On Monday nights, I do a Bible study with my friend Brittany. That’s the only night that worked for both of us, and thankfully my VCR has helped me get through the fact that it’s also the biggest TV night of my week. For the past few weeks everything has gone smoothly. I set the VCR to tape Chuck and Castle, then watch How I Met Your Mother online later in the week.
Last night didn’t go as smoothly. Because my VCR is, well, a VCR, it didn’t automatically move an hour ahead with Daylight Savings over the weekend. So instead of kicking back to watch the new episode of my favorite show after Bible study, I got to watch the last few minutes of my favorite show. So frustrating!
{On a side note, this is pretty much par for the course of my day, which included a disastrous play date, a St. Patrick’s Day craft project that my daughter could not be less interested in, burning the heck out of my mouth on a hot quesadilla, and a few other irritations. Just so you know.}
Since I didn’t have my shows to watch after Bible study – and I am clearly incapable of just going to bed early. or on time. – I started clicking around online. Looking for fun blog post topics, I looked up what movies, songs and TV shows were new or big hits 25 years ago. Plenty to talk about there, but what caught my eye most was that Matlock, starring Andy Griffith, debuted in the fall of 1986.
As I’ve written about TV on this blog, I’ve thought back through my love affair with television more than once. I’ve even written on my list of blog post ideas, “Love of TV started in media criticism class in college.” But when I saw that note about Matlock, I remembered.
I remembered the summer I watched Matlock reruns every single day.
I know, I know. I was awesome – and things have not changed. Once a nerd, always a nerd. But my point is that I’ve been a TV fanatic, watching every single episode of my favorite shows, for a long, long time. I really can’t blame that college professor who assigned my first episode recaps.
So, since it’s now way past my bedtime and I still haven’t gotten to watch this week’s episode of Chuck, I’m going to enjoy reminiscing for a moment. Join me?
Top 10 TV Shows I Loved Before Blogging
- Matlock
- Remington Steele
- Perfect Strangers
- Life Goes On
- The Drew Carey Show
- Dawson’s Creek
- JAG
- Felicity
- Sports Night
- Ed
I’d like to think I’ve come a long way since spending my youth with Grandpa Matlock and his thrilling court cases. Dawson’s Creek is cool, right? Although, okay, watching JAG reruns every night as I ate dinner on my living room floor was a precursor to my current obsession with love of your mom’s favorite show and mine, NCIS.
So, there it is. I’ve always been a TV geek. What about you? What TV shows did you love, back in the day?
This silly post will be linked to Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda.
I LOVED Saved By The Bell!! Everytime I pass an old episode on the tv guide I want to watch!
OK, you and I have a LOT in common.
1) my fav shows right now are Chuck and Castle.
2) I do not own a DVR yet either.
3) My father in law (actor) was in Matlock and Dawson’s Creek.
4) I live on Dawson’s Creek actually – just across the way from Katie Holmes’ cottage.
5) I loved Ed. Miss it.
6) I too have sent perfection packing.
Great to meet you today!
Hello —
I just came across your blog through a Google blog search. I have also been revisited old tv obsessions and have spent the last few months realizing that #2 on your list, Remington Steele, still really holds up well all these years later — good writing, good acting. I’m in the academic world now so I have a somewhat professional reason to look at it again / study it with a bit more distance than I had watching the first time through. I included a link to some academic writing I’ve done recently that includes a look at Remington Steele, in case its of interest to you or any of your readers. Thanks for the chance to connect.
Lynn
Oh goodness… where do I start!
Dawson’s Creek definitely
Way back in the day, when I was a wee lass…
1 – Hogan’s Heroes (tee hee)
2 – Starsky and Hutch
3 – Dukes of Hazzard
4 – CHiPs
5 – Three’s company
6 – Laverne and Shirley
Oh goodness… I could totally go on and on, but I would really date myself {a’hem}
DEFINITELY Dawson’s Creek! I watched that as it aired and for years afterward on TBS in the mornings! Other favs:
1. Growing Pains
2. Who’s the Boss
3. Full House
4. The Commish
5. ALF
6. Beauty and the Beast
7. Silver Spoons
8. Doogie Howser
9. Scarecrow and Mrs. King
10. Mr. Belvedere
11. The Young Riders
Ok, I didn’t remember all these off the top of my head, but check out this link that gives a great list to choose from: http://www.crazyabouttv.com/decades/1980s.html
I thought I was the only one who loved Young Riders!!! LOL
Love it! I wrote a similar post once of some shows I’ve seen every episode of (still can’t believe I left out “24”–for shame!): http://swellhowls.blogspot.com/2010/09/top-10-tuesday-tv-shows.html
So, if you watched Dawson’s Creek, do you watch Fringe?! Cause I love that show. And NCIS is my obsession — I usually have at least 4 episodes loaded up on my DVR.
Shows I loved as a kid were:
* Little House on the Prairie
* Saved by the Bell
* Family Matters
* Full House
* Growing Pains
* Charles in Charge
* Who’s the Boss
I never got in to Felicity, Dawson’s Creek, 90210 or any of those…I don’t think my mom let me watch them. Or, maybe it’s because she was watching Star Trek: Next Generation. :)
I loved Matlock, Murder She Wrote and Golden Girls {can you tell I spent A LOT of time with my grandparents?!?}. Aside from those three shows {which I still watch when I catch reruns}, my other favorites were:
Dawson’s Creek
Saved by the Bell
The Simpsons {in secret, as my mother hated this show}
Hey Dude
Designing Women
Mad About You
Fraiser
Clearly, I struggled between “adult” shows and kid shows. That’s what I get for being a middle child.
I LOVED Remington Steele and of course my love for JAG was a precursor for my obsession (and yours ;)) with NCIS!
Um, yes Dawson’s Creek is totally cool! This is coming from a fellow tv nerd though so you might take the cool factor with a grain of salt;). I am such a nerd that I couldn’t narrow down my list and instead decided to do a series of SEVEN lists of subgroups of tv shows for TTT.
And yes, I am filled with the awesome! Drew Carey, FELICITY!, Dawson’s Creek and Life Goes On (kills me that I couldn’t fit it on my lists!) are all filled with awesome too. So must you be as they are on your list:)
Well, let’s see – how far back are we going? Because I spent an AWFUL lot of time watching dinner and/or staying home sick from school in front of Little House on the Prairie (and now own all 10 seasons…) Then there was the New Mickey Mouse Club…”MMC” as the cool kids called it – even wrote fan mail to those guys, and maybe before that there was Danger Bay, also on Disney Channel. Then came 21 JumpStreet … 90210 … Melrose Place… more 90210 (4 episodes a day played in my college apartment). Wow, this list could go on and on… pretty much everything Melissa said up there…
I can relate to your VCR meets Daylight Savings Time woes- that has happened to me many a time.
There’s nothing like a trip down TV memory lane. Some of my past faves: Dawson’s Creek, Ed (it left us too soon!), Family Matters, Tour of Duty, Felicity, Life Goes On, Ally McBeal, Full House, Growing Pains, Friends. I will even admit to watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with my brother and enjoying it.
Before we had kids we loved ThirtySomething. We couldn’t imagine our lives would ever be like that. Ha! They never were–we were never as cool as those characters and their friends.
I heart you. Just sayin’. ;)
Seriously, we have so many similarities!! First off, I have the scoop on how you can watch Chuck soon. Check your email shortly….
I’m so sorry you had a rough day!! :(
This is something I’m going to try to do my own post on soon, thanks for getting the topic started, you rock! :)
I’m totally laughing: I thought I was the only one with a NCIS problem. Ha! Back in the day, I was known to stay in and watch Golden Girls with my mom on a Saturday night…how’s THAT for uncool. Of course, now, just a few little notes of “Thank you for being a friend…” bring back great memories of mom. Loved this list!
I Loved Perfect Strangers. That’s one I wish I would see on Netflix or reruns. SO funny. I also loved Full House and Roseanne.