One of my all-time favorite TV shows is “Home Improvement” which follows the escapades of Tim “The Toolman” Taylor and his family. There are a lot of shows that I watched in my formative years that I thought were so fantastic and cutting edge at the time, only to watch them as an adult and think, “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen!” (Yes, I meant to just plagiarize myself and is it really plagiarism if it’s your own words? I think that’s called de ja vu . . . or being redundant.) For example, anything that starred David Hasselhoff. Where is Max Headroom today? Or Automan, for that matter? Or Manimal? (OK, so those go further back . . . elephant memory, remember?)
And then there are the shows that are timeless: Magnum P.I. . . . and . . . do I really need to continue? Although, I must give The Wonder Years its due. Home Improvement is also proving to be timeless to me as I catch its reruns on Nick at Night lately. I love Tim’s regurgitation of Wilson’s pearls of wisdom in “Neanderthal” man-speak and his complete misquotations of history’s great philosophers, and their names. It’s still hilarious all these years later.
Personally, I think the writing is the key to a good show. I don’t know that Eric Bana would have made Knight Rider worth watching today. Let me rephrase that: I don’t know that Eric Bana would have made Knight Rider worth sitting and listening to the dialogue today. (By the same token, however, nobody but Tom Selleck could be Thomas Magnum. Hmm . . . tricky.) Some of the shows of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s have the worst dialogue in the history of screen. It wallows in the shallow sludge that is the romance dialogue of James Bond movies. ~shudder~ No wonder Bond will never be in a long-term relationship.
But there are plenty of fantastic to choose from. Allow me to present to you my picks for the best shows on TV—ever! (The top 4 are my absolutes, the rest are in no particular order.)
#1 Magnum P.I.
#2 Arrested Development
#3 Scrubs
#4 24
#5 Dead Like Me
#6 Home Improvement
#7 The Wonder Years
#8 Hart to Hart (yes, you read that right)
#9 Hunter
#10 Sledgehammer
What are yours?
6 comments:
I'm with you on Magnum PI, AD, and 24. I'd have to add Northern Exposure and I am diggin' Flight of the Concords!
I'm surprised SNL didn't make it to your top 10.
I LOVE Magnum PI so that is my favorite! Then ER (when George Clooney and Anthony Edwards were on it...not so much since) I'm just getting to know the fabulous fun that is AD (because of yall!) I love to watch M*A*S*H reruns on TVLand. Other than that I watch Discovery shows like Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters! Not much "writing" involved in those...but I love Mike Rowe's sense of humor!
I do love SNL. Check out "Andy Punches" on the SNL website. I freaking love Andy Samburg! I enjoyed ER, but I didn't plan my Thursdays around it. I know people revere M*A*S*H, but I think Magnum tops it. Sherry, we're going to have to have Magnum Marathon!
I like pretty much anything with a body count ... real not fiction. I don't know if that's normal or not, but that's the truth. I also like sarcastic humor like AD, The Office, Seinfeld, and I still like to watch reruns of Mad About You.
OOO Mad about You is good! And Seinfeld too....I have a twisted humor and those fit right into it.
I have season one of Magnum PI DVD ready and waiting Lisa!! :)
Well, if you're looking for clever writing, then I recommend The West Wing.
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