TV

I’m definitely a child of the era of television. I may not have been around for the very first broadcasts, but I did see the machine evolve from its black-and-white origins to color, to large-screen TVs (with giant cathode ray tubes in them), to wide-screen TVs (so long to the old 4:3 format), to DVD and cable, to flat-screen TVs, and finally to streaming.

I’ve thrown away dumpster bins of store-bought and carefully recorded VHS tapes, and now I’ve got all these DVDs to get rid of. (At least one can donate the latter to charity or the local library.)

That said, my childhood wasn’t drenched in television. My parents were fairly strict about both content and time. In consequence, TV was always a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. I grew to love it more as I (and it) grew up. Today I think it rivals — and sometimes exceeds — movies as a quality storytelling platform. (Of course, Sturgeon’s Law applies, and there’s a lot of crap, too.)

I’ve got two television categories here: The original TV category and a second TV Tuesday category. These days, I publish nearly all television-related posts under the latter category, but sometimes I still use the TV category. (For example, when I publish a Sci-Fi Saturday post about a science fiction TV series or when I post more generally about storytelling.)

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Television Friends Old & New

Current Watch List

• The Simpsons (1989–present; 34)
• Black Mirror (2011–present; 6)
• Grown-ish (2018–2023; 6)
• Disenchantment (2018–present; 4)
• Love, Death & Robots (2019–present; 3)
• Solar Opposites (2020–present; 4)
• Reservation Dogs (2021–present; 2)

Favorites

• Doctor Who (1963–present; 26/12)
• M*A*S*H (1972–1983; 11)
• NCIS (2003–present; 17)
• Rick and Morty (2013–present; 6)
• Star Trek (TOS) (1966–1969; 3)
• Star Trek (TNG) (1987–1994; 7)
• Northern Exposure (1990–1995; 6)
• South Park (1997–present; 26)
• Farscape (1999–2003; 4)
• The West Wing (1999–2006; 7)
• Futurama (1999–2013; 7)
• Scrubs (2001–2010; 9)
• House M.D. (2004–2012; 8)
• Boston Legal (2004–2008; 5)
• 30 Rock (2006–2013; 7)
• Community (2009–2015; 6)
• Archer (2009–present; 13)
• Sherlock (2010–2017; 4)
• Elementary (2012–2019; 7)
• The Librarians (2014–2018; 4)
• Madam Secretary (2014–2020; 6)
• The Expanse (2015–2022 6)
• The Good Place (2016–2020; 4)
• Lucifer (2016–2021; 6)
• Atlanta (2016–2022; 4)

Special Mention

• Mad About You (1992–1999; 7)
• JAG (1995–2005; 10)
• Just Shoot Me (1997–2003; 7)
• Sports Night (1998–2000; 2)
• The Office (2005–2013; 9)
• Studio 60 (2006–2007; 1)
• Leverage (2008–2012; 5)
• Cougar Town (2009–2015; 6)
• Castle (2009–2016 8)
• Rizzoli & Isles (2010–2016 7)
• Person of Interest (2011–2016 5)
• Episodes (2011–2017; 5)
• The Newsroom (2012–2014; 3)
• Veep (2012–2019; 7)
• The Blacklist (2013–2023; 10)
• Black-ish (2014–2022; 8)
• Grace and Frankie (2015–2022; 7)
• Angie Tribeca (2016–2018; 4)
• Dirk Gently (2016–2017; 2)
• Dear White People (2017–2021; 4)

Old Friends

• Perry Mason (1957–1966; 9)
• Ironside (1967–1975; 8)
• The Avengers (1961–1969; 6)
• Danger Man (1960–1968; 4)
• The Prisoner (1967–1968; 1)
• Mission: Impossible (1966–1973; 7)
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968; 4)
• The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966–1967; 1)
• Get Smart (1965–1970; 5)
• Columbo (1968–1978; 10)

Other Good Friends

Dramas

• Banacek (1972–1974; 2)
• Hill Street Blues (1981–1987; 7)
• Cagney & Lacey (1982–1988; 7)
• Lovejoy (1986–1994; 6)
• L.A. Law (1986–1994; 8)
• NYPD Blue (1993–2005; 12)
• The Closer (2005–2012; 7)
• The Mentalist (2008–2015; 7)
• The Good Wife (2009–2016; 7)
• United States of Tara (2009–2011; 3)
• Nurse Jackie (2009–2015; 7)
• The Big C (2010–2013; 4)
• Grimm (2011–2017; 6)
• Homeland (2011–2020; 8)
• Major Crimes (2012–2018; 6)
• Perception (2012–2015; 3)
• Masters of Sex (2013–2016; 4)
• Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce (2014–2018; 5)
• Forever (2014–2015; 1)
• Constantine (2014–2015; 1)
• Battle Creek (2015–2015; 1)
• Supergirl (2015–2016; 1)
• Bull (2016–2022; 6)
• Big Little Lies (2017; 1)

Comedies

• The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977; 7)
• The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978; 6)
• Soap (1977–1981; 4)
• WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982; 4)
• Newhart (1982–1990; 8)
• Night Court (1984–1992; 9)
• Designing Women (1986–1993; 7)
• Murphy Brown (1988–1998; 10)
• Wings (1990–1997; 8)
• Cybill (1995–1998; 4)
• The Drew Carey Show (1995–2004; 9)
• Newsradio (1995–1999; 6)
• King of the Hill (1997–2010; 13)
• Will & Grace (1998–2006; 8; 2017–2020; 3)
• Joey (2004–2006; 2)
• Weeds (2005–2012; 8)
• My Name is Earl (2005–2009; 4)
• Parks and Recreation (2009–2015; 7)
• House of Lies (2012–2016; 5)
• Fresh Off the Boat (2015–2020; 6)
• People of Earth (2016–2017; 2)
• LA to Vegas (2017–2018; 1)
• Ghosted (2017–2018; 1)

Sci-Fi Television

• The Twilight Zone (1959–1964; 5)
• The Outer Limits (1963–1965; 2)
• Lost in Space (1965–1968; 3)
• The Prisoner (1968; 1)
• Star Trek (TAS) (1973–1974; 1)
• Space: 1999 (1975–1977; 2)
• Max Headroom (1987–1988; 2)
• Babylon 5 (1993–1998; 5)
• Star Trek (DS9) (1993–1999; 7)
• Star Trek (VOY) (1995–2001; 7)
• 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001; 6)
• Star Trek (ENT) (2001–2005; 4)
• Firefly (2002–2002; 1)
• Heroes (2006–2010; 4)
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2018; 5)
• Agent Carter (2015–2016; 2)
• Dark Matter (2015–2017; 3)
• Class (2016; 1)
• Travelers (2016–2018; 3)
• Westworld (2016–present 4)