Anyone else of a "certain age" enamored of Decades TV?

I just discovered this station a few weeks ago. On the first day I saw a Dick Cavett interview with .. the young Brian dePalma and Martin Scorsese. Together. Amazing.

And today I came across the Superman TV series with George Reeves. I was DC comics geek as a kid and this was probably THE television show to wait for very week. Now I'm reliving being 10 years old.

What more awaits???

Yes, Decades is cool. 

My wife and I have fond memories of the old Superman series but we stumbled into one last night that was horrible and virtually incomprehensible.   I'm wondering if the syndicated broadcasts we watched as kids culled out the weaker episodes because I have no memory of the one we tried to watch last night.

I'm not sure if Colombo is on Decades or the other nostalgia cable station that's on channel 8 in our cable package.  Some of those are a lot of fun too. 

drummerboy said:

And today I came across the Superman TV series with George Reeves. I was DC comics geek as a kid and this was probably THE television show to wait for very week. Now I'm reliving being 10 years old.

Funny. As a kid, Superman was my favorite show of all. And I, too, saw an episode of it on Decades last night. (The coat with the $10,000 in confederate bills.) I realized last night how absolutely cheesy and ridiculous the show was. But, it brought back memories.

anyone know what channel it is on fios?

Also look out for MeTV which has Superhero Saturdays with Batman 1966, the late 70s I think Wonder Woman, Star Trek TOS, and Svenghoulie's classic horror movie they had Island of Lost Souls this week and have done several Universal Monster movies and I think an Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein. 

MeTV is 503 on Fios and has a Sunday evening lineup that includes Columbo, The Odd Couple, The Honeymooners, The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore and Taxi. 

Stoughton said:

MeTV is 503 on Fios and has a Sunday evening lineup that includes Columbo, The Odd Couple, The Honeymooners, The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore and Taxi. 

And, for real night owls, Get Smart and Bilko. 

As hard as it is for me to break that Sunday habit, harder still is 1 a.m. weekdays. What, you ask, is on at 1 a.m. weekdays?

I'll get back to you.

Is it not possible to DVR those shows? I will have to check this out. There are a lot of old shows that make me feel sick, but many of the classics I loved date back to the 70s.

About a year ago, when I had an over-the-air antenna, there was a channel that played all 70's TV -- Hart to Hart, Magnum PI, Rockford Files, etc. I'm not sure if it's the same channel, but it was surprisingly entertaining  

DaveSchmidt said:

Stoughton said:

MeTV is 503 on Fios and has a Sunday evening lineup that includes Columbo, The Odd Couple, The Honeymooners, The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore and Taxi. 

And, for real night owls, Get Smart and Bilko. 

As hard as it is for me to break that Sunday habit, harder still is 1 a.m. weekdays. What, you ask, is on at 1 a.m. weekdays?

I'll get back to you.

I'm going to investigate that question, but it will cost you $200 a day, plus expenses.

I watched Bonaza today, bunch of fun stuff on that channel. Comcast it is 808, or just plain old 8.

I stopped watching when I found my romantic memories of TV series past were just that -- romantic memories.  There are very few old series that I can watch today and enjoy.  I've even stopped watching I Love Lucy -- which, those that know me will not believe, since I practically know every episode by heart -- because I just can't stand Ricky any more.  For me, The Golden Girls, Cheers (not the ones with Shelley Long), Frasier, sometimes Bob Newhart have stood the test of time.

BTW @ Dave Schmidt:  Frasier is on 1am every day on Hallmark Channel (except when they're playing their never-ending Christmas crap October-January.)

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

drummerboy said:

And today I came across the Superman TV series with George Reeves. I was DC comics geek as a kid and this was probably THE television show to wait for very week. Now I'm reliving being 10 years old.

Funny. As a kid, Superman was my favorite show of all. And I, too, saw an episode of it on Decades last night. (The coat with the $10,000 in confederate bills.) I realized last night how absolutely cheesy and ridiculous the show was. But, it brought back memories.

oh absolutely! It's so low-rent as to be laughable. I brought my son in to show him what sorry examples of superheroes we had to grow up.

CapnMarko said:

Also look out for MeTV which has Superhero Saturdays with Batman 1966, the late 70s I think Wonder Woman, Star Trek TOS, and Svenghoulie's classic horror movie they had Island of Lost Souls this week and have done several Universal Monster movies and I think an Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein. 

don't know about MeTV. I don't think Comcast carries it. Does anyone know?

mumstheword said:

I stopped watching when I found my romantic memories of TV series past were just that -- romantic memories.  There are very few old series that I can watch today and enjoy.  I've even stopped watching I Love Lucy -- which, those that know me will not believe, since I practically know every episode by heart -- because I just can't stand Ricky any more.  For me, The Golden Girls, Cheers (not the ones with Shelley Long), Frasier, sometimes Bob Newhart have stood the test of time.

BTW @ Dave Schmidt:  Frasier is on 1am every day on Hallmark Channel (except when they're playing their never-ending Christmas crap October-January.)

Yes, I won't be surprised if I get tired of it, though probably not Dick Cavett's show. I read an article years ago that pointed out that, starting with the Sopranos, more or less, our TV shows had become an order of magnitude more complex than TV of old. Multiple plots; intersecting, multiple-episode story arcs, etc. Now when you seen an old TV show it's funny how simplistic they seem.

But Peter Falk as Colombo is OK anytime.

Stoughton said:
I'm going to investigate that question, but it will cost you $200 a day, plus expenses.

I got the money, Rockfish.

mumstheword said:
BTW @ Dave Schmidt:  Frasier is on 1am every day on Hallmark Channel (except when they're playing their never-ending Christmas crap October-January.)

Thanks. MeTV is already well into Season 4 of "The Rockford Files," so I'll keep that in mind when the run is done. I like the idea of Niles to-go before I sleep.

drummerboy said:
Now when you seen an old TV show it's funny how simplistic they seem.

Funny-ha-ha? Me, too. We'll just have to differ on the level of simplicity behind the laughs.

And in addition to the channels mentioned above JLTV has among other old shows Jack Benny, Dinah Shore and Soupy Sales........

drummerboy said:

mumstheword said:

I stopped watching when I found my romantic memories of TV series past were just that -- romantic memories.  There are very few old series that I can watch today and enjoy.  I've even stopped watching I Love Lucy -- which, those that know me will not believe, since I practically know every episode by heart -- because I just can't stand Ricky any more.  For me, The Golden Girls, Cheers (not the ones with Shelley Long), Frasier, sometimes Bob Newhart have stood the test of time.

BTW @ Dave Schmidt:  Frasier is on 1am every day on Hallmark Channel (except when they're playing their never-ending Christmas crap October-January.)

Yes, I won't be surprised if I get tired of it, though probably not Dick Cavett's show. I read an article years ago that pointed out that, starting with the Sopranos, more or less, our TV shows had become an order of magnitude more complex than TV of old. Multiple plots; intersecting, multiple-episode story arcs, etc. Now when you seen an old TV show it's funny how simplistic they seem.

But Peter Falk as Colombo is OK anytime. ">

That is very interesting. I thought it was just my brain aging. Now I get why old shows seem so one-dimensional at times, and why many new shows make my brain hurt!

And yes, Peter Falk and Colombo are always good.   

I think that in general very old sitcoms hold up better than other genres though you can't expect frank Seinfeld or Louis CK type humor from Leave it to Beaver.  I do agree that our memories are  not trustworthy.  

There was a time that Star Trek was on back to back with The Wild Wild West (Friday nights I think).  My memory told me they were equally good but recent viewings of TWWW disappointed me terribly.  I loved and still love the idea of mixing a western with fantasy/sci fi elements but its really not a great show.  

librarylady said:

anyone know what channel it is on fios?

Hi LL, it's on 483.

I almost got caught up in an Airwolf marathon the other day. I loved that show as a kid, but these days... Hero's first name is Stringfellow. Also, he's a dick to pretty much everyone. Thank god for Ernest Borgnine.

Also I've caught several Barney Miller episodes on pretty sure it was MeTV ... now that show is way more complex than today's sitcoms. Took on issues with a respect and seriousness that we can't match today.

In my opinion.

Also amazing theme song ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUFgGKPB2KM

Barney Miller had a wonderful laid back vibe about it.  

The Dick Van Dyke Show holds up! It's all on Netflix and it's as delightful as I remember. I'm not "of a certain age" but watched a lot of the classics growing up- back when Nick at Nite actually played 50s and 60s-era shows! Now it's stuff that's on when I was in high school, eeeek!

Thanks   We Just caught The Producers  Funny no matter how many times you see it!

drummerboy said:

CapnMarko said:

Also look out for MeTV which has Superhero Saturdays with Batman 1966, the late 70s I think Wonder Woman, Star Trek TOS, and Svenghoulie's classic horror movie they had Island of Lost Souls this week and have done several Universal Monster movies and I think an Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein. 

don't know about MeTV. I don't think Comcast carries it. Does anyone know?

Try channel 808 (I have Comcast, but I'm not in SOMA, so I don't know if our lineups are the same).

I'm throwing this out there because I caught an episode today on one of the oldies channels. "Combat," with Vic Morrow, was one of the great underappreciated shows of the 60s and one of the greatest war shows ever.  It had this great sad humanistic antiwar undercurrent.  It was "Band of Brothers" compared to most of the stupid cartoonish war movies and shows up to that time.