600th Blog Special-TV Shows I Truly Miss Being On TV

Amazingly it took me a whole year to reach 600, I guess last year was on the slow side. I always like to stop when I hit the 100 mark and reflect, what started as a lark has evolved into 600 articles over four and a half years. I truly never saw that coming. Of course, if it weren’t for Manic Expression I am sure that would not be the case. So what am I going to talk about today? I have discussed my favorite shows before, but there is a difference between a favorite show and a show that I actually miss.

Ok, let me back up. The title may be a strange one if you don’t understand what I mean. Of course, when I was a kid things were different. If you missed a TV show…you missed it. End of story. And if the show went off the air it was gone. Yeah some went to syndication but with a few special exceptions that never lasted either. But these days there are many ways to watch TV shows, old and new, so it’s hard to say I “miss” a show when it’s available on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Netflix, or DVD. Not to mention our DVR’s which can catch those re-runs that still very much exist.


No, what I am talking about are TV shows that I miss being on first run TV, mostly because of the memories involved. TV shows that we enjoy watching come and go  but for a variety of reasons, there are some that stay with us. Remembering watching them brings back fond memories. Yes we can catch a re-run, stream, download, or pop in a DVD of that show it’s still not the same as when we saw it for the first time.


Of course, movies are like this too. I adored Star Trek IV when I first saw and will never feel that way again. Heck even Back to the Future, as many times as I’ve seen it, I have never felt that same awe and excitement as when I saw it thirty plus years ago. This is especially true if it’s something you saw as a kid, since watching something as a child and watching it as an adult is very different. But the same experience can happen even as an adult. A great example is The Nostalgia Critic, which is one of those things I wish I could go back and re-discover for the first time because the night I first stumbled onto it was a special thing for me (and I have explained why elsewhere).


Ok so let’s go thru my choices and I hope I explain my reasoning better. By the way these are in no particular order.




This show was a big part of my weekend routine growing up. This was what we watched Sunday night at 7,for about six years anyway. Solid Gold was like this in the 80’s but I don’t have many memories of that show. AMHV was different.  I loved the show because in the age way before reality TV and social media, it was easy to forget there were other people in the world. This show gave us a small window which reminded us that there were people out there, and doing something like tripping and falling happens to the best of us. As for the Tom Bergeron version we have today, yeah I have watched it but the classic version is and will always be my favorite.







This show is so easy to pick on, and I am sure there are dozens of people who hate it for hpw corny and cheesy it is. As a kid I watched this day in and day out every day. I have talked about this show but I want to reiterate I do think the show gets a bad wrap. Much liek Full House, the show is seen through the eyes of the kids so it is softer. But is it really so crazy that to see a happy family on TV? I noted one that the Brady’s are not always happy as some like to insist. Within the episodes they fight, they argue, they compete against each other ans play mean tricks. I don’t know, sounds kind of like a normal family to me. While I will admit that dysfunction can make for better TV, I don;t think a series should be laughed off just because it dares to shows a functional family. I mean, there are happy families out there right? I loved this show as a kid and to this day will turn on an episode with a nostalgic gleam in my eye.








Yeah gonna get this one out of the way. I don’t care what anyone says, this show was a major part of my childhood and nothing is going to ruin that for me. Even if one of the stars isn’t quite so pure. This show started when I was in 4th grade and went off the air when I was graduating high school. A lot of people say this, but I literally grew up with this show. It’s the first show I remember talking to my friends about the next day because it was funny (the term is “water cooler” show), one of the only shows I routinely watched with my brother, and it’s honestly the only show I wished my life could be like. The show was just funny. It was a monster hit and I loved it along with the rest of the country.









I wish I could convey the little place in my heart for this one. I have tried before, but let me try again here. Monday night’s were never fun for TV, either Bloopers were on or else the well written but equally depressing Amazing Stories. This was just what I was craving, a light family comedy. And it came on at exactly the right time for me age wise. And when they paired this show up with The Hogan Family…it was just gold. Monday’s are stressful, even as a kid, and this hour of TV on NBC at 8:00 was a nice little way to wind down the day, and then it was off to bed at 9:00 for the next day’s challenge.







I already went over this so I really don’t think you guys need to hear the story again. Suffice to say, when this show premiered it was a big deal in my house and this show is still one I can watch over and over and over and over. This has been (and probably will be) covered in other Trek articles but I just felt it needed at least a token mention here.









Maybe this is just me, but doesn’t everyone have at least one show that they love even though others seem not to? You know, stuff lile Baywatch which many people seem to adore even though many others laugh it off as silly junk? I guess this one is mine because I loved this show (well, except the last two years at least). I am not sure what it was because it wasn’t, let’s be honest, that amazing of a show. Maybe it was the characters and they way they worked so well off each other, maybe it was the quirky situations, or maybe because when it was good it was really pretty good.









Yeah I know, Johnny Carson was a lot better than Leno. Letterman should have gotten the Tonight Show. Leno just isn’t that funny. Well, I was a fan of Leno from before he was even on  The Tonight Show. But, again, this was perfectly timed for me because it came when I started college and could watch The Tonight Show. And Carson, I respect and loved him, was kind of old school by 1992. Leno was fresher and hipper..and it was great.  I miss getting to turn it on whenever I had the chance to stay up that late. And over the years I DVR’d it and watched the monologue every morning before work (and the Headline segment, I loved that bit). When Leno signed off his last show he acknowledged that he was now old school and it was time for Fallon to come in for the younger fans of today. He was right, and man did it make me feel old.








The 70’s had Brady Bunch, the 80’s had Cosby, and the 90’s had Home Improvement. This was a nice harmless family comedy and I really grew to love it. It took awhile for me to really get into it because I was not that big a Tim Allen fan (same problem kept me from Roseanne and I just can’t see putting that show on here). At first the premise sounds dumb, a show about a guy who keeps blowing stuff up week after week? And I wont lie it is formulaic as hell. Tim screws up, Tim gets advice from Wilson, Tim gets advice wrong but angry wife forgives him anyway. It’s the little things in the show that work, it’s almost hard to explain. The characters work, you believe Tim and Jill love each other, the kids act like normal kids, and you know Tim and Al really respect each other. It was the re-runs I was growing to love watching every day…and now I can’t find them anywhere 








I avoided this show too at first but when I did finally start watching it, I loved it. And I don’t know why exactly. Ray is a horny idiot, Debra is a mean witch…and yet despite that I can’t help but see my own family in these little stories. For some shows it’s the characters, here it’s the stories that win me over. This was my Monday night’s for several years there, and I still watch the re-runs pretty much every day. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love shows more for the characters then the stories. For instance….







I almost considered putting this off the list because I discovered it late, in re-runs, and do not like the last few year of the show. So why did I decide to put them on here? This is a prime example of what TV is not like anymore. This show is innocent and light. They didn’t hit Full House levels of corniness of course, but at the same time they don’t resort to the gimmicks we see so much today. For example I have been catching 2 Broke Girls on re-runs. It’s ok but I notice that it is a constant barrage of sex jokes, crass humor, and ethnic stereotypes (it works because of the two leads who are very watchable). Nothing in that show feels natural (and really Jennifer Coolidge can you play anything else besides over the top?). But Boss was funny because these are characters we love and don’t feel like exaggerated stereotypes. THEY FEEL LIKE PEOPLE! When I watch this show in re-runs I think “man, why can’t we have stuff like this today?”.










Some shows become so loved that they become part of our lives. When Happy Days went off the air people said “what are we going to do on Tuesday night’s from now on?”. When Cheers went off the people said “What are we going to do on Thursday Night’s from now on?” And Friends…is the show that really changed Thursday night’s for me. Until Big Bang Theory rolled around years later anyway, and even then it’s just not the same. Thursday’s was always the big night for me growing up with Cosby and then Seinfeld, but for whatever reason Friends was the really big one. It was around the 5th season when this became more than just a show I liked to turn on, it literally was not Thursday night without Friends. And it still isn’t. I think one of the things that sets this apart is that these isn’t like other shows where random things happen during an episoede which are completely forgotten by the next one. The characters story goes on, OK some episodes one may get more focus than another. The characters grew and changed, and I admire that.









I have discussed this one at length but here we go again anyway. Seinfeld is probably my favorite TV show, ever. I watch these re-runs over and over and never tire. But this is special to me because I started watching this in high school, and of course in college. So there are memories of watching it with my friends and talking about the funny stuff. This show was so good at discussing the little things other shows miss, that many shows still miss these things. I won’t say the show is timeless, because it isn’t it feels very dated as I’ve mentioned before, but the situations it presents are timeless. And despite their best efforts, we don’t hate these characters. It has been noted that Seinfeld and Larry David tried to make these character despicable people. And while they have their flaws, many many flaws,  they are not so awful we hate them. Sure they are self absorbed and all, but they do care about each other and others (which is why that mean spirited final episode was hated by so many). There was a magic to this show which I love and will probably always love.





Ok, one last one I had to have one here, even though it’s technically still on the air.


I know, I know…the show is still on the air and will be for another year (at least). But I felt I had to put it here because I know I will miss this show. In some ways, I already do. Let’s be honest this show is not nearly as funny as it was. You know, before it became a rip off of Friends? And say what you want about the “stereotypes” in the show, I think people tend to overreact. For me, when I first started watching, this show was laugh out loud funny. And it brought me back to TV after I had assumed there would be never be another new show on I would care about. These days I watch Flash, Supergirl, and DC Legends of…whatever the heck it’s called. The show has seriously lost it’s way but when it was focused on the four guys just being nerds, it was really funny.


So what about you guys, any shows that you miss being on the air?



So 600 blogs, and I can’t help but notice how many times here I said “I already talked about this”. I think I have dried up the sitcom well so it is safe to say that there will be no more nostalgic TV/sitcom related articles. So what else is there to talk about? That’s what I have been wondering. There’s still Star Trek at least for this year (50th anniversary and all). But still, maybe 600 blogs after four and half years is enough? Is there anything else left to talk about? I don’t want to close the door for good but wonder if I have just run out of ideas. I guess only time will tell. For now, my appreciation has to go out to those who have read these silly articles and supported them (and even commented on them!). It means more than you can realize. Whether you all realize it or not, in some ways by reading these articles you know me better than many people in my real life.


Until the next idea, thanks for coming along on this journey and be good to yourselves my friends.