The best era of TV?

[Deleted]

I don't know how best to title this discussion, but H and I were talking about this the other day.

Do you think that the quality of TV these days (say, the last 10 years or so) exceeds the quality of stuff that was on TV in previous decades/eras? Or is there just no way to compare shows like, say, The Wire, with Matlock?

(And I'm thinking of scripted TV here for the most part.)

Do you think there are old shows that are great TV? Even if we just go back to something like Seinfeld...does it still deserve to be in the pantheon of great TV, even compared to later great comedies like Arrested Development?

[perkyderky]

I think the question you pose is one of those life-long debates that have been had for as long as anyone remembers. When rock and roll came on the scene, I'm sure the older generations were saying that it wasn't any good compared to the good old Andy Williams or ragtime, or whatever their preferred listening was.

Same thing with TV. You also have to remember, that just like movies, there were tighter censors on what could be shown on television shows back in the day, so I don't know that you can fairly compare a crime drama from today vs. one from the 1950s (or 60s, 70s, or even the 80s.) Heck, it's within my lifetime that you are allowed to use the words "ass" and "bitch" on network TV. Maybe dramas would have been "grittier" had they been allowed stronger language back in Matlock's time. But then again, a "gritty" show back then may have been a flop and taken off the air after a season because it may not have been what people wanted to watch.

The measure of "greatness" is very objective, too. I don't think there's a correct answer.

To answer your question, though, I DO think there are old shows that are still GREAT TV. To me.

[noodleoo]

Network tv SUCKS compared to when I was younger. Too much reality TV crap, very few good, scripted shows anymore. I miss all the really good shows that have ended and i find only a few things to watch anymore. But I don't have HBO or the other premium channels, so maybe I'm missing out on the good stuff.

[summerkutie]

I honestly think there are WAY too many craptastic reality shows on and not enough good scripted tv anymore. Don't get me wrong, I watch some mindless reality shows, but feel like there are way too many and the few great scripted shows that come on are usually canned pretty quickly.

I'm still nursing my wounds from Alcatraz, Awake, and GCB being cancelled :-P

My favorite era of tv is a tie between the original Nick at Nite shows (I Love Lucy, Happy Days, Dick van Dyke, I Dream of Jeanie, etc..) and the 90's shows. I still love the original 90210, The Cosby Show, Seinfeld, Friends, The Wonder Years, and when I was growing up Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel had MUCH better quality shows on

[happyhomemaker]

Jun 11, 2012 13:15:03 GMT -5 summerkutie said:

My favorite era of tv is a tie between the original Nick at Nite shows (I Love Lucy, Happy Days, Dick van Dyke, I Dream of Jeanie, etc..) and the 90's shows. I still love the original 90210, The Cosby Show, Seinfeld, Friends, The Wonder Years, and when I was growing up Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel had MUCH better quality shows on

I completely agree. I grew up on Nick at Nite too and still love watching The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Leave It to Beaver (the later seasons especially), the Facts of Life, etc. I also like some of the late 80's-early 90's sitcoms (growing pains, wonder years, etc.). It seems like the current sitcoms, in particular, rely on sexual humor for their punch lines instead of more intelligent jokes. I do like Last Man Standing. I think there are a lot of really good dramas on right now (or in recent years), but I think the best era for sitcoms was what Nick at Nite showed in the late 80s-early 90s.

[Deleted]

There have always been and will likely always be wonderful TV shows.

[valhaman]

Jun 8, 2012 19:05:30 GMT -5 sexycarrot said:

I am probably showing my age, but anyone else miss when NBC Thursday night was truly "must see tv"? Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, ER... Man, that was a good night through the years!

Yes! I miss Must See TV!!

[valhaman]

I grew up on Nick at Nite, it's my favorite - I Love Lucy, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Monkees, Get Smart...

I watched Must See TV forever, I love Friends. Mad About You and Will and Grace were good ones too.

Also other 90s favorite shows were Home Improvement, Boy Meets World, Who's the Boss, Growing Pains, Full House, etc.

[sporky]

i vastly prefer the late 80s/early 90s shows to the current ones, which is probably why i watch too much reality tv now. they do NOT make sit-coms that are as funny as they used to be. roseanne, married with children, home improvement--- those re-runs are still better than most anything on tv now. and you cannot compare even one show with either the cosby show or the wonder years, in my mind. childhood shows ftw!

[tmonoxide]

I'll go with The Seventies.

You had groundbreaking controversial shows like "All In The Family," "Maude" (that was prime time TV's first abortion) and you also knew that you were getting quality TV.

There were also TV movies galore. They don't show those anymore.

It was also the age of the game show. That's what they had all morning long: Game shows like The Price is Right, Concentration, Wheel of Fortune and others.

There were no talk shows. Unless you wanted to count Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas and Dick Cavett.

[zitiqueen]

I'll agree with Tarpon. There weren't 900 channels during the 70s. Everybody was watching the same thing, so everybody was on the same page with respect to what was on TV last night. Everybody knew what happened on Johnny Carson the night before. The entire nation cried together over Brian's Song.

Somebody upthread said a show like Arrested Development could have never aired back in the 70s or 80s. Well, look at all the groundbreaking shows that did air during the 70s that would never make it on TV today due to the content -- Chico and the Man, The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son, White Shadow, Alice, Bad News Bears, MASH, Three's Company, Soap, Quincy, Rockford Files, Welcome Back Kotter, Starsky & Hutch, One Day at a Time, even Little House on the Prairie and all of the various variety shows -- Donny and Marie, Sonny and Cher, Flip Wilson, the Muppet Show.

There was, however, a talk show during the 70s though, that paved the road, good or bad, for every talk show to come -- Donahue.

[busybodyk]

Jun 8, 2012 19:05:30 GMT -5 sexycarrot said:

I am probably showing my age, but anyone else miss when NBC Thursday night was truly "must see tv"? Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, ER... Man, that was a good night through the years!

Agreed!

[hannamarin]

I have to say that some shows are so good in their era. Like .murder she wrote. But .i watch it now and it lacks something. Same with Quincy. What a lame show.