This Never Gets Old: TV Shows You Can Watch Again And Again

[scriggle]

Top of my list is Leverage followed closely by Due South.

I'm a sucker for L&O: CI and MASH marathons.

I'll rewatch things like GBBO, Forged in Fire, Mythbusters, & Dirty Jobs for mindless background noise.

[supposebly]

My go-to shows for comfort, background noise and all-around rewatch value:

Eureka

Leverage

Stargate SG-1

Alias

X-files (1-7)

Nu-Doctor Who (1-6)

Early CSI Las Vegas (1-5)

Supernatural (1-7)

Common Law

Firefly

Angel (season 1 and 5 and occasional episodes in between)

[MisterBluxom]

I'm sorry to post the news that after all the posts about Frasier, the actor John Mahoney who played Frasier's dad has passed away.

As reported in the New York Post:

https://pagesix.com/2018/02/05/frasier-star-john-mahoney-dead-at-77/

[Rosiejuliemom]

On 2/2/2018 at 7:29 PM, HoboClayton said:

Twilight Zone

Tales from the Crypt

Tales from the Darkside

Golden Girls

Ren & Stimpy

Salute Your Shorts

Eerie, Indiana

King of the Hill

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

And.. Pop Up Video!! 

I'm going to have to do rewatches of most of these. Especially Pop Up Video. Actually, can I add most VH1 programming from a certain era? Old Behind the Music, I Love the (insert decade here), the first few Flavors/Rocks of Love and Charm School, and most of the Rock Docs and their original movies.

[blueray]

Lost (all): It's my favorite show and I've seen it at least 3 times all the way through (the first one when it aired) and certain episodes (particularly season 4 and 5) to many times to count.

Star Treks (TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY) and Sg-1, SGA are always fun to watch random episodes of.

Edited February 8, 2018 by blueray

[afterbite]

I don't usually rewatch shows on purpose. There are definitely shows that I'll watch if I catch a rerun (e.g., Designing Women, Golden Girls), but otherwise once I've seen it, I see no need to revisit it.

I've watched the totality of The Clone Wars animated series probably 8 times, though. I guess that would count for 'shows you can watch over and over again'. :)

[festivus]

I already did a post about the shows I re-watch the most so this post will be about the ones I know I'll re-watch a lot in the future.

Angel: I did a full re-watch on that one last year. I love Buffy too but Angel holds up better for me as a whole whereas I will do more picking and choosing with Buffy episodes.

Farscape: I'm planning a re-watch for this summer. That's a show that demands all your attention.

The Magicians: I've already started re-watching this one and it's only in the middle of its third season. I <3 this show.

Others I know I'm going to watch a lot in the future: Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place. I've already watched season one of The Good Place twice.

Also I want to watch the first two seasons of Misfits again. That show is so crazy and sooo funny.

Edited February 8, 2018 by festivus
Messed up a name. Make that two names.

[cpcathy]

The Good Place is like comfort food for me, watch it when I'm happy or sad, it doesn't matter. Always comforting.

[GaT]

Strangely, I am now on my 3rd viewing of "The Great British Baking Show". 

[Jenniferbug]

I rewatch most shows I like at some point, since I work from home and TV is my background noise, but there are some I've watched over and over again. 

The Great British Bake Off (I think I'm on viewing 5)

The Office

Parks and Rec

The Good Place

Chuck

Hart of Dixie

Veronica Mars

Scrubs

Boy Meets World

 

And a couple of little known gems:

My Boys (cure sitcom about tomboy sports writer and her group of male friends)

The Unusuals (quirky police show)

[selkie]

On 2/8/2018 at 2:06 PM, festivus said:

Farscape: I'm planning a re-watch for this summer. That's a show that demands all your attention.

 

 

 

Farscape can be a hard rewatch for me because of the way they keep breaking Crichton into tiny little pieces, let him rebuild himself, and  smash him into grains of sand to loop through the rebuilding process again. And yet there is so much awesomeness to the show I will go through it all every few years. 

While I'll skip a fair amount of season 5 because the Telegoths annoy me to no end, I'll also rewatch Babylon 5 every so often and marvel at how JMS really was so very OCD in terms of keeping the original storylines on track from the pilot on, and how there is no question of him making canon up as it went along. And while there are a fair share of gut punches in B5, it's not as consuming as Crichton's descent into mental illness. 

Edited February 12, 2018 by selkie

[festivus]

Just now, selkie said:

Farscape can be a hard rewatch for me because of the way they keep breaking Crichton into tiny little pieces, let him rebuild himself, and  smash him into grains of sand to loop through the rebuilding process again. 

This is the main reason I want to watch the show again. I find it so fascinating and John Crichton became one of my favorite characters ever. It was just such an interesting and heartbreaking story and I thought Ben Browder was great. There is something wrong with me. :)

[Anela]

Gilmore Girls.

I used to watch some of the shows mentioned here, but I haven't since I got Netflix (and watching older shows just depresses me now). I loved the Golden Girls, but I haven't watched it since my mum died. 

[SmithW6079]

For me, it's mostly animated shows like "American Dad," "Bob's Burgers," "Futurama," even "The Simpsons," and sitcoms, which I put on as background noise. "Star Trek: TOS" and occasionally "TNG" are also shows I can watch over and over. 

[supposebly]

A discussion in the "Unpopular Opinions" thread reminded me: Blackadder!

I watch it once every year.

[MisterBluxom]

On 2/1/2018 at 2:45 PM, biakbiak said:

I could have Parks and Rec on an endless loop in my house. I have seen every episode of Law and Order no less than a gazillion times.

Buffy, The Good Place, Sports Night, Murder She Wrote and The West Wing are also rewatched regularly.

I just saw the episode with the little girl who was a murderer. She hated boys and murdered one young child for the "fun of it". Most everyone agreed there was no hope she would ever have a useful life. But the legal issues were so advance and thought-provoking, I had to watch it several times - just to understand what those issues were. One of the most thought-provoking episodes I have ever seen! I'm very sorry I don't remember the episode number. I hope someone will remember and will post the details. It might have been in Season 10.

If you want to find it, I do remember that Elizabeth Olivet made a return appearance in this episode. 

Edited February 14, 2018 by MissBluxom

[Moose135]

11 minutes ago, MissBluxom said:

I just saw the episode with the little girl who was a murderer. She hated boys and murdered one young child for the "fun of it".

That was Killerz from Season 10.  She was a scary little kid - at the end, I think they're in the hallway outside the courtroom, and she gives a sweet little smile to a young boy down the hall, that was really creepy!

[Hyacinth B]

No love for Columbo? My Sheridan would be APPALLED!

And of course:

Keeping Up Appearances

Fawlty Towers

Midsomer Murders (Thank you, Acorn!)

Frasier

Animaniacs

ANY nature program or series from David Attenborough

The old Adventures of Robin Hood series from the 1950s, also each and every rebroadcast of the Errol Flynn flick from 1938

Flight of the Conchords

The "Big Three" classic detective series from Masterpiece Mystery - Miss Marple, Poirot, and Sherlock Holmes

Edited February 15, 2018 by Hyacinth B

[BK1978]

This list could potentially be very long.  Therefore, I will limit it to what comes to my head right now.

 

All in the Family

Seinfeld 

Sanford and Son

Old Dr. Who (Anything from any of the original seven Doctors.  Yes even Colin Baker episodes...)

The original Law & Order

OZ

Game of Thrones

Car 54 Where Are You?

The Golden Girls

The original Dark Shadows

[rmontro]

Currently, shows that I find easy to watch over and over again are The Middle and Big Bang Theory.  It doesn't hurt that there are a few channels that play multiple episodes back to back to back.  Come to think of it, Impractical Jokers is kind of like this too, but I get tired of it more quickly than the other too.

Mind you, that's not the same as listing my favorite shows, but right now I find myself watching reruns of those shows more than any other.

[Duke2801]

30 Rock, Seinfeld, Happy Endings, Arrested Development and Buffy are a few that never get old for me. 

[callie lee 29]

Yay for all the CSI:NY love. 

I remembered another series I love and miss, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. 

[Jac]

Roseanne (seasons 1-8)

ER

Parks and Rec

Cheers

Frasier

Arrested Development

30 Rock

Seinfeld

Law & Order (mostly the Jill Hennessey and Angie Harmon seasons)

Law & Order: SVU (the Stephanie March and Diane Neal seasons)

Gavin & Stacey (Britcom)

Catastrophe (Britcom)

[TheGreenKnight]

Most things I like enough to buy, I end watching repeatedly. Sitcoms are a given, but my most re-watched of those are The Golden Girls, Will & Grace, The Nanny, Designing Women, Roseanne, That 70's Show, and Reba. Of hour-long shows: Murder, She Wrote; Ugly Betty; Supernatural; Sherlock (although that's a mini-series, I guess); Desperate Housewives; Downton Abbey; Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

[MerBearHou]

Gilmore Girls

Law & Order 

Law & Order: CI

Barefoot Contessa on Food Network

Great British Baking Show

Downton Abbey

Schitt’s Creek

Seinfeld

The Office

Law & Order: SVU - the Christopher Meloni years

[Vixenstud]

Married….with Children – This show was ahead of its time and I doubt it would last if tried in these modern times; to this day I smile whenever George Thorogood’s Bad to the Bone comes on the radio.

Sanford and Son – Watched as a child and can never get enough of it as an adult (miss you, Pop-Pop, he loved this show!)

I Love Lucy – Never gets old.

A Different World – LOL at post-Denise reference, but you’re right!

[meep.meep]

I can't watch I Love Lucy because I get so embarrassed for the actors.

Prime Suspect - the original series with Helen Mirren

Perry Mason - except for the ones in color

[sleepysuzy]

On 2/1/2018 at 3:19 PM, ramble said:

Fringe - a very, very close second, the White Tulip episode is one of my favorite episodes of any show.

Fringe is the only show that left me thinking they actually had a plan for the entire series. I love that. I get invested in shows that do the epic story angle, but they almost universally fall apart a few seasons in. Fringe was the exception.

Avatar: The Last Airbender would be my other pick for similar reasons

Edited March 27, 2018 by sleepysuzy

[DearEvette]

14 minutes ago, sleepysuzy said:

Fringe is the only show that left me thinking they actually had a plan for the entire series. I love that. I get invested in shows that do the epic story angle, but they almost universally fall apart a few seasons in. Fringe was the exception.

This is how I feel about Breaking Bad.  The way the story unfolds and the evolution of the Walter White character is fantastic. I love seeing where foundations laid ine season one gets paid off brilliantly in the final season.  Even the episode titles are clever little easter eggs.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I did forget to mention Law & Order. Though I tend to skip the Rohmbot and Borgia years.

And because I’m not only watching on Heroes&Icons channel, but also the ?: JAG.

[kassygreene]

2 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

The Office and Barefoot Contessa are two shows I will watch anytime, anywhere, over and over.

Show I wish I could find again, Burn Notice. I stopped watching about half way through the series and I can't find it anywhere now. "They're like doll clothes".

If you have Amazon Prime, Burn Notice seasons 0 (the fall of sam axe) through 7 are available.

[biakbiak]

54 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

Amazon prime that you use for shipping and Kindle different from what you would use for tv viewing? (sorry to sound so stupid, I can barely understand my son's Netflix when I keep my granddaughters while they work). 

Nope it’s the same, it’s all included in Amazon Prime.

[biakbiak]

7 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

Burn Notice. I stopped watching about half way through the series and I can't find it anywhere now. "They're like doll clothes".

Though you probably should just stop at the season 5 finale because the last two seasons were complete and utter shit.

[willco]

On 2/7/2018 at 9:26 PM, blueray said:

Lost (all): It's my favorite show and I've seen it at least 3 times all the way through (the first one when it aired) and certain episodes (particularly season 4 and 5) to many times to count.

Star Treks (TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY) and Sg-1, SGA are always fun to watch random episodes of.

Lost ! There seems to be so much hate for the show, everyone always seems to despise how it ended, but not me. I don't watch it that much anymore, but I've seen every episode, at a minimum, of 3 times and some of the early seasons much more than that. If I ever have temporary amnesia and am on bedrest with noting to do, I've left instructions for my family to cue up season one ASAP for me to watch anew ! (Not really, just kidding.. but that would be great !_)

[HunterHunted]

Law & Order

DS9

Eureka

Without a Trace

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Legend of Korra

30 Rock

Supernatural

[magdalene]

Lost - I like the ending.

The Great British Baking Show - it doesn't impede my viewing pleasure knowing the winners of the seasons

Angel - sadly it's no longer available on netflix to stream

Black Sails - such an underrated series!

As Time Goes By - sadly PBS always seemed to repeat the same episodes and I can't find it on netflix to stream either

[biakbiak]

5 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

I have the wonderful(?) issue of being able to watch something even when it turns bad, if I adore the actor. I really like all three of the main characters on the show so if I am able to catch it, I will probably watch the whole series to finish.

I mean...Do you think I am still watching The Blacklist because it is still good? Nope, I am one of those **ahem** James Spader freaks. I will watch anything he does, no matter how bad.

I am a completionist and it was so bad that if I had the ability to warn my past self of mistakes not to make in life watching the last 2 seasons might make the top 50 things to do differently.

Edited July 18, 2018 by biakbiak

[Haleth]

7 hours ago, magdalene said:

Black Sails - such an underrated series!

Great show.  Best ending of a tv series ever.

[WarnerCL45]

Reno 911.

[GHScorpiosRule]

The first three seasons of Charlie's Angels. Yup, the Kate Jackson/Sabrina Duncan years. Because after she left, the women just became more and more glamorized and that opening in the final season with Julie the model turned detective, was watching three models sashaying toward the camera. No matter how beautiful Jaclyn Smith looked. I know, I know, I sound like the worst nitpicker, hypocrite. But Kate was also beautiful. She may not have been as curvy and more angular, but I loved Sabrina.

[bmasters9]

On 3/20/2018 at 3:03 PM, meep.meep said:

Perry Mason - except for the ones in color

So basically, "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist" (the only color episode of the original CBS series) and the 1985-95 NBC movies are the ones you don't care to see over again?

[MissAlmond]

I love Season One of Bewitched.  It has a totally different feel from later seasons, which I believe is due to it first considered as a show for adults.  I loved the earlier premise that witches and warlocks were far more sophisticated than mortals.  That gifted talents such as Mozart and Willie Mays weren't mortals, but actually witches/warlocks, as implied by Aunt Clara in the babysitting episode.   Therefore, it was disappointing to me in later seasons when Leonardo da Vinci, for example, was portrayed as a mere mortal.

[meep.meep]

8 hours ago, bmasters9 said:

So basically, "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist" (the only color episode of the original CBS series) and the 1985-95 NBC movies are the ones you don't care to see over again?

Yup.  Perry Mason should be in black and white.

And the real murderer should confess in the courtroom in the last two minutes.

[SVNBob]

Certain episodes of MST3K.  The Christmas ones in particular, for seasonal riffing.  Others are mood sensitive.

And as practically everyone not from the country of its origin but has seen the show can attest, all 4 seasons of The Genius are great for re-watching.  The first watch is to see what happened.  Later watches are to see how it all happened.

[Snowprince]

The West Wing

Battlestar Galactica (2004)

Star Trek: TOS

As Time Goes By

Fawlty Towers

The Twilight Zone (all iterations)

The Outer Limits (all iterations)

Southland

....and a few others that don't immediately come to mind.

[DrSpaceman]

Seinfeld

30 Rock

Its Always sunny in Philadephia

The Twilight Zone, at least the half hour episodes.  They did one or two seasons with one hour episodes and some of those suck.

Arrested Development, the first 3 seasons.

[bmasters9]

Definitely The Streets of San Francisco-- the late, great Karl Malden was riveting in that 1972-77 ABC police/detective series (as Lt. Mike Stone), so much so that CBS' all-in-one DVD has been one of the few I've seen through (not that Michael Douglas and Richard Hatch didn't have equal parts to play, but Karl Malden was the one who I thought was the best on there). 

ETA: not exactly entirely through, as I picked up where I left off from the first-season, first-volume individual release which I had a long time ago, and finished the series. 

Edited September 20, 2018 by bmasters9

[WritinMan]

30 Rock

Spartacus

CSI (William Petersen years)

Battlestar Galactica (the new one)

Breaking Bad

Edited September 23, 2018 by WritinMan
Typo!

[AuntieDiane6]

Shocked that nobody mentioned two of my favorite shows:  Sex and the City (HBO version only) and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  I also can rematch MONK (a local station  has a marathon every Sunday) and Dexter ... the first four years only.  (Dexter STILL qualifies as the worst ending in the history of television)

[Lana]

Well, I have to agree with some of the choices picked here by others to repeat watch. I find one show, particularly, to be entertaining in a comforting way. I love watching Midsomer Murders. I just can't get enough of it. And some of the episodes I watch over and over. Comfort television I guess. I like the music and characters in Silent Land which is in Midsomer Murders Season 13. In the past I watched Star Trek The Next Generation, CSI, NCIS, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural. But nothing is better to me than the ever charming Midsomer Murders. And even though I'm not from Britain...I certainly can say it is one of the most entertaining British shows I've ever watched. "Keeping up with Appearances" was always a favorite comedy of mine also. But I'm not much into comedies. But that show managed to get me to chuckle.