Because you've been dying to know...here's a list of my five all-time favorite tv shows. Oddly enough, they are all comedies! Go figure!
The Flintstones (1960-1966) I've literally watched THE FLINTSTONES all my life. It was a favorite cartoon of mine when I was little and is still a favorite today! All the great sit-com plots were used on THE FLINTSTONES and plenty of rock and dinosaur puns were also plentiful. I always dreamed of having a Fred & Barney kind of relationship with my next-door neighbor, but I have yet to get my thumb stuck in a bowling ball with any of my neighbors. When THE FLINTSTONES movie came out in 1994, I went to the opening night screening dressed as Fred Flintstone...thank you very much.
All six seasons are on DVD.
The Muppet Show (1976-1981) I attribute much of my sense of humor to The Muppets. Rewatching season one on DVD recently I can easily trace the origins of my love of novelty records, corny jokes, and grade C celebrities. Where I lived growing up, we got both the Baltimore TV stations and the D.C. stations. One of the cities was a week behind the other, so every Saturday night I'd watch the new show at 7:00pm and then last weeks show again at 7:30pm. Good Times! My older son's middle name is James, as a tribute to Muppet creator Jim Henson.
Season one is out on DVD, with season two slated for a February 2007 release.
Family Ties (1982-1989) This was the best traditional sit-com ever produced! The characters were all well developed and most of the humor grew out of that. FAMILY TIES was (and is) constantly funny no matter how serious the subject matter got. There were never any exterior establishing shots, no music between scenes, and they never faked the outdoors on a soundstage...just pure sit-com goodness. Everyone on that show perfected their comedy timing and they all played off each other real well. I'd kick your butt in a FAMILY TIES trivia competition! I've seen every episode at least a dozen times. Before DVD, I belonged to the Columbia House Family Ties Video Club where I got a VHS of 3-4 episodes a month for $25. Now you can buy whole seasons of shows for less than that.
Not available on DVD, but long over due.
Alf (1986-1990) If you know me, you know one thing...Alf is my boy! Bob-Howdy I love that show! Every Monday night, for the entire run of the show, I caught the original airing of each and every episode. And then I would bore my friend Grant to death the next morning on the bus ride to school with a complete run down of what happened the previous night! In case you don't know, ALF is an alien who crashed his ship on Earth and lives with a family in California. How much do I love this show? The last name of the family Alf lives with is Tanner...my 8 month old son's name: Tanner. You do the math!
Seasons 1-3 on DVD
Sledge Hammer! (1986-1988) Easily the most obscure show on my list, SLEDGE HAMMER! ran for two seasons on ABC. Sledge is a cop who shoots first and maybe asks questions later. He likes to blow up things, shoot bad guys, and beat up bad guys. This show is just crazy-looney which is what attracted 13 year old me.
Both seasons on DVD
The Flintstones (1960-1966) I've literally watched THE FLINTSTONES all my life. It was a favorite cartoon of mine when I was little and is still a favorite today! All the great sit-com plots were used on THE FLINTSTONES and plenty of rock and dinosaur puns were also plentiful. I always dreamed of having a Fred & Barney kind of relationship with my next-door neighbor, but I have yet to get my thumb stuck in a bowling ball with any of my neighbors. When THE FLINTSTONES movie came out in 1994, I went to the opening night screening dressed as Fred Flintstone...thank you very much. All six seasons are on DVD.
The Muppet Show (1976-1981) I attribute much of my sense of humor to The Muppets. Rewatching season one on DVD recently I can easily trace the origins of my love of novelty records, corny jokes, and grade C celebrities. Where I lived growing up, we got both the Baltimore TV stations and the D.C. stations. One of the cities was a week behind the other, so every Saturday night I'd watch the new show at 7:00pm and then last weeks show again at 7:30pm. Good Times! My older son's middle name is James, as a tribute to Muppet creator Jim Henson. Season one is out on DVD, with season two slated for a February 2007 release.
Family Ties (1982-1989) This was the best traditional sit-com ever produced! The characters were all well developed and most of the humor grew out of that. FAMILY TIES was (and is) constantly funny no matter how serious the subject matter got. There were never any exterior establishing shots, no music between scenes, and they never faked the outdoors on a soundstage...just pure sit-com goodness. Everyone on that show perfected their comedy timing and they all played off each other real well. I'd kick your butt in a FAMILY TIES trivia competition! I've seen every episode at least a dozen times. Before DVD, I belonged to the Columbia House Family Ties Video Club where I got a VHS of 3-4 episodes a month for $25. Now you can buy whole seasons of shows for less than that. Not available on DVD, but long over due.
Alf (1986-1990) If you know me, you know one thing...Alf is my boy! Bob-Howdy I love that show! Every Monday night, for the entire run of the show, I caught the original airing of each and every episode. And then I would bore my friend Grant to death the next morning on the bus ride to school with a complete run down of what happened the previous night! In case you don't know, ALF is an alien who crashed his ship on Earth and lives with a family in California. How much do I love this show? The last name of the family Alf lives with is Tanner...my 8 month old son's name: Tanner. You do the math! Seasons 1-3 on DVD
Sledge Hammer! (1986-1988) Easily the most obscure show on my list, SLEDGE HAMMER! ran for two seasons on ABC. Sledge is a cop who shoots first and maybe asks questions later. He likes to blow up things, shoot bad guys, and beat up bad guys. This show is just crazy-looney which is what attracted 13 year old me. Both seasons on DVD
I loved Sledge Hammer! I never saw it first run so I'm sure I haven't seen all the episodes, but I remember liking it a lot.
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