Sell By Date Expiration: Old Shows That Don't Stand Up To The Test Of Time

[Jipijapa]

Well, in the 70s, even 30-year-olds dressed like they were 60...

[SmithW6079]

With all the talk so far of shows where the clothing looks really dated, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Space 1999. Jumpsuits with bell-bottoms? Yeah, sure. That was dated even when the show was brand new.

 

Maybe bell-bottoms came back in the 1990s? I used to Love Space: 1999, but then, I loved any sci-fi I could get my eyes on.

[Jipijapa]

Space: 1999 was actually a British show that had been produced several years prior to it showing up on U.S. TV... it dates from 1973 I think, so bell bottoms may very well still have been in style (in Britain!) 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space:_1999

 

 (Or are you a British viewer who thought the bell bottoms dated even in '73?)

 

I just learned something though,  because I would have sworn Space: 1999 was a U.S. show airing on U.S. network.  Not so... so, I must have seen it in syndication in the late '70s.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Jipijapa

[MyAimIsTrue]

Bridget Loves Bernie!  Family (Meredith Baxter Birnie, Kristie McNichol!  James Broderick!)  James at 15!  

 

I didn't like "Family" for the sole reason that the brother irked the ever living hell out of me.  Now "James At 15" was another story because I thought Lance Kerwin was cute!

[Rick Kitchen]

 

The Dick van Dyke Show still works for me.  Blue Foot, Head-of-Lettuce Hair, Hypnosis, ROSEBUD.  Best episode for me goes back and forth between Walnuts and Inflatable Dinghy.

 

I LOVE Walnuts!  Danny Thomas was perfect.  And Rosebud is so sweet.  There's also the episode where Rob finds out that Laura lied about her age when they got married and she wasn't legal, and when they found an old painting of Laura in the nude.

[gwlisa]

I've read the whole thread because I thought for sure someone would have mentioned The West Wing. This show does not hold up for me at all. Strange because it is not that old of a show. I sometimes catch an early episode - which at one point I'd thought was very well done - and I feel embarrassed for the people in it. It seems so contrived and silly. Maybe because 9/11 changed things drastically for American politics? Maybe TV is much more dramatic now? I can't imagine The West Wing airing at the same time as Breaking Bad or House of Cards.

[Raja]

Caution - [rant]

Not true. Disco started catching on in the mid 70s, then remained mainstream through 1980, when the beat was driven back underground by a not-so-subtle racist, misogynistic & homophobic crowd of bullies. Many of the top pop hits from the years '77 (I Just Want To Be Your Everything, Don't Leave Me This Way, I'm Your Boogie Man), '78 (Shadow Dancing, Stayin' Alive, Boogie Oogie Oogie), '79 (Bad Girls, Le Freak, YMCA) and '80 (Call Me, Funkytown, Working My Way Back To You) are pure Disco, and many of the top dance hits each year between then and now owe their success (through direct sampling, inspiration or outright theft) to those Disco pioneers. Not to mention all the sporting events and weddings that have continued to use songs from that era (YMCA, We Are Family, etc) to get crowds on their feet. The use of pure Disco music in mainstream party scenes on TV from the mid 70s to early 80s is in no way out of place - and while actual clubs were shifting away from disco in the US around 1980, it has remained popular in some US clubs on theme nights, and in many world-wide clubs that wisely never paid attention to the anti-Disco backlash.

[/rant]

You must have caught the two hour Unsung episode on Disco.

[giovannif7]

You must have caught the two hour Unsung episode on Disco.

Actually, I was working as a DJ at that time, so my rant was based on what I saw first-hand. I'll definitely keep an eye out for that episode of Unsung though, to see their take on the era. It's all too rare to hear any positive voices in the media when the subject of Disco is addressed.

[Raja]

Actually, I was working as a DJ at that time, so my rant was based on what I saw first-hand. I'll definitely keep an eye out for that episode of Unsung though, to see their take on the era. It's all too rare to hear any positive voices in the media when the subject of Disco is addressed.

I was in high school so missed the club scene but disco was played equally with funk at our house parties and school dances. I haven't checked but many Unsung episodes are on YouTube

[Bruinsfan]

I've always loved disco music and taken flak from friends because of it. It really is enjoyable and catchy music.

 

However, 70s fashion deserved every bad thing ever said about it. It turns old TV shows from that era into unintentional comedies when viewed today.

[MyAimIsTrue]

However, 70s fashion deserved every bad thing ever said about it. It turns old TV shows from that era into unintentional comedies when viewed today.

 

My favorite outfit when I was in seventh grade (1977) included rainbow suspenders with rainbow colored toe socks.  Oy.  I cringe just thinking about it.  My mother frequently wore jumpsuits with a head scarf, a la "Rhoda," to work.

[Rick Kitchen]

I used to love my leisure suits, platform shoes and Qiana shirts!!!  :D

[CoderLady]

All fashions seem heinous 20 years or so down the road. I imagine no one will own up to ever wearing skinny jeans when the next generation gets hold of the media.

Edited December 17, 2014 by CoderLady

[Featherhat]

So true, future generations are going to mock the hell out of the Ugg boot as well. Fashion does change quickly I was thinking recently that the Sienna Miller - esque "boho chic inspired" fashions were all the rage around 9-8 years ago but totally disappeared and they still appear in episodes of British shows from around that time and it jars me a bit. I also grew up watching mid 90s kids TV in the UK and the clothing isn't so surprising but the Addidas tread really dates it now, along with the "more wholesome" jeans and sweaters that were better than the 80s versions but not by a whole lot.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Featherhat

[maraleia]

Out of all the family sitcoms of the 80's the one that really doesn't stand the test of time is Growing Pains. I can't really explain why but it just doesn't for me.

[MyAimIsTrue]

A few months ago I came across an episode of 'Family Ties' and while most of the political talk is dated the overall show still looked and seemed fresh, which made me happy.  Sit, Ubu, sit.  Good dog.

[SmithW6079]

However, 70s fashion deserved every bad thing ever said about it. It turns old TV shows from that era into unintentional comedies when viewed today.

 

To be fair, so does '80s fashion. I was watching "Terminator" not too long ago and couldn't stop laughing at the scene in the club, where Linda Hamilton and her friend are decked out in all their big hair glory.

 

I don't think "Scrubs" stands the test of time. Cox was just too mean and nasty to be fun to watch, and for me, he doesn't stand up to rewatching. The same with Carla from "Cheers." Those characters seem funny at the time, but then you realize that just really horrible people, and who wants to watch really horrible people in a comedy?

[Wax Lion]

 

To be fair, so does '80s fashion. I was watching "Terminator" not too long ago and couldn't stop laughing at the scene in the club, where Linda Hamilton and her friend are decked out in all their big hair glory.

 

I remember trying to watch Wiseguy when I found it on Hulu. There's a woman with Tawny Kitan hair that makes the pilot hard to take seriously.

[Jipijapa]

I never understood the appeal of the Cosby Show - even at the time.  It just wasn't funny.  I never laughed.  It was like watered down milk.  Yet it was so bloody popular.   All Cosby news stuff aside, does anyone watch this show in reruns any more?  Is it still funny for you?  Help me understand.

 

It's been odd to watch the original Star Trek over the years.  It seems like original Trek either doesn't hold up, or doesn't get much respect any more.  I was never a huge fan but I watched it in reruns along with everyone else, and the better episodes still hold up today.  It just seems like the reputation of the show among SF fans has tanked over the last decade, and I'm not sure why.  Geeks today are utterly uninterested in Spock.  (I do know that I cannot stand the "special effects upgrades" on the episodes now.)

 

This probably belongs in the "unpopular opinions" thread, but I don't think all 70s fashions were bad.  Cheap 70s fashion was bad, sportswear was bad - but so it goes in every decade.  There was tasteful stuff in the 70s too (Beth, the lawyer from the Rockford Files, had some nice outfits).

Edited December 19, 2014 by Jipijapa

[Moose135]

I never understood the appeal of the Cosby Show - even at the time.  It just wasn't funny.  I never laughed.  It was like watered down milk.  Yet it was so bloody popular.   All Cosby news stuff aside, does anyone watch this show in reruns any more?  Is it still funny for you?  Help me understand.

 

I watched it regularly when it first aired, but I can't say that I've seen an episode since, other than a random one I happened to come across.  I did enjoy it back in the day, but it's not one of those shows that I've wanted to back and watch over and over like some old favorites.

[Princess Sparkle]

It's not necessarily an "old" show, but I've mentioned this thought in the UO thread, and it feels appropriate here: Buffy REALLY doesn't hold up as well as I was hoping it would.  Something about it is just too stuck in high school, and some of the language and fashions just make me cringe.

 

However, I will say, of shows I used to watch as a kid, I think Boy Meets World holds up better than most "kids" shows.  Some of the issues they dealt with still feel as applicable today as they did 20 (OMG, I'm old!) years ago.

[Sweet Tee]

 

I never understood the appeal of the Cosby Show - even at the time.  It just wasn't funny.  I never laughed.  It was like watered down milk.  Yet it was so bloody popular.   All Cosby news stuff aside, does anyone watch this show in reruns any more?  Is it still funny for you?  Help me understand.

I don't get it either.  Not only was it not funny, I didn't like Cosby's character.  I only caught one or two episodes but the way Cliff was with his kids didn't seem cute or warm.  It seemed...odd.  I can't explain it.  I just didn't like his parenting style. 

[Anna Yolei]

Yikes.

 

I remember Maude as being old, but I didn't remember that she was 47.  I'm 58.  My overall health isn't ideal, but sheesh I still look, sound, and move younger then Maude did.

 

Another ground-breaking thing about Maude was that she got pregnant, and got an abortion.

That's really the only episode I ever hear anyone discuss about that show. Even today it's something that rarely comes up as even a discussed option on TV and never on soap operas since Y&R's Ashley Abbott was made crazy after she got one.

Maybe bell-bottoms came back in the 1990s?

Heh...I know you were joking, but I started middle school in '99 and they did, in fact, become popular again in part because of the Brit pop group the Spice Girls. I had a pair where the flare had to be at least two inches, and now I'm kicking myself that I didn't save them for gigle and shits and having them around for when my kid eventually had a 70s day at school. :p

[Bruinsfan]

Out of all the family sitcoms of the 80's the one that really doesn't stand the test of time is Growing Pains. I can't really explain why but it just doesn't for me.

For me it's the dissonance of Kirk Cameron growing up to be a smug and hateful religious zealot and making me want to reach into the screen and punch him out.

[Sister Havana]

I LOVED Friends back in the day, but not so much now. I have no idea why that is.

 

Seinfeld, however, is just as funny to me now as it was when it was new. 

[vb68]

 

For me it's the dissonance of Kirk Cameron growing up to be a smug and hateful religious zealot and making me want to reach into the screen and punch him out.

 

 

Bingo.  I was just about to say that.  I think they really kept how much of a zealot and creepy he was under wraps at the time.

 

Eight is Enough is unbearable for me now.  And I loved it as a kid.  But now I see how bad a father Tom Bradford was.  And for someone who had so many daughters, he was  quite a sexist too.    (Even though I use to watch it, I never could stand Nicholas.  i loved the episode where he was to blame for the house burning down and everyone was mean, so he ran away.)

Edited December 31, 2014 by vb68

[Kromm]

As for a show that doesn't stand up to the test of time, for me it would have to be Hogan's Heroes.  Given what we know about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, it makes me extremely uncomfortable to watch the reruns and accept the show as a campy comedy.

I can't for even a moment debate your feelings of dissatisfaction with the show, or the validity of your reasons, but the one bit I DO have to debate is its relevance to the overall idea of "doesn't stand up to the test of time".  Why?  Because I don't think our information/knowledge of the Holocaust has changed significantly since this show was produced--in fact it could easily be argued that society as a whole knows LESS now than they did in the 1960s (because a generation of angry FOX News watching bigots has infected Middle America and the phenomenon of Holocaust Denial has cropped up).  

 

I think this show has always been an exercise in how individual viewers process material like this, rather than anything societal or inherent in the show.  People's own tolerances, sense of humor, sense of social justice, etc. evolve as they age.  And not always in predictable (or even internally consistent) directions.

I don't get it either.  Not only was it not funny, I didn't like Cosby's character.  I only caught one or two episodes but the way Cliff was with his kids didn't seem cute or warm.  It seemed...odd.  I can't explain it.  I just didn't like his parenting style. 

I always found The Cosby Show boring as hell. At the time it surprised the hell out of me that I did, because I considered Fat Albert one of the best things I'd ever seen.

 

In fact, if we work around the "Cosby is a raping piece of shit" stuff and try and cast our minds back only a few years (when the rape stuff was kind of suspected but most people disbelieved it), I suspect that a lot of people still silently appreciated Fat Albert, even if The Cosby Show might be the one more often verbally praised out loud.  To me Fat Albert has aged much better, again working around the idea that everything Cosby has ever touched is corrupted now.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Kromm

[bmasters9]

It's been odd to watch the original Star Trek over the years.  It seems like original Trek either doesn't hold up, or doesn't get much respect any more.  I was never a huge fan but I watched it in reruns along with everyone else, and the better episodes still hold up today.  It just seems like the reputation of the show among SF fans has tanked over the last decade, and I'm not sure why.  Geeks today are utterly uninterested in Spock.  (I do know that I cannot stand the "special effects upgrades" on the episodes now.)

Personally, I feel very much differently about the upgrades. I saw TOS through from its three remastered DVD releases, and I feel that those upgrades lent much more life to the stories than they had when TOS was originally on in the 60s on NBC. 

[Jipijapa]

Yeah, I forgot about Fat Albert.  Somehow I never associated it with Cosby, although I know it was his.

 

More shows that were all the rage once upon a time but seem to have few admirers today:  Miami Vice.  Moonlighting. 

 

Comedies that hold up tremendously well for me:  Barney Miller and Frasier (Cheers, not so much).

[bmasters9]

More shows that were all the rage once upon a time but seem to have few admirers today:  Miami Vice.  Moonlighting. 

 

Comedies that hold up tremendously well for me:  Barney Miller and Frasier (Cheers, not so much).

Those Miami Vice and Moonlighting DVD releases were huge wastes of money for me, as compared to Barney Miller, which has not only been one of the best shows I've seen, but also has been very well presented by Shout! in that full-series release (said release being one of the best I've ever purchased). 

[Kromm]

It's been odd to watch the original Star Trek over the years.  It seems like original Trek either doesn't hold up, or doesn't get much respect any more.  I was never a huge fan but I watched it in reruns along with everyone else, and the better episodes still hold up today.  It just seems like the reputation of the show among SF fans has tanked over the last decade, and I'm not sure why.  Geeks today are utterly uninterested in Spock.  (I do know that I cannot stand the "special effects upgrades" on the episodes now.)

Star Trek The Original Series holds up better than TNG or Voyager--DS9 is kind of it's own animal and Enterprise still new enough to not have aged out that much yet). Actually to be accurate, I'd say TOS is also it's own animal, and the big problem is that the bulk of the so-called "fans" don't understand that--don't understand what the show actually was and what it wasn't.

 

Star Trek was sci-fi through the lens of people who, at the time, didn't think of that genre in the same way later generations did.  Arguably Original Trek wasn't even sci-fi at all--it was kind of reconnected into being such when they made the theatrical movies.  TOS episodes were more like little morality plays, using magical realism, than they were sci-fi--the "science" framework was threadbare at the time (only developed after the fact, in large part by books, fan expansion, and later shows).  Oh sure, they CALLED it sci-fi at the time, but then again they did the same thing with Lost in Space and Time Tunnel.  It was no accident the memorable episodes are stuff like a man who's half black and half white vs. a man who's half white and half black, or stuff like Kirk almost going native on a planet of American Indian like natives, or even stuff like Space Nazis.  The underpinning behind these stories wasn't an attempt to make them truly realistic--it was more to have "realistic" human interactions inside an environment where all kinds of allegorical stories happened to echo the real world of the 1960s.  

 

So this is the understanding/appreciation gap IMO that's grown between the TOS lovers and the people who seem more fixated on the long-term legacy of the whole franchise.  They don't realize (or if the do, don't care) that the franchise changed between the TOS show and the movies (with Next Gen having more in common with the movies and taking the traditional sci-fi direction even more, even while still tossing in stuff like Q or some of the hologram episodes, which bucked that trend a bit).

None of this is to say that TNG and the later shows (especially DS9--the best show other than TOS--in a way because it was it's total opposite, going so far the other way it wasn't much like TNG, Voyager or Enterprise either) were bad. They were good.  They're just a very different thing.  To me there's a spectrum, with TOS on one extreme, DS9 on the other, and the rest of the shows kind of jammed together in the middle.  Not a quality spectrum, just one about the approach used and the kind of fiction each was.  TOS being the straight up magical realism/allegories/morality plays. The movies, TNG, Voyager and Enterprise all being this kind of light-sci-fi that satisfies the most palates, so to speak.  And DS9 being the dense harder sci-fi (and the most dedicated to serial storylines--not that the others didn't toy with that, but DS9 had big huge story arcs).

Edited December 31, 2014 by Kromm

[selkie]

I can still enjoy Miami Vice today because it so very much embraces a very specific time and place rather than trying to be timeless. Okay, and I like the 80s music that was so key to the series that they cleared 100% of the music for DVD release rather than going cheap and substituting music like so many shows did when rereleased. (WKRP, I'm looking at you.)  Same goes for the very 1960s feel of the original Hawaii Five-O.

 

On the other hand, we're trying to rewatch L.A. Law now, and 'm just not quite feeling it a few episodes in.

[Kromm]

I can still enjoy Miami Vice today because it so very much embraces a very specific time and place rather than trying to be timeless. Okay, and I like the 80s music that was so key to the series that they cleared 100% of the music for DVD release rather than going cheap and substituting music like so many shows did when rereleased. (WKRP, I'm looking at you.)  Same goes for the very 1960s feel of the original Hawaii Five-O.

 

On the other hand, we're trying to rewatch L.A. Law now, and 'm just not quite feeling it a few episodes in.

I think it's a fine line.  Some shows not originally intended as such, become period pieces when watched down the line.  They invoke an era, but for this to really work, the storylines and acting have to still transcend generations.  

 

Along with storylines and acting that doesn't age well... pacing, shot selection and editing seem to be major things which can sometimes age far worse than "oh, the men are all wearing hats", or people have mullets,  or "the cars look weird", or even "hey, they talk old timey".  Shows that look like they hardly tried with these things don't age well.  Ones where they did seem to care, DO age well.  

[maraleia]

Bingo.  I was just about to say that.  I think they really kept how much of a zealot and creepy he was under wraps at the time.

 

Eight is Enough is unbearable for me now.  And I loved it as a kid.  But now I see how bad a father Tom Bradford was.  And for someone who had so many daughters, he was  quite a sexist too.    (Even though I use to watch it, I never could stand Nicholas.  i loved the episode where he was to blame for the house burning down and everyone was mean, so he ran away.)

Kirk is the reason why IMO Growing Pains is so unbearable to watch now.

As for Eight is Enough, another thing that makes the show seem so irritating now is that the real Braden family (that the show is based on) was more interesting than the Bradfords every were. Tom and Joan Braden had an open marriage, they knew the RFK family and moved in interesting Washington circles whereas the Bradfords were just a retro family of the late 70's.

[vb68]

 

Tom and Joan Braden had an open marriage, they knew the RFK family and moved in interesting Washington circles

 

 

Now that would have made an interesting show.

 

As for La Law, I think a lot of the cases of the week would probably be very dated.  IIRC a lot of them were just thin excuses to explore issues that were current at the time.   Though I have such fond memories of season four when Rosalind was running roughshod over everyone in her quest for power and control.

 

I still think Rosalind Shays was one of the great TV villains.

[Jipijapa]

Bad acting or phone-it-in acting also makes a show seem old.  You don't notice the bad acting at the time (and some of it may simply be poor ADR), but when the people on the show don't interest you years later (because the acting is bad), suddenly all the other old-fashioned things seem to be noticeably shoddy, too.

 

The Rockford Files has a lot of the slow pacing you mention (endless car chases! constant squealing wheels! long leisurely establishing shots!), but the acting from top to bottom is lively - from regulars to guests to under-fives - and that, more than anything else, makes the show very rewatchable.

 

There's also something about exceedingly formulaic shows - ones that followed a tight pattern from week to week - that paradoxically, makes them very rewatchable.  I'm thinking of Columbo and Mission: Impossible.  (And Lord knows, Law and Order lasted forever and a day...)  When the show stays committed to its unique formula, that's a good thing.  When a show starts to just slide into The Standard Formula Of All Shows, that's when it becomes mediocre and just doesn't have staying power.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Jipijapa

[Moose135]

I still think Rosalind Shays was one of the great TV villains.

And had one of the best exits ever!

[Haleth]

Her exit was still one of the most shocking things ever on tv.  It was so totally unexpected.

[MulletorHater]

I still think Rosalind Shays was one of the great TV villains.

 

 

 

And had one of the best exits ever!

 

I couldn't stand the woman, but I have to admit that her grand exit traumatized me so much that to this day, I am very careful when entering elevators.  I always make sure it comes to a complete stop before getting on and that I can actually see the floor.  And, I will never, EVER back into one!

[Bruinsfan]

I still think Rosalind Shays was one of the great TV villains.

 

 

And had one of the best exits ever!

I still bemoan the fact that the Angel casting people hired Sarah Thompson to play the liaison with Wolfram & Hart in its final season instead of Diana Muldaur.

[mansonlamps]

For me it's Friends. One of my favorite sitcoms of all time during its initial airing, I can't muster up the interest to watch a single episode now that it's free on Netflix. Yet I can watch Frasier over and over.

[Sara2009]

Maybe I'm alone, but I still like " Cheers."

[MyAimIsTrue]

Maybe I'm alone, but I still like " Cheers."

 

You're not alone.  "Cheers" is now and always will be my favorite sitcom and I still find it immensely enjoyable to watch.

[Chaos Theory]

I really don't think any show stands the test of time. That's the thing about tv. It needs to be taken as a time capsule for the period it was made in. 80s shows were 80s shows. 90s shows were 90s shows: in a decade we will all be laughing at how bad our favorite current shows are.

Buffy is one of my deeply rooted nostalgia shows. I can watch any episode of that show over and over again regardless of its quality. Everyone has a nostalgia show.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[cpcathy]

Maybe I'm alone, but I still like " Cheers."

 

No, you're not alone. I still think it's the best sitcom of all time, and I watch at least two to three episodes a week on Netflix.

[Guest]

I really don't think any show stands the test of time. That's the thing about tv. It needs to be taken as a time capsule for the period it was made in. 80s shows were 80s shows. 90s shows were 90s shows: in a decade we will all be laughing at how bad our favorite current shows are.

 

My definition of standing the test of time is that you don't cringe and wonder why it was so much better in your memory.  Very old shows hold up because they are a period story to the person who found them long after they first aired.  If you were born in the 80s, shows that black and white or clearly 70s hold up the same as years pass because they don't change.  What was out of date then is still out of date.

 

But watch a show from the 80s or 90s and the costuming alone will make it a completely different experience, because the first time you didn't look at it and think 'OMG the perm' or 'those effects are terrible.'  For those shows, the ones that are good enough that you can still watch them despite the retro flashback stand the test of time.

 

I do think that more recent shows (like the last 20 years) hold up better because fashion fads have settled down or are at least more diverse and therefore not as overwhelmingly obvious.  Maybe I just ignore them now, but I don't notice anything rivaling big hair, rat tails, mullets, parachute pants, and the Miami Vice pastel T-shirt suit combo in day to day life these days. 

[Jipijapa]

You know what will look strange to future audiences for today's shows?  The overwhelmingly long, flowing hair on women.  There's really no such thing as a stylish, distinctive haircut any more, which seems normal to us, but in the future will probably seem odd when stylish haircuts come back into style.

[mansonlamps]

Not to mention teenage boys wearing pants that are belted around their ass with their entire boxers exposed. God willing that goes away completely one of these days.

Damn autocorrect!

Edited January 9, 2015 by mansonlamps

[Kel Varnsen]

I don't get it either.  Not only was it not funny, I didn't like Cosby's character.  I only caught one or two episodes but the way Cliff was with his kids didn't seem cute or warm.  It seemed...odd.  I can't explain it.  I just didn't like his parenting style. 

One thing, as an adult I never got is how the kids on the Cosby show didn't have any kind of toughness, street smarts, or self-awareness (or whatever you want to call it). I mean they just seemed so sheltered to the point where it seemed like it made them stupid. Wikipedia tells me that Theo was 14 in the first season, living in New York City i 1984 (back when it was a lot rougher of a city). Yet I wonder where he could function on his own as an adult. There was one episode of the show where he was hanging out with his university buddies, at some coffee house or something, and I swear they were all drinking milk. Vanessa is just as bad. In the famous Retched episode, after their car is stolen, they decide that when they go back to New York, they will just file a police report saying it was stolen in New York there so that no one knows they left. How does someone even get old enough to leave the house without knowing that filing a false police report and insurance fraud are serious crimes. No wonder an ongoing theme was the kids always moving back to the house.

[MaryMitch]

I have been watching the old "Superman" TV series on MeTV (the one with George Reeves.  When this originally aired, did people recognize how stupid it is? Was it just supposed to be a kid's show? 

 

But George Reeves in those 50s (business) suits - yum!