60s TV shows

[Goat Boy]

What are your favourites? What still stands up?

[...]

Why do posters on BCB always ask questions they never answer themselves?

FWIW, aside from the inevitable Star Trek, mine - and I'm sure those of a lot of other people here - would be The Avengers and Twilight Zone (which I think started in the late 50s).

[Goat Boy]

The only 60s show I've seen is The Prisoner so I'm interested in what people rate from this decade because I've seen nothing else

[...]

The only 60s show I've seen is The Prisoner so I'm interested in what people rate from this decade because I've seen nothing else

Point taken. The Prisoner is a good one, too. If you like that, you might also do well to check out Danger Man which also started Patrick McGoohan whose John Drake character many people see as being No 6 in TP.

[naughty boy]

Most of the US stuff - The Twilight Zone (started in '59), Get Smart (I've only seen three episodes but it's fucking ace and I need the DVDs), Batman, The Monkees, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (it was repeated on BBC when I was a kid and I loved it - not sure if it still stands up), The Untouchables, Naked City, Mr. Ed....loads more.

Quaco is your man for this and I hope he chimes in. But if you haven't seen The Twilight Zone then I'd start there 'cos I KNOW you'd love it, D.

[clive gash]

Yeah, should have put "60s TV Shows - anyone else watching these?".

Guaranteed 80 pages.

[Rayge]

NO PARTICULAR ORDER – these were all things I watched back then. Haven't got a clue which ones stand up today (apart from the few that are still on. If you are looking for drama, I'd suggest Callan out of those.

Monty Python
At Last the 1948 Show
Get Smart
Hancock
Doctor Who
The Likely Lads
Steptoe & Son
Prisoner
Danger Man
Dad's Army
Callan
The Wednesday Play
Match of the Day
Flintstones
Beverley Hillbillies
Wagon Train
Maverick
Twilight Zone
Rawhide
77 Sunset Strip
Laugh-In
Dick van Dyke Show
Top of the Pops

[Goat Boy]

Most of the US stuff - The Twilight Zone (started in '59), Get Smart (I've only seen three episodes but it's fucking ace and I need the DVDs), Batman, The Monkees, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (it was repeated on BBC when I was a kid and I loved it - not sure if it still stands up), The Untouchables, Naked City, Mr. Ed....loads more.

Quaco is your man for this and I hope he chimes in. But if you haven't seen The Twilight Zone then I'd start there 'cos I KNOW you'd love it, D.

I've been meaning to buy The Twilight Zone for ages. I know it's the kinda thing that's up my street. In fact I'll buy season one after I've finished rewatching the Prisoner.

I did watch episodes of the Monkees and Batman as a kid but I don't recall either particularly well. I suspect the kitsch knowing campness of Batman would probably appeal now whereas as a kid I just thought it was silly.

Mel Brooks worked on Get Smart, right? I should watch some clips, I'm sure there must be episodes online. Of course the thing with American shows is there are 30 odd a season so there's loads of the damn things!

[KeithPratt]

Dad's Army.
Whatever happened to the Likely Lads
Python
The Man from UNCLE (only as a kid)

[naughty boy]

Yeah - if you haven't watched the TV Python recently then I'd watch the whole lot again. It's a blast.

I did watch episodes of the Monkees and Batman as a kid but I don't recall either particularly well. I suspect the kitsch knowing campness of Batman would probably appeal now whereas as a kid I just thought it was silly.

I watched the Monkees pilot last night and laughed like a drain. I really want to see the whole lot now (I also watched them as a kid).

Mel Brooks worked on Get Smart, right?

He did, yeah. Your guarantee of quality, right there!

[Rayge]

I watched the Monkees pilot last night and laughed like a drain. I really want to see the whole lot now (I also watched them as a kid).

You can add The Monkees and Batman to my list, too. And most iterations of The Avengers.

I'm surprised that in that decade there are more comedy shows I remember than others.

[Rayge]

Whatever happened to the Likely Lads
The Man from UNCLE (only as a kid)

I love Whatever happened... but it debuted in 1973

And the Man from Uncle was sometimes as (unintentionally) funny as Get Smart.

[pcqgod]

I think most Americans my age grew up watching after school reruns of all or most of the following:

Gilligan's Island
I Dream of Jeannie
Bewitched
Batman
The Munsters
The Addams Family
Lost in Space
Star Trek
Get Smart

Some of them (Lost in Space, Batman) still have some camp appeal, I suppose. Addams Family (which I only watched as an adult) is actually quite good.

[naughty boy]

I like the dopey humour of stuff like The Addams Family and The Monkees. It seems everyone is trying to be so damned clever and witty today - it's refreshing to see someone get knocked out by a flying giraffe statue or something.

[Flower]

Some that come to mind ....

The Avengers
Combat
Have Gun - Will Travel
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Star Trek
Chiller Theatre
Creature Features
Checkmate
Hawaiian Eye
Hogan's Heroes
Ben Casey
It Takes a Thief
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Saint
Gidget
The Patty Duke Show
The Rat Patrol
That Girl
The Fugitive

[the masked man]

The Avengers would be my pick. Witty, stylish and full of fetishistic touches that the censor just didn't notice.

[sloopjohnc]

I think most Americans my age grew up watching after school reruns of all or most of the following:

Gilligan's Island
I Dream of Jeannie
Bewitched
Batman
The Munsters
The Addams Family
Lost in Space
Star Trek
Get Smart

Some of them (Lost in Space, Batman) still have some camp appeal, I suppose. Addams Family (which I only watched as an adult) is actually quite good.

I sure did.

[sloopjohnc]

I think most Americans my age grew up watching after school reruns of all or most of the following:

Gilligan's Island
I Dream of Jeannie
Bewitched
Batman
The Munsters
The Addams Family
Lost in Space
Star Trek
Get Smart

Some of them (Lost in Space, Batman) still have some camp appeal, I suppose. Addams Family (which I only watched as an adult) is actually quite good.

I sure did. You forgot McHale's Navy.

Bewitched was a family favorite in our house.

[sloopjohnc]

[i]The Untouchables

I have a friend who says, "Rico, Youngfellow," and I know exactly that he's referring to Robert Stack calling out to his other FBI agents.

It's also hard to believe that the Flintstones was on at primetime.

[naughty boy]

I could probably write a lot more about this, but I wanted to say how magical the USA was to me as a kid - or at least my idea of it. Many of those shows just added to the appeal. I had the idea that it was a land where everyone was at play, and everything was strange, and colourful. Or something. It's difficult to put into words. Actually there might not have been anything that's possible to explain at all - it was just a sort of feeling.

I used to go straight to the back of the Marvel comics my cousin used to get sent mail-order, just to read those small ads.



And this, along with MAD magazine and all those nutcase shows - kids running around saying silly things, and talking horses, and earnest black-and-white sci-fi and cop shows and comedies with incomprehensible catchphrases and loads of canned laughter, really fired my imagination.