For Each Decade of Your Life—One Favorite TV Show

[attyfan]

I never watched a lot of TV, but ...

'60s -- Ed Sullivan Show (early '60s) and Laugh-In (late '60s)

No real favorites after that (didn't watch a lot in later decades, as I was in college (mid '70s), getting married (in '79), working (to mid '80s) and then law school)

 

[manhn]

I’m curious as to why we made our picks. Growing up, I was starved of role models so that’s what I used to enjoy about shows, then characters near my age, most recently I just want escapism.

Then there are shows I loved but had terrible seasons or backstage issues (TheGood Wife) ended horribly or lasted too long (hello ER and Grey’s Anatomy).

And then I’m sure I forgot dozens of others I adored at the time.

I never liked things like cartoons and "family programming" as a kid. I was born in the 70s so my choosing Dallas was something I saw when I was older, not live.

Of course there are shows that begin at a certain decade but end the next decade. Not sure how to classify those shows.

 

[skipaway]

60’s Dark Shadows
70’s Emergency
80’s MacGyver
90’s ER
00’s The Closer
10’s The Good Wife
20’s MLB (Nationals)

 

[Cachoo]

A lot of these are in retrospect; I had favorites then that I either don't like anymore, or that got eclipsed eventually by other favorites from the same decade.

70s M*A*S*H
80s Cheers (At the time I would've said The Cosby Show, but I really don't feel that way about it anymore. )
90s Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Technically, it started in the late 80s, but it didn't come onto my radar until later.)
00s Tie between Psych, Monk, and Gilmore Girls
10s Sherlock
20s Only Murders in the Building

I'll probably think of others later and want a do-over.

This is what I notice particularly about the 2000's...it is too hard to stay with one. It was called the golden age of television after all. I picked The Wire but I also loved West Wing and Battlestar Galactica.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I'm not playing by the rules. I think it was a sacrifice to limit the '60's, my prime TV watching years (see: Dream On), to nine:

1960's: ABC's Wide World of Sports, Star Trek, Get Smart, Mission Impossible, The Wonderful World of Disney, Another World, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Dr. Kildare, Wonderama (local to NYC metro). I loved Bonanza more in re-runs.

1970's: All My Children, Masterpiece Theater, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, MASH

1980's Star Trek: The Next Generation, thirtysomething

1990's: Brooklyn Bridge, ER, Law & Order, Dream On (not to be meta or anything)

2000's: Sex and the City, Modern Family, Skins, Shameless (UK version)

2010's: The Good Wife.

2020's: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

 

[made_in_canada]

early 2000’s - IT Crowd
mid 2000’s - Better Off Ted
later 2000’s - Schitt’s Creek
2020’s so far - Derry Girls

Loved all of these. Better off Ted was so underrated.

 

[myhoneyhoney]

Late 70’s: Sesame Street, anything Hello Kitty
80’s: Sesame Street, still anything Hello Kitty (hell, anything Hello Kitty even NoW ), Voltron, Robotech, Mickey Mouse Club…. Dynasty if my Mom was off that night
90’s: 90210, Friends
00’s: Rome, Sex in the City, Felicity DVDs
10’s: Once Upon a Time, Tudors, the White Queen series
20’s:Bridgerton, the Last Kingdom, Marie Antoinette

 

[nlloyd]

No-one for the New Avengers (British show) in the 1970s? No Joanna Lumley fans?

 

[PRlady]

I’m surprised I’m the only one who picked Hill Street. It was the innovative prestige drama that laid the groundwork for a lot of fine series.

It would also be fun to pick the one really popular show you hated. For me it was Seinfeld, forever and ever amen.

 

[PeterG]

No-one for the New Avengers (British show) in the 1970s? No Joanna Lumley fans?

Yes, two so far:

1970s: The Muppet Show
1980s: Golden Girls
1990s: Absolutely Fabulous
2000s: Sex and the City
2010s: The Americans
2020s: The White Lotus

1990s: The Simpsons

• Honorable mentions: Absolutely Fabulous, Homefront, Tracey Takes On, Frasier, and Mad About You

I'm sure a lot more people would have listed AbFab, but they listed just one show per decade. So Lumley was on a show before AbFab, huh?

 

[Japanfan]

I've never been much of a TV watcher - but for the 90s, Chicago Hope.

 

[tony]

Loved all of these. Better off Ted was so underrated.

 

[nlloyd]

Yes, two so far:





I'm sure a lot more people would have listed AbFab, but they listed just one show per decade. So Lumley was on a show before AbFab, huh?

Ah, right. I think many Brits of a certain age were drawn to AbFab because they knew her from the much earlier New Avengers.

 

[VGThuy]

Ah, right. I think many Brits of a certain age were drawn to AbFab because they knew her from the much earlier New Avengers.

During one behind-the-scenes special AbFab did, Jennifer Saunders was showing the viewers Lumley’s audition tape, but instead showed us clips of Lumley in The New Avengers. I love both Saunders and Lumley.

 

[Matryeshka]

1980s, I have to have two: The Wonder Years/Jem and the Holograms (I was ten when the 80s ended. Sue me)
1990s, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER best show ever.
2000s Gilmore Girls
2010s Bones I know it debuted in the 2000s but I didn't start watching it till 2017ish when a fellow teacher badgered me into watching it. I'd never watched it because it was crime, medical, bones/probably gross, procedural, none of which I like. But I love Bones. She was right, damnit.
2020s Only Murders in the Building

I need to give some secondary awards to shows of the 90s:
My So-Called Life, where I fantasized daily about Jordan Catalano and has held up surprisingly well. Seriously, go back and watch it. It's still a good show.
Basically anything by David E Kelly in the 90s

 

[VGThuy]

Basically anything by David E Kelly in the 90s

Speaking of David E. Kelley, there’s one show I didn’t put on the list due to some very personal complicated feelings I have about it, but i rewatched Ally McBeal recently and realized how much impact that show had on me. Long story short… it’s why I became a lawyer and even my husband is a non-fictional variant of Robert Downey Jr.‘s character on that show…

 

[myhoneyhoney]

I loved Jem and the Holograms!!!

 

[Spikefan]

70’s: The Muppet Show

80s: The Wonder Years

Early 90s: 90210

Late 90s: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (#1 on this whole list) Honorable mention to the 1 season of Freaks and Geeks.

Early 00’s: Six Feet Under

Late 00’s: Friday Night Lights

Early 10’s: Parks and Rec

Late 10’s: Schitt’s Creek

20’s: Stranger Things

Also, like @Matryeshka, all the 90’s David E. Kelley shows, especially Picket Fences and Ally McBeal.

Oh and every drama on the WB, the 90’s were it for me and TV.

 

[Matryeshka]

@VGThuy , I had a much longer post about David E Kelly and then deleted it because I figured no one wanted to read my ramblings, but I specifically addressed that Ally McBeal, my absolute favorite for the first three seasons, is problematic at best. I have never rewatched it because of that, and I stopped watching it when with the Billy story line where he basically became a douchenozzle. I am sure it has not aged well.

Even Gilmore Girls as recent as it is has some episodes. And the more I watch the more I think Rory might be the most unlikeable character ever. The more I watch it, the more I think Emily is the least insufferable Gilmore, though that seems to be a hallmark of Sherman-Pallidino shows to create a character that you know in real life you'd absolutely loathe (gives side-eye at Ms Maisel). But it's on the list because I still love The Bracebridge Dinner, and watch it every year at Christmas.

 

[moebius]

70's-CHiPs
80's-Three's Company/What's Happening!/MTV/VH1
90's-Seinfeld/Simpsons/X-Files
2000's-Everybody Loves Raymond/King of Queens
2010-Two and Half Men/Big Bang Theory/Ugly Betty
2020's-? Ordinary Joe/Good Girls

 

[once_upon]

It would also be fun to pick the one really popular show you hated. For me it was Seinfeld, forever and ever amen

Add Friends.

 

[manhn]

In terms of popular shows I hate, it is Gilmore Girls. I hate hate hate shows where skinny characters are skinny even though they eat so much food.

 

[Cachoo]

70’s: The Muppet Show

80s: The Wonder Years

Early 90s: 90210

Late 90s: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (#1 on this whole list) Honorable mention to the 1 season of Freaks and Geeks.

Early 00’s: Six Feet Under

Late 00’s: Friday Night Lights

Early 10’s: Parks and Rec

Late 10’s: Schitt’s Creek

20’s: Stranger Things

Also, like @Matryeshka, all the 90’s David E. Kelley shows, especially Picket Fences and Ally McBeal.

Oh and every drama on the WB, the 90’s were it for me and TV.

A Picket Fences reference! What a weird and wonderful show!

 

[VGThuy]

In terms of popular shows I hate, it is Gilmore Girls. I hate hate hate shows where skinny characters are skinny even though they eat so much food.

It’s a comfort show for me, but I still get so angry when they’re having a meal or are around food and never eat the food or finish a meal. It happens all the time on that show.

At least with 30 Rock, Liz Lemon eats her food. She is still skinny, but Tina Fey made a joke about it in her autobiography when she did a fake Q&A chapter where she answered “burning” fan questions; one of them was why wasn’t Liz Lemon fat if she ate so much. Fey wrote that Liz had some “horrible” medical condition they doesn’t allow her to gain weight no matter how much she ate and then said “it’s tragic, isn’t it?”

 

[nlloyd]

During one behind-the-scenes special AbFab did, Jennifer Saunders was showing the viewers Lumley’s audition tape, but instead showed us clips of Lumley in The New Avengers. I love both Saunders and Lumley.

Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders' comedy partner, is fun too.

 

[PeterG]

Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders' comedy partner, is fun too.

Moreso in The Vicar Of Dibley, Jam & Jerusalum, Lark Rise to Candleford, Delicious or The Trouble with Maggie Cole? Just kidding. Obvious trick question. She's brilliant in all of them!

 

[allezfred]

People get angry at Gilmore Girls because they don’t eat their food? I started watching it during lockdown and persisted till the end to get it off my Netflix queue. Have to say I found none of the characters likeable at all. In fact, I felt the most sympathy for the conservative grandmother.

 

[flyingsit]

Late 70s: Brady Bunch reruns after school
80s: Family Ties
90s: Wonder Years
00s: Friday Night Lights
10s: The Americans, Silicon Valley
20s: Better Call Saul

 

[Wyliefan]

I don't know if everyone found the Gilmore Girls unlikable back in the day and just didn't have Internet to share it, or if they used to find them likable and then changed their minds. But it seems to be a common reaction now. There's a whole Substack devoted to "everything that's wrong with every episode of 'Gilmore Girls' & why we still love it," but in recent editions (they're up to season 6) it's been devolving into deep hatred.

I can see all the flaws but I still like it. I actually find the rhythm of the dialogue quite soothing and enjoyable (I often work with it on in the afternoons, or I did until UP TV stopped airing the reruns). The Palladinos' shows are always interesting, and I always watch them. But unfortunately, like most talented TV writers currently, they have some very bad habits.

I wrote something in another thread here about how superb season 5 episode 6 of their show "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" was. Unfortunately, it was preceded and followed by episodes that showcased all their worst habits -- undisciplined, self-indulgent, and so overly, relentlessly quirky it made my teeth ache. If they could just rein themselves in sometimes, they'd be consistently superb, but they can't seem to do it.

But they have a new show coming after this, and I'm sure I'll watch it. And like a lot of it. And complain about a lot of it.

 

[Cachoo]

Late 70s: Brady Bunch reruns after school
80s: Family Ties
90s: Wonder Years
00s: Friday Night Lights
10s: The Americans, Silicon Valley
20s: Better Call Saul

The house is for sale...buy it...put it on VRBO Listed for $5.5M.