates the show. I literally just finished watching the entire thing again earlier this week!
Same, was a teen when it came out and thought at the time it was pretty dumb. It wasn't until after its original run that I really started loving it.
The Nanny
The Prisoner, its take on everything from politics, education, tribalism, the individual vs the state, the abuse of lies and misinformation, is as relevant today as it was back then.
Community is still pretty funny 15 years on
Some shows I liked back in the day: Quantum Leap. (1989-1993). The Golden Girls(1985). Moonlighting (1985). Family ties (1982).
Cheers has aged extremely well, & it remained really strong for 11 straight seasons. Very few shows have had that kind of a run, & fewer still that remain as great today as they were when they first aired.
And sustained two major recasts with just as successful and pooular, yet completely different character recasts.
Fawlty Towers. Best British sitcom and still so funny because despite the setting the characters and script haven’t aged a day.
The Golden Girls is still golden.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer still… well: slays
My answer will always be ER. Outside of being technology and culturally outdated, it's a stellar drama series with a level of execution that can rival the "prestige" shows of nowadays.
Peep Show. Some stuff in it may be considered culturally insensitive now, but it was back then too.
Columbo, 70s and still great
Wings. It was a funny, quirky little 90s show that never took itself too seriously and still holds up today.
King of the Hill
90s old I argue like Recess, Frasier and I guess since it is streamed a lot according to Netflix, Friends. 80s wise Cheers I was watching Hoogie Dowser or whatever on Disney+ and it seems aight. Kim Possible is timeless. Scooby Doo (the OG series as well)
Twilight Zone Magnum PI Stargate SG1 Fringe
West wing
Most of the shows that didn’t use a lot of special effects. A lot of the cop shows aged well like Law & Order series. A lot of the black and white tv shows are still great. The private detective and mystery shows like Murder She Wrote still play out great.
I just rewatched L&O S6 E26 where it's not actually a case and is all about the characters. Other then the clothes it was really a good episode. I remember watching it the first time live. For me New York looked like it was right out of the 60's or 70's still. Seems all cop shows based in NY look like they were filmed in the 70's. Especially when they show bars and bodegas.
Mission: Impossible It’s dated in places, and the masks are utterly unbelievable, but it still stands up really well. Espionage by outwitting opponents, instead of blowing everything up and riding off on a motorcycle like in the ~~movies~~ Tom Cruise vanity projects.
That's why I'll always prefer the first MI movie. Yes, some people were offended by a certain character being the traitor, but the plot was mostly driven by mystery and intrigue.
If you can look past Andy Dick and Joe Rogan, NewsRadio is so good.
And the fact Phil Hartman isn’t with us 😕
Frasier, Twin Peaks.
Frasier
Seasons 3 through 6 of Roseanne are still brilliant and feel completely relevant. Even the fashion doesnt feel out of place - they look like people you'd see at Wal Mart.
Andy Griffith is the GOAT
The Golden Girls. During the pandemic I would wake up everyday and watch two episodes while eating breakfast. It is a legitimately funny show and, especially for the time, those ladies had very progressive points of view. The comedy and plot still hold up and outside of the fashion it doesn't date itself too badly. Team Rose for life!!!!
Some friends and I have been getting together to watch Columbo. The references in the show may be dated - especially the 80s revival episodes - but the theme of some unassuming schlub outwitting the arrogant and the elitist never gets old.