Because in the age of cable and Internet video nothing old is ever truly dead, NBC Universal has announced that it’s going to be streaming free reruns of ancient series on its various websites — some fondly remembered, like The A-Team, Kojak, Night Gallery, and Buck Rogers, and some less fondly, like the original Battlestar Galactica, TekWar, Emergency, Tremors, Swamp Thing, and Simon & Simon. (The full list of shows and websites is here.) Which prompted this question from EW.com TV overlord Tom Conroy: Is there no defunct series so unwatchable, so devoid even of camp and kitsch value, that there isn’t someone somewhere who still wants to watch it and will refer to it unironically as "classic" or "vintage"? Conversely, are there some old shows you’re dying to see brought back, even if just on streaming Web video? Holla back, PopWatchers, while Adrienne Day and I jump up and down as we eagerly await the return of Buck Rogers’ adorable robot sidekick Twiki (pictured).
Are these streaming reruns really vintage, classic shows?
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Comments (1-30) of 38 Add your comment
shows that I never want to see again but probably will, just to remind myself how bad they were:
Manimal
Automan
Matthew Star
Some show with Jeff Conway in a Dungeons and Dragons setting
Space (the Caadian version of the Sci-Fi channel) started showing reruns of Buck Rogers last year. I loved the show as a kid so watched a couple of episodes. Time and nostalgia make even the worst pieces of crap seem good. Keep your fond memories fond, don’t watch.
Unwatchable? “Small Wonder.” Worst . . . show . . . EVER.
Some I’d love to see? “Brimstone,” totally, and “Friday the 13th; the Series.” Beedie beedie beedie.
I **LOVED** Emergency! Randolph Mantooth, hubba hubba!!
The first two seasons of The TWILIGHT ZONE are on cbs.com and MacGyver, Star Trek are also on cbs.com. And My So-Called Life is on abc.com, but they only keep 2 episodes on at a time.
YAY FREE OLD TV SHOWS!
When I was a kid in the ’70s, I lived for THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. Hell, he was my hero! No seasons of that show have been released on DVD in the U.S. yet! I’m waiting…
Ancient?? Really? Are you trying to make me feel old? But anyway, currently Gilligan’s Island is not showing anywhere on my cable and that doesn’t seem to me.
“Wonder Years” was a great show. Still waiting for the DVD release.
The television shows were proof of eras that embraced cheese,camp,and drugs. Looking back some of the shows were cool and they made you realize how hard it was to produce special effects. Nowadays we have CGI. This is one of the reasons a lot of people prefered the original “Star Wars” movies to the newer versions.
As for shows that I’d watch for the fun/cheese factor:
Voyagers (which got cancelled for the same reason Alias Smith and Jones was in the early Seventies: one of the leads comitted suicide most likely due to drugs)
My Secret Identity
Degrassi
You Can’t Do That On Television
Street Hawk- Tangerine Dreams synth soundtrack was brilliant.
Riptide
Worst: Harry and the Hendersons
There was a show called a Year in the Life that featured Sarah Jessica Parker, Adam Arkin and many more great stars! It was only on for a season, but it was fantastic!
Voyagers (which got cancelled for the same reason Alias Smith and Jones was in the early Seventies: one of the leads comitted suicide most likely due to drugs)
TOTALLY WRONG! Voyagers was CANCELLED well before Jon Erik Hexum shot himself on the set of Cover-up. Someone needs to check their facts!
CBS already has full video seasons of Star Trek, Macgyver, The Twilight Zone, Hawaii Five-O, and Melrose Place.
While by no means a good show, I could watch me some “Out of This World” just for the vocal stylings on Mr. Burt Reynolds.
I’d love to see a return of Danger Mouse. This brilliant spoof of the spy genre could easily be remade into an Anime style romp, especially if written by scribes Sarah Dyer and Evan Dorkin (who made Xinxan watchable by an American audience).
I’d argue Sheriff Lobo probably won’t get anyone claiming it’s a classic (except for Homer Simpson).
And no matter how many years pass, I doubt anyone will ever refer to “Joe Schmoe” or “Temptation Island” as classics either.
Rhoda!
I think the wikipedia poster and I are the only ones who remember (or have even heard of) Misfits of Science. I absolutely loved that show. Would love to see it again… though that would probably ruin it for me.
Does anyone else remember a show called Whiz Kids? As I recall, it was TV’s response to the success of WarGames. It starred the kid who played Albert on Little House. I have no idea how long it was on, but I remember being a pre-teen and liking it.
I thought Hexum shot himself during Voyagers? Excuse me. It was just a show. Dude relax. Gees.
EP’s right, Lobo was cool as was BJ and the Bear. Does anyone remember Boomer the Benji knock off? I’d also watch Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse.
Over on hulu.com, I’ve been watching “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” (still so very classic) and “Major Dad”.
Fun!
Maybe you should check facts before you post next time. UGH!
ANYWAY…Tribeca and The Watcher (with Sir Mix Alot) would be cool to see again. And just for giggles..Rags To Riches
I agree with Stephanie – I would totally watch You Can’t Do That On Television. Along with the classic teen soap “Fifteen.” Hello? Ryan Reynolds? C’mon!
Does anyone remember a show they used to play on Nickelodeon (I think) that was called Mad Movies? They showed old movies and ad-libbed different lines. I used to record it and watch it over and over again. My fave was a Shirley Temple movie and anytime she hugged someone they made it sound like she was choking them. Immature humor, sure, but I couldn’t get enough of it. And, I was in the 5th grade. Probably wouldn’t be as funny now.
Ooh, I loved Friday the Thirteeth: the Series. I would watch that anytime.
I loved Punky Brewster and the show with the twin girls who lived in NYC, Double Trouble. No one else remembers it but me, apparently.
Maybe you should just chill. But I agree Rags to Riches and Hull High for giggles.
Actually, I would totally want to see that D&D show (“Wizards and Warriors”, maybe?) with Jeff Conaway again. Also the old D&D cartoon. Ditto for “Double Trouble” with Peg Bundy’s twin sisters. I’d also sadly watch reruns of the old “Battle of the Network Stars” – now there was some great reality TV.
I agree that “Small Wonder” is probably too painful to actually watch again and “BJ and the Bear” probably holds up better in my childhood imagination than it would on repeat viewing.
Glad to hear that the likes of Twiki, Princess Ardala, Dr. Theopolis and Tigerman will once again have their moment in the sun.
Fantasy Island, Dallas, Babylon 5, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Silver Spoons, Benson, Soap, Mork & Mindy, Punky Brewster and Rags to Riches
How can you say that you don’t remember this original Battlestar Galactica too fondly? C’mon! It was/is fantastic! I like the new version but the original was sooo much better! Maybe you are confusing it with Galactica 1980? That was pretty bad.
I’d love to see The Muppet Show, Square Pegs, Friday Night Videos, Best of the West, Love Boat ( where every up and coming and past their prime actor made an appearance)
Flying High, SCTV, WKRP, Incredible Hulk,
@MaraJade – wasn’t that D&D show actually a TV movie starring Tom Hanks? Or was their an actual series as well?
The Real Ghostbusters!
I want something other than the crap-tacular YouTube clips for RGB! It was a seminal part of my childhood!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085113/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084314/
-mjade27
Well far out! I never heard of the Jeff Conaway show. That’d be something to see.
I totally remember Mazes & Monsters now that I see the name again. Tom Hanks goes loopy at the end of it.
Thanks mjade!