Algren's post in the Friends thread inspired me to start this thread. Which classic television shows that your parents loved (think shows that ended before you were born) did you either later love or you never could embrace? It doesn't have to be specifically shows parents watched, just shows from before your era. So for me, anything early 80s back.

All in the Family is one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. It can show its age today, but there are tons of themes that are just as relevant today, if not more so. And at its heart, it's just a funny show. I was also a fan of M*A*S*H. The Honeymooners is pretty classic, despite its short run. And lately, I've been watching repeats of Newhart, which I love (although I feel like I'm cheating, since it ended in 1990).

On the opposite side, I could never get into I Love Lucy. And dare I say it, I still occasionally watch an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and even though it can be funny, I just can never get into it as much as I should. I understand its relevance and respect its place in TV history, but if I had a choice, I'd almost always choose something else over Mary Tyler Moore.

I haven't seen that many episodes of it but I Love Lucy is a rough watch for me as well, and I agree All In the Family appears to really hold up. I saw the episode with Sammy Davis Jr. and was like wow, this is pretty sharp stuff.

I find Deadwood overrated. It looks to be the beginning of the HBO era of Game of Thrones, True Blood, Westworld (from what I've heard) etc. where you have a too many characters and the 11th most important one has their own D plot that you don't care about that much. For the lavish praise of its Shakespearean dialogue, good writing is not just cool sounding monologues but taking the storyline and characters somewhere and it's not as strong at the latter

I'll count any show that started before the early 80's (though i was born in the late 70's)

Maude - somehow became a big fan watching it late at night in the 90s Uni Days
Welcome Back Kotter - same as Maude
All in the Family - bought the DVDs on the strength of Maude (which was a spin-off)
Charlie's Angels - used to watch it with my dad as a kid (lol)
Mr. Ed - loved it as a kid
Leave it to Beaver - loved it as a kid
I Dream of Jeannie - parents watched and i loved also
Bewitched - parents watched and i loved also
The Love Boat - parents watched and i loved also
Get Smart - parents watched and i loved also
Dukes of Hazard - watched as a kid
Gilligans Island - parents watched and i loved also

I agree about I Love Lucy - my parents loved it but i could never really get into it. My mum liked Mary Tyler Moore Show but I doubt it ever aired when i was growing up.

Absolutely Fabulous and Rising Damp are shit.

Keeping Up Appearances and Bottom are gold.

That is all.

Actually, that is not all.

My mum used to watch Cracker with Robby Coltrane. I never got into it. Too young, actually, and never revisited it.

Maude is a good one. Bea Arthur was an exceptional comedic actress. Would love to see her still alive and having a Betty White-style resurgence in popularity.

Yes! A real shame she's still not around. Could use some of her biting sarcasm.