There are a lot of good programs on tv.  One comes to mind, "Mad Men" on AMC.  It's coming back for a second 13 show season. It's set in 1960.  It shows the relationship between men and women back then in the context of business and personal relationships.  It has many layers of meaning. it's worth watching.

Oops! I forgot to mention "Seinfeld" as a great show.  And you all know why it was great, don't you?

talk about corruption of brain waves.. I've written some about this topic, and I particularly loved Neil Postman's series of books that dealt with the effect of television and tv culture on the human mind. Here are some links to some of my recent posts if you're interested:

http://blog.amoslanka.com/2008/06/19/a-response-on-media-content-and-delivery/

http://blog.amoslanka.com/2008/06/16/television-is-not-the-truth/

I tend to be more of a Netflix user.  Recent viewing has included The Duchess of Duke Street, Doc Martin, Lovejoy, Mapp & Lucia, the Eddie Izzard standup performances, and Scrubs (the most realistic medical series in ages).  Very little worth watching has come out of the US in years.  It's much safer to stick with UK programming.

Oh, forgot to mention,

You say that reality needs escaping, and that people lose innocence to life. Couldn't it be said or estimated that the degree to which reality needs escaping and innocence is lost to life is correlated to the degree to which humanity's minds have been deadened by such inventions as television?

Of course its not overnight getting to either side of that spectrum.

So the point would be to say would you rather people not had rotten brains or more? Otherwise it seems to me that it would all equal out.

Have not yet been to bed, so this may be unintelligible, but for my LIFE'S SOUL MATE LARRY DAVID, I will crawl over this finish line.
I was raised (lock and key—remember?) with the rationing of one hour of television per week, which could be redeemed only on Saturdays. Saturday is always crap TV, I have since learned.
My father: "T.V. prohibits boredom, which prohibits creativity. Keep them bored." Ever the academic.
And I was bored. Which meant I was NOT boring. Which meant I was quite the entertainment in high school. I knew know bounds. I don't think that was because of the TV thing, though. I'm just built that way.
Which is why, one night when I came out from bed and saw my father watching a stand up comic introducing a sitcom, I sat down, even though I was supposed to be in bed. "He's new. Name's Seinfeld. Really very good." My father said. And then he looked at my face, and let me stay up. Because he could already see that it was over for me. Head over heels.
The thing that David's writing did for me, even though, then, I did not know his name, was he made me feel like it was okay that, while the rest of the world was caught up looking at the 'big things,' I was so fascinated with the 'nothings.' He made me feel like it was okay to be as crazy as I felt. He made me feel like I could make a living at it, too, by barreling into NBC, draped only in velvet, and tell THEM how it was going to be. Mostly, he made me feel less alone.
I can't think of a better metaphor for my philosophy in life than the "one in the Chinese restaurant." The meal is not what it's all about, it's what happens while you're waiting for it. And, more importantly, it's grabbing a few random egg rolls along the way.

After all, WE'RE LIVING IN A SOCIETY HERE, PEOPLE.

For one Larry David, Miss Ive has spent years, staying up all night, trying to build a porthole INTO her television, so that she may sit down with him forever, and ask very important questions like, "Why do I order pesto? Where was pesto ten years ago?"

Post script.

Love this post, Mr. Peterman. Very bold to stand up for the television, and, even more bold, in favor of escaping reality. Very well played.

Adding to my list of favorite Peterman quotes:

"I think, frankly, it keeps a lot of sinners off the street watching 'Law and Order.'"

Post, post script.

My own sons are being raised to refer to my loves as 'Uncle Larry' and 'Uncle Jerry.' I'm totally serious. If you're bored, and want to read this, you'll know why I knew they would need them, too.

http://sandinmyswimsuit.blogspot.com/2008/07/pancakes-with-larry-david.html

And now I'm off to route my blog readers to this site today, as I CAN NOT WRITE ANOTHER WORD. But I can photoshop like a champ now. Apple-option-shift-L. And repeat.

I can't denounce the evils of the television, being who I am. I have friends who can - I have a friend who has actually given up TV - just woke up one morning and said, "I don't want to watch TV anymore." And so she hasn't.

But when I'm lounging around in the house and there's nothing to do in the middle of the day, there's nothing better than to flop on a couch and absorb yourself in absolute inanity. In someone else's life, with someone else's problems, just to watch where it all goes, just to feel good about yourself, because hey - your life isn't this weird. Can you imagine what it would be like to actually have a Kramer in your life? Or, for instance, if somehow, disembodied laughter followed you around, cracking up at everything remotely comic you might say? Or a soup Nazi? This sort of thing just doesn't happen in real life. So it's fun to imagine what it would be like if it did.

Personally, my favourite thing on television is The Office. I watched all of Season 3 in one sitting.

TODAY'S POLL DIDN'T INCLUDE MY FAVORITE SITCOM OF ALL TIME.  THE ORIGINAL "I LOVE LUCY" IS BY FAR THE MOST ENTERTAINING PROGRAM EVER ON TELEVISION!!!! THE WOMAN WAS A SHEER GENIUS!  I HAVE WATCHED HER SHOWS AND KNOW MOST BY HEART, BUT STILL LAUGH AND ENJOY THEM ALMOST EVERY SINGLE DAY.  WHEN I NEED TO ESCAPE THE REAL WORLD, (WHICH IS QUITE FREQUENTLY) THERE'S NO BETTER PLACE TO GO.  A FEW YEARS LATER BILL COSBY CAME ALONG. LOVED IT!  THE PROGRAMS TODAY CAN'T EVEN COMPARE IN ENTERTAINMENT VALUE TO THESE PROGRAMS.  I HAVE A BEST FRIEND, CAROL.  SHE AND I ARE REFERRED TO BY MANY AS LUCY AND ETHEL.  WE SEEM TO GET INTO ALOT OF PREDICAMENTS AND FUNNY SITUATIONS JUST LIKE THEY DID.  I DOUBT MY HUSBAND THINKS I AM QUITE AS AMUSING AS LUCY WAS.

AS FOR THE TELEVISION AND CORRUPTION ISSUE...IT'S TOTALLY WHAT YOU MAKE IT.  I BELIEVE THAT TELEVISION DOES HAVE IT'S PROS AND CONS BUT LUCKILY I GREW UP IN AN ERA THAT INCLUDED LUCY, ANDY GRIFFITH, AND DICK VAN DYKE AS MY HERO'S.  TODAY'S GENERATION ISN'T AS FORTUNATE.  THEY ARE SUBJECTED TO PROGRAMS THAT INCLUDE CORRUPTION AND VIOLENCE.  THE MOST VIOLENCE I CAN REMEMBER IS BARNEY FIFE SHOOTING HIMSELF IN THE FOOT.  AND AS FOR CREATIVITY...NO ONE COULD BE OR EVER WILL BE MORE CREATIVE OR AMUSING THAN LUCILLE BALL.

A NOTE TO THE "MISSIVE" AND ALL OF MY WELL-WISHERS FROM YESTERDAYS CONVERSATION.  THE EVENING WAS A TOTAL SUCCESS!! 

As for mesmerizing moments, for those old enough to remember. The weekend Kennedy was shot. Jack Ruby killing Lee Harvey Oswald, live on television.

There was a little known Britcom that probably no one has ever seen that was among the best: The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin. However, I don't think there was a funnier sitcom than Fawlty Towers.

working at a local TV station ~ I do believe that the Best has actually already devoured 9 years of my life by the time I'm 65 it may be be up to 20 years.  

I happen to LOVE TV ~ I Love September the most ~ It means new shows, new characters, new ideas, bad ideas, the industry poker game of trying to make show work by moving its schedule around & around until you get hit the mark of 2 million watching it for about 3 straigh weeks... What is not to LOVE?    

Personally my TV watching schedule is hetic to say the least & becomes more so in September & January when most new network shows premiere.  It's research, (NO Really it is actually work)   As I happen to work in the programming & promotions department knowing what the other stations are airing, what people are watching, what actors are in the show, what time it airs, does it re-air is information needed by the sales & programming staff to help make our station competitve.  

Of course I have my favorites, Mad Men right now is the top of the list, along with Scrubs, Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother, Project Runaway, Top Chef, Monk, & Psych just to name a few.  

Do these shows add to the deliquancy of society, I guess I would have to say for the sake of my job I hope not.  But in my heart I really think you can't just blame TV for all of it.  My parents allowed us to watch TV, but we were strang kids by many standards & often watch older films, or PBS & (Gasp) picked up books & ran around outside. But than again I had parents who actually parented & didn't use the TV as a substitute.

I remember being able to stay up to watch GWTW (MY FAVORITE) and when the North & South Mini Series was on being able to stay up & watch those also, along with MASH, Barney Miller & when we were off of school on Fridays Hill Street Blues (Be Careful out there). We got cable for 3 weeks when I was in grade school so My mom to could watch Fiddler on the Roof ( this was before a VCR was a common home item) It's one of my most lasting childhood memories.   

TV can be the as can many toher things the root of all evil or it can open up a whole world for you & in doing so you find a balance between life & loafing around on the couch.  Don't get me wrong I LOVE the Scrubs, Mad about You, Seinfeld, Monkees, Fawlty Towers weekend marathons as does everyone else. Because sometimes you just need to ESCAPE for a few minutes (hours).              

The easy choice for favorite sitcom is Seinfeld.  It really has become my religion.  We quote Seinfeld in my house like chinese proverbs.  A close second is not widely known:

Arrested Development: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrested_Development_(TV_series)

It was dubbed by many (not that many) as "the funniest show on television that nobody watches"... it must have been a Fox/bad time slot issue.  If you've not seen this incredibly written series I recommend you do.  It lasted on 3 seasons.  Get the DVD and enjoy. Possible your library would carry.

Let me leave you with some Seinfeldian wisdom from that ancient muse Costanza:

"Jerry, remember... it's not a lie... if you believe it"  :)

Ah yes!  The age-old discussion of how TV deadens the mind!  How we are not inspired to think and are de-sensitized to violence, and don't read as often thanks to the good ole TV!  I cannot think how many hours I have spent deadening my brain, watching shows such as Roots, Holocaust, Cosmos, The Birth of Europe, and especially I, Claudius.  My father and I used to devote the occasional Saturday to doing nothing but watching all 13 episodes of I, Claudius with lunch and restroom breaks thrown in sporadically.  Later, in my early teen years, I was not to be disturbed on Monday nights while watching Sherlock Holmes and Lovejoy.  Who better than the ultimate intellectual, Sherlock Holmes, to serve as a vehicle for numbing the mind.

The first performance I ever saw of Hamlet (which I understood and enjoyed at age 9) was on TV.  Ditto, A Tale of Two Cities.  I was taught the value of sensitivity -- sometimes at the cost of truth -- by watching Hawkeye Pierce turn the clock ahead so a fallen soldier's family wouldn't have to remember Christmas as the day that Daddy died.  I learned about astronomy, logic, and rational thought, listening to Carl Sagan on Cosmos.  For that matter, I learned mathematics on Sesame Street and how to read watching The Electric Company.  That's good old fashioned brain deadening if ever I've seen it.

And I'll give you one guess how I first saw Casablanca.

As Lieutenant Columbo would say, "Oh!  And one more thing!"

I'm not one of those classic movie lovers who insists that anything made before 1980 is inherently superior to anything made afterwards.  But I do tend to feel that way about comedy.  The vast majority of movie comedies made in the last 15 or 20 years are, in my opinion, simply not very funny (with certain notable exceptions).  When I discovered the TV series, Friends, it dawned on me that all the great comedy writers had gone over to television and were making a steady, comfortable, and well-deserved living in that medium.

LOVED Arrested Delvelopment ~ was actaully talking about it at 3am saturday morning while having breakfast.  Hello & the Banana Stand one of the FUNNIEST ever inside jokes done in a sitcom.  Can't wait for the film to come out...

Wasn't real big on Seinfeld in the begining, but now through the magic of syndication I am finding that at times it's pretty funny.

Finding the British Office funnier than the Americanized version, not really sure why. 

I also LOVE some shows on PBS, Roadshow, the History Detectives, NOVA, American Masters & Experience & of course most of the Ken Burns documentaries.  Those are amazing.  Have always wondered how one can become a researcher for him on these amazing documentaries he makes...

Seinfeld, Friends, Sex & the City I think I already have given up all the years of the 90's by watching & rewatching those shows alone.

For all my fellow Seinfeldians and Curb fans,
must give a shout out to the young lads and one lass of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Young Rob McElhenney, at the tender age of 27, marched himself into a studio and pitched a "Seinfelf on Crack" sitcom, to which I am also addicted.

I only hope he thought to drape himself entirely in velvet for the pitch. Ahhhhh.

Watch episodes for free here (see, who needs a TV to watch TV?)

http://www.hulu.com/videos/search?query=It%27s+Always+Sunny+in+Philadelphia

I highly recommend the one where "The Gang Dances Their Assess Off." As you can tell by that title, it's not for the timid.

MackDaddy!!! Can't wait for details, not the after stuff, just the look on his face when you dragged him into the back seat. Feel free to click on my link in third post to email, as to not let me derail yet another great debate!!

One more thing, now that my coffee is setting in, the link in the article listing 10 greatest TV moments? Buffy, really? Buffy?

Mr. Peterman,

Do you happen to have an outfit made entirely of draped velvet? Must add to list.

Will follow up.

Best,

Miss Ive

missive said: I highly recommend the one where "The Gang Dances Their Assess Off." As you can tell by that title, it's not for the timid.

 

Just look out for Rickety Cricket, rolling by to take you out of the dance contest... oh and stay away from Mac's "energy bars"... mess you up!!!

Can the next season take any longer to start???

I do look forward to my weekly dose of "Weeds" and recorded "Daily Shows," but I still think television is an insidious little beast. I blame it for reducing the attention span of the average teenager to something in the realm of a tired cat. It pains me to see how limited my high school-age nephew is for self-entertainment skills (a book?!?) in the absence of a TV screen.

Three words people:

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler are just about THE most believable TV couple ever. Oh, and you don't need to be a football fan--i've no great love for the pigskin. 

Also love HBO and particularly their sloga,"It's not TV, it's HBO," clearly ttying to distinguish great drama and writing with what most of us associate with the ususal drek the networks put out (with notable exceptions, of course).

Wheatgrass,

Love that quote; need one of those energy bars, too.

The fact that the producers and co-creators are so young makes it even more exciting to watch.

One more thing, on that note, jockeying back to the TV debate, we've talked a lot about the observing end of the 'Beast,' but not the creating side? What if people like Larry David or Rob McElhenney did not have this outlet? Like this here Intra-net, in many ways the TV builds a community on two sides of the screen.

And, wheatgrass, no, the next season can NOT take any longer. Am hoping that the gang is, at this moment, "producing their asses off."

P.S. Though it's a very different tone, really loved Deadwood, too. Very Peterman-esque costumes. And the very reason my hair is halfway down my back at this very moment is because I fell in love with Trixie and had to have hair just like hers. What can I say, I have unique role models.

My tired brain just came full circle on my last post. Isn't viewing like voting? When shows like Arrested Development or Deadwood go off the air, I feel it reflects on us, the viewers. Watch your TV's people. But watch discriminantly. (read:turn off Buffy)

And watch Sunny. Please. I can NOT stand to lose that, too. Vote for Sunny.

Missive,

I don't have HBO so I never saw a single episode of Deadwood.  But it looked very interesting and I loved how its depiction of the West was so atypical.  But mostly (at least until I actually see it), I am grateful to it for so heavily exposing the talents of Ian McShane to audiences on this side of the Atlantic.

I first noticed Ian McShane in his highly sympathetic portrayal of Judas Iscariot in Zefferelli's Jesus of Nazareth and, later, in his delicious performances in The Terrorists and Roots.  In the U.K., he will probably always be remembered for the title role of the mystery-solving antiques dealer in Lovejoy.  But, whenever I mentioned him to a Yank, I was usually greeted with a blank stare.  Finally, Deadwood has brought McShane to our attention and he has described it as "the best gig I ever had".

Now, if only some visionary producer will do the same thing for such brilliant British theatre actors as Trevor Eve, David Robb, and especially the stunningly talented James Wilby.

I may have developed carpal tunnel from all of my humbling, down on bended knee pleading, which later turned to anger and self-righteous indignation laden emails to HBO when they announced the demise of Deadwood.

The characters and writing on that show was so rich. It always touched on a full range of emotions and moral dilemmas during each and every episode. To pick a single favorite character would be like attempting to extract a single flavor from a rainbow cone, but the ones that stood out were of course; Al Swearengen who could utter a string of profanities in such a way as to seem poetic. How can you not respect a man who will only seek counsel with a rotting, severed head that he keeps on hand for such occasions? Calamity Jane, who had a broken heart of gold but did everything she could to hide it (she too could string together a series of profanities that would knock a buzzard off a *!it wagon), and of course dear Trixie, who if you captured her heart would conquer the world for you or die trying.

David Milch, the shows creator is oh so gifted. All of his shows are a panoramic view of his insights to the human condition. Best of all, he is a believer in second chances, redemption, the power of love; and showcases all of this in some of the most hard, downtrodden and unlikely circumstances. He also created the short-lived HBO series "John from Cincinnati" which totally put my heart in my throat. I just loved that series.

My all time favorite series from BC (Before Cable) when I was growing up were "The Honeymooners" which really mirrored my family when we lived in our South-Side apartment (Ed Norton was my favorite character), "Sid Caesar and Imagine Koka" (mostly because everyone thought they looked just like my Mom and Dad (and they did), Rod Serling's "TheTwilight Zone" and I'll watch "The Andy Griffith Show" reruns whenever I need to just kick back at Floyd's Barber Shop, shoot the breeze, and take a reality time out.

The last thing I will watch is any show that dubs itself "Reality TV". Not that I have a problem with reality, I have a huge problem with reality. Who needs it?

It's all good if it doesn't hurt you but it's up to family to teach and demonstrate values, not the media.

Love this group!

DPR and PeterLake,

Missing me some Deadwood. I read that Milch was greatly critiqued for using such foul language, as it was not things 'would have rolled' in the old West.
To which he responded that he knew, but was trying to recreate the absolute anarchy that WAS, and so he drew upon our modern signifiers of anarchy. The foul mouth.

PeterLake said:

"Al Swearengen who could utter a string of profanities in such a way as to seem poetic."

Yes. A hundred times, yes.

And Trixie was, well, everything I aspire to be—except perhaps the profession. Doesn't have a great 'benefits' package.

missive,

I also totally enjoyed and appreciated the "bond" that existed between Woo and Swearengen that enabled the two of them to be able to clearly and effectively communicatebetweem themselves like no other on the show.  There wasn't a great deal of air time to demostrate it, but it obviously existed

Trixie didn't have a benefit package but yet you knew she would somehow, someway, always end up landing on her feet.  Profession aside, you gotta admire someone whom you always new where you stood with them.  Not an ounce of pretense in her. 

One of my favorite Al quotes "How does Hearst hope to defeat me?. . . allied as I am with the imbecile, the contemptible, and the promiscuous effing insane. "

I think I'd better get the popcorn ready, I feal a Deadwood Marathon coming on tonight.

...... did I mention that I was also addicted to "Twin Peaks".  Perhaps it was because they really truly celebrated a "dawn good cup of coffee, black as a moonless ski", donuts, and cherry pie.

Funny this topic should come up today, last night I was on the phone with my friend, reminiscing about all of the amazing 90's cartoons that raised us throughout our childhoo.
I suppose you all were too old to be watching Rocko's Modern Life, Sheep in the Big City, Doug, Ahhh Real Monsters, The Angry Beavers, Tiny Toons and Pepper Ann with us?
The 90's were by far the best era for cartoons.
Before, everything was too slow-paced and boring, these days everything is BRIGHTCOLORSOHMYGODSUGARPHYSICALHUMORSTUPIDCATCHPHRASE.
The 90's had just the right amount of stupidity [we were children, after all], physical humor, dialogue and adult jokes that I suppose were thrown in to keep the parents occupied while the children pretended not to know what was being said.

My favorite shows these days are all obscure and get canceled within the first season, for some odd reason [It rhymes!] 
I love Flight of the Conchords [extremely dry humor, randomly breaks into song], Mission Hill [adult cartoon, two brothers live together in the city], Teen Titans [cartoon adaptation of the comic books. Shut up, I'm a nerd.], and The Mighty Boosh [BBC, not really canceled, just not available to me. Like flight of the conchords on bad acid. I'M OLD GREGG is all you need to know.]

As for more popular "mature" shows, these days I love Scrubs, Seinfeld [as everyone on this forum must], The Daily Show/The Colbert Report [gives me all the news I want to hear. I don't have time to read the newspaper, I'm in high school.], SNL.

The one at the desk: "Or a soup Nazi? This sort of thing just doesn't happen in real life."
Actually.... When I was in new york I went on a tv tour thing, they took us by the soup vender that the soup nazi was based on.

Rings90: "Finding the British Office funnier than the Americanized version, not really sure why."
I actually spoke to someone once who DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A BRITISH VERSION. I was about to kill them right there.

Lovey,

When it comes to 90's cartoons, I have one thing to say:  Spoon!!!

PeterLake,

Better pop extra. Miss Ive's a'comin' too. I did love the 'Swigen' bond, too. Great depth depicted with practically no words on one of the character's behalf, and horrible slander from the other's. So nice.

All,

Don't you think it's ironic that TV is said to be so ANTI-social? Just look at us all? Like school girls. It's a great bonding medium. Like I said in my first post and as many of you have expressed, if only through allusion, the shows MEAN something to you and your life. Like any art, they help us express ourselves in metaphor.

TV's just not as 'high-society' as the Louvre, so intellectuals can't get on board.

Perhaps I should wear my best black turtleneck and beret next time I pop down for some Sunny.

90's Cartoons a whole genre of its own ~ Spielbergs Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Freakazoid, & Hysteria were a few that I had to catch more than once just to get all the jokes... I do REALLY miss Freakazoid & I am not ashamed to admit it. 

Sang the songs from Ren & Stimpy one summer while I worked for the DNR ~ for some odd reason Log was a favorite of the work crew.

DRP ~ OH MY GOD I almost forgot about The Tick until I just re-read your post. LOVING IT!!!

Of course now my addiction has turned to Robot Chicken, to me it's just 15 minutes of off the wall funny...

Lovey ~ I actually work in a TV station & find that many people here have no idea that most American TV ideas are taken from "Across the Pond" It really stuns me at times.

Lovey and Rings90,

"Me, lager. Finchy, Lager. Gareth, lager sometimes cider, so different drinks for different... needs." - Mr. David Brent, from across the Pond.

Remember the dance off? I can so do all his moves.

I'm doing them. Right now. In this Office. Have a feeling the ole' guys will not donate much to my cause.

Must run. Am being put in time-out.

MISSIVE:  CHECK YOUR SITE!

Cartoons .... just one word, "Rocky & Bullwinkle"

Two more tv cartoons for your consideration:  "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" and "Assy McGee" . 

There must be something "existential" about these cartoons...but I just haven't put my finger on it yet. I've got the "absurd" and "pointless" part....and maybe that's all I need

Both very strange and can only be on air after midnight.

Hey, I don't have to watch Fox Business News all the time, you know!

A classic. Not too mention their friends...Dudley Dooright and my personal favorite, Snidely Whiplash.

It has been said that reality needs escaping, and that people lose innocence to life.  The best sitcom in my simple mind has to be Gilligans Island.  Growing older, and even as a child, I thought that life would be perfect If that had happened to me. 

Life would have been really perfect if I could have been on that Island and been able to watch Rocky and Bullwinkle.  "Whats-a-mada-U" Alumni here!

Expat: I'm glad I'm not the only one who occasionally indulges in the absolute stupidity of late night Adult Swim.
When I was little I always thought that there was some other aspect to those types of shows that I didn't get.
Now I know they're just /pointless absolute crap/.
But you get addicted.

Gia:  Years ago, before child, we had a guinea pig named Dudley Do-nothing!  And he did..

Best comedy writing had to be for The Show of Shows!  First few years of SNL were classic.  And how did the writing stay so strong for all those years of MASH? 

Mr. Peabody and His Pet Boy Sherman

To: Spinner,

I have to agree, the first years of SNL were classic.

I have to add one more to the list:

All In The Family

Theme Song:
Boy the way Glen Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade.
Guys like us we had it made,
Those were the days.
And you knew who you were then,
Girls were girls and men were men,
Mister we could use a man
Like Herbert Hoover again.
Didn't need no welfare state,
Everybody pulled his weight.
Gee our old LaSalle ran great.
Those were the days.

Lamb Chops!!!!!!

MackDaddy,

Send another email with your address. Have to respond. So awesome.

rings90,

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?... I think so, Brain, but how are we going to get the monkey into the rubber pants?

Spinner,

Not only are you right that the writing stayed strong throughout the series of MASH, it actually got stronger as time went along!  As much fun as Col. Blake, Frank Burns, and Trapper John were, when they were replaced with Col. Potter, Chuck Winchester, and B.J. Honeycutt, the show gained a lot of layers and depth intermixed with the comedy.

My cousin from Britain insisted to me that the English Office was better than the American one as well. I figured he was just proud of his country and poked fun at him ("You know, there's a reason they remade it..."). But I guess he had some merit after all.

Lovey: Flight of the Conchords, Mission Hill, and Teen Titans are pretty much the best things out there. Adult Swim is the most brilliant stupidity I can think of, along with Family Guy reruns. I also love Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel -

Which raises the question: does TV retain the idiocy and uselessness even on channels that teach you things: e.g. Discovery, History Channels? I don't think those are a waste of time at all. It combines the moving colours of a TV show with the intelligence of a textbook! Smart!

And Bubba: I'm a teenager, and a television junkie, but I've heard from good sources (i.e. missive) that I'm not half bad - which is more than half as swell as I'd hoped to be.

the one at the desk: High five once again! I'm going to start a list of things we have in common. [1. we're both teenagers. 2. we love those shows.]

One more thing, The Upside Down Show is by far the BEST little kids show ever invented.

Actually, I must confess for a weakness in a sit com we haven't mentioned. THE NANNY. With perhaps the best theme ever.

 She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens,
 Til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes.
 What was she to do, where was she to go
 She was out on her fanny.

 So over the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffield's door,
 She was there to sell make up but the father saw more,
 She had style, she had flair, she was there,
 That's how she became the Nanny.

 Who would have guessed that the girl we described
 was just exactly what the doctor prescribed?

 Now, the father finds her beguiling, watch out C.C.,
 The kids are actually smiling, such joie de vivre
 She's the lady in red when everybody else is wearing tan.
 The flashy girl from Flushing, the Nanny named Fran.
 

"Monty Python's Flying Circus" & "Absolutely Fabulous", both had many great moments.

To PeterLake:  "The Bullwinkle Moose Show" was a show made up of other shows.  "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle", "Fractured Fairy Tales", "Dudley do Right", "Professor Peabody" and maybe a few more.  Not to ramble with examples, but there was a lot of humor in here that was geared for "adults". The writers were very clever and the show is timeless.  I have a few VCR tapes of these shows that we play in the Bar on slow winter nights.  It's a lot of fun and the locals crack up.  Drink specials like "The flying Squirrel", "The Whiplash", "The Nell" (Dudleys Horse), etc.

"Thanks for the Memories."

The BMS certainly did contain a lot of adult satire.  Another thing that made the show unique was they were all narrated too.  I still have a crush on Natashia. I'll have a Nell on the rocks?

Another cartoon show that had some good adult satire was the original "George of the Jungle" with his arch enemy, Gerry Mander.

"Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are."

PL:  I really can't believe you posted that.  There really is a NC story behind that line.  Really....

I forgot to mention that one of the best variety shows ever done was by Jim Henson & is The Muppet Show.

My Lvoe for Kermit, Fonzie Bear, Miss Piggy, & or course Gonzo knows no bounds. 

I was given a lower grade in H.S. becuase on my history timeline I listed the Death of Jim Henson as having Historical Importance. (I always got A's in History)  I tried to argue my point but the teacher was not amused.  The class however clapped when I read it along with the rest of the items on my line.  (I think that ticked her off enough to give me the lower grade.)  

The Muppets precursor to Adult Swim, Simpsons & Family Guy Definately!!!!