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 (1-15) 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!