I've been lucky. I haven't been bitten yet. Common sense rules. I wanted to pick up MacGyver, but I know it just can't be as good now as it was when I was younger. I've managed to catch an ep. here and there on cable and while enjoyable, it doesn't hold up overall. I would imagine the same on A-team, Knight Rider and GAH. All faves back in the day, but corny as hell today. If I had to pick, Mac would hold up better than these 3 though.

:up: Cheers - timeless. There will be alcoholics at happy hour at their local bar til the end of time. Always enjoyable. Other than this though, I can't think of any other 80's sitcoms that would hold up as well. Maybe the Cosby Show.

I also think Quantum Leap holds up well if you forget about the stock footage they used(looks bad on a big HD display). But the episodes are stand alone plots, and take place in a different time period. The good guy helping the misfortunate that lost their way will always hold up.

The rules I have adopted and have been using:

1) If I didn't watch it on TV when I was a kid, don't buy the TV set. For some reason, I think I might unearth a rare treasure that I missed out on, but I have learned the hard way if I didn't watch the show when I was a kid, it's pretty much going to suck now as well, or be even worse. Rank American Greatest Hero in this category.

2) Even if I watched the show when I was a kid, if I just cannot muster up the desire to watch the syndicated episodes even a few times, don't buy the TV set. Knight Rider falls into this category.


Those are two iron clad rules that I feel will not only save me from buying bad TV on DVD, but will also save me money.

Lost in Space is the series that I thought I would love on DVD, but like a poster earlier, the show is quite boring, and I don't think I've ventured past disc one of season one yet.

But one show that I have to say I like even MORE now, and this surprises even me, is Land of the Lost. The special effects are chessy as hell, but the stories are pretty damn good, and I find the show highly creative.

A Star Trek TOS communicator is still far more advanced than a current cell phone, if based on its range alone.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get my car to the mechanic. I need to get the antimatter in my warp drive changed. ;)

Don't you remember those chintzy ring tones those communicators had? Puh-leeze! -rolleyes-

Not one Für Elise in the bunch.

I can't think of any TV shows that I loved as a kid (and older) that haven't lost their luster. Any TV show that's been off of the air for more than a few years seems hokey and dated to me. This is why I don't buy any TV shows on DVD. I know it's just a matter of time before I don't like them much and until then their usually in plenty of reruns.



Stew

I think there are plenty of comedies worth getting on DVD such as Spin City. I would buy Saturday Night Live Celebrity Jeopardy in a second if it was available on DVD - I don't need the rest of the show.

I thin it is almost worth it to see shows on DVD to avoid commercials and those station identifiers that are getting bigger and animated to the point that they distract you from what is going on. Pretty soon they'll have Garrett Morris in the corner yelling every few minutes- And now the station idendification for the visually impaired - YOU ARE WATCHING WB KTLA CHANNEL 5 IN LOS ANGELES!

Haven't checked yet, but I bet it is scheduled for release sooner or later and will be a huge flying can of aerosal cheeze whiz - Airwolf!

I personally found that I liked Green Acres as much, if not more, now than I did when I first discovered the show in my youth.

Alf was far more terrible than I remembered it to be. And while I did enjoy some nostalgia watching Knight Rider on DVD, I'm glad I rented rather than buying (and didn't even rent the whole set to get more than enough). I did love Knight Rider (and the A-Team) as a kid.

I don't know if it's because I've just watched them to death in syndication, but I don't enjoy Seinfeld anymore, either.

Truthfully, it seems like anything made after roughly 1980 hasn't held up well for me, but shows from the 1950s/1960s and even a large portion of the shows from the 1970s that I originally saw in syndication as a kid (though I am old enough to have watched some 1970s shows in their original runs) have held up far better than the later stuff.

The shows to me that have help up the best over the years:

MASH
Wild Wild West
Batman
Munsters
Addams Family
Columbo
Kolchak, The Night Stalker
Andy Griffith Show
Twilight Zone
Bob Newhart Show
Friday The 13th The Series
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Simpsons
Leave It To Beaver

I rarely saw MacGyver when it was on TV so I got the Season 1 pack. I find it slow but get a kick out of Rick. I'm a big Stargate fan and think he's the only reason I can watch the older show now. As far as I can tell, sci-fi is better for me but I am having trouble getting through Space 1999. I don't have many 80's TV shows. Most of my seasons are from the last 10/15 years.
X-Files and Millenium
Buffy and Angel
Stargate, Babylon 5, Farscape
The Treks
The other group I get are period pieces from the Brits and the like:
H.Hornblower
Upstairs/Downstairs
Nero Wolfe
Coupling

Who's up for "Eight is Enough" "Family," "CHiPs" and "Silver Spoons"? Surely those would pack enough retrospective cheese factor to warrant discussion/debate among these halls should they ever come out on DVD?

Personally, I'm dying for Perry Mason, Adam-12, Hill Street Blues and The Rockford Files.

A lot of shows are good for the nostalgia factor, but that alone doesn't really merit the hefty price tags some of these shows carry.

I remember getting excited when I found a used Battlestar Galactica:Classic Series, but after watching the first few eps., found it incredibly cheesy. Now that there is a new series that takes the material in a more serious light, I cannot watch it at all without groaning.

Although I've always watched a shamefully large amount of TV, digital cable has satisfied my need for old TV shows. I've only bought the DVDs for two shows- SCTV and Get a Life. I'm tempted to get some of the better Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episodes, and I would consider Maniac Mansion if it ever came out on DVD. (I'm not counting the umpteen vcds of Crayon Shin Chan cartoons that I pick up for a buck apiece whenever I'm over in Asia.)

Two shows that I didn't care for as a kid but now enjoy as reruns are Gunsmoke and Perry Mason.

Yes, I am an old coot (at least in this crowd). -biggrin-