A television meme (with various comments throughout), via SamuraiFrog. I realized that the programs of my childhood I was pretty indiscriminate. Only had two or three choices at the time.
My Rules:
– Star (*) all of the following TV shows which you’ve ever seen 3 or more episodes of in your lifetime.
– Italicize a show if you’re positive you’ve seen every episode of it.
*24
I watched the whole first season. Then the second season’s premiere episode was quite shocking, but still watched good parts of it. But by Season 3, I’d given up on it, largely for political reasons. I can’t help but think that some of those Blackwater-type thugs justified their moral code based on Jack Bauer.
7th Heaven
Maybe saw five minutes.
ALF
Never saw except in passing; looked stupid, but I could be wrong.
*Alias
Watched the whole first season, then found out about some time shift thing between seasons. Saw the first episode of the next season, said what the… and bailed.
American Gothic
America’s Next Top Model
Angel
May have seen one episode. It was all right.
*Arrested Development
I tried to watch the first season, just couldn’t get into it. Then, nagged by others, notably Gordon, watched the premiere of the second season and was hooked and watched until the end. STILL haven’t seen much of the first season, though…
Babylon 5
Batman: The Animated Series
It looks good, but haven’t found the time.
*Battlestar Galactica (the old one)
It was goofy.
Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
I haven’t seen the new one at all. I figure it’s far better than the original but I’m not really that invested.
Baywatch
Never a full episode.
Beverly Hills 90210 (original)
I was in a laundromat once and actually saw an entire episode of this and Melrose Place. I survived.
*Bewitched
Probably saw all the Dick York episodes, certainly all the ones in black and white. I loved this show early on, but somewhere it lost me. Don’t know know if it was the introduction of Tabitha, the introduction of color, or the introduction of Dick Sargeant as Darrin that made it lose its lustre.
*Bonanza
My sister had a HUGE crush on Michael Landon. We often went to the neighbor next door to my grandmother to watch it, because they had color TV in 1962, while we didn’t get one until 1969. Probably watched for a half dozen seasons.
Bones
*Bosom Buddies
People I knew really liked it, but it never caught on with me.
*Boston Legal
I was a big fan of The Practice. In a cost-cutting move, the show canned half the cast in the last season, which essentially became an extended pilot for Boston Legal, as it introduced Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader). As a result, I didn’t bother with Boston Legal. Yet I caught it either late in the first or early in the second season, and pretty much watched it from that point until the end. Will have to catch that first season on DVD someday.
*Boy Meets World
This is a really bad show, but somehow I got stuck watching it; don’t remember why.
*Brothers And Sisters
I got hooked because of Sally Field.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Think I caught a Very Special Episode with music or something. It was OK.
Californication
Chappelle’s Show
*Charlie’s Angels
I was living in Charlotte, NC with my parents at the time of the first season. It was on. Dopey.
Charmed
Cheers
One of my favorite shows ever, though it took me forever to warm up to Rebecca.
Chuck
Clarissa Explains it All
*Columbo
Watched this a LOT. It was in some weird rotation on NBC. Don’t know if I saw every episode, but it doesn’t matter, because they were all pretty much the same.
*Commander in Chief
This show started off really strong the first half dozen episodes. Got a new show runner and never really regained its footing until very near the end.
*Crossing Jordan
I watched it for most of the first season, but lost interest.
CSI
Wrote about my one and only time watching this here.
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
I’d probably watch this if I had HBO.
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
DaVinci’s Inquest
I don’t even know what this is.
Dawson’s Creek
I saw the last episode.
Dead Like Me
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
*Designing Women
It was on Monday nights on CBS between something I watched (Newhart) and something else I watched (Cagney & Lacey). It was harmless.
Desperate Housewives
Surprised that I’ve never seen this even for 10 minutes.
Dexter
*Dharma & Greg
I can’t believe how dumb this show got after a while. And I think I was invested early because of this.
*Different Strokes
Usually when someone else turned on the TV; I never turned on the set to watch it.
*Doctor Who
Mostly the guy with the long scarf.
*Dragnet
Both the 1950s version, which I saw as a kid, and the late 1960s version with Harry Morgan which I thought was high camp. Probably saw most, if not all of the latter series.
*Due South
Liked the first season, but lost interest.
*ER
I watched it for probably seven seasons but slowly started giving up on it, somewhere between the point when Dr. Romano lost his arm to a helicopter and the point that the helicopter fell on him. Watched the last episode.
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
I saw one episode. It was OK.
*Facts of Life
Like Different Strokes, when someone else controlled the remote.
*Family Guy
Don’t love it.
Farscape
*Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
*Frasier
Very fond, though there was an arc when Frasier was unemployed that just never worked.
*Freaks & Geeks
Found this show a quarter of the way through and became a religious convert. May have seen all the episodes eventually, but not sure.
*Friends
This show I always had a like/hate thing. Couldn’t tell Chandler and Joey apart the first season. Hated the monkey stories. But then I’d see something I liked. Probably saw about 30% of the shows.
Fringe
Futurama
Saw this once or twice. Thought it was fine but never pursued it further.
*Get Smart
Funny until Max and 99 got hitched.
Gilligan’s Island
When I was a kid, thought it was greatly entertaining, what can I say? Still has a solid theme song. Oh, Mary Ann.
Gilmore Girls
Found this late in the first season, then caught the reruns. Loved the core relationship: Rory-Lorelai-Emily. Loved the townspeople. especially loved Mrs. Kim, when she developed as a character. Sure, the show would get off track – Rory’s refrain with Dean, e.g. I never believed. But I watched all seven seasons, and we even have Season 1 on DVD, albeit unwatched. The subject of one of my earliest posts, and undoubtedly others.
Gossip Girl
*Grey’s Anatomy
Sometimes I don’t know why, but there is always a character or two to root for.
Grange Hill
Don’t know what this is.
Growing Pains
Not once.
*Gunsmoke
This was on from 1955-1975. When it was on Saturday night and ran for an hour (1961-1967), probably watched every week if I were home, but when it moved to Monday, probably only a dozen or so episodes.
*Happy Days
I discovered this pretty much post-Chuck. Watched it until it jumped the shark, which really made the Fonz a bit of a pussycat.
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys
Heroes
Was mildly tempted, but never succumbed. Now I’m glad.
*Home Improvement
Never of my own volition.
Homicide: Life on the Street
I loved this show.
House
Maybe one episode. Found it irritating.
*I Dream of Jeannie
This was the epitome of sex when I was 12. Again, ruined by the engagement and marriage to Major Nelson. Always liked Bill Daily here,; he played ROGER Healey.
*I Love Lucy
It was on ALL OF THE TIME. I MUST have seen every episode.
Invader Zim
Invasion
Hell’s Kitchen
JAG
Jackass
*Joey
Waited for it to get good; never happened.
Kim Possible
*Knight Rider
In passing the TV.
Knight Rider: 2008
*Kung Fu
Quite fond.
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
La Femme Nikita
Saw the movie, but never felt compelled.
LA Law
*Laverne and Shirley
Usually, but not always, after watching Happy Days.
*Law and Order
Pretty much from when Lenny Briscoe started, or maybe an episode or two earlier, until when he left.
*Law and Order: SVU
Sordid little show I end up seeing when I’m in a hotel away from home. It seems to be ALWAYS on.
*Law and Order: CI
Probably three episodes.
Leverage
Little House on the Prairie
Never saw a full episode ever.
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Watched, and liked the first season, but it started grating on me; probably gave up on it.
Lost
Seen five minutes. It’s less Lost per se and more the fear of commitment.
Lost in Space
High camp.
*M*A*S*H
Watched the first eight seasons TWICE, but the last three only once. Should have ended when Radar went home and they started repeating. (And we won’t mention the messy chronology at all.)
MacGyver
Did I ever see a full episode of this?
*Malcolm in the Middle
Wasn’t watching much on Sunday night by this point.
Married…With Children
Saw once all the way through. Hated.
McLeod’s Daughters
Don’t know.
Melrose Place
One ep in the laundromat.
*Miami Vice
Watched probably a couple seasons of it before I lost interest.
*Mission: Impossible
watched the first ramping up season with Steven Hill as the leader, the excellent next couple seasons with the perfect set of Peter Graves, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, then the latter, lesser years, with Leonard Nimoy and Lesley Ann Warren replacing Landau and Bain. Maybe it was the acting too, but the writing definitely suffered in those later years.
*Mod Squad
What can I say?
Monk
*Mork & Mindy
LOVED the first season, but by the time Jonathan Winters was hatched, I’d already long given up.
Murphy Brown
I used to love this show.
My Life As A Dog
*My Three Sons
It was on forever.
*My Two Dads
Mythbusters
NCIS
Ned Bigby’s Declassified School Survival Guide
Nip/Tuck
Numb3rs
One Tree Hill
Oz
I will probably see this someday.
*Perry Mason
Watched it for years at every opportunity; made me want to be a lawyer, until I got to college and found that I didn’t have much of a capacity for law. One of the best theme songs, ever, and the extended end theme is even better.
Power Rangers
Press Gang
Prison Break
*Private Practice
The cast deserves better.
Privileged
Profiler
Project Runway
Psych
*Pushing Daisies
Lamented loss.
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (UK)
ReGenesis
*Remington Steele
Have little recollection of this show, actually.
Rescue Me
Road Rules
ROME
*Roseanne
Watched it from the beginning until near the end, when I had to bail.
Roswell
Sanctuary
*Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
*Scrubs
A very inconsistent show which seemed to finally finally find its footing in the seventh and final NBC season, only to actually improve with its first season on ABC. But I fear the new show will be like AfterMASH.
Seaquest DSV
*Seinfeld
Loved this show in the very beginning, really started being annoyed by it by Susan’s death, and by the last season, had all but abandoned it. Did see the disappointing last episode.
*Sex and the City
Never saw it at all on HBO, but watched the entire (edited) series on TBS. Liked it. Didn’t love it, but enjoyed it on its own terms.
Six Feet Under
Another HBO show I’ll have to see someday.
Slings and Arrows
Smallville
Don’t know why I never actually watched this.
So Weird
South of Nowhere
*South Park
Not my thing, though occasionally funny.
*Spongebob Squarepants
Watched maybe a season religiously before the child was born. Go figure.
St. Elsewhere
Possibly my favorite all-time show. I loved the first season when I got a review copy of the DVDs.
Star Trek
But not in the first run.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Felt compelled to watch, maybe to make up for muffing watching the original series.
*Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate SG-1
*Starsky & Hutch
*Superman
Watch countless episodes with George Reeves.
Supernatural
Surface
*Survivor
Watched the whole first season, which was interesting. The second season was dull. I started watching just the first and last shows for about six seasons, but now not even that.
Taxi
Loved Taxi.
Teen Titans
*That 70’s Show
That’s So Raven
The 4400
*The Addams Family
Probably in first run.
The Amazing Race
*The Andy Griffith Show
Watched it for years.
The A-Team
*The Avengers
*The Beverly Hillbillies
Watched it far longer than I should have. Did you know that about a half dozen of the regular season shows of this program are in the Top 50 all-time most watched programs?
The Big Bang Theory
*The Brady Bunch
Never saw it in first run, though came across a few episodes subsequently.
*The Cosby Show
Loved how the theme changed in most seasons. I think when Raven showed up is when I left.
*The Daily Show
Never saw it until Jon Stewart was hosting. See more online than on TV.
The Dead Zone
*The Dick Van Dyke Show
Probably my all time favorite comedy.
*The Flintstones
*The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Wow, did this show get grating, or what?
*The Golden Girls
*The Honeymooners
*The Jeffersons
*The Jetsons
The L Word
*The Love Boat
The Magnificent Seven
*The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Must see TV.
*The Monkees
*The Munsters
*The Office (US)
The Powerpuff Girls
The Pretender
*The Real World
I watched the first three or four seasons.
*The Shield
*The Simpsons
Watched nine full seasons, have watched only a handful of shows since.
*The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The last five minutes.
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
*The Twilight Zone
I’m referring to the original, not the 1980s version, which I also saw some segments.
I was constitutionally required.
*The Waltons
In the spring of 1975, I watched this every week; I was depressed.
*The West Wing
Watched first few seasons. then it got too unfocused and I quit it. But I DID watch the campaign between the Alda and Smitts candidates.
*The Wonder Years
Probably until the last year or so.
The X-Files
Watched one two-part episode.
Third Watch
Saw parts of an episode or two.
*Three’s Company
Usually someone else had it on.
*Twin Peaks
Tried to watch, but bailed about halfway through the first season.
Twitch City
Unfabulous
Ugly Betty
Veronica Mars
Weeds
*Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)
*Will and Grace
Very irregularly. Gene Wilder was on a couple of them, and I watched them specifically for that reason.
*Wings
Xena: Warrior Princess
