My Facebook friend Professor Steve Beverly posted his answers to a survey about classic television. The only restriction is that television series referenced in survey answers must have aired for two seasons or more. The Prof gave simple one-line answers for his Facebook post; since I’m bloggin’ it, I shall offer commentary where it seems appropriate. Or inappropriate for that matter.
And now….in living color…the survey!
CLASSIC TV SERIES I DISLIKE: Dennis The Menace. Jay North had one setting for the–wait a minute. I wrote a whole blog centered on my hatred for this sitcom. Just read that.
CLASSIC TV SERIES I THINK IS OVERRATED: “The Munsters” and “The Addams Family”.
CLASSIC TV SERIES I THINK IS UNDERRATED: “The Joey Bishop Show”. Ignore the first season, in which Bishop played a nebbishy employee at a talent agency. The remaining seasons, with Bishop playing a successful TV personality, have marvelous guest stars; the lovely Abby Dalton in support as Joey’s wife; and Joe Besser as Jillson, the building superintendent. He lights up every scene he’s in.
CLASSIC TV SERIES I LOVE: The Dick Van Dyke Show. Simply the best written, best acted, best directed situation comedy of its era and, I believe, of any era.
CLASSIC TV SERIES I CAN WATCH OVER AND OVER: Dragnet 196x. I’ve been watching reruns of the hippie-laden reboot of Jack Webb’s game-changing police drama since the 1980’s on Nick At Nite. It’s been on MeTV for a few years now and I’ve seen every episode….well, a lot of times. I can’t quite explain why Dragnet appeals to me so…it’s some combination of ingredients, starting with the team dynamics of Sargeant Joe Friday and his partner, Officer Bill Gannon. Gannon is played for comiic relief by Harry Morgan.
CLASSIC TV SERIES THAT MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH TV: “Gilligan’s Island.” Gilligan and the other six castaways were weekday fixtures at 4:30pm on WTVH-5, immediately following Tom and Jerry or Bugs Bunny cartoons. I remember the shock of seeing a black and white episode for the first time (channel 5 buried the black and white episodes in the depths of summer).
GUILTY PLEASURE: The Brady Bunch. And honestly, I have no guilt whatsoever about loving the Bradys. In fact I am something of a Brady Savant. I can generally pinpoint which episode I’m watching before the director credit pops up.
CLASSIC TV SERIES I SHOULD HAVE SEEN BY NOW BUT HAVEN’T: The Outer Limits.
CLASSIC TV SERIES MASTERPIECE: The Jack Benny Program (this was Professor Steve’s answer and I must agree 100%!)
CLASSIC TV SERIES ACTOR (MALE): Andy Griffith. His adjustment between seasons one and two of “The Andy Griffith Show” is quite remarkable. He starts the series putting on the kind of cornpone accent he used in stand-up routines like “What It Was, Was Football.” By season two, Andy is secure in the “straight man” role, the voice of sanity when dealing with Barney, Aunt Bee (“Call the man!”), or other Mayberry denizens.
CLASSIC TV SERIES ACTOR (FEMALE): Lucille Ball. The only answer.
CLASSIC TV SERIES DIRECTOR: Jerry Paris. Remember up above when I said “The Dick Van Dyke Show” was the best directed comedy? A large part of that distinction is owed to Jerry Paris, who directed such classic episodes as “It May Look Like A Walnut.” About a decade after the Van Dyke Show closed shop, Paris became the house director of “Happy Days”, which had just been transitioned from a single-camera comedy to a multi-camera “filmed before a live audience” series.
CLASSIC VARIETY SHOW I’D LOVE TO SEE AGAIN: Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Time Life put out a couple sets of edited episodes….wish I’d held onto those. It seems with variety shows that something is always going to be withheld due to music clearance fees.
CLASSIC SERIES THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN MADE: The only answer I can come up with is “The Amos And Andy Show.” The television version of a radio show featuring extremely exaggerated African-American characters portrayed by two white men. The TV series, to be clear, used a cast of black actors. But the characters remained problematic. CBS, the owner of the series, withdrew its two seasons of episodes from syndication in the late 60’s.
CLASSIC SERIES THAT RAN ONE TO TWO YEARS TOO LONG: My Three Sons. And boy, are there a lot of good answers for this one. But “My Three Sons” limped to the barn on the same Saturday night as “Mary Tyler Moore” was turning the world on with her smile.
CLASSIC SERIES THAT SHOULD HAVE RUN ONE TO TWO YEARS LONGER: The Dick Van Dyke Show. Dick and Mary were headed for movie careers, and Carl Reiner said long beforehand that he planned for five seasons. But that 6th season (almost certainly in color) would be worth watching.