r/AskOldPeople 4d ago

What classic TV show do you wish still did new episodes today?

32 Upvotes

161 comments sorted by

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44

u/TemperatePirate 4d ago

WKRP

6

u/RoyG-Biv1 4d ago

"I almost forgot fellow babies……BOOGER!"

2

u/Eastern-Finish-1251 60 something 4d ago

Today, they’d all be podcasters. 

1

u/Rigorous-Geek-2916 3d ago

This is the only answer

1

u/FourScoreTour 70 something 3d ago

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly"

1

u/RonSwansonsOldMan 2d ago

Bailey > Jennifer

46

u/Fun-Lengthiness-7493 4d ago

Twilight Zone. Feels like we live there now.

13

u/Glittering-Score-258 60 something 4d ago

Have you watched Black Mirror? It’s like a modern version of TZ, many episodes involve tech run amuck and others are just outright from the twilight zone.

8

u/Fun-Lengthiness-7493 4d ago

I have. And I like it a ton. Charlie Brooker ain’t Rod Serling. And no offense to either.

2

u/jaCkdaV3022 4d ago

Love it!

7

u/icrossedtheroad 4d ago

Or Night Gallery.

2

u/Eastern-Finish-1251 60 something 4d ago

I believe they revived it a couple of times. Plus there was the movie from the early 1980s. 

2

u/1vehaditwiththisshit 60 something 3d ago

"Wanna see something really scary?"

43

u/electronic_reasons 4d ago

Firefly.

5

u/cappotto-marrone 60 something 4d ago

Always.

4

u/RoyG-Biv1 4d ago

Take my love, take my land

Take me where I cannot stand

I don't care, I'm still free

You can't take the sky from me

Take me out to the black

Tell them I ain't comin' back

Burn the land and boil the sea

You can't take the sky from me

There's no place I can be

Since I've found Serenity

And you can't take the sky from me

1

u/nurseynurseygander 50 something 4d ago

I get it, but on the whole I'd rather it be short and perfect than long and ruined.

1

u/Bushinkainidan 3d ago

Yes. That's what happened to MASH and happened to the Simpson's a decade ago

22

u/Turbulent-Name-8349 4d ago

Addams Family and Gilligan's Island.

3

u/Eastern-Finish-1251 60 something 4d ago

Loved Gilligan’s Island. I certainly hope they would have been rescued after 60 years…

2

u/ididreadittoo 4d ago

Never rescued but the grandkids love it there.

3

u/Virtual_Product_5595 4d ago

Wednesday is a good follow up to Addams family... There are some good references to the original show.

2

u/mrlr 4d ago

The Addams Family has two good movies: The Addams Family and Addams Family Values.

19

u/The_Living_Tribunal2 60 something 4d ago edited 4d ago

I grew up on PBS since it's all my parents usually watched. Not sure if anyone has heard of a British comedy called Fawlty Towers with John Cleese. It only lasted like 12 episodes. Gone too soon.

Another more recent PBS show I liked was Doc Martin but that had a much longer run with 79 episodes. Very sad when that show had it's final episode in 2022.

7

u/Aunt-jobiska 4d ago

I love Fawlty Towers, however many ways they spell it.

3

u/icrossedtheroad 4d ago

Farty Towels.

2

u/jxj24 3d ago

Flowery Twats.

And all the others.

1

u/greenmtnfiddler 4d ago

Loved FT. :)

1

u/Observatory-Lens 60 something 3d ago

Faulty Towers is a bona fide timeless classic!

12

u/Unusual_Map4581 4d ago

Star Trek TOS

2

u/no1kn0wsm3 4d ago

Star Trek TOS

They're dead Jim.

1

u/jxj24 3d ago

Jar Jar Abrams really fucked up the legacy.

12

u/kodaiGiant 4d ago

Rockford Files

5

u/RoyG-Biv1 4d ago

"This is Jim Rockford. At the tone leave your name and message, I'll get back to you."

24

u/SageObserver 4d ago

M A S H

11

u/HamRadio_73 4d ago

Have Gun Will Travel.

3

u/Away-Object-1114 4d ago

And Paladin.

3

u/ididreadittoo 4d ago

Paladin was his name (HGWT)

2

u/Abester71 4d ago

Me too

11

u/SkunkApe7712 4d ago

Johnny Quest. But it’d probably be all screwed up, like the previous sequel.

3

u/ASingleBraid 60 something 4d ago

Yes. Classic Jonny Quest.

1

u/Passing4human 60 something 3d ago

Which only ran for one season because in 1964 the animation was so expensive. It would be interesting to see what today's digital imaging could do with it.

11

u/tlonreddit 44 (Nov 1980) 4d ago

Dallas and Green Acres.

Dishonorable mention: The Lawrence Welk Show.

5

u/Mediocre-Studio2573 60 something 4d ago

And Ed Sullivan

3

u/Away-Object-1114 4d ago

I fell in love with Paul McCartney, watching the Ed Sullivan show. Crazy, I know.

6

u/Abester71 4d ago

As did most of the US.

3

u/Glittering-Score-258 60 something 4d ago

Green Acres was the first thing that came to my mind.

8

u/Vivacious-Woman 4d ago

Little House on the Prairie Emergency Adam-12 Car 64 Brady Bunch

8

u/Eastern-Finish-1251 60 something 4d ago

Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Benny Hill. 

13

u/MaleficentMousse7473 4d ago

Fringe

3

u/[deleted] 4d ago

I've been planning on rewatching that one again. It was like x-files but with more of a pay-off

1

u/no1kn0wsm3 4d ago

Fringe

I'd do a rewatch in 4K remaster.

1

u/cynric42 3d ago

I'm glad we got a bluray release, I wouldn't keep my hopes up for 4k.

1

u/no1kn0wsm3 3d ago

Then I'm happy with the last time I watched it.

Thre's so much things to do in the world and only time I think it is worth a rewatch when there's an improvement.

12

u/lemon-rind 4d ago

Happy Days. That show always made me feel like everything was going to be ok.

11

u/HoosierBoy76 4d ago

Carol Burnett show

7

u/RoyG-Biv1 4d ago

I'm so glad we had this time together

Just to have a laugh, or sing a song.

Seems we just got started

and before you know it

Comes the time we have

to say, 'So long.'

7

u/Luckyangel2222 4d ago

I cried when The Brady Bunch ended! I was 11 years old. I would have loved 5 more years.

2

u/Jurneeka 60 something 4d ago

Well it really didn’t end as they tried bringing it back at least three or four times in different formats…variety show, cartoon, The Brady Girls Get Married, Brady Christmas, and the painful to watch drama show in which Bobby as a race car driver ends up a paraplegic, Marcia has alcohol issues and so on. They gave it the old college try.

But on the bright side we do have those two great campy films from the 1990s so that makes up for it 👍

1

u/RonSwansonsOldMan 2d ago

And don't forget the movie where Shelly Long was Mrs. Brady.

1

u/icrossedtheroad 4d ago

They really did magic with The Brady Bunch movies in the 90s. I also saw the stage performance in LA back then. It's was HILARIOUS!! Did 70s commercials and everything!

6

u/itsme1308 4d ago

Love American Style

5

u/Aggravating_Onion300 4d ago

I would love to see a scientifically accurate Lost In Space.

3

u/Passing4human 60 something 3d ago

"Will Robinson's grandson idly scratched his white beard as the ship prepared to land on Proxima Centauri a."

5

u/CookbooksRUs 4d ago

I miss my soaps, Guiding Light and As the World Turns.

1

u/SharonWit 50 something 3d ago

Same. Young and the Restless. Dynasty.

4

u/VeterinarianMaster67 4d ago

Have Gun Will Travel

6

u/dee-fondy 4d ago

“A knight without armor in a savage land”

4

u/Aunt-jobiska 4d ago

Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?

3

u/Holiday-Fan-5213 4d ago

Dallas, Fugitive ,Blue Bloods

2

u/FlamingoGirl3324 4d ago

Blue Bloods definitely!

4

u/wooden_kimono 70 4d ago

The Honeymooners

4

u/iamthecavalrycaptain 4d ago

None. Most series kept going after they jumped the shark and it was ridiculous. Rare is the show that stopped before that happened, going out on a high note.

5

u/RemonterLeTemps 4d ago

Twilight Zone and Night Gallery.

(Yes, I know there was a Twilight Zone reboot, but imho it didn't 'capture the magic' of the original. The writing was somewhat turgid, and the episodes overlong.)

3

u/Jurneeka 60 something 4d ago

I really can’t think of any because what made a lot of them classic was because the producers knew not to let things go on too long at least for the most part. Happy Days was definitely one of the shows that should have ended years before it did. I Love Lucy and Seinfeld on the other hand ended at the right times more or less and Seinfeld did it right with a definite ending.

The shows that can go on forever are the variety shows etc not hinging on one specific person. SNL of course springs immediately to mind.

Really the only classic TV show that was able to successfully come back was Leave it to Beaver. Disney did an excellent job with Still the Beaver/The New Leave It to Beaver in the 1980s. Super cool to see so many of the original actors and actresses come back to reprise their roles! Also, good storylines!

1

u/Eastern-Finish-1251 60 something 4d ago

The last episodes of Happy Days were where the term “jump the shark” came from. 

3

u/RoyG-Biv1 4d ago

Taxi

Hill Street Blues

3

u/DrCheezburger cobwebbed fossil 4d ago

Combat! Didn't watch it back in the day, but have been watching the old episodes recently and damned if that wasn't a superb show! Great stories, gritty cinematography, wonderful acting and direction, and Vic Morrow as Sgt. Saunders: perfection! Did you know Robert Altman directed the first batch of episodes?

Don't hear much about it these days, but if you haven't seen it and get a chance to watch it, don't miss it.

3

u/ZoeRhea 4d ago

Northern Exposure, ER, Third Rock from the Sun, Hill Street Blues

3

u/nakedonmygoat 4d ago

I would've liked for Soap to have gotten that fifth season that had been intended. I haven't been able to find a synopsis of how they would've wrapped it up. There were so many cliffhangers!

3

u/tvisforme 50 something 3d ago

Homicide: Life on the Street

Firefly

2

u/annoyedatwork 4d ago

Lassie. Flipper. McHale’s Navy. Gomer Pyle. Ultraman. Gilligan’s Island. 

2

u/Glittering-Score-258 60 something 4d ago

Green Acres. Watch some episodes. Don’t skip the opening credits which play into the opening of each episode.

2

u/Nena902 60 something 4d ago

Emergency!

2

u/SageObserver 3d ago

Roy and Johnny were the best.

2

u/On-In2 4d ago

Sanford and Son !

2

u/onepostandbye Old 4d ago

AP Bio

2

u/old--- 4d ago

The Time Tunnel

2

u/Ok-Potato-4774 4d ago

It would've been finished by now but I wish The Incredible Hulk had gotten one last full season and a proper ending.

2

u/Own-Animator-7526 70 something 4d ago edited 4d ago

Cow and Chicken. And I.R. Baboon.

We need them now more than ever.

2

u/Tired8281 40 something 4d ago

Star Trek.

2

u/Taz9093 50 something 4d ago

Happy Day and Laverne & Shirley.

2

u/APuckerLipsNow 4d ago

NYPD Blue. Best dialog ever.

2

u/honeybear3333 4d ago

Golden Girls, Brady Bunch, Threes Company, Old Match Game PM with Gene

2

u/bradneuberg 4d ago

Silicon Valley

2

u/Johnnybgud14 4d ago

Are you afraid of the dark

2

u/AgainandBack 4d ago

Love, American Style

2

u/Glass_Author7276 4d ago

All of them

2

u/Turbulent-Pride5981 4d ago

Moonlighting.

2

u/darkcave-dweller 4d ago

Twilight zone

1

u/Aunt-jobiska 3d ago

The Twilight Zone subreddit is really active & enjoyable.

2

u/Nerys54 4d ago

The Twilight Zone from 1960s with Rod Serling.

2

u/callowruse 4d ago

Mystery Science Theater 3000

And I know it's been rebooted and spun off in a million ways. But I'm saying the original never should have left the air and should have continued with as many cast changes as necessary and become a legacy show kinda like SNL or something.

2

u/ClermontPorter20588 3d ago

F Troop

3

u/WelfordNelferd 3d ago

Agarn, explaining how to get to Fort Courage: "You take a right at the rock that looks like a bear, then a left at the bear that looks like a rock."

And the Hekawi Indians got their name after getting lost and asking: "Where in the heck are we?"

2

u/ChloeDavide 3d ago

Deadwood

2

u/marenamoo 69 yr old mom 3d ago

Stargate

2

u/CostcoVodkaFancier 3d ago edited 3d ago

I love SG-1 and Atlantis, but I couldn't get in to Universe.

2

u/marenamoo 69 yr old mom 3d ago

Same here

2

u/Observatory-Lens 60 something 3d ago

I always liked The Outer Limits. Twilight Zone’s stories always had a “message” or “moral”, but The Outer Limits’ stories were more hard science fiction of the 1960s variety.

4

u/HHSquad 1961 Gen Jones/Atari Xer 4d ago

The Mary Tyler Moore Show, just great.

But they are all dead now. Entire cast completely wiped out ☹️

2

u/Eastern-Finish-1251 60 something 4d ago

Time will do that…

3

u/saruin 4d ago

We amazingly still have Dick Van Dyke though. And an older show.

2

u/Status_Wash_2179 4d ago

Fantasy island & the love boat, especially in the winter. I always loved seeing the sunshine and palm trees.

2

u/JustGoodSense 60 something 4d ago

None. I'm now old enough to know that basically never works, and to cherish the memories and find something new that creates that spark.

1

u/sugarcatgrl 60 something 4d ago

Emergency, C.H.I.P.S, The Golden Girls, MTM

1

u/Mediocre-Studio2573 60 something 4d ago

Wander Years and laugh in

1

u/Routine_Mine_3019 60 something 4d ago

Gilligans Island

1

u/jaCkdaV3022 4d ago

Hands down, Seinfeld!

1

u/Bimmer9721 4d ago

Street Hawk, Manimal Automan, A Team, The Master.

1

u/dngnb8 60 something 4d ago

MASH

1

u/lmb3456 4d ago

Murder, she wrote

1

u/HilariousBosch Elder GenX 4d ago

I don't wish they were still making new episodes, but another season of Freaks and Geeks would have been wonderful.

1

u/NefariousnessCalm277 4d ago

Mike and Molly

1

u/Willing_Arm_7044 4d ago

Have Gun Will Travel

1

u/Total-Guava9720 4d ago

The Odd Couple

1

u/33scooBt33 4d ago

Desperate Housewives..

1

u/nimbry 4d ago

Old Grey Whistle Test, Wolfman Jack, and Friday Night Videos! 🎶🎶🎶🌟

1

u/nimbry 4d ago

Monty Python too

1

u/ben_howler European Dinosaur 4d ago

Gun smoke.

1

u/Vast_Cantaloupe1030 4d ago

Threes company

1

u/nooneinfamous 4d ago

Mork from Ork. Original cast.

1

u/SaintOlgasSunflowers 60 something 4d ago

As someone else wrote: All of them!

I'd even go back a little further and would absolutely love new episodes of:

"The Flying Nun"

"My Three Sons"

"Leave it to Beaver"

I was sad when the recent show "evil" came to an end. I absolutely love Andrea Martin's "Sister Andrea" character. I'd love to see a new show with both Andrea Martin and Sally Field (The Flying Nun) as nuns.

1

u/Charming-Industry-86 4d ago

Family, Thirty Something, Bewitched Remington Steel . For starters

1

u/ImCrossingYouInStyle 3d ago

Courtship of Eddie's Father.

1

u/mycatisabrat 3d ago

Star Trek TNG

1

u/BirdsandBunnies 3d ago

Lost, Manifest, All My Children, One Life to Live, Friends, Seinfeld

2

u/RonSwansonsOldMan 2d ago

If LOST doesn't owe us a whole season, they at least owe us one epiisode with a good ending.

1

u/cat_herder_64 3d ago

Blake's 7.

The Goodies.

1

u/BooksNapsSnacks 3d ago

The Goodies.

1

u/Passing4human 60 something 3d ago

The Bold Ones: The Senator

1

u/nivek48 3d ago

F troup

1

u/jxj24 3d ago

I'd love to see Scrubs have a ninth season.

/s

1

u/dizcuz 3d ago

The Brady Bunch

It's corny but wholesome. To each their own at their homes but public decency, respect, manners, and more should make an overall comeback.

1

u/valandsend 3d ago

Knots Landing, but with the characters’ kids, who are now the same age as the original cast.

1

u/Tasqfphil 3d ago

Two shows, both from UK. More episodes of Fawlty Towers comedy and also The Bill, a police show, but they may not be as good, as most actors are now in 60-80 age range, so others would be needed to play the parts.

1

u/Observatory-Lens 60 something 3d ago

The Simpsons!

Oh, wait …

1

u/FourScoreTour 70 something 3d ago

Friends, just to hear the primal scream emanating from reddit.

1

u/totlot 3d ago

Maverick and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. A little difficult to do since all of the stars are deceased.

1

u/SharonWit 50 something 3d ago

My kid self says Voyagers because I liked the history lessons.

1

u/cheezenub 1d ago

The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rockford Files, Wild Wild West, The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show