When it comes to TV, every generation since the fifties thinks theirs had the best TV shows. While America has fallen in love with "reality" TV shows like Survivor and American Idol, I've been thinking about how much better the shows were when I was coming up....
Classic westerns like Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Guns Of Will Sonnet, Bonanza, Have Gun Will Travel, The Big Valley, High Chapparral, and Wagon Train.
There were spy shows like I Spy, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Avengers.
Dramas included The Fugitive, Hawaii Five-0 and Mannix.
For comedy/variety there was the classic Ed Sullivan Show and later The Flip Wilson Show.
Then there were the comedies. Shows that *still* play well on were Gilligan's Island, The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, USMC, Sanford And Son, The Flying Nun, Bewitched, I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, and Love American Style. Among the comedy dramas were The Courtship Of Eddie's Father and one of the best comedy/dramas ever produced – a show that our family NEVER missed: Room 222. It's hard for anyone to imagine the inspiration a little black boy saw in highschool teacher Mr. Dixon and the fairness he always seemed to show for his kids. His main squeeze Ms. McIntyre was an inspiration of a different kind.
There were classic game shows: The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, Let's Make A Deal, and Password; cartoons: Top Cat, Beanie and Cecil, The Jetsons, and The Fantastic Four.
And last but not least... sci-fi that was and still is ahead of it's time: The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Lost In Space, and of course Star Trek.
Why is it they don't make TV shows like this anymore?