What good 'old' shows are worth the scratch?

[Angel Tarragon]

I've got TV shows in mind for purchase but am not sure what to get. Which of the following do you think are worth getting?

Jack of All Trades
Night Gallery
Land of the Lost
Wonder Woman
Full House
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Tales from the Crypt
In Living Color
The Flintstones
(Sir Arthur Con Doyle's) The Lost World
Married with Children
Home Improvement
Murder, She Wrote
Magnum, P.I.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Here are the three I would go with out of your list.

Married with Children - classic
Home Improvement - funny cute
Magnum, P.I. - just a good show

 

[Wormwood]

Of your list?

Night Gallery and Tales from the Cyrpt.

That's. About. It.

 

[WayneLigon]

I probably wouldn't pay for any of those; rent them from Netflix or one of the other DVD rental services. I watched most of those shows when they were first run and liked them well enough but think about it in terms of repeat viewings. Once you see about four or five episodes of Full House or Home Improvement, you've seen most of them.

Night Gallery I would especially strike off that list. Do you remember watching that show, or have you just heard it was a Rod Serling show? If the latter, skip it. It's Rod pretty much at the end of his career, introducing cheap sketch 'horror'. Get the definative edition Twilight Zone episode collections instead.

 

[Esteban]

Oh my God - you actually listed 'Full House'. My daughter watches that on Nickelodeon about every night. Half hour of sappy sugar. Just awful...

I was always a big Magnum PI fan, but haven't watched it in years so I'm not sure how well it has aged.

-Steve

 

[Exquisite Dead Guy]

Land of the Lost was my first exposure to sci-fi as a kid, so it was a must buy for me (the first two seasons anyway). I thought it held up well, but my wife was like "meh". :\

 

[FunkBGR]

Kolchak!

It's not on your list - but check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolchak:_The_Night_Stalker

Yay!

 

[Fast Learner]

In my opinion, the only one of those that has held up reasonably well is Magnum, PI (and, quite possibly, Doogie Howser, but I haven't seen it recently, while I have Magnum). Most of the others were very cool for their time (Full House strongly excepted, which was never good, imo, but I was an adult when if first aired), but have been utterly superseded by so many other shows that they just aren't worth watching, other than from a nostalgia or historical angle.

Married... With Children is a perfect example. When it came out it was incredibly cutting-edge and therefore really funny. "Did s/he say that? No way!" Today, though, every sitcom says those kinds of things, and not even for laughs, so the reruns have no bite.

The weird thing about living in today's television culture, with such amazing shows as Heroes, the many HBO shows, early Lost, etc., is that an amazing amount of yesteryear's stuff really looks bad now, much worse than it would have if you'd watched reruns of them even a few years ago. Television is finally coming into its own.

That said, I highly recommend NYPD Blue still: the first like 6 or 7 seasons are still really incredible television. Definitely not your traditional cop show, even to this day.

 

[Rackhir]

For me the question comes down to two things.

1) Is this something I could concievably want to watch more than once.
2) Is this something I would heartily encourage a friend to watch if they haven't seen it.

Pretty much all those shows you listed and nearly all TV would fail those tests. I would agree that Netflicks is a much better way to catch shows like you have listed and the price of a boxed set will pay for several months worth of Netflicks. Plus you don't wind up with multiple seasons of lame or mediocre TV shows cluttering up your shelves.

Also beware fond childhood memories. If a show is one, then you are probably better off not re-watching it. Make sure it's likely to hold up under adult eyes before buying it.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Of those, Magnum PI is a definite good choice. Otherwise, maybe the Night Gallery. The rest I'd personally pass on.