What was your first favorite adult TV show?

[steve(thelil)]

I think for me it was the Dick Van Dyck show. Maybe Andy Griffith, but the episode on that show that i first saw that made me a fan was when a new kid got the kids calling Opie "Dopey Opie." So I don't think I can count that as a show for adults.

[stonemonkts]

Honeymooner reruns on channel 11 at 11 pm every week night. My parents insisted I discover the genius that was Gleason.

[hornplayer]

I never thought of Andy Griffith as an adult show - probably because it always seemed childlike to me.

The first "adult" show I watched regularly was probably The Avengers. loved that show. Also Get Smart.

however, when I was a kid, there weren't many children's shows on, and we didn't even have a tv until I was in 8th grade. We used to go to my Uncle's house to watch Milton Berle and the Colgate Comedy Hour. But most of you are too young to remember those.

[A. Kingstone]

Probably Laugh In.

[Tom Storer]

I thought you were referring to "adult" content. I guess you mean not cartoons? Because Andy Griffith and Dick Van Dyke I watched when I was a child

[LennyH]

Gunsmoke, I'm thinking. It was my favorite show as a kid.

[sozamora]

Adult show as in live-action with adult characters and in prime-time?

I'm sure there were re-runs I liked as a kid, but as far as (at the time) first-run shows, probably Happy Days first. Then (original) Battlestar Galactica. Then a few years later Knight Rider.

I don't think any of them really hold up well, but I still can find them entertaining if I happen to catch them on TV. I'm sure it's just nostalgia for the most part.

[sozamora]

Happy Days still stands up, IMO. The early seasons, anyway.

That's true. The early seasons are a mixed bag, but they could be really good. Garry Marshall is no genius, but he hires some talented people. It's too bad low ratings forced them to change the format in the second season.

[steve(thelil)]

Did you purposely avoid using the phrase "jumped the shark?"

[Jazzooo]

I watched everything!

Dick Van Dyke (my favorite)
Andy Griffith
Avengers
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Time Tunnel
Lost in Space
Ed Sullivan
Perry Mason, though I didn't always understand it
Bonanza (another favorite)
Flipper
Lassie (maybe these two were more kids shows...)
Addams Family
Car 54 Where Are You
My Mother the Car
Mr Ed
Jackie Gleason
Red Skelton
Carol Burnett (although I think that was later)

man, I loved tv back then!

[Jazzooo]

Gunsmoke too

[Tom Storer]

Doug, you left out "McHale's Navy" and "Gilligan's Island."

[Mr. Met]

The Mets. No joke.

[Chazro]

Used to watch most of, if not all, of the shows listed but aren't they mostly comedies? My Dad was a big fan (which meant we became fans, or not watch TV!;) of the Westerns: Cheyenne, Maverick, Have Gun-Will Travel, Sugarfoot, Wagon Train, Wyatt Earp, and my favorite; Rifleman. Other adult shows I remember liking were 77 Sunset Strip, The Naked City, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone & later on The Outer Limits. For some reason as a kid, The Fugitive resonated also.

[Dr Dave]

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/defenders.htm.

I recall an episode with Robert Duvall as a psycho killer.

[Jazzooo]

"Doug, you left out "McHale's Navy" and "Gilligan's Island.""


I never watched McHale's Navy for some reason. But I did love me Gilligan (actually, some Ginger and Marianne).

And Alfred Hitchcock, Twilight Zone and Outer Limits to be sure.

[sozamora]

Mary Ann FTW, BTW..

Indeed

[sozamora]

I also remember really liking the Love Boat/Fantasy Island Saturday night block. Being allowed to stay up to watch Fantasy Island was a big thrill for me.