TV - Television Series Reviews / Discussion

Don Wassall

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I loved the sit-coms of the '60s -- The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, The Adams Family, The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, Get Smart, Gomer Pyle, Andy Griffith, My Favorite Martian, McHale's Navy, My Three Sons, The Patty Duke Show, Hazel, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Petticoat Junction, The Real McCoys, The Flying Nun, even The Monkees, and maybe a few others I can't recall now.

There were some good comedy shows in the '50s like I Love Lucy, Danny Thomas, and The Honeymooners and some in the '70s like The Brady Bunch, but I was always partial to the shows of the 1960s, which reflected a happy albeit quirky, and still confident (White dominated) society. The shows in the '50s were a little too black and white and primitive, and starting in the late '60s cultural communism began to be injected into everything (All in The Family which was launched in 1971 being the best example; The Smothers Brothers and Laugh-In weren't sit-coms but comedy shows from the late '60s that had an open left wing bent), which is when I stopped watching prime time TV shows for good.
 
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Carolina Speed

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I loved the sit-coms of the '60s -- The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, The Adams Family, The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, Get Smart, Gomer Pyle, Andy Griffith, My Favorite Martian, McHale's Navy, My Three Sons, The Patty Duke Show, Hazel, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Petticoat Junction, The Real McCoys, The Flying Nun, even The Monkees, and maybe a few others I can't recall now.

There were some good comedy shows in the '50s like I Love Lucy, Danny Thomas, and The Honeymooners and some in the '70s like The Brady Bunch, but I was always partial to the shows of the 1960s, which reflected a happy albeit quirky, and still confident (White dominated) society. The shows in the '50s were a little too black and white and primitive, and starting in the late '60s cultural communism began to be injected into everything (All in The Family which was launched in 1971 being the best example; The Smothers Brothers and Laugh-In weren't sit-coms but comedy shows from the late '60s that had an open left wing bent), which is when I stopped watching prime time TV shows for good.
Right. Beginning in the late 60's, left wing bent, and attacks on Christianity began. As you said, All in the Family, which made Archie Bunker, a Christian, look like a bumbling idiot when talking about his faith. Also, MASH, was very left wing and anti Christian. Subsequently, the 60's is when we kicked the Bible and prayer out of public schools. Any type of morality on TV has went down hill since!
70's shows such as, Little House on the Prairie and the Waltons being two exceptions.
 

DixieDestroyer

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Yes, Andy Griffith, Bonanza, Hee Haw, Little House on the Prairie, and The Waltons, etc. DD, ironically, I was watching some Hee Haw re-runs the other day.

Yessir. I have fond memories of watching Hee Haw with my Grandparents. My Grandaddy loved watching Stringbean & Grandpa Jones pick the '5 strang banja', & my Granny enjoyed listening to the Gospel quartet sing the old hymns. :)
 

Quiet Speed

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AA, my favorite TV shows are ones from yesteryear like Hee Haw, Leave it to Beaver & the Beverly Hillbillies. I still don't miss the TalmudVision & it's endless stream of (inbound) 'sewage'.


That show was a hoot.

 

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The 70's were hit-and-miss. Most of the CultMarx influence in that decade was from one man, (((Norman Lear))).

He was responsible for:

All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Maude.

Other CultMarx offerings towards the mid-late 70's included What Happening, Different Strokes and Welcome Back Kotter.

And, although I liked The White Shadow, it had some CultMarx leanings, but I guess it was a fairly accurate portrayal as it was supposedly based in inner city Chicago, if I remember correctly.

However, like Carolina Speed said, Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons showcased very traditional values and were unabashedly pro-Christian and patriarchal. Happy Days was good, especially the early seasons when they were in high school. Kolchak the Night Stalker was fantastic escape.

Also, all of the detective shows (of which there were many) featured alpha White males often times taking on a sordid cast of counter-cultural clowns...druggies, hippies, radical/revolutionary leftists, cult leaders similar to Charles Manson, etc. Hawaii-Five-O, the same.

Then there was the Six Million Dollar Man. Not long ago I watched an episode where he was assigned to be the security escort of some female leader from some fictional country (supposed to be Israel, I think, and the leader looked like Golda Meir) and she asked him if the United States was ready for a female President and he responded something to the effect of "No, I don't think that would be a good idea." Ha!

Dallas, was good from 1978-1983, then it went downhill fast. Also, Sunday Night Disney in the 70's was still very wholesome and entertaining. I also liked to watch HeeHaw on late Saturday afternoons.

I could go on and on with shows like "Adam 12", "Emergency", etc., etc., etc., but will leave it at that. I think it was the convergence of the cultural revolution in the late 60's going against the last remaining vestiges of America 1.0 during that decade that's explains why there was both the good and bad.
 
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I watched a little Hee Haw, probably around the 1987-88 era. Seems like it was on early Sunday evening in my market. They had some beautiful women in their cast..

Some of Hee-Haw's format seems antiquated now, people popping up in the corn-field telling one-liners about their wives, etc, and other old-school variety show bits.. But I think if they booked contemporary country stars as guests & hosts, got another cast of beautiful women in Daisy Dukes,.. they could find a successful niche on a cable network. I'd check it out..
 
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Any other Portlandia watchers ?

I've watched first 5 seasons as they were rolled out on Netflix. They just uploaded season 6. It's inside jokes & satire on Portland's hipsters. I think it's funny, well-written, and has a cool intro instrumental.
Some of the parodies they've come up with are surreally stupid.. but consistent with the hipsters' world they're depicting
 

Ambrose

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I checked out CBS' debut of Superior Donuts. I had grim expectations, but thought I'd give it a look since it features Peg Bundy in it's cast.. It was basically predictable, and crass.
Predictable elements..
-a mandatory, hyper-diverse cast- a Muslim man, rich White girl, couple Black guys from the neighborhood, etc. Lame, tired, good-natured racial barbs exchanged between characters..
-heavy-handed commentary demonizing 'soul-sucking' gentrification of the 'hood.
-the misunderstood thug with a heart of gold (who takes it upon himself to save a struggling, antiquated doughnut shop).
-(the now ubiquitous) references to smoking weed, and satisfying the munchies.

I get that Katey Sagal's Married with Children was crass & cynical. But at least that was somewhat daring & unique 25 years ago. Now it's routine and formulaic in boring network TV.
 

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R.I.P. John Hillerman.

I never knew his work was so vast. I only remember him as the dutiful and deliberate Englishman "Higgins" in the TV series Magnum P.I. (the last TV program (outside of sports) that I watched on the "Big 3" networks that ultimately went off the air in May, 1988). I'm only reading now that he was a Texan (born and raised).
The way he nailed the character "Higgins" on that TV show had me convinced he was an English actor. Would they even allow someone like this on one of the "Big 3" networks (or anywhere else, for that matter) now unless he was cast as a criminal or some other type of degenerate?

john_hillerman.jpg
 

FootballDad

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Saw some promotional stuff on Fakebook for a new mini-series on the Waco catastrophe. You know, the David Koresh Branch Davidians who were slaughtered by Janet Reno's goons.
It's on the Paramount TV network which is primarily CMT and Spike, from what I can see. I wonder if this series paints the Davidians as reprobate terrorists that deserved their fate or the government being out of control which is the truth. It started last night, I DVR'd the first episode. I hope it's not a total waste of time, but I'm not holding my breath.
 

FootballDad

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Watched the first episode (6 part mini-series) of Waco that I DVR'd last night, and it looks very good so far. It starts off with the Ruby Ridge-Randy Weaver fiasco where the BATF and FBI blew away his son and wife. It puts the incident squarely on the agencies. And the lead-up to the Waco siege shows the same shoot 'em first mentality. Briefly researched what the series writers source material was. It's based on a book by FBI negotiator Gary Noesner, who was highly critical of what went down, and a book by David Thibodeau, one of the Waco survivors.
 

Heretic

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Watched the first episode (6 part mini-series) of Waco that I DVR'd last night, and it looks very good so far. It starts off with the Ruby Ridge-Randy Weaver fiasco where the BATF and FBI blew away his son and wife. It puts the incident squarely on the agencies. And the lead-up to the Waco siege shows the same shoot 'em first mentality. Briefly researched what the series writers source material was. It's based on a book by FBI negotiator Gary Noesner, who was highly critical of what went down, and a book by David Thibodeau, one of the Waco survivors.
Good to know. I'll have to check it out as I'm always looking for recommendations so I don't have to waste my time trying to cycle through ones that are blatantly filled some form of Political Correctness or other type of social propaganda agenda (which is just about all to them). Not many on my list, except for "Sons of Anarchy", "Breaking Bad" (even though the lead character is anti-Trump liberal loon), and maybe "Mad Men" (even though it was ultimately about "Women's Liberation" at the very end) because it showcased the last years of America 1.0 with a White male alpha character. I'll also probably add "Smallville" because that was probably the last modern young drama that was well-written and well-received without PC, debauchery, or a bunch of "girl power" B.S. as the floodgates to that would happen shortly thereafter.
 

Charles Martel

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Incest being pushed on the public through TV during the past decade or so:

Rome (mother-son in pilot episode, brother-sister)
Game of Thrones (brother-sister x2, aunt-nephew)
Pillars of the Earth (mother-son)
World Without End (father repeatedly rapes daughter)
The Borgias (brother-sister)
Boardwalk Empire (mother-son)
Bored to Death (brother-half sister)
Dexter (brother-sister)

Healthy normal values are being undermined, perversion is being promoted by you know who.
 

Charles Martel

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AA, my favorite TV shows are ones from yesteryear like Hee Haw, Leave it to Beaver & the Beverly Hillbillies. I still don't miss the TalmudVision & it's endless stream of (inbound) 'sewage'.
The Beverly Hillbillies was degrading to white rural people, as was (((Al Capp's))) Lil Abner. It portrayed rural whites as stupid and backward, the way they are seen by Jews.

We become insensitive to it after awhile, we get used to it and accept it.
 
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Charles Martel

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Yes, Andy Griffith, Bonanza, Hee Haw, Little House on the Prairie, and The Waltons, etc. DD, ironically, I was watching some Hee Haw re-runs the other day.
Bonanza was created by and early episodes written by (((David Dotort))). When I watch the early episodes now, I see the Jewish agenda - most white people are portrayed as selfish and dishonest except for the Cartwrights (sons never marry, but choose the single life), Indians and blacks are portrayed as honorable, honest and decent.
 
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celticdb15

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Watching part 2 of The Waco series. Very interesting. No doubt Koreshs's supporters were out there but clearly looks as if big government overstepped their bounds and were trigger happy bullies.
 

Heretic

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"Have Gun, Will Travel" is my favorite Western. It should be required viewing for all men (and young and not-so-young boys). Another I watched a lot of was "The Big Valley". There's several others from that era that I never got a chance to see but would like to if I ever get the time. Yeah there was a creeping subtle agenda as the years went on closer towards the 70's. I noticed it in some of the episodes; but still, overall, darn near puritanical compared to today. Since the Old West was settled by men, the male to female ratio was way imbalanced, so it wasn't unusual for many of them not be married or delay it until they got settled in. I believe that's where the phrase "Mail Order Bride" came from and there were ads in men's magazines and newspapers offering that service with willing women from back East.

I remember watching "Gunsmoke" as a young boy with my father @1975 when it went off of the air. It was his favorite TV show. I always wondered about Ms. Kitty and her Saloon and why those men were always walking up the stairs with ladies on their arm. I wanted to see what was up there, but they never showed it. Only later as I grew up did I realize it was pretty much a brothel and she was a madam. It was done tastefully, so the adults watching it would understand, but it would go over the head of any young ones.

Interesting the mind of man and what his priorities are when he dominates a society...saloons, brothels, gambling halls (sometimes all-in-one), gunsmiths, general stores and then maybe a church tucked away somewhere as well...basically, booze, sex, gambling, guns, goods and then absolution from it all.
 
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Don Wassall

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Bonanza was created by and early episodes written by (((David Dotort))). When I watch the early episodes now, I see the Jewish agenda - most white people are portrayed as selfish and dishonest except for the Cartwrights (sons never marry, but choose the single life), Indians and blacks are portrayed as honorable, honest and decent.

The Cartwright father (((Lorne Greene))) and either three of the sons or all four were portrayed by Jews. I could be wrong but there weren't a lot of Jewish rancher families in the Old West. :rolleye:
 

Don Wassall

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Watching part 2 of The Waco series. Very interesting. No doubt Koreshs's supporters were out there but clearly looks as if big government overstepped their bounds and were trigger happy bullies.

Is that the one called "David Koresh: Madman or Messiah"? The title alone ensures that I won't watch any of it, as if Koresh had to be one extreme or the other, nothing in between, no shades of gray.

The government army that went after the Weaver family in late 1992 (who only wanted to live on their own and not be part of the system), followed by the Waco siege and then massacre in early '93 as Bill Clinton, Janet Reno & Co. strutted into the Oval Office, radicalized a lot of rural Whites and set in motion the militia movement, which was then (conveniently) defused by the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, with its many oddities and unanswered questions leading many to believe it was an inside job. That was followed by draconian legislation greatly enhancing the fedgov's surveillance powers, which of course happened again following 9/11 , the "new Pearl Harbor" event the neo-conservatives openly pined for and just happened to get, followed by the Patriot Act, which for all intents and purposes put the finishing touches on the Bill of Rights.

For those too young to remember the Waco Massacre, I recommend Waco: The Rules of Engagment, a documentary (as opposed to a "docudrama") which came out in 1997. I challenge anyone to watch it and not be sickened and enraged. I believe this is it on YouTube, though it doesn't give the title:
 

Flint

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The Beverly Hillbillies was degrading to white rural people, as was (((Al Capp's))) Lil Abner. It portraye cd rural whites as stupid and backward, the way they are seen by Jews.

We become insensitive to it after awhile, get used to it and accept it.

I thought the whole joke of the Beverly Hillbillies was how superior the Clampett clan was to snobby Californians. Every episode featured the Hillbillies getting over on the Drysdales andHathaways of Beverly Hills. They were stronger, more moral, often smarter then anybody they came across in LA LA land. Sure they didn't have alot of book larnin', but that just showed that book larnin' isn't all it's made up to be. As a kid, I like everyone else cheered on the Clampetts against modern society. The show was one of the only shows cancelled after finishing as the number 1 ranked TV program.
 
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I thought the whole joke of the Beverly Hillbillies was how superior the Clampett clan was to snobby Californians. Every episode featured the Hillbillies getting over on the Drysdales andHathaways of Beverly Hills. They were stronger, more moral, often smarter then anybody they came across in LA LA land. Sure they didn't have alot of book larnin', but that just showed that book larnin' isn't all it's made up to be. As a kid, I like everyone else cheered on the Clampetts against modern society. The show was one of the only shows cancelled after finishing as the number 1 ranked TV program.

I'm from the white rural South and I liked the Beverly Hillbillies when I was young and it was on as a prime time show.
 

Extra Point

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I thought the whole joke of the Beverly Hillbillies was how superior the Clampett clan was to snobby Californians. Every episode featured the Hillbillies getting over on the Drysdales andHathaways of Beverly Hills. They were stronger, more moral, often smarter then anybody they came across in LA LA land. Sure they didn't have alot of book larnin', but that just showed that book larnin' isn't all it's made up to be. As a kid, I like everyone else cheered on the Clampetts against modern society. The show was one of the only shows cancelled after finishing as the number 1 ranked TV program.

Yes, they canceled all the shows they could that appealed to white people or portrayed white people in a positive light.

They canceled so many shows that portrayed rural America it was called "the rural massacre." It really was an anti-white massacre.
The Red Skelton show was canceled when it was ranked number 7 and it wasn't a rural show.
 

FootballDad

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Is that the one called "David Koresh: Madman or Messiah"? The title alone ensures that I won't watch any of it, as if Koresh had to be one extreme or the other, nothing in between, no shades of gray.

The government army that went after the Weaver family in late 1992 (who only wanted to live on their own and not be part of the system), followed by the Waco siege and then massacre in early '93 as Bill Clinton, Janet Reno & Co. strutted into the Oval Office, radicalized a lot of rural Whites and set in motion the militia movement, which was then (conveniently) defused by the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, with its many oddities and unanswered questions leading many to believe it was an inside job. That was followed by draconian legislation greatly enhancing the fedgov's surveillance powers, which of course happened again following 9/11 , the "new Pearl Harbor" event the neo-conservatives openly pined for and just happened to get, followed by the Patriot Act, which for all intents and purposes put the finishing touches on the Bill of Rights.

For those too young to remember the Waco Massacre, I recommend Waco: The Rules of Engagment, a documentary (as opposed to a "docudrama") which came out in 1997. I challenge anyone to watch it and not be sickened and enraged. I believe this is it on YouTube, though it doesn't give the title:
Hey Don, not sure what series you are referring to. The Paramount Waco mini-series 2nd episode is titled "The Strangers across the street". Just finished watching it on DVR and it is a very accurate portrayal of Koresh and the Davidians. And the government is definiitely the bad guy in this series. So far it's been worth watching.
 
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