Friday, October 14, 2005

Out of the Past

Got to thinking about past entertainment industry favorites this morning. This will be something of a stream of consciousness post, with no specific order or organization.

Virginia Gal's post this morning mentioned ER, which I dutifully watched throughout its first 2 or 3 seasons. This made me think about one of my favorite shows of all time, St. Elsewhere. Really loved that show, didn't want to miss an episode. I might have to slip over to Amazon later to check for a DVD.

Of course, I loved cartoons as a child, and one of the first series that I remember is the cartoonish Batman. I used to watch it my jammies and bathrobe before heading off to fight evildoers in my dreams. I moved on from Batman to heavy-hitting dramas such as Get Smart and Gilligan's Island. And Dark Shadows!

I'm a fan of many British series, past and present, including Ballykissangel, As Time Goes By, Monarch of the Glen, Are You Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances, To The Manor Born, and the Vicar of Dibley. Hard to beat British TV.

I've also enjoyed many BBC and A&E presentations, including The Six Wives of Henry the VIII (Keith Mitchell as the king), Elizbeth R (Glenda Jackson as Good Queen Bess), Pride and Prejudice (think I've seen all versions, but the one with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is my fave), and I, Claudius (Derek Jacobi as Claudius, phenomenal performance).

I watched many episodes of Columbo with my Dad. We watched All in the Family on Saturday nights in our household, along with whichever variety show was currently popular: Ed Sullivan (loved that Topo Gigio), Sonny and Cher, Carol Burnett, etc.

I'm beginning to reconize that this post could go on ad infinitim, but the conversation becomes dry when it's one-sided. What are your favorites? TV, theater, film, etc. - all genres are open for contemplation.

3 comments:

Joe Tornatore said...

Dark Shadows was magnificient.

Merci said...

Just bought a DVD of the original series for my hubby, and I have the remake on order - should arrive any day now!

Virginia Gal said...

oh thank you for the mention...I love British television (oh how I wish we got BBC America on cable). Vicar of Dibley is my favorite and I can quote the A&E/BBC Pride and Predjuice with Colin Firth - I adore that movie!! Did you see Wives and Daughters on Masterpiece? I loved that movie also!

I love situation comedies, have my reality show guilty pleasures and one or two favorite dramas (ER). For me, TV is a great escape.