The 1960s: Televisions Very Best Shows EVER

[JD Spydo]

Did any of you mob ever see Shintaro ?
Or maybe Skippy the Bush Kangaroo ?
O.

Greetings O :) My good DYAD buddy :D Those were shows from your part of the globe were they not? Now I have heard that LOST IN SPACE actually attained the status of of a "cult classic" over in Australia>> I also heard that Billy Mumy ( Will Robinson) and Jonathan Harris ( Doctor Smith) sort of had rock star status when they did their Lost In Space appearances over there in Steve Irwin land :D

I will say this again because it is the solemn truth>> Ed Sullivan truly changed American culture when he brought the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals ( with Eric Burdon) to the USA. Ed Sullivan was truly a legend and I doubt if we ever see anyone like him again>> at least in our lifetime.

[O,just,O]

Good morning & happy Dyad to you as well, brother.
Yes, the shows The Samurai, staring Shintaro & Skippy the bush Kangaroo were big in Australia. I was just wondering if they ever saw the light of day in the States ?
"Danger, Will Robinson" is still a well known saying in the older generation here.
O.

[JD Spydo]

Good morning & happy Dyad to you as well, brother.
Yes, the shows The Samurai, staring Shintaro & Skippy the bush Kangaroo were big in Australia. I was just wondering if they ever saw the light of day in the States ?
"Danger, Will Robinson" is still a well known saying in the older generation here.
O.

Yeah I bet if Will Robinson ( Billy Mumy) and the Robot had a folder on the Jupiter 2 spacecraft it would have been a Spyderco DYAD for sure Doctor Smith ( Jonathan Harris) probably used a Hawkbill :rolleyes: and I'm sure the Robot would have taken issue with him as well :D Yeah LOST IN SPACE was one of my 60s favorites for TV Shows.

I sure miss your Australian ambassador STEVE IRWIN :) That was one cool snake handling dude and I truly miss him terribly. The Animal Planet channel is just not the same without him You have a beautiful country my friend with a very unique group of animals and reptiles.

I've often wondered how many USA 1960s TV Shows you guys got to see over there across the Pacific pond.

[Philo Beddoe]

There were a lot of great original ideas from those days that can't really be redone today. Even if you look at all the Star Trek series' they were good shows (arguably better in some ways) but none of them have that endearing charm of the original.

The original was good but IMO Next Gen was way better..some of the 60's shows were good but I like the 70's and 80's stuff better..

[JD Spydo]

There were a lot of great original ideas from those days that can't really be redone today. Even if you look at all the Star Trek series' they were good shows (arguably better in some ways) but none of them have that endearing charm of the original.

The original was good but IMO Next Gen was way better..some the 60's was good but I like the 70's and 80's stuff better..

And I can appreciate what you're saying "Philo" :) Because there were a few 70s shows I liked as well. But the trends that many of the 1960s shows created can't be overlooked. Again no one has ever equalled the TWILIGHT ZONE for instance>> because how many other older shows do they have marathons for on major holidays?

Oh one other famous 1960s show we all overlooked>> it was a spook/horror soap opera is the best way I can describe DARK SHADOWS :cool: . Even after being gone all these years they still have DARK SHADOWS conventions yearly in which hundreds of people show up for.

But in the 1970s the show "Saturday Night Live" was truly at it's best when the "NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME PLAYERS" ran the show :cool: There were actually cop shows in the 70s that had true entertainment value to them. Some of the comedies of the 80s were truly funny like Good Times & Different Strokes. Very interesting thread>> I'm surprised many of you all remember all of the shows from back then :)

[Philo Beddoe]

The first 5 years of TAGS when it was black and white was some of the best TV ever..It went down after Don Knotts left..just wasn't the same..

Can't forget about The Outer Limits either..good stuff..

But some of those shows from the 60's seem kinda cheesy now..I tried watching the original Batman awhile back and couldn't make it thru 2 episodes..too much cheese..

The 70's?..All in the Family..Happy Days..MASH..Hawaii-Five-0..CHiPs..The Brady Bunch..The Jeffersons..Sanford and Son..Welcome Back Kotter..WKRP In Cincinnati..Dallas..Little House on the Prairie..Kung Fu..Battlestar Galactica..Mannix..The Rockford Files..The Six Million Dollar Man..The Carol Burnett Show..Alice..Maude..Taxi..One Day at a Time..The Mary Tyler Moore show..Starsky & Hutch..The Waltons..The Odd Couple..Chico and the Man..Kolchak..Baretta..Good Times.

[JD Spydo]

The first 5 years of TAGS when it was black and white was some of the best TV ever..It went down after Don Knotts left..just wasn't the same..

Can't forget about The Outer Limits either..good stuff..

But some of those shows from the 60's seem kinda cheesy now..I tried watching the original Batman awhile back and couldn't make it thru 2 episodes..too much cheese..

The 70's?..All in the Family..Happy Days..MASH..Hawaii-Five-0..CHiPs..The Brady Bunch..The Jeffersons..Sanford and Son..Welcome Back Kotter..WKRP In Cincinnati..Dallas..Little House on the Prairie..Kung Fu..Battlestar Galactica..Mannix..The Rockford Files..The Six Million Dollar Man..The Carol Burnett Show..Alice..Maude..Taxi..One Day at a Time..The Mary Tyler Moore show..Starsky & Hutch..The Waltons..The Odd Couple..Chico and the Man..Kolchak..Baretta..Good Times.

I know exactly what you mean about seeing reruns of a 60s TV Show. Because it seems like a lot of stuff that was cool back then isn't so cool now unfortunately. Take "Rowan & Martin's LAUGH IN" for instance>> it was so funny in the late 60s that I would look forward to each episode>> but after seeing some reruns about a year ago it didn't seem funny at all anymore :confused: it actually seemed silly and juvenile by today's standards.

Whereas the Sci Fi show you mentioned "THE OUTER LIMITS" still is good when I get to see it on late night TV>> and the TWILIGHT ZONE is just as good now a days as it was then.

that's a great list of those 70s TV Shows>> Good Times was just funny as it gets and I still like to see reruns of the Rockford Files. But seeing reruns of Starky & Hutch is almost laughable.

[JD Spydo]

A couple more TV Shows from the 60s that deserve honorable mention first of all is Alfred Hitchcock Presents. A lot of the newer generation doesn't have a clue as to who Alfred Hitchcock is>> he was the GodFather of the PSYCHO movies with Anthony Perkins>> they did sequels of PSYCHO all the way up to the late 80s. Alfred Hitchcock had other movie classics like FRENZY and The BIRDS. He wasn't quite as good as Rod Serling of TWILIGHT ZONE fame but Hitchcock is like a modern day Shakespeare in many facets. Extremely talented and very creative.

And who could possibly forget Robert Stach as Elliott Ness in the UNTOUCHABLES>.. it was without a doubt the very best TV show ever depicting the "Prohibition Era", Mob Era and the critical turning point of this country during the 20s & 30s. Walter Winchell was a superb narrator and the entire cast of the UNTOUCHABLES was truly excellent for that time>> I would even rate it high by today's standards.

Oh one more 60s classic I liked as a kid was Lloyd Bridges in his best show "SEA HUNT. We still get the reruns of SEA HUNT here in KC and that show was truly ahead of it's time.

[jabba359]

Can we count Monty Python's Flying Circus? It started in 1969, though the bulk of the shows were in the 70's.

[James Y]

I loved The Twilight Zone and the original Star Trek. Interestingly, I've never liked the Star Trek movies, nor its various spinoff series.

Some people may thing this odd, but my favorite 60s show remains the original Jonny Quest. Many people are unaware that Jonny Quest started out as a prime-time show. IMO, the soundtrack music and opening/closing themes are among the all-time best of any series, animated or not.

Jonny Quest intro/closing credits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0kg_tzQvf4&sns=em" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They don't make TV adventure cartoons like that anymore.

Jim

[demoncase]

Can we count Monty Python's Flying Circus? It started in 1969, though the bulk of the shows were in the 70's.

No.3....The Larch. :D

[JD Spydo]

I loved The Twilight Zone and the original Star Trek. Interestingly, I've never liked the Star Trek movies, nor its various spinoff series.

Some people may thing this odd, but my favorite 60s show remains the original Jonny Quest. Many people are unaware that Jonny Quest started out as a prime-time show. IMO, the soundtrack music and opening/closing themes are among the all-time best of any series, animated or not.

That's extremely interesting that you bring up "JOHNNY QUEST'" because it does go into the 1960s category for sure. It was produced by "Hanna Barbara" who also did the FLINTSTONES as well as few other animated TV Classics. Yeah I was just a kid when JOHNNY QUEST was on TV but I do remember watching quite a few episodes.

Now there were two of the Star Trek movies I liked>> In Search Of Spock was one that I thought was interesting. But many of the "Trekkers" had the same opinion you have. I've heard that the Syfy Channel is going to have a Twilight Zone marathon this upcoming Memorial Day and I hope to catch a few of them.

Again it's interesting that you bring up one of Hanna Barbara's animated shows because they truly got their start in the 60s for sure.

[JD Spydo]

I was talking to an old Lady Friend from high school this morning and told her about this thread and she asked me if I had listed the "Adams Family" and the "MUNSTERS" :D Not to mention two reruns I saw very early this morning and that being F TROOP and GILLIGAN'S ISLAND.

But again who could forget the Spook Soap Opera we all loved and that being DARK SHADOWS? Or one of the very first talk shows ever and I'm speaking of the Joe Pyne Show. They are almost too numerous to mention.