TV
 
 
Most of the serial TV shows listed here are from my early years in the 1960's, and looking back, most of them were good shows that I would watch again today. As the 60's rolled into the 70's fewer TV shows caught my attention, as most TV serials were becoming ever more baseline dumb. By the mid-1970's there was almost nothing being produced in the realm of serial TV that interested me.
 
Pondering the list, it would appear that I was watching a lot of TV during my early years, especially when considered along with the movie list. I don't recall ever feeling like I watched more than an average amount, but then, I do list a lot of shows here! I'll have to expand on that later...
 
Other than news programs, documentaries, The History Channel (pre-2008), and movies on the Western channel, I haven't watched much TV since the 1970's. Northern Exposure (1990-1995) was the last serial TV program that I tuned into almost every week, and I probably watched Modern Marvels on The History Channel (pre-2008) more than any other program since the Northern Exposure days.
 
As an aside, when The History Channel dumbed-down most of its programming in 2008, becoming simply "History," it became largely a load of pop rubbish like most of the other networks. History International maintains more of the old style, but many of its programs are also weak.
 
As I look over the list below, so many of those old shows were choice!
 
Title
Date
Notes
12 O'Clock High
1964-1967
 
Alias Smith and Jones 1971-1973  
The Andy Griffith Show
1960-1968
 
The Ascent of Man 1973 Jacob Bronowski. BBC documentary.
Astro Boy
1963-1965
 
Batman
1966-1968
 
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962-1971
 
Bonanza
1959-1973
 
Breaking Away 1980-1981 The movie...
The Civil War
1990
Documentary by Ken Burns.
Clay Jenkinson as Meriwether Lewis Ongoing The Chautauqua Method. The Jenkinson portrayal of Meriwether Lewis that I have watched many times was recorded in Tukwila, WA, in 2003. The presentation is riveting (in spite of a few distracting nods to political correctness).
Colombo
1971-1978
 
Combat!
1962-1967
 
COPS
1989+
 
Dark Shadows
1966-1971
 
Daniel Boone
1964-1970
 
Death Valley Days
1952-1975
 
The Dick Cavett Show
1968-1975
 
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948-1971
 
Firing Line
1966-1999
 
Flipper 1964-1967  
Fred Kirby
1960's
 
Lost In Space
1965-1968
 
The Merchants of Cool
2001
Documentary from the FrontLine series.
Get Smart
1965-1970
 
Gunsmoke
1955-1975
 
Grizzly Adams
1977-1978
 
Hogan's Heroes
1965-1971
 
The Huntley-Brinkley Report / This Week With David Brinkley
1950's-1990's
 
Johnny Quest
1964-1965
 
Kung Fu
1972-1975
 
Lassie 1954-1973  
Leave It To Beaver
1957-1963
 
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corp of Discovery
1997
Documentary by Ken Burns. The music from the soundtrack of this documentary has played a thousand times in my world... 
Little House on the Prairie
1974-1982
 
The Little Rascals
1922-1944
Also known as Our Gang.
Lost in Space
1965-1968
 
McHale's Navy 1962-1966 Ernest Borgnine.
Mission Impossible
1966-1973
 
Modern Marvels
1995+
 
Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom
1963-1988
 
My Three Sons
1960-1972
 
Northern Exposure
1990-1995
 
On the Road - With Charles Kuralt 1967-1987 Very influential... Charles Kuralt.
The Porter Wagoner Show
1960-1981
 
Rawhide 1959-1966 Looking back, I can clearly see how the character Gil Favor contributed to my conception of the "real man." Other characters who contributed were Roy Rogers, Ben Cartwright (Bonanza), Ward Cleaver (Leave It To Beaver), Steve Douglas (My Three Sons), etc. Note that while fictional characters such as these were influential, my conception of the "real man" was formed even more by real men such as my Father.
The Red Skelton Show 1951-1971 Red Skelton
The Red Green Show 1991-2006  
The Road Runner Show
1966...
 
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
1959-1964
 
Route 66
1960-1964
 
The Roy Rogers Show
1951-1957
 
Shindig!
1964-1966
 
Sky King
1951-1959
I watched the Saturday lunchtime reruns in the mid-60's.
The Sons of Hercules (TV movie series) 1960's Theme song - "The Mighty Sons of Hercules"
Star Trek
1966-1969
 
The Story of English 1986 Documentary directed by William Cran.
Then Came Bronson
1969-1970
 
Time Tunnel
1966-1967
 
Tom & Jerry
1940-1958...
My favorite episode is "Pecos Pest." Even now, I can watch Tom & Jerry episodes for hours...
The Twilight Zone
1959-1964
 
The Up Series (Every 7 Years)
1964 + 7...
Documentary directed by Michael Apted.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1964-1968
 
The Wackiest Ship in the Army
1965-1966
 
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color 1961-1969 Walt Disney.
Wagon Train
1957-1965
 
The Western Tradition 1989 Lecture series presented on public TV by Eugen Weber.
The Wild Wild West
1965-1969
Artemus Gordon and his gadgets, and the well appointed train car that James West and Artemus Gordon traveled in sparked my young imagination week after week...
The Woodwright's Shop - With Roy Underhill 1979... I do not support government funded TV and radio, but the Woodwright's Shop is a fine show. The point is made that back in the 1960's, when all TV broadcasting came from just 3 networks, more program variety was needed. PBS was created to fill that gap. But since the 1960's that gap has been filled by a plethora of new commercial TV networks. Which is not to say that commercial network TV generally meets high standards. Commercial TV networks produce large amounts of garbage; but at least they are not subsidized by tax payer dollars. The government has no business funding TV, radio, or the arts in general.
 
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television