I recall “Frank’s Place.” It was delightful. You omitted the equally terrific “Sports Night,” which IMO was two seasons of do-not-miss television.
3
“Thirty something” does need a streaming home. And while we’re at it, can studios who own these amazing shows stop the legal wrestling and just give streaming homes to shows: “China Beach”, “I’ll Fly Away”, “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd”, “Freaks and Geeks”, “St. Elsewhere” and other shows of notable acclaim???
3
I would love to return to Stuckeyville with "Ed." The last show in the series aired only once and I missed it. They didn't do reruns and it never came out on video, DVD, or streaming. Tom Cavanaugh and Julie Bowen were darling as the goofy "bowling alley lawyer" and his high school crush. The show made a star of Justin Long and was Michael Ian Black's best character, IMHO.
1
I realize that "Thirtysomething" was a love or hate it show. I loved it. So did m y future wife. We lived hundreds of miles apart before we married during the show's first season. We didn't live around our college pals so we semi-envied the character's shared history. I was a public defender working almost exclusively on murders and other serious felonies. They were in advertising and struggling with angst. What a diversion.
As an older adult (Ok Boomer), I would like to watch the show again. One thing I remember wellis the seriousness the show took adult responsabilities. You have kids, you owe them and your family your best effort, even if the boss is a jerk like miles and you are doing work you hate.
o also loved Michael's volvo sports car.
2
What about St. Elsewhere and LA Law?would love to see them again.
2
The Drew Carey Show and Tales from the Crypt should be streaming. I also don't understand how contracts can't be done to allow for streaming of shows due to music rights. I mean they were allowed to be played when the shows were originally aired. It's not like Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford have to agree every time their image is on a new Star Wars toy. You think where money is to be made by all parties they could fix the issue of music rights with TV shows.
1
Homicide: Life on the Street is one of my favorite shows of all time. I am not sure if it's NBC's neglect or music rights issues that keep it off streaming (the show used a lot of popular music in episodes). I have the complete set on DVD, but I frequently want to tell friends who are fans of The Wire to go watch Homicide. (And for Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans to see Braugher as Pembleton, which makes his performance as Captain Holt even funnier.)
Sometimes I want 70s and 80s sitcoms to come back on streaming, but then I suspect I wouldn't find them nearly as funny now.
13
Granted, I was mid high-school when Thirtysomething was big, but it came across to me then as insufferable, pretentious, self-absorbed.
While it may well portray some of the angst pre-middle-Ager’s feel, I can’t imagine a large streaming viewership today, given the choice folks have now.
As was demonstrated with the original Star Wars trilogy (compared to the turn of the century prequels) shows are successful and enduring because they have characters that people like, and enjoy spending time with, essentially.
Also, it would be nice to have WKRP in Cincinnati available.
5
Northern Exposure needs a home!
6
Is MASH out there to be streamed somewhere?
2
Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. OH, Miles recollecting watching Ingrid Bergman taking a bath. David Strathairn played the most adorable romantic lead in tv history.
3
Please get someone to stream HLOTS. I would watch everyday
7
What about "China Beach?"
7
@Kate that was an excellent show.
1
Thirtysomething was something new, a hit show whose thorough phoniness and hyper self-consciousness made it unwatchable, and made its high critical praise maddening beyond reason.
Until The Sopranos and Breaking Bad came along, St. Elsewhere held the title as all-time best TV dramatic series by a mile. It's been gone from TV and video for years. That's the show that should be shown—but please, on a service most people are likely to be subscribed to.
SCTV remains the all-time greatest TV comedy sketch show. We need that too. And The Tracey Ullmann Show. It was brilliant, but disappeared after its run ended. It would be great to see it again.
22
@Mike - I just remember when the Globe's TV critic slammed thirtysomething for its whining yuppies, and all I could think was "thank God someone else noticed." That show was awful.
6
@LJ Evans Who was the Globe's TV critic then? I'm thinking Matthew Gilbert was too young at that time to be a critic at a major daily.
@Mike I would have to check to see if it disappeared, but I watched St. Elsewhere on Hulu not long ago.
2
'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'. That show was hugely popular when it debuted in 1976, but since then it has been almost invisible: never repeated except for a short 25-episode run on Lifetime in the 1990s, and it was just a couple of years ago when it was finally released on DVD in its entirety. The fact that it had so many episodes (325) would make it perfect for streaming.
17
Northern Exposure and The Wonder Years. I know we'll never see either one due to music rights. Music was central to both and without it they're nothing.
I remember buying one of the soundtrack albums for Northern Exposure.
29
@boxner: nx IS available WITH ALL of the original music, on BluRay in the UK ... not cheap, and you need a special player, but the real thing!
@boxner Wonder Years is on Hulu.
2
I definitely miss "St. Elsewhere." Great, great show. I have the first season on DVD, but, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe that is the only season available because of some legal issues between the cast and network. Granted, I haven't checked on the status for quite a while. This show is ideal for streaming. The only issue is I wouldn't do anything else for probably a month.
9
@Will -- Hulu now streams all seasons of St Elsewhere. It was a big day for me when they (finally!) rolled them all out!
3
I would also suggest the show Family if anyone else besides me remembers it? Wonderful cast - Kristy MacNichol, James Broderick, Meredith Baxter Birney, Gary Frank and especially Sada Thompson - and so well done, in a low key way.
37
@Alex The first 2 seasons are available on DVD, but that's it. Most shows that didn't receive a full series box treatment don't have a good chance of seeing streaming, since the episodes aren't all remastered.
Less prestige, but equally fun (and completely missing from all streaming platforms), the string of Spelling shows from the late 70s: Hart to Hart, Vega$, etc. Also other 70s/80s shows that are MIA or barely available: Simon & Simon, Benson, Soap, Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, Spencer for Hire.
14
"Homicide: Life on the Street" is over-the-air TV of the highest order. It's absence from streaming services is particularly puzzling, given the ubiquity of Law and Order and its spinoffs on cable and streaming. The ensemble led by Andre Braugher was outstanding.
64
Homicide: Life on the Street was one of the best shows in the history of television. Thirtysomething? OK, boomer. (Yes, I am one, and hated the series. It had a strong misogynist streak.)
8
How about?
St. Elsewhere
Northern Exposure
2
What about I'll Fly Away? A gem.
7
Two words—Northern Exposure.
1
Does anyone remember "Hot L Baltimore"?
Wonderful showm with the always-offstage screaming person.
Wow what great TV.
6
@David YES!
In what universe is the saga of whining, spoiled, misogynistic yuppies called *thirtysomething* one of the best TV series of all time? It had mediocre ratings when it was new and most people who aren't professional critics don't even remember it.
3
Picket fences. I believe season one is on Amazon prime, but that's it. One of the best shows ever, IMO, and multiple Emmy winner.
8
I've long thought that Frank's Place was the best show produced in the 80's; one of the few I'd buy on disk. Others on my wish list are The Defenders, Homicide (which I believe has run recently on a Spanish language channel) and, a secret vice, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
2
Dana Delaney's work on CHINA BEACH was my favorite dramatic performance of the decade in any medium. DAVINCI'S INQUEST, a Canadian show about a coroner, is also brilliantly acted. I'LL FLY AWAY is a smart variation in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in which Calpurnia is the star. Others: LOU GRANT, HARRY O, EAST SIDE WEST SIDE, a half hour cop show from the Sixties called NYPD, THE PAPER CHASE and, yes, THE DEFENDERS.
6
Thirtysomething was available on Hulu for years because I've watched it there. Has it been removed?
Why isn't ABC streaming it?
I have never been able to find Thirtysomething on DVD.
The show remains one of the best drama of all times. Family, home, friends, careers, dating, children, traditional family vs non-traditional family, divorce, AIDS, infidelity, breast cancer, death, yuppie vs liberal, social roots, corporate takeover, family vs. career, financials ups and downs. The show had it all. It was the genius of Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.
1
@Gus They hated women.
1
I would like to be able to stream entire seasons online, not an episode/season here or there.
1
What about WKRP in Cincinnati? I'm guessing that's a music rights issue (also, the music they did play, when the owners tried to replace it with "knock off tracks", it definitely hurt the quality of the reruns.) I guess not everything needs to be available all the time, but this was a sitcom that, at its peak, was the equal of anything from that era, including SOAP and TAXI.
8
@Eric42 - and the cast was absolutely glorious: Tim Reid, Loni Anderson, Howard Hesseman, Gordon Jump....
1
@Eric42 "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." - one of the great comic TV episodes of all time
5
@LJ Evans Why did you omit Jan Smithers? And, lol, I just realized what the call letters spell out.
1
When I was young, my mother did not allow me nor my sister to watch "Payton Place" on TV. Racy subject I suppose--Fast forward almost 30 years and I actually saw the original movie and I recalled thinking "Is this it??"
Kojak, Mannix, the FBI--I remember watching them when I was young. Would like to see them on a streaming service.
2
Two dramas missing from this list and not mentioned in the comments: Sisters & Life Goes On. Great drama, I watched every episode more than once and would gladly watch them again if they were available on a streaming service.
I agree with everyone who has stated that missing from this list is St. Elsewhere and L.A. Law.
5
@KJR Webmasters - St. Elsewhere has one enormous flaw: what is probably the single worst ending in television history. Finding out after all those years and all those campaigns to keep it on the air that the whole thing was an autistic kid's fantasy about a snow globe was like being whacked with a 2 x 4. I still remember turning to my then-husband and saying "What the H*LL did we just watch?" Total misfire.
4
Another fan of "Frank's Place" ... and of "The John Larroquette Show" -- both around now only on bootlegs.
5
You can keep Mork & Mindy offline. Too pandering.
Now the "Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" was something else! A great show ahead of it's time and willing to break the mold of banal tv sitcoms. It was witty, touching and very well written, plus it did away with the obligatory phony laugh track.
Also, it captured NYC in all its realistic gritty glory. I recall Molly could barely afford her 125k Coop conversion!
Those were the days!
27
Agreed. Perfect writing and what a cast: Blair Brown, Victor Garber, David Strathairn, and the great James Greene as the elevator operator, Davey.
6
@Joe
"Molly Dodd" was such a great, great show - supposedly the issue is music rights but that seems surmountable to me - just engage the services of the one of the many professionals that clear such rights all the time.
4
@Joe That is THE ONE. I would pay any streaming service for Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Can't get in DVD either.
3
Well "This is Us" is essentially "Thirtysomething" redux.
What else is missing: L.A. Law (at least the DVDs are available)
1
Northern Exposure.
27
@Shadetree And with the original musical soundtrack! The DVD versions I've tried to watch were severely affected by the substitutions.
I had such a crush on Janine Turner (Maggie O'Connell).
Thirtysomething showed "middle-aged angst"??? Is the author in high school or something?
14
@Perry Most of those characters were not middle-aged. Some were younger than the late boomers the lead characters portrayed.
3
Lou Grant. Not even released on DVD (never mind Bluray)...!
11
@Taz , Lou Grant is available on DVD--I have the whole series.
I’d like to see Norman Lear’s All That Glitters, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Boston Public (David E. Kelley).
4
WKRP - the music on the show is the hurdle is my understanding. A truly great show and what a joy it would be to watch the Turkey Drop epsoide with family and friends next week. "As god as my witness I thought turkeys could fly".
9
@Kevin Matthews I replied to another person down below, but in case you don't see the comment, that particular episode is on MeTV this coming Sunday at 7:30 pm Eastern time. Happy Thanksgiving!
Hill Street Blues!
21
China Beach another missing treasure.
35
Sorry to burst your Gen Z bubble, but the cast of Thirtysomething was not middle-aged.
17
@Bella Wilfer Only "Miles Drentell" and his portrayer, David Clennon, born early 1940s. Other than Dentrell, among the main cast only Melanie Mayron was the oldest, and she was only 38 when the series ended, not yet in mid-life.
1
You forgot one...Northern Exposure!
20
Looking at this list (Mork and Mindy, umm no thanks) reminds me of the classic category of movies on Apple. Everyone's idea of a classic seems pretty elastic.
1
It would be great to see the one and only season of "Key West" which aired on Fox. Seeing Fisher Stevens in "Succession" reminded me of what a quirky, brilliant show "Key West" was. It would also be great to see "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" and "Herman's Head." (also Fox). And, staying with Fox, "Boston Public."
1
As someone with a definite bias, may I add “The Tracey Ullman” show? Born during the early days of the Fox network, it garnered all of the network’s Emmy nominations (23) and won in its final season.
24
Reading these comments brings back such memories of shows long forgotten...... but some of the "quality" of these shows is really just nostalgia. I was watching some old episodes of Moonlighting, my favorite show of the '80's, very highly regarded at the time by both critics and viewers alike. The show that made Bruce Willis a household name, with very unique and innovative scripts. A whole episode was written in iambic pentameter! After re-watching recently, it just isnt as funny or well- paced as I remember. Its still a great show- but television has come such a long way over the past 30 years, if these shows aired for the first time today I'm not sure they would be as popular.
15
Quite honestly, TV today is far better than TV of 10 or 20 years ago. I have almost no desire to go back and spend the time to watch a 20 year old show when there are so many new ones that I barely have the time to watch. Babylon 5 was one of the best Sci-Fi shows of all time but I don't know if I would want to go back and sit through 5 seasons of it again.
2
I would also suggest "White Shadow", which was so much ahead of its time in terms of difficult topics it covered (race relations, gangs, broken families, drugs, ...) with characters that everybody could relate to, and which still remains a great intro to basketball for teenagers. It remains one of my top-5 TV shows.
19
I also wish Homicide and Mork were streaming - that might actually make me want to buy into some streaming service, but right now, no thanks.
Mork might be tied up in what I hear are battles among Robin Williams's heirs but I don't know if there really are such battles. It's just that there is virtually nothing of Robin's on streaming services right now. Actually, I sure wish he were around today, just to hear him go off on the current state of politics.
3
@Brookhawk I remember trying to watch Homicide. The episode I saw was very good, but the hand-held camera whose shakiness was, I think, supposed to give viewers a "you are there" feeling made gave me motion sickness, so I never watched again.
"WKRP in Cincinnati " - one of the greatest ensemble comedies of all time. My understanding is the issue is primarily tied to the music rights of the songs played "over the air" by the DJs. It would be a joy to stream the Turkey Drop episode next week. "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
23
@Kevin Matthews That was a classic episode. What a great and talented cast.
1
@Kevin Matthews
WKRP was on nightly @ 9:30pm on METV for a while. Watching it after all these years I realized what a terrible show it was. The biggest gag was putting Loni Anderson in dresses so tight she could barely walk. Now in that time slot they are showing Green Acres. And that show was even worse.
@Kevin Matthews MeTV is showing that episode on Sunday at 7:30 pm eastern time.
"The Defenders" from the early 1960's - some episodes once seen, can't be unseen.
6
Does anyone remember the wonderful "Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" series? It was such a unique and lovely show, and I've never been able to find it anywhere. I'd love to be able to re-watch it all one day.
26
@Cloud Hunter The best - the one show I'd pay any streaming service to see
1
Add to the wish list: China Beach, Northern Exposure, Mary Tyler Moore. Lots of classics out there that I would love to see.
17
@Susan Dalgleish
MTM was a classic. But the other 2? Ugh.
1
@Susan Dalgleish MTM is on Hulu. Most of them. My all time favorite!
Harry O? Anyone?
Superman- 1950s.
Hill Street Blues.
Plenty morE!
AND HARDLY ANY HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS ON ANY SITE!
1
@mark
Yes to the original Superman. But Harry-O? Much rather watch Banacek.
This is just another example of how terribly broken copyright systems are in this day and age. Reasonable time limits and compulsory licenses would solve all of these problems, by allowing true competition in streaming. New entrants could simply begin streaming these shows for a reasonable fee.
Fun fact: nothing you have ever seen or heard will be released to the public domain in your lifetime.
3
I'm still mourning the end of Homicide, probably the best tv show ever. That was a really enjoyable show-someone please stream it!
We're inundated with junk available to stream it would be great if we could have this quality program to watch.
17
@Jo W/out Homicide, there would be no The Corner, no The Wire. Best show in its genre. Also - read the book on which it is based.
8
On this list, the only one I care about is Homicide. It is the best police procedural in network television history. It was The Wire before there was The Wire. Career performances by Andre Braugher, Kyle Secor, Yaphet Kotto, and yes, Daniel Baldwin. And the greatest guest star appearance by Vincent D'Onofrio. It's a shame it's not more widely available.
38
@Johnny Rap That episode with D'Onofrio is the single most memorable episode I've ever seen in television with the possible exception of the last episode of The Americans.
11
Hey, Johnny Rap ~
Telling us that the only one you care about on this list is Homicide might also tell us that you may need Mork & Mindy more than you care to think!
After all, a steady diet of homicide likely requires an occasional antidote of "Shazbot!", wouldn't you agree?