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Little House on the Prairie
NBC, 1974-83
 Based on the successful book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, this series showed what life was like on the frontier in the late 1870s. Many children grew up watching Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Sue Anderson and Melissa Gilbert deal with the joys and sorrows of life in that time of America's history. |
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Quantum Leap
NBC, 1989-93
With a handsome hunky star in Scott Bakula, name recognition in Dean
Stockwell, this sci-fi series
explored the possibility of "leaping" into different bodies - men,
women, children, the leap was non-
discriminatory - and affecting the lives of the person leapt into. It
also spanned different historical eras.
Bakula's Dr. Sam Beckett's purpose was to "rescue" the person he leapt
into. He also rescued audiences
accustomed to mediocre programming. |
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Get Smart
NBC/CBS, 1965-70
The secret-agent genre (the James Bond franchise, in particular) was spoofed in this series about a bumbling secret agent who often fought the evil forces of K.A.O.S. Maxwell Smart (Don Adams), whose nifty gadgets included a shoe phone, worked with beautiful Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), whom he married during the 1968-69 season. |
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Hill Street Blues
NBC, 1981-87
One of television's most-honored dramas, this Steven Bochco show reinvented the cop show genre. With multiple storyline, a gritty, realistic setting, and interesting, deep characters played by Daniel J. Travanti, Kiel Martin, Bruce Weitz and many others, this show has earned its place as one of TV's best. |
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The Ed Sullivan Show
CBS, 1948-71
No variety series can or ever will compare to Sullivan's. The consummate
host, Sullivan introduced the
biggest stars (yes, the Beatles, yes, Elvis) to TV audiences throughout
the world. |
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Gilligan's Island
CBS, 1964-67
The story of a group of characters stranded on a Pacific island when the boat they've chartered is sunk in a storm. The series featured their wacky misadventures as they tried to get off the island, led by the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.) and his loyal first mate, Gilligan (Bob Denver). |
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Family Ties
NBC, 1982-89
Much of America could watch "Family Ties" and see a little of their life in there. You had the working parents, Steve and Elyse Keaton (Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter-Birney), who tried to understand the views of their children: Budding young Republican Alex (Michael J. Fox), unmotivated Mallory (Justine Bateman), who didn't worry about the future, and young Jennifer (Tina Yothers), who just wanted to be a kid. |
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Bonanza
NBC, 1959-73
One of television's longest-running shows, "Bonanza" followed the adventures of the Cartwright clan, owners of a huge ranch, The Ponderosa, in Nevada. The family patriarch was widower Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene), who tried to instill his four sons with strong values and a sense of duty. The show also starred Michael Landon, Dan Blocker and Pernell Roberts. |
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The Addams Family
ABC, 1964-66
They're creepy and their kooky. Mysterious and spooky. They're all
together ooky. The Addams Family.
To this day, audiences can still sing the theme song. The 90s brought a
movie version (and still another a
new telefilm) of the series based on the New Yorker cartoons of
Charles Addams. Far more
clever and fun than the "other" monster series, "The Munsters," "The
Addams Family" ran for a too-short
two years and starred John Astin, Carolyn Jones and former child-star
Jackie Coogan. It later spawned two successful big screen films. |
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The Flinstones
ABC, 1960-66
This series was a parody of modern suburban life (at the time) using a prehistoric setting. Led by the sometimes-stubborn Fred, the family had all the conveniences of a modern home, from a car to a vacuum cleaner. One of television's most famous cartoons, and one which has been revived in different forms several times. |
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The Honeymooners
CBS, 1955-56
Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and Ed Norton (Art Carney) were the focus
point (and neighbors) of this
classic TV series that coined the phrase "To the moon, Alice!" It was an
"every man series" about
"everyday" blue-collar life that struck a chord. Despite of a run of
less than a year, this much imitated and
parodies series lives on in TV viewers hearts. The series was revived in
1957 and remade in 1971. |
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Frasier
NBC, 1993-Present
 History may prove that this series, a spin-off of "Cheers," that centers
on the lives of Dr. Frasier Crane
(Kelsey Grammer), his brother Dr. Niles Crane (David Hyde-Pierce), their
father Martin Crane (John
Mahoney) and his health-care worker Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves), may be
the finest-written sitcom ever.
The series is a perfect example of sharp, smart writing (with writers
who are not conventional television
writers) combined with a fantastic cast. There is no other series on the
air today that is as watchable. |
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Law & Order
NBC, 1990-Present
This series' interesting concept (introduced in the 1963 series "Arrest and Trial") has every episode start with a crime and investigation, then end with a trial and verdict. Even with a revolving cast, the show has managed to grow and prosper, culminating in an Emmy win last year as Outstanding drama. Also, it is currently television's longest-running drama. |
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Columbo
NBC, 1971-77
Few characters have clicked with the audience as well as Lt. Columbo (you never find out his first name). The brilliantly understated Columbo (Peter Falk), was one of the shrewdest police officers on the force, despite the appearance of his rumpled trenchcoat. Columbo (almost) always got his man. The detective lives on in occasional TV movies for ABC. |
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Alfred Hitchcock Presents
CBS/NBC, 1955-65
An anthology series hosted by the famous film director, featuring tales of horror, terror and suspense. It returned to the airwaves briefly in 1985 on NBC. |
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Batman
ABC, 1966-68
 A campy send-off of the famous comic-book hero Batman, starring Adam West. Best known for its cartoon bubbles proclaiming "Biff!" "Wham!" and "Pow!" during fights, the series featured an assortment of strange villains, including Burgess Meredith's Penguin and Vincent Price's Egghead. Four Hollywood blockbusters have been made
from the this series. |
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Dallas
CBS, 1978-91
The show that truly defined the prime time soap opera. The ongoing saga of the Ewings, a rich family of oil tycoons in Texas. Led by the enigmatic J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), America followed the sordid ups and downs of the clan. The episode "Who Shot J.R.?" still ranks as one of TV's highest-rated shows. |
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Home Improvement
ABC, 1991-1999
The 1990s brought a blue collar sensibility to television in the form of several shows, including this Tim Allen sitcom. Allen plays Tim Taylor, the host of a cable TV show "Tool Time." A man who loves his tools, Tim is also a certified klutz, whose wacky mistakes prove much of the show's humor. |
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The Wonder Years
ABC, 1988-93
Fred Savage starred in this coming-of-age comedy (and sometimes drama) about growing up in the '60s. The series followed Kevin Arnold (Savage) through Jr. high and into high school, focusing on all the things that kids, and their families, went through. The catch, however, was that an adult Kevin (voiced by Daniel Stern) narrated the series, as an adult looking back at his childhood. |
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Northern Exposure
CBS, 1990-95
Dr. Joel Fleishman, fresh from Columbia Medical School, finds himself in the small town of Cicely, Alaska, where he has to work as town doctor for four years to pay off his medical loans. That simple concept led to one of televisions most off-beat and interesting series in recent memory. The hot and cold romance between Rob Morrow, the ever neurotic Joel, and Janine Turner's Maggie O'Connell was one of the show's major themes throughout the series' run. |
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