I Shoulda Watched Way More TV As A Kid...

[SteyrAUG]

When I was in high school I was always going out and doing stuff with my friends. With the exception of Miami Vice, and sometimes Magnum PI (which I mostly caught in reruns rather than prime time) I wasn't much for nights in front of the tube.

But thankfully with DVD I can see a lot of what I was missing.

I've been watching Crime Story and The Equalizer for the first time and I'm really digging both shows. Even been watching TJ Hooker (which I only previously watched for Heather Locklear moments) and actually kinda liking the show.

Been especially getting into some of the older stuff like Man from U.N.C.L.E., Adam 12 and The Untouchables.

[TOrrock]

Crime Story was one of my favs. A Michael Mann show, IIRC.

[kaiservontexas]

The Equalizer is one of my favorites shows of all time. The opening looks like a firearm ad. Ok if one were to make an ad for tv.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG9X4dJl3Lc

[SeriousStudent]

Crime Story with Dennis Farina was very good. He's a former LEO, by the way.

If you liked that, you might want to look into the series called Homicide:Life on the Street. It was very well-written, and well-acted.

[Gutshot John]

"Crime Story" was excellent though it got bogged down as Michael Mann TV often does. "Homicide: Life on the Street" was excellent but a bit more in my adulthood, my dad grew up in Baltimore so that was always something that we watched together when I was home. It was the predecessor of "The Wire" (arguably the greatest cop drama of all time).

I loved The Equalizer but there was another show "Wise Guy" maybe that I thought was quite good.

If you haven't caught it yet, a new cop series "The Chicago Way" is also excellent. It usually prefaces and ends its episodes with footage of real police in candid moments that humanizes those that serve better than any show I've ever seen.

[Spiffums]

While we are on Micheal Mann, if you liked Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, Manhunter is a really good cheesy Vice looking version of the story in Red Dragon. Has Grimson from CSI in it....... I can't think of his name right off hand.

[bkb0000]

i tried going back and watching miami vice and a couple other period shows that i enjoyed as a kid.... and much like my favorite cartoons, i was devastated to discover they were, in fact, gay.

i did watch the entire original star trek series, over the stretch of many nights, a couple years ago while i was living away from my family, gutting and restoring my house. cant say it was a "great" show, but it was a good way to wind down and pass out on my inflatable mattress every night. the ONLY tv i've watched since has been Dexter, and snippets of the dumb shows my kids watch in the morning.

kill your TV.

[chadbag]

I Shoulda Watched Way More TV As A Kid...


You are better off for not having done so...

My dad took a tube out of our TV when I was a kid, said it was broken, and we did not have one for many years. I am eternally grateful to him for that.

[SteyrAUG]

i tried going back and watching miami vice and a couple other period shows that i enjoyed as a kid.... and much like my favorite cartoons, i was devastated to discover they were, in fact, gay.

i did watch the entire original star trek series, over the stretch of many nights, a couple years ago while i was living away from my family, gutting and restoring my house. cant say it was a "great" show, but it was a good way to wind down and pass out on my inflatable mattress every night. the ONLY tv i've watched since has been Dexter, and snippets of the dumb shows my kids watch in the morning.

kill your TV.

The only cartoon I watched as a kid was Johnny Quest and it still rocks. Now I understand what you are talking about, there were a few shows I watched then that make me wonder WTF I was thinking, but Miami Vice isn't one of them. Sure after Michael Mann left, it got different (and some episodes actually sucks like the James Brown/UFO one), but it was still pretty good as a show goes.

[SteyrAUG]

You are better off for not having done so...

My dad took a tube out of our TV when I was a kid, said it was broken, and we did not have one for many years. I am eternally grateful to him for that.


It was sarcasm. I'm glad I lived my life, and I can now watch most shows at my discretion.

That said, I also have a lot of fond memories of family time in front of the tube. Watching NOVA with my Dad (everyone else found it boring) and of course war movies, sci fi and classic horror films and shows. It was fun times and made the shows a lot better than they actually were.

Then there was watching The World At War on PBS with my grandfather. I was the only one allowed in the room when it was on because I could "sit down and shut up." The best ones were the episodes that were related to his service in the war (15th AAF) and he'd relate personal tidbits of information to me.

I don't think he ever did that with anyone, when my Dad and uncle were kids my grandmother would criticize him for talking about the war in front of the kids.