The Favorite Shows

Some people make a big deal of saying they rarely watch television. Not me. I’ll admit that I watch way too much TV. Always have (I grew up in front of the tube), still do (sad to say), and probably always will—24-hour news, C-SPAN, PBS, Jeopardy, a good game or tournament here and there, plus the network dramas that appeal to me. I read a lot, too, see my share of movies, and punch the time clock on the Web every day, but I’m as likely to trim my television time as I am to cut back on my exercise habit or curb my taste for coffee. Now, I have to point out that I can’t stand to watch anything I don’t like, because I’m not that kind of viewer. Never use it to kill time. It’s my window on the culture, but only on my terms. If a show meets my personal standards of enjoyment, I’m hooked. So, leaving out news programs and educational series, here’s what I’ve especially liked over the years:

My Top Seventy

(in alphabetical order, according to era)

The Silver Age
Branded
Burke’s Law
Checkmate
Combat! *
Get Smart
I-Spy *
It Takes a Thief
Kung Fu *
Mission: Impossible *
Rawhide
Rocky and his Friends *
Sea Hunt
Space: 1999
Star Trek
Supercar
T.H.E. Cat
The Addams Family
The Adventures of Jonny Quest *
The Avengers
The Defenders
The Dick Van Dyke Show *
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. *
The New Breed *
The Outer Limits
The Prisoner
The Rifleman *
The Rogues
The Time Tunnel
The Twilight Zone
The Wild Wild West *
Wanted: Dead or Alive

The Wasteland Years
Batman: The Animated Series
DC Follies
Iron Chef
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
Mad About You
Magnum, P.I.
Mission: Impossible ’88 *
Police Squad
Quantum Leap
Saturday Night Live
Spenser: For Hire
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Ten-Speed and Brownshoe
The Rockford Files
The Simpsons
The Tracey Ullman Show
The Wonder Years
The Yellow Rose
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles *
thirtysomething *

The New Era
Alias
Chicago Hope *
Daybreak
Eyes
Firefly *
Friday Night Lights *
Heroes
Homicide: Life on the Street *
Journeyman *
Law & Order
Life
Ned Blessing: The Story of My Life and Times *
NYPD Blue
Seinfeld
The Black Donnellys
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. *
The Byrds of Paradise
The Nine
The Office

* Honor Roll